Tag Archives: Opinion

Sep 14 2009

The Supreme Court’s Chance to Dump McCain-Feingold and Aid Free Speech

From The Washington Post:

George F. Will – The Supreme Court’s Chance to Dump McCain-Feingold and Aid Free Speech – washingtonpost.com: Last March, during the Supreme Court argument concerning the Federal Election Commission’s banning of a political movie, several justices were aghast. Suddenly and belatedly they saw the abyss that could swallow the First Amendment.

A friend and I were talking a while ago and he made the argument that we needed term limits because Congress makes election law that affects their own election, and he pointed directly at McCain/Feingold as a prime example. Let’s take a closer look.

Don’t blame me. McCain-Feingold orders people to shut up when political speech matters most. It bans “electioneering communications” (communications “susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate”) paid for by corporations in the 30 days before primaries and 60 days before general elections. Corporations include not only, or primarily, the likes of GM and GE; corporations also include issue advocacy groups, from the National Rifle Association to the Sierra Club. So, yes, if a book published (as books are) by a corporation contains even a sentence of election-related advocacy, the book could — must — be banned by the federal government, and not just during the McCain-Feingold muzzle period.

I think he’s right, and I think George Will is right. McCain/Feingold must be thrown out as unconstitutional. The very reason for the first amendment is to protect political speech as a check against the state.

May 26 2009

End Run on Free Speech

From George F. Will Archive:

End Run on Free Speech: For several decades, most of the ingenuity that liberal academics have invested in First Amendment analysis has aimed to justify limiting the core activity that the amendment was written to protect — political speech. These analyses treat free speech as not an inherent good but as a merely instrumental good, something justified by serving other ends — therefore something to be balanced against, and abridged to advance, other goods.

**Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.**

I’d say those words are fairly unambiguous. How is it that Congress is continually trying to do exactly that which it is prohibited from doing? How is it that they get away with it?

May 7 2009

Manny Being Manny

From CNN.com:

Dodgers’ Ramirez suspended 50 games: Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, incurring an immediate 50-game ban and serving the highest-profile reminder yet that the use of such drugs in the testing area may have been reduced, but not eradicated.

I always knew I didn’t like the guy, but now it’s absolutely, concretely set in stone. The guy is a total douche bag. What is it about some people that makes them think that the rules don’t apply to them?

He was always a problem. I guess now is lashing out and [pushing down Jack McCormick](http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/06/more_on_mannymc.html) has finally bee explained… [‘roid rage](http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-roid-rage.htm).

I’m really glad the [Redsox](http://www.redsox.com) got rid of this loser.

May 1 2009

The First 10 Trek Movies

From SCI FI Wire:

The 10 Star Trek movies so far, and why they mattered: As J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek beams into theaters on May 8, it seems like a good time to look back at the 10 movies that have previously gone where no one has gone before.

It’s been 10 films and 30 years since Star Trek was reborn on the big screen. The full list follows.

This is a fun read. Although I completely disagree with the assessment of **Star Trek: First Contact** which I still think is the best of the bunch. It definitely holds up the best.

Jan 26 2009

Pope outrages Jews over Holocaust denier

From CNN.com:

Pope outrages Jews over Holocaust denier: Jewish officials in Israel and abroad are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunication of a British bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers.

It’s things like this and the [[A Matter of Law|sex scandal]] and the church’s response to it that are driving people away from Catholicism. Why would the Pope do something as wrong as this? He seems to be doing his best to undo all the good that his predecessor did, and take the church back a few centuries while he’s at it.

Jan 23 2009

Calif. Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.3%

From WSJ.com: Economy:

Calif. Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.3%: California’s unemployment rate jumped to 9.3% in December as employers in the nation’s most populous state cut 78,200 jobs during the month.

Holy **expletive deleted**… almost double digits. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Is it time to panic yet?

Please, please Mr. President… figure something out to help us out of this mess.

Jan 21 2009

Pandora is Adding Commercials?

From Slashdot:

Pandora Trying Out Invasive Commercial Breaks: Nathan Halverson writes “The popular online radio service Pandora.com has added brief commercial interruptions to its service. Pandora says this is a trial and is targeted to a subset of listeners at this point. In one case, a brief ad for the Fox TV show ‘Lie To Me’ interrupted the music stream for about 15 seconds after ten songs had initially played, and the same commercial interrupted 22 songs later. ‘But [Pandora’s] founder promised the site will never carry as many audio ads as broadcast radio, despite the fact it pays substantially higher royalty fees to the recording industry.'”

Please, God, **NO**.

I have no problem with the adverts that show up on the web pages or on my iPhone, but please do not interrupt my music. Pandora is **PERFECT*’ as it is. In understand the desire to increase revenue… but not at the expense of customer satisfaction. Please, ‘*DO NOT DO THIS**.

Jan 20 2009

Inauguration of President Obama

I’ve never been as proud of being a citizen of the United States as I am today. Today is the [Jackie Robinson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson) moment for our entire country, not just the national pass time.

From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson): The nation was initially divided on whether Robinson should be allowed to play. Virtually all blacks and many whites applauded the decision as long overdue, but a large number of whites also objected. Many major league players also objected. Most newspapers supported the move. Robinson’s integration and subsequent high level of play was a major blow to segregation and caused racial barriers to fall in other areas.

The culmination of this happens today.

Here’s a bit more context for todays events:

From [The United States Declaration of Independence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence): We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

From [Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_address): Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

From [Martin Luther king’s I Have a Dream speach](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_have_a_dream_speech): I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
…
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

I’ve been a supporter of [Barack Obama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama) for a long time. As such, I’m having a huge problem with conservative commentators that are hoping for his total failure. I cannot understand this. I *do* understand how you, as a conservative (as I consider myself to be), would hope for **specific** policies that he may propose to fail to pass muster (for instance, a doubling of our income tax). But to hope for him, as our President, to fail, is hoping for the failure of our country, and that is as unpatriotic as can be imagined. Dissenting against policy is patriotic. Dissenting against our President is not.

* 11:33am: The coverage on [WGBH](http://www.wgbh.org) is fantastic.
* 11:33am: **Michelle Obama** just stepped on stage.
* 11:37am: President **George W. Bush** steps on stage. He got a (basically) warm welcome. Some boos. Stop it people… show some respect. Even if you didn’t like him or his politics, he’s our President (for a few more minutes).
* 11:40am: More dignitaries step on stage
* 11:41am: **Joseph Biden** steps on stage
* 11:43am: More dignitaries
* 11:44am: **Barack H. Obama** steps on stage. A huge swell of cheers greets him
* 11:47am: **Diane Feinsten** (yawn)
* 11:47am: … peaceful transition … the power of the ballot over the bullet …
* 11:49am: **Rick Warren** steps up to make the invocation.
* 11:50am: … celebrate a hinge point of history with the election of the first African American as President of the United States …
* 11:53am: thankfully nothing controversial
* 11:54am: It’s gone on a bit long though
* 11:55am: **Aretha Franklin** sings *My Country ’tis of Thee*
* 11:56am: I don’t like the Gospelization of anthems like this. Oh well. To each his own.
* 11:57am: She better hurry. Mr. President Obama needs to take the oath before 12:00pm!
* 11:58am: Senator **Robert Bennet** of Utah
* 11:58am: **John Paul Stevens*’ administers the oath of office to ‘*Joseph Biden**.
* 11:59am: *… I Joseph Biden do solemny swear…*
* 12:00pm: Performance of John Williams piece
* 12:01pm: Yikes… we don’t have a President!!!! at Noon, President Bush officially is no longer President, and President Obama hasn’t taken the oath yet.
* 12:06pm: **John Roberts** steps up to administer the Presidential Oath of Office
* 12:07pm: *I Barack Hussein Obama do solemny swear…*
* 12:08pm: I’m a little misty… President Obama!
* 12:09pm: Hail to the Chief

Time for the address.

* Thanks to President Bush (nice touch)
* Know this America… they WILL be met. YEAH.
* … time has come to set aside childish things…
* All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness!
* greatness must be earned
* acknowledging the sacrifice of our forebearers
* we must start TODAY! Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America
* a nation cannot prosper long when it only favors the prosperous
* we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals
* know that America is a friend to those who seek peace
* we will not apologize for our way of life
* the world has changed and we must change with it
* remembers the soldiers
* a return to our truths
* we have a duty to ourselves, our country, and the world
* George Washington: Let it be told to the future world

Beautiful speech.

Jan 19 2009

Men in black on alert for snipers

From CNN.com:

Men in black on alert for snipers: Look up at any presidential event and you’re likely to see them: men dressed in black, armed to the teeth, looking back.

Well, I’d hope so. Of all the recent Presidents, I’d say that Obama has the highest chance of being assassinated in office… only because of the total stupidity of some racists in this country. They exist, we all know they do, and this week would be the highest visibility time for them to strike. I don’t think it’ll happen, and I hope and pray that it does not.

But, I understand why there’s going to be more security for this inauguration than there ever has been.

Jan 19 2009

It’s O – 1 day

bushbgone.jpg

The Bush era is down to its last day. It’s been quite a ride. Bush inherited a budget surplus, and turned it into the largest deficit in history. He inherited a weakening economy, it went up for a while under him, but finally crashed to be the worst its been since the great depression.

He led us after 9/11, but then lead us into a war that should have never been. He vowed to make those responsible pay, and yet Osama bin Laden still lives.

His rhetoric was about compassionate conservatism, and yet he let New Orleans suffer after Katrina.

He entered the office with so much promise, only to fail to deliver on that promise.

Now, we’re getting Barack Obama. I’m very optimistic about our future under his leadership, but I don’t expect it to be a future without pain.

I can’t wait to hear his inaugural address. I’m betting that it’s short, and very inspirational with the overall theme being, it’s time to get to work.