Conscience

Most of our actions take place with little concern about whether they are proper or not. We simply assume that our normal habits of conduct are right and that our sense of right and wrong would sound an alarm if we started to do something improper. Responding to this alarm is one of the primary functions of our conscience and if our experience and past training remind us that such action would be wrong we are compelled to refrain from the action. This is an example of our conscience in action.

The conscience is part of our human makeup which serves as a guide to our conduct. It is a quality of mind and heart which grows as we age and make decisions in our daily lives. In time it becomes so thoroughly embedded in us that we come to regard our conscience as an essential and natural part of our existence. It becomes accepted as our reliable guide in matters of right and wrong conduct.

There is no enforcement officer who prohibits us from doing something that the conscience advises against doing. The conscience has done its job. The go/no go decision is left up to us. We may agree with the judgment of our conscience, pass up the action and go about our affairs. However, we are free to disregard the advice of our conscience and choose to do the act anyway.

Consideration to go or not to go brings into play within our mind a series of back and forth questions and rationalizations. “Who says it is wrong?” “What right have they to say what I can do?” “Other folks do this all the time.” “Maybe no one will find out about it.” “If I am caught I can beat the rap, I can explain it away.” On and on we try to justify the action that we knew was wrong all along.

Aside from the penalties meted out by the authorities, there is a more serious damage to the conscience which may be overlooked or felt to be of little consequence. Repeated rejection of conscience’s advice hacks away a bit of the conscience’s power so that successive rejections may convince the conscience that it is being ignored or its opinions felt to be of no value. Soon it will stop functioning. Or worse it may commence giving assent to whatever actions its master wishes to do.

Without guidance from the conscience a person’s mind can justify any action the person wishes to do. Theft, rape, murder and treason can be justified in the minds of persons whose conscience has been dulled or neutralized by warped reason and rationalization.

With these consequences in mind we can recognize the importance of morality training by parents, teachers, ministers, police and judges. On their knowledge, skill and performance rests the future of our society and civilization itself.

Jerry Clements 6/30/08

Evaluation

Evaluation is one of our most valuable tools. It is among the very first things a child learns to do as it asserts its rights as a human being. Without instruction, almost instinctively, a child chooses certain foods it likes and others it will spit into its mothers face. As time passes we can’t help but notice how the child comes to love certain toys or dolls while ignoring others that an adult might consider more attractive.

This application of some special criteria in determining what, or who to like or dislike appears more noticeable as the child grows older and becomes more assertive. It shows itself in choices of clothing, hair styles, school classes, friends and lovers.

Seldom is this evaluation sense noticed as a particular characteristic. Rather, we see the results of its application. Although it is seldom noticed its strength and influence is very strong, often causing serious conflicts between parent and child or between classmates. Most notable instances arise when a parent objects to the child’s choice of a particular friend.

Too often overlooked is the value of the process of evaluation in the life of each of us. As a person matures the application of value assessment takes place so many times in such a variety of circumstances that it becomes an essential part of our self and does not exhibit itself as a distinct characteristic. In spite of its elusive nature it is still one of our strongest and most valuable assets.

While we have stressed the ever-presence and great strength of this sense of evaluation, the statement would not be complete without a comment regarding it value as a guide in one’s conduct of daily life.

First, it should not be considered as a reliable ‘moral compass’. While it may be a very helpful guide in choosing friends, lovers and mates, making business decisions or in choosing sides in political matters, it cannot be reliable with respect to the ‘rightness’ of those choices. Responsibility in these and in other ethical and morality matters resides in ones individual character as developed in family life, church and individual experiences. However, it must be stated that one’s character does have a significant influence in the evaluation process which should not be overlooked.

Every individual should take time periodically to recognize the various factors in his character and experience that come into play in his process of evaluation of the problems and opportunities arising in his everyday life. This study will enable him to gain a deliberate and studied view of the person he really is and will add new vitality to his feeling of pride and self-worth.

Jerry Clements 6/27/2008

On These Two Hang All Law

The Pharisee lawyer was smart and was determined that Jesus would not escape his snares by tricky phrases and generalities. So he asked directly ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” The earlier session with the Sadducees alerted Jesus to the motives of the group of religious doubters and he answered them directly.

“You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and with your soul, and with your mind”. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”He left no room for argument when he added “On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.”

Jesus earlier had spoken many parables and rules of conduct which were important for all people for all generations, but with this reply we hear Jesus state the very essence of all human relationships, all laws and all rules of conduct.

In this twenty second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we have a yardstick for measuring, a rule for determining the rightness of any action. Whether it deals with world, national or local affairs; whether it is in a business or a church or between individuals, the rightness of an action or attitude can be judged by the reply Jesus made to that Pharisee lawyer.

That yardstick can be used to identify many errors and mistakes that have been made by nations, business organizations, churches, civic organizations and individuals. Many of those errors have been acknowledged and attempts have been made to make amends for them. Some have been successful but many failed.

The concern of this paper is the present. It seeks to appeal to organizations of all types and to individuals of the whole world to enter into a new covenant with every other organization and every individual to adopt those two commandments as rules to govern their conduct in the future.

It has to be assumed that every Christian Church has already made such a commitment and at this time will reaffirm their intention to comply fully with those commandments. Consideration of reaffirmation might well result in action by some churches to drop references to Christ from their name. Others might simply ignore this chapter in the conduct of their church’s affairs. Those and other possible actions are the responsibility of the governing authority of each Church.

Logically, it is time to consider my own Church, the United Methodist Church.
I feel certain that the General Conference of the United Methodist Church would reaffirm its position as a Christian Church. Sincerely believing in the rightness of the actions of previous Conferences it would reaffirm its principles, rules and regulations as set forth in The Book of Discipline. However, a review of history might bring to light instances of error in judgment that have violated the spirit of those commandments and questions of conduct which have been deferred for later consideration but conveniently forgotten.

Further, the Reaffirming Conference might well hear questions relating to the conduct of self-affiliating organizations which represent themselves as a part of the Church at the same time they pursue causes which fail to meet the standards of the Great Commandment. Also the Reaffirming Conference might find attitudes and actions of some of the Boards and Agencies need changes to bring them into compliance with the spirit of the Great Commandment.

It would appear that discussing whether or not we are in compliance with the spirit of the Great Commandment amounts to what is referred to as ‘opening a can of worms’. Could not we continue as we are, and keep quiet about those controversial matters. We recognize the fact that every organization has a few radical, disgruntled members who delight in stirring up controversy and promoting trivial ideas. Only a few persons are involved and they seldom cause any disruption of the general purposes of the church.

If the General Conference can convince itself that this type of rationalization complies with The Great Commandment the problem would be solved---until it and its leaders come face to face with their conscience and their rational minds to realize that they can’t ignore the instances of non-compliance and be silent about the controversial issues and yet truly believe that they love their neighbors as themselves.

So, it is back to the drawing board. Words and Speeches won’t do it. Silence and withdrawal won’t solve it. It is the heart and the soul that must be alerted to the problems and called forth to take a stand.. If we want to be a Church of Christian people we must believe and act as Christ declared we must. We must learn to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Great Commandment gives us no wiggle room. “On it hangs the law and the prophets”

Jerry Clements
2/14/08.

Fear on The Trail

On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, my dog, Mei Ling and I went out to the Autry Mill Preserve for a short hike and a look at the family of monkeys on the Forest trail.

We sat at a picnic table and ate our Taco Bell lunch before starting on the trail.

The only other people around were a lady and young son who appeared to be waiting for someone at the restroom, some 50 yards away from us. Soon another young [7 to 9 years] boy came out and joined the mother as they went to the beginning of the trail where they stopped to read the items on the bulletin board. Their actions indicated that they were new to the park.

I continued eating as they walked toward the parking area, apparently planning to forego the trail. I spoke and asked if they had seen the monkeys on the trail. Surprised at the mention of monkeys the lady asked if there were monkeys, like at a zoo?

They were close enough that I could talk easily, and I briefly explained the story of the circus train wreck, escape of the monkeys, etc and the creation of concrete replacements on the trail by an unnamed man. They started walking toward their car. I asked if they were going to leave without seeing the monkeys?

At this point I realized the lady might be fearful of going down the trail with no one around but me. Never in my life have I felt that someone feared being near me.

I hesitated to urge them to go on the trail. That would just make matters worse. Neither did I say anything to try to convince her I was harmless.

She explained that she needed to go somewhere and would see the monkeys later.

They went to their car and left the park.

Mei Ling and I walked down the trail to visit the monkeys, who seemed happy to see us, but kept silent, we didn’t talk about it, but I could not help but think of the apparent feeling of fear at the park and how it deprived those young boys of the pleasure of seeing the family of concrete monkeys. I certainly hope they went back later.

I am assuming that the mother was fearful of going on the trail because of the recent tragic death of the young hiker in the Vogel State Park. Certainly she is to be commended for taking care to protect herself and her children. She could be justified in seeing me as another Hilton fellow, just waiting to accompany her on a friendly walk and then killing the three of them.

The sad part of it is the fact of justifiable fear that restrains people from enjoying the trails of our parks. Certainly all hikers should be alert and very careful when they go on a trail. In addition to the usual, natural hazards of the woods and streams there are the people of warped minds who must be avoided.

The ‘how’ of avoiding the dangers of the bad persons on hiking trails has suddenly become an important issue of life and death. It is not sufficient to tell hikers to stay off the trails.

In Montgomery, Alabama a former Boy Scout, Robert Mullen, is working on a Hiker’s Manual inspired by news reports of persons being lost or murdered on trails during the recent past. I hope the manual will deal adequately with hiking safety issues as well as the problems associated with hikers trail fears.

Jerry Clements 1/24/08

Erlene McGraw - Jerry Reminisces About a Dear Friend and Sacred Harp Singing

It was the summer of 1938 that I became a friend of Miss Erlene McGraw.

I had been living in Atlanta several months, had met very few people other than those at work and at the boarding house. I was not searching for acquaintances, but was happy to meet friendly persons anywhere I met them. Mama loved Sacred Harp singing and I had often transported her to sites where singings were taking place and thus had developed a modest interest in this unusual style of musical expression.

In the newspaper there was a story telling of a Sacred Harp singing that was scheduled at a Nazarene church on the outskirts of Atlanta on the next Sunday. I had not yet selected a church to attend and this one did not appeal to me, aside from the singing event. I rode the street car to the church locations and walked in as if I were and experienced singer. I found a seat a couple of rows away from the ‘square’ and enjoyed observing the singers as they arrived, greeted friends and assembled in their proper place in the square.

The ‘square’ was the place where the leaders stood as they conducted the singing. It was surrounded by singers with those of like voice, like Alto, Base, etc , seated on respective sides of the room. As a person’s time to lead approached he [or she] would enter the square, lead her song or two and then return to her seat. Apparently, the leaders were chosen and an order of leadership established prior to the start. The leaders were of all ages from pre-teens to old ones who appeared to be in their 90s.

The leaders and singers evidently were experienced singers. The meeting proceeded smoothly with everyone doing their parts well and happily. It was very similar to several such affairs I had attended with Mama in Alabama. I could not help thinking of how happy she would be and how much she would enjoy the meeting if she were there.

In the proceedings I noticed that the name McGraw showed up in the announcements and among the leaders. Mr. McGraw seemed to be a leader in the singers association and among those who planned the meeting. He was also among the first leaders, with the response giving evidence of trust in his leadership in and outside the ‘square’. Of even greater interest was a young female singer who later appeared as a leader. That was Erlene McGraw, daughter of the esteemed Mr. McGraw.

I could not help recognizing Erlene's superior talents as a singer and as a leader. At the morning break, in spite of my timid nature, I made the opportunity of introducing myself to Erlene. I complemented her and explained that I had not learned to sing Sacred Harp, but had learned a good bit about it from my mother’s interest in Alabama. She was very gracious and explained that the McGraw family had been much interested in the Association and participating in the leadership for several generations. Before the singing was over I learned that Erlene’s family were members of the Hapeville Methodist Church and was invited to participate in a smaller group of Sacred Harp singers there.

It was a small church and I enjoyed a few visits there. However, one of my roommates and I had been attending the Druid Hills Methodist Church which was near our boarding house and he persuaded me to stay closer to home. My further contacts with Erlene were to fulfill invitations to attend occasional special singings with her. Also, at this church I met Elsie Marie Andrews who became sufficiently interested to become my wife on November 20, 1940.

Erlene faded out of the picture, but not from my memory.

A friend, Dr. A. L. Jenkins, who attended the Fountain City Methodist Church and also worked as a fellow leader in Boy Scout work asked me if Elsie and I would like to accompany him and his wife, Ethel, on a trip to Alaska. Neither of us had even considered such an adventure and quickly agreed to go to Alaska with the Jenkins.

I knew that such a trip would require a lot of planning and asked what part he had in mind for us in the planning. At a meeting he told us of the general idea of flying part of the way, renting a car for the rest of the trip. Then his brief outline turned out to be a complete itinerary with details including motels, cruise lines, mileage, etc along with financial plans for equal sharing of the costs.

We flew to Salt Lake City, rented a car and took off on a really great 42 day adventure. We took turns driving, saw all the major sites along the way north into Canada and west to Seattle. From there we traveled by plane, ships and trains to see the sights in Eastern Alaska and back. From Seattle we flew back home with a two-hour layover in Atlanta.

It was there that Astor wanted to introduce us to a very close friend of his. The name of the friend never registered with me, but the friend’s wife was named Erlene. Sure enough, it was Erlene McGraw whom I had not see for over 40 years. I enjoyed talking with her and learning that her marriage had been altogether happy. She was happy to meet my wife, Elsie, and our brief visit ended with our boarding the plane for home in Knoxville. The Jenkins and Clements folks had much to talk about on the plane trip ending the 42 days of the Alaska adventure.

Erlene came back to mind during my attendance at the annual Georgia Sacred Harp Singers convention in the Decatur courthouse in June, 2005. Erlene’s uncle was on the program and I found an opportunity to speak to him about Erlene. He explained that Erlene had a stroke a few years earlier, had spent some time in a nursing home before she died. I did not ask him for exact dates, but was assured that she had a long and happy life and had made a great contribution to the Sacred Harp Singing program.

Erlene’s happy spirit will be with me whenever I hear Sacred Harp singing.

Jerry Clements 2-1-08

Jerry's Poem: 'Cousin'

Who’s that man come in from the range?
Listen to his words—they’re pure babble,
Even his accent sounds rather strange.
Easily suspect he’s of the cross-track rabble.

Perhaps he’s of a sheep-herder clan,
That would explain the rough tan skin.
Yet the set of the shoulder, his lengthy stride
Mark him as a row-crop farmer’s kin.

Maybe a look in the family tree is needed,
Careful check of the records might be wise.
Surely all sources should be heeded,
In search of some family ties.

He’s no close relative I would guess,
Can’t find him in my family data file.
Yet incomplete is my record on Aunt Bess
Who’s been missing for quite a while.

Off to Texas with that bum she went,
Thinking he had a big rich spread,
Finding when her saving were spent
Only a big talking fool she had wed.

Family rumors flying around town
Say there was a son born to Bess,.
Who, though it's not written down
Could be my cousin, I confess.

Long lost facts now verified,
Our suspicious ideas run aground,
Reveal our doubts, our efforts tried.
Brings us a cousin. Cheers all around!

Shame upon us all on this day
For our mean, ingrown, silly pride.
Refusing recognition, come what may
Of a dear cousin now close at our side.

Jerry Clements 5/21/07

Jerry's Latest Poem: 'Viewpoint of a Leaf'

Jerry sent me this, his latest poem entitled 'Viewpoint of a Leaf,' with the following message of explanation. Enjoy this beautiful poem about autumn leaves from the viewpoint of the leaf itself.

Here is what Jerry said:

Hi, Judy. Yesterday I went out and paid a visit to the monkeys on the Autrey Mill trail. They are well and seemed happy. There were no complaints as they stood silently in a straight row along the side of the trail. They are still wearing their colorful scarves and seem real proud of the colors as well as the artistic manner of their drapes.

Another product of the hike was the great variety and color of the leaves along the trail. I tried to tell about them in a poem, but it didn't begin to express how good they looked. The dry weather evidently worked its magic. I am trying to attach a copy for you. All else is going well. Love, Jerry

Viewpoint of a Leaf
Sing no mournful, sad songs for me,
Its time for celebration—can’t you see?
I’ve lived my life, very long and well,
Come join with me and help me tell
Sojourners to open their eyes to the world around
And to the napping beauty on the ground.

Look carefully at my well crafted frame,
Run of time and sun enables it to proclaim
A change from leaf to beautiful piece of art.
With more varied colors than on any chart.
My dried veins with water once flowing
Now closed, as is the season of growing.

I am just one of the millions lying around
Waiting my turn to make solid the ground.
Meantime my colors add beauty and grace
To nature’s quilt as it covers the place.
Some may see and make note as finders
While others may well have worn blinders.

It will matter little to me, I’ve done my best.
I served my master with loyalty and zest,
I helped bring him much nourishing vim
From the roots to the tip of each limb.
It was good work and my master was kind.
I’ll forever keep him lovingly in mind.

Its on to the harvest, the feast and the gore,
The innards of the littlest creatures I’ll explore.
They’ll chew me up, search for food they enjoy
And extrude the rest for the forest to employ.
Some, wanting to use nice words, call it reincarnation.
For me, I’m just lost in the confusing translation.

"November Leaves" is Jerry's Latest Poem

Jerry is now our official resident poet! He has written another beautiful poem called "November Leaves." It captures the spirit of unending change on earth, the turning of the seasons, the recycling of its resources, and the need for us to nurture and protect our earth. You will enjoy this poem - and I am adding the photo of the autumn leaves that Judie sent to me from New England.

November Leaves

Nature remembers that nothing remains the same;
Though in November, leaves look up from the ground
To ponder the inexorable sequence of the game.
The nude limbs above regret their not being around.

All changes bring losses to some and gains to others
Seeing, the heart must decide and set the balance right.
Remaining leaves surely miss fallen sisters and brothers
While hikers can’t fail to appreciate the beautiful sight.

The red, brown and yellow tints of the leaves invite
All to see the beautiful, unique and boundless quilt
Generously given to us by nature’s inspired rite.
Now the fallen leaves imparts no saddening guilt.

Nature wastes nothing and strives ever for good.
The leaves so beautiful today, tomorrow we’ll see
Has, by nature’s miracle, been converted into food
To nurture flowers, grass and a replacement tree.

Then let us all enjoy the beauty that nature gives
As we recognize our debt to the delicate system
Which sustains the whole earth and all that lives.
And let us strive to protect every creature and stem.

Jerry Clements November 10, 2007

Benjamin Franklin Clements, Junior

Benjamin Franklin Clements [my great grandfather] and his wife, Mary Ward, lived on a farm in Bibb County near the Tuscaloosa County line. Among their eight children were Benjamin, Junior and a younger brother James Rufus. These brothers married Shuttlesworth sisters, of Bibb County. Benjamin choosing Amanda and James pleased to get Permerlia. The land in this area was fairly level and had several springs and creeks, making it acceptable for row farming.

Young Benjamin did leather tanning to supplement his farm income. Also, from his youth he had been a very diligent student of the Bible and felt ‘called’ to be a minister. Chatting with individuals resulted in the informal organization of a group of persons who shared an interest in Christian living. He did not have a church building, although he did serve as a substitute for other ministers in the area on occasions. Ordinarily his ministry consisted of meetings with families or small groups in a home or in the shade of trees when the weather permitted.

The young preacher took seriously the teachings of Christ. When a member of his flock had need of hay, seed corn or help in repairing a roof, Benjamin gladly supplied the need. After a time his wife, feeling that the neighbors were taking advantage of his good nature, appealed to him to cease giving away items the family needed for itself. She begged him to remember that the Bible also taught that “Charity begins at home.”

As the family grew to nine children, the income from the farm and tanning operations became a critical issue, leading Amanda to discuss the matter with her sister Permelia and brother-in-law James Rufus Clements.

When the dispute reached the boiling point, Amanda and James Rufus appealed to the Probate Judge, resulting in an order to transport Benjamin to Tuscaloosa to be committed to Bryce’s Hospital for the Insane.

It was almost a century later that I became interested in family history and learned that my grandfather died in the insane asylum. I had heard the tale that anyone who traces their family history for more than a few generations would find a horse thief, a wife- beater or a crazy man. I had already learned that Benjamin’s father [also named Benjamin]. He had died in prison, but that was the result of his being injured and captured in the Civil war and dying in a Yankee prisoner-of-war camp in Ohio.

A visit to Bryce’s hospital brought the good news that a great grand daughter of Benjamin worked in the public relations office at Bryce’s. Cousin Shirley Sparks was very helpful in searching the records and furnishing me with photocopies of the papers in the file of Benjamin Franklin Clements, patient #4501 and # 5653. These two numbers reveal that Benjamin was a patient at two different times.

The hospital records show that Mr. Clements was 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 134 pounds. His occupation is shown as farmer & preacher. He did not resist the execution of order of Probate Judge W. C. Christian which made him a patient in charge of James T. Searcy, superintendent of Bryce’s Hospital in Tuscaloosa, AL.

His file does not contain a report of an official diagnosis of Mr. Clements mental condition. However the file does contain the following data:

“Throughout his stay here he was more or less talkative, fussy, and cranky. We did not make an official diagnosis but, judging from what little information there is in the record about him we think the diagnosis was most likely dementia praecox, catatonia type.”

His file contains no record of visits or mail to Benjamin except for visits by his son, Jeremiah (who is also my father). [The visitation slips are undated], and a cousin, J. R. Thompson who visited him on July 25, 1906.

On January 23, 1907 Benjamin’s wife, Amanda Shuttlesworth Clements, wrote to Bryce’s:

“The report is out that my husband (B. F. Clements) is dead. Please inform me if the report is correct. She signed it (Mrs.) Amanda Clements, Data, Bibb County, Ala.”

The prompt reply stated:

“Dear Madam, I am sorry we were not able to communicate with you at the time of your husband’s death which occurred Jan. 7, 1907. The instruction in his Hospital record was to communicate with Mr. J. R. Clements, Phipps, Ala. We had written him previous to his death notifying him that your husband was in serious condition but did not receive any reply and as we could not wire him at the time of his death we wrote him full particulars notifying him of same but have never received any reply from any of our letters. They were not returned so we suppose he or some one else received them. He was neatly buried here in the Hospital cemetery and his grave is marked that it can be pointed out to you at any time you might wish. I am sorry that there was a mistake in the address of the Hospital record as to whom we should communicate with. If there is any other question that you desire to know in regard to your husband’s last hours, we will be only glad to answer same.

Sympathizing with you deeply in your distress and assuring you that your husband had every attention, we are,

Yours truly,
J. Searcy, M.D. Supt.”

Mrs. Sparks advised that the wooden marker has decayed and it is impossible to identify the spot where Mr. Clements is buried.


Jerry’s Comments:

Lessons to be learned from the experiences of Benjamin Franklin Clements depend on a variety of viewpoints:

It appears that Ben was a truly good man who dared do what he believed was right and Christlike, regardless of the consequences.

Wife, Amanda, was convinced that his first duty was to his family and that failure in that duty was sufficient cause to ‘put him away’.

The Probate Judge apparently agreed with Amanda and exercised the law loosely so as to send Benjamin to Bryce’s.

Benjamin was truly hurt by his loss of his family, his business and the fellowship of friends associated with his Church activities.

Everyone should strive to maintain the proper balance between the various attitudes and beliefs of their lives and relationships.

It appears that Benjamin did not have sufficient education in Christian principles and church management to cope with the family problems arising out of his devotion to his Christian beliefs. It would have helped to have had an understanding Bishop to consult with.

If the various parties were available, I doubt if any of them would feel happy about the outcome of the situation, except possibly the Superintendent of Bryce’s.

Finally, descendents of Benjamin, while regretting his problems and death, may feel very proud of his Christian attitude toward his neighbors and his willingness to endure the consequences of his actions.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid War

The war in Iraq is stupid. From the very first thought of it the war has been stupid. After four years, thousands of lives and billions of dollars it continues to be stupid from any angle it is viewed. No amount of money, no number of soldiers sent to the front lines and no number of speeches by the president will change the basic fact that every act from its planning through its latest surges the war has been a big, stupid blunder that should have never happened.

The West Point cadet with the lowest graduating score would know better how to plan and execute a war, and would know better than to choose this as the war to fight. He would be better able to view the intelligence and sort out the significant data from the false and manufactured rubbish used to justify invading Iraq. He would be too smart, and too honest, to tell the American people lies to explain why our nation should start a war against a small nation that represented no military threat to us or to our friends.

If we had a president who was only as smart as the poorest scoring West Point graduate and he proposed a war like the Iraq war it would be expected that he would have people in his Cabinet who would advise him to be cautious about such an adventure. They would surely ask him to consult with people in the Pentagon who have studied the history of warfare and who know how to evaluate military challenges to our nation and how to conduct a necessary war to a successful conclusion.

The least qualified member of the cabinet, whose only justification for being selected to for the position was his voting record and party loyalty, would be expected to caution the President to become acquainted with the leaders and the general population of a nation prior to setting out to conquer it. He would also warn the president that if he is hoping to reorganize that nation’s government and economy he should have a plan for doing so. In addition, there should be a plan for getting our soldiers out of the country as soon as the reorganization is completed..

If the president were not smart enough to think of it himself at least one cabinet member could be expected to ask if we have a sufficient number of trained and equipped military personnel and enough supplies ready to fight and win the war as well as the machinery to deliver those men and equipment to the places they need to be at times they need to be there.

Long before beginning the war the President would be expected to inform the people of all of the significant facts regarding the necessity of the war in language they would understand. He would tell them of the attempts he had made to correct the problems with the offending nation and why those attempts failed

At this juncture we must face our assertion that everything associated with the war in Iraq is stupid. Supporting this assertion is the great volume of data regarding the war which has been reported in the newspapers, books and magazines and the radio and television reports which continually flood our homes. Agreeing that much of the news
has been prejudiced one way or the other, we must assert that the most favorable reports still reveal a war so poorly planned and executed that most of the countries that had been our friends and allies disagree with us as to the necessity and wisdom of waging this war in Iraq..

Viewing the current status of this war reminds us of our duty to exercise our rights on election-day to choose leaders with character, intelligence and education sufficient to keep us out of unnecessary wars. We and our descendants will be paying the monetary cost of the stupid war in Iraq for several generations. Damages to the bodies, minds and spirits of our service personnel cannot be accurately measured or compensated. We will always owe them for the inconveniences, loss of opportunities and other sacrifices suffered by these people and their families. The lives lost and the consequent suffering by their families have values beyond measure which can never be justified or compensated.

Our nation, including the returning service personnel, will never be able to able to describe this was as a “good” or “just” war. Even though our service personnel did their duty, oftentimes without adequate equipment and support, they will never be able to experience the great feeling of pride that results from succeeding in a noble cause. They will have been cheated by their leaders.

We, as individuals and as a nation simply must stay alert and diligent to see that such a war never happens again

Jerry Clements August 22, 2007

A Tendril's Plea - a Poem by Jerry Clements

Today Jerry sent me this poem he has written, called A Tendril's Plea, and I think it is one of the loveliest poems I have ever read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Feel free to forward it to your friends and family members who would appreciate it. Also add your own comments using the "Comment" feature at the bottom of the entry. Jerry always appreciates your feedback, opinions and comments!

A Tendril’s Plea*

Ever alert, the tendril makes its plea
For a willing, supportive hand,
It simply begs on bended knee,
No food is sought, nor silver band.
Just a simple twig, alive or dead
To support its master’s upward tread.

Vine support is the tendril’s task
A big job for such a slender thread.
Yet, no less would the master ask.
The vine has already fought and bled
Through sprouting and growing years.
No hesitation now, better years lie ahead.

Dedication and patience are now required,
Feel the gentle breeze and enjoy its song,
See the sway of the branches newly sired,
Be ever alert to whatever comes along

Slim and tiny may be the twig in sight
But quickly grasp and hold it tight.

Once the lively touch is made
Curling quickly the tendril binds its friend
Sure to hold in sun or shade.
The union bonded sure-- to the end.
Showing to man the gain for all
From the help of a willing friend.

* Tendril—A threadlike growth extending from a vine near its growing end.

Jerry Clements 8/2/07

Freaks To Hate

Freaks to Hate

At one of my first visits to a carnival I saw many strange things. But the most fascinating one was the man with no arms. The rest of his body appeared perfectly normal but his arms were short stubs with small short, undeveloped fingers. He was just one of the several freaks the carnival charged us fees to look at. The exciting thing about him was his ability to paint pictures and this led people to stand for a long time as beautiful landscape pictures developed on his canvas.

This painter held his brushes in his mouth as he dipped them into the paint and then applied it to the canvas. It looked messy at first leading me to think that I could do as well. But as he continued we saw a beautiful oil painting appear before us. We all applauded his fine, beautiful work.

As we rode home after the show I chose to ride on the seat next to Mama as she drove the horse and buggy up the pitch dark road. I asked mama why that man didn’t have arms and hands like the rest of us. She was always attentive and willing to answer any question asked of her. She said, ”Since the stubs had undeveloped fingers on them, we know that he didn’t have arms and then have them cut off. Evidently he was born with those little stubs instead of regular arms”.

Then after hesitating a minute or so she continued,” The creation of a baby involves a long and complicated process before it is born, and sometimes one [or more] of the body parts doesn’t get finished or may have a little mistake in it. Sometimes babies come with club feet, crossed eyes or an allergy to peanuts caused by some error in their pre-birth assembly. Mamas are sorry when these things happen but it can’t be helped and we don’t understand why it happens.”

It was many years later when I noticed the crossed eyes of that girl in the math class and remembered the very wise and compassionate explanation Mama had told to me on the way home from the carnival.

Mama is not here now. If she were I would like to ask her why homosexual persons are like they are and how they got that way. I am confident she would give me an answer much like the one she gave about the painter who had no arms.

When we see persons with club feet, crossed eyes or other deformities we tend to feel sorry for them and silently rejoice that we have such normal features. Yet, persons with a different sexual orientation get very different treatment. This puzzles me. It seems to me that the complicated process of assigning female or male features to a developing fetus might result in a mistake now and then. My questions to persons who hate homosexual persons are either ignored or bring me the simple explanation that homosexuality is an acquired condition, that persons choose that lifestyle like a person chooses to play football instead of playing chess. Everyone knows that.

Accepting the idea that homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle is very difficult. It automatically classifies the homosexual subjects as stupid fools. I can’t imagine a sane person choosing to enter a group of persons who are harassed at every turn, are refused membership in churches and many clubs, who go into court at a distinct disadvantage and who receive harsh criticism for wanting to exercise rights that belong to them and every other citizen.

Letters to church leaders seeking answers to questions regarding homosexuality and the church’s rules on the subject don’t get replies.

Personal questions are usually answered with meaningless statements like, “Everyone knows that homosexuality is a sin.” Sometimes the answer will be in the form of Biblical quotation of a verse that doesn’t address the issue. I have heard no one answer with a quotation of Jesus Christ in which he condemns homosexuals or states that they should stay hidden away in closets. Instead of accepting homosexuals as brothers in faith, we are seeing churches refusing them an opportunity to hold office and in some cases refusing to admit them to membership.

Some brave churches who accept homosexuals in good faith find themselves looked upon as deviant, despised organizations. They are urged to adopt programs that will ‘save’ the lost persons and persuade them to accept the normal style of sex life. They insist that the church leaders of the past have established rules that prove that such persons cannot live the “Christian” life and that they should not be accepted as members.

Churches are organizations made up of people of certain beliefs. Those people have the right to organize and establish rules for the operation of their groups. They have the right to establish rules and standards for membership, fund raising and spending. In order to avoid the evils associated with a ‘state church’ the American people are granted the freedom to organize any group to do almost anything under any types of circumstances and call it a “Church”. The churches are populated by a very wide assortment of persons. They may hate the Jews, the communists and the infidels of the Islamic faiths or any other group they choose to hate.

The leaders and members of the Christian churches generally live by the Teachings and example of Jesus Christ. That is, until some individual or group gets together and decides that in certain respects the established churches have ‘gone astray’ and in some specified respects are not practicing true Christianity. The splinter group organizes, raises funds and sets about its task of bringing the church back to the style of church it was meant to be, as Jesus Christ would have it be. The group’s agenda usually selects a convenient cause which they feel they can use to enroll members and raise funds needed to carry on their program, whatever their cause might be. Topping the agenda of many of these groups is hatred of the homosexuals.

As a way of drawing us back to the basic subject, I presume to challenge any of the churches or splinter groups to explain why they hate homosexuals and to explain how homosexuals are produced, with reliable scientific support for that explanation. Such an explanation is the only way to remove the stigma the church organizations have placed on themselves by their treatment of the homosexual community.

Jerry Clements 3/5/07

The Legacy of George W. Bush

The Legacy of George W. Bush

1. National Debt
2. Education deficit
3. National Reputation
4. Trade Deficit
5. National Assets
6. National Church
7. Armed Forces
8. Social Security
9. Medicare
10. Poverty
11. Health Insurance
12. Labor Relations
13. Economy [All subject to revision and supplementation]
14. National Infrastructure
15. Human Relations
16. Liberty and Freedom

George W. Bush serving as the 43rd president of the United States has four more years to complete the construction of the Legacy he will leave upon retirement.

Therefore, this assessment of that legacy may need to be altered. However, his public statement made the day after his recent re-election advised the nation that his second term would be a continuation of the program he has followed during the last four years. If he does this, his true legacy will as listed here but simply extrapolated to fit the longer term.

We will not attempt to place the features of his legacy in any order of importance or in extent of influence they will exert on future generations. Neither will we attempt to evaluate and place in order of magnitude of their influence they will exert on the spirit and morale of the individuals or groups making up our population. Therefore we have placed the items in alphabetical order.

An item in the news of the day concerned the fact that it will be necessary to increase the debt limit by November 18th or the nation will not be able to borrow any money or pay any of its bills. To avoid this a special session of the congress will proceed to increase the present limit of $7,384 trillion by $690 billion to a new limit of $8,074 trillion. The news report includes an advisory that the limit will probably have to be increased further within a year or two.

This limit is not the amount of our national debt. It is simply a limit on the debt that may be incurred. The real National Debt of the United States is now $ 7,453,000,000. As this figure is difficult to comprehend we have converted it to a per capita figure of $2,546,687.28 for each person living in the United States. It is not expected that many individuals will write a check to the Treasury Department to pay up their portion of the debt. We will simply recognize it as a debt we owe and pay the interest on it each year.

The amount of interest we pay will be determined by the rate of interest payable on the Bonds and Notes sold by the Treasury Department to raise the funds represented by the national Debt figure. For those persons interested in knowing how much interest the nation will pay each year we can advise that the average rate paid to purchasers of our notes and bonds is 3.0763%. Applying this to the current per capita debt we find that the annual amount we will pay this year will be approximately $185,089,774.53. The U S Treasury will pay this interest to the holders of the notes and bonds out of the funds it has collected as taxes, fees, import duties and from various other sources.

Bush Celebrates Labor Day

BUSH CELEBRATES LABOR DAY

My first real job was with the National Biscuit Company at their branch on Tallapoosa Street in Montgomery, Alabama. The title of my position was “Assistant Shipping Clerk and Assistant City Deliveryman”, the elaborate title making up for the low salary of $14.00 per week. I was proud to be working for such a fine company and enjoyed being associated with fellow workers in the warehouse and in the office. My boss was G.T. Smith who had the title of Cashier. The ‘head man’ was J. H. Girardeau who had a title of Manager and whose principal job was to direct the salesmen in a manner that would enable each of them to meet their sales quota and hopefully gain an additional percentage on the above quota sales. He also supervised the Cashier and the general operation of the branch.

This was in the days of the N R A and we proudly pasted the blue eagle emblem on our windows to certify our joy at being a part of the New Deal program in overcoming the depression and bringing in a new era of prosperity. Actually I was a beneficiary of the program in that I was hired so that Nabisco would have enough hands to get the work done without requiring employees to work more than the 40 hours per week specified in the program. It seemed that with more people working the unemployment rate would improve, and with the shorter work week we would have time to enjoy a few more of the good things of life.

Mr. Girardeau happened to be one of those few Republicans in Montgomery, and was not pleased with his governments interfering in his operation of the company’s office. However, he was a law abiding citizen and proceeded to set up a time card system to record the time worked each day by the employees. He and the Cashier were exempted from the weekly hour limit and would not be paid for any overtime they worked. It seemed to irritate Mr. Girardeau when we would leave at the 4:30 quitting time. Often he would stop us and ask us to do some chore before leaving, such as washing the windows, sweeping the floors or cleaning out the shipping room. This displeased all of us, and a couple of the employees got into verbal scrapes with Mr. Girardeau about it. They were fired within a few weeks.

Regardless of the actual hours worked we were directed to enter our time on the cards to total no more than 40 hours.

After a time Mr. Girardeau got a letter from the local office of the Wage and Hour Administration. As I lived only a block from the post office I was assigned the job of picking up the mail each morning. Of course I noticed the oversized brown envelope and could not help seeing the source. I did wonder about its message but didn’t mention it to anyone. Later another letter came from the same office. This time Mr. Girardeau called the employees into his office and informed us that the dismissed employees were trying to get him into trouble, and that the Administrator would call us and have us go to his office to discuss our working hours with him.

Mr. Tom Fitzpatrick, the Administrator was friendly and explained that he wanted us to give him the facts about our working hours. He pointed out that we were dealing with the federal government and that giving false information or withholding information would subject us to prosecution. In due course each of us got checks from Nabisco. Mine was for $623 and some cents designated as overtime compensation. No further details were given. Mr. Girardeau offered no explanation other than instructing us to be sure to enter on our time cards the exact time we worked.

Those were good days for working people. The new laws guaranteed workers the right to organize unions, specified that the working work week was forty hours and that time in excess of forty hours would be paid with a bonus of 50% of the usual rate.

Enforcement of the wage and hour laws has not been consistent through the years since I left Nabisco in 1937 to pursue a career in Property and Casualty Insurance. But the provision for bonus pay for the hours exceeding 40 per week has remained in force. President Bush is in the process of having the Labor Department revise the rules to permit employers to avoid paying the overtime bonus. The Labor Department, created to be the protector of the rights of workers, is in the process of revising the rules and regulations on overtime pay that will deny an estimated 6 million workers the right to overtime pay.

This action by the president brings to mind the pre-New Deal days when, as a teenager, I heard stories of coal miners in West Blocton who had been crippled for lack of enforcement of safety laws. I learned of their payment in “script” that could be spent only at the Company Store where everything was overpriced and of Company housing where tenants had to make their own repairs in spite of paying higher than average rent. The miners complained about the standing company rule against any effort to organize a union. I was easily swayed to believe in the Democratic party which stood for the workers as opposed to the Republican party which favored the rich, the mine owners and selfish people who wanted more riches and didn’t care if the laborers remained poor.

President Bush has not pretended to be pro-labor. This action on the overtime pay issue firmly establishes him as an anti-labor president. It is truly ironic that the news of this action of the Labor Department would be published within days of the celebration of Labor Day, established to honor the working people of the United States.

Jerry Clements 8-18-04

Bush and War in Iraq

Bush and War in Iraq

George W. Bush wanted to be President of the United States.. Being Governor of the state of Texas was a tough job, but he had proved he could handle it, and he enjoyed it. It seemed a natural stepping stone leading to the Rose Garden and the finest job in the country. The campaign was rough and he didn’t get as many votes as Democrat Gore. Also, there were questions about the voting techniques in Florida, but a favorable vote in the Supreme Court declared him President of the United States.

The Inauguration led to the recognition that the presidency is a tough job, requiring a lot of hard work, making difficult decisions and dealing with a lot of stubborn people. Yet, George W. knew he could handle it. It would be a cake- walk if he could persuade the friends he had made in the Republican Party and in the oil fields of Texas to come to Washington to assist him. On top of that, he had a vision- a calling to be a great leader.

Simmering on the back burner was a pot of hatred that had been bothering him ever since his father, as President, had let Saddam Hussein stay in power after the Desert Storm war a few years earlier. We, and our loyal allies, had whipped his army and pushed him back into the established Iraqi borders. Yet, we had not punished Saddam sufficiently—he should have been killed or in some other way, removed from power in Iraq.

History, as it sometimes does, came forth with an event that shook the foundation of our largest city and delivered a historical shock to the entire population of the United States. Al Qaeda terrorists seized fuel laden jet-liners and flew them with their passengers and crews into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. This unprecedented attack on the United States effectively removed the idea that the oceans serve as secure barriers to attack by our enemies. No one imagined any good thing coming out of the incident, but it started an extended string of unplanned events with unimagined, horrible consequences.

The American people were anxious to pursue the Al Qaeda terrorist who had taken refuge in Afghanistan and capture their leader, Ben Laden. A variety of appropriate military forces were sent promptly to accomplish this capture. However, the mountainous terrain and unfriendly war lords and natives enabled Ben Laden to evade capture and to continue his worldwide terrorist activities.

From President Bush’s perspective the events might be converted into an opportunity to fight the terrorist on a worldwide basis and at the same time dispose of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It would require strong leadership and a tightly knit group of loyal supporters. The plan would have to convince everyone that the leaders of Al Qaeda and of Iraq were of the same mind and engaged in a joint effort to destroy the United States. We had the organization and the connections needed to make the plan work. President set the plan in motion.

1. Mohammed Atta, lead hijacker in the 9/11 attack was reported to have conferred with the intelligence chief of Iraq in Prague in April 2001, barely five months prior to the attack on the World Trade Center. Bush officials saw this story as proof of a link between Iraq and the 9/11 attack. However, this link has been definitely disproved.

2. The National Intelligence Estimate is a secret report prepared for the President, advising him of the very latest and most reliable knowledge available on the situation in the world. These Estimates are prepared at times on requests from the President or at times the Intelligence community feels that one is advisable. The December, 2001 National Intelligence Estimate reported, without dissent, that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons; was not trying to get them; and did not appear to have reconstituted its nuclear weapons program since the United Nations and IAEA inspectors departed in December 1998. In October 2002 NIE issued a new, unanimous report stating that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapons program.

3. Having the benefit of the information in these classified NIE reports, the following officials made hundreds of false assertions in speeches on television, at the United Nations, to foreign leaders and to Congress: President Bush, Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Their statements were consistent in their assertions and were consistently false.

4. President Bush did not say directly that there was a link between Iraq and the attack of 9/11, but he did convey that message by mentioning 9/11 and Iraq in speech after speech in his campaign to sell the Iraq war to the public and to the world.

5. Contradicting the National Intelligence Estimate, Mr. Bush stated in 2002 State of the Union address that Iraq presented a “grave and growing danger”.

6. The President stated many times that members of Congress had the same intelligence that he had when they voted to allow him to make war on Iraq, while in fact much of what they got were summaries that had qualifiers and unsubstantiated additions in them.

7. The Bush administration purposely presented a complex deceit about Iraq to both Congress and the public in its effort to obtain authorization to attack a nation that had neither the intent of the capability to attack the United States.

President Bush attempted to justify his actions by contending that they were necessary to protect American lives against the danger of an imminent attack. At the same time the President knew that Iraq presented no such danger.

One day in the future some authoritative group will obtain the power to assemble information regarding the buildup to and execution of the war in Iraq, and the items enumerated above will be affirmed or disproved. The answers will determine whether President Bush should be praised as a good wartime president or scorned and impeached as an ambitious, conspiring leader who betrayed the trust of the American people.

Jerry Clements 27 December 2005

Bush and Labor

Bush and Labor

It was seventy years ago that I got a check from National Biscuit Company in the amount of $643+ in payment of overtime pay. The manager of the Montgomery, Alabama branch disliked President Roosevelt and was determined that he should not dictate wages and hours to him. An employee was fired after an argument with the manager. He reported the manager’s violations to the Wage and Hours Administration which led to hearings with the manager and the employees. The manager confirmed his instructions to employees to enter 40 hours on time cards regardless of actual hours worked. He also confirmed his objection to the government’s interfere in the operation of free enterprise in this manner. The Home Office promptly issued checks to each of the employees and directed the manager to comply fully with the rules in the future.

Many employers have used a great variety of methods to express their disapproval of the New Deal’s Wage and Hours regulations. However, for a long time these laws have been effective in dealing fairly with a payment for hours worked beyond forty hours per week. Generally, business owners have agreed that employees should be paid for the time spent on the job, and that a premium amount should apply to hours worked beyond forty hours per week

It is not surprising that President Bush is having the Labor Department revise the Wage and Hours rules. It is another example of the strong influence of Big Business on the Administration. Also, it is a reminder of the long-standing Anti-Labor stance of the Republican Party. It is surprising, at least to this writer, that these changes would take place at this particular time, just a few days before Labor Day.

This holiday is set aside as a time to honor the working people of the nation; to acknowledge the contributions they have made to the increased efficiency and productivity of the American economy. But, Mr. Bush’s action will stir up anger in the hearts and minds of many of the workers as they celebrate the holiday.

Greater and more widespread anger will be felt by those workers who have become accustomed to working long hours and receiving the premium rate of pay for the time in excess of forty hours. It will represent a significant reduction in their take-home pay. Yet, in many cases there will not be a proportional reduction in hours spent on the job. Media reports tell us that rule changes will permit employers to simply give an employee a title such as “manager” or “shift boss” and yet require him to do the same work for sixty or more hours without any overtime pay.

Our work-force has lived through good administrations and bad administrations. Even during the “good” times Labor has seen changes in rules and a relaxed attitude toward enforcement of the laws. Actions by employers that clearly violated the laws have been punished by a ‘slap on the wrist’ or a ‘warning’. In the confusing and extended process the employer often achieves his purpose of thwarting employees' efforts to establish a union.

It may be that organized labor has been convinced that unions are no longer needed, or that all unions are led by crooks that don’t care a whit about the rights of working people. Whatever the situation, it is probable that this Labor Day will provoke more than usual discussions about the deterioration of working conditions after the implementation of the revised rules of the Labor Department.

Jerry Clements 8/22/04

Bush Impeachment

BUSH IMPEACHMENT

As the president’s statements and actions become public and a growing number of people and organizations make inquiries about them it is becoming easier to believe that one day soon the President will be called to answer questions about them. Has he done things that justify a serious investigation into the question of bringing impeachment charges against him?

This writer is barely qualified to write about the subject and must rely on those who are much better informed, both on the President’s actions and on the law relating to impeachment. Increasing numbers of people are stating that Mr. Bush lied to us about the move into a war with Iraq, that he willfully misinterpreted intelligence for the purpose of deceiving members of congress and the general population to gain their support for his plans to go to war.

If true, these actions would be disgraceful, however viewed; but should be shifted into the ‘criminal’ category if they led the country into to war with a nation that was not threatening us or our neighbors. The magnitude of deaths, injuries and monetary losses we are suffering magnify the seriousness of the issue. If there have been crimes, then those crimes should be investigated and the president or anyone else guilty of committing them should be brought to justice.

The president has often attempted to justify actions by contending that they were necessary to protect American lives; that the nation was in imminent danger of being attacked. It would ease the concerns of many people to hear a court of jurisdiction confirm or deny those contentions. It would be a confusing and contentious process to hear the accusations and explanations of the many issues involved. Yet, it would serve as a mighty catharsis for a large number of well meaning, confused people. This is especially true of those whose loved ones have been injured or killed in the war.

As the people become more aware of the magnitude of the losses of property, money, injury and death, the demands for an accounting from the president will grow and become more persistent. Deferring the matter would be unfair to all parties involved. Now is the time to clear up the issues, while witnesses are available and the evidence can be gathered and laid on the table before the court. The people are entitled to know the whole truth, and now is the time for a decision.

Jerry Clements 12/22/05

Bully Bush

Bully Tactics and Consequences

Usually it is on the playgrounds of elementary schools that children learn to identify bully characters. Sometimes the bully is confronted, gets his nose bloodied and put to shame. Other times a teacher may admonish or punish him. But, one way or the other, the bully usually is taught a lesson and comes to understand that bullying practices don’t work.

There are bullies who are brazen enough, strong enough or have rich, protective parents who are able to reach adulthood without being cured of the ‘bully’ curse. These persons usually develop attitudes of superiority along with a feeling of inspired guidance. They come to feel they were destined to lead, to command. They believe that the ‘others’ are supportive of their attitudes or actions whether they are right, fair or ethical or not. This often leads to a feeling that they are above the rules and free to do as they please.

It would be interesting to learn how George W. Bush acted on the playgrounds during his early school days. The published reports of his days at Yale reveal a carefree reckless character who was reluctant to listen to criticism and had a feeling of superiority. However, we shall have to wait for a detailed critique of his character development to learn where and when he acquired the attitude that he is immune to making mistakes and has been endowed with superior knowledge and management skills.

It is far beyond my educational and political skills to explain how Mr. Bush was elected Governor of Texas or President of the United States. The fact that he is serving a second term as President is sufficient.

The purpose of this paper is to enumerate some of the attitudes and actions which indicate that George W. passed through childhood into full adulthood without learning why it is shameful to be a bully and why it is disgraceful to use bullying tactics in dealing with employees, politicians or world leaders. It is anticipated that he will deny having used such tactics at any time.

He decided to invade Iraq long before the occurrence of events he later used to justify going to war. Having made up his mind, he required his underlings to find [manufacture, if necessary] evidence to justify the attack. Later he blamed poor intelligence in spite of the fact that his office knew the intelligence was false prior to the attack.

He belittled the United Nations organization with false accusations and criticized and alienated former loyal allies for their refusal to join him is a war they knew was unjustified. The world was led to believe that a large coalition was organized to crush the evil dictator in Iraq while the coalition, in fact, was only United States, England and a small group of lesser nations, most of whom sent only token forces or no forces at all.

Reluctantly he admitted Iraq had played no part in the 9/11 attacks, and that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. With these facts refuted there was no justification for a war that has devastated an independent nation and killed uncounted thousands of people. Yet, he still mentions the 9/11 attacks when speaking of the war in Iraq.

The purpose of this paper is not to enumerate the causes of the war in Iraq. Rather, we wish to deal with the Bullying style of tactics used by the president in getting the war started and to recruit allies in the venture. Mr. Bush’s pressure did not convince some nations, but rather than accepting their decisions as responsible responses of free nations, the president belittled or ridiculed them.

In view of the continuation of the war, the absence of a plan of ending it and with the terrorist forces growing stronger it is time to face the fact that we are being led by a bully president who has failed to learn that bully tactics won’t work. It is time to acknowledge that George W. failed to learn the basic lessons of negotiation, of give and take, needed to get along with other people.

Further shame accrues to the American people for electing him to a second term. It is as if we stood by watching silently as the bully cowed the nation into participating in a disgraceful program designed to enhance his ego as the leader of an inspired ‘calling’ to bring freedom to all people. As we share this shame the news reports and polls are reminding us, over and over, that our bully leader does not know how to lead a nation and that his ignorance is staining every aspect of American life and our relations with other nations around the world.


Jerry Clements 7/6/05

Bullies Tend To Be Fools

Bully’s Sense of Right

One of the chief characteristics of a bully is his sincere conviction that his Maker endowed him with an innate sense of rightness. He doesn’t have to be taught to select the right solution, he was born with the knowledge of what is right. When hiking or biking through the forest he doesn’t have to check the map or a compass to choose the correct fork to take. Often such a gift is accompanied by a determination to pursue the chosen course regardless of the consequences.

Being assured of the correctness of his course, there is no reason to consider alternatives or be concerned with advice from other people, even though those people might be true experts, experienced in the particular field. The bully pushes forward on his chosen path, ignoring the possibility that he might be wrong. His air of self confidence may convince many fellow travelers that he is surely right. Those who persist in showing him the adverse trail signs are scoffed at or may be kicked out of the group.

The Bully in this tale is our president, George W. Bush. True to form, he has led us into a war that is tearing our nation apart. He has told us of a Call he received to help bring the Maker’s gift of freedom to all of the peoples of the world. The Call came upon him several years ago, accompanied by a divine guidebook implanted securely in his person. Even though advice, events and history yell in his ears that he has been on the wrong trail from the git-go, he is determined to stay the course. He says: “It is the right thing to do.”

The Commander-in-chief proudly calls himself a “War President” as if he were playing the role of a General on a black stallion, sword drawn, charging ahead into the valley of death. He closes his eyes to the fallen as they lie dying and refuses to hear the moans of the loved ones. He knows he is right. Nothing else matters.

The nation which usually supports their leader in war is witnessing growing dissent, with national polls indicating that a large, and growing, segment of the population believes that we went into Iraq on false pretenses. A few members of the President’s own political party are raising questions about the justification of the war and are questioning the wisdom of getting bogged down in a quagmire like we did in Viet Nam.

Yet Mr. Bush remains confident that he is on the right path and is determined to ‘stay the course’. This ‘staying’ may come to be the blackest mark on the sad legacy of President George W. Bush.

Finally, we would be wise to recognize that being endowed with an assured sense of rightness may well be the greatest curse a human can receive.

Jerry Clements 8/31/05

Be Prepared

BE PREPARED

Mama read the skies accurately. A bad storm was coming. There was no time to waste. She gave the older boys the job of protecting the garden, a valuable family resource. It was located on a ridge which lay a few feet lower than the road and the boy’s job was to enlarge the ruts in the sandy road so as to lead the rain to follow the road, rather than overflow into the garden. The kids did their job well.

The storm was approaching fast as the clouds turned the day into night as the winds picked up with a deafening roar. The family gathered in the kitchen and huddled under the heavy table until the storm passed by. The next morning the family went up the road a short distance and looked across the valley to view the storm’s damage, a swath of broken or uprooted trees about a hundred yards wide, extending the length of vision from left to right. We were all deeply impressed with the destructive power of this tornado, and happy to have escaped injury or damage.

The Tuscaloosa County tornado is not comparable to Hurricane Katrina. However, remembering it brings to mind a few facts that appear significant. The Clements family didn’t have television, radio or telephone to give an advance warning of the approaching tornado. There was no weather channel showing the storm’s location and the path it was expected to follow.

The modern facilities of the weather forecasting agencies enabled people all over the nation to receive hour to hour facts about Katrina’s power, speed and accurately predicted path. These data were available from the date the storm was created weeks before it struck New Orleans. Television networks programs enabled viewers to follow the storms activities 24 hours per day.

With the great volume of timely information available to the various agencies of the government it seems reasonable to assume that the various levels of authority would be able to assemble the equipment, material and personnel to handle the emergency immediately upon its appearance. There were adequate supplies of equipment, supplies and personnel to handle the various problems as they developed. The big task was to assemble these resources at the places they were needed at the times they were needed.

A Patrol Leader from my Scout Troop would know how to assemble busses, trucks, trains and planes and have them ready to move people out of the way of the hurricane. He would know that the people being moved would need food and drink. He would know they would need comfortable places to sleep and toilet facilities. This fellow would even realize that sick people don’t make good campers and would arrange for hospital care for them at the destination. The skills he had learned in the Troop would guide him in arranging a communication network big enough to alert the people to the location of the pick-up points and to arrange necessary facilities at the destination point.

The Patrol Leader would involve his Scoutmaster in arranging a registration system of personal data sufficient to keep the evacuees in touch with relatives or friends. At the destination the Registry would enable living facilities, government and emergency agencies to know who was involved in the program and how to contact them without delay. Telephones and computer networks would allow any person to contact other persons, no matter where they were located.

All of this, and more, would be the result of organization and training in the Scout Troop and the application of the motto----Be Prepared.

It is not too much to expect the United States Government to perform better than a Boy Scout Troop. The Scouts are volunteers with limited resources obtained through donations and fund raising projects, while the Government has the authority to commandeer any equipment or resources it needs to accomplish its purposes. The government could assemble all the manpower, transportation facilities it needs on the word of the President. Warehouses are packed with crates of prepackaged food and bottled water ready for transport to the assembly area. The Army has housing and equipment on hand for setting up Aid and Hospital services on a vacant lot or wherever needed with doctors and nurses to furnish whatever services may be needed. Everything is available to enable people to live comfortably until they can get their lives back together. All that is needed is the leadership and skill to execute a plan that the governmental agencies must surely have in their files at this time.

The question is “Why didn’t the governmental agencies do their jobs in this emergency?”

Did they doubt the accuracy of the data from the weather being broadcast on radio, television and newspapers?

Did the persons in charge doubt their authority to take action?

Did the President not read the papers or watch the television. Did he assume the Agencies were handling the matter and not verify the action?

Did the President and the heads of the various Agencies assume that all the people that matter would have automobiles or other facilities for leaving the area and that what happened to the others didn’t matter?

Whatever happened [or didn’t happen] has given the American people a sorry demonstration of what might happen if we were to have an attack of the kinds we have been hearing might happen at any time. It leads us to wonder what response we could expect from a “Dirty Bomb” attack. How would the Agencies handle an attack with Biologic or other dreaded weapon?

The way the Katrina was managed, cannot help but raise questions about the competence of the government in Washington from the top to the bottom.


Jerry Clements 9/04/05

America's Tomorrow

America’s Tomorrow

Today is a special day in the United States. Every ‘first Tuesday after the first Monday’ is special day designated as the day for electing people to govern our country for the next two or four years. But this day for 2004 has more than usual importance with respect to the election of a President and Vice President because of the persons running for those offices and the record of administration of those offices during the past for years.

Some very bad things have happened during the last four years and one would expect the leaders to deplore their occurrence and assure us that they would not be permitted to happen again. However, instead of receiving such assurances we hear the leaders speaking proudly and assuring us that if reelected they will not change any of the policies they are pursuing. Except for a few office appointments the President vows that he has made no mistakes during his administration.

We realize that the nation is deeply divided with regard to the actions of the administration and may well re-elect the president and vice president on November 2. This division has multiple causes that may be assigned different degrees of importance, depending on the attitude and political leaning of the parties involved. The writer assumes that persons holding different viewpoints do so sincerely and with feelings as strong as those of the writer. In many cases the facts have been reported without refutation while in others it will be necessary to wait for the deciding evidence to be determined and published.

The items are listed without reference to importance or urgency, but none are considered frivolous or of no importance.

1. The president came into office when the nation had a budget surplus of more than 200 billion dollars. During his term we have not had a balanced budget and in 2004 the deficit will be over 400 billion dollars. Government offices declare that these deficits will continue for many years into the future, imposing a huge burden on future generations. His administration has granted huge tax cuts in which the bulk went to the very rich. They granted “ no bid” contracts to the Halliburton Company and its affiliated companies amounting to billions of dollars which company has been caught overcharging the government for their services. The company is currently being investigated for many other contract violations.

2. The president and/or his cabinet officials have altered reports of responsible science groups to justify easing, or eliminating government rulings relating to environmental hazards detrimental to the health and safety of public citizens.

3. The president has eased rules or instituted new rules which seriously harm our National Forests; damage and pollute our streams and wetlands; and eliminate or damage habitat for wildlife in our wilderness areas and in our National parks.

4. The president, relying on his personal observation and feelings has eased rules relating to pollution of the environment by public utility companies, thus adding to Mercury pollution of streams and drinking water sources and contributing to warming of the atmosphere.

5. This administration is the first one since Herbert Hoover to end with a net loss in jobs. The president has stated that it is good for our economy to have businesses export jobs overseas. The government even allows tax advantages to those that do so.

6.The administration is anti-labor. It has revised regulations regarding payment of over-time pay for extra hours above 40 hours per week. It is opposed to increasing the minimum wage, even though a person working 40 hours a week at the present minimum rate can’t earn enough to support his family.

7. Our nation is fighting a war our president started against a nation that posed no immediate threat against us based on charges that were not true. The president claims that his intelligence was faulty but fails to take responsibility for checking its accuracy prior to going to war. The statement that Iraq was attempting to purchase material for making nuclear weapons was proven false prior to the president’s citing it in his State of the Union speech.
8. The administration has permitted cruel treatment of prisoners in violation of the Geneva Conventions. They have hidden prisoners to prevent the Red Cross’s being able to interview them. The result of these actions can’t be fully understood until members of our services become prisoners in a foreign country.

9. This administration, acting like a bully, has wasted much of the goodwill built up in the world during several past administrations. They have made it infinitely more difficult to negotiate trade and other important agreements with other nations. Their belittling statements about the United Nations organization have greatly diminished our influence in that body.

10. The net result of this administration’s actions, attitudes and inactions can’t be known for a long time. Getting our troops and contractors out of Iraq may be a greater problem than we have faced there up to this time. Results of the mistreatment and mismanagement of the environment may not be fully evident for hundreds of years. Finally, the financial burdens the administration is placing on future generations will force them to live at a reduced level of prosperity for generations.

A Test of Life vs Death


I have known of persons who had all manner of things wrong with their bodies who were still alive; that is, they were able to think and communicate with other people. When I was very young I was amazed to see a man at a carnival who had no arms but who was able to do extraordinary things. He demonstrated his skills by using his feet to do such things as eating and drinking. Then he really impressed the crowd by sitting in front of a canvas and painting a picture.

In adult life I have seen deaf people drive an automobile in Knoxville, TN. In Roswell, GA, Linn Hendershot, confined to a wheel chair carried on a business which helped me get my book “The Nudge of Fate” written. There are blind people living at Chambrel who do most of the things that the rest of us do on a routine basis.

The purpose of this document is to guide people in determining whether I am dead or not. On the telephone or the internet there are times when persons need confirmation of my claimed identity.
They seem to have certain questions they use. “What is your birthday?” “Your Social Security number?” “Your mother’s maiden name?” “Your password?”

If those people determine my identity by the answer to those questions, then my answers to them should prove that I am yet alive. So, here they are: June 4, 1913;
419-07-5640; Dorothy Arrie Stewart; and 34822548 (my Army serial number).

If I can give just one of those answers. I am not dead. I may not be worth the expense of efforts to keep me alive; I may not be able to do any constructive work, but I am not dead. It would be a good idea to repeat those questions periodically to verify that I am yet alive. When I can’t answer at least one of them, I am dead.

“So long. It’s been good to know you!”

July 1, 2005

A Midsummer Song

A MIDSUMMER SONG

O, father’s gone to market-town, he was up before the day
And Jamie’s after robins, and the man is making hay,
And whistling down the hollow goes the boy that minds the mill,
While mother from the kitchen-door is calling with a will:
“Polly!-- Polly!—The cows are in the corn!
O, where’s Polly?”

From all the misty morning air there comes a summer sound—
A murmur as of waters from skies and trees and ground.
The birds they sing upon the wing, the pigeons bill and coo,
And over hill and hollow rings again the loud halloo:
“Polly!—Polly!—The cows are in the corn!
O, where’s Polly?”

Above the trees the honey-bees swarm by with buzz and boom,
And in field and garden a thousand blossoms bloom.
Within the farmer’s meadow a brown-eyed daisy blows,
And down at the edge of the hollow a red and thorny rose.
But Polly!—Polly!—The cows are in the corn!
O, where’s Polly?

How strange at such a time of day the mill should stop its clatter!
The farmer’s wife is listening now and wonders what’s the matter.
O, wild the birds are singing in the wood and on the hill,
While whistling up the hollow goes the boy that minds the mill.
But Polly!—Polly!—The cows are in the corn!
O, where’s Polly?

Richard Watson Gilder

A Jeni To Feed


A young boy in Scout uniform offers to help the old lady across the street, a simple example of a 'good deed' he has been taught to do each day. The lady declines the offer, saying "Thanks, but, I am able to walk across by myself.”

The lady has asserted her independence and her physical ability to navigate the intersection without help. She understands this to be the full meaning of the exchange.
However, she is overlooking her withholding from the boy the pleasure of doing his good turn for the day and his feeling of pride in being of assistance to a stranger.

The incident may be of little consequence to either of the parties involved, but it brings to mind the importance of considering the results of our actions, however small they may appear to be.

Within all of us is a tiny creature [let’s call it “Jeni”] whose livelihood depends on spoken words, physical actions or bodily expressions of people with whom we associate. It is easy to ignore the Jeni of others, even to feel that we have no responsibility for his welfare. As for ourselves, we may even deny having such a creature in our being.

Though often neglected, or even denied, it is a fact that we, the person we are, is made up of the collection of expressions, thoughts, deeds and attitudes experienced in our life. Many of these items were created and given to us by other persons or by circumstances outside of our control. Nevertheless, we have these items and they are what make us who we are. Fortunately, we have the ability to search out, identify and evaluate these items and understand their influence and significance in our lives.

Getting back to the little old lady at the street corner, we want to implore her to consider the Jeni of the young boy and graciously accept his offer to escort her across the street, not for her safety, but as a kindly gift to him.

For the rest of us, I would like to have us develop the skill of gracious acceptance of gifts from whatever source they come. I would like for us to be conscious of the gift we are giving to the donor by this acceptance. Even though the other person may fail to realize it as a gift, we will be better for the addition of this action to our life’s experience collection.

Jerry Clements
10/4/05

About The Artist - Jerry Clements

About the Artist


Jerry Clements, our featured artist, came to Chambrel from Dandridge, Tennessee in June 1992 following his retirement from Flenniken Financial Services, a property, casualty and life insurance agency in Knoxville. His wife, Elsie, died in February 1998 after 57 years of devoted leadership of the family. Elsie gave Jerry a daughter, Judy Dyer, who lives in Norcross and twin sons; Stephen who lives in Daytona Beach, Florida and Stewart who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Living near the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Jerry and Elsie developed a love for wildflowers and became devoted hikers in that park as well as several others in East Tennessee. The move to Roswell introduced them to the many trails of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area system, the Autry Mill Preserve, Big Tree Preserve and the Roswell Park and Recreation Department trails.

For the past five years Jerry’s hiking partner has been Chambrel resident, Mildred Holsten and her Llasa-Maltese dog, Mei Ling. She shares his interest in wildflowers and assists him in selecting and preparation of photographs to place on display.

On the Vickery Creek trail they were surprised to find that some of the many Kudzu vines along the creek bloom each year. This discovery led to an annual study of the vine’s blooming habit and development of photographic excursions to the trail during the spring and summer seasons.

The Hearts a’ Bustin' shrub was first noticed on the Gold Branch trail of the Chattahoochee Recreation Area system and resulted in searches for it on the other trails in the vicinity. The plant is shy and little noticed most of the year but is quite attractive after the bursting takes place in September. It has been identified on all but one of the trails in the area.

101 Ways to Say It

101 WAYS TO SAY IT

“Thanks, Mom. I could not have made it without your help and support.”

“Thanks, Dad. You will never know how many things you did and said that helped me grow from the baby stage to manhood. Nor can I ever get you to understand how grateful I am and how much I love you.”

“I am old enough now to understand how much you sacrificed of yourself to enable me to grow up and be a man worthy of your trust. Daily thoughts of your actions and advice remind me to tell you again that I love you.”

“I know now that you had to know of the things I did that displeased you. It took me a long time to grasp the intensity of your tolerance, love and patience that enabled you to care and help me grow into responsible manhood. For this and a lot more I thank you and will always be grateful.”

“The greatest miracle of life has to be the patience, skill and love that enable parents to raise kids from the age of stupid awkwardness into adulthood and responsible living. Every day I pray for help in understanding this and expressing my gratitude for your making this miracle happen.”

“ Thanks, Thanks, Thanks-----I know that saying it cannot express fully my gratitude for your forgiveness, patience and guidance expressed in so many ways during the days from birth to this time in helping me learn to face the joys and sad events of life. I am grateful and I want you to know that I love you.”

“The world is so busy, time seems so scarce and procrastination is so persistent, BUT, this day I want to bring you the most important message of my life: I am grateful for you as my mother and for the numberless acts of love and patience you blessed me with. I love you.”

The world and its busy-ness makes it far too easy for one to feel that parents
already know that we love them and are grateful for their lifetime of devotion. We should not let anything deter us from telling them in some way, everyday that we do truly love them and care for their comfort and good health.

These quotes are not copied from cards on a rack; they are not quoted to shame anyone for having omitted their thoughts from their vocabulary. They are presented as a reminder that our parents have many minutes of idle time that could be made delightfully real and joyful by expression of such words and phrases by their loved ones.

Young people may feel that time is flowing from an endless supply but the reality is that older folk know that most of the sand has already dropped to the bottom. Those remaining grains can be made much dearer by knowledge that they are loved.

Reagan's Legacy [Reagan's Presidency, Record of an Actor Gone Wrong]

Reagan’s Presidency, Record of an Actor Gone Wrong

My first vote was for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and every vote since then has been for a Democratic candidate. This stated, no one will be surprised at the content of this paper.

It was reported that Ronald Reagan was a registered Democrat during the early days of his political life. I have no information regarding his changing parties. .Following his election to the presidency his political life fitted well into what I conceived a Republican to be. He continued in this image and I never heard that anyone ever suspected that he was a ‘closet democrat’. It is easy to understand why a Republican would look with pride on the accomplishments of his administration. He played his roles well.

However, his career as a Republican President was a disaster for the people of the United States. The most enduring gift to us was a debt of unprecedented proportion, which will continue to be a burden for generations to come. His administration set trade deficit records year after year and his policies converted the United States from the world’s largest creditor into its largest debtor. Many years later the good financial management policies of the Clinton administration got us to a position of beginning to pay off that debt, but President George W. Bush chose to follow a different path and the National Debt is growing in Reagan proportions again.

Amid the tensions of the Cold War when the people feared that a nuclear missile attack might come at anytime, Mr. Reagan claimed that his proposed “Star Wars” program would supply us an umbrella that would protect us against any missile attack launched against us. While a host of qualified scientists advised that the system would not work he continued pushing the program.. After spending billions and going through a series of unsuccessful tests, the military leaders convinced him that the program should be dropped. In addition to the expense, the program raised the nuclear war tension so much that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its Doomsday Clock in 1984 to three minutes to midnight.

He pushed through the program of deregulation of the Savings & Loan industry which resulted in a near meltdown and a subsequent bailout that cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

Through a program of non-enforcement, under-funding and rewriting of health and safety regulations Mr. Reagan undermined the agencies that had been established to protect the health and safety of American workers and consumers. This included the Environmental Protection Agency, whose budget was cut in half, virtually eliminating its effectiveness.

By firing 1,800 striking air traffic controllers early in his term Mr. Reagan sent a message to employers that they could act against striking or organizing workers with his blessing. This established him as an anti-labor president which continued throughout his administration.

By directing wars in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua Mr. Reagan created a climate of terror and fear in Central America that took tens of thousands of lives and entrenched narrow elite groups who repressed poor majorities for generations. Officials in his administration organized a secret group to sell arms to Iran to raise funds to finance these wars, resulting in the Iran-Contra Scandal.

Mr. Reagan’s record on civil rights is disgraceful. He opposed the Voting Rights Act and the civil rights laws, but congress prevented his canceling them. In his view Martin Luther King, Jr. was a communist. He wanted to give tax breaks to colleges that practiced racial discrimination, he praised apartheid in South Africa and thought Nelson Mandela should stay in jail. Over his veto Congress imposed sanctions on South Africa.

He turned the war on poverty into a war on the poor, slashing housing subsidies by 80%. Supporting his position he said “One problem we’ve had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice.”

It was sad to see Mr. Reagan afflicted by Alzheimer’s, and our sympathy went out to his wife and children as they cared for him in his later years. Yet, he was proud of his record as President which was of his own making. That record is what we should remember as his legacy.

Jerry Clements 7/2/04