Category: - Bryan William Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: 1756

2/15/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: 17

Part VIII of XIII

“… Oops!”
“Sign’s making sense now.”
“Sort of Johnny.”
“Like the Somewhere cannon Gus.”
“For show.”
“Not action.”
“We in Winchester?”
“Think so.”
“The sign mentions George.”
“Defending Fort Loudoun.”
“Twenty-years before becoming a revolutionary.”
“Subject George.”
“What’s a Loudoun?”
“Earl.”
“Never heard of no ‘Earl Loudoun.’”
“An Earl like a Duke Gus.”
“Courtly?”
“Right.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: 56

“Why we here Johnny?”
“Learn.”
“What?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“The journey shows itself?”
“Yes.”
“Why we out of season Reb?”
“Might not be us out of season Gus.”
“Who then?”
“We the People maybe.”
“How?”
“Taboo.”
“Taboo?”
“A thing you can’t discuss.”
“Reb, We the People ain’t taboo.”
“That’s the out of season part.”
“Glad it’s just a while.”
“With ya on that.”
“Look, another sign Johnny …”

Next Up: 22 February 2019 and part IX of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Washington’s Office.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Constitution Day 2018: Webs and Ways and Knowing

9/17/2018

Webs and Ways and Knowing

On 17 September 1787, everyone in the room knew the meaning of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.”

Alexander Hamilton knew.

Dude named Benjamin Franklin knew.

James Madison, he knew.

George Washington knew, as the “thirty” was a wish of his.

The founders, all 39 of them, knew what they were signing on that September day.

Three dissenters knew too, as they withheld their signatures because of what they didn’t want to sign.

The Constitution was then sent to and ratified by all 13 independent states, so they all knew.

What did they know?

They knew that “We the People” was a constitutionally created way, one recreated every ten years.

They also knew that along that way there would be webs.

Webs are things that snare.

To avoid webs, stay on the way, the We the People way.

Happy Constitution Day All!

*Next Up: A 2020 political theory update on 10 October, Locke, Madison and Dahl.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Usurpation Day 2018: Ex Falso Quodlibet / From a Falsehood, Anything (Follows)

4/9/2018

We the People

Willis and Millie

The phrase ex falso quodlibet / from a falsehood, anything (follows), is known as the “principle of explosion” because it blows-up (makes trivial) how true and false work.

The book Farm Boy by Archie Lieberman (1974) depicts my maternal grandparents, Willis and Mildred (Evans) Hammer, as they farmed and raised a family. I’m pretty sure Willis and Millie didn’t know any Latin other than what they learned in Bible study; they would have understood “from a falsehood, anything (follows)” though, and even taught a similar lesson: two wrongs don’t make a right.

There are two great wrongs involving We the People and the usurpation of representation according to numbers. The first involves the usurpation that happened 9 April 1792, when, in response to President Washington’s veto of the first bill sent from Congress regarding the enumeration (census of 1790) and representation, the House of Representatives usurped a shall; the House ignored Washington’s veto and the constitutional ratio of "one for every thirty Thousand" and passed a number more likeable to the usurpers: one for every 33,000.

Veritas

The original constitutional ex falso quodlibet may appear small and perhaps harmless, but consider this: it created the conditions for the second great usurpation, the one that began in 1920. With women getting the vote and other social disruptions within the WW1 era, the House of 1920 did something extraordinary for the second great wrong: nothing. Since the first usurpation, Congress had at least kept using a number, they just kept increasing the ratio in favor of the usurpers; instead of using the census as intended, the counting of We the People for representation, the 1920 House openly ignored Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of our Constitution. It wasn’t until 1929, with the next decennial enumeration looming, that a law was passed setting House representation at 435, regardless of number, thus counteracting the definition of We the People.

Things tend to end as they began. The original usurpation of 9 April 1792 was a fill-in-the-blank moment; the bill was prepared with a blank left for a number and then the usurpers wrote in 33,000. We the People might follow a similar plan, one of mimicry; the 1792 usurpers read the Constitution and acted with pen and paper: nowadays, it feels like We the People are beginning to do the same thing.

Veritas.

*Next Up: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb begin a summer series on Juneteenth 2018, Somewhere On Our Way.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Now

11/26/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat On

IX of XIII

“Talking about Mosby helped Reb.”
“How so Gus?”
“Me getting to know the lay of the land around Berryville.”
“Good.”
“Is Snicker’s Gap for real?”
“For real.”
“And you talked with a different ease Johnny.”
“Right.”
“You even used ‘we.’”
“When describing the raid?”
“Yes.”
“I felt that.”
“It sounded right.”
“Yeah?”
“Sounded like you.”
“How so?”
“On.”
“Had to be.”
“You were Reb.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Our

“Those were desperate days Yank.”
“Perseverance was a trait George Washington admired.”
“Indeed.”
“Johnny Reb persevered.”
“I hear ya.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“Not all Johnnies persevered Gus.”
“Deserters.”
“That, and stragglers, feigned-sickers and cowards.”
“Complicated.”
“Always been that way Yank.”
“It’s our strength then.”
“Say more.”
“You, being complicated, that makes our work stronger.”
“’Our work' needs a name Gus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Way

“Sure does.”
“Operation ‘Journeying to End the Representation Usurpation’ doesn’t flow so well.”
“Agreed.”
“Got one in mind?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s work on that on the road.”
“You sound ready Reb?”
“I think so.”
“Whatcha’ thinking?”
“About making a stop or two before Berryville?”
“In for that.”
“I want to visit some Johnny Rebs.”
“Sure.”
“You with.”
“With you.”
“Nice … Then let’s go Gus.”
“Where are the Rebs?”
“Near those railroad tracks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.”
“Alright!”
“We’ll rally there.”
“Up now Johnny?”
“Up now.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Now

“Woohoo Reb!”
“Woohoo Yank!”
“Up we go!”
“Us and We the People!”

*Next Up: Sunday 3 December and Thereat part X, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Johnny Rebs.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Toast Them Hemp Seeds For Hempoween

10/31/2017

Toasted Hemp Seeds for Hempoween

Two hundred and fifty-two years ago today, on 31 October 1765, George Hempington celebrated the first documented Hempoween. The farmer and his slaves had harvested 152 bushel of hemp seed; after milling the seed to collect the oil, George writes of his celebratory actions in his farm journal:

“31 October: Finished sowing Wheat in Hemp Ground at Rivr. Plantn. & plowed in a good deal of shattered Hemp Seed – 27 Bushls. in all 152.”

That, my friends, is a traditional Hempoween celebration: the scattering of shattered hemp seeds on your field (or garden) as a fertilizer for the next season.

There are also many more modern ways to enjoy your hemp products this Hempoween: one that was new to me is toasted hemp seeds. I purchased the little delicacies (see picture above) at a regular grocery store in the Midwest – nothing fancy, and no special license or doctor’s note was needed.

I did leave the original bag of toasted seeds with some hippies (burners really), and I don’t expect to see the treats again; you see, they are quite yummy toasted and I know what to expect when one leaves a bag of hemp products around burners.

So toast them hemp seeds this year while you are celebrating Hempoween, and perhaps even give a shout out of remembrance to George, his wife Artha, and the slaves who made it all possible.

Here’s to a happy – and toasted – Hempoween for all!

*Next Up: Sunday 5 November and a pamphlet release, Three Liminal Dialogues on Serotonin, Mosby and Luther.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Problems

10/8/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Leadership

IV of XIII

“… Leadership I suppose Gus.”
“Always a problem.”
“Yes.”
“Why is leadership the problem for We the People now Johnny?”
“A new amendment to the Constitution by 2020 seems unlikely.”
“Sure.”
“Thus We the People are shortening the time for dialogue.”
“Deliberation.”
“So We the People are quickly moving toward only two paths to 2020.”
“The Constitution’s thirty Thousand.”
“And Article the first.”
“Which would complete the Bill of Rights and amend the representation ratio to 50,000.”
“There is a leadership vacuum Gus.”
“Time solves that problem.”
“Mostly.”
“I’m thinking of which path would be best Reb? The narrow or wider one?”
“Wider was George’s wish.”
“Becuz’ 30,000 better represents We the People than 50,000.”
“It’s a ratio.”
“More We the People, not less.”
“George would agree.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Grandpas

“Where’d Cat go?”
“What Cat?”
“The Cat?”
“You say you saw a Cat Gus?”
“You know we did.”
“So Cat was a sign?”
“If in 2020 We the People are represented according to numbers, like the Constitution states, one for every thirty Thousand, then yes, Cat was a sign.”
“Done.”
“So where did Cat go Reb?”
“The Good Lord giveth …”
“… And the Good Lord taketh away.”
“We had the same grandpas.”
“I think so too.”
“Or at least they were reading the same book.”
“There was only one book Reb.”
“There are a lot more now Gus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Learnings

“I imagine so.”
“Lots more.”
“Do we have to read them?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Others have already done so.”
“So we can use their knowledge, their learnings?”
“Right.”
“Sounds convenient.”
“It is overwhelming.”
“How so?”
“Too much clutter Gus.”
“We the People can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“Just like that.”
“So the way forward …”
“… Is to step back.”
“Back into constitutionalism.”
“Back into constitutionalism.”
“We got this Reb.”
“Agreed Yank.”

*Next Up: Sunday 22 October and Thereat part V, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way A Gain.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Happy Constitution Day

9/17/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Happy

I of XIII

“Here Gus.”
“This is On Our Way Reb.”
“Thereat.”
“Where’s Virginia?”
“There.”
“Ahead of us.”
“Directly.”
“So this is a threshold moment?”
“For We the People.”
“Good for us.”
“Might be what Morgan meant.”
“Our Teamster’s ‘What are you two doing?’ moment?”
“That one.”
“Asking two citizens what the hell they be fighting about.”
“Right.”
“We ‘Mericans.”
“We are.”
“We’re not … what are the people called who take rights not granted in the Constitution?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Constitution

“Usurpers.”
“We’re not Usurpecans.”
“Usurpecan: an American citizen who supports the usurpation.”
“That.”
“It’s Constitution Day Gus.”
“Nice: must be about 230 years ‘eh?”
“Yes.”
“We can also call it Smudge Day.”
“That’s right, thanks to George.”
“Did he just tell’em to make the change Johnny, and they made it – changing the ‘forty’ in forty Thousand to ‘thirty’ in thirty Thousand?”
“It was a request.”
“And the vote?”
“Unanimous.”
“Then they made the change and left the smudge.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Day

“Yes.”
“Nice of George to do that.”
“Strengthened We the People.”
“That and leaving us some physical evidence.”
“The smudge is in Washington DC Gus.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe that’s where we go after Berryville?”
“Us in DC: I like your thinking Reb.”
“First though we have to get back to Virginia.”
“Threshold you said.”
“Yes I did.”
“Happy Constitution Day Johnny.”
“Happy Constitution Day Gus.”

*Next Up: Sunday 24 September and Thereat part II, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way ‘Mericans.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

2020: In High Spirits, a Seven-Twenty Preamble

7/19/2017

The twenty dollar right in the US Constitution, Amendment VII

One gathers what another spills /
We the People /
Show some spirit /
For constitutionalism /
For the law that makes We the People We the People /
Every ten years

If you care to, ask yourself what you are doing for We the People? What part are you playing?

If the answer is nothing (no part) and that’s okay with you, then okay.

If the answer is nothing and that’s not okay, then do something to support the Constitution, our supreme law and the thing that makes us We the People, constitutionally reborn every ten years (enumeration / census).

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and the 7th Amendment are numerical avenues of approach for those of constitutional spirit ~ a spirit for constitutionalism. One could start by asking representatives (at all levels) if they support the US Constitution; they’ll say yes, of course, so then ask them the next question, the one about representing We the People by the “thirty Thousand” ratio or the one about the twenty dollars in the 7th Amendment: that will begin a conversation. If they support constitutionalism they are obliged (by citizenship and law) to help; if they don’t help, then they aren’t supporting the Constitution. If you don’t support the US Constitution, are you even still American? If so, how?

The representation usurpation ends when We the People want it to: if not now, what more do We need to see?

The Preamble, where our ideals are shown in high spirits and fulfillment waiting, is a We the People rally point; it reads like a dream, perhaps a dream we need to dream again …

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Tomorrow is 7/20; perhaps make a moment for Amendment VII, establishing Justice and insuring domestic Tranquility; read something, share something, or discuss with someone the implications of such a right hiding in plain sight (in the US Bill of Rights) and nearly 100 percent ignored.

For ourselves and our Posterity.

*Next Up: Friday 11 August and some receptor science ~ The Neurotransmitter Acetylcholine: Tobacco (Nicotine) Soldiers Soldiering.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

2020: Virtual Representation and the People

6/21/2017

“Regulations Lately Made Concerning the Colonies”

The lead-in was the title for a 1765 British Empire executive order concerning the colonies; this would have pertained to all colonies, not just the North American ones.

The regulations stated: “All British subjects … are virtually represented in Parliament; for every member of Parliament sits in the House, but as one of that august Assembly by which all the Commons of England are represented.”

So Virginians with names beginning with George, Thomas and James, for example, should give thanks that they were virtually represented in Parliament by a British commoner (which defines them as colonial commoners). There was no need for someone from Virginia, or any other colony, according to the Crown, to actually be in Parliament; the point being that Washington, Jefferson and Madison were being “virtually represented” by other commoners in England.

The 1765 regulations continued: “The colonies and all British subjects whatever, have an equal share in the general representation of the Commons of Great Britain, and are bound by the consent of the majority of that House, whether their own particular representatives consented to or opposed the measures there taken, or whether they had or had not particular representatives there.” (Italics added.)

One can see the political seeds of No Taxation Without Representation in the last part of that regulation – “whether they had or had not particular representatives there” – and the seeds of rebellion as well.

Virtual representation was Crown representation.

*Next Up: Wednesday 28 June and a 2020: Putin Knows. For further reading see Section 3 of Chapter 1, “Revolution – a sovereignty of the people,” in Article the first of the Bill of Rights (2006).

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Constitutional Solutions

3/19/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW One

Part 13 of 13

“What happens next Reb?”
“Forward.”
“I mean for We the People?”
“Forward.”
“Specifically.”
“There are constitutional solutions Gus.”
“Amendment.”
“For sure.”
“Amend what though?”
“The representation ratio in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3.”
“It’s 2017.”
“Yes.”
“So 2020 is the next Enumeration.”
“Correct.”
“If Congress is going to make amends, they have to get started.”
“True: Article 1 certainly does not say Congress can set its own number of representatives for We the People.”
“That’s our birthright.”
“And that’s the usurpation.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Two

“How many constitutional solutions are there Johnny?”
“Three.”
“So amend the representation ratio from thirty Thousand to a new number is one way.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“Completing the original Bill of Rights.”
“That sounds appealing.”
“Of course.”
“What does completing the Bill of Rights mean?”
“States voting for Article the first.”
“Okay.”
“Article the first would raise the ratio from thirty Thousand to fifty Thousand.”
“What’s its status?”
“Available.”
“Meaning?”
“Something like 27 states would have to pass it to become law.”
“Sounds easier than a new representation ratio.”
“It would be, and it would complete part of our founding.”
“The Bill of Rights.”
“Yes.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Three

“What’s the third constitutional solution Reb?”
“Honor our founding and the founders’ creation, We the People.”
“By using the thirty Thousand in 2020.”
“That’s it.”
“And it got this way because of George?”
“He put the thirty Thousand in the Constitution.”
“Washington did?”
“It was forty Thousand until the last day of the Convention.”
“Then George ordered the change?”
“No, he requested it.”
“Okay.”
“They made the change on the spot.”
“Left their mark ‘eh?”
“Left a smudge on the Constitution.”
“Metaphor.”
“Appears so.”
“What day did George smudge our Constitution?”
“Seventeen September 1787.”
“Constitution Day.”
“Forward is as easy as one, two three Gus.”
“Johnny, we should shine some light on representation.”
“Indeed.”

*Next Up: 4 April and some spring and summer thoughts. Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb will begin again 17 September 2017 in Part II of Republican Values: On Our Way.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner