“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” – Henry David Thoreau
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Thought For the Day: That Government Is Best Which Governs the Least, Because Its People Discipline Themselves
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Best, Discipline, Govern, Government, Henry David Thoreau, Least, People, Thought For the Day
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Damaged Memories of An Indiana Tornado
Damaged Memories of An Indiana Tornado
by Michael Doyle
Ominous clouds are captured in a photograph
That suggests thunderclaps as the Devil's laugh
As lightning strikes down on a Hoosier cornfield
Forked-tongued, it speaks of devastation revealed
Cracked wood is tossed across the creek's bend
As a human voice cries, praying into the wind
A solitary conductor hears this symphony of survival
As the long growl of wind sees this storm's arrival
A woman lies trapped, stuck in the fallen debris
While across the flooded road, there lay fallen trees
A tornado's path keeps moving swiftly northwest
This might be the one to suggest life's constant test
Fragments of lives swirl up into the stormy skies
While flash floods cut off escape before our eyes
Nature's fury is raw and full of intense power
A child prays to live through this darkened hour
Loss and renewal are the patterns of resilience
Here in the tragic moments of time and transience
Until the worst of this has come and soared
Away after making the earth its own worst dartboard
Small towns suffer the brunt of tornado destruction
Statistically, we search for the hints of intuition
Seeking the hows, whys, and wherefores that allude reason
Until we allow that it is just part of life's seasons
Tornado Alley rides out the winds of the present century
Knowing that each moment of this is a notch of history
Heavy rains and strong winds will continue after it is gone
And the memory of these tornadoes will linger on
(c) April 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Clouds, Cracked Wood, Damaging Winds, Debris, Devastation, Devil's Laugh, Fallen Trees, Flooded Road, Forked-Tongued, Fragments of lives, Hoosier Cornfield, Human Voice, Indiana, Lightning, Long Growl of Wind, Memories, Photograph, Poetry and Poems, Symphony of Survival, Thunder claps, Trapped, Wind
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First Principles: In the Discharge of Duties My Guide Will Be the Constitution, Which I This Day Swear To Preserve, Protect, and Defend
“In the discharge of duties my guide will be the Constitution, which I this day swear to preserve, protect, and defend.” – Zachary Taylor
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Defend, Discharge, Duties, First Principles, Guide, Preserve, Protect, The Constitution, Zachary Tayler
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Thought For the Day: All the World’s A Stage, and All the Men and Women Merely Players
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare, in As You Like It
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged All, As You Like It, Men and Women, Players, Stage, Thought For the Day, William Shakespeare, World
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My Final Victory Won
My Final Victory Won
by Michael Doyle
My soul has no place to hide
As I face the night and ride
Rolling away that stone
Wherever I am, I'm not alone
Burning ashes spread with the wind
Blown hot until the end
Praying that things turn around
My feet are on solid ground
And I know that I am complete
By myself but with God, I am replete
Owing all to someone I've never seen
He is God, and I am merely a human being
Jesus came to free my tainted soul
Everything is securely in His control
I offer my praise and gratitude
For how He has fixed my attitude
Into not caring about earthly treasure
Holding Heaven as my true pleasure
I know the true worth of all
As I sing songs of praise and recall
That forever, I am wholly freed
Pursuing heavenly treasure, not greed
Thankful for all God has done
My final victory has been won
(c) April 1, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alone, Attitude, Blown Hot, Burning Ashes, Care, Complete, Done, Earthly Treasure, Face, Final Victory, Fixed, Forever, Freed, God, Gratitude, Greed, Heaven, Heavenly Treasure, His Control, Human Being, Jesus, No Place To Hide, Offer, Owe, Poetry and Poems, Praise, Pray, Recall, Replete, Ride, Secure, Seen, Solid Ground, Songs, Soul, Stone, Tainted Soul, Thankful, The Night, True Pleasure, Wind, Won, Worth
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Thought For the Day: Tolerance Implies No Lack of Commitment To One’s Own Beliefs. Rather It Condemns the Oppression or Persecution of Others
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” – John F. Kennedy
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Commitment, Condemns, Imply, John F. Kennedy, Oppression, Own Beliefs, Persecution, Thought For the Day, Tolerance
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First Principles: Minorities Have A Right To Appeal To the Constitution As A Shield Against Such Oppression
“By the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.” – James K. Polk, Inaugural Address (March 4, 1845)
In A Time of Flux
In A Time of Flux
by Michael Doyle
Theory and practice belong together
If international relations are to be better
These are pivotal times to see
Filled with dread and promise for you and me
Those who talked of an end to history
Were blinded to the political mystery
Dynamics, order, and balance are power
This is clear in every hour
When World War II ended
The United Nations attempted to bring nations friended
But the carving at Yalta had its concerns
From the present perspective, it's easier to discern
Today is not the time for blind-eyed idealism
Democratic nations have seen greater optimism
The world has become multipolar in alternative
Russia's attacks on its neighbors offer a perspective
The tripod of the elements of national sovereignty
Has ended with the violation of Ukraine's integrity
A power vacuum has come into existence
And it claws at the world with great persistence
Spheres of interest have come to divide
The world again, and we must now decide
Value spaces must come to take their place
To preserve Western ways with their trace
Western Civilization must, indeed, prevail
With the rule of law or the world goes to the Hell
Of conflict that will steadily spread across
And the world will come to its great loss
We are in a time of flux and of full change
As we experience the world rearrange
It is a decade of coming renegotiation
When we will feel a conversation between nations
If we yield to tyrants in their unrelenting aggression
We will enter into a world of ruthless regression
Velvet gloves are no way to counter savage brutality
It takes strength to defend rightful sovereignty
Let me say simply in an easy declarative
That we are in a defining time of our narrative
We stand together and for the rule of law
Or our failure will threaten us all
(c) March 31, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Aggression, Alternative, Attacks, Balance, Brutality, Claws, Conflict, Conversation, Decide, Declarative, Democratic Nations, Discern, Divide, Dread and Promise, Dynamics, Elements, End To History, Existence, Failure, Full Change, Idealism, Integrity, International Relations, Multipolar, Narrative, National Sovereignty, Nations, Neighbors, Optimism, Order, Persistence, Perspective, Pivotal Times, Place, Poetry and Poems, Political Mystery, Power, Power Vacuum, Renegotiation, Rule of Law, Russia, Ruthless Regression, Sovereignty, Spheres of Interest, Stand Together, The United Nations, The World, Theory and Practice, Threaten, Time of Flux, Trace, Tyrants, Ukraine, Value Space, Velvet Gloves, Western Civilization, Western Ways, World War II, Yalta
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First Principles: A Nation That Cannot Control Its Borders Is Not A Nation
“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” – Ronald Reagan
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Borders, Cannot Control, First Principles, Nation, Ronald Reagan
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Thought For the Day: Illegal Immigration Costs the Taxpayers of the United States A Lot of Money
“[Illegal immigration] costs the taxpayers of the United States a lot of money. And it’s unfair to Americans who are working every day to pay their own bills. It’s also unfair to a lot of people who have waited in line for years and years in other countries to be legal immigrants.” – William J. Clinton
