Room For Waiting

Sitting in a jury assembly room is a good time to think about The System. I can groan and mope about how yet another year has passed, indicated by my annual jury summons. Why me and all that rot. When I signed up for all this democracy junk I had no idea what it would entail. First there was all that voting, which necessitated being alert to the way things were being run, and my interest in being part all that running. Then I went and bought property and got myself a fixed address. What a great idea. It made me so much easier to track. On  top of all that, I decided to pay my taxes regularly and give my opinions to those who asked and my signatures to petitions with  whom I agreed. It is really no surprise at all that I am a part of that process.
Which is why, sitting in this  jury assembly room that  I was so gratified to read that a second judge had blocked the "President's" decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The "President's" lawyers are in the midst of asking the Supreme Court to overturn  the initial judge's decision, from California of course. This second ruling, from Brooklyn of course, makes that sledding pretty tough. The "President" wanted to get rid of DACA back in September, calling it unconstitutional. It would seem that judges across the country, whose job it is to determine the legality of laws, have other opinions. That's what they call them, you know. Opinions. And judgments. That's their part of the system. The "President" can tweet all he likes about the way he wants things done, but it still has to be checked by this group of people who have job to make these determinations. Hooray for checks and balances.
Currently, the legislative branch seems a little caught up in its own tug of war over just how to make laws for judges and courts to inspect. There hasn't been a lot of  law-making going on since this new administration moved into the Oval Office. Could it be that this change-of-pace out-of-the-box mind that found its way into the executive branch has a fundamental lack of  understanding about how things work outside the televised boardroom where it once reigned supreme? We don't call him the
"Supreme President." We do call it the "Supreme  Court."  Seems as thought we put  a pretty high priority on that court system. That's constitutional.
So I sit here, waiting to be called. To be a part of the process that allows for the people to have a say in what happens. Would it be easier if I could pick and choose my time to participate? Sure, but I appreciate the efforts of my government to keep me honest.