tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75947344477700852392024-03-05T15:13:03.713-08:00Remnants of ImaginationAn intermittent blog about ideas, visions, values, virtues, and the moral imagination.Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-12033534738859323942021-01-12T17:03:00.000-08:002021-01-12T17:03:47.842-08:00Yes, President Trump can (and deserves to be) Impeached for What He Did and Said<p><i> Sand for your Oyster--Impeachment for Dangerous Rhetoric</i></p><p><i>For those who think Congress shouldn't be trying to impeach the President just for calling a mob to Washington and then encouraging them to march on Congress which was fulfilling its constitutional duties, here is Article 10 of the impeachment articles Congress passed in 1868 against the first President who was impeached--Andrew Johnson.</i></p><p><i>The bottom line is that Congress has the authority (and I think the duty) to impeach any president they find to be dangerous to the constitutional order. Trump's undermining of the public's belief in legitimate electoral processes, his attempt to get his Vice President to act against the Constitution, his attempt to threaten the officer of a state to change the election outcome, his intemperate rhetoric and calling a mob to come to Congress to build pressure against them fulfilling their constitutional duties all easily make the bar our Founders would have set for an impeachment.<br /></i></p><p><i> </i></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><i>ARTICLE 10.</i>
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
<u><b>unmindful of the high duties of his high office and the
dignity and proprieties thereof</b></u>, and of the harmony and
courtesies which ought to exist and be maintained between
the executive and legislative branches of the Government of
the United States, designing and intending to set aside the
rightful authorities and powers of Congress, did <u>attempt to
bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and
reproach, the Congress of the United States,</u> and the several
branches thereof, to impair and destroy the regard and
respect of all the good people of the United States for the
Congress and the legislative power thereof, which all
officers of the government ought inviolably to preserve and
maintain, and <u>to excite the odium and resentment of all good
people of the United States against Congress and the laws by
it duly and constitutionally enacted</u>; and in pursuance of
his said design and intent, openly and publicly and before
divers assemblages of citizens of the United States,
convened in divers parts thereof, to meet and receive said
Andrew Johnson as the Chief Magistrate of the United States,
did, on the eighteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and on divers
other days and times, as well before as afterwards, <b><u>make and
declare, with a loud voice, certain intemperate,
inflammatory and scandalous harangues, and therein utter
loud threats and bitter menaces, as well against Congress as
the laws of the United States duly enacted thereby, amid the
cries, jeers and laughter of the multitudes then assembled
in hearing,</u> </b>which are set forth in the several
specifications hereinafter written, in substance and effect,
that it to say: <br /></p>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-58849635971482985072020-05-12T04:32:00.001-07:002020-05-12T04:32:19.328-07:00Sporran Episode 5--Cricket<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VEBHvFjirYc" width="480"></iframe>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-71809667734245965432019-08-19T08:36:00.000-07:002019-08-19T08:36:11.867-07:00Prudence--Let's find that virtue again!<h2>
Prudence</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well, we can’t (and shouldn’t) change
the constitutional order anytime soon. That order produced a Donald
Trump presidency, a moderately conservative Senate, and a liberal House
of Representatives. None of them can or should act alone. Our only hope
in the immediate future is to adjust our expectations along the lines
once considered a virtue in politics, particularly conservative
politics—prudence. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Prudence means that we see the
political order for what it is and what is actually possible. We look to
the long-term health of the nation and the common good of our people,
and seek to promote it within the actual possibilities of the moment
within which we live and act. Our political leaders would benefit from a
healthy dose of prudence that would allow them to work together, both
sides willing to listen and compromise for the common good. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Read my full article on government shutdowns, political divisions, deliberation, compromise, prudence <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/prudence-and-our-political-disfunction_2787077.html">here</a>. </span>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-7262820407329655532019-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:002019-08-05T08:32:13.747-07:00Yes Ideas DO Have Consequences--Read it!Richard Weaver's <i>Ideas Have Consequences </i>is a classic worth reading in the 21st century. Read my full essay on the book <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/ideas-do-have-consequences-revisiting-richard-weavers-classic_2757187.html">here</a>, but below are some of his solutions--you know the problems!<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Solutions</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Weaver’s book is broken into two
parts—the first tracing the history of the decline of the West due to
the ideas spun off from the original attack on universal truths, and the
second providing some idea of a means toward the restoration of order. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">How might we begin to undo the
damage? First, by defending the individual’s right to private property,
because in holding to his or her own property, a person may find some
means of defending his or her privacy, fighting for truth, and may find
some refuge from an encroaching state. In other words, property gives us
a place from which we may take a stand. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Second, he argues, we must reclaim
language from those who have reduced it to sentiments, twisted it for
political usage, and scrubbed it of common meaning with which we can
seek truth and discuss our differences. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Third, to counter the selfish egoism
of modern man, we must return to a state of piety—piety toward nature,
toward our neighbors, and toward the past. There is much wisdom for
modern America to be found in Weaver’s diagnosis and in his
prescriptions. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Beyond the specifics of this
important and challenging work, Weaver’s title reminds us that ideas can
be powerful things to toy with—as likely to bring great damage as to
serve progress. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Whether or not we read Weaver’s great
work again in the 21st century (and we would profit from it), we should
at least use it to encourage us all to think—seriously think—about the
potential consequences of new ideas, and to think about them, not only
through the lens of temporary politics and our own emotions, but in
terms of the long-term health of civilization itself. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The events of the 20th century should
ever remind us all of how close to the edge civilization resides and
how consequential bad ideas can be.</span>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-21315413609380230432019-07-15T08:26:00.000-07:002019-07-15T08:26:07.738-07:00Martin Luther King and Natural Law<span style="font-weight: 400;">Our educators and much of society have
fallen into a subjectivism, where each culture, each group, each
individual is to decide for themselves what they “feel” to be right and
what is wrong, and is free to act accordingly. This subjectivism, King’s
lessons would teach us, leaves us relatively powerless to fight truly
immoral laws. If all is subjective, then no laws are truly unjust. Or,
perhaps it’s better said that, if all is subjective, all laws are unjust
to someone. Neither formula would support true freedom under the rule
of law.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Read my full article on <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/martin-luther-king-and-natural-law_2769197.html">Martin Luther King and Natural Law </a></span>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-43546541519986846892019-07-04T09:23:00.002-07:002019-07-04T09:23:16.442-07:00Re-reading Independence for July 4<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
<span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">Here are some thoughts on my article today on the Declaration of Independence. See full article </span><a href="https://m.theepochtimes.com/re-reading-independence_2983977.html" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">here</a></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
First, we should remember what a bold and decisive stroke the Continental Congress executed by declaring our independence. They were committing treason. They were seceding from the country that had birthed them, protected them, and to whom they were pledged. We celebrate the document, but no matter what the document ended up saying, it was the act of declaring their independence that could get them hanged, and their homes confiscated or destroyed, leaving their families desperate. Still, they boldly declared they were independent.</div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
Second, we should remember that these men weren’t actually “revolutionaries” in any modern sense; their “revolution” was really a secession. They were declaring themselves independent of the mother country, they weren’t attempting to overthrow the social institutions, economy, or religious establishment. They simply wanted to be free to govern themselves and let England govern itself as it pleased.</div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
These men were conservative secessionists, in other words, not radical social reformers. Prudence, as political theorist Russell Kirk often said, is the great conservative virtue, and they demonstrated it: “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. … But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them, under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” It would be hard to put the conservative vision for prudential change much better.</div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Palatino; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">
Third, there is much more to the Declaration than the famed second sentence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”</div>
Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-19282073943470673652019-06-17T08:21:00.000-07:002019-06-17T08:21:03.387-07:00Remembering the evils of socialism/ communismThe Cold War came to an end more than a quarter-century ago. When the
winds of change started to blow in the eastern bloc, and then the
Berlin Wall finally came down, many of us wondered what the future would
bring.<br />
<br />
I remember in the summer of 1990 driving through the Shenandoah River
Valley of Virginia with a veteran leader of the anti-communist movement
and talking about what life would be like without the Soviet menace
dominating our foreign policy.<br />
<br />
“Will we forget what they were like, and will it be easier to bring
socialism to America after the Soviet Union is gone because we have
forgotten?” I asked. He agreed that this would be a great danger—America
might forget the horrors of socialism when it was no longer an armed
doctrine threatening our very existence.<br />
<br />
Evidence that much of America has forgotten the horrors of socialism
in the 20th century seems to be emerging on college campuses and among
the citizenry. While those of us who grew up during the Cold War will
find it shockingly hard to believe, socialism is growing as an approved
political/economic system in America.<br />
<br />
Read my full article on re-reading <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/remembering-the-brutality-of-the-gulag-alexander-solzhenitsyn_2741804.html">Alexander Solzhenitsyn</a> Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-15793959253757729732019-06-04T08:15:00.000-07:002019-06-04T08:15:10.977-07:00Abraham Lincoln on our Internal Divisions<h2>
On this July 4th, Revisit Lincoln's Lyceum Address</h2>
This is Lincoln as a 20-something with the wisdom of the ancients and profound messages for us today!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lincoln began by expressing gratitude
to our ancestors who founded and built our nation. Demonstrating
conservatism at its very best, he connected the generations of the
living, dead, and yet unborn in a community of mutual obligation. It is
our task, Lincoln said of the living, to protect and then pass on to
posterity what we have inherited.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Where, Lincoln asked, will the threat
to our inheritance and our survival as a nation come from? Will it come
from an army overseas? Profoundly not, Lincoln asserted. No military
force could “take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue
Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.” The great danger to the United
States will come from inside America, he said. “As a nation of freemen,
we must live through all time or die by suicide.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">What are the dangers Lincoln saw that
may come to undermine the United States? He warned first of the
“mobocratic spirit”—“the increasing disregard for law which pervades the
country; the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious
passions in lieu of the sober judgment of the Courts.” </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">When I recently discussed this text
with students, many of them immediately saw parallels with today’s
“social media mobs” passionately denouncing those with whom they
disagree or sentencing people for perceived crimes of political
incorrectness. To counter this spirit of the mob, Lincoln taught a
strict dedication to the Constitution and the rule of law, going so far
as to say that everyone must remember that “to violate the law, is to
trample the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own,
and his children’s liberty.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Second, he warned in very stark terms
of the dangers of political leadership. Rather than celebrating great
leaders who would come in the United States, he feared that men would
arise with grand ambitions to be satisfied. Where our founders were able
to satisfy their ambitions by founding the United States, he feared
future leaders, having inherited America already built, would seek to
gain their own fame in destruction and rebuilding. Those who scorn “to
tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious,” he
said, belonged to “the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Read my full article <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/abraham-lincoln-and-americas-political-culture_2792089.html">here</a>. </span><br />
Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-61853561741320002672019-06-03T08:09:00.000-07:002019-06-03T08:09:11.100-07:00Yes, George Washington warned us of the politics surrounding the Mueller Report more than two centuries ago!<br />
<br />
Read the full story <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/continuing-lessons-from-washingtons-farewell-address_2809225.html">here</a>. <br />
<br />
He warned us against permanent alliances and the need for impartial
commercial relationships with foreign nations. And, as if speaking
directly to the daily headlines of 2019, warned that against “the
insidious wiles of foreign influence … the jealousy of a free people
ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican
government.”<br />
<br />
Those most actively supporting the Mueller investigation might find
support in that warning. But, he added a caveat that we all should pay
close attention to: “But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial,”
he instructed, “else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to
be avoided, instead of a defense against it.”<br />
<br />
Washington predicted that foreign governments would use the political
party system that might develop in the United States as a means of
sowing division and gaining favor. But he also understood that there was
an equally bad tendency of people to use such concerns for their own
partisan agenda rather than for the good of the whole.<br />
<br />
How prescient Washington’s Farewell Address seems to still be today,
more than two centuries after it was offered to the American people. If
we would return to it again on the day of his birth and meditate on his
many lessons for the United States, we might end up being a better
nation able to manage our journey together through the choppy waters of
the 21st century.<br />
<em></em>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-63627745218060497732019-05-31T08:05:00.000-07:002019-05-31T08:05:01.440-07:00Its time to revisit Russell Kirk!At no time in American history have there been more voices overtly
identifying as “conservative” in politics and the media. From newspapers
and journals to websites, blogs, a cable news network, and talk radio,
voices claiming the mantle of conservatism are everywhere.<br />
<br />
Virtually no Republican politician would claim to be anything else,
and right-leaning think tanks abound. We are, by almost all outward
measures, at the high point of conservative political success. <br />
And yet, what it means to be a “conservative” may be less clear than
at any time since the Great Depression. Is it “conservative” to cut
taxes, or is the “conservative” policy to reduce the debt we are
saddling future generations with? Is the “conservative” policy to
promote free and open trade, or is it to raise tariffs to protect
domestic industries? Is it conservative to “conserve” the environment,
or is it always “conservative” to limit the scope of government
regulations? Is it the “conservative’s” primary responsibility to
achieve policy victories through any means necessary, or to preserve the
institutional arrangements of the constitutional order, even if it
means losing some policy battles along the way?<br />
<br />
Add to that the fact that despite having so many political outlets,
most conservatives feel their country is pulling apart and their culture
is disintegrating. How can all these facts be true—that conservatism is
at its height, but there is less agreement on what conservatism is, and
conservatives have the feeling they are losing the great battles for
the future?<br />
<br />
In
this confusing time, conservatives would do well to revisit the
foundations of their modern movement in the great intellectual battles
of the mid-20th century. Long before Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh, and
before Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater bestrode our politics, several
great public thinkers were preparing the culture with the books and
journals from which would spring a revolution.<br />
<br />
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the most
important of those writers and offers a chance to consider his lessons
for America today.<br />
<br />
See my full column on why we need to read Russell Kirk today <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/revisiting-the-foundations-of-conservatism-the-writings-of-russell-kirk_2724772.html">here</a>. Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-35490807170066185322019-05-30T17:53:00.003-07:002019-05-30T17:53:41.219-07:00Nevada was on the brink of irrelevancy--but a late veto today saved it!<a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/campaign/446016-nevadas-about-to-commit-political-suicide-is-the-electoral">My article</a> ran today in <i>The Hill</i>, the same day the Democrat Governor of Nevada decided to veto the National Popular Vote legislation sent to him! Well done, Governor!<br />
<br />
Here is an excerpt from my article in <i>The Hill</i>:<br />
<br />
The election in Nevada in 2016, in fact, is a good microcosm of what
will happen to Nevada and other small and rural states if he NPV compact
succeeds. Clinton did not win Nevada by traveling the state and
appealing to a wide swath of the population. She won Nevada by winning a
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/nevada">massive majority</a>
in just one county (and a slight plurality in one other). Where Clinton
won the whole state by just 27,000 votes, she won more than 82,000
votes more than Trump simply in the county containing Las Vegas, and
thereby <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/president">won the state</a>.<br />
<br />
If
those supporting the National Popular Vote initiative succeed, they
will make all small and rural states like Nevada irrelevant in our
national presidential conversation. In making these voters irrelevant,
they also will be radicalizing our politics by centering ever more power
in major urban centers, which already contribute most of the money
fueling our campaigns and the media reporting on them.<br />
<br />
And all
this is happening within state legislatures without a serious national
conversation that an actual amendment to the Constitution would demand —
one that which our republic deserves.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-28365849812296217752019-05-28T07:59:00.000-07:002019-05-28T07:59:03.247-07:00A Cultural Statute of LImitations?<span style="font-weight: 400;">Not many of us would want to be judged
today by what we were like at 17, but most of us are not accused of
great career-ending mistakes, either. Perhaps a wider conversation now
might also help us instruct and preserve our young people who are living
through the most filmed, photographed, and preserved age in human
history. Forty years from now, we will count on them to lead, and will
need them to be able to do so.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Recently I was thinking of all the people embroiled in scandals over things they may have done decades ago. I wanted to contribute to our conversation without weighing on in the merits of any of the charges or individuals. You can read the piece <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/should-there-be-a-cultural-statute-of-limitations_2801515.html">here</a>. </span>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-85048943211707190292019-05-27T07:54:00.000-07:002019-05-27T07:54:02.545-07:00Of Social Media, Humility and ToolshedsTo the degree that social media encourages us to look at others and
treat that perspective as the only one to be considered, it has
contributed to the breaking of our <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-politics" target="_blank">politics</a>.
We must, as Lewis said, “on the pain of idiocy,” deny that “looking at”
is intrinsically more true or better than “looking along.” Today, we
must also deny that “tweeting at” is the equivalent of dialogue,
discussion, or understanding.<br />
<br />
If we are to repair the worst aspects of today’s social-media
politics, we should start by not just looking at others but attempting
to look along their experiences as well. That requires us to do the
harder work of taking ideas seriously and treating the experience,
values, and beliefs of others as being worthy of actual consideration
and respect, rather than reflexively dismissing them with jargon-laced
hostility or the dismissive shrug.<br />
<br />
These are the last lines from a recent Op Ed I offered riffing on C. S. Lewis' magnificent "Meditations in a Toolshed." You can read the rest of the article <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/meditations-in-a-political-toolshed_2865470.html">here</a>. Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-14210070218811101002019-05-26T08:52:00.000-07:002019-05-26T08:52:08.671-07:00Boethius on Seeking PleasureFrom one of the poems in Boethius' <i>The Consolation of Philosophy</i><br />
<br />
'All pleasures take this road:<br />
Those who indulge they goad.<br />
Then, like the bees that swarm,<br />
Having yielded honey's charm,<br />
They flee; but on the heart<br />
A lasting sting impart.'<br />
<br />
Beware that lasting sting when you reach for that honey, people! Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-80928761587703164632019-05-26T07:49:00.004-07:002019-05-26T07:49:44.420-07:00Change and TraditionI have been thinking about change and the incredibly rapid change we experience in the 21st century--no humans ever experienced change of the speed and import we endure as a regular course of existence. Here is the end of a piece I wrote on it recently. Read the rest <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/change-and-tradition_2922355.html">here</a>. <br />
<h2>
An Anchor of Tradition</h2>
Tradition, though under attack almost everywhere, may be our only
means of finding a rudder with which to guide ourselves through these
times of change. To bring balance to our lives, we must hold on to
traditions that have stood the test of time or restart some anew. We
must have places in our lives that aren’t subject to constant disruption
and changing fads.<br />
<br />
These might be carving out quiet times more in line with the pace at
which our ancestors lived their best days, unencumbered by technological
distraction. These might be church services and the inherited religious
teachings that sustained our forebears. These might be ditching the
latest self-help book and picking up a great text that helped build men
and women of character for generations. These might be teaching our
children about the great men and women of the past who built our
civilization, while all around us the snobbery of the current age tears
it down.<br />
<br />
If we are to regain balanced, ordered, and grounded lives, we must
find some places of refuge from constant change. Doing so will require
two great virtues that seem sorely lacking today—humility and courage.<br />
<br />
We must have the humility to give some benefit of the doubt to
inherited traditions, understandings, and ideas. And we must have the
courage to stand firm in their defense, when others would rip them down
or just toss them aside for the sake of convenience, self-expression, or
enhanced entertainment.<br />
Change is inevitable and often healthy. But it’s up to us whether we
will manage our own lives through the change swirling around us, or if
we will be managed by it.Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-12250991365287192322019-05-26T07:44:00.000-07:002019-05-26T07:44:38.483-07:00I'm Baaaacckkkkk. . . Though I don't think anyone has really missed me out there and I have been publishing in other venues, its time to come back to the Remnants of Imagination and share some thoughts, ideas, projects, images. So, here is a warning that I am coming back and might have something to say--starting with some things I have already said but I never put up here. So I will share some other pieces as I start thinking afresh.<br />
<br />
I hope I have something to say worth thinking about every now and then!Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-72167169018220606982014-01-23T17:05:00.001-08:002014-01-23T17:05:08.618-08:00Democracy's Seed of Death?<div>Democracy's "Seed of Death"</div><div><br></div><div>I recently had the chance to take some of our Tocqueville programming on the road to share it with students at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, WV. For them, I chose to discuss the following quotation which comes from Volume I of Democracy in America (and which we will be discussing Monday night with Dr. Farrier, I assume).</div><div><br></div><div>"Every government carries within itself a natural vice that seems attached to the very principle of its life; the genius of the law-maker is to discern this well. . . every law whose effect is to develop this seed of death cannot miss becoming fatal in the long run, even if its bad effects do not immediately make themselves felt" (227-228).</div><div><br></div><div>Tocqueville helps us understand this by talking about an absolute monarchy and how its irrational tendency is to drive ever more power into the central office of the monarch until it eventually destroys itself.</div><div><br></div><div>What is this "seed of death" for democracy? Why, it is, of course, the tendency to drive more and more power into the hands of the people. </div><div><br></div><div>Tocqueville praises our American founders for understanding this and putting in place institutions that could resist this destructive tendency. They gave us an unelected Supreme Court, an Electoral College (a real one, not what we have today), Senators chosen by state legislatures, federalism and equality of the states, a written Constitution with a specified amendment process that insisted on changes going through institutions in a specified manner.</div><div><br></div><div>The progressives told us the cure for the ills of democracy was more democracy. They got many of the reforms that they wanted. Tocqueville tells us more democracy will destroy democracy. Which is it?</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4ds1G7PTvvC4cDVlSa4mnF9B35PtIjxJpKB4bUq_8vBgUVQcP4BHy_yL1ZmM9Oa7BSYNptRSqBh8X1HGROuALx7ZAuV6nsB5J3KeTeAGjGS4mPeOZ7fo-XGMqpYvXvffVy_7OkmLbIVh/s640/blogger-image--353386599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4ds1G7PTvvC4cDVlSa4mnF9B35PtIjxJpKB4bUq_8vBgUVQcP4BHy_yL1ZmM9Oa7BSYNptRSqBh8X1HGROuALx7ZAuV6nsB5J3KeTeAGjGS4mPeOZ7fo-XGMqpYvXvffVy_7OkmLbIVh/s640/blogger-image--353386599.jpg"></a></div>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-60744459802397321532014-01-18T18:57:00.001-08:002014-01-18T19:09:44.358-08:00Juries as Schools for Liberty?<div>Tocqueville Question of the Day--Juries as Schools for Free Citizens</div><div><br></div><div>Juries: "one of the most effective means that a society can use for the education of the people" (448).</div><div><br></div><div>How many of you have tried to get out of jury duty? You might rethink that after reading Tocqueville, pages 442-450. Indeed, you might just go volunteer!</div><div><br></div><div>If asked about the importance of juries, I think most of us would focus on the rights of the accused and maybe as a protection for us all against arbitrary government decisions. Tocqueville, on the other hand, makes some quite extraordinary assertions that place the institution of the jury near the very core of what makes American democracy work.</div><div><br></div><div>He argues that it helps us put on the "mind of the judge" which is the kind of habit that best prepares us to be free. We learn respect for "the idea of right" and learn "the practice of equity." He argues that it teaches us not to retreat from responsibility for our own actions, which he calls a "manly disposition" essential to political virtue. It teaches us our duties to society and combats the "individual egoism" that he calls "the rust of societies." </div><div><br></div><div>In Tocqueville's understanding, this seemingly minor judicial institution becomes "a free school" for the instruction of citizens and free peoples. "I think that the practical intelligence and good political sense of the Americans must be attributed principally to the long use that they have made of the jury in civil matters," Tocqueville argues. And he concludes, "Thus the jury, which is the most energetic means to make the people rule, is also the most effective means to teach them to rule."</div><div><br></div><div>If Tocqueville is right, our challenge, it seems to me, is to find ways to make MORE use of the jury system. If jury trials are a key way of educating our citizens, then we need more opportunities for more citizens to serve and hence to be educated in the dispositions necessary for liberty. </div><div>Teachers: I wonder if you might be moved to try to work jury trials into your curriculum? Has anyone tried that? What do you think of such an exercise? Is there anyone out there with a curriculum using juries? Maybe it is something some center dedicated to civic education might develop if there is a need.</div><div><br></div><div>I have long hoped to be called for jury duty. I hope for it even more now that I see how much Tocqueville values the institution. I am eager to participate and test his ideas. Also interested in hearing from any of you who have served on juries or who have thoughts about Tocqueville's understanding of them.</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qpBd6Dll2EhB-eiKJs-344OyV6R-6w0Z_mekMgxehtvF0pzPWgL_FPtXwxQHO6IeGVKnita9Zs1o6mua3bppZMWy8vy5DXLtc4wcC2dCdcCATiQkpImIwJJbn73s98xZKKlmPKWCvS2h/s640/blogger-image--637058630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qpBd6Dll2EhB-eiKJs-344OyV6R-6w0Z_mekMgxehtvF0pzPWgL_FPtXwxQHO6IeGVKnita9Zs1o6mua3bppZMWy8vy5DXLtc4wcC2dCdcCATiQkpImIwJJbn73s98xZKKlmPKWCvS2h/s640/blogger-image--637058630.jpg"></a></div>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-78929902575848844812014-01-03T15:02:00.001-08:002014-01-03T15:02:58.530-08:00Tocquevillian Thought of the Day--Local Authority and Fracking<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Local Authority, the Nurturing of Citizens, and Hydraulic Fracturing</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
by</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Gary L. Gregg, Ph.D. </h3>
<br />
I just returned from a terrific visit to my homeland of southwestern Pennsylvania, one of the nation's hotbed areas for hydraulic fracturing. Recent news out of Pennsylvania has a distinctly Tocquevillian tone, I think, so I decided to share it.<br />
<br />
This is not a blog either defending or attacking the extraction of natural gas through the method of fracking. This is a note about local authority and the nurturing of citizenship.<br />
<br />
<a href="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="irc_mut" height="153" src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" style="margin-top: 6px;" width="200" /></a>Last winter the centralized government of Pennsylvania decided that zoning for fracking was too important to be left to local authorities and wiped out the right of local areas to create their own zoning laws when it comes to this practice. <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/07/27/10360/parts-pa-law-favored-frackers-overturned">A Commonwealth Court overturned</a> this "Act 13" recently, though the Governor has vowed that he will appeal that decision. The state, and the industry, argue for the need for centralized and uniform regulations. The Court argued that to allow the state to intervene in such a zoning issue will effectively eliminate all restraints on state power over such traditionally local decisions.<br />
<br />
<br />
What would Tocqueville have to say?<br />
<br />
Tocqueville argued very strongly that vibrant local authority was s key to the preservation of American liberty. His history shows American society growing up and out from the local authority rather than being handed down from a centralized government. This "direction" in his history/ sociology is very important and contains numerous policy and philosophical implications that I don't have time for here.<br />
<a href="http://fsnep.ucdavis.edu/trainings/town-halls/town-halls/townhallmeeting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="irc_mut" height="318" id="irc_mi" src="http://fsnep.ucdavis.edu/trainings/town-halls/town-halls/townhallmeeting1.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a><br />
But he goes even further. He argues that it is in local politics, towns in particular, that free people learn how to be free. "Town institutions are to liberty," he says, "what primary schools are to knowledge; they put it within the grasp of the people; they give them a taste of its peaceful practice and accustom them to its use" (102). Summarizing his ideas he says it is in such local institutions where the American "gathers clear and practical ideas about the nature of his duties as well as the extent of his rights" (114).<br />
<br />
Again, this note is not about fracking or economics and related questions can be debated. But, Tocqueville, I think, teaches that in terms of nurturing citizens and preparing them for liberty, the right decision is to leave such decisions to the local authorities. If local governments don't have power over such important things as what types of businesses will be permitted in their community and what type of environmental damage might be prohibited, what would encourage citizens to be engaged? Why would the best in our communities want to run for office or show up at town hall meetings if they could only influence the leash laws or garbage routes?<br />
<br />
Whatever its other merits, it seems to me the Court's decision was the right one from the Tocquevillian perspective and the state of Pennsylvania is thinking more about economics and jobs than it is about citizens and liberty. If you had to choose, would you choose to have more jobs or to have more informed, engaged, and empowered citizens who know their duties and their rights? Which would George Washington or Thomas Jefferson prefer?<br />
<br />
<br />Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-40495086235973161142014-01-01T18:58:00.001-08:002014-01-01T18:59:35.651-08:00Tocqueville's Question of the Day--Presidential Elections: Agitation
and Reelection<div>Question of the Day--Presidential Elections</div><div><br></div><div>Today Tocqueville helped me think through presidential elections a bit and come to think about how much we take them for granted. Unlike us, he considers elections to be times of great crisis in a democratic nation. The public gets engaged against one another. Rather than working together, the forces of society are locked in battle. We have come to expect a perfectly peaceful resolution of such internal political wars, but Tocqueville helps remind us how unique the American experience was in the history of politics and helps us think about how unique it still is today. We should give some thought to what it is (culture, tradition, values?) that keeps blood from running in the streets after an election--even a contentious one like 2000!</div><div><br></div><div> In America of the 1830's, Tocqueville saw a country that was incredibly mobilized for battle every four years. And yet, he marveled that the American people became so agitated at elections when the presidents of this whig period of American history were so relatively powerless. They had few unilateral powers, played a small role in domestic political life, and had very few patronage positions to spread around. </div><div><br></div><div>Fast forward to the modern presidency where the executive branch is comprised of hundreds of thousands of employees, the president is Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military force ever assembled in human history, and where we have centralized vast unilateral power in the White House. Are the American people more drawn to politics and elections since the stakes are so dramatically higher than they were 170 years ago? If not, does it say anything about our character? Is it, maybe, a part of our political stability that so many of us are not much engaged in political life?</div><div><br></div><div>On a related point, Tocqueville makes an interesting observation about the impact of presidents running for re-election. He says that allowing presidents to run for re-election will make them "only a docile instrument in the hands of the majority. He loves what it loves, hates what it hates; he flies ahead of its will, anticipates its complaints, bends before its slightest desires. The law-makers (founders) wanted him to lead the majority, and he follows it" (229). This is particularly a problem during the last year of a president's term, Tocqueville says, and especially in an age where political morality had become lax (which he saw happening in America in the 1830s, btw).</div><div><br></div><div>Do you think our prohibition on third terms has satisfied Tocqueville's concern? Have our presidents become less subservient to the public mood? Do you think there is a danger in presidents following public opinion too closely? Or, was Tocqueville too distrustful of the public mind?</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEjAfHEaFx_tkE3zqk_v9Vg-UT3xRpMP48Da9vPSUhU-MpdFKdVh9fw83goB8iV3Y3B0IxR0G0BJVhyL_kg_d_MufCBVe0gLZzureZXl36NL7rfqu2XyIlb4sk5CwPv2QkYVZHRyXxFxn/s640/blogger-image--795906681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEjAfHEaFx_tkE3zqk_v9Vg-UT3xRpMP48Da9vPSUhU-MpdFKdVh9fw83goB8iV3Y3B0IxR0G0BJVhyL_kg_d_MufCBVe0gLZzureZXl36NL7rfqu2XyIlb4sk5CwPv2QkYVZHRyXxFxn/s640/blogger-image--795906681.jpg"></a></div>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-14923449387020244912013-12-29T06:13:00.001-08:002013-12-29T06:13:54.623-08:00Tocqueville Question of the Day--Scale. What Size America?<div>By Gary L. Gregg, Ph. D.</div><div><br></div><div>Today's question of the day being pondered by me in Brighton, Michigan this winter morning, is the question of the proper scale of a good nation. Are there consequences to size? Can a nation be too small? Can a nation be too big?</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZHrrX32gy4UpXod7tiPXiCN6ZUbBCZNQODk_ueOP1bgLeYE_mR-f9dRtyq1daxaRzCfgYsgmQMKWF_Ob1kbP3uqJwgHh5N8WPaQeMI2QTh5oqbxPusDtCciv_txxF7XAEH0yxIibPA_3/s640/blogger-image-2066002900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZHrrX32gy4UpXod7tiPXiCN6ZUbBCZNQODk_ueOP1bgLeYE_mR-f9dRtyq1daxaRzCfgYsgmQMKWF_Ob1kbP3uqJwgHh5N8WPaQeMI2QTh5oqbxPusDtCciv_txxF7XAEH0yxIibPA_3/s640/blogger-image-2066002900.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Tocqueville's answer to this question is that there very much are great consequences to the scale of a nation. The founders fought over this, too, but we seem to have lost the question along the way as we "manifest destinied" our way west.</div><div><br></div><div>Well, Tocqueville seems to say that small republics (though he does not define a particular size) are the natural home of liberty and happiness. Indeed, he ominously warns, "The history of the world provides no example of a large nation that remained a republic for long" (256). He says, "All the passions fatal to republics grow with the extent of the territory, while the virtues that serve to support them do not increase in the same measure" (257).</div><div><br></div><div>What does he see in a large nation? Why, "Great riches and profound poverty, large cities, depravity of mores, individual egoism, complexity of interests," all which undermine liberty and happiness. I think about all of us from left and right can find something in this analysis to appreciate, but who among us are laying the blame on America being too big?</div><div><br></div><div>On the other hand, Tocqueville argues there are benefits in large nations because size bring strength and glory. They can fight wars and they can be self-sufficient. In the America he observed coming into view in the 1830's, we had created a decent balance--our federal system allowed most decisions to be made at the local level so we built mores and habits in small republics. But we were able to combine strength for foreign policy and related matters across a much larger extent of territory and population.</div><div><br></div><div>And so the Big T must ask us to think about the state of federalism over the last 180 years. Is the America he describes still in existence? Have we over centralized? Have we kept the balance between small republics and a broader confederacy? And, he even, I think, asks us to ponder the question that it seems un-American to ask: Have we grown too large? If we care for liberty and happiness, should America be broken up into smaller republics where we share more in common and can build the kind of mores of self-government upon which Tocqueville believed liberty was built?</div><div><br></div><div>And, we can play historical counterfactual and wonder what would have happened if the secession of the southern states in 1861 would have been taken as an appropriately republican remedy for the problem of scale and every thirty or 70 years or so America would have split again into smaller republics. How would American history (and world history) have unfolded differently?]</div><div><br></div><div>Big questions from the Big T.</div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54NCMlhyGVwWhJsEQ5oaSy8UMU-ghl8ko6szngnxhBTvF6g_F3_75cRpHDATS62XG_n6IMvVZEgIqR1nZ8hsI490_gJrbFiKRKBEp16szexIH5ox3ngfn4_H8UytaPcIykTBuXdsnJhRn/s640/blogger-image-2116119548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54NCMlhyGVwWhJsEQ5oaSy8UMU-ghl8ko6szngnxhBTvF6g_F3_75cRpHDATS62XG_n6IMvVZEgIqR1nZ8hsI490_gJrbFiKRKBEp16szexIH5ox3ngfn4_H8UytaPcIykTBuXdsnJhRn/s640/blogger-image-2116119548.jpg"></a></div>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-53927880733817640932013-12-26T07:26:00.001-08:002013-12-26T07:26:54.279-08:00Tocqueville's Question of the Day--Decentralization<div>Question of the Day--Decentralization</div><div><br></div><div>By Gary L. Gregg</div><div><br></div><div>We have been fighting related questions for two hundred years, to one extent or another. Tocqueville offers some very powerful insights into the political consequences of where decisions are made that are worth tackling. These observations are found between pages 142-166 (the last section of Vol. I, part 1, Chapter 5).</div><div><br></div><div>While Tocqueville admits that a kind of European centralization of power can be more efficient and better organized, he marvels that no people on earth are more decentralized and still better (in the 1830s) at creating schools, roads, churches, civic organizations, etc. than are the Americans. And they do it all without going to ask the government to do it for them. How can this be?</div><div><br></div><div>Well, it seems to be the effect of decentralized power. When the core decisions of politics and life are made close to home, the people feel empowered. Their souls are transformed. They feel like CITIZENS and not SUBJECTS. They voluntarily organize to take care of social problems like crime because they feel strong and free and responsible. (Think about the posse of your favorite westerns--Tocqueville talks about this phenomena without using the name). </div><div><br></div><div>The opposite effect is created by centralization of power, Tocqueville argues. As power is centralized, people feel weak and distant from decision-making. Eventually they feel like settlers in a land that is not their own and that they do not care to preserve or protect--"let the government do it." Citizens become subjects and democracies become despotisms.</div><div><br></div><div>Tocqueville's warning for our democratic society can be counter-intuitive: that no power on earth centralizes more quickly and ruthlessly than democratic peoples. They see a good in centralizing power into few hands because those hands are their embodiment. </div><div><br></div><div>Wow (this thought really did just hit me), from this Tocquevillien Angle, Lincoln's ideal of government "of the people, by the people, for the people" is just the kind of language that brings about centralization and the enervation of citizenship. Yikes. I must be wrong. . . please read and correct me!</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4xaGjJvDMBcwlCthV8rPAVROSSSIgadyEDkdiCqWxj159kiNhBxup100Y7PrbbwlvOjAArH-EBMJQIdL3MfTUZPlbj0d8h2D7hte5QxqDQfE9hORETWzj8dQTwd5G2fcO8dGohh9aq9M/s640/blogger-image-1424940146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4xaGjJvDMBcwlCthV8rPAVROSSSIgadyEDkdiCqWxj159kiNhBxup100Y7PrbbwlvOjAArH-EBMJQIdL3MfTUZPlbj0d8h2D7hte5QxqDQfE9hORETWzj8dQTwd5G2fcO8dGohh9aq9M/s640/blogger-image-1424940146.jpg"></a></div>Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-14993543492204971732013-11-22T07:56:00.002-08:002013-11-22T08:10:54.514-08:00Remembering C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley on the 50th Anniversary of their Death.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7594734447770085239" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7594734447770085239" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>
<img class="irc_mut" height="66" id="irc_mi" src="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2013/11/trifectas_one.gif" style="margin-top: 181px;" width="200" /></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
50th Anniversary--</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Remembering Lewis and Huxley</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
by Gary L. Gregg</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
22-November-2013</h3>
<br />
For the last week our televisions and newspapers have been taken up with commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As I write this, we are just an hour away from bells tolling across the land. It is right that we pause and remember the event that changed so many lives and in ways we won't ever fully unravel, changed a generation of Americans and altered the cultural landscape of our nation.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);"></span><br />
<br />
Two other giants of the 20th century also died on November 22, 1963 and deserve our remembrances and appreciations. Perhaps the most important Christian apologist of the 20th century, C.S. Lewis died in his beloved Oxford the same day one of the most prophetic writers of the century, Aldous Huxley passed away in a bed in Los Angeles. The death of both men was overshadowed by Kennedy's assassination and have been for the last fifty years. Still, these writers had a profound and lasting influence on minds and imaginations around the world and, at least in the case of Lewis, it might well be that his influence over the last fifty years has been more wide and profound than was that legacy cut short in Dallas.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130619161538/lotr/images/6/6e/C.S._Lewis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="irc_mut" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130619161538/lotr/images/6/6e/C.S._Lewis.jpg" style="margin-top: 6px;" width="170" /></a>Nearly all of Lewis' books are still available in print and in just the last couple of years at least two new volumes have been salvaged from his records and made available to the public. His life has been the subject of a major motion picture. His children's books continue to baptize the imaginations of our young and have been made into movies that have reached even more. His Christian apologetics have converted atheists, like he once was himself, and instructed anew millions raised in the church. His scholarship stands the test of time. His adult fiction, particularly his novel <u>That Hideous Strength</u> has never been more timely. His <u>The Abolition of Man</u> remains a powerful tonic to the moral relativism of the modern world.<br />
<br />
Later today Clives Staples Lewis joins the likes of some of the greatest literary artists in the English speaking world including Chaucer, Browning, Blake, Dickens, Austin, and Kipling, with a special memorial in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey. The honor is more than well-deserved.<br />
<br />
<a href="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="irc_mut" height="149" src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a>Aldous Huxley's literary influence has not remained nearly as influential as has Lewis' but his _Brave New World_ remains one of the greatest warnings against the trends of the modern world. From genetic engineering to drugs for sexual enhancement, few writers were as prescient about the way our culture would decline into decadence over the last seventy years. His imaginary world built on the elimination of pain and the maximization of mindless contentment deserves reading and re-reading in our age of electronic distraction, declining education standards, and sexual mores as loose as the novelist could ever have imagined.<br />
<br />
As we commemorate our fallen political figure today, let's also remember the literary giants who warned us, prepared us, and continue to inspire and instruct those who still read books in our own Brave New World full, as it is, of hideous strengths.Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-22282291004002182612013-11-15T07:20:00.001-08:002013-11-15T07:20:26.313-08:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Chickamauga</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
A Ghostly Tale of the Civil War</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By Gary L. Gregg</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I wrote this little tale on Halloween night 2013. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For the full story, please visit: <a href="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2013/11/chickmauga-war.html">Chickamauga</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/horse-war-jpg-300x173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="horse-war-jpg" border="0" class="size-medium wp-image-30245 alignright" height="115" src="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/horse-war-jpg-300x173.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fog covered the camp as he arose the
next morning. It was early and the late night sentries were exchanging
their positions with fresh eyes as he crossed the dewy grass. “I have
never been so glad to see dawn,” one of them said to another, “it was
like I could feel ten thousand dead standing up and walking the grounds
about that bloody creek.” The boy from Ohio rolled his eyes and kept
walking toward the edge of the camp. He pulled a small mirror from his
pocket to check his hair, vanity knowing no end, even in the terrible
war of brothers. He squinted as his eyes seemed less bold and clear,
almost grey, in fact. He looked up at the fog and determined it was
just the defuse morning light.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hands in his pocket, the soldier looked
into the dense fog, playing games trying to make out the objects cutting
the peculiar shapes. One was moving and moving fast. It grew in size
and speed at it approached. A man. No, a horse. It was a proud and
mighty black steed that burst from the oblivion beyond. No rider drove
it on, but it bore an empty saddle upon its back, cavalry stirrups
dangling at the edge of its belly. The beast pulled up short in front
of the Union soldier.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Move on, plug. Be your man living or
dead, an officer’s mount is no good for me in camp!” As he slapped the
horse’s rump, he noticed the saddle had the initials CSA burned into the
leather. “Ah, a Rebel horse! Well, who killed your traitor-owner?”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fueled again with an energy he only knew
when he was looking down on someone else, the boy who volunteered each
time a chicken needed slaughtered, threw himself up into the saddle. He
felt the power of the horse beneath him and took the reigns into his
hands. He would ride it over to his superior officer’s tent and offer it
as tribute. Perhaps he would be rewarded. It did appear to be a very
fine horse.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hood-at-chickamauga.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hood-at-chickamauga.png" border="0" class="decoded" height="142" src="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hood-at-chickamauga.png" width="200" /></a>He dug the heels of his worn and nearly
ruined boots into the horse’s flanks. As he did, he felt his hands
tighten around the reins. Pressure built in his legs as they pressed
against the ribs beneath. He pulled his right leg and then his left but
neither moved. Pressure like arms enveloped his chest and squeezed. The
private squirmed but could not move. He called for help but no one
reacted. He didn’t know if they could not hear or the pressure around
his chest kept him from emitting the sounds he intended.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The horse reared back and turned. Out
of the camp in Chattanooga it ran. Into the deep fog. The helpless
rider was flung left and right as the horse lurched around trees and
jumped brambles and boulders. Onto the fields where sergeants lay next
to privates in the equalizing embrace of death, the horse carried its
prisoner. Bodies, once full with laughter, now lay in unnatural
contortions, their life-giving blood staining the grass and already sunk
into the soil below.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The boy thought he could see all the
existence of these bodies in all their forms, one after another and
almost all at once; Life, agonizing death, deep fear, resignation, the
bleaching of death, gaseous explosions before the final stages of decay
made the renewing magic of new soil. Movement. The movement of the
bodies. Death was to be still, here it was all movement, all change.
Fear gripped his soul and squeezed in the same way his body was being
held to the horse.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pulling up to a rising Confederate
casualty, the horse bucked. The pressure released. The boy from Ohio
felt himself falling toward the killing fields.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the Full story, please visit: <a href="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2013/11/chickmauga-war.html">http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2013/11/chickmauga-war.html</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594734447770085239.post-72722470984260247722013-07-08T18:26:00.001-07:002013-07-08T18:26:20.896-07:00Leadership and the Moral Imagination, a snippit.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhepPRyWEX1XOItAO2VzdXwFMyb9V5iZkOd4ZntJ7FQhdywaD_mKr3al2IwAKHeZoqx2f2l88O-Cr0AiZ36fUmlYpTYwMiPG47HQcOvKQ4tv8vSAGjriraa4i7subFbaiWoGJoZ20JK5Hk/s1600/IMG_6633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhepPRyWEX1XOItAO2VzdXwFMyb9V5iZkOd4ZntJ7FQhdywaD_mKr3al2IwAKHeZoqx2f2l88O-Cr0AiZ36fUmlYpTYwMiPG47HQcOvKQ4tv8vSAGjriraa4i7subFbaiWoGJoZ20JK5Hk/s320/IMG_6633.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Here is a snippet from my talk tonight on leadership and the moral imagination to students of the <a href="http://www.isi.org/">Intercollegiate Studies Institute</a>.<br />
<br />
# # # <br />
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-134238209 -371195905 63 0 4129279 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.Body1, li.Body1, div.Body1
{mso-style-name:"Body 1";
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:10.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
mso-outline-level:1;
font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style> <br />
<div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The phrase "moral imagination" is from that great 18th century British parliamentarian Edmund Burke in his<span> </span><u>Reflections on the Revolution in France. </u><span> </span>Attacking the French Revolution, he wrote the following difficult but very insightful paragraph: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>"All the decent drapery of life is to be rudely torn off.<span> </span>All the superadded ideas, furnished from the wardrobe of a moral imagination, which the <u>heart owns, and the understanding ratifies</u>, as necessary to cover the defects of our naked shivering nature, and to raise it to dignity in our own estimation, are to be exploded as a ridiculous, absurd, and antiquated fashion."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div align="center" class="Body1" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">*****</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now . . . </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">“</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">furnished from the wardrobe of a moral imagination. . .</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">”</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>What on earth does that mean?<span> </span>I read Russell Kirk</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s essays on the topic.<span> </span>I read and reread Burke</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s language.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Maybe I am not as smart as most, but I know I wrestled with this concept on and off for a decade or more before it finally started to make sense to me.<span> </span>It was like one of those <u>lizards</u> you grab at and think you caught and then it scampers out of your fingers and you are left with just the decoupled tail.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I don</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t have time this morning to give you a full treatment of the topic of imagination or that particular variant called the MORAL IMAGINATION.<span> </span>I don</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t have time this morning to explore all the intricacies of the argument or what I have learned about it all in the last decade.<span> </span>Instead, I want to offer a few thoughts to set up a couple of the ways I have come to think of <u>the power and importance of IMAGINATION and particularly of what I think is the essential link between imagination and LEADERSHIP.</u></span><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></u></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My own eureka moment came when reading Robert Penn Warren</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s Pulitzer prize winning novel <u>All the King</u></span><u><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span></u><u><span style="line-height: 115%;">s Men,</span></u><span style="line-height: 115%;"> a book I highly recommend to you. It is mandatory reading for my leadership students. There is a scene in that book that rocked me back on my heels. <span> </span>To boil it down, the scene had one man (Jack) changing another man</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s mind (Dr. Stanton) and convincing him to do what Jack wanted him to do.<span> </span>(That is, jack was exercising leadership).<span> </span>When asked how he did it, Jack said that he </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">“</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">changed the pictures in Dr. Stanton</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s head.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">”</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You see, he didn</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t give him a better argument.<span> </span>He didn</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t threaten or bribe him.<span> </span>Those tactics wouldn</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t work with a man of such integrity as Dr. Stanton and he knew it.<span> </span>He changed the pictures in the Dr.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s head and that was sufficient. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This insight, that we might be driven in our actions, not so much by <u>cold, calculating reason</u> but by <u>the pictures in our head</u>, forms an essential foundation of what I want to talk to you about today.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I have become convinced, we are all governed by the pictures in your heads.<span> </span>We are sad or happy, successful or a failure, well-adjusted or an outcast, Christian or pagan largely because of the pictures we carry around in our heads.<span> </span>They are essential to who we are.<span> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We all carry pictures around with us from all sorts of places: parents, teachers, loved ones, movies, music, classmates, church, books.<span> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>If you are a conservative, you probably carry around with you certain pictures of things you want to conserve and find true and others you find false and maybe even dangerous.<span> </span>More on that as the week progresses.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So, back to my more general point; these pictures, in other words, are what inhabit our imagination.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It is those pictures that govern our lives.<span> </span>It is our imaginations that rule our world.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We can</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t get any further than the pictures in our heads allow us to go.<span> </span>We can</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t do anything that the pictures in our heads tell us we can</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">t.<span> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And so you might now start to see the genius of Dr. Kirk</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">s friend who claimed we could reform our politics by infusing poets into the process as advisors to our leaders.<span> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Our political figures are governed in their actions no less by the pictures in their heads and the quality of their imaginations, than are we.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It was a twisted and diabolic imagination that made possible Nazi Rule.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It was the idyllic imagination that made possible the terrors of the French Revolution and the excesses of 20th century communism.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="Body1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Think of the differences in public policy decisions made by a political leader who had visions of America as one huge secular empire.<span> </span>And another whose vision of America at its best is that of a republic of small republics who worship as communities and raise families according to shared values. What divergent decisions those two would make!</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYY8Wdobd5YowgB8XJ7411DiYRzh9wmTHxOGbINXZyNH4JqzA7wp2lRxbxanuBDO6l1Go7XW0LGsytPn2bmzsVluvgaWoC68OFCWIDtpbbnmoaWkeMNwXAJBxNC4QoDlk8MqYfOMsSbytc/s1600/IMG_6634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYY8Wdobd5YowgB8XJ7411DiYRzh9wmTHxOGbINXZyNH4JqzA7wp2lRxbxanuBDO6l1Go7XW0LGsytPn2bmzsVluvgaWoC68OFCWIDtpbbnmoaWkeMNwXAJBxNC4QoDlk8MqYfOMsSbytc/s320/IMG_6634.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Gary L. Gregg II, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12596891141908285029noreply@blogger.com0