I’m a Citizen!

June 30/July 1, 2026

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength”

George Orwell, “1984”

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”

George Orwell, “Animal Farm”

Today, at 87, after three years as a lieutenant in the Air Force, 38 years in corporate America, a 60+ year marriage, 23 years of retirement, 4 1/2 years of widowhood, and close to 6 1/2 decades of carrying an American passport, the Supreme Court has confirmed that I am, indeed, an American citizen. Let me explain. My grandfather came to this country from a village near Odessa in what is now Ukraine but in 1901 when he walked the 500 miles from Odessa to Constantinople with his mother and father and siblings was the Tsarist Russian Empire. They made their way to Bremerhaven, Germany, took ship to the United States, made their way to Philadelphia, settled down and started a ladies ready-to-wear clothing factory. Once established, my grandfather sent for my grandmother and they were married.

Charles and Sarah Stern around 1910

My Uncle Herb came along in 1908 and my mom showed up in 1917 but my grandfather for reasons that are a mystery to me, didn’t apply for American citizenship until 1925. Which means he wasn’t a citizen when my mother was born which is why (sarcasm alert) I was so worried about my status when Donald John issued his executive order undoing the 14th amendment until the Supreme Court announced today that the 14th amendment actually means what it says.

On a more serious note, the Supreme Court over the last two days has taken two steps towards and two steps away from enabling Donald and his billionaire buddies in their desire to turn our democratic republic into their Fascist dictatorship.

So what did they actually do? On the plus side and to Donald’s disgust they said mail-in ballots could be counted for as long as five days after Election Day so as they’re postmarked no later than Election Day. They also said Donald could not fire governors of the Fed except for cause but overturned 90+ years of precedent and the clear intent of Congress and the founders in their pursuit of the unitary executive and gave Donald the ability to fire people from heretofore independent regulatory agencies which may not seem like much until the food you eat, air you breathe, and water you drink make you sick.

And then, using their illogical logic that claims money is speech they took the spending limits off of political campaigns and said sources don’t need to be disclosed thus giving the billionaire class the ability to buy the government that will do their will to the detriment of the average Joe.

But even when they did a good thing — birthright citizenship — it wasn’t pure. It was a 5/4 majority with Kavanaugh agreeing with the outcome but claiming power to define what the terminology of the amendment means which still puts the amendment at risk.

Vigilance — and voting — remain the minimum price of liberty.