Tagged: Stephen Gottlieb

I got into a discussion about a proposed 28th Amendment to our Constitution a few days ago. Turns out there's more than one proposal calling itself the 28th Amendment. I'm talking about the one that begins, "The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only." There may be similar ones. There certainly are some calling themselves the 28th Amendment that address very different subjects and are totally misinformed. But the restriction of constitutional rights to natural persons is worth talking about.

Shortly after I walked out of the studio last week having recorded a piece on taxes, the news started to bristle with reports of the two bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Part of me wanted to rush back in and record something different. I’d lived a few blocks away, have many friends in Boston, shuddered for the people killed and injured, and shared the reaction that this looked like an attack on our country, on all of us. I was speechless.

Yesterday was the last day to file our tax returns for 2012. If you enjoyed it you are probably either an accountant who earned lots of money filing other people’s returns, or you have enough money to have an accountant file your returns, or you were getting a BIG refund. For the rest of us it was anything from a mild annoyance to a big pain.

Our two small granddaughters visited us this weekend. For me, their lives have been the most compelling reason to do something about global warming, to accept responsibility and to invest in a better future for them. But there is also the call of patriotism. Many have laid down their lives for this country. Can the rest of us deal with a little burden, a little expense, to save this country from catastrophe? Are we patriotic enough?