7.1.2026 – send these, the homeless

send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me, lift my
lamp beside the door

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

“The New Colossus” is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus written in 1883 to help raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal’s lower level.

It is fitting that the role America picked for itself as the place that the tired, the poor,
the huddled masses yearning to breathe free found world wide welcome was reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court so close to the the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I guess I should be happy.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am happy that this victory in the courts took place.

But I am angry that it ever became an issue.

And I am very angry that we had to wait so long for the United States Supreme Court to figure this one out.

That we had to wait so long for the United States Supreme Court to act like the United States Supreme Court.

And do I think we should thank you to the United States Supreme Court for reaffirming this decision?

In the back of my mind is the episode of the tv show, M*A*S*H.

Late in its run the show descended into a showcase of these people playing practical jokes on each other.

In the show titled, April Fools, Colonel Potter, commanding the hospital, tells the staff they have gone too far and now another Colonel from the Inspector General’s office is coming to inspect the unit and he tells the staff to stop with the jokes.

This Inspector Colonel comes and drives everyone nuts until they can’t resist and pull a stunt that cause this feller to have a heart attack and die and then those Doctors realize they have gone to far.

The twist is the Inspector Colonel was a friend of Potters of they knew if they pushed the staff too far, they would finally pull some stunt and the plan was to fake the heart attack and catch them all.

No one knows this watching the show and the Inspector Colonel spends his time getting under the skin of the other doctors.

And how does it do this?

By acting a like a Colonel in the US Army and holding the other doctors to that standard.

The doctors in MASH were famous for being the best doctors ever and the lived on the that the whole show.

So when the Inspector Colonel observes the operating room, Dr. Pierce informs him that he, Pierce, has just saved the wounded soldiers life and maybe the Colonel should appreciate that.

The Inspector Colonel stares at him for a moment then says: “Oh, I am so sorry. I should give the good doctors a round of applause for doing their jobs. Hear, hear, Doctors. Hear, hear.“

A long discourse to get to a point but there it is.

Am I happy over the Birth Right Citizenship decision?

YOU BET!

Do I think the court made the right call?

YOU BET!

Do I appreciate what the court did, standing up to that current man in office and do I feel I should thank the court?

Oh, I am so sorry.

I should give the good justice’s a round of applause for doing their jobs.

Hear, hear, Justice’s. Hear, hear.