Prop 8 Protests.

I am usually very skeptical of public protests these days. A practice that was once a powerful and respected show of American democratic involvement has been watered down over the years to small, too frequent demonstrations by the lack of reactions from the government targeted by these demonstrations. When I think of demonstrations, what immediately comes to mind is the 5-10 washed up hippies that used to gather every Thursday on the corner of the Courthouse square in Bloomington, Indiana holding up signs saying, "HONK FOR PEACE!" or something else equally benign. In addition, this country is so polarized these days that these demonstrators often are either preaching to the choir or further inflaming the opposition. 

However, the Proposition 8 protests planned for today across the nation, I think will actually have traction. At least, I certainly hope they will have traction. How is it that in 2008 same-sex marriages are even an issue? Why have we not moved passed this? Most western nations have, why have we not? And all Americans should be absolutely ashamed that we have not. I am. This is even our home turf we are debating. One doesn't have to look far into the Constitution to see that these Marriage-defining Amendments being passed all across the nation go against every right supposedly upheld in this country. Every amendment in the US Constitution, through its verbiage, defines the rights of citizens by restricting government infringement. See Amendment 1:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Also see Amendments 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 for further examples. All of these amendments are written in a way to restrict government from infringing on the rights of the people, not the opposite, which would give powers to the government to infringe upon the rights of the people. Marriage-defining amendments by definition seek to do this exact opposing action. These amendments at their base exclude a group of US citizens from rights by way of government infringement. Homosexuals, Heterosexuals, Bisexuals, etc. should ALL be enraged by the powers of these new amendments. Why? Simply put, it goes against the precedent set by these amendments, collectively called the BILL OF RIGHTS. The Bill of Rights, that brilliant set of amendments passed by the guys who birthed this country who realized the importance of setting these precedents as they knew it would be impossible to write a Constitution that would cover all unforeseen issues that would arise in the future of this country.

Now some may say that under the 10th amendment, which delegates all powers to the states, not given to the United States by the Constitution, as a pass to let this issue be solved by the states. Again, one doesn't have to go far to find a precedent that deflates that argument. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which rightfully killed segregation, created an instance in which broad legislation on a federal level delegated actions to be carried out by the federal as well as state and local governments to reverse 'separate but equal' laws. This Civil Rights act laid the foundation for future federal level upholds of Rights guaranteed to not be infringed upon by state level definitions of citizens' rights. One would be hard pressed to find an American these days who believed that segregation was a right and just way to structure society, much less that it was fair to the minorities that it segregated or that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 wasn't absolutely necessary. But in 1964, if the reversal of segregation had been put to a referendum vote in a state, say like Mississippi, would it have actually have passed? NO. It would have been overwhelmingly defeated. So, by this logic, it can be strongly argued that basic civil rights of the American people should be upheld on a federal level from being defined at state levels.

So all Americans should be happy to know that these redefining amendments are already being challenged in the court system. If I remember correctly from what I heard on the radio earlier today, at least 3 cases are already being heard in California. I can already see a scenario in which some of these cases may reach the federal courts. Then the real debate happens and it seems that past precedents are on the side of equal rights for all.

So unlike some public protests that I've witnessed in the recent past, this one, has traction. This is not about some foreign policy that has created a war that some of us disagree with or any other issue that the ruling administration blindly believes is up to them to be the ultimate DECIDER on. No, this is something that hits closer to home. This is an issue of how our government does or doesn't infringe upon our basic Civil Rights. Gay, Straight or whatever, this is a fight we all should be paying attention to. As for me, I'm just another straight man who's standing up for my and every other American's equal rights.

Neil Young and his Electric Lincoln Continental

As plans for a bailout of the American auto industry are debated, one has to wonder what would have happened if GM had continued to evolve the EV1. Even GM Research & Development admits that if they hadn't killed the project, they "could have had the Chevy Volt 10 years earlier." So would the Big 3 be in the mess they are currently in if they had kept the ball rolling on electric car developments? These are things to ponder as we see what will hopefully be a wave of independent gear heads take on this challenge and develop/perfect new technologies that maybe the Big 3 will stay afloat long enough to incorporate into mass production.

Here's one such gear head, Jonathan Goodwin and his wealthy patron, Neil Young.





lincvolt.com

Say Cheese!....ok, next group.....

Geo. W. Bush announced today that he will ride out the last two months of his presidency with a long series of photo-ops taken with all the people he has f**ked over throughout his 8 years as leader of the free world. The planet's six billion residents will be systematically corralled into groups surrounding Mr. Bush, then photographed. Mr. Bush began this long process today with his first photo-op involving major world leaders under the pretense that they actually had a f**king clue as to how to solve the worldwide economic crisis. After this photo was taken, the world leaders met for 10 minutes in which they started out by all shrugging their shoulders when asked what should be done about this crisis. This process took all of 30 seconds. The remainder of this 10 minute session was filled with a unanimous vote by the leaders that Mr. Bush was the sole cause of this crisis and that he should be tried for crimes against humanity on January 21st, the day after President-Elect Barack Obama takes over as President of the United States. Curiously, Mr. Bush himself voted in favor of this measure. Although it is reported that Mr. Bush believed that the issue he was voting for was who would be responsible for providing lunch for today's meeting. In the margin of Bush's ballot, after checking 'MR. BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE' he reportedly wrote, " As host of today's meeting, I shall take it upon myself to provide lunch today." He then shouted after the result of the vote was announced, "I know a great little BBQ place around the corner!"

Obama's 'Terrorist Pal' on Good Morning America

ABC News' Chris Cuomo interviews Bill Ayers on Good Morning America on Friday morning.

Part 1
here

Part 2
here


Here ye. Here ye. Politica-ca is just in time for the elections. OH! That's alright- we still have a little over two months to weigh in on the current president and the possibilities of the newly elect.

And so it begins.....