sixteen and dumb; adult and dumber

First off, a long overdue sincere apology to Dad for what I am about to write. Well, way back when, in a time long forgotten, my first car was a Dodge Challenger. It was equipped with a manual transmission three-speed, 318 cubic inch small block engine, sporting an Edelbrock “torquer” intake manifold, including a Holley four-barrel carb with vacuum actuated secondaries, headers and “glass pack” mufflers. For me, the feeling of power was unmistakable when those two back venturis kicked in and the vacuum created started sucking even more fuel as I watched the gas gauge go down almost as fast as the tachometer went through its arc. As I breathed in each moment of clutch dumping, bang shifting shifts, engine screaming revs working to approach red line, with the tires smoking, and once they gained traction, the excitement of being pinned to the seat, every stoplight became a Christmas tree. For my first car and only having driven small cars prior, I thought that car was the baddest of the bad, until…

Well, in drag racing parlance, there’s an adage: There’s no replacement for displacement. The larger the diameter of the lungs (cylinders), hence big block engine, the more horsepower one could gain. Then torque, yes, throw in mountains of that as well. Except, a big block was bone crushing heavy, good for straight lines only, making a car’s ability to turn right or left with one in the engine bay extremely difficult. And with all that weight sitting on top of the steering, a car wanted to understeer, whereby pushing straight through, unable to execute a turn. So, in road racing, think balance, because when it’s all weighted to one end, making turns requires slower speed and a tremendous amount of expertise to maintain overall control. But, in drag racing, its straight line, one quarter mile at a time forward momentum. Hold on, keep it straight and don’t spin the tires, big block kingdom. Well, like everything else in life, I learned the hard way, believing my 318 could drag race. It couldn’t.

Now, there was a downside to my upside of serendipitous driving. Think of the learning curve of tickets, spending untold sums of hard-earned money fixing everything that continuously broke (clutches mainly), drag racing from stop lights, and Friday night warning flashlights at the end of a quarter mile watching for cars coming from the opposite direction while drag racing on a local FM (farm to market) road outside San Antonio. Every aspect of my desire to go fast showcasing a lack of good behavior. At sixteen, driving my first car, who cared, I wasn’t hurting anyone, right?

Which brings me to Article III/Section 1 of the Constitution: The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Except, what deems good behavior in relation to judges, or more so, our legislators (even though this article/section does not apply to them)? Conversely, should good behavior even matter? And constitutionally, it is the only requisite for a judge to keep their position on the bench. Only, who determines whether a judge is acting in good behavior? Is it those who are currently desirous of destroying the tenets of the Constitution? Or those who only follow the dictates of party power? Do WE THE PEOPLE bear any responsibility? Or in light of party politics, does anyone even believe things are off-balance in cases taking place at the Federal level? Or, based on party affiliation, if the other side is destroyed, all is good? Well, in retrospect, the Framers believed: The standard of good behavior for the continuance in office of the judicial magistracy, is certainly one of the most valuable of the modern improvements in the practice of government. In a monarchy it is an excellent barrier to the despotism of the prince; in a republic it is a no less excellent barrier to the encroachments and oppressions of the representative body. And it is the best expedient which can be devised in any government, to secure a steady, upright, and impartial administration of the laws (Federalist 78).

The key word being: Impartial. But what denotes impartiality? Take the two recent Supreme Court rulings. One, I believe, was constitutional (against Colorado), the other, not (against Texas), remembering: A Constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law (Federalist 78). In other words: any law, act, or decision implemented must find its root in the powers delegated by the Constitution. Only, who really knows truth from lie if they never bother to learn the basics: … the general liberty of the people can never be endangered from that quarter; I mean so long as the Judiciary remains truly distinct from both the Legislature and the Executive (Federalist 78). Except, I believe those words were/are never considered. Trust me, none of what is taking place today is new. Go back to 1803 and Marbury versus Madison: Secretary of State John Marshall is appointed Supreme Court Justice John Marshall at the upending of party power which held the power before the dethroned party exited office. In the process of hands being played afterwards, instead of recusing himself, Marshall rules in the “landmark decision” he was complicit in. The play was John Adams (Federalist), the outgoing president, and the antagonist working to keep the incoming president, Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican), from being able to enact legislation if passed through numerous newly appointed Federalist judges. But Marshall and Adams failed in handing out all the appointments before their time was up. Even Congress had flipped to a majority of Democratic-Republicans from Federalists. Every ounce played out: party politics. Only, their attempt to subvert future legislation was actually constitutional (Article III/Section 1). Sound familiar? Oh, and the “landmark decision,” in truth was pre-ordained by the Framers. The decision was a self-protection against impeachment for John Marshall. Ask yourself, did Marshall follow the tenets of good behavior?

So, think of every other instance where the Supreme Court has ruled on cases that were never in their purview or constitutional by nature. More so, Congress, and its ability to legislate. Or the Executive, and the use of executive orders, only there is no such mention of that supposed power in the Constitution. Two examples being marriage and immigration, both being congressionally out of bounds constitutionally. And none of this is rocket science no matter how one attempts to make it. Think of laws being three-thousand pages in length; obfuscation. Now, there was a point in time, when I believed the Civil Rights Act was going to be the death knell of our country. And even though it remains a dangerous aspect to the politics being played, a death event happening before our very eyes is the allowed surge of illegal aliens pouring into the country by the executive and legislative. And there is a reason and purpose for it, only, WE THE PEOPLE will suffer the consequences of our apathy, believing party gives a damn about country. Neither do, they’re about power.

Now, to close, going back to my youth, it took a while, but I learned some right from wrong, because I still like to drive fast. Although, when it came to my 318, I also discovered it was a “smog motor.” But Dodge did have the 340, while Chevrolet had their small block, and produced so many variations, my favorite was the 302. And Ford, they had the 289 hi po. Even Carroll Shelby used Ford’s little beast of an engine to win America’s one and only world championship in auto racing. But big blocks being big, Shelby and company ultimately shoehorned one into their little race car and dubbed it the Shelby 427. Only, the first Cobra they used as a test bed, they nicknamed it: The turd! So, to this day, even though the government is working assiduously to destroy our right to own an internal combustion engine, I’ve never surrendered my love for the small block V-8. I believe they are the embodiment of power, drivability, economy, and sound. Perfection on a scale unmatchable. The key being: Small!

Which brings up another perspective: Didn’t the Framers envision small, limited government? Yet here we are with a government, the behemoth of a monstrosity unable to move forward. The antithesis of original intent. And unlike the big block engine of yore that struggled to turn, things today have become so heavily weighted to party, the only turns possible are through an understeering attempt to go only left or right, making this thing we call America: a “turd.” But even in the small government the Framers advocated for, in the desire for one’s Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness, one must understand: Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, than whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers (Federalist 2). So, like the old: Stop, drop, and roll, think: Stop, learn, and listen. Because America is on fire, and if WE THE PEOPLE do not wake up now, and stop thinking with half-brain syndrome, well, who cares, it’s their fault, right. If we only bothered to understand the truth of the Constitution.