the alberton papers

Name:
Location: alberton, mt., United States

I am a retired steamfitter and vocational instructor, Current member, alberton town council, having served two terms previously, several years ago. Resident of alberton almost 28 years. I am fiscally conservative and socially progressive, a free thinker and an advocate of good, responsive, honest government.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

padre

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, #XIV
By Dick Darne 1-20-07
Padre
When I arrived at the Think Tank the next morning, the fire was going, the coffee on and everyone from yesterday was already settled in. In addition, there was one new face, it seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. A handsome face with chiseled features, but his arms were really impressive. Heckova set of pipes.
"Where do I know you from, the gym?" I queried.
In a booming voice he replied: "You saw me many times when you were a young fellow, on some of your high adventure excursions, sitting in front of the Supreme Court building."
That was true. As a lad, living in Virginia, just across the river from our Nation’s Capitol, we would hitchhike into DC and marvel at all the free things to see. He was one of them. I searched my memory archives. He was called: Guardian or Authority of Law.
"That’s one of the names they gave me" he said, as if he could read my mind. "I prefer ‘Father Justice’ or better yet, just call me ‘Padre.’ "
"Why are you here, we haven’t got that far yet?" asked Bill, cradling his coffee cup as only a working man can do.
"You will soon enough, I’m just here for a little observation, maybe a tip or too. Word’s out in my circles, maybe some decent thinking going down. Good thinking has never been neat and orderly. There’s a fine line between order and a framed debate. One of the warning signs is ‘group-think’. Lots of mischief over the ages caused by group-think Also don’t forget the difference between Justice and Law. Or the difference between good law and bad law. Bad law is purposely disguised as civil society, which guarantees the rich their plunder."
"Most of what I thought was thinking occurred in the bars after work." Bill said. "After listening to Rush for a couple hours on the way home, your mind would be conditioned to ‘group-think’ and once in the bar, no one would say anything that wouldn’t be expected to play well in the bar."
"I’ve noticed the same thing," replied Todd. "And then everyone would go home and watch Fox news, and pat themselves on the back for being well informed"
"And that’s the way the ruling elite prefer it." Padre added. "Group think is easily manipulated. Ignorance begets more ignorance and while a frontal assault on ignorance is bound to fail, it can be manipulated also. History is full of examples, but real history is not taught. It is out there but one must search it out. Do you remember your high school history teacher, Dick? She told you that if you didn’t learn anything else, there was always more than one side to any story."
It seemed as if Padre could read memories. He left us with a parting thought:
"The best remedy for injustice is a long memory"
Keep thinking and stay tuned. dd

the newcomers

The Alberton Papers, Vol. III, #XIII
By Dick Darne 1-20-07
The Newcomers
Elder faded away and was replaced by The Lady.
"Carry on, boys" she said; "Just don’t keep it in a box."
"What do you mean?" asked Johnny; "Aren’t all the other rights worthless without the second?
"Not at all. Without the others, you’d soon find yourselves alone, divided and at each other’s throats. You boys should think about all our rights. The Old Boys who originally thought out these things; even though they all had flaws; even allowing for the mores of their times; were still the largest and best collection of brains in history."
More people had quietly drifted in. More brain power, I hoped. The Lady floated back, away from the newcomers. One of the newcomers appeared to be too young to be a thinker, college student, maybe? He carried a folded up copy of the Wall Street Journal under his arm. What kind of yuppie deal have we got here I was thinking. If the Lady called us mature citizens boys, what will she call him, Toddler?
"Todd Young’s my name, I heard there was some heavy thinking going on here and if it’s all right with you gentlemen, I’d like to join you"
"So, what are you, a frat boy of some kind, can you really understand that Wall Street Whatever you got there?" said Johnny.
"No, I was never a frat boy, I did try to go to college but it just costs too much. I’m a Union Pipefitter, money’s good but on the road a lot. Our work depends on a good economy and it seems there are a lot of things that don’t add up, like so-called free trade, outsourcing, stuff like that."
"Well, what the heck you reading that rag for, isn’t Wall Street in on the shafting of the working man?" exclaimed Johnny.
"It sure is, but in order to screw us over properly, Big Corporations need accurate facts, the WSJ provides those facts. The editorial page makes you want to barf, but there it is, advance notice of our shafting."
"Hey, this feller makes a lot of sense. I busted my butt in the woods for more years than I care to remember, always busy, had to get my news off the radio traveling to and from work, never really heard any different views, oh I’m sorry, Bill Woods’ the name, retired logger and aspiring thinker."
"Are we getting off the track?" said Johnny, " I thought we were going to discuss the Bill of Rights"
"Actually you are." The Lady was back. "Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, different views, different opinions, marketplace of ideas and hopefully, more questions than answers. Got to go now, liberty alert elsewhere calling, your homework is to think. I shall return!"
Stay tuned! dd

Monday, January 08, 2007

the thinkers

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, #XII
By Dick Darne 1-8-07
The Thinkers
The next morning I laid another fire, put on the coffee pot and eagerly awaited the onslaught of thinkers. After all, here in Alberton, we mature male citizens are well above average in our aggregate wisdom. Soon the door opened and a hardy looking character entered, obviously packing heat, as shown by the bulge under his jacket. A hit man? While my writings have been called drivel, to date I have received no death threats and don’t recall any dealings with the mafia.
"Hi, this the think tank?" He said jovially.
"This be it, I’m Dick, curator of the Gravely Institute of the Rockies and sponsor of the Think-Tank. And you are?"
"Johnny Sixgun, from up the creek. Any chance of thinking about gun rights? You got any guns?"
"Some, I quit hunting a few years ago when my hip was bad, it’s fixed now, just never started again."
"Well, where do you stand on the Second Amendment?"
"Like the other nine, we should defend it by all available means, but sometimes the ‘Pogo Principle’ applies."
"Just what the heck is the ‘Pogo Principle’?"Johnny wondered out loud.
"Pogo was a possum in an old comic strip, who said: ‘we have met the enemy and he is us.’" I explained. "Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot (no pun intended) with our words and deeds." I looked across the room and there was Elder. The door never opened, he was just there.
"Howdy boys, nice start. You all mind if I toss out a little thought fodder? Before we could answer he began.
" Did you ever stop to think that if the bad guys wanted to get a list of the gun owners, they wouldn’t need a registration list, they would only need the NRA subscription list. It’s also quite well known who’s got the guns, most can’t keep their mouths shut about their firepower. The ‘rambo types’ stand out also. Does anybody think they can barricade themselves in their castle and withstand the power of the State? Anyone surviving a partial brain birth should recognize the true nutcases, who truthfully shouldn’t even have access to moderately sharp objects, who are a far bigger danger to the Second Amendment than any bleeding heart liberal ever was."
"I never really thought about that stuff." Johnny said.
"This is a Think-Tank isn’t it?" said Elder. He seemed to be fading away.
"Got other places to be, let me leave you with some homework-thinking." His voice fading away, " Have you guys been supporting and voting for the wrong guys? Could it be they just want your votes? Do they really care about you? The really rich guys will always have a place to hunt even when all the commons is gone." He faded away. Stay tuned dd

visitors to the think tank

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, # XI
By Dick Darne 1-6-07
THE VISITORS
A couple of days into the new year, I arose early and went out to the new think tank. I figured I’d get a good fire going and eagerly wait for the thinkers to show up. I laid the fire and settled back to wait for the wonderful radiant rays to toast my body and sharpen my mind. Since I hadn’t had any coffee yet, I leaned back and closed my eyes.
Soon the door opened and a stranger walked in. Not a tall, dark one, but a man who looked old, like he had seen a lot. Thinking it must be a new retired wise man in town, I jumped up to introduce myself. "I’m Dick, curator of the Gravely Institute and sponsor of the Think Tank."
"Sit down, Sonny Boy, that don’t impress me, there’s more a-coming and I’m just here to learn, the name’s Eldergeeser, you can call me Elder." He reached for the doorknob, opened the door, and the most elegant lady I had ever seen walked, or I should say, floated in.
She looked so familiar, yet difficult to describe. Each time she turned she looked different. She was at once, all races, all tribes, all classes. I was a bit dumbfounded, after all, the Institute was one of the last bastions of maleness. No girls allowed.
Before I could speak, she introduced herself. "I am Lady Liberty." She did resemble the image on some of the old coins, but in person she looked older and wiser. As if sensing my bewilderment and confusion, she replied to the question not asked yet, "That’s not the real me on the coins, a bunch of PR guys did that without my consent, years ago, you know ‘ Rah-rah-wave the flag; we’re number one; stuff. Liberty is more than slogans, and it does require serious thinking, and I’m here to help the Think Tank get it’s mind straight. There’s already too many think-tanks churning out rotten thinking."
Elder twisted the knob again, and another lady strode through the door.
This one was elegant in a different way. First, she looked like she could play front-four for any NFL team. She also had the "Mom" air about her, including the built-in lie detector. This lady didn’t take any guff, yet like a Mom, she would go the distance for you, but even the best Mom has her limits.
"Mother Nature’s the name, Junior, and what are you staring at?" Well, I had always pictured her differently and it must have shown.
"Yeah, PR idiots again, making me out to be a prancing little fairy. They did get one thing right, it IS NOT nice to try to fool Mother Nature, and you can’t fool me anyway. Lotta men tried, lotta men died. Heh heh."
"You thinkers start thinking, we’ll be watching and we will be back," said Elder. I started to ask how to get in touch with them, but they were gone. Next thing I knew, it was cold, the fire had died out and I was alone. Did this happen? Stay tuned. dd