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Democracy for All?
Here’s the text of a letter I sent to the Palm Beach Post, amplifying the point I made in Jackspotpourri on July 31 concerning the nature of democracy. I will let you know if they publish it.
 |
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence but
his definition of 'all men being created equal'
differed from ours, but perhaps envisioned
that being the case in the future. |
‘The article in Friday’s Post, ‘Drop-Off Ballot Limits Spark Concerns,’ made it clear that some States, including Florida, feel it in their interest to discourage voting, or at least make it more difficult to do so, under the guise of strengthening election security. This is nothing new. Since the nation’s founding, there have been those who believe our democratic principles are intended only for the limited number of those who control the nation’s resources and wealth, and that giving voice to others only dilutes, and possibly endangers, those democratic principles.
When the Declaration of Independence declared that ‘all men were created equal,’ it wasn’t talking about women, slaves, many immigrants, and often landless Americans who would continue to be denied many rights, including the right to cast a ballot. Since then, many of those rights have been reclaimed, as evidenced by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth Amendments, and 1964 Civil Rights legislation, but there are still those, mostly in Republican-controlled State legislatures, who would prefer to go back to those days of a more limited democracy.’
JL
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Better Than Bumper Stickers
I have a flyer in the rear window of my car with the message shown below. It would be great if others (at least in Florida) who are more than disturbed by the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House, did the same. If you cannot copy it, I will print out for you. Just give me a call. I believe they work in getting a message out!
JL
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Local Prisoner Release Announcement
Many of us in Florida occasionally encounter very small geckos who somehow manage to get into our houses. I usually ignore them and they disappear within a few days. Back in July, one had settled in my master bathroom and apparently was intent on remaining there even though there didn’t appear to be any food for it there, other than possibly some miniscule insects of which I was unaware. During the past few days, Freddy (the way I greeted the gecko when I spotted it each morning) had noticeably slowed down in its movements. It then occurred to me then that Freddy possibly didn’t even want to remain there and actually considered itself to be a prisoner there.
When the news came out about the prisoner exchange our government had worked out with Russia, it occurred to me to offer Freddy the same opportunity. I got down on my hands and knees with a paper cup and a thin piece of cardboard and captured Freddy, whom I promptly deposited outside of the screen door on my patio. I don’t know what I am receiving in exchange for Freddy’s release, but hopefully it might be a mild hurricane season.
JL
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And Speaking of Prisoner Exchanges
There are strong opinions voicing concern that the recent exchange between Russia and the United States opened a dangerous door.
Westerners, especially journalists, are used to living in a free atmosphere where routinely seeking information is an entirely normal activity. In Russia, however, such activities might be considered to be criminal, even constituting acts of espionage under their legal system. Consequently, an American tourist or journalist in Russia planning a trip and innocently seeking railroad schedules between two cities might be arrested.
This could enable Russia to easily acquire a number of prisoners who might ultimately become bargaining chips, exchangeable for Russians held as prisoners held in other countries for much more serious acts such as assassinations or sabotage.
It legitimatizes, in the eyes of some, such behavior. This was the great fear, particularly in Germany, of the door opened by the recent prisoner exchange, a part of which involved a convicted Russian assassin being released from a German prison.
German Chancellor Scholz, well aware of this, bent over backwards to go along with it as a favor to President Biden, stating ‘Only for you.’ It is important that this aspect of the precedent set by the recent prisoner exchange be recognized in future diplomatic activities, even as we welcome back the freed Americans. It also accentuates the necessity of maintaining close ties with other Western democracies through such entities as NATO.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Strange “Hits’! The large number of those accessing Jackspotpouri from Singapore has suddenly ceased. In their place, however, there have appeared large numbers of ‘hits’ on each posting, but this time from Hong Kong! I suspect that the Chinese are playing around with internet transmissions, possibly to try to identify who is reading them.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.
If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog.
Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter. This is an election year. Spread the word.
JL
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