What if there is something else going on… what if there is a hidden element we are NOT aware of? Does that change anyone’s calculations? Would that give anyone PAUSE?

Would anyone be willing to trade their Trophy of Pride for a Badge of Humility, and recognize the truth… whatever that TRUTH may be? If it showed the errors and ACTUALY illuminated where we were led astray, would you be able to accept it… would anyone?

To call into question conclusions reached based on LIES is not a surrender, it is an adaptation. It is a natural progression. Every traveler follows the path East, toward the LIGHT. We are ALL fallible, and anyone can be deceived… for a PRICE.

The political position I have staked out is barron at the moment, but the “tent” I’ve raised has room for EVERYONE… because I cannot do it alone.

BOTH sides have a “boogieman”.

BOTH sides spew venom and hate.

BOTH sides have been VICTIMIZED because we have ALL been lied to. Do you have ANY doubt? Read through Donald Trump’s Tweets.

WHO’S TO BLAME is spoon fed to us DAILY. WHO’S TO BLAME is shifted from cycle to cycle. The person we blamed becomes the “voice of reason” if given enough time. And through the GENERATIONS, when we look back far enough, we can find the ROOTS of the problems we see today in divisive rhetoric of the past.

We will not stand much longer if we continue to fight the wars of the past. Our future is dying in classrooms and churches because the divisive leadership of the PAST refuses to listen to the People they lead.

WHY? …we know why.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” -JFK to Congress, May 25, 1961.

This speech gave birth to the Apollo Program. NASA had the vision, the leadership, the daring. THIS speech secured the FUNDING. The program that would send Mankind to the Moon in 8 years was ready to put theory and practice into production. The first contract issued for the production of the Saturn V rocket was to MIT for a navigation system. A flight control computer system that DID NOT EXIST.

We knew we could fly Man to the Moon. On paper, in practice, in knowledge of the Laws of Physics we were prepared to build a vessel that could make the journey. The VERY FIRST piece of equipment NASA invested in was the most infeasable piece of the mission.

Because they BELIEVED it could be done. Because in Our Country, ANYTHING can be done!

History is full of examples of human creativity outpacing what is “possible”. The Pioneers of Flight themselves, the Wright Brothers, did the same thing 66 years earlier. As scientists and inventors were risking their lives attempting to break the laws of gravity, many people believed it couldn’t be done. They risked their reputations and their financial security because they BELIEVED it could be done.

Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, was not recognized for his insight for most of his life. But he understood what was needed to reach orbit, the benefits of using liquid propellant, and multistage flight… and he understood all of this in 1914.

Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, Jobs, Gates, Musk, Dorsey… Great Vision is useless without PROBLEMS to SOLVE. These visionaries would not be know without the hunger and drive of a populace where creativity and knowledge lead to advancement and adapting… No one knew they needed a light bulb until EVERYONE had one. No one knew they needed a radio until EVERYONE had one. No one knew they needed an iPhone until everyone had one.

The SOCIETY creates the need and the inventor, the scientist, the thinker and the doer fills the demand. But sometimes a need is not recognized. Sometimes we have no idea that there was a better way. When I graduated from high school in 1998, I knew everyone needed a PC in their pocket. Now that I have one, I realize I had no idea how CORRECT that idea was!

The computer that assisted the crew of Apollo 11, it’s navigation system, the hard drive is literally magnets and MILES of copper wire-

wire thru magnet= 1

wire outside magnet= 0

repeat…

repeat…

repeat…

It had a storage space of 72K bytes and was smaller than a bread box.

The potential of the creation was unrealized and its reliability was unknown. How unknown? Mathematician Katherine Johnson was the ‘computer’ NASA tasked with ensuring the accuracy of the digital computer. She did so through the entire flight. She continued to do so until her retirement in 1986.

From the size of a HOUSE to the size of a bread box, down to the size of a wrist watch. The power to do mathematics at the speed of light to the ABILITY to predict and simulate the outcome of the collision of atoms. When my dad brought home my first PC, I was excited to have access to libraries across the planet, right in my bedroom! In 1996, we had NO IDEA what else we were missing.

ALL of these advances. ALL of the technological evolution of the past 230 years has been influence by The United States Constitution and the SOCIETY it has created. From the elimination of Small Pox, to the creation of the Cotton Gin. Transistor radios to the Arecibo radio telescope.

… and all of these facts and figures. Images and inspiration. Historical words heard ALOUD, as if their speaker were alive today! I find them all in my pocket.

Infinite Potential

The ability for anyone to read the words I write is only possible because of Our Society. The device I use to contemplate and create is only possible because WE created the DEMAND… we just didn’t know it. That is a small example of the POWERFUL force for good Our Country is, and a demonstration of the limits of our ability to see what is possible 230 years from now.

The ability to SEE something that does not exist and make it reality, like the MIT software programmers did for the Apollo program, THRIVES in a Country like Ours! The Liberty to apply knowledge gained, to question answers long established, and realize individual talents within a community of like-minded people all working on bettering the lives of all Mankind, on SOME level, gives Our Union a tilt toward Justice. Our desire to make a positive difference in the world shows in our intentions, if not always our deeds.

And no one should be surprised! The Framers of Our Demorcacy were idealists at heart. At a time when Mankind had been ruled by oppressive monarchs, these Men DARED to say Mankind CAN rule itself, fairly, and in peace! They knew, with a sufficient level of common history, the bedrock ideals of Our Constitution would STAND the test of time. That ability… the Liberty to dream big AND make it happen is the Country I believe in.

… where do YOU STAND?

JC