sometimes a blog by Dan Greene
Ok, so blogging around here has been sparse lately, I’ve been a busy guy. In 2009 I’m planning to retool the site and get back into the swing of blogging. Now to your irregularly scheduled post.
I’ve already voted (for Obama) before last night, so the Obama TV spot didn’t influence my vote. But I think it will convince people still on the fence to vote for Obama.
Palin intrigues me. I’m amazed that she has risen so far so fast. Her speech at the RNC really resonated with a lot of people. Among them is my friend Chrissie. She had the honor (?) a few days ago of getting quoted in an article that was picked up by AP and now it’s worldwide.
From the article:
But then there’s Chrissie Peters. The 37-year-old librarian from Bristol, Tenn. has always voted Democratic and supported Clinton. She assumed she’d vote for Obama — until she saw Palin speak. Now she’s voting Republican.
“She was so down-to-earth, a regular person,” says Peters. “She hasn’t been in politics her whole life, so she isn’t jaded or tainted. And I love that she’s a mom. Yes, I disagree with some of her positions, but that’s what this country is about.”
Chrissie tells me that she’s gotten some flak from Library Land and the rest of the online world. There is an expectation out here I think that librarian = Democrat. I’ve always thought that you should vote for the person and not the party. That’s exactly what Chrissie is doing so cheers you Chrissie for doing that. Can I vote for you for President? If not I’ll just vote Obama I guess. Although I’m not crazy about Biden…
In a departure from my usual library related postings, I have a solution that few people seem to consider. Take government out the marriage license business. Just let people get married in whatever church or organization supports their way of life and be done with it. State marriage simply replaces a church’s authority with that of the state. This quote from the Ohio Bar Association (found via this post at Homeland Stupidity) spells it out pretty clearly:
“Marriage is a legal as well as a spiritual and personal relationship. When you repeat your marriage vows, you enter into a legal contract. There are three parties to that legal contract: 1) you; 2) your spouse; and 3) the state of Ohio. The state is a party to the contract because under its laws, you have certain obligations and responsibilities to each other, to any children you may have, and to Ohio.”
The first amendment of the Constitution states,”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This can be interpreted in many ways and Findlaw has some history and background. The phrase “separation of church and state” comes from a letter written in 1802 by then President Thomas Jefferson.
A prohibition against same sex marriage does not belong in the Constitution. It is an endorsement of one particular religious view, which seems if not directly in opposition to the First Amendment, at least in conflict with it.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has more commentary and a form where you can email your Representative and Senators.
Via Barry at Inn of the Last Home. All these tests seem to confirm my Leftist political leanings. While in theroy I may be to the left, in reality I take things case by case so I’m not a total radical 🙂
| You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating |
Looks like TennCare is on its way out. That sucks because I have TennCare. South Knox Bubba has highlights of Gov. Bredesen’s speech. The Knoxville News Sentinel also has more information
Here are a handful of political sites that I thought were interesting. The Political Compass is site that asks you questions to determine where you fall on the political spectrum. It then places you on a grid. The horizontal (X) axis defines left or right economics, and the vertical (Y) axis defines social libertarian or authoritarian. I ended up at X -6.50, Y -4.36. That’s in roughly the same area as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, according to this.
For a funnier test try How F**king American Are You?. According to this test I’m a bleeding heart liberal.
If you’re truly paranoid be sure to check out Propaganda Matrix.com – Exposing the New World Order and Government Sponsored Terrorism
This article just makes me want to scream, cry, yell, something….. Didn’t we learn from Florida?
Bush won the election. He probably deserved it, much as it pains me to say that. I mean even with a bad economy and what seems to be a perpetual war that we didn’t need to start, he still convinced enough people that he deserved another four years.
I think there are fundamental problems with the Democratic party. They do a decent enough job getting left wing liberals like me to vote for them, but that’s mainly an anti-Republican reaction, not a vote for the Democrats. That and a realization that none of the third parties stand a chance of electing anyone at the national level.
The Democrats have won three elections since Johnson choose not to run again in 1968. Carter’s 1976 win was in large part a reaction against Watergate and Ford’s appointment to the presidency. And of course Carter lost in a landside to Reagan four years later. Clinton won in 1992 against Bush due to a recession and force of personality. He won in 1996 thanks to economic prosperity and an unremarkable challenger in Bob Dole. While Clinton won the electoral votes and the election, he failed to win a simple majority of the popular vote. Although he got close in 1996 with 49.2 percent of the vote.
For more election stats check out President Elect.
In her blog Lori has a plan for the next Democratic candidate. Sounds like a good place to start.
There is an urban legend, a true one, that says if the Washington Redskins lose their home game just before and election, the challenger wins. The Skins lost yesterday to the Packers. This would seen to indicate a win for John Kerry. I knew I liked the Redskins for some reason.
Slashdot has commentay here and here. I voted early, are you going to vote tomorrow?
As of yesterday (Oct. 31) electoral-vote.com had Kerry ahead of Bush 283 to 246. 270 votes are needed to win.
Update: Today Kerry is ahead 298 to 231. Looking good, although I wish Tennessee wasn’t almost certain to go for Bush.
