Category: Thoughts

I have read there are advocates who are attempting to get the retiring National Archives head archivist to publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th amendment to the the United States Constitution. Their argument is that once the requisite number of states approve the amendment, it automatically becomes part of the Constitution. They are correct that a 38th state has ratified the amendment. There is a problem, though. The proposed amendment was originally supposed to be ratified by the seventh anniversary of its March 22, 1972 adoption by Congress. The deadline was extended to June 30, 1982. This extension was due to the fact that only 35 states had ratified the proposed amendment by 1978. In the extended time period no other states ratified the proposed amendment. In fact, 4 states voted to rescind their ratification of the proposed amendment before the original March 22, 1979 deadline for ratification. Another state set a sunset provision of its ratification of the amendment to March 22, 1979. Just today a sixth state has rescinded its ratification. While this seems strange, it is in response to the push for recognition of the amendment since since 3 more states ratified the proposed amendment – 1 each in 2017, 2018, and 2020.

So one question is which votes count for ratification? Another question is can you ratify the proposed amendment after the deadline for doing so? A third question is can you rescind your ratification? If so, when? Finally, if you can ratify the proposed amendment after the deadline why can you not also rescind it?

It seems pretty clear that the push to ratify the proposed amendment after the deadline is because its advocates don’t think they can get 38 states to approve it in a time limited effort. After all in over 10 years they were only able to get 35 states to ratify it. What kind of amendment is this? Why kind of attitude is this? What does it said about the merits of the amendment if the only way to get it into the Constitution is to break the rules set by Congress (who first passed it and sent it to the states) for its ratification?

Truly words fail me.

The world of athletics has changed tremendously in the past century. The Olympics were at one time the province of the amateur athlete. Today professional athletes ply their trade in their professional sport. I really do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I just know it is different than when I grew up. Betting and bookmakers were kept from sports other than racing in the United States. Where a ballplayer could be banned for life for betting on his or her sport, today retired players – not to mention the leagues themselves – plug on line betting and gambling. Everyone, even apparently high school athletes, want a piece of the action.

I won’t even get started about sportsmanship and athletes being role models. I do believe that Charles Barkley’s famous dictum that he was no role model and that athletes should not be role models has truth in it. A strong case can be made that role models are people who make the world a better place to live. Athletes and entertainers probably do not fall into that category. I agree they do much to help us pass time and in that sense make the world more enjoyable and livable. Making the world a better place though, may just be out of their reach through their profession.

So what can one think about the Super Bowl? It went from a game where the tickets could be bought for $12 ($95 in today’s prices) and there was plenty of room in the stands to become an over-hyped, over-sold, over-valued monstrosity where the tickets cost over 100 times their 1967 cost. (A ticket for the 2022 Super Bowl can still be had for over $4000. Some of the tickets are over $100,000). The stars today seem to be not only pampered but also inundated with pampering plus obscene amounts of cash. A top NFL player makes more in his 3 – 5 year contract than 75% of Americans make in a 30 year career. Is it any wonder that some of the biggest stars also seem to be some of the biggest jerks? Maybe it is more of a wonder that not all of the biggest stars are also the biggest jerks.

At last we come to Matthew Stafford. Twelve years spent with the Detroit Lions – I always have liked Detroit because of the color of their uniforms and George Plimpton’s book, Paper Lion – with no play-off games won and only three experienced. He is traded to the LA Rams and finds himself in the Super Bowl. He may not be the greatest or nicest of players. I really cannot speak to that because I do not know him. I do know, however, that he has not bad mouthed his time in Detroit nor Detroit, his team mates, nor the team owners. I do know the men he played with at Detroit are almost as excited for him as they would be excited for themselves if they were in his place. These facts impress me. Perhaps, the reason for this phenomena is a quality of leadership we do not seem to value enough – humility. I know because of Matthew Stafford (Vonn Miller’s presence also helps) I will be rooting for the Los Angeles Rams. I always hope the under appreciated come through.

January 26, 2022

It is cold here in Wisconsin. For many the cold is worse since the 49ers defeated the Packers last Saturday by a late field goal. The Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, has taken a lot of flack since that game. He is not one of my favorite people but he can really throw a football. I am not sure whether he is a good leader or too self-absorbed for leadership. I do know he is among the best when it comes to throwing a football.

He has not been among the best when it comes to not irritating people. This past year has just been one of constant irritating by him of others. He would greatly benefit by some additional humility but would not we all? Even given all of his irritation over the past year I have a problem with all of the criticism of him by people who are simply gloating. While it may be true he owns the Bears, it may also be true the 49ers own him. However, why are others being as big of jerks about him as he is? Why do we have that need to rend even more the defeated? Is it not enough for a person to experience the karma of failure. Do I really need to rejoice in that failure?

There really seem to be enough things about Mr. Rodgers for people to criticize fairly and justly. What does it say about the thrower when the kitchen sink is thrown at him when he is down? What does it say about me for devouring the accounts and commentary on his failure? Perhaps we are all part of the nameless crowd of inhumanity that gawks at executions, accidents, and failures. Perhaps we all are those thinking it is better him than me. Perhaps we don’t feel guilty about piling on because down deep we know people might well do it to us. The joy of failure is when it is not our failure.

I hope just to have a place to write my musings and note things I am thinking about. I do not pretend to have answers for the world (but you know I do) or anyone else. I am not even positive I have answers for myself, but I at least think I do. So here we go!