“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” – Joseph Story(1833)
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth”. – Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (9 Sep 1828-1910)
A Memory of Losses
by Michael Doyle
Even a cursory read of the Hadith finds
It is enjoined to treat others kind
To never kill unless it is necessary
The death of even one requires a necessity
To save even one is to save all of humanity
Life is reverenced as God's greatest sanctity
So how then do we hope to explain 9/11
The day so many died needlessly and went to Heaven
How do we deliver ourselves from degradation
The thuggish killers brought their alienation
From all who follow a godly path and do good
These shameful deeds cannot be easily understood
Only the Creator may take life without heresy
We are to walk with knowledge, wisdom, and mercy
2,977innocents were slaughtered that September day
The memories of these losses may never fade away
The time passes in a broken way forever changed
Too much death and so many lives have been rearranged
Holding on to the lingering traces of loves now gone
The spark lights the flame, and our lives go ever on
As time stands still, and we hang on to this tragic day
Feeling the sorrow and pain again and again in every way
Only to have it repeat itself in a travesty of nations
October 27th showed this is not a matter of one-and-done
When a group or person uses half a Quranic verse
The understood results are often no less than perverse
No god, especially our God, will allow justification
For those who seed and sow a world filled with destruction
(c) September 11, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
The Loss of His Voice
by Michael Doyle
Thinking on this, I must confess
The icon's death has left a mess
Like Poitier and Belafonte good
James Earl Jones rose above Hollywood
With the loss of a singular voice
Black and white Hollywood became less
Though lives end without much of a choice
His death leaves popular culture a mess
In tones not too much or too little
James Earl Jones struck the middle
Reminding us that he was and is human
His breathy voice echoed of stellar ruin
Somewhere far away in a galaxy's night
A giant of a man has taken his last flight
With his denial, he became the nation's father
Yet, despite his role, it felt proper
The Force was strong with that one
Many a boy wished he was Vader's son
Now faced with a change of the deal
Death's kiss has come to place its seal
In tones not too much or too little
James Earl Jones struck the middle
Reminding us that he was and is human
His breathy voice echoed of stellar ruin
The lack of faith was a bit disturbing
Fear and dead men surround, unnerving
Around me, the tear-soaked eyes of a nation
Having lost a bit of every boy's aspiration
A tragic childhood left him almost mute
Until the poetry inside overcame the brute
A giant of a growing man overcame his boyhood
Taking a Rangers' tab, he quietly understood
In tones not too much or too little
James Earl Jones struck the middle
Reminding us that he was and is human
His breathy voice echoed of stellar ruin
Speaking words of poetry, and on the stage
He came to be the man of love turning that page
Role by role, Jones rose to some prominence
Filled with confidence, he lived his promises
There was a star-filled light inside
It was not one of those that could easily hide
Into a nation's hearts, he found his easy pace
His became a voice that many would easily embrace
(c) September 11, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” – John Adams
“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” – John Adams
IT HAS BEEN POINTED OUT THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THIS QUOTE WAS ACTUALLY SAID BY JOHN ADAMS. STANDBY FOR ANOTHER FIRST PRINCIPLES QUOTE.
“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: — you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” – E.E. Cummings
Love Is A Choice
by Michael Doyle
Sometimes I silently look at you
In awe and wonder at all you do
And I know, it's true what some say
I fall deeper for you with each day
For the good and bad of this voice
I know that our love is from choice
Somewhere inside my simple mind
At least, I know our God has been kind
Putting aside any and all poetic pretense
What I think of what love is in a sentence
I know that I don't need to measure and quantify
Nor is there a need to gauge to further identify
Love, our love, is the singular deep choice
More than a feeling, but the stillest voice
That resides inside me whispers intention
My love for you gets my deepest attention
In the name of our love, I forget to be selfish
Putting your needs first, I act as if selfless
The cosmos quietly puts me to this sort of test
Oddly, I think only what it is that is your best
To know without really taking time to know
I support you as you thrive and step forward to grow
This is true love, and true love is this choice
Always, I find that I obey listening to this voice
There are times when you've caused me great upset
But within a moment's breath, I remember to forget
With every step forward for us, I have lived this
Processing inside, I find it in me, this forgiveness
You, my love, will always be worth it to forgive
Because without you, I might survive but would not live
When you're loving, I hold you close, and then closer still
When you upset me, and I know that I always will
A thousand times over, I choose to keep you in my life
In you, I have found my sanctuary from all this world's strife
As I hold your hand, there is one thing I truly understand
There is nothing to come that our love will not withstand
Still, there are limits to sharing that are our quandary
Just where is it that we set the limits as our boundary
It is true that I have let you into the depths of my heart
The funny thing is that you have been there from the start
There in my heart you will stay in my good and bad days
My sanctuary, as I am for you, love is love in our ways
There is a comfort that I feel in your loving embrace
A love as sure as the cure of the love on your face
There are times you can be annoying but it is understood
That as sure as I love you, I will always seek the good
You are human with failings, but you also have virtues
These are what I see most and choose to in all that you do
Our love is openly declared without allowing any resentment
To creep in, but instead, a happy sense of total commitment
There is our bond that we choose to forge as we're capable
We seek the dreams of tomorrow, knowing all things possible
Still, we both know our love is an overwhelming feeling
In all ways, we were drawn together, it's compelling
Like bonded souls we recognized each other as just right
The moment we met, perfect companions at our first sight
We fell in love and live in love each and every day
Together we have come to practice our true love ways
Each of us sees the ways we have come to be conformed
As we have loved deeper as our love becomes transformed
So, there it is, as said before, each moment's revealing
That our love is a choice made and every bit a feeling
Like a magical garden planted in our souls and nurtured
I can hardly wait for every taste as our love matures
(c) September 10, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“Man is the only animal that blushes—or needs to.” – Mark Twain (November 1933)
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First Principles: The Principle of the Constitution Is That of A Separation of Legislative, Executive and Judiciary Functions, Except In Cases Specified
“The principle of the Constitution is that of a separation of legislative, Executive and Judiciary functions, except in cases specified. If this principle be not expressed in direct terms, it is clearly the spirit of the Constitution, and it ought to be so commented and acted on by every friend of free government.” – Thomas Jefferson (1797)
This makes every government administrative agency suspect in the eye and mind of anyone who cares for the spirit of our Constitution.