Tag: politics

Incompetence, Next Stop White House

by rhealitycheck

Now I don’t believe in doing anything party-line. In fact, this year is the first time I have ever voted a straight ticket because I believe that all parties have good candidates to offer and one should spend the time getting to know who is best for the job.

But I really have to say that I have been wary of Governor Sarah Palin from quite early in her nomination as the Vice Presidential hopeful and it has now heightened to being more than a little terrified of what might happen should we allow her into the White House. For one, her camp and the McCain camp are having issues and clearly are not communicating with each other. I mean a McCain aide even said that Palin had gone rogue over the last week or so. Now, that is not a team that works together and if our President and Vice President can’t work together what hope can we have for Congress or the Cabinet?

While that is definitely concerning I think the straw that broke the camel’s back is that Sarah Palin actually believed that the President of France would just randomly call her up at her campaign office. I mean does her office not vet their callers at all? Obviously not since you can actually watch the whole thing on youtube and read all about it in the Canadian Press.

Haven’t we had enough incompetence in the White House? Do we really need yet another misfit in a position of power? I know that being Vice President is not the same as being President but let’s face it McCain is old, if he were Obama’s age I’d say it’s not nearly as frightening – still a concern but not to the same degree. This, this is just outrageous irresponsibility on his part and utter incompetence on hers. What a pair.

Has anyone else taken a look at how Canada’s doing? I hear it’s a nice place to live…

The Importance of California’s Proposition 8

by rhealitycheck

To be honest I hadn’t really been paying too much attention to Proposition 8 in California, I guess I just viewed it as just another one of those votes that irritates me. But after reading this article in the New York Times and as a member of the queer community I feel that it is not just my right but my responsibility to speak out on this matter.

Proposition 8 matters.
It matters because it is an issue about human rights.
Civil liberties.
In fact what it is mostly about is discrimination.

Before you stop reading, hear me out.

This is not about what you believe in as a church. This is not about what your religion dictates. This is about legalities. This proposition is allowing a blending of church and state. It is about denying two people that love each other the right to visit the other one in the hospital should one of them fall ill. It is about not allowing two committed people the right to adopt a child because it would be better to have that child jump through several different dysfunctional foster homes. It is about the legal institution of marriage not the religious one. I don’t care what your religion dictates. Feel free not to have gay marriages at your church, synagogue, mosque, temple or what have you. That is your right in following with your religious beliefs. But a legal marriage license is simply a partnership between two people that affects their taxes, their property, their bank accounts, visitation rights and all other legal matters. What happens outside of the realm of the legal system really is not a concern.

What I find unacceptable is not allowing two committed people who intend to spend the rest of their lives together the right to do so legally. It is perfectly ok to allow Britney Spears to have a 24-hour marriage because she married a man yet gay couples that have spent 10, 20, 30 or any number of years together are denied that right. How is that acceptable to this society? How is it acceptable in a society that touts “liberty and justice for all”? That is not justice.

Also, I find it fascinating that many liberals are suddenly conservative when we talk about gay marriage just because of that one little word marriage. But you know what I’m not willing to budge, when you speak in legalities you apply for a license to get married not to have a civil union. If you want to oppose the term marriage then it must not hold legally for anyone. It is perfectly acceptable if everyone, regardless of whether they are marrying someone of the opposite sex or someone of the same sex, is applying for a license for a civil union. That way it would still be the same rights and the word marriage is no longer in contention. But until that can change the simple fact is that in order to be equal and fair, the equivalent would be to allow gay marriage. Creating new laws to separate the two institutions legally allows for discrimination and therefore is not acceptable, hence the need for gay “marriage”.

In fact this sort of discrimination reeks of the same sort that existed when interracial marriages were not allowed. Is this truly any different?

Again, this is not a matter of religion, it is a matter of legalities. And until we can offer all people equal rights this will be a problem for this country and, in my opinion, for the world.

In the immortal words of Catie Curtis:
Some day we’ll all be free
I can feel it, it’s our destiny
Some day, I believe
Love will make an honest world for me

I hope Californians will choose to keep that refrain true.

I Feel A Liberal Breeze

by rhealitycheck

I don’t know that I believed this would be possible after my personal nightmare actually came true and Bush was elected a second time (and actually validly that time) to the White House. But I feel a wee liberal breeze sweeping through the US. It may not be a gust, it may be a little weak but it is there.

I really think the most significant thing that George W. Bush has managed to accomplish in his time as President is to have broken so many records in so many ways. He has lead us to the greatest deficit this country has ever seen. We are getting ready to rival the Great Depression with his fantastic economic leadership. And for the kicker ladies and gentlemen, he has a 71% disapproval rating, a first since the Gallop polls began. Don’t believe me? Check here.

I don’t know that I believe that this liberal wind may necessary lead us very far or last very long but I am glad it is here for the time being. And I am glad that it appears to be breaking down all sorts of barriers, race and gender alike for qualified individuals.

The Man McCain Could Have Been

by rhealitycheck

I remember when John McCain was actually somewhat of a maverick that he keeps trying to tell us he still is. When Senator McCain first ran against George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries he was a different man. He was a man that I respected whose opinions I may disagree with but someone that I would certainly consider. The Bush campaign seriously smeared McCain’s image and began it’s legacy of vicious unfounded attacks that have no base but still manage to fool the general public. Unfortunately for this country, this heavy handed smear campaign brought McCain’s first bid for presidency to an end quite quickly and sadly the next 8 years would change his views on many of the ideals that were part of his initial core campaign.

I am a staunch liberal but there was a brief moment in time when John McCain was truly a maverick and had some ideas that we had in common but I believe that time has passed. 8 years ago McCain was dedicated to fighting against loopholes in the corporate tax laws. He was against lowering taxes for the wealthiest people in the country. He believed in education reform and that it starts in the classroom, not with administrators and government officials. In fact, John McCain criticized Bush’s decision to go to Iraq but that was back when he was still a maverick. The man that stood up for those beliefs was someone that I could respect. There were a lot of issues where I did not agree with him but the fact that he did not blindly follow his party and actually had his own ideas on his own merit were things that I thought made him stand out.

Unfortunately the John McCain we see today is a completely different man. He supports the war and doesn’t even have a suggestion of when we should think about getting out. There is an absolutely hilarious clip on youtube of him singing “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” to the tune of Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys in an interview when asked about his opinion of how we should treat Iran. He has managed to pick a completely incompetent Vice Presidential candidate (and he should know better, we all like to believe we are super-human but in the event that something should happen to him, he knows that she would have to step in and that is just simply irresponsible). He wants to make the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% and corporations. He has cowed under the Republican whip and I’m not sure he could recognize the man he was 8 years ago. He may not have been perfect 8 years ago but at least he stood up for what he believed in. Today, I’m not sure if he knows what he’s doing anymore and that to me is far more worrisome than Obama’s inexperience. In fact he is so unrecognizable from the candidate that he was 8 years ago when he refused to slander George W. Bush (who was smearing McCain’s name in every way he could) yet this is the same man who is now running the same sort of smear campaign against Obama.

I find it unfortunate that a Senator with so much promise, who had the gumption to stand apart for so long finally bowed under the pressure to such a degree that he is unrecognizable. What would happen to such a man if he were to be elected as president? Would that pressure bend him even further into even worse decisions?

Why Not a Muslim President?

by rhealitycheck

This has been a sore point for me about the Obama campaign when the rumors first began that he might be a Muslim. And I have no problem with the fact that he isn’t Muslim and has been a Christian all his life, what upsets me is the fact that he vehemently denies being Muslim instead of questioning why we seem to believe that the President of the United States of America needs to be Christian. If I recall correctly one of main reasons for people migrating from Europe to America was fleeing from religious persecution, which is why we have laws in place that separate Church and State. Surely just because our fearless leader seems to believe that everyone should be a “God fearing Christian” does not mean that holds true with the fundamental belief system of our founding fathers and the laws that this country was built on.

I cannot describe how thrilled I was to hear (well really read because I don’t have time for tv so I just read the interviews online) Colin Powell speak out on this topic. I am glad that one very distinguished political figure has finally spoken up for very blatant discrimination. We all know that this country has problems as does the rest of the world and that discrimination of every kind is out there. But to outright assume that any Muslim person in the country would be loyal to terrorists as opposed to the US is just ignorant. It is choosing to be a bigot instead of actually considering the person’s history and merits and deciding from there where their loyalties lie.
I was also pleased to see that one of my favourite columnists Maureen Dowd actually wrote a piece on this today. What I thought was even better was that it was not her typical sarcastic snarky style that I hold so dear but it was actually something rather thoughtful that brings out the humanity of the situation. Colin Powell did not go into those details in his interview but I think it is important to remember that we have Americans that were born and raised here who happen to be of the Islamic faith. They are Muslim, they are American and they should be allowed to be proud to be both. Isn’t that what makes America unique, being able to believe in something different from your neighbor yet still being an American and still being part of a great nation? I fear that if something so small as your religious beliefs can make it impossible for you to dare to dream of being president we are losing an integral part of what makes America great. I would hope that we can do better.

A Rift Amongst the Republicans

by rhealitycheck

I was wondering if this would ever happen since I (and some talking heads that I listen to) have noticed that the Republican party has become considerably more “right” than it was in the past. And when I say in the past I don’t even mean that long ago, just 8 years ago the Republican party wasn’t quite as into the Christian right propaganda as it is today. Obviously it has been more on the right side of the political landscape but there are several Republicans in history that have made some marked “left” moves if you look at today’s political landscape. Although at the time they were still staunchly “right”.

I think Colin Powell’s announcement to support Barack Obama is a mark of the times and just how much the Republican agenda has changed and how it is leaving it’s moderate base behind. Some are too politically uneducated to follow along and therefore blindly vote as the party tells them to but those that choose to pay attention and be involved are becoming increasingly dissatisfied. I just wonder what this means for the Republican party as a whole. Personally I would imagine that with such a wide rift there has to be some happy medium for there not to be a break in the party and then we might be headed towards a completely different landscape that will break from our dominant two party system that we have had… well if I remember my US history correctly since the founding of this nation. Now that would be interesting

Why Not Try To Balance The Budget…

by rhealitycheck

instead of making false promises? Like our two candidates currently are. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like some of the things being proposed like putting more money into education but I think that we also have to look at the bigger picture. Our entire economy is struggling. Severely. I simply cannot respect candidates who cannot prioritize which programs may not make it with a modified budget. I mean $700 billion just went to bail out our banks. If that isn’t significantly increasing our deficit I don’t know what is. Not to mention the pointless wars that we’ve been funding for the vanity of an under-educated over-funded egotistical maniac who cannot admit when he is wrong. Unfortunately for us he is also happens to be President of the United States and therefore we are not allowed to question him (now whatever happened to that wonderful first amendment giving us the right to free speech? Silly me, I forgot the Patriot Act, drawn up by his “servants”, severely limits those rights). But I digress, this is supposed to about the two men who are trying to replace the current misplaced ninny.

What really gets me is that neither one of them can let go of all the promises they are making. Typical politicians we would rather lie and stretch the budget into something unbearable rather than admit that some things are simply not possible and that we need to prioritize.

If it were me, and I were in Obama’s shoes, I would say, I’m sorry everyone, I think education is extremely important it *is* our future but if our children cannot be healthy, they cannot think. If their parents cannot afford to give them nourishment, their brains will suffer. If our country goes into a recession and children drop out to help their families pay the bills, pouring all the money in the world into our education system is not going to fix that. We need to start with basics. We cannot cut social security and I am not sure we can add to it, which would be the ideal but let’s just leave it as is for now until we get a better idea of budget. We can pull in the purse strings around the war and we will. We will be bringing our troops home and start focusing on more internal problems. And yes, I will raises taxes on the upper class because our middle class is struggling not to mention the lower class that I’m not even sure is barely making it. We need to start taking responsibility for ourselves at home, right here, right now. This is the time to act, this is the time to make a change for the better. This economic crisis is just the wake up call that should tell Americans that greed is not the answer, that we must work for the benefit of the whole in order to stand up as a successful society. Now is not the time to let the wealthy just waltz off into the sunset with their offshore accounts and avoiding taxes. Taxes are what afford us the first-world lifestyle we are accustomed to and it is not solely the responsibility of the middle and lower-classes to have to pay it because the upper classes have the benefit of loop holes.

If I were McCain, I would say, I’m sorry my friends, I know that I call all you corporations my base but unfortunately we are in an economic crisis and I cannot give you tax cuts. Do you want to know why? I’ll tell you why, those taxes just bailed your irresponsible, greedy selves out of poverty. So you will have to live with taxes for a few more years, if for nothing else than to give back what we have given to save you.

Well ok, so the pseudo McCain compromises are pretty easy for me because I don’t believe in tax cuts for the rich. But the pseudo Obama compromises are actually quite difficult for me to think of because I was a teacher and I hugely value education. And I believe that we should have nationalized health care. There are a lot of things that I think are important that should have more funding, such as medicare and the aforementioned education and health care but I also think that in hard times you have to make hard decisions. And so I leave you with the thought, if you were the candidates what promises would you make compromises on?

Another Look at Palin

by rhealitycheck

I just love this op-ed by Thomas Friedman on Palin’s patriotism. I feel like someone has finally pinpointed some of the little bitty things that she says that just crawl under my skin and stay there irritating it but I just can’t always find the words to express them. Thankfully every once in a while I find a more eloquent political columnist who does just that.

I love that Friendman discusses how Sarah Palin statement “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.” is really a contradiction on many levels. And I agree with him wholeheartedly that paying taxes is patriotic. Perhaps I wouldn’t have used that phrasing because I don’t think in jargon but I do believe that taxes are necessary to preserve our standards of living and basic human rights. I would like Sarah Palin to answer how on earth without taxes we would have come up with the $700Billion bail out that is saving our economy. And how without taxes we could afford to send our troops to Iraq? And without taxes just how exactly does she get paid?
I understand taxes may not be the most pleasant thing to think about. And I understand that it stings when it comes out of your paycheck. But I also believe very strongly in the greater good and in social responsibility. And if being socially responsible isn’t patriotic well then I don’t know what is. In fact, I would like to question all those people out there who think taxes should be eliminated completely and ask them how exactly they would like our military to function? Not to mention our government and economy? Because really if we were to eliminate taxes altogether that bailout never would have happened. And while I may not be a fan of the bailout, I can tell you right now that Dubya’s wonderful legacy of taking absolutely no social responsibility has left many millions of Americans in the lurch right now.

So I think I’ll take the taxes and be socially responsible, even if that means I’m not patriotic.

The W Legacy

by rhealitycheck

I don’t believe any other president in history can compete with the legacy that George W. Bush will leave behind. It is absolutely incredible what he has managed to accomplish in his 8 years as president of the United States of America.

Let us take a minute to look at what America was like just as W was taking office. We had a surplus for the first time in many, many years. The economy was booming with new technology on the rise. We were relatively at peace with the rest of the world, at least nothing outstanding or significant to be noted.

So what has our fearless leader managed to accomplish in his 8 years as president, I will list it out as I tend to like lists:
– We have been attacked by terrorists on our own soil numerous times, the most significant being 9/11, which was an unprecedented attack on the mainland. Previously, I believe (and could be wrong since I’m no history buff) the only attack on US soil was Pearl Harbor.
– We are in the middle of a completely unnecessary war and we have a second one that is relatively stagnant due to our resources being diverted to said unnecessary war.
– We have the largest deficit in history due to said unnecessary war and now are looking at an even larger deficit due to our economic crisis.
– We have one of the largest economic crises in history knocking at our front door steps due to changes in regulations and tax structure.
– We have less funding for education, social security and health care.
– We are nowhere close to the environmental regulations that the rest of the first world has been working on for years now. In fact our president still says that global warming doesn’t exist.
– We fund churches that have started “charter” schools but not our average inner-city public schools, in fact we cut their funding due to “low performance” (amazing how that separation of church and state just miraculously disappeared from the constitution, or did I miss the part where the first amendment is no longer valid?)

I’m sure there are other things I’ve forgotten but I’d say the first four are the major points. I’d say it’s one helluva legacy to be leaving behind. Dear President Bush, I hope you are proud of the incredible legacy that will follow you. I’m not sure I envy you on that one.