Archive for the 'Politics' category

The Racists of Tangipahoa Parish

Oct 18 2009 Published by under Misc, Politics

You would think that it would be hard to find a statement more outrageous than hopefully-soon-to-be-former-Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell's attempt to prove that he's not a racist:

"I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

For that matter, you'd think it would be hard to find conduct more outrageous than Bardwell's repeated refusal to marry interracial couples. Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case. It's almost painfully easy to find both more outrageous statements and more outrageous conduct. All you have to do is look at what other Tangipahoa Parish officials have said and done when confronted with the blatant racism of Keith Bardwell.

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

36 responses so far

Cal Thomas: Believing in evolution is what makes the secular left want to kill grannies

Aug 11 2009 Published by under Flaming Small-Minded Stupidity, Politics

Why, exactly, do Democrats want to kill the elderly with their health care? It's a question that's baffled billions since at least last week. Politicians, philosophers, theologians, and comedians have all been at a loss to explain the motivation for the proposed geriatric genocide. Fortunately for us all, there is one who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

In his latest column, Cal Thomas exposes our motivations for wanting to pass a "health care" bill that will allow us to whack granny. He comes up with an answer that's so simple, so glaringly obvious, that I'm honestly surprised that I was at all surprised by it. Those of us on the "secular left" are willing to off the old, Thomas explains, because we're evolutionists:

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

11 responses so far

A story about government run health care.

Aug 06 2009 Published by under Life in an Army Family, Medicine, Politics

Yesterday, I took the kids to the doctor for their school physicals. I wouldn't normally subject you to an account of the day-to-day minutia of my personal life, but given the current debate about how we should handle health care in the United States, the details might be of interest.

We arrived - without an appointment - at a medical facility that we had not been to before. We did not have medical records with us, and the only paperwork of any kind that we had brought were the forms that needed to be filled out to enroll the kids in sports programs. When we checked in, the only thing I had to do was hand the clerk a government-issued photo ID. I did not have to fill out any insurance forms, I did not have to hand over any payment of any kind, and I didn't touch a clipboard. Within two hours, both the children had been seen by a doctor, received physical exams, had their shot records checked and brought up to date where necessary, and I'd been given the completed school and sports forms.

That's not fiction, and it's not a prediction of what could happen in the future. That happened yesterday, it happened in the United States, and it happened in a health care system that's owned and operated by the Federal Government.

That's right. I got to use the dreaded socialized medicine yesterday, because I've got access to the Department of Defense's medical system.

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

31 responses so far

Quote of the Day: 17 June 2009

Jun 17 2009 Published by under Politics

“It is not right to mold marriage to fit the desires of a few, against the wishes of so many, and to ignore the important role of marriage.”

Senator John Ensign (R-NV)

13 July, 2004

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

3 responses so far

A few more measured thoughts on Dr. Tiller's life, career, and death.

Jun 01 2009 Published by under Medicine, Politics

As you might have guessed from my earlier post, I was angered and saddened when I learned of the death of Kansas doctor George Tiller earlier today. Dr. Tiller was gunned down while serving as an usher at his church while services were underway. As I mentioned earlier, the suspect arrested in the case - reportedly a 51 year old named Scott Roeder - was apparently an almost stereotypical far-right-wing extremist nutjob, with a long history of radical and potentially violent behavior.

I'm a member of a large Catholic family, and I spent 13 years in Catholic schools. I know many people who have very strong anti-abortion beliefs, and I love some of them very much. The vast majority (but not quite all) of them are extremely unlikely to be anything other than appalled by the murder of Dr. Tiller. Although I'll readily admit that I am often unreasonably optimistic, I think that's likely to be true for the majority of the people who classify themselves as "pro-Life".

Under the circumstances, I find the idea of dismissing today's homicide as nothing more than the actions of one deranged man to be quite appealing. Unfortunately, it would also be quite wrong.

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

20 responses so far

Obama to Nominate Sotomayor to Supreme Court

May 26 2009 Published by under Politics

It's being widely reported that President Obama will announce his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter within the next hour. According to the reports, Obama has chosen Sonya Sotomayor for the job. Sotomayor was appointed to the Federal bench by George H.W. Bush in 1991, and was elevated to the 2nd Circuit by Bill Clinton in 1998.

We'll undoubtedly be hearing quite a bit more about Sotomayor in the coming days (if not hours). Jonathan Turley is not particularly excited about the pick, pointing out that Sotomayor is likely to be more controversial than some of the other names on the short list. Personally, I don't think that's such a big deal. The Republicans have been very clearly telegraphing that they're going to try to mount a big push against whoever the pick is, so there's probably little to be gained by going with an uncontroversial pick.

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

3 responses so far

How to Best Help Pay for College: Sec. Duncan Goes to the Hill

May 21 2009 Published by under Education, Politics

Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified for the first time in front of the House Education and Labor Committee yesterday, on the topic of the President's education plan. Duncan was the only witness for the hearing, and his testimony covered the broad spectrum of federal involvement in education. (As someone with a Bachelor's degree who is moving toward a secondary education career, I was particularly happy to hear discussion about the need for more of a focus on non-traditional routes toward teacher certification.)

One area that received a great deal of attention (and which will receive even more attention later today when a panel of witnesses testify in front of the same committee) was the President's decision to end the

Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). That decision is, predictably enough, controversial. The student loan providers have already mobilized, and will be fighting as hard as possible to keep money flowing from us to them.

I find the debate around this issue fascinating for a number of reasons. How - or if - the government gets involved in helping fund college education sheds a great deal of light on our commitment to providing an equal opportunity for as many people as possible. At the same time, the debate over this particular program highlights a case where there's a very interesting tension between two different alleged conservative ideals: keeping government small, and saving taxpayer dollars.

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

No responses yet

Michael Steele Clearly Doesn't Get The Meaning of "Minority Party"

May 19 2009 Published by under Politics

As a blogger, I've got to say that I love Michael Steele. All I have to do when I'm having a hard time trying to find something to write about is pop over to Google News and type his name into the box. (I don't have a news alert set for him because I don't want to be overwhelmed with material.)

Today's source of inspriation comes from an op-ed Steele wrote for yesterday's Politico. It started on a note that almost made me feel a faint glimmer of hope that the GOP just might possibly be starting to figure out how to begin to start playing a constructive role in national politics:

The Republican Party finds itself the minority party in America for the first time in more than 15 years. I'll be the first to admit it has taken some adjustment. Republicans have engaged in some healthy soul-searching since Election Day, trying to come to grips with our minority status and debating the best way forward as we point out our differences with the Democrats and chart our return to the majority.

My hopes, alas, were rapidly dashed:

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

8 responses so far

Quote of the Day - 30 April 2009

Apr 30 2009 Published by under Politics

I was planning to take a couple of days off, but five or six people have emailed me the link to this quote, and it's far too good not to feature:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

4 responses so far

The Torture Memos, Our Safety, and the Quote of the Day

Apr 27 2009 Published by under Politics

First, the Quote of the Day:

we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

If you're an American, those fourteen words will hopefully look at least vaguely familiar. They're the closing words of the Declaration of Independence. Those words weren't tacked on to the end of the document as a fancy ending. That was the price that the Declaration's signers were willing to pay. When they signed, there was a very real chance that they would in the end pay that price.

Over the weekend, Newsweek's Joe Meacham published an editorial that managed to miss the point when it comes to investigating the use of torture on suspected terrorists. Actually, "miss the point" is a little mild. I don't think Meacham can even see the point from where he's standing.

As an alternative to torture prosecutions, Meacham not only suggests that we use a 9-11 Commission-style process, but that the mission of this commission should be broader than just looking at whether a line was crossed - and if so, by whom - when it came to questioning people captured in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Continue Reading »

FacebookFriendFeedStumbleUponDeliciousDiggShare

4 responses so far

Older posts »

Bad Behavior has blocked 24 access attempts in the last 7 days.