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12/13

These rooms Johnny?
Fancy.
This house was built rich.
This house was built to make the rich envious.
Sadness.
This house gives like that Gus.
It gives spirit.
Varina had a funeral vision here.
Betsey around?
Most likely, it was a special day.
What vision?
It started as Varina went out the front door.
Passing Comedy and Tragedy.
It was Jeff's inauguration.
In Richmond?
Capitol Square by the statue of George Washington on a horse.
When?
That would have been 22 February 1862, George's birthday.
Can we light a match?
Want some light?
Yes.

​
Here ya go Yank.
That door ahead leads to the foyer and Comedy and Tragedy.
And the one on the right to the first room.
So Varina and Betsey are going to Jeff's inauguration.
High noon.
The morning is spent in preparation.
As they go out the front they see four Black men there to accompany their brief carriage ride.
So?
Varina sees them dressed as pallbearers.
Why?
They wanted to dress-up and these were the best outfits they had.
Okay.
Varina and Betsey take the pallbearers and carriage to the inauguration.
Any problems?
The problem is Varina is in public, on the stage and needs to leave.
She leaves?
Gets up and walks out.
Unprecedented.
Varina had a vision Yank.
Of what?

​

Jeff and a funeral pyre.
Jeff didn't die in the war.
I suppose it was our funeral pyre Gus.
Soldiers and civilians.
Worlds.
Varina saw what?
As Jeff took the oath Varina saw him as a willing victim going to a funeral pyre.
Then what?
After seeing the funeral pyre she got up and left.
Left while Jeff was taking the oath?
And took the carriage back to the mansion.
Likely with Betsey.
Her aide-de-camp.
Betsey would have seen all sides of Varina and Jeff.
Someone famous said a slave knows their master better than their master knows themselves.
The slave knows what the master tries to keep hidden.
Well said.
I’m imagining smoke and shadows of fire dancing on these blood red walls Johnny.
Maybe stop that.
Sadness is okay, on occasion.
Agreed Yank.

*Next up: 1 July (part 13/13) The Return of We the People: Righteousness.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

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11/13

Aloha!
Madness Yank.
Let it out Reb.
Jeff and the rebellion and George.
You and I give George a negative for being a slaver.
Jeff hailed it.
We hail 1776 Independence George.
Jeff too.
We hail thirty Thousand George.
Jeff showed contemnation.
Which turned into treason.
Correct Gus.
That makes George a plus one for us and Jeff.
Just a different plus one.
Part of the madness Reb?
Well, I mean old-fashioned smoke coming-out-my-ears madness Yank.
Not insane madness?

​



​Mad like George the Mason would be.
Just count We the People.
And divide by thirty Thousand.
Or less Johnny.
Or less Gus, as the Constitution says shall not exceed.
How simple.
Make a machine do it Yank.
Very 21st century.
The thirty Thousand has the same meaning in all parts of the United States.
Sacred Johnny.
It cannot give way to the spirit of contemnation in the Supreme Court any more than it can yield to the sin of usurpation and treason in the Legislative and Executive.
We the People. 
And the rule of law.
A law made outside the law is never a law at all.
According to America's founders and the Supreme Court.
Can you name a legal precedent Johnny?
Hubbard v. Lowe (1915).

​

This room is bigger than most cabins we grew up in.
It's one of many on the tour.
Reb, the thirty Thousand falls under the timeless rule of See Something, Say Something.
The thirty Thousand precedes the Bill of Rights.
So it made things like the Second Amendment.
Celebrate.
See that door stain.
Do.
Betsey and James would have been See Something, Say Something on that.
Efficient like a soldier.
The door too.
Say more Gus.
The way we become who we think we should be passing from one room to another.
We hail ourselves.
Betsey and James would be thinking something.
Then pause before opening this door.
Who am I?
Inside, free thoughts Yank.
Outside, Jeff's servant slave thoughts.
Madness.

*Next up: 30 June (part 12/13) The Return of We the People: Sadness.
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​Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

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​

When did the thirty Thousand enter the constitutional debate?
When discussing the right to suffrage.
How early Reb?
It was the second week, 11 June 1787.
And the three fifths clause?
Same day.
What did the founders vote to do?
To move to an equitable ratio of representation.
Instead of equal representation?
Yes.
No more one vote per state Reb.
The three fifths clause was part of who counted.
Who counted?
White and Black people.
What did it say exactly Johnny?

​‘That the right to suffrage in the first branch be according to the whole number of white and three fifths of the other inhabitants.’
No untaxed Indians yet?
Nor the language of free and all other Persons Gus.
The three fifths is what set Elbridge off.
The three fifths had been used to tax slaveholders for their property.
Meaning a two fifths tax reduction for said property, a Black person?
Correct Yank.
When?
Four years earlier, in 1783.
Familiar to the founders.
And not a single founder would've accepted the stunting logic of 435.
Shall we proceed Johnny?
Let's.
Goddess yes?
Plural.
Ever higher …

*Next up: 22 June (part 10/13) The Return of We the People: Comedy and Tragedy.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

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8/13

How do we know about Betsey Johnny?
Sort of how we know things about you.
Okay.
As far as we know, you are from Indiana.
So we can say Betsey is from Mississippi.
Born into slavery Gus.
Mom and dad.
Parents.
When was Betsey born, estimated?
Varina was born in 1826.
Betsey is probably younger than Varina Johnny.
Why?
Malleability.
Not much younger Yank.
Compatibility.
Varina was 18 when marrying Davis in 1845.
Okay Reb.
Estimate Betsey at, what, maybe 16 in 1845?
That would mean she self-emancipates in her mid-thirties.
Sounds fair.

​

​A Crazy Baldhead Johnny.
One of the craziest.
No doubt.
The first years of the Davis marriage were not copacetic.
Say more.
Jeff was under his brother Joseph's thumb.
And Varina?
She saw that and let Jeff know.
Ouch.
And when Jeff went to Mexico for the war, he made his brother Joseph her guardian.
In case he died?
Right.
When did Varina and Betsey get to DC?
In 1849.
In time for President Taylor's death.
Davis was then a US Senator from Mississippi.
And they are in DC until 1861?
Only a few short trips to Mississippi … and a vacation to the White Mountains.
New Hampshire: Betsey?
No.
What was in New Hampshire?
A friend of Jeff’s from West Point.
Betsey?
A summer in DC.

​Where?
On loan, working somewhere.
Not alone Johnny.
Not alone.
The Davises left DC in 1861.
Some of the last Southerners to leave.
Betsey with them?
Someone was helping Varina with a sick Jeff, three children and whatever baggage Yank.
They went to Mississippi?
By train, where Davis soon received news he was elected President of the rebellion.
Davis then to Alabama?
Montgomery, and likely James Dennison with him.
Someone Johnny.
Betsey and Varina soon follow.
Betsey witnessed all that?
Yes.
You always try to honor me Reb.
You do the same to me Gus.
Let's do the same with Betsey and James.
Jeff and Varina?
We’ll see.
Ready Yank?
To the door …

*Next up: 15 June (part 9/13) The Return of We the People: thirty Thousand.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

​3
Usurpation Day is a day of remembrance for those who serve for the duration even when they are torn and tattered, nerves completely shattered. 

Tippy Rowe didn’t want to be a bomber anymore and yet kept being a bomber. That’s a spirit of perseverance in the face of death: just my number, nothing more, just my spirit, nothing more.
​
Lt. Rowe was killed on 5 Nov 1944 while on a bombing raid over Mannheim Germany; the B-17 he was in was hit by anti-aircraft fire, went out of control, into a spin, and was nevermore.

Then at last to my elation
I caught up to my formation
And the ME’s turned and left me
By the tens and by the score.
But my wings were torn and tattered
And my nerves completely shattered
And as far as I’m concerned
The war is over, forevermore.

Now I’ve found the joy of living
And my secret I am giving
To the rest of those among you
Who might care to live some more.
For my sinus starts to seeping
Everytime they mention briefing
No more flying, no more combat
No more missions, Nevermore???????

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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​

A 1973 book, Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich, argues our dream was to build machines to replace slaves, and instead we have become enslaved to machines.
 
“To formulate a theory about a future society both very modern and not dominated by industry, it will be necessary to recognize natural scales and limits. We must come to admit that only within limits can machines take the place of slaves; beyond these limits they lead to a new kind of serfdom. Only within limits can education fit people into a manmade environment: beyond these limits lies the universal schoolhouse, hospital ward, or prison.” (xii)
 
Fifty years on and Illich is still apt.
 
“The foreseeable catastrophe will be a true crisis – that is, the occasion for a choice – only if at the moment it strikes the necessary social demands can be effectively expressed. They must be represented by people who can demonstrate that the breakdown of the current industrial illusion is for them a condition for choosing an effective and convivial mode of production. The preparation of such groups is the key task of new politics at the present moment.” (114, bold added)
 
Illich argues the available convivial tool: “can only be the formal structure of politics and law.” (115)
 
Our foreseeable catastrophe is the true crisis of We the People not being represented according to numbers.
 
Our politics is the usurpation and its supporters.
 
Our law is Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution … and its supporters.
 
The choice is between usurpation, which is the law of rule, and the US Constitution, which is the rule of law.
 
Choose.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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​
​​Part XIII of XIII
 
“… We were going to summarize.”
“Treasonous acts.”
“And then to Washington to see the smudge.”
“Sounds good.”
“What’d we learn Yank?”
“Look out for people who leave their flank in the air.”
“How’ll that work in DC?”
“Dereliction of duty.”
“That does work.”
“You Reb?”
“Look out for people wasting resources.”
“The batteries.”
“Time.”
“Choir.”
“Cavalry.”
“We are talking about the moves of usurpers.”
“What else Gus?”
“Kyd …”

​

​“… People change.”
“Some might act one way and then differently.”
“Gotta let people come back.”
“Sounds like grace.”
“Grace vigilant.”
“Word.”
“Lots of people in Washington Reb.”
“We’ll fit in.”
“May we see some sights?”
“Imagine so Gus.”
“I never went there and you helped build it.”
“And tried to destroy it.”
“Forgive yourself Reb.”
“On it.”
“Shall we land on the Mall?”
“Up to you.”
“Let’s wing it.”
“Wing it let’s.”
“Up Reb!”
“To Washington!”
 
Next Up: To be determined.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

​​Part VIII of XIII

“… It’s Usurpation Day Johnny.”
“It is Gus.”
“Two hundred and thirty years ago …”
“Keep going.”
“George vetoed a bill.”
“The young nation’s first.”
“Because Congress used the thirty Thousand in Article 1 but dropped the remainder, the fraction.”
“The Constitution says ‘shall not exceed.’”
“And Washington said they did.”
“True.”
“Congress couldn’t override George’s veto?”
“Correct.”
“So then what Johnny?”
“On 9 April 1792, Elbridge Gerry and others voted a new representation bill, one that used thirty-three thousand instead of thirty.”
“A number not in Article 1.”
“Nor one ratified by the states.”
“Making today, 9 April, the usurpation’s date of birth.”
“An end date is needed.”
“Amen Johnny.”
“To the bridge Gus.”
“To the bridge …”

Next Up: 12 April and part IX of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Bridge.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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​
Part X of XIII

“… Happy Constitution Day Yank.”
“Smudge Day Johnny.”
“Yupper.”
“Tell the story again, about how George had the founders put a smudge on the Constitution.”
“I thought you might ask Gus.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
“So you have something prepared?”
“Let me present, Constitution Day 1787.”
“Let’s go Reb.”
“Nowhere to go Yank, as we can story-tell right here.”
“Okay.”
“Conjure and imagine, if you will, the interior of …

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA PA – DAY 17 SEP 1787

GEORGE WASHINGTON (55) is chairing the Constitutional Convention and it is the last day, signing day, 17 September 1787. The hall is full of founders, such as ALEXANDER HAMILTON (30), JAMES MADISON (36), and BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (81); they are all gathered to conclude the convention and begin their journeys home. The (almost) completed Constitution is read aloud as well as a speech written by Franklin. WE HEAR the MURMUR of restive and attentive voices as NATHANIAL GORHAM (49), someone known to all in the room, rises to speak; he is a Massachusetts delegate, Chairman of the Whole during the convention, and Washington acknowledges him from the podium.

WASHINGTON
I see Nathanial, the honorable Mr. Gorham, would like to speak.

GORHAM
Gentlemen, if it is not too late, I would like that the clause declaring, 'the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every forty Thousand,' be reconsidered.

WASHINGTON
You mean the representation clause.

GORHAM
Yes, and since it produced so much discussion, perhaps we should reconsider it.

WASHINGTON
Your proposal?

GORHAM
For a greater representation of the people, I propose we strike out 'forty' Thousand and insert 'thirty' Thousand.

HAMILTON
Agreed!

FRANKLIN
Yes!

Madison nods agreement.

WASHINGTON
(pauses) 
Although my situation has hitherto restrained me from offering sentiments on questions before the convention, and perhaps ought to now –

LAUGHTER. 

I can’t forbear expressing my wish that the change proposed might take place.

HAMILTON
Say more.

WASHINGTON
It is much desired that the objections to the plan recommended might be as few as possible, and the smallness of the proportion of Representatives was considered by many members of the Convention, an insufficient security for the rights and interests of the people.

FRANKLIN
Yes.

WASHINGTON
The representation ratio had always seemed to me to be the exceptionable part of the plan, and late as the present moment was for admitting amendments, I believe it of so much consequence that it would give much satisfaction to see it adopted.

The founders then vote and the change is unanimously accepted. Madison and a clerk make the edit to the Constitution by altering the word 'forty' into 'thirty,' and in doing so leave a smudge.”

“Thanks for The Story of Smudge Day Johnny.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What’s the word on the usurpers and the surrender?”
“Merrick Garland.”
“Who’s that?”
“The Attorney General for We the People.”
“Word is?”
“We’ve asked for support.”
“I like it.”
“Also, there’s some news about Sarah.”
“Berry?”
“Right, …”

Next Up: 1 October and part XI of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Sarah.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner