How Many Strikes Does It Take?

Glancing through some headlines yesterday and today, I wondered how many strikes it takes for an administration to strike out. Playing organized baseball and softball to the age of 42 has taught my memory that the rules state, “Three strikes and you’re out!” The Nixon administration had three strikes, and they were out. The Viet Nam war debacle, the incentive for companies to move to China, and Watergate. I am sure there were others, but those three stand out to me.

Strike Outs Logged by the Current Administration in just the Last Two Days

• Willie-nilly Assumption of the Legislative by the Executive Branch

In the past two days, there have been the erroneous interpretation of the Hyde Amendment to fund women, with taxpayer monies, to cross state lines to abortion friend situations. It is one thing to make an executive order that such maneuvers are legal. It is a very different one for the President to ignore the separation of powers and use taxpayer’s money in this manner. The moral issue notwithstanding, there is a Constitutional issue at stake.

• Eating Their Own

Perhaps stretching the idea of the administration is stretched a bit. Still, following the Washington administration’s preferred policy bent, a school board in Wisconsin treated a feminist teacher (yes, you read that correctly) for speaking out against transgender ideology. Here is how commentator Daniel Suhr describes the occasion for her firing by her “own team.”

“In the bluest city in the bluest county in the whole state of Wisconsin, a group of women gathered for three days in April for a “weekend of radical feminist action, discussion, community, and solidarity.” They attended workshops, listened to panels, and even went on a group bike ride. On Saturday, they held a rally at the state capitol for feminist causes, which included an open mike for anyone to share thoughts, usually in short, unscripted remarks. When teacher Marissa Darlingh stepped to the microphone, she attacked the transgender ideology that is destroying the lives of her students.¹

• Opening the Flood Gates

Yes, Chief Justice Roberts temporarily shut down this travesty. But unless a majority of justices concurs, the administration will get its way on Title 42. Let’s face it; there has been a steady flow of migrants since Biden became President. It is a working toward the view espoused by Senator John Kerry, open borders.

The incident recently of the fentanyl found coming across the border, to say nothing of the other drugs and riffraff flooding across the border, what could be the motivation of the administration? They give every indication of desiring to create a socialist state of a government-dependent population with an oligarchy ruling class that tells everyone else what to do.

Since They Strike Out, But Don’t Leave???

So, what do citizens do when the administration runs roughshod over the Constitution and collective common sense? Chief Justice Roberts gave a good example in his response to the favorable ruling on gay marriage. He spoke out! Perhaps not as ideally as he could have, but he did speak out. He wrote, “The majority’s decision is an act of will, not legal judgment. The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or this Court’s precedent,” Roberts writes in his dissent. “Just who do we think we are?”

• So, what do citizens do?

They speak out in writing. In blogs and letters to legislatures, both federal and state. They attend school board meetings, and they speak out. They speak at town hall meetings, city council meetings, and other public places.

• So, how do citizens conduct themselves?

They write out speeches as much as possible to make every attempt to conduct themselves with an impeccable demeanor.

• Citizens vote

Everyone eligible to vote in our extended family voted. It was the first time for one who just made it under the wire birthday-wise. He drove home from boarding school to vote.

• Citizens run for public office

I have a good acquaintance who retired from city employment and then ran for mayor. He has not held two terms. They have not been easy. There have been some very violent crimes, and those unhappy citizens picked his home. But he stayed the course and ran for the second term. He has contributed significantly to the stability of the community.