A Puzzlement
By William Bailey (08/25/03)
“When I was a boy
World was better spot.
What was so was so,
What was not was not.
Now I am a man;
World have changed a lot.
Some things nearly so,
Others nearly not.
There are times I almost think
I am not sure of what I absolutely know.”
Broadway musical aficionados will recognize the above as the opening words to the song, “A Puzzlement” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s, “The King and I”. These words provide the basis for some inquiry into “current-day” happenings.
It is “a puzzlement” that the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court has now been suspended from the position to which he was elected by the people of Alabama for having a sculpture memorializing the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Department of Justice Building. Chief Justice Moore requested the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay on the order issued by a Federal judge to remove the sculpture from the building . . . the Supreme Court declined to issue the stay. Now, here’s the puzzlement . . . if it’s not okay for the sculpture to be displayed in Alabama, why is it okay for a sculpture including a symbol of Moses to be displayed at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. ? Think it’s not so ? Read on. In the description of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington D.C., carried at the website of the Washington Registry of Historical Places, you will find this quote: “A sculpture by Herman A. McNeil is located above the east entrance that represents great lawgivers, Moses, Confucius, and Solon, flanked by symbolic groups representing Means of Enforcing the Law, Tempering Justice with Mercy, Carrying on Civilization, and Settlement of disputes Between States.” (Emphasis added). “A Puzzlement”.
Another “puzzlement” . . . Saturday’s news (August 23) brought to our attention the fact that an environmental group is taking credit for the destruction by fire of an automotive dealership in California. Why ? Because they object to the selling of SUV’s. This group is taking credit for the destruction of PRIVATE property because the purpose of the business didn’t agree with the policies of the group. In objecting to the (alleged) pollutants released into the atmosphere by SUV’s, whoever set fire to this PRIVATE business probably released more pollutants into the environment than a whole fleet of SUV’s. The “puzzlement” comes when you consider that it seems to have become normal-place to display disagreement by becoming destructive. And, this happens to both private and public property. It’s “a puzzlement” with which we really don’t need to have to deal.
It is a “puzzlement” that there are groups at work 24/7 trying to find ways around the founding document of this Nation, the Constitution of the United States, instead of trying to find ways to reinforce and “shore it up”. The “puzzlement” is that these groups have been able to make great progress in achieving their objectives. There are provisions in the Constitution for making necessary and appropriate changes . . . it’s called the “amending process”. It is the only method provided. It is instructive to note the words of President George Washington in his Farewell Address:
“But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.”
It is a “puzzlement” to try to understand why, when you have the greatest form of government ever conceived by man, there are those among us who seek to destroy it , claiming all the time that they’re really trying to make it better.
Those familiar with the song from “The King and I” know that it concludes:
“Sometimes I think that people going mad !
Sometimes I think that people not so bad !
But not matter what I think I must go on living life. . . .
Everyday I do my best for one-more day !
But . . . is a puzzlement”
Is “a puzzlement”.
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