Filibusters

There's nothing worse than a whiny Republican. Particularly when they're whining about something they once had an opportunity to change but failed to do so. Although the "hard work" whining from the President during the debates was bad; nothing beats how bad the Republicans are whining now about judicial filibusters.

In 1995, Democratic Senators Joe Lieberman and Tom Harkin proposed a change to the Senate rules (link, you will need to type: S.AMDT.1 and it will take you right to it. To see the whole Amendment, click the link for S422 and then the link for the Amendment) gradually reducing the number of votes needed to invoke cloture to a majority in the Senate rules. This made good sense to many Democrats in 1995. Why? Because the Republicans for the first time in 10 years had a majority but a tenuous one. If the Democrats could change the rules while they were the minority and if President Clinton could drag a couple extra seats towards the Democrats, they'd have a change in the rules they could use when the Republicans attempted filibusters as they had for the past ten years. The filibuster of Clinton appointees Walt Dellinger and Sam Brown were still fresh in the Democrats' minds and they had every reason to believe that this current Republican majority in the Senate wouldn't last with Clinton as President.

The Republicans wouldn't bite. Even many Democrats were dubious about this change. So, the Republicans, helped by some Democrats who didn't think the Senate was going back to Democrat control anytime soon, tabled the Amendment effectively killing it. Who helped kill this rule change? Oh look! There's current whiner Bill Frist voting to kill that amendment. And, over there, Mitch McConnell. You see he and his fellow Republicans, in 1995, could still taste their very recent minority status. They still feared some day soon being in the minority again... only without the protection the filibuster provided them when they were filibustering Clinton nominees. As a note, Democratic Senator Harry Reid also sided with Frist and McConnell back then and voted to kill it too. Seems the flip-floppers here are McConnell and Frist if you ask me.

The Republicans had a chance to show how much they hate the filibuster back in 1995 and they took a pass. Now that they feel more comfortable being the majority they have flip-flopped on their "convictions."

Don't buy the lie. Democrats approved 218 of President Bush's judicial nominees during his first term. They've stopped only 10. Some may call that unreasonable, I call it "advising" and "consenting" which is the true Constitutional issue here.

Republicans depend on their constiuents to be ignorant of history. They tout themselves as the "Party of Lincoln" because most people have no clue that Lincoln was of the Republican Party at its most liberal point in history. If you ignore the history of this issue and side with those who have flip-flopped on the issue solely because they will gain power then that's why I'm way smarter than you.

Tempests in Teacups

Strange little things enter my head every day. Today, the right to bear arms popped into my head. Much ado has been made in the past ten years about carrying handguns and owning semi-automatic rifles but they have all been tempests in teacups.

Any fulfillment of the Constitution's framers' intent with the Second Amendment was lost decades ago. Those men knew that the only way to keep a government from being an oppressive government was to keep the governmental officials in constant fear of armed rebellion. To fight the oppressive British, the rebels needed cannon, musket, pistol and horse. Those items comprised the totality of the weapons of war.

To extrapolate the necessary weapons necessary to overthrow the government today would require tanks, helicopters, fighters, missiles and myriad other weapons which cannot be legally bought by the average citizen. Imagine attempting to acquire enough weapons to take on the local-yokel volunteer police department of some rural town let alone the entire U.S. military. You'd have the ATF on your doorstep sometime between buying the grenades and the claymores.

I don't think the U.S. government needs overthrowing, yet. In fact, I think were perhaps one of the best countries in all of history. I'm merely speaking to the framers' intent with the Second Amendment. So, for the NRA to cry that they are losing their Second Amendment rights or for Sarah Brady to say that Americans' Second Amendment rights haven't been curtailed enough is to ignore the fact that those rights, as conceived by the framers of the Constitution, were lost long ago.

What does it matter? The forces of the right have long tried to use the issue of handguns and semi-automatic rifles as a paper façade to divide Americans. Their supposed "stance" to protect the Second Amendment has been a hurricane in a wash basin used to whip their constituents in to a frenzy over the most miniscule and useless of items. Who thinks any citizen who pulls a gun on a police officer the citizen thinks is oppressing him would live to tell his side of the story? Who thinks a store owner who mows down a handful of rioting teenagers for looting his store would find any pity when his prison sentence is handed down?

The framers knew a little something about throwing out an oppressive government. They may have been smarter than me. But, since I can see how the right has perverted their legacy into one of the more divisive issues of our time, that is why I'm say smarter than you.

Republican Voters Duped Again

Republican voters vote for the Republican Party because the Republican Party supposedly stands for "something." Although I have yet to see in their legislation match what they purportedly stand for, we got a taste of what the party really stand for in yesterday's legislation. One billion taxpayer dollars for hospital care of illegal immigrants. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that illegal immigrants will be able to get some kind of health care while they attempt to make a buck here in the States. I've always been a kind of Robin Hood lover and it's nice to see that the states which are dealing with the most illegal immigrants will get some dough from the federal government to cover the federal government's unwillingness to protect our borders and streamline the immigration process.

The question is, "why is the federal government giving away this money for illegal immigrants?" Are they bleeding hearts who only want what's best for sick little José? Do they give a damn about Hao and his broken arm? If Bính has a cough, does the Republican Party want to make her feel better?

The Republican Party has continually failed to strengthen the border and relax the legal immigration process even though they wield more power in Washington than they have in decades. Even the Bush-friendly Minuteman Project knows that. (While I disagree with the Minuteman Project, I still believe the founders acted as excellent citizens and brought this subject to a greater light.) So, what's it all boil down to?

Cheap labor.

As usual.

Illegal immigrants keep the most menial jobs at a low pay scale. You hear talk of jobs "no American will take." That is a lie. Those jobs would be snapped up in a minute for the right pay. And, there's nothing a Republican Party member hates than to see wage increases. Wage increases mean decreased profits and decreased profits means lower stock earnings. This is the same reason the Republican Party has worked so hard to force Americans into stock-based retirement options. If retirement depends on stocks, then citizens are more wishy-washy on companies who screw their workers. But, I digress.

The Republican Party has the power right now to protect the borders, crack down on the employers of illegal immigrants (dry up the demand for illegal immigrant labor and the supply will adjust accordingly) and ease immigration laws to the point where being an illegal immigrant would make no sense. But, instead, they are giving $1 billion in health care to cover their stay.

If you haven't asked yourself why the Republican Party is doing this then that is why I'm way smarter than you.

The Glenn Beck "Back to Drivel Tour"

Less than two weeks ago, right-wing radio talk show personality Glenn Beck found himself a something he could use on his show. The rape of a young girl. For those who don't know the story, allow me to give you the short version. Earlier this year, a mentally handicapped, 16-year-old was allegedly raped at Mifflin High School in Columbus, Ohio. The perpetrators were fellow students. The police officer normally assigned to the school was at a training session. The father of the student was called and after he arrived was apprised of the situation. The father then asked if 911 had been called. The administrator told the father they had not called 911 and asked the father to not call 911 either as it would alert media attention to his daughter's victimization. They requested that he call one of the police's non-emergency numbers to keep the media from further victimizing this girl.

Right thing to do? Probably not. In my opinion, and with the advantage of hindsight, they probably should have called 911 immediately. While I can understand that they did not want this child to be further victimized by the media... a rape needs immediate attention. Adult rape victims oftentimes will not report their rape because they would prefer not to repeatedly relive the crime which was perpetrated against them. According to the Department of Justice, "Most rapes and sexual assaults were not reported to the police. Sixty-three percent of completed rapes, 65% of attempted rapes, and 74% of completed and attempted sexual assaults against females were not reported to the police." But, the law regarding what these administrators should have done is quite clear in my opinion. Call the police immediately.

They did not and the Columbus Board of Education chose to punish them for their lack of action. The principal was fired and the three other administrators who were involved were suspended and then moved to administrative positions in which they were not in contact with students any longer. Glenn Beck doesn't think that punishment is severe enough. Fine by me... get upset with those who made this punishment decision and rail about it all you like. Get angry that the administrators' decision was hugely mistaken even if their desire to not see this girl further vicitmized by the media was right-hearted. Maybe even rail against these juvenile rapists or the parents who "raised them." That makes sense.

But, Glenn Beck didn't do that.

Glenn Beck knows that attacking the elected members of the Columbus Board of Education is a worthless endeavor for his right-wing ideology. These board members have no real political aspirations beyond the school board and Beck is keenly aware of that. Attacking the rapists isn't good for him either because the rapists and their parents will never really do much of anything for society let alone change the country or the State of Ohio. Even going after the administrators was secondary on his list of ways to exploit this girl's victimization. So, what did he do instead?

He chose instead to attack Columbus Mayor Democrat Michael Coleman and shill for charter school vouchers. How does a rape translate into school vouchers? No one except Beck seems to know how. Here in Ohio, the citizens elected school boards to run their public schools. But, why go after the elected officials in charge of the schools when there is a strong Democratic hopeful for the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial race? So, Beck proceeded to bait Coleman into calling him on his radio show and then berated him up one side and down the other. He repeatedly badgered him, and I paraphrase, "as a man do you think this punishment was severe enough?" Coleman took his words as an assault on his manhood during the harried shouting that was going on by this time and told Beck not to question his manhood. Beck decided that this was just too great an opportunity to attack a strong Democratic contender for Ohio's governor's race. So, ot of his "deep concern" for this girl, he decided he'd come to Columbus, Ohio on his one-stop "I'm Not Questioning Your Manhood Tour" to attack and berate the Columbus mayor some more.

Now, it is highly unlikely that the crowd which filled the seats of his little speach had more than a handful of actual Columbus residents in it. Undoubtedly it was filled with those from Powell and Dublin and New Albany where the residents are far more likely to agree with anything that a right-wing shill like Beck has to say. They clamored for him and Beck railed about Coleman and then went back on his show to say how deeply this had affected him.

Fast-forward to a week later. Beck has forgotten about Columbus and this girl. He had made the sound bites the Republicans will need and use in the 2006 campaign. He had gotten what he and his fellow right-wing media whores needed and the subject was all used up. What was he talking about the past three times I've heard him? 1) Tom Cruise and his vacations with whoever his current girlfriend is and how they stayed in the same hotel Cruise has stayed in with previous girlfriends; 2) the price of gasoline; and, 3) Rudy Giuliani.

Beck proved those administrators right in at least one way. He turned this girl's rape and beating into a media circus for his own political agenda. And, now that he's used and abused her a second time for his own purposes, he's forgotten all about her (not to imply that he ever really cared one whit about the girl in the first place). He's back to his "fusion of entertainment and enlightenment" spewing more drivel than ever.

How sick is it that people egged this guy on to re-rape this girl by using her victimization this way? How on Earth can 610 WTVN, the station Beck is offered on in Columbus, defend this guy and his actions let alone deny that they are a right-wing media outlet?

Glenn Beck fools a lot of people. He proffers that he isn't beholden to any political ideology. But, if you buy that line then that's why I'm way smarter than you.

Why I Started Blogging

I started this blog a couple days ago because I kept saying to myself, "self, you always seem to see things as they will happen in the future and you are always right. But, how can you prove it?" At that point I decided, guess I need to write it down and watch what happens. Oftentimes I was predicting things years before they happened. Sometimes I made my predictions when the writing was on the wall yet others refused to see. This prediction is going to be easy though.

GM and Ford both earned junk bond status yesterday. What's that mean? Well, it means that Standard and Poor's thinks these two companies have debt which they are less than likely to be able to repay. In other words S&P believes that these companies are sucking wind big time.

Here's the prediction. Conservatives are going to blame the unionized shops of GM and Ford for the failure of these companies. They'll ignore that these companies' CEOs and managers completely and utterly threw away their headstart against Honda and Toyota in the alternative fuel and hybrid categories. They'll ignore the President's inaction on rising fuel prices. They'll ignore the Big Two's reliance on SUV and truck sales. They're going to blame Joe Bumperbolter wanting to have dental care for his kids.

As the managers and vice-presidents bail from these companies and you watch their golden parachutes transport them a long way from River Rouge, you'll hear them lamenting that if only little Mary Jane Windsheildinstaller had just not gotten sick forcing her mother to demand that her insurance company cover her six day hospital stay... the Big Two would be sailing high in oceans of cash. Don't believe those lies.

You'll hear the right-wing parroting these thoughts. They'll forgive the vice-presidents who ignored the hybrid market. Toyota and Honda have had hybrids on the market for over five years now. But, don't blame the VP or the CEO. Blame Auntie Seatcushionsewer. If her little Johnny had just not broken his arm during his Little League game... Don't let the liars get to you. When they tell you it was the union's fault, remind them that the union contracts are actually the only thing stable in these businesses. The market which the managers failed to project correctly was far less stable. Why did these managers fail so miserably? And, when will the conservatives realize that their scapegoating of unions doesn't have legs anymore?

I don't really consider myself omniscient nor prescient, merely cognizant of my surroundings and the tactics of the right-wing in the U.S. So, mark these words. Put a link in your browser right now. And, in the next couple months, come back to it often so you can see that my ability to see the future simply by knowing the nature and tactics of the Republicans is just another reason why I am way smarter than you.

Republicans and Public Education

My wife, my mother and my father-in-law are all public school teachers. They have no greater love than seeing the lightbulb illuminate above a struggling student's head. Over the years, between the three, they have helped teach thousands of students how to make that lightbulb turn on. But, to hear right-wing radio talk show hosts talk about them you would think that they are communists who have the sole purpose of feeding union coffers and indoctrinating students into some nebulous "leftist society." Why does the Republican Party encourage these attacks on public school teachers?

The Republican Party has a single agenda. Cheap labor. While they mask their agenda behind gun rights, womb-to-heaven politics, gay marriage and other hotbutton issues, it all boils down to cheap labor. Even the "school choice" issue is about nothing more than cheap labor. The fastest way to cheap labor is to destroy workers' right groups and unions. Republicans have made it their goal to destroy any group which protects workers' and citizens' rights to fight against unjust or arbitrary treatment by employers. Their hatred for these groups and their power to stop employers from running roughshod over their employees is evidenced by their daily attacks and snide comments regarding every group from the Teamsters to the ACLU. In the middle are the teachers' unions.

To destroy the teachers' unions, it is necessary to denigrate and vilify the members of those unions. Sure, out of one side of their mouth they may be referring to the "noble profession of education" but more often than not they are egging on the right-wing talk show hosts to further attack and belittle teachers. Heck, when Rod Paige called the National Education Association a "terrorist organization" I had to wonder where my wife was hiding her bombs because I hadn't seen any around the house.

It is also helpful to their agenda to hamstring the budgets of public schools while additionally imposing ludicrous and unfunded mandates. This helps provide fodder for those who buy the demogoguery of these parrots of the Republican Party's agenda to see that the "out-of-control budgets" of schools continually show up on their often sleepy-eyed view of their communities. By forcing schools (such as here in Ohio) to continually beg their communities for enough funds to provide an education equal to the education previous generations received, Republicans have kept the brunt of the frustration and rage by taxpayers focused on the teachers themselves.

The end goal for Republicans is to destroy public education to the point where it would be unfeasible for it to continue. They have no desire to see public education succeed and have proven that time and again by repeatedly attacking those whose passion is to teach children. Once they have destroyed public education, then they can turn the education process into just another money-making venture where the richest get the best and the poorest get none or as little as possible. Until the day every voucher-receiving school must take any child and keep any child for no more than the price of the voucher, the idea that voucher schools can replace public schools is a pipe dream.

Once they have put schools in the hands of corporate schooling entities, the Republican Party is certain that the cheap labor costs those corporate entities will be able to force on teachers will mean more money for themselves and their powerbase. And, their reluctance to fix funding issues (such as by the cowardly Republicans in Ohio who have for 15 years ignored that our state's funding has been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio State Supreme Court) only goes to prove that they would rather have teachers take the brunt of the rage at the statehouse's inaction.

Teachers don't teach for the money. Teachers teach for the love of children. And, most of them, given a child to educate, will reach that child and make them a smarter, more productive, more conscientious and more useful part of society than when they were brought to that teacher. Attacking them is the least useful activity one can partake in when it comes to education. Stand up against the Republican Party and its education shell game. Tell them that you won't stand for their continued attacks on teachers who give their daily best to children who are not theirs and are not often prepared by their parents to even be at school. Most importantly, tell them that if they want to mandate certain programs for their schools, they must fund them. Speak up on the web, in your local newspaper, by calling your representatives. Tell your friends and make a difference.

If you don't think you can make a difference, perhaps one friend at a time, then... that is why I'm way smarter than you.