AND YET, ANOTHER, POLITICAL RANT

It's been a while since I posted a good rant. Here are some on some recent current events.

SENATOR HUTCHINSON FINALLY MAKES A DECISION

Most of the Texas political word was abuzz in the last week of March with the announcement of Senator Hutchinson FINALLY making a decision about her political future in the Senate. I believe that I stated in a previous blog post that I had come to a point that I really did not care what the Senior Senator from Texas did. Stay in the Senate, resign; I did not care what she did. That indecisiveness about her political future, along with the driving of the Republican Party in Texas further to the right by Governor Perry, pretty much ended her campaign during the primary election.

Regarding Hutchinson's resignation, I believe that this was a better announcement as shown on the Burnt Orange Report.

So….. What does this mean? For one, the John Sharp campaign had to close up shop. Will we be hearing from him again in 2012? Maybe, but the Texas political scene will be different in 2012 that it is in 2010. A Democrat would have a better chance of winning the seat in an election cycle than in than in special election contest. I wouldn't be surprised if Sharp was one of the front runners for the Democratic nomination for the Senate race in 2012. I am also going to throw in some names that I would not be surprised to see on the Democratic ticket in '12: State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (TX SD-26, San Antonio), 2008 Senate candidate and State Rep. Rick Noriega (TX HD-145, Houston), and of course the most popular and favorite candidate to mention (drum roll please)…..

To Be Determined (TBD).

Stay tuned.


 
DRILL, BABY, DRILL….. wait a minute…..

President Obama announced recently that he will allow offshore drilling along the southeastern coast of the United States.

House Minority Leader Boehner (R-OH 8) is against it.

Wait? What….?

I too disagree with this plan.

Huh….?

I know. Crazy, right. I mean we live in a world where the New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl champions. What's next, the US Men's Soccer team wins the World Cup? Texas Rangers win the pennant? The LA Clippers make it to the NBA Finals next year?

I am not a fan of the offshore drilling (or any kind of drilling), not because of the obvious environmental impact, but because it is a short term solution to a bigger problem. Yes, it will create jobs, but once again this is not the solution. The amount of oil we get out of the ground from drill off our shores would barely make a dent in the amount of energy we consume. We would still be relying on foreign sources of energy.

I would have rather heard a plan about the transition from a fossil fuel based economy to one based on energy generated within this country (solar, wind, water, and nuclear). Maybe using offshore drilling is a way of achieving that, but once again I do not see the benefits because the amount of energy imported from outside is so much greater than the energy created within.

Our infrastructure needs to change in order to become an economy that is no longer dependent on foreign sources of energy. Take the interstate highway system for example. In order to support it, the necessary items to support it, such as gas stations, were constructed to support the vehicles that traveled those roads. This country needs to undertake a similar project of getting our nation off fossil fuels.


 
IN DA CLUB

I am going to get to the point: Turns out the Republican Party was spending some time in a bondage club. (What? I am not going to provide the link to the club. I am well aware of the internet's purpose and Internet Rule 34. If you want to look at such materials, I am sorry but this is not the place for it.)

What were the reasons for spending time in a bondage themed club? Oh, approximately two thousand reasons.

Honestly, there are better ways to spend two G's. But I am not in a position on telling someone how to spend their money (especially the Republican Party). Now I heard this club story was the last straw among RNC Chairman Michael Steele's supporters.

Honestly, don't care, but I am sure this provides some good late night fodder. (And late night programs, I don't care for them since Jay Leno stole the Tonight Show from Conan O'Brien. Stand by for a rant on Conan going to TBS.)

With this revelation, a new candidate has emerged in the primary to challenge incumbent Senator David Vitter (R-LA): Stephanie Gregory Clifford.

She is known as "actress" Stormy Daniels.

Here are her political stances.

There is one advantage of being a porn star running for office: it's not that big of a deal if a sex tape is released to the public.


 
YOU CAN'T HUG YOUR KIDS WITH NUCLEAR ARMS

Last week, a new nuclear arms treaty was announced between the US and Russia. Take a guess on who decided to open their mouth on the topic? Not me…. The support I have for nuclear energy is in the harnessing of it for production not destruction.

The floor recognizes Fox "News" contributor Sarah Palin….

Rebuttal from the President of The United States.

Judges? (Ruling at 1:29 of this clip)

What is Sarah Palin's background about Russia, again?

Who do you think has more credibility about international relations: the current President of The United States, or a former Alaskan Governor who has little to no foreign policy experience?

Better yet, who has more credibility in international relationships: me (I've been to five foreign countries) or Sarah Palin?


 
THE RETIREMENT OF JUSTICE STEVENS

The opening story on Meet the Press (Part 1, Part 2) last Sunday was the retirement of Justice Stevens and the potential political battle that could happen. As usual, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) claim that his party is going to threaten to filibuster if Obama nominates a LIBERAL ACTIVIST justice. Senator, two current Supreme Court justices were approved with votes equal to or greater than 51 AND less than 60.

I think someone needs to review the appointment and confirmation process of our Supreme Court justices. Towards the end of the interview, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reminds him of that.

This should not be that big of a deal because the Court would still be a 5-4 Conservative Leaning Decision. Now if one of the following Justices retires (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Scalia, Kennedy), THEN I could see the case of making a huge deal out of it. This is just the usual belly aching that the current Republicans are exhibiting today.

One more thing, before I close out, contrary to popular belief the Supreme Court, like the two other branches of government, DOES make policy. Maybe not in the obvious way that the legislative and executive branches do, but here are some examples of those ACTIVIST JUDGES using the courts to make policy:

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Pace v. Alabama (1883)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Cooper v. Aaron (1958)

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Cohen v. California (1971)

New York Times v. United States (1971)

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Miller v. California (1973)

United States v. Nixon (1974)

Craig v. Boren (1976)

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)

Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios (1984)

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

United States v. Virginia (1996)

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

FCC v. Fox (2009)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)


 
In closing, I apologize for the lateness in my postings. Please bear with me because I am still trying to find this blog's voice and trying to juggle a very difficult academic and personal schedule right now. I will probably do more short blogs during the week (kind of like how this one was done, but in separate postings) and save the big ones for the weekend. As mentioned, here is a preview of future postings are currently under construction: Conan joining TBS, Immigration Reform, the announcement of the 2010 NFL Schedule, WFAA-TV Dale Hansen's rant, and one about the recent run of Frontline documentaries that are being shown. And standby for my critique of the American education system in response to the Texas SBOE curriculum decisions to eliminate historical figures.

Take care. Carry on.