The sky's the limit...

   I suppose just about everything has a limit, but we don't always have a clear understanding as to what that limit might be. I spent a lot of time in my formative years pushing my mother toward hers, but I usually managed to stop my offending behavior whenever she warned me that she had "just about reached her limit". While I didn't know exactly where that limit was, I credit my existence today to heeding that early warning.

  Back at Millville Grade School, my old buddy Stinky Wilmont used to tell stories about his Uncle Pug. Apparently Pug knew his limit when it came to drinking whiskey, but he always passed out before he reached it.

    The posted speed limit in front of my house is 55 miles per hour, but I think most people tend to set their own limits when they go by. Most people's limit is a little faster than that. Once in awhile I venture away from Hagerstown and end up on some interstate highway around or through some big city. They have speed limits posted there, too, but I've about decided those are just suggested minimums.

  There was a time, not too many years ago, when most people believed our government had some limits on it. We were told that the Constitution put those limits in place, and controlled what the government could and couldn't do. While that may have been the intention, it certainly hasn't been the outcome.

   Recently the Supreme Court ruled that the government had the power to fine you for not buying a product it has directed you to buy.  (Of course, the government has always had the power to arrest you and put you in jail if you decide not to pay a fine.) In this particular case, the product is health insurance, but there is no stipulation in the ruling to prevent the government from applying it to any product it chooses. Without limit.

 Our government also has the power and authority to tax anything we already own. While the amount of that tax may currently be at 1%, or 3%, or 7%, or 15%, depending on just what is being taxed, there is nothing to keep the government from increasing those percentages to 2,6,14, or 30%. Or 4, 12, 28, or 60%. The fact that the percentages aren't that high yet doesn't mean they have reached the limit. It simply means the government hasn't raised them that high. Yet.

  As a nation, we now exist under the policies of the National Defense Authorization Act,  which gives the government the authority to arrest any United States citizen without a warrant, to imprison them without a trial, or to have them killed if the government deems it necessary. We also have the National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order hanging over our heads, which allows the president and the Department of Homeland Security to confiscate any public or private property they feel would contribute to the so-called "national good".

  If you or I haven't been subjected to some government intrusion that we feel steps over the line, either in the amount we are taxed, or the property that is taken, or the personal liberties that are lost, we need to remember it's not because the government can't go that far. It's simply because the government hasn't gone that far. Yet.

  I'm glad Mom never really reached her limit.

  But I sure would like to see the government reach its limit.

Or at least have one.

I do....

  I've never been what you would call "athletically inclined".  I did manage to make a basket once when I was on the 6th grade basketball team at Millville Grade School, when my old buddy Stinky Wilmont yelled "shoot it" at the final buzzer. Of course, that shot missed the backboard, but I did manage to hit the first of two free throws I was awarded when a fellow bench warmer from the opposing team stuck his finger in my eye while he was blocking my field goal. Even though I was able to cut the margin of our defeat that game down to 27 points, nobody asked me to play on the 7th grade team the next year, and what little interest I had in basketball faded quickly away.

  And then there was that time I hit a baseball and made it to second base, but I only hit it because I was flailing at a bee that was buzzing around my head, and I really only made it to second base because the bee had turned its attention to Arnold Dinkins, causing him to abandon the shortstop position. They say that baseball is the "national pastime". I guess it is for some people, but I don't think they ever passed law about it. Yet.

  We didn't play soccer at Millville back then. I really didn't know much of anything about the game, and I hadn't ever watched it until my granddaughters started playing it a while back. I still don't know much about it, but I heard that more people play soccer than any other game in the world. I'm guessing that's so they don't have to watch it. Anyway, I know a lot of people have a higher opinion of basketball, baseball and soccer than I have, and I'm okay with that, as long as they don't pass some law that forces me to watch or play. But that's not what I wanted to write about today. I really wanted to write about marriage.

 My wife Susan and I have been married for 36 years. I know I married up, but I'm not sure Susan can say the same thing. And I'm also pretty sure her dad agreed with me on that point. It was probably one of the few things we ever agreed on .

  We went and bought a marriage license from the State of Ohio before we got married, because somebody told us we had to. I didn't think about it much at the time, but looking back, I wonder if it was really necessary. I guess we just accepted that it had always been that way. I found out later on that government involvement in marriage is a relatively new development. It didn't actually get heavily involved in the marriage business until the 19th and 20th centuries, and then only to control or prohibit inter-racial marriages, and maintain racial purity. For the most part, that's not really a problem most people really feel needs to be controlled anymore, but like most things the government gets involved in, it tends to hang around even when most people don't see its need or usefulness anymore.

  Nowadays, a lot of politicians from President Obama on down, are scrambling to come up with the most acceptable opinion on gay marriage. I guess that's what politicians are supposed to do, but I'm not sure that's what they ought to do.

  When it comes to same sex marriage, I'll be the first to admit I don't understand the attraction. I guess we never gave it a lot of thought back at Millville.  I have several friends that are gay, and I also have several friends that are Republicans and Democrats. (I don't understand the attraction there, either.)  And while I might not understand why some people are attracted to it, neither can I understand why some people are so opposed to it. Apparently some people have religious and moral  objections, but some people who favor it cite religious and moral reasons themselves.

  Now, I'm just real happy that so many people have religious and moral convictions, but I never thought I wanted the government to define them for us. I suppose it wouldn't really be a problem as long as the good guys are elected and running things, but as about half of the population will testify at any given time, that doesn't always happen.

  The problem with getting the government involved in anything is that opinion so often becomes law, and law always involves force. In reality, government has no more business telling consenting adults what type of relationship they can have, than it has telling other adults that they have to accept a relationship they don't approve of. Or telling someone they have to play soccer. Or worse yet, watch it.

 The only involvement government should have in marriage is to make sure that contractual obligations are upheld if the need arises.

  I don't know if you agree with that or not, but I've been married for 36 years, and I do.

Compared to what?..

I made the Honor Roll a few times back at Millville Grade School. More times than my old buddy Stinky Wilmont. I can't remember a single time that he made it. On the other hand, I'm hard-pressed to remember a time that Bernice Hawkins didn't make the honor roll. So I felt pretty good when I compared my academic prowess to that of Stinky. But I felt pretty dumb if I compared myself to Bernice.

In later years, whenever someone would ask Stinky "How's your wife?", he would always reply "Compared to who?". Bernice would probably have said "whom".

I guess that's an example of things being relative. I always thought we were poor when I was a kid, and by a lot of standards I'm still poor today. Looking back, I guess we were a lot better off than a lot of people in the world, and looking around, I guess we still are today. Relatively speaking, of course.

Seems like a lot of things are that way. We had some really nice days in March. A lot nicer than most of the days we had in February, but not nearly as nice as most of the days we are going to have in June. And there are some pretty nice homes in our neighborhood. Not nearly as fancy as the homes in Beverly Hills, I suppose, but a heck of a lot nicer than the ones we've seen in Haiti over the last few weeks. Once again, every thing's relative.

Americans have always held a fierce pride about being a free nation. And as a nation and a people, we've done a lot of fighting over the years to make sure we stayed that way. Sometimes with guns, sometimes with words, sometimes with armies, and sometimes with individuals.

And I think most Americans still consider themselves to be relatively free. Certainly the information the government is gathering from the current census isn't nearly as intrusive as the information some countries gather from their citizens. Unless you were one of those 2 million people that had to answer (under penalty of law) the long census form. And even then it wasn't as much as what some governments ask.

And unlike a lot of countries, here in America we are free to own property, provided, of course, that we pay our property taxes to the government every year. Otherwise, somebody else will be free to own it, and pay the taxes on it.

Here before too long, and at least for awhile, we will be free to choose which company we want to buy our health insurance from, even though we won't be free to choose what type of policy to buy, and even though we won't be free to choose not to buy it at all.

And we certainly don't have to show our papers to the police just because they ask to see them. Of course you do have to show them your driver's license if they catch you driving or riding without your seat belt. And if Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsay Graham get their way, you'll have to show and verify your biometric Social Security card before you can get a job. Or get on an airplane. But that's all. Probably.

Back in 2004, Libertarian Presidential Candidate hopeful Gary Nolan came to Hagerstown and asked his audience if they could name 3 things that our government doesn't tax or regulate. Nobody could. I've had 6 years to think about it and I still can't.

Just like I used to take comfort in the fact that I was getting better grades than Stinky was getting, it's easy to become complacent as a nation, and rationalize that even though we lose a little more freedom each time Congress convenes, we are still more free than a lot of people in the world. And it would be hard to argue that we aren't.

But my goal at Millville Grade School should have been to get the best grades possible, regardless of what kind of grades Stinky got.

And our goal as Americans should be to remain free, regardless of what other countries decide to do. And maybe get back up to 4 or 5 things that government doesn't tax or regulate.