How the state deals with a clear and present danger

I see where old Uncle Joe gave a speech Sept. 1 — the anniversary of Germany’s invasion of Poland and the start of World War II — declaring that supporters of his predecessor present “a clear and present danger.” I knew that phrase had a precise legal meaning, so I looked it up.

It seems “clear and present danger” is a term lifted from a Supreme Court opinion, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, that for many years was part of the test to determine when it is appropriate for the U.S. government to violate the First Amendment. In other words, the rights to free speech, free press, religious expression, assembly, etc., may be suspended in the face of “a clear and present danger.”

In 1969 the test was tightened to require the presence of “imminent lawless action,” but before that — when, for example, Joe Biden was studying in law school — it was OK to violate the Bill of Rights when “a clear and present danger” existed.

Biden’s speech, then, was a justification for the countless assaults on our inalienable rights that have been building for at least two decades and have escalated under the Biden regime. It’s all OK, folks, because we’re fighting a clear and present danger here, don’t ya know.

It was a campaign speech in which the alleged president intended to incite his political base but gave no clear explanation of what his handlers intend to do about this “clear and present danger,” but words mean something — that phrase means something — so we may expect a doubling down of the assault on liberty. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

I am sad for America. I am sad for the world. When I was young, I thought the concepts in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights were a beacon for humanity. They still are, of course, but the people now in power don’t believe in them.

Records of records

Then: Gleefully grabbing slabs of sound, not knowing what they contained but intrigued by the titles.

Now: Piles of unplayed still slabs, waiting, waiting to be heard again, performances long ago preserved in moments of glee, or reverence, or intensity, or passion.

Next: Undo the piles, listen to the moments, legacies of souls who heard in their heads sounds that would not fade or die, sounds to keep, if not for all time, then at least for longer than their lifetimes.

Baton passed, the sounds are here,

Waiting, preserved in cardboard boxes,

Waiting, preserved in old plastic,

Waiting, not intended to wait, but to be spun and savored.

How long must they wait to sing and play again?

Why does it have to be September?

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The days run by, and suddenly it’s a month with withering flowers and changing-color leaves in it. September is still summer, as schoolchildren are forced to forget, and the days promise warmth and sunshine and a bit of sass, same as July, but night and the edge of consciousness bring a creeping coolness and an early sunset.

God says, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll paint the world with vivid colors as my promise that the sun and warmth will be returning, and in the coldest months the days will grow longer again and it will be spring and summer again before you can say ‘Bob’s your uncle’ or wonder what that means.”

All of that flashes through the mind when “September” appears on the calendar. It’s a bittersweet feeling, bitter because you remember how the hint of coolness turns into struggling against the snow and the sharp edges of the cold, sweet because there’s so much summer left, and after that the comforting embrace of falling leaves and matching sunsets and hordes of geese honking through the air as if to say, “See you in the springtime, friends, and thanks for watching out for our kids as they fluffed out and grew.”

Why does it have to be September? You might as well wonder why you have to live and breathe. There are cycles of warm and cold, bitter and sweet, because it’s all a cycle, all of it. Embrace the cycle and work with it and play with it; that’s the sanest way to live. Accept what you can’t change, and fight for what you can.