Oh, for Jupiter's Sake!

Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus, the King of the Gods. If you look very far into Greek mythology, you’ll see that it has Zeus’ DNA all over it – literally. Greek myth is largely the story of how Zeus slept with anyone and everyone he took a fancy to, much to the chagrin of his wife, Hera.
 

(It’s interesting to note that Zeus named the offspring of one of these illicit unions Heracles – “Glory of Hera” – in order to appease his wife. It didn’t work.)
 

When Galileo looked at Jupiter through a telescope in 1610, he discovered four large moons. He originally named them after members of the Medici family (remember those guys?), who were his benefactors. That didn’t stick, for much the same reason you could never name a moon or a planet after Joe Biden or Donald Trump today. Eventually, the moons were given the names Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto – all lovers or companions of Zeus.
 

In 2011, NASA launched a spacecraft to explore and study the Jovian (‘Jove’ = Jupiter) system and take pictures, send back data, etc. on Jupiter and its moons. They named the spacecraft Juno. 

Who is Juno? She is the Roman equivalent of Hera – Jupiter’s wife.
 

So when NASA wanted to check of on Jupiter and his harem, who did they send? His wife.
 

Let it never be said that scientists lack a sense of humor.

Wanted: A Reasonable Political Party

 I originally wrote this article in the interest of rebranding the Republican Party. But with the defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election and the resulting armed insurrection on January 6th, it has become apparent to me that the Party cannot be redeemed. There are too many extremists, too many actual and armchair autocrats, too many science deniers, too many CINOs (Christians In Name Only), and too many people willing to use threats, intimidation, and actual violence to promote their political ideology. Sure, there are a few actual Conservative Republicans left, but they can’t gather any support from the newly-empowered Trumpophiles to get anything done. The Republican Party is headed for a civil war. (Hopefully only for the Party, and not for the whole nation.)

So, do I become a Democrat? Oh, heavens no. Sorry, but the Democratic Party is a clown show. Faced with the most egregious President in my lifetime--and I was alive for the entirety of the Nixon Administration--all they could do was fight with each other over whether they were progressive enough. They nearly managed to lose the Presidential election--it should never have been close enough to be in doubt for so many days--and they actually lost ground in the House. They have a vision for America...but they don’t seem to care whether America actually shares that vision. They don’t play well with others. Without significant changes to their platform and their message, they’re likely to suffer big losses in the midterm elections because they won’t have the common enemy of Donald Trump to rally against anymore. George Will once said, “I don’t belong to an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” Things haven’t changed a lot since his day.

So what else is there? The Green Party? A little too out there for my tastes. The Libertarian Party?  I could maybe be a Libertarian (and actually was for a few months), but if that puts me in the same room as Rand Paul, that’s a hard pass. And none of the other Parties I’ve looked at have platforms that I can take seriously. 

Frankly, there is no political Party these days that matches my positions, my hopes and dreams for my country’s future. But if there were, they might have a platform something like this.

We support equality under the law. We believe, as the Founders of the nation believed, that all human beings are created equal and are beneficiaries of certain inalienable rights. We pledge ourselves to the concepts of liberty and justice for all.

Part of what this means is that the white supremacists can’t be part of the mix. Any Party wanting me as a member must emphatically and unequivocally denounce movements like the KKK, the Neo-Nazis, the Proud Boys, and all the rest of their ilk. A Party that can't do this is a non-starter, as far as I'm concerned.

We support the right of every American to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. We believe that every American should be free to attend and support the church, synagogue, mosque, or temple of their choice--or to support no religious organization at all, if they so choose.

The Republican Party currently does a great job fighting for the rights of white Evangelicals. This isn’t good enough.

We support the free and responsible exercise of the rights of speech, expression, and assembly. We believe and expect that Americans are knowledgeable, respectful, and mature enough to engage in productive dialogue with those whose beliefs they might personally disagree with. (I fully acknowledge that this is a pipe dream. But if we’re gonna go, let’s go big.)

A distinction is to be made here between 'assembly' and 'riot', of course. A similar distinction between 'expression' and 'libel' or 'slander' should also be apparent.

We support responsible gun ownership as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

This begins with an understanding that not everyone should have a gun, and that the words “infringed” and “regulated” have subtly different meanings.

We support education as the means to prepare American workers to be leaders in an increasingly technological global economy. We believe that with rigorous theoretical and practical training, the American workforce can be the most capable and most productive in the world.

But that’s not all. We don’t just want people who can work. We want people who can think--even if the presence of such is not in the best interest of some Parties.

We support the renaissance of the United States of America as the worldwide leader in technology and innovation through robust support of science.

Because science isn’t an elitist conspiracy. Science is real, and science works.

We support fiscal responsibility in government. We believe that fair taxes and efficiently targeted allocation of resources to meet the needs of its citizens is the government's single greatest duty.

Of utmost concern in this respect is the nation's spiraling national debt, currently approaching  $28 trillion. No nation can be truly free with such staggering financial obligations, many to hostile foreign governments.

We support the duties and rights of the States to meet the needs of their citizens according to their unique needs and circumstances. We believe that each State is best qualified to determine and administer the needs of its citizens, and that the Federal government has the responsibility to assist the States in the discharge of these obligations.

Having said that, the Federal government also has the responsibility to step in and fix things when the States aren’t protecting and serving all of their citizens equally.

We support the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic relations with other nations that are dedicated to the principles of liberty and justice. We believe that participation in carefully chosen alliances can result in a freer and more stable world.

There’s no reason for our nation to be sucking up to Soviet-style autocrats, loony hereditary dictators, or theocratic despots who happen to have petrochemicals under their sand.

We support a strong, well-trained, and well-equipped military. We believe that the role of the military is to protect the lives and interests of American citizens and our allies around the world. We have an obligation to hold our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to the highest standards of legal, moral, and ethical conduct in the execution of their duties.

If our nation puts our military members in harm’s way, there needs to be a damn good reason for it.  And when we do so, we have an obligation to provide appropriate medical care, including mental health care, for all of them--both in the field and after they return home. No one who has served honorably in our military should ever want for medical care of any kind. 

We support the instruments of government as defined by the Constitution. We recognize and celebrate the independent and complementary functions of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches in the creation, administration, and interpretation of just laws for all Americans.

This means, among other things, that we can’t have Executives who bully or harass the Congress, or Congressional leaders who kowtow to the unjust and unconstitutional demands of the Executive Branch.

Finally, we support the right to self-determination. We believe that American citizens should be free to exercise their rights as they see fit, as long as the exercise of these rights does not imperil the life, liberty, or property of their fellow citizens.

As a motto for the new Republic, Benjamin Franklin proposed the phrase “Mind Your Business.” We could use a bit more of that kind of thinking these days.

Okay, that’s my wish list. I’ll never see it come to fruition, but it’s fun to think about.