Frontier Politics 4 US

Sarah Palin Resigns as Governor of Alaska

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:37:00 +0000

What a surprise! Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, has recently made an announcement to resign as a governor. The resignation caught Americans off guard and sparkled new debate among the critics on Palin's resignation.

Here are some of reasons for Sarah Palin's resignation:

To Avoid Becoming As A Lame-Duck Governor - Sarah Palin's approval rate and image as a strong governor has been severely damaged during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Now, there are many critics stating that Sarah Palin diminished the chance for John McCain to win the Election. Hence, because of poor public image, Palin found herself difficult to govern the state.

To Protect Her Family - Again, Palin's downfall in campaign became media's theme for a political satire. Unfortunately for Sarah Palin, her unmarried daughter became pregnant. The incident also turned into embarrassment, and turned into a topic for a satire. Recently, Letterman accidentally made a joke on Palin's younger daughter, assuming that it was the pregnant one. Palin has national attention to the point where her family itself is becoming a topic for a satire.

Preparing for 2012 Presidential Election - Palin never stated that she wouldn't run for the presidential campaign for 2012. Back in the day, Ronald Reagan disappeared from public appearance for a while to travel around the country to learn more about diversity of culture and issue. The travel ultimately helped Reagan to win the election because he had personal ties with many counties. Hence, there is a suspicion that Palin is conducting the same strategy.

For any reason, Sarah Palin will have a break from public media. Many American has negative image of Sarah Palin, but we all know that she is not a quitter.

I can hear Palin saying, "I'll be back"

What if North Korea Launches Missile Toward Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:25:00 +0000

There was an announcement that North Korea might launches nuclear missile toward Hawaii. The rumor is not confirmed, but the United States spy satellites will probably validates whether North Korea is planning another missile launch or not.

If North Korea launches it's missile toward Hawaii, there are several scenario.

Missile launch fails - This is probably the best outcome for UN and the United States. The UN still has to punish North Korea for violating UN resolution again.

Missile launches successfully, but misses Hawaii - No one gets killed, but people in the United States will most likely show anger towards North Korea. However, the United States will most likely not declare the war against North Korea.

Missile launches and hit Hawaii - With U.S. technology, the missile will be shot down, but the United States will most likely enter the war against North Korea despite the fact that China will most likely support North Korea.

Missile launch never happens - Like this would ever happen.

This sounds bad for many of us, but diplomacy will most likely fail. Even if diplomacy works, it only means that the war has been postponed just like how Henry Clay postponed American Civil by compromising.

Funny Video That I found on YouTube:

Related Posts:

Hillary Clinton Fractures Elbow | Obama Kills Fly

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:57:00 +0000

Well, I guess American public needs some comedy in politics.

Yes, American Secretary of States, Hillary Clinton has fractured her elbow by falling in State's Department Garage.

Meanwhile, President Obama killed an innocent fly.

North Korea Detained Two American Journalists

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Recently, two American journalists got detained by North Korea's border patrols for trespassing into North Korea.

According to North Korea, these two journalists have attempted to illegally film the poor living condition of people in North Korea. After the journalists got detained, the patrols have found out that the film was apparently planned to be used for smear campaign against North Korean government. If the claim from North Korea is true, then the world has all the right to criticize these American journalists.

The standard of living in North Korea is indeed low since the government prioritizes their spending on military rather than for it's people, and the world should be more informed about the humanitarian issues in North Korea. However, that is not a good justification to enter this dangerous terrain to "help" the people in North Korea since the world's relationship with North Korea is extremely unstable. Hence, no one should take the tension with North Korea lightly.

Instead of helping out the world, these journalists have put the entire world into risk because North Korea can now dare the United States and the rest of the U.N. to attack North Korea in exchange of the life of these two journalists. In other words, North Korea can conducts more test with weapons because they have those two journalists.

Someone clearly needs to learn that breaking laws in North Korea is different from breaking them at the United States.

This post is based on what general population knows so far. The world cannot rule out that North Korea has kidnapped these two American journalists.

Possible Outcome with North Korea:

Allows possession of nuclear weapons in exchange for releasing the journalists - This will most likely not happen since it will put the entire world into bigger danger

War with North Korea - This sounds like easy option for U.S., but people should never forget that China covers North Korea's back.

Peaceful diplomacy with North Korea - Best outcome, but like that would ever happen.

Why Abortion and Gay Rights Debates Last Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:04:00 +0000

The social issue such as abortion and gay marriage have existed for a while in America. Some people argue that the issues exist because of different political belief in the term of Conservatism and Liberalism. The team play that exists within American political party is troublesome; yet, that is the political system that American Founding Fathers have envisioned.

Even though the general Americans are educated with American political system, many people lack the knowledge on our criminal justice system. There are two main model: conflicting model and consensus model. Each system is defined as following,

Conflicting Model - System conflict theory argues that worries over fame, promotions, wages, and success cause the criminal justice system to conflict with itself.

Consensus Model - the organizations of a criminal justice system either do, or should, work cooperatively to produce justice, as opposed to competitively.

American government is based on conflicting model, which is why the debates on gay marriage and abortion still exists today. However, the mentality of Americans are working in the sense of consensus model. Which means American are unintentionally believing in consensus model to solve social issues in conflicting model justice system.

In the case of abortion, conservatives believe liberals to cooperate with them on abortion issue and accept that all life are sacred. On other hand, the liberals believe conservatives should accept no one should not impose one belief to other.

Obviously, there are more into this issue. But the point is, whether if the government is going by consensus model or conflict model, compromise is essential political action that everyone tends to forget. Instead of compromising, the general American public is constantly attacking each other. The proof of uncompromising action can be found anywhere today, especially with words. Here are the lists of some offensive words by pro and anti- gay marriage.

Anti -Gay Marriage toward Pro-Gay:

Unamerican (used by conservatives on almost every issue)
Anti-Christ
Faggot

Pro-Gay Marriage toward Anti-Gay:

Zealot
Bigot
Hater

I listed only three words from many that the activists from each side uses. Realistically, both side would not win the battle with this kind of attitude.

America is definitely heading toward equality for gay couples, and that would be historical. However, it will keep America divided on the issue.

This might be destiny of America.

Other Related Posts on Gay Marriage:

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Gay Right Activists Won New Hampshire Battle

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:03:00 +0000

Alright, before I start, I decided to completely abandon news paper summary since you guys can just click the link to read the actual source. I am definitely testing out many blogging strategy. If any of you have any suggestion, feel free to tell me.

The gay marriage bill has passed got signed earlier than I have expected. After Vermont legalized the gay marriage bill, my prediction was that New York will legalize gay marriage before New Hampshire. Obviously, I was wrong.

Now, there are total of 6 states that have legalized gay marriage:

Massachusetts
Connecticut
Iowa
Vermont
Maine
New Hampshire

Knowing how gay-right activists are concentrating their campaign on New England area, the next state to legalize gay marriage is most likely to be New York after the current governor leave the office.

At the Western front, the gay right activists lost the battle against Prop 8, and the California Supreme Court has recently upheld the ban on gay marriage.

However, according to my observation, these following states will be the next battle ground in the West:

Oregon
Washington
Nevada (For Economic Reason)
California (to overturn Prop 8)

Nevada gains substantial amounts of revenue from drive through marriage and so on. It makes sense for Nevada government to legalize gay marriage, especially since gay marriage isn't exactly secure at any states.

source: nytimes

Other Related Posts on Gay Marriage:

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Did Our Government "Accidentally" Leaked The List of Nuclear Site?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Yesterday, the U.S. government had accidentally published the list of U.S. nuclear site on Internet. The cause of publication of nuclear site is still unknown; however, President Obama and other officials stated that America is still safe because the information were generally known to public already.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/03nuke.html?_r=1&hpw

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Taka Laka:

Do you trust this article?

I have sited my sources in all of my posts, but they are the articles those were written by other people. Hence, the information can be falsified.

U.S. government knows how much medias affect people's mind. If they intend to cause panic in public, they would make a headline news like swine flu. Only after a day, everyone around us made a big deal about swine flu.

On other hand, no one like to hear a word "nuclear" because it causes fears.

So what if the information on nuclear sites were indeed classified instead of unclassified? After all, what kind of leaders want to panic their own people?

The potential of public panic on nuclear fear is immense. It can cause the U.S. economy and social orders to be dysfunctional. So it would be unwise for the government to tell us that the leaked information on nuclear sites were "classified" or "dangerous". But on other hand, is it right for government to lie for sake of Americans, if the the list of nuclear sites has potential to harm Americans?

Again, is this article stating it's truth? Are any articles stating the truth? Is government manipulating our minds?

Abortion Doctor Shot and Killed at Kansas Church

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:09:00 +0000

George Tiller, one of the only few late-term abortion abortion doctors got shot and killed while he was at his Kansas church.

Even in the past, Tiller's life was threatened by pro-life protesters. Hence, he had bodyguard with him whenever he goes out to public, except when he went to church.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=abortion&st=cse

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Comment By Taka Laka:

I searched through many forums to see other people's opinions on this incident. If I make everything simple, conservatives said, "he deserved it", while the liberals said, "he got murdered by a religious zealot".

The debate on abortion is too subjective; hence, it will never end. I don't understand why people are still debate on the abortion issue when it is obviously not leading to anywhere. Both pro-choice and pro-life is correct. Life is sacred and people should have right to choose. There are exception to everything, and abortion is one of them.

Let's say a woman who has been pregnant for 8months get medical problem where a child bearing becomes life-threatening, or fetus was dead in first place. Even worse, if 12 years old girl get raped and become pregnant, her underdeveloped hips will most likely kill her while fetus grows inside her uterus.

On other hand, there are people out there who get abortion all the time despite the fact that they have an options to have birth control. So there is an argument that question people's moral value.

People's opinion will vary. The debate on whether abortion should be legal or not should be abandoned completely. Think about it, people really want to "save life", illegalizing abortion is not the solution. Instead of lowering the abortion rate, it will only criminalize the one who perform abortion WITHOUT lowering the actual abortion rate. In addition, performing self-abortion is very easy. Hence, pro-life position to ban abortion to save life is unrealistic. On other hand, pro-choice position to state, "fetus is not a human" is also inhumane.

For these reasons, the better solution to this problem is to actually lower the abortion rate itself through government or church funded program, and make birth control widely available for everyone. That way, the rate of unexpected pregnancy will be much lower; hence, the rate of abortion will go down too.

This is still a challenging task, but that is more realistic approach to solve this problem. If abortion rate is near zero, no one will complain right?

Cheney On Gay Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:57:00 +0000

The Former Vice President Dick Cheney stated on the conference that he supports gay marriage, but the issue should be decided by the state governments, not the federal government.

Dick Cheney is one of the prominent conservatives out there, but her daughter is a lesbian.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_on_re_us/us_cheney

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Democrats To Face Series of Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Even during the Bush Administration, the Democratic controlled Congress had lower approval rating than the former President Bush. Now after President Obama has campaigned for series of promise during the General Election, the Congress expects busy summer this year to improve American people's life.

The upcoming challenges are health care reform, immigration policy, the two wars, Sotomayor's nomination, and the financial crisis.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/politics/01cong.html?hpw

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Comment By Taka Laka:

Before I start my commenting, I would like to tell you guys that I've cut my news summary short because I figured that you guy don't want read the summary when there is actual source.

Anyway, I think the House Democrats will succeed in passing many bills over this summer. Strategically, the Democrats only have convince their follow colleague to pass any bills, and the House Democratic Senates only have too convince one or two Republicans to pass the bills.

However, just because they passed the bill doesn't mean President Obama's promises to the fellow Americans are fulfilled. The point is, no one knows if the Democrat's plan to improve American life would actually succeed. Despite whether they fail or not, President Obama will most likely maintain his popularity among Americans, especially the Democrats.

Here are some of my views on issues.

Sotomayor: I was very skeptical about her personality, but I will trust my instinct that she will not judge in the court based on her own personal belief, ethnicity, and religious background.

Previous posts on Sotomayor:
Obama Nominates Sotomayor As Supreme Court's Justice
Sotomayor Expects Opposition
Abortion Right Activists Finds Sotomayor Suspicious
Republicans Attack Sotomayor on Race

Healthcare Reform: I am in middle ground for this proposal. The proposal will raise Americans standard of living, and so on. But it has it's own downside. Anyway, I would have totally went for the Universal Healthcare back in the year 2000 when our economy was a lot stronger. But this shouldn't be the main issue when the global economy is falling apart. Yes, it is terrible that we can't help everyone in healthcare, but when economy is down, everyone has to make their own sacrifice.

Immigration Policy: There is definitely some unfairness in my opinion, but I believe these millions of illegal immigrants should receive the U.S. citizenship. For it's exchange, the government should tighten the border security to lower the rate of illegal immigrations. By giving the illegal immigrants their legal status as the U.S. citizens, the states that articulating with Mexican border will benefits because these people have to pay taxes in order to stay in America. After all, many tax payers are getting ripped off because they are paying for school fees for these immigrants who are not paying their taxes. But, if the government gives out the citizenship, the government will most likely have to deal with welfare reform since many of these illegal immigrants will most likely qualify for welfare. Which is not good for our economy.

The Two Wars: I opposed the U.S. invasion to Iraq, but I am in middle ground for Afghan War. The Arts of War, written by Sun Tzu specifically states that long war should be avoided because it will most likely strain it's own economy. Irony into this statement is that the U.S. economy is heavily based on wars since the World War II. So U.S. is constantly strengthening and weakening it's own economy. Either way, U.S. needs to work on gaining the international support that Bush Administration has ignored. Otherwise, we will be in this war for a long time.

Related Post to the Wars:
Alliance Formed In Middle East
North Korea Conducts Nuclear Test

Financial Crisis: There are too many elements in this issue to cover in this post. So I will most likely write a post, specifically for financial crisis.

Related Post to Financial Crisis:
Schwarzenegger Cuts Billions of Dollars in Spending

Schwarzenegger Cuts Billions of Dollars In Spending

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

“the people have spoken”

Sounds familiar? On May 19th, California held the Special Election on how the California government should mandate its budget problems. Before the election, and even right now, California is expecting 20billion dollars budget shortfall. Governor Schwarzenegger warned California that he would cut billions of dollars in public spending if California voters don't pass the budget propositions.

Now, after only one out of 6 propositions has passed, Governor Schwarzenegger began to cut California's public spending. The cuts will hit the hardest in public schools, poor children and disabled people of California, and California state workers. The total cut of spending is estimated to be around 2 billion dollars.

If all the propositions have passed, the shortfall would have been estimated to be around 15 billion dollars instead of 20billion dollars. Even though there would have been a large budget shortfall, it would have been better than nothing.

But again, the people of California has decided to not pass the propositions.
“the people have spoken”

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/us/31calif.html?hp

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Comment By Taka Laka:

Alright, even though I am a liberal resident of California, and I personally approve Governor Schwarzenegger. Whether you are Democrats or Republicans, the budget cuts are unavoidable.

Other Californian might argue that California should raise its tax rates instead of cutting public funds. If that is an argument, why didn't people vote "yes" on every propositions during the Special Election? One of the prop specifically stated that it will extends the temporary tax hike in California for additional two years.

Only suggestion that I have for Governor Schwarzenegger is to actually look into how each program is using its money. Currently, major portion of California budget is going toward the education. The education program is definitely important; however, the government should look into how the money is spent in public schools. Only required materials for public school is books, teachers, and some administrators. Currently, our school is spending millions of dollars towards junk like LCD monitors for what god knows, digital school board display, random ugly statue, and etc. Most of these stuffs costs millions of dollars of tax payers money. For this reason, if there are 1,000 schools spending millions dollars on craps, the total will add up to billions.

California has Silicon Valley and Hollywood. This budget shortfall shouldn't be this bad.

Republicans Attack Sotomayor On Race

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:55:00 +0000

The Republicans have begun their attack on Sotomayor in attempt to block her nomination for U.S. Supreme Court Justice. They try to convince the American public that the race or ethnicity should not be part of the process for nomination.

A Texas Republican, Senator John Cornyn argued that,

“The American ideal is that justice should be colorblind...” -John Cornyn

“As we see people like Barack Obama achieve the highest office in the land and Judge Sotomayor’s own nomination to the highest court, I think it is harder and harder to see the justifications for race-conscious decisions across the board.” - John Cornyn

In other words, the Senator is persuading the American people that the judicial nomination is different from the General Election. The race may be part of criteria for executive and legislative branch; however, the race should not be Judicial branch since the judge must be bias free toward any races.

Republicans are also concerned about the Sotomayor's long record as a liberal activist. But they haven't argued about that point yet.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/us/politics/30affirm.html?hp

previous posts on Sotomayor:

Obama Nominates Sotomayor
Sotomayor Expects Opposition
Abortion Right Activists Skeptical of Sotomayor

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Comment By Taka Laka:

Again and again, why are Republicans attacking Sotomayor based on her race? They are right that the Supreme Court Justice shouldn't be voted based on race, but their attack strategy means nothing in politics. For this reason, Republicans are only assuring the public who already opposes Sotomayor nomination.

Meanwhile, their arguments are doing nothing to persuading the supporters of Sotomayor's nomination. In fact, the Republicans arguments will be questioned by its opponent because majority of American History shows that the Supreme Court Justice was biased towards the other race, and most of them were Whites. Hence, the arguments make the Republicans a hypocrite in the general public eyes.

Yes, the actions from the past shouldn't be used as arguments because the world is different now. But in general, the Americans will look into the past and they will be persuaded by it.

Like I have been saying, the Republicans need to move away from their old political strategy. Well, I don't want them to use the dirty strategy that they have been using in the last 2 General Elections.

Anyway, after looking into her judicial records, I believe Sotomayor is qualified as Supreme Court Justice. I am still little skeptical about her, but her overall records are fairly strong. After all, someone has to balance out Justice Robert.

Abortion Right Activists Annoyed By Sotomayor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:13:00 +0000

Judge Sotomayor has received skepticism from liberal activists days after President Barack Obama nominated her for U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The skepticism toward Sotomayor grew from her judicial records toward abortion rights. According to the activists, there are numbers of court cases where Sotomayor took stand against abortions. Hence, the activists are worried about whether the decision of Roe vs Wade will be upheld or not.

In addition, the evidence of Sotomayor's stance against abortion can be drawn from her criticism toward China enhancing forced abortion for population control. Furthermore, the skepticism grew from her cultural background too since Latinos are largest anti-abortion group in Democratic Party.

However, some Conservatives and Republicans disagree with the activists since even the most radical feminists can oppose forced abortion. Also, the public needs to be aware about the possibility of her being "stealth judge", where Judge Souter was one of them. Judge Souter, who was appointed by the first George W. Bush, believed to be Conservatives who opposed abortion. However, Souter became a swing voter who upheld Roe vs Wade landmark decision. Hence, Sotomayor might be in same category.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hpw

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Comment by Taka Laka:

I will admit, I thought Sotomayor will not face any major opposition except from Republican Party, but I was wrong. I probably should have been skeptical toward Sotomayor during my first post about Sotomayor's nomination after she said.

“our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions.” - Sotomayor

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” - Sotomayor

Now, just read Sotomayor's quotes, there are possibility that she has her own bias towards some issue, especially the social issues like abortion and gay marriage.

However, we also have to keep in mind that Sotomayor is not campaigning for the General Election. Sotomayor was nominated to become Supreme Court Justice. For this reason, Sotomayor might have been showing off her personality aside from her professional life as a judge. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Sotomayor doesn't know any political strategy on what people can say on media.

For President Obama, like I said in previous posts on Sotomayor, I am certainly unsure on why he chose Sotomayor as a nominee. If Sotomayor is indeed, against abortion, there are high chance that some Senators from Democratic Party will side with Republicans. Which means if Sotomayor's nomination get blocked by the Senates, the vote will hurt the Democrats in the next election since they might lose Latinos support. For this reason, again, I am not sure whether President Obama nominated Sotomayor to gain support from Latinos and make it historical, or he actually made a decision through series of interviews.

Boies and Olson Challenge Prop 8

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:26:00 +0000

A day after California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8, David Boies and Theodore B. Olson, two prominent lawyers that fought against each other during Bush vs Gore 2000 General Election. Boies represented Al Gore, and Olson represented George Bush. Even though these individuals disagreed in many issues, Boies and Olson agreed that Prop 8 was unconstitutional.

Olson stated,

"[gay marriage] is not something that is a partisan issue. This is something that is a civil rights issue.” (nytimes.com)

In other words, the opposition to Prop 8 is not about being conservative or liberal. Overturning the Prop 8 is about giving equality to same-sex couples, and equality is fundamental rights for every citizen given by the American constitution.

Hence, Olson and Boies filed the lawsuit at Federal Court on behalf of this one same-sex couple. Neither Olson or Boies had personal connection to same-sex couples. However, both individuals were emotionally moved by the story of same-sex couple who are not able to get married after California has passed Prop 8. Reacting to the story, Olson stated,

“If you look into the eyes and hearts of people who are gay and talk to them about this issue, that reinforces in the most powerful way possible the fact that these individuals deserve to be treated equally,” (nytimes.com)

For this reason, Olson and Boies is planning to bring the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Many gay right activists might be thrilled by Olson and Boies intervention, but some are rather annoyed mostly because of the timing of the lawsuits. Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is leaning toward Conservative. Therefore, there is a high chance that Supreme Court might ban same-sex marriage across the America.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/28marriage.html?hp

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Comment By Taka Laka:
This news was totally a surprise to me. As I stated before on article about California Court upholding ban on gay marriage, the best way to overturn Prop 8 is to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. But I did not expect the movement to happen this quickly. As a supporter for a same-sex marriage, I will hope the best for Boies and Olson.

But like the campaign strategist for same-sex marriage stated, the timing of the lawsuit is concerning me too. If the issue goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if Boies and Olson loses the case, it will take decades for the activists to undo all the changes.

Either way, we will probably witness the nation wide battle for the same-sex marriage earlier than we have expected.

Sotomayor Expects Opposition To Her Nomination

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Just as expected, Judge Sotomayor will face political opposition from Republican Party.

Yesterday, Sotomayor got nominated by President Barack Obama to become first latina Supreme Court's Justice. Most of the Democrats and some Republicans were thrilled with her nomination. However, the good portion of Republican Party opposes her nomination because they claim that Sotomayor is a liberal activist who is pushing for a liberal agenda. Also, her political views on abortion and gun laws are major concerns for those who oppose her nomination.

For the next few days, the opponents to Sotomayor's nomination will search for any dispute records that she has to prevent the nomination. So far, the opponent can point out her "reverse racism" attitude where she might be biased toward whites. The one incident is when Sotomayor struck down white firefighter's claim of reverse discrimination. No one knows the detail of the ruling yet, but some finds the ruling to be awkward. In addition, they will try to find any information regarding to her tax records or any federal dispute.

Even if Republican shows efforts to stop the nomination, they are still in disadvantage due to their low numbers of seating. Democrats have nearly 60 seats in Senates where Republicans have about 40. Hence, there is a high chance that Sotomayor may win the nomination without the Republican's support. Even among the Republicans, some supports the nomination of Sotomayor. For this reason, the opponents have to convince it fellow Republicans first.

On other hand, the supporters of Sotomayor's nomination is keeping quite so she will maintain her spotlight in media.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28web-court.html?hp

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Taka Laka's Comment:
I am not surprised by the opposition, but seriously, the Republicans need to come up with better strategy to win the support. Yes, searching for her tax record may help to hurt her image as a justice, but it barely means anything. This is not a general election where politicians need to convince general populations through political propaganda or false ads. Only possible way to block her nomination is to convince the Democratic Senators.

Also, I read the article that said Republicans will bring full out opposition to Sotomayor. First of all, what kind of strategists will go head to head against with the opponents with advantage in numbers and supports? In fact, their opposition may well hurt the chance to win the upcoming General Election because the latinos will have an impression that Republicans doesn't like them. President Obama can just state that he nominated the first latina Supreme Court's Justice. Even worse, if the Republicans loses the battle, they have will have an impression of weak party.

I repetitively stated that Republican Party needs to change their political approach and strategy.

California Supreme Court Upheld Prop 8

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:08:00 +0000

It's been almost half a year since the gay right activists filed a lawsuit against Proposition 8 after the proposition passed with majority votes.

Today, California Supreme Courts upheld the ban on gay marriage stating that same-sex couples still have voter approved domestic partnerships that allows them to have equal rights as heterosexual couples. But the courts allows the married couple before initiative taken in are allowed to keep their marital status since the Proposition did not state anything about repealing the married status. The decision was made with 6-1 voters in the court. However, the decision did not end the political battle.

There was immediate reactions to the court's decision. The supporters of gay marriage rallied and marched across San Francisco streets to protest the courts decision. During the rally, some protesters got arrested by police for blocking the streets. However, compare to many rallies, this protests were rather clam since many people were probably expected the court to not overturn the Proposition.

On other hand, the supporter of Prop 8 was thrilled with the courts decision because the California's marriage is now "protected".

According to many critics, this proposition will be hard to overturn, but the opposition still has a chance to overturn the proposition, even though it is going to be a long shot.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/us/27marriage.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

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Taka Laka's Comment:
In the case of gay marriage, you either support or oppose it. In my case, I've been a big supporter of gay marriage. The constitution specifically states that "all man are created equal". Not all animals or aliens. In other words, everyone should be allowed to get married with a "loved one".

For the counter argument against the polygamy debates, why are we worried about polygamy when we are just broadening the definition of marriage between the loved one? "loved one", a noun, a single which means no one is allowed to have multiple partners.

However, just to be fair, the supporter of proposition has their own cases that makes sense to me. Obviously, they have their own religious belief against homosexuality and the fear of God's punishments if they allow same-sex marriage. In other word, Prop 8 was designed so the Christian community will vote "yes" on Prop 8.

If anyone should be blamed, it is probably California's legislatures for not reviewing Prop 8 thoroughly.

Obama Nomiates Sotomayor as a Supreme Court's Justice

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:04:00 +0000

For the first time in our nation's history, Hispanic judge might get appointed to the high court. After careful review, President Obama has chosen Judge Sotomayor as a Supreme Court's Justice. The President calls her qualifying and fair, and other Senates said that the diversity in the U.S. Supreme Court is important.

The nomination is indeed historical, but there will be unlikely any shift in power since the previous Jusice, Souter, because even though Souter was nominated by the first George W Bush, he was leaning more toward the Democarts.

Sotomayor grew up in comfortable household, but she also went through hardship as a child when her father died when she was 9 years old. After the death, her mother took care of her until she graduated high school. Later on, she went to Princeton University to study laws.

As expected, there were Conservatives and Republicans opposition to her nomination claiming that her judge is based on her liberal activist belief. But they have little hope to block her nomination since Democrats have near 60 seats in Senates. In addition, moderate Republican like Olympia J. Snowe of Maine is enthusiastic about Sotomayor's nomination. Hence, the Republicans also need to work on to persuade their own party member to block the nomination even before persuading the Democrats.

Sources and picture : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/us/politics/27court.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

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TAKA LAKA's Comment:
The nomination is indeed, historical; however, there is one thing that bothers me. Does President Obama choosing Sotomayor because of her qualification, or is he preparing himself for the next Presidential Election to win the Hispanic voters? Or maybe he is trying to do both at same time. Since I haven't looked into Sotomayor's background and political belief, I can't really tell if she is qualified or not, but she is definitely in bystander's position to get both Democrats and Republican's voters.

On other hand, the Republicans need to step themselves up. But they are still going with their old political tactics to attack the nominee's personal life. The last time they did that against President Obama in the General Election for his connection with William Ayers, they miserably failed. They need to realize that time has changed. With this Internet based society, people are caring less about the nominee's personal life.

This Guy Never Gets Boring

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:26:00 +0000

This is just a clip that I stumbled across.

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

Obviously some people wouldn't find this clip as funny, but at same time, this shows us how the American culture. After all, the U.S. is one of the few nations that allow people to bash each other politically to each other or to the government.

Thanks to the first Amendment.

Personally, I prefer Colbert Report or Daily Show since I am liberal.
What is your guys' favorite political shows?

North Korea Conducts Nuclear Test

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Again, North Korea has conducted another nuclear test on their land threaten to destabilize the entire North Eastern Asia. Even North Korea's biggest trading partner, China, was opposed to their idea of testing nuclear technology.

Even though North Korea claim that the test was successful, many scientists are skeptical about the claim because the size of explosion was fairly small for today's standard. Their guess is that the explosion was about same size as an atomic bomb dropped into Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They estimated the blast's size by reading the level of ground shake made by the nuclear blast. The current nuclear test is conducted underground to reduce the spill of radioactive materials.

As usual, the United Nation has set up the emergency meeting to decided whether to impose stricter sanctions against North Korea for violating the United Nation Resolution for the second time. During the Bush Administration, the United States relation with North Korea has worsened after the former President Bush named them as part of Axis of Evil. Currently, Obama Administration is attempting to begin the diplomacy with North Korea again, but so far, they see little hope that the diplomacy will succeed.

source and credit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/world/asia/26nuke.html?_r=1&hp

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TAKA LAKA's comment:
Alright, this news shouldn't surprise that many people. We hear about how North Korea is threatening the United States and the rest of the world all the time. The nuclear program in North Korea is threatening, but their military power is far a world threat. Even though North Korea has estimate of 2million foot soldiers, their weapons are outdated. Some of the reports claim that North Korea is still using F-4 fighter jet, which is almost outdated by 40 years. In order to become a strong military nation, one nation needs strong leadership, resources, and economy. North might have strong leadership, but they don't have resources nor economy. We need to be cautious of North Korea, but media is overstating the issue, just like swine flu.

Related Posts:

Alliances Made In Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Since the U.S. led invasion to Afgahnistan began after the attack of 9-11, Taliban has aggressively expanded its power from Afgahnistan to Pakistan regions. After committing to series of efforts to stop the Tabilan from expanding, the leaders of both nation turned to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran.

The decision to rely on Iran was made because the problem with Islamic Extremists can be dealt better with the people from the Middle East itself, not the Western nations. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that he wanted to help out these two nations; however, the interaction from the United States has created the set back to the efforts to stop Taliban.

Using this moment as an opportunity, President Barack Obama decideds to begin diplomatic talk with Iran again. The President hasn't decided when yet, but he is looking into the time during the election in Iran.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/world/middleeast/25iran.html?hp
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comment by Taka Laka:
Just like everyone else, I am very skeptical about whether this alliance would actually work, or even worse, I am not sure if the alliance would last. However, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pointed one good point. The U.S. interaction in middle east has created series of problem. The concept of democracy sounds great to us, but that never means our political system would work on other nations. Yet, that never means that we cannot interact with these nations. Us, as a nation, needs to be careful and give respect to these nation's culture and history when serious political actions such as war.

Collin Powell critisizes both Cheney and Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:41:00 +0000

After the separate speech has been made by President Obama and former vice president Dick Cheney, Collin Powell came out to media criticizing both leaders.

Collin Powell, who identify himself as Republican and a former secretary of states, supports Mr. Obama's idea to close Guantanamo prison. Even before Mr. Obama came into the office as the President, Mr. Powell urged previous Bush Administration to close down Gitmo because he believed that the prison is surviving no purpose other than endangering American's Safety by luring the terrorists. However, Collin Powell also criticized Mr. Obama for not having a solid plan on how to close Gitmo and the detainees.

On other hand, Mr. Powell criticized Dick Cheney for leading the Republican Party to more far left. Since Mr. Bush took over the office, the Republican Party has moved from center right toward right away. In other words, the party has been moving away from the general public. Hence, Mr. Powell urged the party to reconnect with the general public to regain their political ground against the Democrats.

source and picture by:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/us/25talkshows.html?_r=1&hp

Just like how many major corporates around the world is restructuring their business to regain their ground on economy, the Republican Party should do the same. Their ideas on economy and social issues are respectable; however, the same strategy wouldn't work recursively for decades. As the time goes by, the political approach must be adjusted too.

Gates takes Obama's Side

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:45:00 +0000

After about hour and half of speeches given by Dick Cheney and Barack Obama, the secretary of defense, Robert Gate has taken the President's side on the issue of Guantanamo's Prison. The logic behind Gates' support for the President is that the prison at Guantanamo is sparkling anger among the terrorists toward the United States. Hence, the prison is endangering Americans more than protecting them. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/us/politics/22obama.html?hpw )

This could means several thing, but I will only point out of them. Robert Gates' support for Obama shows how divided the White House was among the cabinets. After all, the government has appointed new generals for Iraq Wars, possibly because the general themselves were against the Iraq War. Dick Cheney needs to receive support from other big name in order to keep himself in spotlight. The prominent Republican, Collin Powell, also supports the President.

Obama vs Cheney

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:40:00 +0000

Today, two of prominent politicians, President Obama and former Vice President Cheney, have given a speech on shutting down the controversial Guantanamo Prison that holds 100's of suspected terrorists. The issue on whether to shut down the Guantanamo has became a national debate since the Washington's decision will affects the U.S.'s national security. Both side claims that their decision is or was the best interests for American people. The fundamental difference is that Obama is shutting down Guantanamo to gain international supports to fight against terrorist since much of the European nations backed off from supporting the U.S.'s effort to fight against terrorism in the middle east. On other hand, Cheney disagreed with Obama's logic behind the closing because Obama has unclear plan on what to do with the Guantanamo's prisons. Both leaders have spoken well about their stands; however, both of them have also shown their weak spots.

As usual, Mr. Obama used his public speaking skill to persuade the general public that the U.S. should take better moral ground to fight against the terrorism. During the campaign for general election in 2008, President Obama has consistently promised the voters that he will shut down Guantanamo within a year; however, Obama's plan to shut down the Guantanamo was rejected by congress due to the lack of planning. This rejection, did indeed damaged Obama's image as a strong leader. Learning from the mistake, he was more clear about his plan on shutting down the facility by informing public that all the suspected terrorists in Guantanamo will be sent to the Federal Prisons, where no prison has ever escaped. He also informed the public that there are many suspected terrorists in the Federal Prison. Furthermore, Mr.Obama criticized the previous administration for using interrogation techniques at Guantanamo because the practice has swayed the international supports away from the United States; hence, it lowered the over all security of the United States, even though there were no terrorists attacks on American soil after 9-11.

However, Mr.Obama had his own flaw in his speech. For those who are critical, the president raised more questions than actually answering the problems. Since the politics is about winning people's support, there must be large body of people who still feel insecure about closing the Guantanamo.

Since medias have been airing Obama's speech every week or so, Cheney's speech sounded more interesting because he was a powerful figure in white house. Also, his less appearance in media has made public wonder why the Cheney became such a powerful figure.

Mr. Cheney's speech contained more concrete detail than Mr.Obama. He constantly pointed out that there were more terrorists attack on American soils on 90's than current time; hence, the Guantanamo Prison has protected the American people from other possible attacks after 9-11. Mr. Cheney's speech was solid, but his speech made me focus on Mr. Cheney's personality.

After hiding from media for many years, former Vice President Dick Cheney seemed to be a lot more powerful now than he was before. No one will be surprises if Cheney becomes Republican's Al Gore since Cheney's endorsements will be a key to any future Republican candidates to win the upcoming elections.

Both speakers have spoken well today, but in the term of political battle, it was draw. But next few years will be interesting to watch Obama's plan to secure America and improve the economy. While Obama is busy with his job, the public should keep their eyes on Cheney because he will become one of the biggest Republican figure in the next few years or months.