Filibuster Proof

I'm sure that those of you who follow politics are aware that the last couple races for the Senate are extremely close. The Democrats need to win out in order to have a filibuster proof majority (sixty seats). Supposedly sixty is the golden number. I'm not a big fan of Al Franken so I could care less if he loses and I really do not know the candidates from Georgia. My post is to point out how ridiculous filibustering is.

Filibustering, to my knowledge, has been going on since this country was founded. I recall hearing about someone reading from a dictionary for hours. All to avoid voting. It just doesn't make sense to me. Why is this still being allowed? Filibustering seems like a juvenile way of avoiding your opponents. I hope that filibustering becomes illegal or that it just fades away into history because it does not help our country.

How Angry?

How angry will Hillary Clinton supporters be if it turns out she is not offered Secretary of State? Almost fifty people have been interviewed for the job by Obama, but I would be shocked if she did not get the nod. It is almost as if Obama is required to offer her the job, unless he wants to divide his party. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I'm a little disgusted that the media got a hold of this story because it could inhibit Obama from selecting the best person for the job. I am not saying that Hillary is not this person, but I do not want a high position, such as Secretary of State, given to someone to appease a constituency.

Election Day

It's election day, get off your chair and go vote.

ACORN

ACORN is a community based organization that has been around since 1970. They have recently been under scrutiny for their involvement in what some have labeled as voter fraud. ACORN is being investigated because they have registered fake names, dead people, and some people more than once. While this is illegal, can it really be called voter fraud? ACORN is a non-partisan organization (although they are on the more liberal side of the spectrum as a whole). Their problems with fraudulent registrations was not a attempt to steal an election.

The motive behind the fraudulent registrations was simply their employees trying to earn more money. ACORN is at fault for this because they pay their workers by how many voters they register. Obviously this is a bad idea. I would not call this voter fraud, I'd call it stupidity. It's important to note the difference. Labeling it voter fraud is misleading.

Proposition 8

In this country, church and state are separate entities. Marriage is not solely a religious ceremony, this is obvious because we are in fact voting on the definition of marriage in November. If marriage were solely a religious ceremony, people would not need to get marriage licenses before getting married. Religious people who think homosexuality is a sin should take into account that not everyone in this country holds this view. These people should think about how they would feel if they were forced to abide by the rules of someone else’s religion. That would be absurd. Morality should not be legislated because it is not our government’s role to protect us from god.

Same sex marriage should be allowed in this country because it is not harmful to anyone. If something is not harmful, why should it be illegal? Many proposition eight proponents have argued that religions can be sued if they do not allow homosexual couples to be married in their buildings. This is a fabricated argument to justify their position. If there has been a successful lawsuit religions would in fact have their freedom of religion infringed upon. However, I have yet to see any such case because such a lawsuit would be unconstitutional.

Proposition 8 proponents have also claimed that schools will teach our children that same-sex marriage is okay. Their “beef” is not that same-sex marriage is legal, it is with the curriculum for enforcing teachers to teach about morality. Morality should be taught in the home, not the school. This rationale is not a reason to ban same-sex marriage, it is gimmick to get same-sex marriage banned.

Passing proposition 8 will infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens. Homosexuals have the right to be happy just like anyone else. They should not be treated any differently under the law. If you do not see this as a civil-rights issue, you are only kidding yourself. Civil unions are not the same as marriage. Separate but equal is not equality at all.

Bill Ayers and Why He Does't Matter in this Election

Bill Ayers is was a member of the Weather Underground, a group responsible for many bombings forty years ago , including one at the pentagon. Before the Weather Undergroung, he was the leader of a non-militant group called the Students for a Democratic Society.

The WU were a confused bunch of left-wing activist that evolved from the SDS. The WU had noble ideas that they tried to accomplish using foolish tactics. Protesting the Vietnam war by bombing government buildings is no way to accomplish anything. Bill Ayers was part of this group and is not exempt from these attacks.

After these attacks, Bill Ayers became an elementary education activist. His recent work is for a noble cause, a cause that he recruited Obama to help him with.

The sound bite, "We didn't do enough" is a statement grossly taken out of context. This statement was a response to a question about his involvement in protesting the Vietnam war. The soundbite we all have heard many times is a complete distortion of Bill Ayers' position. In fact, he wrote a letter to a city lawyer (Richard Elrod) injured in an attack made by the weatherman to express his condolences. The lawyer is quoted as saying that Bill Ayers was "Remorseful".

We know Obama and Ayers knew each other more than Obama expressed to at first. If Obama is going to be attacked, attack him here for not being completely honest. Don't attack him for knowing this man, in fact, Obama said his actions in the WU were dispicable. They were on a board together to improve the community, not to blow things up.

Rowdy Crowds

The media is beginning to show more clips of rowdy crowds at both presidential rallies. After hearing one of these remarks, McCain stopped for a second to address the issue. He said that he knew Obama was ultimately a good guy. Very big of McCain to calm down a rowdy crowd at a rally. I commend McCain for that.

My issue is not with the candidates, or even those spewing the hatred at these rallies. My problem is when people shake it off and say, "well the other side does it too." Big deal, it still happens and should not be ignored. My biggest objection is with people like Michelle Malkin and her drones who comment on her blog. People who point fingers and say things like, "that's what liberals do" or, "what would you expect from a Republican" are too blind to see any issue for what it truly is. Generalizations hold no truth.