God loves you . In this year of ‘the long campaign’ for the Presidency, I got to wondering why the judicial branch of our bloated and way-overweight government has by constitution multiple levels of appeal – but, not the executive or legislative branches. I think of the Massachusetts legislature overriding the petition to give the citizens the vote on marriage – traditional (sane, moral) versus same-sex. Just how can the petitioners get an orderly and timely re-hearing? I couldn’t help my thoughts after reading that our ‘local’ pundit James Fitzpatrick wants to join more ‘national’ pundits George Will and David Brooks in maybe amending the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the ‘end-parentheses’ to mark the 'begin-parentheses' of the Declaration of Independence. I cannot think that we would be desirous to be rid of either of these ‘special’ borders to our national life as citizens. Whether this is a problem of two-party hegemony, as Protect the Rock notes in his comment to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s article, this question may be answered in that the founders believed that various levels of the two more ‘immediate’ and ‘controlling’ branches would so ‘homogenize’ in thought and action as to be useless to the citizens. It would seem that especially in this age of ideology, the blowsy legislative and bureaucratic executive branches would be mere cost burden to little advantage to their tasks and jobs, and even less means to citizen satisfaction, pleasure and comfort. After all, hasn’t even our judiciary become too much ‘wink-and-nod’ elitism? ‘Solidarity’ and ‘bipartisanship’ become enemies of the very citizens to be served. We acknowledge the sad facts that our constitutional government is an unwieldy and nearly ugly artifice that has come out of our manifold lacks of thorough-going, natural-law-driven, personal-responsibility accepting, self-controlling, informed and mature citizenry. That very list of descriptors illustrates how low we go; how low our governance is doomed to be with us, coming from ‘our own ranks’ as they do. Our constitutional government of a democratic republic ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ is just not ‘better’ but simply and only necessary – it is the ‘lesser evil’. Whether we would like to hear and acknowledge it or not, this result comes partially of original sin never really personally and integrally repented that actual sins be held in check or repented. I think of the priestly saw about confession in a convent having the effect of being ‘pecked to death by ducks’. The minor sins dominate, and are confessed – a lesser veniality of veniality, one might say. It would seem that greater actions of the vices are avoided in Religious life. But, of a fact reflected especially by Saint Paul, we are ‘called to holiness’ – we are all called to be effective Religious, though with no order portfolio. The bulk of us are not called to Religious-specific tasks and sacrifices. But, we are all called to the holiness that Religious life brings out. Our confessions should have our confessors thinking that we live in a land of God’s most effective graces, from the lack of greatly offensive sins among us. And, of the 'practicality' of my thought - oh, so, non-pragmatic, eh? - I cannot for the life of me see a more practical way and means to 'responsive' governance than self-governance in holiness. God would be pleased that His constitution, His Commandments to His Church to His Sacraments, and in great part because we weak children of His see Him in His governance, had that wondrous, redemptive effect. Remember, I love you, too Reminding that we are all on the same side - His, Pristinus Sapienter (wljewell @catholicexchange.com or ... yahoo.com)