I am Gary Scott Martin. I am the oldest of three children and the only son of Conrad Lee Martin, Jr. and Loretta Ollie Thomson. (May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.) I am a first-generation Californian. I was born in Long Beach, lived briefly in Santa Maria/Orcutt, grew up in Nipomo, went to college in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, and have resided in Tehachapi for my entire adult life (excepting the academic year of August 1985 through August 1986, spent in Palo Alto). I have been married to Kathy Ann Nusbaum since 1978. We have a daughter and a son. We have five grandchildren. We have been parishioners at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church here in Tehachapi since we were newlyweds. I am a 1974 graduate of St. Joseph's High School in Santa Maria, California; a 1978 graduate of the University of So...
Allegorical Representation of the Death of the Venetian Republic, 12 May 1797 The instability, injustice and confusion introduced into the public councils, have in truth been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have every where perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations. ( James Madison, Federalist #10; Nov 27, 1787 ) Introduction The United States of America exists today as a constitutional republic and as a representative democracy, because of the work of a unique group of 55 men who met in Philadelphia between May 25 and September 17, 1787. They were astute students of the history of government and dedicated to not only design, but to establish the best possible national government for the fledgling American states. These men are known as "Framers of the Constitution" and were the de...