Category: 'Mericans

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Greenland Gap

7/21/2021

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Kennedy Grogan

Part VIII of XIII

“… Here’s a part of me: Kennedy Grogan, C.S.A.”
“In memory of.”
“Killed at Greenland Gap, West Virginia.”
“Where’s that Johnny?”
“About a hundred miles west.”
“Grogan was killed April 25th, 1863.”
“Aged 20 years.”
“There’s no date of birth.”
“Might have been his birthday.”
“The day a Yank …”
“Right.”
“How’d we get here Johnny?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where ‘Mericans like me are killing ‘Mericans like Grogan.”
“Calhoun.”
“Where’d Calhoun learn usurpin’?”
“Yale.”
“A Northern connection.”
“Still.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Greenland Gap

“What do you know about Greenland Gap?”
“Yanks heard us Rebs were on the move, so they guarded the mountain gaps.”
“Grogan?”
“Why you being so formal?”
“Kenny then.”
“Kenny was riding with about fifteen hundred Confederate cavalry.”
“How many Yanks held the gap?”
“Around ninety.”
“Ninety?”
“Yank infantry fortified a few houses and a two-story, made of oak timbers, German church.”
“Turned it into a fort.”
“We assaulted the church after nightfall.”
“Kenny?”
“His unit, the 35th, was part of the assault.”
“Kenny was killed assaulting a fortified church?”
“Looks like.”
“Hear them crows?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Grumble

“Do.”
“The assault?”
“With the church aflame, and out of ammunition, the Yanks surrendered.”
“Who were the Yanks?”
“Illinois Irish and Virginians who supported the Union.”
“Grogan is Irish.”
“Yes.”
“Irish killing Irish and Virginians killing Virginians.”
“Correct.”
“Got to keep my sense of humor Johnny.”
“We were mad at the surrendered Yanks.”
“What happened?”
“It was becoming a scene until Grumble Jones showed up and put a stop to it.”
“Grumble?”
“The general in charge, a nickname.”
“Grumble said?”
“They fought like brave men and did their duty. They shall have honorable treatment.”
“Let’s step Johnny.”
“Sure …”

Next Up: 21 August and part IX of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Obelisks and Things.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Race

9/17/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank RMH: Race

Happy Constitution Day 'Merica!

Part 1 of 13

“Yo Gus.”
“Reb!”
“What you grinnin’ ‘bout?”
“Had fun.”
“Doing what?”
“Jawin’.”
“So unlike you.”
“Funny Reb’s back.”
“Never left.”
“What have you been up to?”
“You first grinner.”
“Met-a-gent who challenged me Reb.”
“Oh?”
“Spirit, you know, like us.”
“Go on.”
“He sauntered up to me like ‘poof’ and asks me a question.”
“What question?”
“The spirit-gent asked me, ‘How many races are there Yank?’”
“And you said?”
“Who are you?”
“What’d the gent say?”
“He said he was ‘Nobody,’ but he smirked Johnny, so I think he meant he was K-N-O-W body.”
“Knowbody, yes.”
“You know Knowbody?”
“We’ve met Gus.”
“Is Knowbody like us?”
“In its own way; what answer did you give Yank?”
“I said there was only one race, the human race.”
“And?”
“Knowbody grinned.”
“Like you.”
“Maybe so.”
“Nice answer Gus.”
“How ‘bout you Johnny, been reading?”
“Well …”

*Next Up: 18 September and part 2 of Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Tell-Lie-Vision.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

We the People and Usurpation Day 2019

4/9/2019

George Washington's Textbook

Today is Usurpation Day, which first happened on 9 April 1792, when the US House of Representatives broke their word and usurped a power not granted by law.

What created that usurpation moment was President Washington’s first veto, which was also the first veto ever under our Constitution.

President Washington, being a surveyor and Freemason, knew numbers; he also knew the Constitution, which he helped write, and which clearly states: “shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand” (Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3).

What shall not exceed thirty Thousand? That would be the number of Representatives due a state for its enumeration.

In the first attempt to use the enumeration, Congress sent President Washington a bill that dropped the fraction; if a state had thirty Thousand and one, they were due, according to the phrase “shall not exceed,” another Representative. Instead, Congress dropped the fraction and did not give certain states another Representative.

Washington vetoed the bill.

The House of Representatives, unable to override President Washington’s veto, passed a new bill for representation on 9 April 1792, the first usurpation law, and used a divisor of “thirty-three” Thousand for representation instead.

President Washington also knew of the Bill of Rights and its Article the first, the one about moving said representation ratio to forty and then fifty Thousand. Washington either let the new representation bill become law without signing it, or signed it knowing he had made his point and believing this issue would be resolved with the passage of Article the first: this has yet to happen.

Washington was a creator of We the People and the idea of representing ourselves according to numbers. Twenty-twenty is the next enumeration. Why not now ‘Merica? Why not you? Time we did it, time to count the people, divide by thirty Thousand like George taught, and see what We the People really look like … according to numbers.

*Next Up: 9 May and a 2020 We the People update.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner
~.~
“Those who toy with life never attain mastery. Self-discipline and courageous contemplation are necessary steps to understanding. However, do not become overzealous and drill yourself into the ground.”

From Brian Browne Walker’s The I Ching or Book of Changes: A Guide to Life’s Turning Points (1992)

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Truckin’

3/1/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Truckin'

Part X of XIII

“… Still playing Gus.”
“Folksy tune.”
“Grateful as well.”
“An intersection.”
“It is.”
“What do you call those things?”
“Horse-less carriages.”
“The crows call’em trucks.”
“Right.”
“Yup.”
“The crows are correct.”
“In the song Reb.”
“Yeah.”
“Why they getting their doors kicked-in?”
“Another war Gus.”
“Sounds like ‘Mericans, you know, in all them cities.”
“True.”
“Lightin’ issues, travelin’ tired, tryin’ souls …”
“… Sounds like kin.”
“Does.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Trippin'

“Look at George Gus.”
“What?”
“That’s older George.”
“Not Winchester George.”
“Right.”
“George had a strange trip.”
“Kept on truckin’ though.”
“Doubt he knew in the beginning what kind of trip it would be.”
“Just like us.”
“Just like We the People.”
“Agreed.”
“That song sings about gettin’ goin’.”
“‘Out the door and down the street.’”
“When did George get to Winchester?”
"Gus, there’s young George over there.”
“Don’t George joke Reb.”
“I ain’t.”
“Well …”

Next Up: 8 March 2019 and part XI of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Survey.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere On Our Way: Touching Elbows

1/11/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank SOOW: Touching Elbows

Part III of XIII

“… You’d know the type Gus.”
“Says Captain Downs was in the 4th NY Infantry.”
“A New York volunteer regiment.”
“I understand that.”
“Downs was leading a company in the regiment on 17 September.”
“Tough job Johnny.”
“An elected one.”
“That’s mostly how volunteer officers were chosen.”
“Elected by the soldiers.”
“When did Downs join?”
“After Fort Sumter.”
“First-to-fight kind of guy.”
“Started as a lieutenant.”
“Downs was promoted.”
“He was.”
“What happened here Reb?”
“The 4th NY was at the Sunken Road.”
“Soon to be Bloody Lane.”
“The 4th was in the first assault.”
“The first assault got cut down.”
“True.”
“An infantry officer like Downs would’ve been keeping his soldiers in-line, in formation.”
“Touching elbows.”
“What about Chapman Reb?”
“Similar to Downs.”
“A 4th New Yorker.”
“Volunteered after Fort Sumter.”
“Promoted?”
“From sergeant.”
“Johnny, …”

Next Up: 18 January 2019 and part IV of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere On Our Way: Comrades.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Somewhere On Our Way: Juneteenth

6/19/2018

Juneteenth

1 of 13

“Hey Gus.”
“Hey Johnny.”
“It’s Juneteenth 2018.”
“Sounds like something?”
“It’s the last day American slaves learned they were free, 19 June 1865.”
“Where at?”
“Texas.”
“I have some memories Reb.”
“Good to know.”
“I see them.”
“Freed slaves?”
“We called ‘em ‘Darkies.'”
“Because they had a light?”
“You’re being kind Johnny, though maybe; mostly I remember more joy than I ever saw.”
“Right.”
“Joyous eyes.”
“Freedom is something Gus.”
“You saw it too?”
“Of course.”
“What did you see?”
“A slave would rarely make eye contact, and only out of respect.”
“After?”
“Let’s refer to ‘em as ‘the newly freed citizens.'”
“‘Mericans too.”
“Correct. The newly freed ‘Mericans had a light, a way out, out of bondage.”
“Hard to put that light out once you have it Reb.”
“True words Yank …”

Next Up: Part 2 on 22 June of the summer series Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Somewhere On Our Way: Antietam Crows.

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

We the People and Others: What Would Jesus Do… Deport the Catholics?

3/1/2018

Romans 12:17-21, The Book of the Is (page 40)

Reductio ad absurdum

Sure, the Jesus reference in the title is absurd, but there are defining similarities between Jesus and the Dreamers: because of their parents, both were born somewhere and then live somewhere else.

A Roman Immigration Officer might have asked Jesus some interesting questions, like:
“Who is your father?”
“Immaculate conception?”
“Where is your papyrus showing a Bethlehem birth?"
“You say ‘Three Wise Men’ were witnesses?”
“And what kind of work are you doing in Nazareth these days?”

Or one could read Romans for a Jesus-inspired Christ-like teaching that a constitutional We the People might try to enact; others, Martin Luther for example, have found inspiration and reverence in Paul’s counsel.

There is also the parable Jesus told about The Good Samaritan: this parable supports The Great Commandment (how one should live).

So what would Jesus do?

The teachings of Jesus are a political goal not represented by usurpation. Something like “The Good ‘Merican,” given the Great Commandment, seems the logical goal of a Christian United States of America. By representing We the People in Congress according to numbers, that is, by the law, we would find out what Jesus-inspired ‘Mericans would do … good and/or otherwise.

*Next Up: 9 April and Usurpation Day 2018, Ex Falso Quodlibet / From a Falsehood, Anything (Follows).

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

2020 Update: Movement

2/1/2018

Movement 2020

Movement is a noun.

1. An act of changing physical location or position or of having this changed.

2. A group of people working together to advance their shared political, social and artistic values.

*Next Up: A commentary on 1 March, We the People and Others: What Would Jesus Do… Deport the Catholics?

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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

12/10/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Boys

XI of XIII

“Now that was some music Reb.”
“Thought you might like that.”
“I did, and I think The Boys here did too.”
“The Boys?”
“Adult Johnnies were all young once, right?”
“Right.”
“I thought I heard some sniffling is what I mean.”
“Memories.”
“Me too.”
“And it was a bit misty Gus.”
“Yes … a bit misty.”
“People from the past gave us a remembrance.”
“The monument?”
“Right.”
“It looks old.”
“Put up after the war.”
“We’re in West Virginia.”
“We are.”
“This monument worked.”
“In a ‘lest we forget’ kind of way?”
“More in a ‘made me remember’ kind of way.”
“About?”
“Let’s visit one of The Boys from Antietam first.”
“Sure ~ step this way.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Doctor

“Doctor?”
“Dr. William S. Parran.”
“Husband too.”
“Yes.”
“‘Born July 5th 1835, Killed at Sharpsburg, September 17th 1862.’”
“Antietam.”
“Look at his age.”
“Young.”
“A 27 year-old doctor.”
“Making me remember Gus.”
“The other day it was all about deserters and cowards Reb.”
“I know.”
“We didn’t mention doctors and martyrs.”
“We didn’t.”
“Mrs. Parran stood here.”
“Easy to imagine.”
“Just ‘cuz the war ended, that wouldn’t mean Mrs. Parran thought-less of her William.”
“Of course not.”
“Or that he wasn’t a martyr to a cause.”
“I hear ya.”
“Before, by the monument, I was thinking of the Confederate Dead as ‘Merican Dead too (or as well).”
“Makes sense.”
“How do The Boys feel about that?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat 'Mericans

“The Boys would like to hear an example from the Yank.”
“Sure: will The Doctor do?”
“Yes.”
“So we all know things fell into civil war in April 1861.”
“Go on.”
“And The Doctor here died 17 months into the war.”
“He did.”
“So 17 months in rebellion, let’s say, and 25 years living under usurpation.”
“It takes time to create a Doc Parran.”
“I was thinking something like that too Reb.”
“Meaning someone born under the laws of the United States of America …”
“… Was killed by the laws of the Usurped States of America.”
“Indeed.”
“The Doctor was as unrepresented as you, me and –”
“– The Boys.”
“They agree?”
“It wasn’t a yell, but it was a solid yes.”
“I’m sort-of-glad they didn’t yell Reb.”
“Me too Yank.”
“What’s next?”
“Another Johnny to visit.”
“Who?”
“The most complicated Johnny I know.”
“Let’s go then.”
“This way Yank.”
“With ya Reb …”

*Next Up: Sunday 17 December and Thereat part XII, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Mysteries.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner