March 16, 2025- I have been blessed to have not been raised as what Mom used to call “a privileged character”. We were each loved and encouraged to develop moral fiber. Part of that was willingly taking our places in line, sharing with one another and with others and not expecting any over-the-top rewards for doing what we were supposed to do in the first place.

It is that way with, arguably, the majority of people around the country, and around the planet. We get up in the morning, go about our work or other daily tasks, enjoy the company of family members or others close to us and pursue our dreams-all within the bounds of the society in which we live. Some live hand-to-mouth, others, paycheck to paycheck and still others, like myself, have a bit more leeway. There are those who, either by dint of hard work and careful planning, live more comfortably than we. Then there are those who, by a variety of factors, have risen to a place of perquisite-indeed, the privileged ones about whom Mom warned us.

Everyone essentially has to do the same basic tasks each day-and none can escape the aches and pains of life, nor can anyone escape the transition to the spirit realm at some point, We each have moments of joy, and times of sorrow. Even the uberwealthy can find themselves in dire straits-either material or spiritual; maybe both. Therein lies the masquerade of perquisites. It strikes me as sad, that the most powerful people on Earth are often the most insecure; they appear to us as needing artificial protection from reproach; indeed, protection from any criticism. Thus we have the spectacle of people who merely protest at Tesla dealerships being labeled “domestic terrorists”. (NOTE: Anyone who vandalizes property, public or private, is committing a crime and deserves to pay the price.)

Free speech is not curbed by the perquisites of its focus occupying a place in the upper strata of society or of government. Free speech does not depend for its existence on being in any sort of agreement with those in positions of power, real or imagined. I am no fan of religious zealotry or of political extremism. Nonetheless, absent acts of terror or concrete evidence that same is being planned, I oppose the detention, incarceration or deportation of any citizen or legal resident of this country-be they Right, Left or anywhere in-between. Removal of those here unlawfully still needs to be accomplished in as dignified and humane a manner as is humanly possible. It cannot be done haphazardly, lest human beings fall through the cracks-some of them literally so.

There is no perquisite that says someone in power can unilaterally do as suits him/her. In that, as we saw in 1974, Richard Nixon was wrong. So is anyone else who assumes otherwise. Abraham Lincoln noted that the President of the United States has enormous power. It is, however, not unlimited.