Archive for August, 2009
Michele Bachmann on Health Care
Sunday, August 30th, 2009New iPhone Commercial
Sunday, August 30th, 2009This Ain’t America No More!
Saturday, August 29th, 2009Testing
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
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The Fourth Amendment (Focus on the Issues)
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
The 4th Amendment means that government agenst cannot make a search and/or seizure without probable cause. A government agent cannot just show up for a search and seizure without first obtaining a valid search warrant from the judiciary. Furthermore, the search must stick to the scope of the search warrant.
Katz v. the United States (1967) ruled that a person has a reasonable expectation to privacy.
The government has disregarded this amendment in several ways such as the usage of “red light cameras.” If a person has a reasonable expectation to privacy, the usage of government cameras without probable cause would violate this.
Another example is the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was done, in no doubt, with good intentions. We were attacked by international terrorists and the fear of more attacks allowed us to ‘reasonably’ give up a little liberty for a little security. This was a major blow to that expectation of privacy and our security in our property and person. We did not heed to the advice of our great American statesman, Benjamin Franklin. It was Franklin who said, “Those who give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither and will lose both.” That was the beginning of this round of losing our rights as we have over the past few years. Now is the time to rise up and say enough is enough. Legislators, government executives, and judicial officers, please listen. Enough is enough.
The Patriot Act has damaged this Amendment in several ways. The Patriot Act allows for searches and seizures without probable cause or what are the traditional search warrants. Furthemore, a person’s property is not valued as notification of a search does not happen either. There have even been government admissions to abuse of powers of the Patriot Act. We want to be safe, but do we want to be slaves instead? Many of us conservatives were silent about abuse of our rights under Bush because we trusted him. Now that a leftist is in charge, we fear what might happen. Hopefully we will never allow this to happen again, regardless of who is in charge.
Health Care Town Hall in Johnson City
Monday, August 24th, 2009I was there. I may blog about it tomorrow. You can see me holding signs at the 45 second mark, though they were talking about people who disagreed with Dr. Roe on the issue… Oh well.
Night On the Town With Hillary (Joke)
Monday, August 24th, 2009Difference Between Democrats and Republicans (Joke of the Week)
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009A Republican and a Democrat were walking down the street when they came to a homeless person. The Republican gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come to his business for a job. He then took twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.
The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came to another homeless person, he decided to help. He walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. He then reached into the Republican’s pocket and gave the homeless person fifty dollars.
PETA May Picket Philadelphia Eagles Games
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009Lisa Lange, the Senior VP for PETA, was on the Larry King Live television program discussing Michael Vick and his sigining with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. She discussed how Michael Vick had lied to PETA about his involvement and she even stated that PETA would consider picketing the Philadelphia Eagles. She further stated that she did not believe that Michael Vick deserved to sign a mutlimillion dollar contract with an NFL team.
Now for my commentary. What is Michael Vick supposed to do? Michael Vick went through the criminal justice system. He was sentenced to a prison term. He served 18 months in a prison, and then he finished his 23 month sentence by being on house arrest. Vick received no pay during all of this. He was forced to go into bankruptcy to help pay off his financial obligations.The man has paid his debt to society. Dogfighting is brutal, but come on. We are talking about the death of animals, not humans. If it had been a human he had mudered, he would hopefully still be in prison.
When someone commits a crime, once their debt is paid to society he or she should be allowed to seek an honest living. Vick has done this. He is a football player. He was involved in dogfighting. It isn’t as if he was a veterinarian. It may make sense that he would not be allowed to go back to that.
I am not a Philly fan by any stretch of the imagination. My Bucs have faced them several times in important games. I cannot stand the Eagles. I have a new respect for them though. They are doing what they feel could make them better. The NFC, especially the NFC East, is strong. The Cowboys and Giants will be difficult to beat. The Redskins could be tough, too. The division should be a real dog fight.
Ted Kennedy Plays the Political Game
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009Back in 2004 when it appeared that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) had a chance at winning the White House, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was able to convince the Massachusetts legislature to change the Massachusetts state law that gave the governor power to replace a resigned Senator with his own appointment.
In 2004, that governor was none other than Mitt Romney (R-MA).
Had Sen. Kerry been elected, he would have been forced to resign and Romney would have been able to replace Kerry with a Republican if he so chose.
Sen. Kennedy acted craftily to change the law so that a popular election would have been held nearly one-third of a year after a Senator’s departure.
This was purely a political ploy to allow a Democatic nominee to mount a strong effort in an election. Combined with voter data, a Democrat would have been greatly favored.
Now, once again, Massachusetts is facing the loss of a U.S. Senator. This time, it is Sen. Kennedy, himself, to death.
State law does not allow a governor appointee to assume the seat. There has to be an election.
The healthcare bill is being muscled by Ted Kennedy and the left. Kennedy understands that the vote could be close and come down to a vote or two.
Here is where it gets ironic. Kennedy now wants the law changed back to how it was before he played politics before.
Kennedy claims that it is important that Massachusetts have a second senator to watch out for their needs. Why was it not important in 2004?
Hannity Mulls Presidential Run?
Friday, August 21st, 2009WorldNetDaily is reporting that host Sean Hannity is mulling a POTUS run.
Conservatives Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009So says a Gallup poll.
What is a Small-Government Conservative?
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009I have been asked several times recently about different political stances that I have. When I discuss these, people ask me if I am a Libertarian. I answer with a quick no. I am not a Libertarian. When asked what I am, I usually respond that I am a small-government conservatice. When pressed on political party, I will answer that I am a Republican.
The difference, for me, between being a Libertarian and a small-government conservative is that Libertarians, as a party, tend to be pro-choice among other stances. Not all Libertarians believe this way, but the Libertarian Party does. I believe that being a small-government conservative is more traditional, while Libertianism blends too much progressive values within. My small-government conservatism could also be considered a blend of libertarian Republicanism.
I have tried to develop a political philosophy that remains consistent. One may ask how I can defend pro-life ideals and my stance against gay marriage with my small-government conservatism. I even talked to someone earlier yesterday who told me that her son is a Libertarian who is pro-choice. I feel that this is not completely compatible with what Libertarians have as a philosophy.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, I am against it not on the grounds that I should be able tell someone else how to treat their bodies. If someone wants to make medical decisions that effect them, so be it. My problem is that I don’t personally believe that abortion is effecting just the woman, but I believe that abortion is murdering another human life. I know that you can’t force everyone to do what you think, but that is exactly what government does by allowing abortion. My real problem is with government deciding who is not a living human. It didn’t work out really well when our government did not recognize Africans as humans. People used ‘rights’ to trod down living humans and place them into slavery. History judged that to be wrong. History may just do the same with abortion.
Some talked of ‘Death Panels’ with the healthcare bill. Democrats claimed that this was a scare tactic used by Republicans to kill the bill. They stated it was not even in there. Let’s not discuss that at this point, but by the whole premise of the argument, it seems to work out as a type of a proof that if the government did set up a panel to decide whether or not one would live based on their quality and quantity of life, that would be wrong. Is that not what government does on the issue of abortion? We have Congress, the SCOTUS, and the POTUS deciding that life at the earliest stages is not life at all. When government is the decider that someone is less than a person, we have problems. What else will we trust government with?