Many Americans seem to have bought into the idea that the US is a democracy. That myth has been pulled out to use at various times, mostly for political gain, but the reality is that we have never been a democracy.

The idealists who founded this country were just as divided in their ideals as we are today. They realized that to simply allow the current “dominant voice” among the people to formulate laws and direct government would surely lead to a fragmentation of unity and the ultimate dissolution of the Union.

Our republican system of government, balanced by judicial oversight, was carefully structured by the Founding Fathers to guard against a simple majority determining our course and our laws. They recognized that the fickle populace, driven by emotion and righteous indignation, could be swayed to pass any number of unreasonable laws, by majority consent, which would infringe on the rights of others.

That’s the reason they put together the document we call the Constitution. Those are the guiding principles (not always enforced and twisted whenever possible) that protect America from itself. We have had presidents who ignored Supreme Court decisions and acted unilaterally to achieve the privilege of executive power — Jackson’s decision to remove the Cherokees — but generally we have pretended to be governed by the rule of law.

America is not one color, one religion or one creed — it is supposed to be every citizen together. We are as compelled to protect the rights of those we disagree with as fervently as those singing to our choir. The reason for this is that even those racist, deist and revolutionary thinkers who put this country together understood that majorities can be just as totalitarian as governments. Achieving religious, cultural or moral supremacy are the typical driving culprits behind depriving peoples of those “inalienable rights” we read about in school. The Constitution was intentionally made difficult to change because “the whims of the people” were not deemed by the Founding Fathers to be stable enough to uphold the Bill of Rights.

The majority does not rule in America, the Constitution does — or it should. That’s why we have “Supreme” Courts. They have the duty to point out when the populace is becoming unreasonable, pushing their values and mores on others for no other purpose than to bolster their own failing institutions and socio-political control. Of course, even the courts have proved themselves subject to agendas and politics, but the Supreme Court has managed to stay somewhat above the fray — maybe.

Not all Americans have benefited from constitutional or court protection in our checkered history, but as we move forward in time, the promise of what America can become is much greater than the mystical, misrepresented and over-glorified realities of our past. The greatness of America is in our yet-to-be-realized potential—and while that potential is there, we are obliged – in our own time – to reach for it. I have heard some argue that “state’s rights” should supersede federal law however at present that is not the prevailing priority, as evidenced by the difference between state and federal cannabis legislation.

So anytime someone says that “the voice of the people” is greater than the law, as defined by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and as interpreted by the US and state Supreme Courts — who are challenged to protect and uphold the Constitution from every enemy, foreign AND domestic — we should jump up and protest! Otherwise, “might” will continue to make “right” and the loudest voice or biggest gun will always control our lives.

James BlueWolf lives in Nice.

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Jupiter, Venus and a crescent moon, photographed Monday evening by Harold LaBonte.

Some times in space and time – in this particular and amazing Universe – in a small insignificant corner of our awesome and magnificent Milky Way galaxy – in our Solar system with our light and life giving SUNstar ...

The beautiful slooooooowly ever-orbiting and dancing planets above our daily too-busy lives puts on a grand, unique and attractive beautiful sky show by joining closer together to catch our attentions to remind us that we are all Children of the Universe.

We saw tonight’s so rare, lovely and quietly spectacular joining of three heavenly bodies – just for you and me – on this clear and precious quiet evening, giving us a rare chance to stop our busy and distracting Earthly lives, for just a few inspiring moments, to look up at the joining of the crescent Moon and Jupiter and brilliant Venus … Reminding all in the world that we all live, love, laugh, cry and die under the same moon, planets and SUNstar.

As I walked out from my observatory office on this dark and so clear eve. I too looked up, and was re filled with awe and respect – as I saw this beautiful conjunction of planets and moon. I was so moved and reminded that we all are Children of the Universe and each able to – each new day as SUNstar comes up in the east – trust that we have a new dawn and a new chance each day – to be "response able" to choose beyond fear, anger and greed to choose light, love, peace and respect of each other and our homeworld – always and all ways …

Victor Stryker is an astronomer with the Taylor Observatory and Norton Planetarium in Kelseyville.

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Judy Thein lost her daughter in a DUI collision in 2005. Courtesy photo.

The holiday season is upon us. With the festivities of the season comes accountability that is often not thought about.

The accountability comes when you step into a motor vehicle. When you are the driver of a motor vehicle, you hold your passenger's life in your hands along with the lives of passengers in other vehicles.

In the matter of a few seconds, a thoughtless, negligent choice of a drunk driver can forever change the lives of families and friends as they are left with the devastation of a deadly vehicle tragedy. The lives of many are shattered forever, as there is no way to pick up the pieces to one’s life once you have lost a loved one due to a negligent act of a thoughtless DUI driver. If you care enough about your passengers and other innocent people, then it is your responsibility to keep them safe.

Think of what your life would be like once you have received a telephone call informing you that your loved one was killed in a devastating DUI tragedy. That call could be about your spouse, close relative, best friend or your precious child. Think how grieving parents must feel as they say goodbye while watching their child’s casket being lowered into the ground. The intensity of that pain is next to none.

The thoughtless, negligent act of an irresponsible DUI driver can rip the heart out of a family and friends forever. They will never be whole again. No longer will the voice of a loved one be heard. No longer will a smile be seen. No longer will a loved one share in a life with their family or friends that they were meant to. The emptiness that a family feels is like a bottomless hole. All of this devastation is because someone carelessly chose to drink and drive without regard for another human being.

An irresponsible DUI driver, no matter what age, who continues to operate a motor vehicle without regard for the safety of their passengers or other innocent people, is inexcusable. There is no excuse that can condone the death of an innocent person due to a deadly DUI tragedy because a driver was selfish in their choice of actions.

Life is the most precious gift that we will ever have. Each time you get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, remember you hold life in your hands. To protect a life, you must be accountable for a life. When you drink and drive you are capable of murdering. You are capable of destroying a family forever. If you see yourself in this description either now or previously, it is not too late to hold yourself accountable and strive to change.

This holiday season, tragically, there are families that will no longer be able to share their special times together because of harmful choices that were made by an irresponsible DUI driver. Don’t be the one to rip a family apart because you were the cause of a DUI collision or tragedy. Take responsibility for your actions now, before it is too late.

Once you have caused a deadly DUI tragedy, there is no turning back. You will be forced to live with the consequences and your guilt for the rest of your life while an innocent family will be forced to live with devastation and emptiness for the rest of their lives.

We each have the power to allow everyone to have a safe and happy holiday as we all can make a responsible choice not to drink and drive.

Judy Thein serves on the Clearlake City Council and is a founding member of Team DUI, a group of individuals and officials working to stop underage drinking and drinking and driver. Her daughter was tragically killed in December 2005 because a DUI driver made an irresponsible choice to drink and drive.

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Let me begin by once again saying that I have a vested interest in the financial success of this city. As a local business owner who has, like some other professionals, trouble recruiting practitioners into rural practice, I am in favor of development. But, I really want to see it be healthy growth, not urban sprawl that paves a 292-acre piece of paradise and makes it into another densely populated golf community.

This is the most awesomely beautiful big chunk of land in the city! Go out to the end of Dam Road or boat down the creek and have a look for yourself! Besides, we need to encourage more development of the “inner city.” We still have many empty lots and right now quite a few empty houses. It’s time to think sustainable. I know it’s an overused word, but it really gets to the heart of the matter. If we and our children are to have future, we need to use it and implement it.

On June 5, 2005, in San Francisco, a conference began when Gov. Schwarzenegger and participating mayors of 60 cities around the world signed an environmental action plan to reduce the state’s emissions of greenhouse gases, the Urban Environmental Accords.

These leaders, recognizing the need for critical change decided upon the following actions among others:

1. Adopt urban planning principles and practices that advance higher density, mixed use, walkable, bikeable and disabled-accessible neighborhoods which coordinate land use and transportation with open space systems for recreation and ecological restoration.

2. Adopt a policy or implement a program that creates environmentally beneficial jobs in slums and/or low-income neighborhoods.

3. Pass legislation that protects critical habitat corridors and other key habitat.

You can see the whole accords if you “Google” it. And while you're at it, have a look at www.sfenvironment.org, www.citymayors.com/environment/environment_day.html and www.coolcities.us/.

The Provinsalia project doesn’t quite fit this picture. It’s old hat. It’s using the allure of a fading fashion and deeply embedded in the box. It’s time to embrace the new ideal that will make us a prime tourist destination and a model of cool cities, keep our air clean and our stars visible, and make us proud of ourselves!

So, here’s my idea. Let’s turn it into an eco-destination. There can be accommodations that suit the eco-traveler, concessions, activities, education. Look how many long-term jobs that would create.

You know, Mr. Price, maybe your bosses would like the idea. It could make them lots of money and provide them with an excellent place for their meetings and family getaways. I hear you’ve been seen enjoying the place with your family.

Remember, the property is owned by multimillion dollar developers who don’t even live in this country, let alone this county. How much do they care about us except as a means to their financial ends?

We citizens of Clearlake need to direct our growth in a way that will honor the beauty of the place in which we live. We don’t want to keep others from enjoying the paradise we’ve found but we do want to keep it beautiful, don’t we?

If you agree, please let your thoughts be known. Visit, write or e-mail our planning commissioners and City Council members right away.

Debi Sally lives in Clearlake.

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Since the holidays are coming up and my collision took place around the holidays I decided to elaborate a bit more on the consequences I had pay for the poor choice I made to drink and drive.

On Nov. 18, 2007, I was involved in a head-on collision on Highway 4 in Martinez. I chose to get behind the wheel of my car after a night of heavy drinking, got onto the freeway driving the wrong way.

“What idiot drives the wrong way on the freeway?” A question you may ask yourself. I did, it could happen to you or your mother, your father, sons or daughters, if you choose to drink and drive.

After the collision I was placed under arrest and charged with felony driving under the influence, driving on the wrong side of the road and causing injury. I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital and a few days later I was taken into custody where I spent the next seven months at West County Detention Facility in Richmond.

Christmas was approaching and I couldn't be there to see my daughter open her Christmas gifts or see her little face when she saw that Santa had been there the night before. Instead I was in jail where it was just like any other day. No decorations, no tree, no gifts, no Christmas carols, no family, no special dinner, no hugs and kisses.

What you get on Christmas Day from the jail is a warm TV dinner meal, being surrounded by strangers, the sounds of the deputy sheriffs shouting over the loud speaker and the sounds of your crying family over the phone wishing you were there with them.

Imagine talking to your children on the phone from jail and them asking the questions: "Why can't you be here? Why did you drink that bad stuff and wreck the car? When are you coming home?" These are very hard questions to explain to a 5-year-old.

My husband at the time, whom I had been together with since high school and married to for 11 years, had enough of my drinking; this was the straw that broke the camel's back for him. He filed for divorce, custody of our daughter and temporary ownership of our home.

This was not very easy to deal with while I was in jail. But it was me who made the choice to drink and drive. These are just a few of the consequences I had to pay for my actions. Others include three years' probation; three months of DUI classes which you have to pay for; one year suspended driver's license with no restrictions, which means that you also have to pay a lot of money when you do get it back; thousands of dollars in medical bills, court fines and fees; and, most importantly, the mental trauma I went through, knowing the pain I have caused to so many people.

The man I hit suffered severe injuries that included two broken femurs, punctured lungs, lacerated liver, a torn aorta, a crushed right hand and lacerations to his face. Imagine yourself being the cause of all that. He had to miss out on the holidays with his family as well. He had to go through countless surgeries and intense therapy. The pain he had to endure as a result of my actions was unnecessary.

In the blink of an eye, many lives were changed forever. Is it worth it? Seriously, think about how much you have to loose. Family, home, job, physical and mental health, possibly your or someone else’s life, everything you have worked so hard for.

If these things mean anything to you, don't drink and drive or get into a car with anyone who has. If these things don't mean anything to you, then expect to do some jail time, then you'll have plenty of time to think of how much they do mean to you. Take it from someone who has to live with this everyday.

Don't get me wrong in any of the things I have shared with you. I’m not looking for sympathy or trying to make it sound like, “Oh, poor me.” I got what I deserved and paid the price dearly for my actions. It’s what I do from here on out that really matters to me.

I joined Team DUI in the hopes of making a difference, to help educate our youth and adults about the dangers of drinking and driving. I hope by sharing my personal experience with you that it will help you make the right choice about drinking and driving.

I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday season!

Wendy Jensen is a member of Team DUI, a group of local individuals and officials working to prevent underage drinking and drinking and driving.

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I have heard over the years many quotes from “religious leaders” condemning homosexual “lifestyle” based on biblical beliefs and teachings. I don’t believe many Christians know the depth of hurt, harm, destruction and death throughout the years created by their actions. I would like to end religious-based oppression directed today at homosexuals. I do know that this will be a long journey, as historically it always has.

Now is my time to heal, do my own homework on this subject that has brought us, once again, to a place of misunderstanding. I have no idea just how the love between two people can ever be an abomination as currently described by conservative Christians. I see this as simple and pure religious bigotry with a touch of arrogance attached. I also know for many, change comes very slow. Change for many never comes, with others it passes slowly, and still others find rapid transformation.

I believe that many people, including myself, have not carefully researched the biblical texts, those that often are used to condemn God’s lesbian, gay and transgender children. As it appears, most people who misuse the Bible don’t research the Scriptures. Individuals holding strong simply find a text that seems to support their prejudice and then spend the rest of their lives misquoting that text.

Rev Dr. Mel White says, “Even if we believe the scriptures are 'infallible' it’s terribly wrong and dangerous to think that our understanding of every biblical text is without error. For example, many Christians do not know that Jesus says nothing about same-sex behavior. Also the Jewish prophets are silent about homosexuality. Only six or seven of the Bible’s one million verses refer to same-sex behavior in any way, and none of these verses refer to homosexual orientation as it’s understood today.”

“Historically, people’s misinterpretation of the Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed and death,” White says. “Over the centuries people have misused the Bible to defend bloody crusades, tragic inquisitions, support slavery, apartheid and segregation, persecute Jews and non-Christian people of faith, interracial marriage, the execution of women as witches and the support of the Ku Klux Klan.”

Just to name a few!

“The Bible is a book about God, and we must be open to new truth from scripture,” according to White. “The Bible sites hundreds of passages that today would be non-applicable.”

Just to name a few …

Deuteronomy 22:13-21

“If it is discovered that a bride in not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.”

Mark 10:1-12

“Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.”

Leviticus 18:19

“The Bible forbids a married couple from having intercourse during a woman’s period. If they disobey, both are to be executed.”

Mark 12:18-27

“If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.”

I suspect that people today do not agree with these teachings from the Bible about sex! As we know, women were property. Bible verses should not be held onto for all time but change with our growth and knowledge.

I suspect that we miss what a lot of this book is sayingl instead we spend much of our time debating sex and homosexuality.

So let's start at the beginning with Genesis. This is a creation story about the power of God who created all. Because the text says it is “natural” that a man and a woman come together to create new life, some people then conclude that a gay or lesbian couple are “unnatural.” This book is silent about all relationships that do now produce children!

One of the passages often used by Christians to justify their condemnation for homosexuals and homosexual lifestyles comes from Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Leviticus is a holiness code written 3,000 years ago. This code contains many outdated sexual laws that are accepted practice today. It also talks about eating pork or shellfish, getting you fortune told, playing with the skin of a pig, wearing garments of mixed fabric.

The verse quoted on a continuum by conservative Christians says, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination.” The next verse, two chapters later, says, “A man who sleeps with another man is an abomination and should be executed.”

“Abominations in Hebrew are behaviors that people of certain time and place consider tasteless or offensive,” explained White. “To the Jews an abomination was not law it was a common behavior by non-Jews that Jews thought was displeasing to God. But looking deeper at the old holiness codes what does the text says about God? People of faith must be very careful not to allow their own prejudices determine what standards hold true for today. Instead of pulling one item from an ancient Jewish holiness code and using it to condemn sexual or gender minorities, standards should be set in society that please God. Standards based on loving relationships both heterosexual and homosexual, looking for the wholeness of ourselves and others.”

“Holiness codes have been a part of the human culture, changing with the times throughout our history. Both Jesus and Paul said the holiness code of Leviticus does not pertain to Christian believers,” said White.

Nonetheless, there are still people who pull the two verses about men sleeping together from this ancient holiness code and conclude that the Bible condemns homosexuality, and as with Leviticus 20:13 they should then be executed!

OK, on to Sodom, Genesis 19:1-14. Jesus and five Old Testament prophets spoke of the sins that led to the destruction of Sodom. And you know what? Not one of them even mentions homosexuality. Just what does that say about homosexuality today? Nothing.

It was common practice for soldiers, thieves and bullies to rape a fallen enemy, thus asserting their victory. This act was about power and revenge, not about homosexuality or homosexual orientation. And guess what – this behavior is still happening today! The sexual act that occurs in the story of Sodom is a gang rape. That is why the story of Sodom says a lot about God’s will for us. It says nothing about homosexuality as we understand it today.

Now, what about Romans 1:26-27? In this the Apostle Paul describes non-Jewish women who exchange “natural use for unnatural use” and the non-Jewish men who “leave the natural use of women, working shame with each other.”

But let's go back 2,000 years when it was written. Paul was writing this letter to Rome after his missionary visit to the Mediterranean. What he saw was wild sex orgies with Goddesses of sex and passion instead of the one true God the apostle honors. The Bible is clear that sexuality is a gift from God to be honored and celebrated. The Bible is also clear that when that passion gets out of control we are in deep trouble. Were these homosexuals? No! These were people who abandoned God and sank into sexual depravity. That is not our lesbian and gay population of today! Getting to know a lesbian or gay man might help you to realize that is unjust to equate the love they have for each other today with the wild sex parties described in these biblical passages.

Now onto 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Both are intense and still debated today. What do these texts say about homosexuality? Nothing. They are about using children for sex! However with the confusion of the text and conversion from Greek and Hebrew, in 1958 for the first time in history a person translating that mysterious Greek word into English decided it meant homosexuals, even though there is no such word in Greek or Hebrew. But that translator made a decision for all of us to put that word homosexual in the English-language Bible for the very first time. Same time frame that, guess who, the Knights of Columbus put forth the beginning of legislative change for our Pledge of Allegiance, adding “one nation under God.”

Biblical authors are silent about homosexuality as we know it today. They never even comment on the responsible love a gay man or lesbian feel for another. The Bible is completely silent on the issue of sexual orientation. And no wonder. Sexual orientation wasn’t even known about until the 19th century. It remained “in the closet.”

In 1864, almost 3,000 years after Moses, German social scientist Karl Heinrich Ulrich was the first to declare that homosexuality was a distinct class of individuals. He concluded what we know as homosexuals today, we aren’t just heterosexuals choosing to perform same sex behaviors! We are a class of people whose same sex intimacy is at the very core of our beings from the very beginning of our lives.

The authors of the Bible are authorities in matters of faith. Many believe they can be trusted when they speak about God. But it should be quite obvious to anyone that they knew nothing about sexual orientation any more than they know about our universe, space travel, gravity, etc. etc. etc. Paul thought that the earth was flat with the sun moving up and down!

So what is the greatest commandment? “To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Second, “To love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

There is a growing body of evidence from science, psychology, history, psychiatry, medicine and personal experience that leads to a clear verdict. Homosexuality is neither a sickness nor a sin. Unfortunately, the church has always been slow, if not the last institution on earth, to accept a new truth.

Just look at the history of the church and change. In 1632 scientist Galileo supported Copernicus from the 15th century that the earth revolved around the sun. He was then placed, by the church, under house arrest for the remainder of his life! Of course 359 years later Pope John Paul II finally admitted the church had been wrong to interpret the Bible literally and apologized!

Just imagine the changes and the end to both death, torture and suffering homosexuals continue to experience today if conservative Christians just said, “We don’t understand your views about homosexuality but we love you and trust you for you also believe in God and seek God’s will in your lives ... you are welcome here.”

This has been a hard road for me to take. I come from a place of wanting clear separation of church and state, and would like to leave it at that. As it appears, from the last vote on Proposition 8, I am in the minority.

I leave you now asking these questions: Can we support full civil rights for all, even if we disagree? Can we love and respect each other, knowing we are all God's children? That is all I and other homosexuals are asking for.

Lenny Matthews lives in Lucerne.

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