The Constitution
Enshrine: ... to place a revered or precious object in an appropriate receptacle.
It has been quite a week. Saturday — No Kings. Sunday — The Dream. Wednesday — A landmark case before the Supreme Court. I’ll start with the latter.
At the Supreme Court on April 1st, the Justices sat for oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara — the administration’s case challenging birthright citizenship. Maybe because Wednesday was also April Fool’s Day, the President himself made an unprecedented appearance — sitting in the front row of the court’s public gallery just long enough to hear his own litigator perform. Once Solicitor General D. John Sauer had laid out the administration’s case, and shortly after the opposing party began their presentation — Trump stood up and left. Walking out in the middle of oral arguments is considered bad form and highly disrespectful, in a setting where remaining seated in attentive silence until the case ends is the accepted norm.
The eloquent, fact-based argument laid out by Cecillia Wang, National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, delivered moving testimony to the care with which the 14th Amendment was constructed. Her presentation offered a brilliant history lesson in how birthright citizenship stands as a corner-stone of our democracy. What a shame that the one who most needs a reminder of that was not there to hear it.
The 14th Amendment grants citizenship at birth to all babies born in the United States (with a handful of exceptions), regardless of their parents' citizenship or immigration status. This right is clearly laid out in Section 1 of the Amendment, ratified in 1868. It is one of the most precious rights enshrined in our Constitution, and has withstood the test of time in spite of several earlier legal challenges, to remain firmly in place for 158 years.
In his continued attempts to break down and divide the diverse and multifaceted population that makes up our America, Trump is once again challenging the Constitution, which is the very foundation of our democracy.
Implicit in being born a citizen, and required of those applying for naturalization, is the oath of allegiance, which begins with these words: “I hereby declare, on oath … that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic …”
The current situation involves a rogue leader who happens to occupy the highest office in our land and is sorely testing us as a nation. It is therefore incumbent on us to stand up and protest. When we do so, we uphold our duty as citizens to defend the Constitution against a domestic enemy, currently in the guise of a President. His actions test our willingness, our ability, our stamina and our determination in defending the rights bestowed upon us by our Constitution. The word protest comes from Latin testare, to bear witness, to attest — which itself comes from attestāri, meaning to bear witness to, to affirm the truth or genuineness of something — in this case, the Constitution. When we stand together in defiance of authoritarianism, we are performing our civic duty. And we came out in force on Saturday at No Kings demonstrations all over the country to do that.
The video clip below shows a miraculous dove bearing an olive branch, which appeared & flew down Rte. 10 which was lined on both sides with protesters at No Kings III.
And finally — The Dream. Sandwiched between the two historic events of Saturday and Wednesday, came Sunday, when I was able to escape current events for a bit to attend the Boston Ballet production of The Dream. (Click this link for a quick sample…)
The curtain rose on a dim & mysterious forest clearing, encircled by shadowy bowers & leafy nooks. The combination of Shakespeare’s story, Mendelssohn’s music, Sir Frederick Ashton’s choreography, & the consummate skill & dedication of the dancers swept me up into a world of music, magic, & beauty — a lovely place to be for a while. The endurance of the ballet’s three elements — story (1600), music (1826), and choreography (1964) — are proof that the things which lift us up, and that we in turn treasure and support, will endure.
Clyde, this is so eloquent, hopeful, inspiring. Thank you for boosting the day for me!
Nicely said! Love the pictures with the animals, especially the chickens. Well said.