John W. Reynolds

Recent discovery of a planet revolving around a star in a far off galaxy has created a stir among scientist as well as the general public. The planet, Kepler-22B, which is considerably larger than earth, may also be covered with water. This presents the possibility of life, even human life, on said planet, or not. Those who subscribe to the logic that "there has to be life" on some other heavenly body because there are billions and billions of them in infinite space (and beyond!), are at least hopeful; hopeful that the cup may be "half-full" or even some amount above empty. They may be right, and we may never know.

Someone, or some ones are conspiring to convince the eager, frustrated, and somewhat gullible of our citizenry that Wall Street, and by association every financial district in most major U.S. cities, is to blame for -- well, you name it. And why not? If you can't connect the dots to actions of Congress and the administration for our economic mess you might as well select a target where you can march, carry signs, camp out, and swap "war stories" with your ilk about the evils of capitalism.

The problem with some of the Occupiers is they're on a witch hunt but don't know what a witch looks like. Or, as one astute observer put it, "they don't know witch from Shinola." Many have forgotten, if they ever knew, that "peaceable" assembly is a right defined in the First Amendment. The anarchist and Leninist among them are oblivious to this right.

Over dinner at Perry's finest restaurant, a friend and I solved most of the nation's problems, and a few international ones to boot, as our wives engaged in their own conversation and occasionally overheard bits of our discussion. The gravity of our subject seemed to escape them.

The solutions we found to our national malaise are obvious; simplify and learn to work together as a nation. Now if we can just put our thoughts into book form, a Nobel Peace Prize should be in the offing; given the way peace prizes have been awarded in the 21st century, we're a shoe-in. An Oscar? Well maybe.

For starters perhaps we can learn to quit arguing about whether we are a republic or a democracy. Consider this; there are officially dozens of republics and democracies among the nations of the world; you can choose from the republics of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, China or even the "Banana Republic." But, they are all very different from our republic with democratic processes that our Constitution validates. It takes both elements; a representative form of government in which the people democratically elect representatives. When we the people do not fulfill our duty to be informed and participative in government, the system morphs into what today passes as a representative government that caters to special interest groups.

While Republican candidates are having a field day in Iowa bashing the Obama administration, and occasionally each other, great interest is shown among conservatives, Tea Partiers, and independents. Those in the incredibly shrinking liberal camp are yawning, not the least bit interested in what the "hicks in the hinterlands" do, or so it would appear. Iowans just aren't sophisticated enough to know that you have to pass a bill before you know what's in it; they do however, understand about buying a "pig in a poke."

Grab a fistful of garlic cloves and your trusty crucifix (if needed) and let's talk about the United Nations. This organization was founded in 1945 before the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Among the original goals, number one was "to save the world from the scourge of war." With such ambitious goals you might think there would have been some acknowledgement of the need of God's help, there wasn't.

Well, of course we want to continue our dependence on foreign oil, by all means. How else will we have hostile nations, and some of our allies "laughing up their sleeves" at us? They see our abundance of energy resources and our reluctance to use them to gain energy independence and this strikes them as funny.

The Federalist Papers are widely recognized as an excellent source for studying The Constitution. They provide insights and understanding of issues that arose during the ratification process that was required to make the Constitution the law of the land.

These letters, that appeared in New York newspapers, were instrumental in transforming an unworkable "confederacy of states" into a United States of America. As a result, a constitutional form of government was adopted. More than 220 years later, the Federalist Papers are as relevant today as they ever were.