Kansas Progressivite

Forward Kansas

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:24:00 +0000

So as fun as this blog was to create, for the time being I have decided to begin blogging over at a new site that is much more exciting. The site is called Forward Kansas and it was put together by a group of extremely intelligent local progressives that want to make sure we remain (or get back to) a "well informed citizenry."

Check out my first post here.

Robert Reich on the Public Option

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Lynn Jenkins - Continues to Be a Joke

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:32:00 +0000

So we all know about Kansas District 2 Representative Lynn Jenkins freudian slip about a "great white hope" last week right?

Well of course when someone close to her told her that even though she probably believed it, it was a stupid thing to say and embarrassed her, she issued the standard apology claiming she didn't fully understand the racial implications of the statement.

(How on Earth you don't think that saying something about a "great white hope" when we have a African-American President and that you are a member of a party that is consitently putting their foots in their mouths about racism is a bad idea, but I digress).

Well, an article on Huffington Post has sort of debunked her excuse about her naiveness.

Oops, Rep. Jenkins, you really don't deserve your job.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) took a bit of heat a few weeks ago for suggesting the GOP needed a "great white hope" to take on President Barack Obama in the next election.

The Kansas Republican backtracked from her remarks soon thereafter, insisting that she hadn't really understood the racial implications of the statement.

Alas, The Ottawa (Kans.) Herald finds one reason to doubt Jenkins's excuse. A month ago, the freshman lawmaker supported a resolution that included the very phrase "great white hope" in a historical context that made clear its origin.

In late July, the House of Representatives passed, by unanimous consent, a measure urging the president to pardon heavyweight champion boxer Jack Johnson, whose career brought him success in the ring and racist vitriol outside of it. Included in the resolution, which passed on July 29, was the following phrase:

"Whereas the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns prompted a search for a White boxer who could beat Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was dubbed the search for the 'great white hope.'"

For sports historical junkies: Johnson had to wait years to get a shot at the heavyweight title, because the top-ranked white boxers refused to fight him. Once he got the chance and defeated Burns, the boxing world went on a frantic search to find the "great white hope" to take back the title.

As Media Matters Action Network points out, one of those "great white hopes" was a boxer named Jess Willard, who actually lived just 27 miles from Jenkins' hometown of Holton, Kansas.

Johnson's fall would ultimately come when he took the gloves off. The target of racist violence, he was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes."

Indefinite Vacation

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:03:00 +0000

So as you may have noticed I haven't posted much in the past couple of months. I am finding it very difficult to gather the motivation to post new blogs on a continuous basis at the moment. Also, with the addition of an infant to our family, I have to say that most of my attention goes (deservedly so) to him.

So with that said, while I am not giving up completely on this blog and I will probably find more motivation in the future to post more frequently, I am taking an indefinite vacation from it.

I would advise people to visit the blogs and websites that I have listed on the sidebar, they provide excellent political coverage.

Thanks for reading!

Why Being a Christian DOES NOT Mean You Have to be Republican

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:44:00 +0000

There are many reasons why I consider myself a progressive. That typically means that I vote with the Democratic Party in this country. However, I am also a Christian, and I know that puts me at odds with lots of other fellow Christians out there. The Republican Party has done a good job at hijacking the religious people in this country, but I don't think just because you believe in Jesus, doesn't mean that you have to vote for the Republican Party.

Republicans have long claimed that they were the party of "moral" values or the "family friendly" party. But when you review their record on accomplishments, they fall well short of backing up this claim. One could easily argue that since Democrats like to focus on the poor and needy, believe everyone should have health care, that education is one of the most important things we provide to our youth, that they should be the party of "moral" values.

Truthfully, I don't think either really is, but I do believe that Democrats do more to help people than Republicans. Let's take a look at some of the major issues that Republicans do well at tricking people to vote for them.

1. Abortion. Probably the most tricky area there is. A very heated topic that many devote their entire lives to tipping a certain way. However, what Republicans often fail to do is realize that this is not a black and white issue. There is a lot that goes into a woman getting an abortion. She could have been raped, she could have just had lots of sex, I don't know. But what I don't do is treat that woman as being evil just because she had an abortion.

As a Christian, I would like to see the number of abortions drop. But I would also like to see that the woman is taken care of as well. NO ONE likes abortion. And if they do, they are totally lack of emotionality. However, the problem doesn't stem from the act of abortion itself, but from the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. When you eliminate LEGAL abortion, you don't get rid of ILLEGAL abortion. And illegal, or back alley, abortions are incredibly less safe than the current legal ones. Is it a Christian thing to take away the access to abortion, thus forcing someone who was going to get one to do it in a back alley and thus increase her chance of dying? I don't think two people dying is better than one.

But what Republicans need to change is their strict stance on the "Abstinence" program. That does not work. Too many studies have shown that the more a state puts money into abstinence and less into sex education, there are higher amounts of teen pregnancies. And with higher amounts of teen pregnancies, you are increasing the amount of abortions. Is that what you want? If we provided quality sex education programs to teenagers, then we would reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. You can still teach that abstinence is the only fool-proof way to prevent pregnancy and transmission of STDs.

2. Gay Marriage. Another hot button "moral" issue that has divided the two parties. Whether or not you believe that homosexuality is wrong or just fine, you can't provide a legitimate reason to prevent gays from marrying. The current anti-gay marriage segment of the population only backs up their claim by using biblical reasons. In this country we have what is called the first amendment, that prevents the government from forcing religious doctrine on its people. Someone marrying is not an inherent wrong (like murder) so it cannot be claimed as being immoral without bringing in religious laws. Therefore, if a man and a woman can marry, you can't claim that a man and a man can't get married or a woman and a woman.

The next argument that most bring up then, is why couldn't I marry my dog? Well, that would be an inherent wrong. Different species marrying should not be provided the same legal privileges that two human beings should have. The next thought is "group marriage," which I don't believe can be thought of as actually marriage. It is more of a commune of sorts and should also not be thought of under the same umbrella as gay marriage.

The point really is that it is not up to any of us to judge anyone else. If you are judging, well then you are going against the word of God and are in the wrong yourself. So how does that make you better than someone who might be gay? Whether or not you believe being gay is wrong, it's not up to you to decide the fate of that person. That is between that person and God.

3. The Environment. This should be just as an important issue to all Christians as the above two issues. God created this planet. It is in his design and it should be our responsibility to take care of it. He gave it to us to live upon and enjoy, and if you think that it is alright that we are piling up the garbage around the world, throwing trash into the forest and oceans, and altering the climate, then you are just throwing the gift God gave us back in his face.

I don't understand why so many on the right have taken the stance that global warming is a myth. What good does that stance do for you? It is proven that exhaust and other pollutants harm the air we breath, that in itself should be enough for you to take a strong environmental stance. Many claim that the world will end upon God's hand (which I do believe) but nowhere does it state how many people will be living on the planet, what the Earth's makeup is like, or the climate we live in. If global warming wipes out half of the world's population, what could stop God from still enacting his plans?

4. War. I believe war should only be entered into under a justified cause. That is why I supported the war in Afghanistan, and continue to do so. However, we all were tricked into going into Iraq. We were lied to, distracted, and thus unfocused our efforts on a justified war and entered into an unjustified one. We are still in both and the battle in Afghanistan is getting much worse. It is not the place of the United States to start whatever conflict we want without the support of a significant amount of the rest of the world. We had that with Afghanistan, we did not with Iraq.

So if you take away all the hot button topics that divide Republicans and Democrats, you are left with the Republican stances on the economy, education, immigration, health care and taxes. And which I pretty much disagree with the right's stances on every one of those issues.

That is why just because someone is a Democrat, that does not make them a heathen. They could be just a good a Christian as anyone else. If you are a Republican only because of the first few topics, you should read a book called, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank and let me know what you think.

Betraying the Planet

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Excellent article by Paul Krugman in today's New York Times.

So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.

But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.
And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason — treason against the planet.

To fully appreciate the irresponsibility and immorality of climate-change denial, you need to know about the grim turn taken by the latest climate research.
The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe — a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable — can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.

Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees. Why? Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than expected; some mitigating factors, like absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, are turning out to be weaker than hoped; and there’s growing evidence that climate change is self-reinforcing — that, for example, rising temperatures will cause some arctic tundra to defrost, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Temperature increases on the scale predicted by the M.I.T. researchers and others would create huge disruptions in our lives and our economy. As a recent authoritative U.S. government report points out, by the end of this century New Hampshire may well have the climate of North Carolina today, Illinois may have the climate of East Texas, and across the country extreme, deadly heat waves — the kind that traditionally occur only once in a generation — may become annual or biannual events.

In other words, we’re facing a clear and present danger to our way of life, perhaps even to civilization itself. How can anyone justify failing to act?
Well, sometimes even the most authoritative analyses get things wrong. And if dissenting opinion-makers and politicians based their dissent on hard work and hard thinking — if they had carefully studied the issue, consulted with experts and concluded that the overwhelming scientific consensus was misguided — they could at least claim to be acting responsibly.

But if you watched the debate on Friday, you didn’t see people who’ve thought hard about a crucial issue, and are trying to do the right thing. What you saw, instead, were people who show no sign of being interested in the truth. They don’t like the political and policy implications of climate change, so they’ve decided not to believe in it — and they’ll grab any argument, no matter how disreputable, that feeds their denial.

Indeed, if there was a defining moment in Friday’s debate, it was the declaration by Representative Paul Broun of Georgia that climate change is nothing but a “hoax” that has been “perpetrated out of the scientific community.” I’d call this a crazy conspiracy theory, but doing so would actually be unfair to crazy conspiracy theorists. After all, to believe that global warming is a hoax you have to believe in a vast cabal consisting of thousands of scientists — a cabal so powerful that it has managed to create false records on everything from global temperatures to Arctic sea ice.

Yet Mr. Broun’s declaration was met with applause.

Given this contempt for hard science, I’m almost reluctant to mention the deniers’ dishonesty on matters economic. But in addition to rejecting climate science, the opponents of the climate bill made a point of misrepresenting the results of studies of the bill’s economic impact, which all suggest that the cost will be relatively low.

Still, is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn’t it politics as usual?

Yes, it is — and that’s why it’s unforgivable.

Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole — but the existential threat from climate change is all too real.

Yet the deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it’s in their political interest to pretend that there’s nothing to worry about. If that’s not betrayal, I don’t know what is.

R.I.P. Michael

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Michael Jackson

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

R.I.P.

Governor Mark Sanford Admits Affair

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:52:00 +0000

First Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina disappeared for five days without telling anyone where he was going. Not his staff, not even his wife even though he was gone over Father's Day weekend. His staff reported that he was hiking in the Appalachian mountains. It turns out he secretly flew to Argentina. That was weird enough in itself.

Now, as anyone should be surprised, he has admitted that he was having an affair with a woman down in Argentina. This coming on the heals of Senator John Ensign of Nevada admitting his affair. It is sort of hard to claim that you are the party of "family values" when all of your members are cheating on their wives and families.

Now of course, Democrats have affairs as well (eg John Edwards). And it is hard to claim that one party's members are worse at keeping it in their pants than others. However, when you constantly slam down the message that you are the party of the family to Americans (and successfully trick a lot of them) and you can't remain faithful to your spouse, it doesn't really sync up with your party's claims does it? I honestly have no idea how these people can cheat on their spouses, oh wait, it's because they are sleazebags.

Governor Sanford was one of the few Republican Governors that tried to take a stand and refuse stimulus money, and eventually get b*tch slapped by their respective state legislatures. Here is the article on Huffington Post:

AP: COLUMBIA, S.C. — After going AWOL for seven days, Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday that he'd secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he'd been having an affair. He apologized to his wife and four sons and said he will resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.

"I've let down a lot of people, that's the bottom line," the 49-year-old governor said at a news conference where he choked up as he ruminated with remarkable frankness on God's law, moral absolutes and following one's heart. His family did not attend.

The woman, who lives in Argentina, has been a "dear, dear friend" for about eight years but, Sanford said, the relationship didn't become romantic until a little over a year ago. He's seen her three times since then, and his wife found out about it five months ago.

He told reporters he spent "the last five days of my life crying in Argentina" and the affair is now over. Sanford, a rumored 2012 presidential candidate, refused to say whether he'll leave office.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

"What I did was wrong. Period," he said.

Questions about Sanford's whereabouts arose early this week. For two days after reporters started asking questions, his office had said he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trial.

Cornered at the Atlanta airport by a reporter, Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he'd gone to Argentina for a seven-day trip.

When news first broke about his mysterious disappearance, first lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press she did not know where her husband had gone for the Father's Day weekend.

Story continues below

Sanford's announcement came a day after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his GOP Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership.

Sanford, first elected governor in 2002, has more than a year remaining in his second term and is barred by state law from running again.

He emerged Wednesday afternoon at a news conference and it took more than a few minutes into his address before he got to the crux of what had happened. He spoke of his love of hiking and how he used to guide trips along the Appalachian Trail _ and only then tearfully apologized to his wife, his staff and his friends.

"I hurt a lot of different folks," he said, occasionally choking up throughout the news conference that lasted about 20 minutes.

A former three-term congressman, Sanford most recently snared headlines for his unsuccessful fight to turn aside federal stimulus cash for his state's schools. His vocal battle against the Obama administration _ and libertarian, small-government leanings _ won praise from conservative pundits. Ultimately, a state court order required him to take the money.

Sanford was born May 28, 1960, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the eldest of four siblings. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Furman University in 1983 and a master's of business administration from the University of Virginia in 1988.

After working for a couple of years in the financial world in New York, he returned to South Carolina and said he was shaped by his summers working on the family plantation. He served in the U.S. House for three terms before honoring a term limits pledge and leaving office in 2001.

In 2002, he defeated incumbent Democrat Jim Hodges by 4 percentage points to become governor and won re-election in 2006, beating Democratic state Sen. Tommy Moore.

As governor, Sanford has had seemingly endless run-ins with the GOP-dominated Legislature, once bringing pigs to the House chamber to protest pork barrel spending. He also put a "spending clock" outside his office to show how quickly a proposed budget would spend state money.

Is Obama Like Hitler?

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:36:00 +0000

Several GOP groups have compared President Obama to Hitler ever since Obama ran for the presidency. The newest group is Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, a women's group in Maryland. The President of the women's group, Joyce E. Thoman, posted the following letter:

Obama and Hitler have a great deal in common in my view. Obama and Hitler use the “blitzkrieg” method to overwhelm their enemies. FAST, CARPET BOMBING intent on destruction. Hitler’s blitzkrieg bombing destroyed many European cities – quickly and effectively. Obama is systematically destroying the American economy and with it AMERICA. First the banking/investment industry, next private enterprise (GM and Chrysler) and now HEALTH CARE. And he is working on grabbing more of the American economy with his environmental extremism!

We too CAN fight back. Contact everyone you know. Start a blitzkrieg of our own. Shut down the Capitol switchboards and the White House switchboards! Say NO to the Obamination of Obama Care!

Now comparing anyone to Hitler is probably a dumb idea if you are actually trying to make a valid point. Most people are smart enough to realize that Obama is not even close to being of the same mind as Hitler. And the points that Ms. Thoman is trying to make are idiotic at best, and they do a good job at showing the ignorance of her and the part of the GOP that agrees with her. However, to be completely honest, Obama does have some similar traits to Adolf Hitler.

Shocking, no?

Look, Obama is a good person. He is not evil, he will not set up concentration camps and try to wipe out entire demographic groups. He is trying to what he thinks is best for the country AND the world. He focuses on how we can better everyone on the planet and work together, instead of just bombing the crap out of everyone and trying to tell people that they are always wrong and what we say is right. So, again, to try and put Obama and Hitler in the same boat is wrong. The similarities that Obama and Hitler do share are the ability to motivate a base. They can energize a populous into following them. They are/were both great public speakers.

Now, no one wants to be compared to Hitler EVER. And I am sure President Obama would not welcome his name being mentioned in the same arena as Hitler. But you can't argue against their ability to inspire, whether that be for good or evil purposes. Ms. Thoman and her letter are completely off base and once again show the ignorance of some people. I am hoping that one day she will realize her error and correct it, but I for one would not hold my breath that she is smart enough to realize it.

At What Point is it Too Much?

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I have always been one for universal health care. I personally believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that every American has access to quality health care and that it shouldn't cost people anything except what they contribute via taxes. I wish this country could get passed being in the pockets of pharmaceuticals and medical providers who focus on profits instead of the well being of our citizens. Being a doctor or other just as important health care provider is an important job. It takes a lot of commitment and determination to get through the years of schooling and research to be good at it. However, I think that it shouldn't focus on the pay as much as the service you provide. However, it takes a lot of financial commitment as well to become a doctor, so we in turn should do something to lessen that burden, be it subsidize your education, or pay back the cost of tuition once you graduate.

However, with that said, I am getting sort of nervous about the amount of money we are spending. I do feel that most of it is necessary, and I am trusting the the Obama administration is doing what is right when it comes to trying to stimulate the economy and get out of this recession. But we are spending a ton of cash. And we are pretty much putting it all in one basket. If the economy doesn't improve by the next election cycle, I can see Democrats taking a hit. And if it doesn't improve by the time Obama is running for re-election, I think we, as Democrats, might be screwed.

I have also seen figures that estimate that to implement a national health care program we are talking about at least another trillion dollars spent. It makes me nervous that we are going to have to spend that much more cash. At what point do we actually tip the scales over? Have we already passed that point?

I do think that if the Obama administration does not get universal health care accomplished now, it will be a long time before we get another chance. It is a rare occurrence nowadays to have such a favorable Congress to push a President's agenda through. And I think that if they want it done, then they just need to do it and not worry about being "bipartisan" or what the Republicans bitch and moan about.

But I think that we need to be really careful. We are throwing money around a lot right now. We are borrowing a lot of money from countries like China to do that. If the economy doesn't improve AND we drop another trillion into health care, we might be in for a world of hurt. I do understand also that it would actually be cheaper to have a healthy population in the future than to continue the overweight, unhealthy, wait till you are sick to seek medical attention situation we have right now, but I think we need to be careful.

Another Old, White Guy Makes a Racist Comment

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Rusty DePass, a GOP activist from South Carolina proves that he is racist. The guy is your stereotypical Republican, older, white, probably rich (the article did not specify) and scared of other races. There was a escaped gorilla from the Riverbanks Zoo so what is Mr. DePass' comment about this:

"I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

Seriously, how do people this stupid get elected to any position. He was the former State Elections Committee chairman. Now I understand this is South Carolina, so I shouldn't be surprised at a racist comment coming out of there, but it is just troublesome to hear idiots like this guy get any type of positive recognition. I know right now a hell storm is coming down on him, and deservedly so, but before his dumbass comment, he was not getting negative press.

South Carolinans should be embarrassed about this guy. But even if it came from someone in Massachusetts, I wouldn't be surprised that it came from a old, white guy. He has since issued an apology, you know your standard "if anyone was offended I am sorry" BS. Not the "what I said was wrong and I shouldn't have said it. I apologize for my idiotic remarks" that should have been issued. He also worked for Rudy Guiliani's presidential campaign...shocker.

Sigh.

Rupert Murdoch Is Evil

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

I'll be honest, I am basing this entire post on a headline from the Huffington Post that said Rupert Murdoch thinks President Obama is "dangerous." This coming from a guy that owns Fox News, which in itself is truly "dangerous," but he also owns the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. And he owns newspapers/tabloids in England and Australia, and TV stations throughout the country down under.

The man employs the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, the Fox & Friends airhead brigade, Mike Huckabee, Oliver North, John Gibson, Roger Ailes, and Neal Cavuto. He promotes Republican talking points nonstop on his so called cable "news" station. That is what is truly dangerous, promoting idealistic views while treating opposing views as evil and "anti-American." His stations have backed and justified torture countless of times, consistantly promoted lies about the Democratic Party, said that homeless veterans did not exist, and pushed for the neocon wars of Iraq, Afghanistan and attempted at convincing Americans that Iran should be attacked as well.

This is what is truly dangerous. And what is sad is that it has actually worked on a lot of people, people who can't see through the crap that Fox News puts out and have been brainwashed by their constant fear mongering.

Again, I have to admit that I did not watch the clip. I find it hard to get through even 30 seconds of listening to the likes of Murdoch, O'Reilly, & Hannity. I just can't stand the venom that spews from their lying mouths.

Hiatus This Week

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:39:00 +0000

I am finding it difficult to get motivated to blog when I am working from home. Especially since I have a newborn, and he likes to take up a lot of my time :) He has also taken my focus away from what's going on in the world. I am feeling really unconnected and uninformed at the moment. I actually didn't realize that President Obama was giving his middle east speech this week and haven't had the chance to listen to it.

And now I am hearing the Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center's jingle "Don't suffer in silence" on the TV. See I told you I am easily distracted at the moment. It might have something to do with the lack of sleep and constant worry I am going through at the moment.

Anyway, I am back in the office next week, and I seem to be able to get good and motivated to blog there. It gives me a release from a rather boring job.

Rant About The Murder of George Tiller

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:05:00 +0000

I am a Christian.

That being said, I can get along quite well with most people of any faith or those who do not believe in a God of any type. As part of this great country, we all have the ability to believe, or not, in whatever we want.

I do have a serious problem with those Christians who use God as justification to perform heinous acts such as the person who murdered Dr. George Tiller. Religion has been the driving force behind justification of countless wars, murders, rapes, beating, discrimination & hatred. The people that twist religion into backing their insane ideas and beliefs have it all wrong and they are digusting human beings.

There is no justification for the murder of Dr. Tiller. None. No matter what your beliefs are in the whole abortion debate, the killing of another individual who performs a medical procedure is wrong. Plain and simple.

Not to mention the people who are happy about this, and it is disgusting that there are those people out there, have absolutely ZERO idea what it is like for the women who needed Dr. Tiller's services. These women have had to make the gut wrenching decision to stop their pregnancy. Many of them to save their life, many others who have been raped and removed of any innocence they had. They went to Dr. Tiller when many others had already turned their backs on them, and he was there to help them in one of the most heartbreaking moments in that person's life.

True Christians do not murder. They do not back murderers. They do not justify the murdering of another individual. Anyone who supports the killer in this instance is not a true Christian. I am just so sick of people twisting my faith, or telling others what they have to believe, and who actually could give a rat's ass about others. They stand up on their soapbox of hatred and yell at others that they are going to hell. When they would never consider the fact that they probably are not doing what God would want them to do. They themselves are going against the word of God.

Jesus was not a discriminator. He was an acceptor, one who loved others even though they were shunned by society. He was their to help others, not condemn them. And too many fellow Christians have not followed his path or word.

I am not someone who likes to get in much of a theology debate. I believe that faith is a very personal thing and everyone was given the free will to take their own paths to or from God. I know that I could never give up my faith, mostly because I have had far too many answered prayers in my life. Sure, I have struggled at some points, and have questioned myself, but I always end up the same.

However, like I said before it is NOT my right to tell others how to believe. The first amendment protects Americans against Government forced religion, as well as, being forced to believe a certain way by its people. We should all take great solace in the fact that we have freedom like this.

I never met George Tiller, as I am sure most of us haven't. I think of him not as a "murderer" or "baby killer" as some right wing wackos like to spew, but as a physician. A physician that provided a very much needed service to women who were at such a strong emotional stage in their life that they needed someone to help them. Helping save someones life is what ALL physicians do. It is what they take their oath for. They realize people don't want to die and they are turning to them to help. Dr. Tiller was one of very few who would help women in certain situations. Can you imagine an 11 year old girl having a baby? Or your own daughter being raped and getting pregnant because of that? How about that same daughter being told she will probably die if the pregnancy continues? How can you sit their and justify losing BOTH a baby and your own daughter?

The people who support Tiller's murderer are just as bad as the murderer himself. This sort of horrible act should be condoned by everyone. And if you call yourself a Christian and you don't, well, I don't think you are very much of a Christian at all.

It goes to show you that the DHS report about right wing wacko terrorists was not that far off was it?

George Tiller Murdered

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Dr. George Tiller was murdered today as he attended church service. Some sleezeball coward shot him as he performed ushering duties and then sped off and was caught in Gardner on I-35.

A moment of silence will be held at Tiller's Wichita clinic at 8:45pm central time tonight.

Regardless of how you feel about abortion, if you condone this type of vigilante behavior, you are no better. You may have much more sense not to be able to pull a trigger and actually kill someone, but to think that this sort of crap is acceptable is just as bad. It is amazing the people who claim to be "Pro-Life" and then go about killing others. If you believe this, you are not Pro-Life, no matter how much you can convince yourself that you are.

The Bush is Back

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Former President George W. Bush weighed in for the first real time about his presidency at a speech to the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan. During that speech, which was actually a back and forth with the audience, Bush said that the harsh interrogations performed during his presidency were both legal and necessary. He stated the blanket statement that we have heard a million times already, that the U.S. gained valuable knowledge from the detainees that were tortured.

What they always fail to say is that we got all of our valuable information from those detainees before we began torturing them. What he and all the other GOP talking heads always refuse to talk about is our extraordinary rendition of detainees to eastern European countries to the CIA "secret" prisons. This was a way for the administration to torture and convince themselves that they were not lying when they said the U.S. did not torture (except that point is moot since we did waterboard and that is torture by international definition).

I know I have ranted about it before, but it still drives me crazy that people can stand up on the soapbox and defend torturing prisoners. Especially those who are supposed to be the leaders and decision-makers for our country. We should NEVER torture anyone, no matter what. The point is that it is wrong, and it does not provide accurate, valuable information. No matter what anyone tells you, it just doesn't work like you would want it to.

Again, we are supposed to be the example for the world to follow, not the poster boy for "what not to do." I encourage everyone to read The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, it will show you the true side of those in the Bush administration that were behind the torture of detainees.

It is an excellent read although it can be pretty heavy at times.

Mancow: Waterboarding is "Absolutely Torture."

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Conservative radio host Mancow underwent waterboarding to prove that it was not that big of a deal. He came out believing that it is what it is: torture. Check out Keith Olbermann's interview with Mancow on last night's Countdown.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Kris Kobach Running for Secretary of State...Sigh

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:37:00 +0000

After a failed attempt to win Dennis Moore's congressional seat and a couple of years as the head of the Kansas GOP, Kris Kobach has thrown his name into the ring for a run at Kansas Secretary of State to replace Ron Thornburgh in 2010. What should it tell you when a moderate Democrat can beat a GOP candidate in Johnson County pretty handily? That he is a little too much on the right side of the spectrum.

Kobach has basically focused his political career on illegal immigration, and you can imagine that he stands with the far right on this issue. Kobach has also accepted campaign contributions from U.S. Immigration Reform PAC, a group chaired by Mary Lou Tanton which is alleged to have ties to white-supremacist groups (according to Wikipedia). Kobach believes that the U.S. military should be sent to the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration. It probably would be fair to call him the Lou Dobbs of Kansas politics.

As head of the Kansas GOP, he targeted Democratic representative Nancy Boyda, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, and former Attorney General Paul Morrison. The GOP was able to win Boyda's seat, but he did not have any impact on Sebelius or Morrison. Morrison was able to do much more harm to himself than what the KGOP could do to him.

From the Topeka Capital-Journal

Former Kansas Republican Party chairman Kris Kobach formally announced Tuesday that he would seek the GOP nomination for secretary of state.

Kobach, who grew up in Topeka and graduated from Washburn Rural High School, made the announcement on “Jim Cates @ CJOnline,” The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Internet talk radio show. He has three scheduled receptions throughout the day, including at 5:30 p.m. at the Roundabout Cafe in Topeka.

Kobach, 43, filed paperwork earlier this year to allow him to begin raising funds for a run and his supporters had created a campaign Web site.

If elected, he said he would concentrate on eliminating voter fraud in Kansas.

“Election crimes have been documented across the state,” says Kobach, “from fraudulent registrations, to vote-by-mail fraud."

He said the state should adopt a law requiring people to present a photo identification card when voting. The state’s voter rolls must be purged of deceased people, felons and illegal immigrants, he said.

Kobach will face J.R. Claeys, of Salina, for the Republican nomination in the August 2010 primary.

Incumbent Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is a candidate for governor.

So far, no Democratic candidate has emerged for secretary of state.

In 2008, Kobach said he would not seek a second term as the leader of the state Republican Party in anticipation of pursuing a statewide elected office. It was speculated Kobach might run for secretary of state, attorney general or a seat in Congress.

Kobach’s departure from the GOP leadership came amid a push by Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, both Republicans, to halt infighting among conservative and moderate Republicans that flared during Kobach’s chairmanship. Kobach created the party’s “loyalty committee” to sanction wayward Republicans, and more than a dozen Republicans were stripped of voting rights in party organization races for helping Democrats.

Kobach, a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2004.

Born in Madison, Wis., Kobach moved in 1974 with his parents and two sisters to Topeka, where his father became a prominent car dealer.

After graduating from Washburn Rural as a valedictorian and state champion debater, Kobach obtained degrees from Harvard and Oxford universities before receiving his law degree at Yale.

He came back to Kansas after college but left again in 2001 when he accepted a yearlong White House fellowship, a competitive, nonpartisan program for young professionals.

Kobach now lives in Overland Park, where he served two years on the city council.

Brave New Films Does it Again

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:46:00 +0000

Check out Brave New Films newest video on why torture did not save American lives, but instead cost them. It seems that what they point out is just blatantly obvious, but some people still hide behind their aggression to see what actually helps or hurts us as a nation.

Justice Sotomayor

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:50:00 +0000

President Obama today announced his nominee for replacement of Justice Souter on the Supreme Court of the United States, Sonia Sotomayor. If confirmed, she will become the 3rd woman and first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. She is well qualified and should be a great mind to add to our top nine justices. She should be confirmed given the Democratic majority in the Senate, but let's not count our chickens before the eggs hatch.

She was nominated as a federal judge by the first President Bush, and President Clinton elevated her to the federal appeals court. President Obama has stated that she has more experience being a judge than any other current member of the Supreme Court when they were nominated.

Her nomination will surely bring an attempted firestorm from the right, mainly because she is more on the side of women's rights than overturning Roe vs. Wade. Be prepared to hear the words "liberal" and/or "activist" about a thousand times over the next couple of months. As long as a judge issues a decision that a right winger disagrees with, the judge falls into those categories. They fail to see that the court system also provides a check against majority rule, if that majority is overstepping its bounds or attempting to limit constitutional rights.

And in yet another blunder by the GOP, the RNC has accidently released their talking points about nominee Sotomayor. Be prepared to hear these same points over and over and over again until she is confirmed. Most of the time, it will probably be verbatim. From the Hill's website:

Whoops. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has apparently inadvertently released its list of talking points on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Included on the released list were a few hundred influential Republicans who were the intended recipients of the talking points. Unfortunately for the RNC, so were members of the media.

Here are the talking points:

o President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is an important decision that will have an impact on the United States long after his administration.

o Republicans are committed to a fair confirmation process and will reserve judgment until more is known about Judge Sotomayor's legal views, judicial record and qualifications.

o Until we have a full view of the facts and comprehensive understanding of Judge Sotomayor's record, Republicans will avoid partisanship and knee-jerk judgments - which is in stark contrast to how the Democrats responded to the Judge Roberts and Alito nominations.

o To be clear, Republicans do not view this nomination without concern. Judge Sotomayor has received praise and high ratings from liberal special interest groups. Judge Sotomayor has also said that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

o Republicans believe that the confirmation process is the most responsible way to learn more about her views on a number of important issues.

o The confirmation process will help Republicans, and all Americans, understand more about judge Sotomayor's thoughts on the importance of the Supreme Court's fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law.

o Republicans are the minority party, but our belief that judges should interpret rather than make law is shared by a majority of Americans.

o Republicans look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor's legal views and to determining whether her views reflect the values of mainstream America.

President Obama on Judicial Nominees

o Liberal ideology, not legal qualification, is likely to guide the president's choice of judicial nominees.

o Obama has said his criterion for nominating judges would be their "heart" and "empathy."

o Obama said he believes Supreme Court justices should understand the Court's role "to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process."

o Obama has declared: "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old-and that's the criterion by which I'll be selecting my judges."

Additional Talking Points

o Justice Souter's retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critical fifth vote for:

o Further eroding the rights of the unborn and property owners;

o Imposing a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage;

o Stripping "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and completely secularizing the public square;

o Abolishing the death penalty;

o Judicial micromanagement of the government's war powers

Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:41:00 +0000

This is not political, but the Dave Matthews Band released the first single off their new CD (Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King) last month. I really like the song, and if you actually listen to the lyrics, it is a pretty meaningful song.

Check it out:

Governor Parkinson Restores Planned Parenthood Funding

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:26:00 +0000

After the state legislature voted to take state dollars that would have gone to Planned Parenthood to provide family planning and safe sex education services away, the only hope was for Governor Parkinson to line-item veto the "Huelskamp" amendment.

And today he did just that. The Governor correctly realized that taking this money away from Planned Parenthood would actually create more unwanted pregnancies because women who would have had to opportunity to learn about safe sex might have missed it and not realize the necessity of it.

Also, this amendment did not cut funding to help alleviate the budget deficit. It only shifted the money that would have gone to Planned Parenthood to other state operated health care facilities. It really did not have any place in the debate about how to reconcile the budget problem.

Below is the article from 49 News in Topeka:

Governor Parkinson acts to restore Planned Parenthood funds
Story by The Associated Press

11:23 a.m. Friday, May 22, 2009

Gov. Mark Parkinson has restored moved to restore funding for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

It was the governor's first chance to weigh in on the abortion issue.

Parkinson on Thursday restored $250,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood by using his line-item veto power. He removed language from a budget-balancing bill cutting the funding.

Abortion opponents had backed the provision. Planned Parenthood performs abortions at its clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb, but says no state funds it receives go toward the procedures.

Finney County, Kansas

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:31:00 +0000

CNN, you know the "Communist News Network" (ooh scary), did a piece on Finney County in Kansas and how whites are no longer the majority there. It was a pretty interesting piece, it is posted below. I just had to point out that I know this would bother many of my co-workers, because they are afraid of that much diversity.

While none of them (at least I hope none of them) would come out directly and say they think it is bad that white people are becoming a lower percentage of the population, I know that inside they would think so. I understand the thought of that much change can be scary, especially if you do not know much about other cultures. But what we need to realize is that we are all better off with more diversity. It creates more ideas, expands our knowledge, helps to debunk stereotypes, and shows us that just because others may be different, does not mean they are bad.

FINNEY COUNTY, Kansas (CNN) -- U.S. communities are changing complexion as ethnic diversity grows in the American heartland.

Teacher Penny Cruz plays Go Fish with kindergartners while teaching them to speak English.

1 of 3 Though not new in California, Arizona, Texas or Florida, the change of demographics is a bit more surprising in southwest Kansas.

Finney County, Kansas, is one of six counties across the nation that became majority-minority between 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau recently announced. The agency defines majority-minority as a county where more than half the population is made up of a group that is not single-race, non-Hispanic white.

Nearly 10 percent (309) of the nation's 3,142 counties were majority-minority as of July 1, 2008.

"Why there?" people ask Tim Cruz, former mayor of Garden City, Kansas, the largest town in Finney County. And then, "How do you all get along?"

"It's just another melting pot you know," Cruz says. "It makes it nice to have those different cultures. And sure they're different -- we have to understand what they celebrate and why they do it."

In the last couple of decades, massive meatpacking plants in Garden City have drawn workers from Southeast Asia and Somalia.

You can smell the major industry of Garden City before you actually reach it and the stockyards that feed the meatpacking plants have their own unmistakable odor.

After high school, Cruz worked one year in the meatpacking plant and that one year was enough for him. But he says Somalis, and many southeast Asians come to the area for the steady work, and a steady paycheck -- even if the work is tough.

"Very dangerous, long hours," he says. "I am grateful that they do that work. Now, I know why my dad said stay in school, you know."

At the Alta Brown Elementary School, the native language of about half of the 409 students is something other than English.

Cruz's wife of 26 years, Penny Cruz, teaches English as a second language there. In one class, she leads four kids in a card game of "Go Fish" to help them grasp their new language. Five-year-old Robert is from Burma and has only been in the country a few months. His grasp of English at this stage is mostly mimicry. If the teacher says, "Robert," he'll smile broadly and repeat his name.

Penny Cruz says the town is getting more and more diverse, adding, "I think we all blend together and get along. There are ups and downs but for the most part I think we're all pretty accepting of whoever comes into our community and into our classrooms."

But not all of Finney County's some 41,000 residents are thrilled by the increasing cultural diversity.

The day before public schools let out for the summer, teenagers of all colors were skateboarding, tossing a football, and kicking around a ball in Finney Park. Teacher Linda Turner admits while she's cooking hamburgers for the kids that she's heard some complaints about the area's newest residents.

"There were always whispers," she says. "Out at Wal-Mart you hear, 'Oh, look at how they're dressed ... wonder where they're from, what they're doing here?' Especially if they weren't speaking English."

But much of the United States is looking more like Garden City. New census figures show more than one-third of the people in the United States are non-white and a staggering 47 percent of the population under the age of 5 are a minority.

The latest census figures show four states as majority-minority in 2008: Hawaii (75 percent), New Mexico (58 percent), California (58 percent) and Texas (53 percent). The District of Columbia was 67 percent minority. No other state had more than a 43 percent minority population.

For more than 100 years, Hispanics have lived in Finney County. Tim Cruz's grandmother moved to Garden City in 1910. He doesn't remember the name of the Mexican town she left, but does remember that she instilled a good work ethic in him as a young child.

"She was always a hard worker, " Cruz says, "very dedicated to her work and their church. That's what I remember about my Grandma."

He also remembers as a boy being told, "Don't speak Spanish, you're in America, speak English." And now, despite trying to learn on many different occasions, Tim Cruz can't speak Spanish.

This Midwest enclave, home to hamburgers and hot dogs, is giving way to Vietnamese pho, or Mexican tacos.

Police Chief James Hawkins admits communication with some residents can be a problem for his officers. Hawkins, a 25-year veteran of the force, has nine Hispanic officers on a staff of 58. Not enough he says, but he's trying to add more diversity.

"I have an officer who achieved citizenship about five years ago," the chief says. "He came from deep down in Mexico, and said that's all he ever wanted to do is be a police officer. When he came to the United States, he learned English and has been going to school. That's what he wanted to do, become a police officer, but you have to be a citizen to do that."

For many immigrant residents, life in Kansas, even working at the meatpacking plants, is much better than where they came from. But Cruz wants the immigrants to know, in his words, that "the American dream is much greater."

"We catch them trying to tell their kids they don't need to go to college because this is a good life," Cruz says. "We have to help educate them saying, 'No, there is even a better life than doing this and your kids can get to do that.' "

Cruz seems most pleased that his sleepy small town, is just that, and not rife with racial and ethnic tension and violence.

"I have no magic words. I would just say open arms to people that come in your community because they might be the person that's going to help you when you have times of struggle," Cruz says.

"We're all here for one reason, and someday we'll be gone, and you know, what kind of mark are you going to leave -- good mark, or a bad mark. There are a lot of good people, just try to be a good person."

Gitmo Detainees, Again

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:26:00 +0000

John Stewart on the closing of Guantanamo Bay and what to do with the detainees (via Kansas Jackass). Watch the video and see how Sen. Pat Roberts looks like an idiot...again...like everyone else who is opposing this.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Guantanamo Baywatch - The Final Season

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

This is getting to be one of the dumbest things people are arguing anymore. If you want to make a case about not bringing detainees to certain prisons because they are overcrowded, or you don't have the personnel to handle anymore prisoners, fine. But the argument is just people being scared of having the detainees in a prison in their state.

They are going to be in PRISON. Not in your neighborhood shopping at your local Wal-Mart. I am so sick of the ridiculous fear mongering that the GOP continues to pursue. Like I have said before, there are already SEVERAL terrorists that are in prisons throughout the U.S. and those prisons are handling it just fine.

Let some of the detainees go to Ft. Leavenworth. My wife works in that city, and I am ok with it, and I love her more than anything. Don't tell me she is any less safe because their are prisoners from Guantanamo Bay there instead of just the other really bad people imprisoned in the federal penitentiary or the state penitentiary in Lansing right next door.

Sheesh.

Cheney is a Dick

zknight03@gmail.com (Hawkrew) — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has taken it upon himself to attempt to make the last eight years not seem like a disaster. And in typical Bush/Cheney fashion, he is doing a horrible job at it. Cheney has been on almost every major channel pleading that the Bush administration kept the United States safe for the past eight years (save one major slip-up, but he fails to recognize this).

He is repeatedly trying to justify torturing detainees and convince people that the end justifies the means, even though we didn't actually get any valuable information from any detainee after we began "harsh interrogations." All the information we did receive that was useful came from legal tactics accepted by U.S. law and the international community.

But the idiots that were in charge from 2001-2009 do not care about accuracy. All they care about is misleading the American public into thinking they did us a favor and kept the United States from being attacked similar to, or worse than, 9/11. Unfortunately there are still people that think it is the case, they believe what the former VP says and think that torture is necessary if it protects Americans.

The fallacy here is that they don't realize that torture actually doesn't protect Americans, it makes us LESS safe. Not only are we losing our ideals and what this great country stands for, but we are losing significant standing in the eyes of the rest of the world. We are losing our allies' respect. And even worse, we are actually CREATING more terrorists and giving terrorist organizations recruiting material to bring in more. Detaining people forever without as much as a criminal charge is not only unethical, it is un-American. And to anyone who is all about being patriotic nowadays, this should be a cause for concern.

Do those people realize that the United States only represents 4% of the world's population? Do they realize that if we pissed off enough people by doing whatever the hell we want with zero regard for the rest of the world, they could destroy us? No matter how strong our military is or sophisticated our weapons are, if 6.5 billion people decided we weren't doing any good for anyone anymore, there is nothing we could do about it.

And a true patriotic person would actually want the U.S. to be a leader in this world, not a country that is on the same level as terrorist organizations. We should be setting the example for how to treat people, not creating the situation that called for an example to be set.

Cheney, and other GOP talking heads, just don't get it. They didn't keep us safe. We lost 3,000 Americans on U.S. soil under their leadership. Thousands of American soldiers, Iraqi civilians, and coalition forces have died because they mismanaged TWO wars. They gave glorious, no-bid contracts to their friends, and then gave them more money when those contractors did such a bad job of setting up bases for our soldiers that members of our military have DIED by being electrocuted while they showered! KBR & Halliburton should be ALL OVER the news, especially in a 24/7 news environment we have today, but the extreme negligence is just getting pushed aside.

Our country is not as safe as it was in 2000. There are more people that despise America more than ever throughout the world. We are no longer the world leader in human rights that we used to be. We don't have much political clout anymore with other countries. The last eight years probably did more damage to our standing and reputation in the world than the previous 225 years of our existence combined. The U.S. was the example until the election in 2000, and now we are the example of what not to do. It is going to take a lot of work by President Obama to repair the damage done by Bush & Cheney.

"Kickin' ass & taking names" is the way you operate in a bar fight. Not as the only world superpower. We have to get passed all these negative perceptions now, and we do that by showing our black eye to everyone. Not hiding anything anymore unless, obviously, it has to do with ACTUAL national security, not hiding people's mistakes. That means closing Guantanamo Bay, it means releasing ALL torture memos, photographs, or "Should we torture, yes or no?" notes passed around the Bush administrations little get togethers.

It also means admitting we were wrong, which we were. We were wrong to torture. We were wrong to detain people and not charge them. We were wrong for scratching Habeas Corpus. We were wrong to pissing on the U.S. Constitution. We were wrong for abandoning Afghanistan for seven years. And we were wrong for going into Iraq.

We need to charge & prosecute the detainees. We need to move them to perfectly safe U.S. military or federal prisons. We need to release those that are not found guilty. We need to focus our military efforts on Afghanistan & Iraq, and we need to do so by almost begging our allies for support. We need to work on the economy that deregulation has destroyed, we need to pray that the trillion dollar stimulus package works to revamp said economy. We need to realize that GOP fear-mongering has been exposed to what it really is: A bunch of crap. We need to support our President, and challenge him when we think he is wrong. We need to provide health care for ALL Americans. We need to realize that it shouldn't matter if people are gay, they still are American, and they deserve the same rights as everyone else.

Actually, we need to do a lot of praying, for a lot of reasons.