Immunity, Lies, and Symphony

I’m 63% of the way through Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow. It’s interesting reading this book near the celebration of Independence Day, especially with the decisions coming in from the US Supreme Court.

After the decisive victory that signaled the end of the American Revolution, and seeing issues with the Confederation, Hamilton drafted an appeal urging states to send delegates to Philadelphia to amend the Articles of confederation. It may have been a little heated; at Madison’s urging, Hamilton cooled off and toned down the appeal. The final version of the communiqué reflected Hamilton’s penchant for systematic solutions, and a sense of fine interconnectedness. For the following two years, New York Governor George Clinton, who wished to continue state tariffs, objected to reform.

Fast forward to 1793. Washington is the president, Hamilton is the Secretary of the Treasury, and Jefferson is the Secretary of state. On February 1, France declares war against England, Holland, and Spain, beginning a bloody war that will last for more than twenty years on the Eurasian Continent. When word gets to Jefferson In March, he asserts that monarchs “should be amenable to punishments like other criminals;” however, both Madison and Jefferson ignored as "spurious" newspaper accounts that talked about Louis XVI’s innocence and the “bloodthirstiness of his enemies.”

By 1796, Washington had chosen to return to private life, tired of being constantly attacked by the Republican print media as one of the reasons. Increasingly, he had treated Hamilton as a peer and a friend, and asked him to help prepare his farewell address. While preparing Washington’s farewell address, Hamilton took care to remove some of the bilious content that Washington had added which took aim at newspapers that had created and promulgated ignorant and vile false statements, misrepresenting Washington’s politics.

Some of the biggest news currently surrounds the US Supreme Court’s decision that Presidential Immunity applies only if it is consistent with the duties of the president. The concern written in the dissenting opinion is that it still leaves room for a President to break a major law serving their own self-interest and not be held accountable. One of the tenets undergirding our constitution is that no person is above the law. We shouldn’t be making exceptions for a would-be dictator. I have hope that the necessary and proper clause can still provide the guardrail; that is, the President would only be immune for crimes committed that were necessary under the rights and responsibilities granted under the constitution. Still, Trump is the type of person who is not deterred by pending charges—he’s the shoot first and ask questions later kind of person. As we are seeing, by the time justice is served, the damage has already occurred and multiplied. Meanwhile, a Democratic congressman is preparing a constitutional amendment to support the founding fathers' desire that no monarch be above the law.

I am also struck by the blatant lies in the presidential debate. Trump wants to take credit for things he never did, and blame Biden for things Biden never did. The reality is that Trump made a huge mess of our civil liberties that Biden had to clean up, and many people died as a result. We cannot have this man as president, nor can we accept the proposed 2025 Project which plans to set up a tyrannical theocratic state. That’s the whole reason we had a revolution in 1776, to overthrow the tyrannical religious self-serving state. Let’s not go there again.

The Salt Lake County Council candidate that responded that transgender people have a “mental illness” lost his bid in the Republican primary. I would like to think that my interview with ABC had an impact, but the reality is that most of the ballots were probably already mailed in. Anyway, it’s a breath of relief that he’s off the ballot. So also are the MAGA and Trump-endorsed candidates. The general electorate in the state of Utah does have limits, and it’s good to see they don’t want to cross that line. My friend Dustin Gettel lost his bid for that County Seat to Natalie Pinkney, another acquaintance, in the Democratic Primary. I would like to see Natalie win this seat and keep it in progressive hands.

News is that the Planning and Zoning Commission for West Valley okayed the rezone of the drive-in theater to multiunit housing. While we need more housing, this is hard because not only is the drive-in one of the few remaining, many people, mostly immigrants, rely on the swap meet that is held there. If the city passes this, it will be a hard hit to the immigrant families until a new site is made available for the swap meet.

Monday night, the West Valley Symphony of Utah's selection of patriotic musical pieces at The Utah Cultural Celebration Center created the perfect backdrop for Alexander Hamilton. The Cultural Center and the Symphony are clearly gems in the community.

My kayaking adventures continued on Saturday. Three of us went kayaking to Little Dell Reservoir. It was beautiful and hot. It took about 10 hours total because we took our time getting up there, overcompensated on the snacks and drinks, and had to figure out how to transport a kayak on my traverse. Each time is a learning opportunity, and the whole process should continue to get easier.