SUICIDE, WINTER SPORTS AND THE CONSTITUTION; ALL DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE

Reading the news this morning I was taken with the utter absurdity of world events.  This, of course, does not come as surprise, as the same can be said on any given day but some days are more of a head shaker than others.

A young Pennsylvania man attempted to take his own life Tuesday morning.  That in itself is a depressing news story but the real kicker is that he tried it twice and failed both times.  First, he jumped out of a moving vehicle that was taking him to work onto the interstate and, not getting the results that he anticipated, tried another attempt thirty minutes later, this time walking out into the path of an eighteen-wheeler.  The driver was able to avoid striking the man but caused him to be knocked out of his shoes.  The unsuccessful young man then grabbed his shoes, slid down a hillside and walked to work.  He has since been flown to a Pittsburgh hospital. I wonder why!

Think twice before riding a zorb.  Two friends were enjoying a day of winter sports at a ski resort in mountainous and rugged southern Russia when a decision was made to take a ride down the slope inside a zorb, which is a transparent plastic ball equipped with harnesses. The men were harnessed in and then released down the hill.  The ball veered off its intended path and eventually went over a ledge and fell into a gorge.  They were rescued by skiers who were able to pull them back up the hill but, one of the men died, the other suffered injuries but will recover.  The zorb supplier said that the resort was at fault for not having a safe location for the zorb run.  By the way, zorbing is usually done on grass.

Vice President Biden is meeting today with various anti-gun organizations such as the Brady group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the like.  Don’t worry; I will spend plenty of time defending gun rights.  One important point he has brought up is that executive action would be involved in the plan for gun control.  Although the Constitution isn’t explicit regarding executive orders, it leaves enough grey area to allow a president to make laws without the approval of Congress and to change the substance of existing laws.

An executive order side-steps any checks and balances that were put in place by the founders of our government.  It has been used and sometimes abused since 1789 in this country.  Some presidents rarely made use of the order and others seemed fonder of the privilege and used it repeatedly.  I found it interesting that Jimmy Carter reformed the Intelligence community and banned assassination in 1978. Gerald Ford, not thinking as broadly and far reaching, I guess, had banned only political assassination in 1976.  Truman prohibited racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in the Armed Forces and Bill Clinton directed Federal Agencies to respect the constitutional right of states with executive order 13132 in 1999.

We Americans have not traveled far from our roots.  Most of us have a hard time swallowing orders.  If our ancestors hadn’t felt the need for self government and the rights of freedom, we very well might not be living here but instead existing under a different type of government; one where our lives might be dictated to.  Once the checks and balances that were thoughtfully put in place to stop any part of our government from taking away our rights no longer exist, what do we have left?

Sharon