I would be considerably more enthusiastic about joining my peers in celebrating liberty with beer and burgers and by watching big bangs tonight were I not facing loss of liberty on Monday.
I will be sentenced for engaging in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am accused of and have admitted to possessing an herb that no one has really determined causes harm, but that has arbitrarily been deemed illegal.
Like tens and hundreds of thousands of folks across the world, I have discovered that cannabis is a palliative for some of the symptoms of life, including aging pains and periodic depression. In the company of others also aware of these truths, I have attempted to communicate the “separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle” us to those holding the reins of power in South Dakota.
Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. This, despite the fact that some of our closest neighbors among the several States of this union have presented their assent to that for which we petitioned.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Pardon me if I hear the mouthing of these words by countless radio voices this weekend accompanied by the bitter taste of cynicism in my mouth.
At such times, Bob (and I have been there, brother) you can perhaps take solace in Thoreau's reply, "Why are you not?" — given when Emerson asked him why he (Henry) was in jail for refusing to pay what both agreed was an unjust tax.
ReplyDeleteGodspeed my good friend.
If I could serve a couple of your days in your stead, I would.
Here's hoping your sentence is as light as your heart is.