Extremists of the Left and Right in Control
My take on the upcoming presidential election is that it isn't looking too good at this point. The Democrats seem intent on choosing career politicians beholden to labor and the Republicans continue their descent into a neocon hell fought over by the fundamentalist Christian right and business interests. Centrists and independents have nowhere to go.
As for OkiePundit, the only way I would vote for Bush is if Al Sharpton is the Democratic nominee. Well, to tell you the truth, if Gephardt or Lieberman are the nominee I might just set the election out. I'm not sure about Howard Dean. I'm excited about Wesley Clark - the political neophyte. I could really get excited about the election if he was the nominee. But labor and the left are too self-interested and short-sighted to back a centrist like Clark I guess. But unless something strange happens, I'll be voting for Clark - but I'll have to register as a Democrat to do that. After I vote I'll re-register as an independent unless the Democrats come to their senses by going with Clark.
What America needs is a centrist political party. Let the extremists have their Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties - give us the pragmatic golden mean. What shall we call this centrist party? Your suggestions are welcome.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Monday, November 10, 2003
Got Life?
Last week Bush signed into law a bill outlawing "partial birth abortion" and courts immediately stepped in with injunctions. This particular form of abortion I will not even describe to you as the details are quite horrid. Abortion is an issue I've changed my mind on. I used to lean towards the "pro-choice" side, partly I think, out of a desire not to be associated with religious fundamentalists and right wing extremists. I still want nothing to do with these folks but I decided some time ago that my aversion to them on most issues was not a valid reason to oppose them on all issues.
Fact is, I do believe that abortion really is murder. I think life is something special, if not sacred, and snuffing out a person, no matter their age, is not right. I find it hard to believe that people can abort a life because it is somehow inconvenient for them. A woman's right to choose is trumped by the baby's right to live.
It is a mystery to me why this would be a partisan issue or an issue owned by the extreme right. I don't understand why liberals are anti-war and pro-abortion. It's also a mystery to me why many religious fundamentalists and conservatives are so pro-life in this regard and so comfortable with war, guns, and inhumane treatment of animals. Compassion should transcend politics and even religion.
Last week Bush signed into law a bill outlawing "partial birth abortion" and courts immediately stepped in with injunctions. This particular form of abortion I will not even describe to you as the details are quite horrid. Abortion is an issue I've changed my mind on. I used to lean towards the "pro-choice" side, partly I think, out of a desire not to be associated with religious fundamentalists and right wing extremists. I still want nothing to do with these folks but I decided some time ago that my aversion to them on most issues was not a valid reason to oppose them on all issues.
Fact is, I do believe that abortion really is murder. I think life is something special, if not sacred, and snuffing out a person, no matter their age, is not right. I find it hard to believe that people can abort a life because it is somehow inconvenient for them. A woman's right to choose is trumped by the baby's right to live.
It is a mystery to me why this would be a partisan issue or an issue owned by the extreme right. I don't understand why liberals are anti-war and pro-abortion. It's also a mystery to me why many religious fundamentalists and conservatives are so pro-life in this regard and so comfortable with war, guns, and inhumane treatment of animals. Compassion should transcend politics and even religion.
This is absolutely horrible:
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Authorities identified a 1-year-old boy Monday who died after police say his aunt tossed him in front of a passing pickup truck.
The baby's aunt, 18-year-old Tiesha Michelle Ealey, was being held in jail on a first-degree murder complaint. A witness told police he saw a woman holding a child and walking back and forth near a city street about 1 a.m. Sunday. The woman appeared to be trying to flag down a passing motorist and then tossed the toddler into the street, the witness said.
But get this; the family says that the 18-year old aunt was "just in the wrong place at the wrong time" and blamed the tragedy on the aunt falling in with a bad crowd. I feel very sorry for the family (more so for the little boy who lost his life) but come on - this penchant in our culture to refuse to put responsibility where it belongs is out of hand.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Authorities identified a 1-year-old boy Monday who died after police say his aunt tossed him in front of a passing pickup truck.
The baby's aunt, 18-year-old Tiesha Michelle Ealey, was being held in jail on a first-degree murder complaint. A witness told police he saw a woman holding a child and walking back and forth near a city street about 1 a.m. Sunday. The woman appeared to be trying to flag down a passing motorist and then tossed the toddler into the street, the witness said.
But get this; the family says that the 18-year old aunt was "just in the wrong place at the wrong time" and blamed the tragedy on the aunt falling in with a bad crowd. I feel very sorry for the family (more so for the little boy who lost his life) but come on - this penchant in our culture to refuse to put responsibility where it belongs is out of hand.
Lupica who?
Who is Lupica? I never heard of him before but I saw an anti-OU diatribe by this ESPN sports mouth on TV tonight that just made me laugh. He was complaining about OU scoring 77 points against Texas A&M this weekend - the claim being that OU was unsportsman-like because they scored so many points. I'm not a sports junkie but even I know that when you put your second and third-string players in for the entire last half of the game (like Stoops did) you are not trying to "run up the score". This ESPN goofball's line of reasoning was that because backup quarterback Thompson passed the ball and actually tried his best (and did great) that OU was guilty of trying to humiliate hapless A&M. Where does ESPN get blabbering idiots like Lupica and why do they put them on TV? There's got to be some good sportscasters needing jobs - aren't there?
Who is Lupica? I never heard of him before but I saw an anti-OU diatribe by this ESPN sports mouth on TV tonight that just made me laugh. He was complaining about OU scoring 77 points against Texas A&M this weekend - the claim being that OU was unsportsman-like because they scored so many points. I'm not a sports junkie but even I know that when you put your second and third-string players in for the entire last half of the game (like Stoops did) you are not trying to "run up the score". This ESPN goofball's line of reasoning was that because backup quarterback Thompson passed the ball and actually tried his best (and did great) that OU was guilty of trying to humiliate hapless A&M. Where does ESPN get blabbering idiots like Lupica and why do they put them on TV? There's got to be some good sportscasters needing jobs - aren't there?
Laura Ingram Delivers Sought-after Consumers
I spent a few minutes tonight listening to the commercials run during the Laura Ingram radio talk show. I was curious what type of companies would sponsor or be associated with her extreme right talk show. Turns out the advertisers willing to associate with Laura Ingram are marketers of "miracle" herb elixers and law firms seeking "victims" wanting to sue stock brokers, etc. These types of advertisers are looking for uneducated people that believe "miracle" pills will solve their problems and naive enough to think lawyers will actually let them keep more than a token amount of the money they squeeze out of businesses. These types of slimy advertisers are finding their target audience through the Ingram show.
I spent a few minutes tonight listening to the commercials run during the Laura Ingram radio talk show. I was curious what type of companies would sponsor or be associated with her extreme right talk show. Turns out the advertisers willing to associate with Laura Ingram are marketers of "miracle" herb elixers and law firms seeking "victims" wanting to sue stock brokers, etc. These types of advertisers are looking for uneducated people that believe "miracle" pills will solve their problems and naive enough to think lawyers will actually let them keep more than a token amount of the money they squeeze out of businesses. These types of slimy advertisers are finding their target audience through the Ingram show.