Short Relief: Promoting the General Welfare

Mon, Mar 5

Lyssa, we got a new hitting coach. it is raining today probably going to rain tomorrow too. say HI 
to your mom.

Wed, Mar 7

Coach says my swing will be a lot better if I learn to tap my toe.  say HI to your mom. she doing 
better?

Thu, Mar 8

I bought your mom a really soft pair of slippers. I hope she feels better.

Fri, Mar 9

I’m struggling, baby. coach says forget about power just hit the ball. I swing through everything 
how’s your mom?

Sun, Mar 11

I can’t connect. coach says be patient. More reps and it will come. tell your mom I said thanks. 
she always believes In me.

Wed, Mar 14

a week in already It doesn’t matter how hard I work baby I feel like I’ve lost It. nothing 
feels right

Sat, Mar 17

Is your mom comfortable. a girl from my high school works at that hospital. she’s going to check 
in with you guys.

Mon, Mar 19

I haven’t hit a ball in two days. I feel selfish with your mom in treatment. I’m working hard baby 
I won’t complain did my brother bring the juicer.

Tue, Mar 20

glad your home god is so good to watch over your mom. I pray all the time now Lyssa. I don’t go 
out with the guys I go to the chapel and pray that god will make me a better hitter

Wed, Mar 21

I want to quit tell your mom she’s fighting so hard I’m fighting too.

Thu, Mar 22

I’m failing baby I’m coming home see you tomorrow night. tell your mom I said thanks for the 
encouragement. she always believes In me but I suck. I hate this game

Fri, Mar 23

Lyssa the guys called a meeting last night. we sat In a circle and they  talked to me. some 
of them were mad at me for being so negative and a couple wanted to push me out the door they offered 
to buy my bus ticket but the older guys were different. they said I’m not alone. I said I feel alone 
but they said they have my back. they promised to work out with me until I get my swing. tell your 
mom I decided to stay. miss you baby.

Sat, Mar 24

it rained again today

Sun, Mar 25

those guys didn’t lie. they went to the cage with me this morning. they said yeah I suck but It’s 
going to be okay. tell your mom.

Mon, Mar 26

they went with me again. one of them said pull my elbow In tighter. baby I could see the ball 
so much better. tell your mom.

Wed, Mar 28

I hit a ton at batting practice today!!!!!

Sat, May 1

well baby I got called up to double A. god is so good.

Mon, May 2

tell your mom to go slow just because she’s eating again doesn’t mean she has to 
eat It all hahaha

For centuries, legal and political theorists have debated the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, some believing the former has little legal impact on the latter and others asserting the one flows into the other. The Declaration of Independence is commonly understood as the culmination of the Lockean notion of natural law and the crafting of a new, unified people, while the Constitution is written positive law enacted upon this new people.

James Wilson, one of only six individuals to sign both documents, was also one of the primary authors of the Constitution, penning almost the entirety of the preamble as it exists today. Though Wilson preoccupied himself with legal and institutional matters pertaining to the formation of government, he believed that beyond the form and structure, this new government would be successful only if it was based on the people’s will. And so, drawing from the spirit of the Declaration’s assertion of natural equality, he gave the Constitution to its new citizens in three simple words: “We the people.”

Of course, the phrase, and the Constitution as a whole, has been heavily scrutinized on the basis of its failure to embody this phrase. For well over a century, it provided refuge solely for the white male citizen. Compounded by the fact that its author also produced the idea of the three-fifths clause, the preamble has over time lessened in cultural significance. This realization, coupled with the debate over whether states or the people actually ratified the Constitution, has led individuals such as Abraham Lincoln to supplement the Constitution with the Declaration’s more forceful and legitimate appeal to fundamental human equality.

Though the Constitution acts as the supreme law of the land, the Declaration still occupies much of our source of patriotism, Major League Baseball included. From the Abner Doubleday myth, baseball has expertly tied itself to the Civil War, and Whitman, and by extension to the Declaration of Independence. It has built the Fourth of July into the pinnacle of American exuberance, daring anyone to extract the sport from the spiritual founding of America. And yet the connection remains imperfect if not tenuous; professional baseball has never fought for equality in anything other than name, instead finding innovative ways to monetize its belief in natural inequality. Like the Constitution, it professes equality and a concern for democracy as those for whom it was crafted erect barrier after barrier to keep it an instrument of the few. They possess the same promise and the same imperfections, each asking the same questions of society.

Maybe embroidering Fourth of July hats with “We The People” is no such an egregious mistake after all.

A bird on the field doesn’t mean all that much, because birds are everywhere. They have no regard, although they do have feathers and also lack the self-awareness that animals a thousand times their body weight would kill to be able to fly, if only for a day. Which means they are either blissfully unaware that they’re using their natural gift to squat into baseball games, or they are totally doing that on purpose. So pay no attention to a bird.

However, beware if the following critters approached and what their presence portends:

A flock of birds on the field: One of the outfielders almost certainly swiped the mother’s eggs. It’s about to go down.

Dog on the field: Apart from the obvious result of this game will get tons of likes on the Internet, the next loose ball will be fielded by the dog and not returned in a reasonable fashion (ground-rule double).

Crocodile on the field: It is either going to rain, or it is currently raining, so go get the tarp and oh the crocodile is going toward the tarp, you know what, the field could use a little water, yep, let’s just let it soak in naturally.

Carpenter ants on the field: Since ants have a sophisticated class society beyond that of humans, it goes without saying ants would be pretty good at baseball. Packs of drones are literal bullpens. So give them tiny bats and balls; the human game will be suspended until the ant baseball game is complete.

Squid on the field: Hockey season.

Capybara on the field: This one’s subtle. Nothing will appear to happen, just that the next time each person in attendance gets to that part in We Didn’t Start The Fire, they will accidentally say “Lebanon, Charles De Gaulle, capybara baseball.”

Pony on the field: