Stare Decisis

and also Starry Starry Night

I have been thinking of this Latin phrase all week because it is obvious no one else has been. In fact, the Roberts’ Court seems to delight in contorting itself to avoid it. So stare decisis means basically to follow precedent in law, which allowed those of us who fought so hard for reproductive rights in the 60’s and 70’s to breathe a sigh of relief when Roe v. Wade was made the law of the land. We are now still reeling at the despicable overturn of that settled law.

But in researching the term, I also came across Vincent Van Gogh and his wonderful painting of The Starry Night. Which then led me to the prolific and talented Don McLean, who is my age and still performing, and his haunting song Vincent from his American Pie album. I never knew that Van Gogh had painted that imaginary scene from the window of an asylum nor that he had killed himself at 37. Nowadays we can research almost anything at all but perhaps some things are best left unknown.

Another memory is haunting me. That of the Great Hall at The Cooper Union in New York City. It is still very much a place being used for speeches of all kinds, but it is famous in part for the speech that Abraham Lincoln made there in 1860 before he became president. He spoke eloquently for about two hours to make his case that slavery should not be extended to the new territories. His assertion that “right makes might” is in total opposition to the disgusting slimeball Miller spouting the opposite. Those of us on the side of Abraham Lincoln in this instance believe that “moral correctness and justice ultimately prevail over brute force” as my trusty phone defines it.

And this brings my musings to a close with the ridiculous sentiment uttered by our current president in a sit-down with reporters from The New York Times. He claims that only his “morality” will stop him. I honestly think he misspoke and really meant that it would be his mortality. He wants to be Dear Leader until death. But not if enough of us stand firm against him.

I’m preparing to go downtown at 11 o’clock for our “ICE OUT FOR GOOD” protest at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument here in New London, Connecticut. We know all about traitors!

RESIST ALWAYS

TTFN