Long update

Yes, it's been awhile. Let's get started.

Torture is not an acceptable way for us to obtain intelligence. Let's list the problems associated with torture:

1) Terrorists could legitimately torture Americans for reciprocation.
2) The information is mostly untrue. Take the New York and Baltimore terror scares.
3) We're better than that
4) It creates more angry terrorists when the tortured guy returns home
5) Wasn't one of the reasons that we removed Saddam because of the torture rooms?

Feel free to add more reasons in my comments. There are plenty more.

The next group I would like to criticize is a catholic high school. A group called American Girls or something like that was running a fashion show fundraiser for the school to raise $35000 for a new wing. The high school cancelled the show when it was discovered that the group was pro choice. So basically, because this group didn't agree with the pro life philosophy with this school, they are no longer acceptable when it comes to charity. Is this the type of thing we should be teaching children? Should we only interact with those who believe the exact same things we do? This is just another example of religious stupidity blinding people.

Kudos to Denver. During a referendum, Denver voters approved a measure to make it legal for citizens to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. Marijuana lobbyists pointed out that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol (and if you don't belive that, try it and tell me what you think). Sometimes I wonder if any logic remains in this country, and then Denver comes through with a really intelligent move that will not only let people enjoy themselves, but will also help to make a criminal justice system less bogged down with minor criminals who possess small amounts of marijuana.

Back to the shitty things. Bill Frist, who I have so little respect for, got upset when Harry Reid forced the Senate into closed session so that they could discuss prewar intelligence since the intelligence committee has not sumbitted their report on the Iraq intelligence in well over 2 years. In fact, Pat Roberts, a senator from Kansas (I think) was on meet the press twice within the last year saying the report was about to be finished and submitted, yet nothing was made available. Finally, the democrats showed some balls and forced the republican controlled government to show SOME accountability for all of the fucked up shit surrounding this war. The government has been kept far too quiet regarding this war. Everybody knows that mistakes have been made. Republicans often say that in business people are held accountable for their actions, and that's why it's more efficient than the federal government. Well, they have proven that they know nothing about business, because they don't bother holding their own people accountable.

I'm sick and tired of the cries of judicial activism by the republicans in this country. What activism? Bush constantly says how he doesn't want jurists making the law, just enforcing it. This argument shows a total lack of understanding of the judicial system in this country. The problem that exists now is that legislators and government officials are doing things that they have no right to do. Religious symbols are NOT supposed to be outside of government buildings. A judge who says that these symbols have to be removed is not an activist, he is following the constitution. Pulling the plug on Schiavo is not activism, it's following the law.

On a related note, Tom Coburn, a fascist senator from Oklahoma, was on meet the press on sunday. He complained that judges don't follow stare decisis anymore. Meanwhile, the religious right, a group he stands with, wants supreme court justices nominated who will reverse Roe v. Wade. Mr. Coburn obviously forgets what he says 5 minutes ago. He also doesn't understand the importance of judicial review. If it weren't for judicial review, Brown v. Board of Education would not have struck down segregation in public schools. That was a case of judicial review knocking down a precedent in the supreme court. To be fair to Coburn, I'm not sure that he really wanted segregation to ever leave anyway.

Let's shit on Coburn some more, shall we? He's definitely a modern racist. He doesn't support gay rights, despite what he might say. During his appearance on meet the press, Tim Russert showed him a quote that he said saying that gays are the biggest threat to our liberty today. Is this guy fucking crazy? Does he believe that gays are going to throw our system into chaos? Are the homos going to start ass raping every straight man in sight? Are the homos going to align with Al Qaeda and leak the names of CIA agents to the press? Are the homos going to fabricate intelligence to force a war on the public? Are the homos going to subvert environmental regulation, the new deal, and accepted science?

It's men like Coburn, Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott, Rick Santorum, and Pat Robertson that make me vote democrat, even though I am feeling less willing to be aligned with the party despite my strong liberal opinions. Fundamental beliefs like the role of religion in government, racism, the environment, civil liberties, and science totally make the almost all republicans unacceptable for me politically. Despite what they may say, they are not the party of inclusion.

Lastly, I would like to remind George W. Bush of why he doesn't care about black people. Poor Kanye West. He got a lot of flak for saying that Bush doesn't care about black people. Many people were wondering how he could say that. Here's how. If it wasn't enough that Bush is the first president to not even meet with the NAACP, he has now ignored the blacks again. With the sad death of Rosa Parks, Bush didn't make it out to her funeral in Detroit. He was too busy having lunch with Prince Charles and Camilla. Charles isn't even a real political figure. Rosa Parks is one of the most important Americans of the 20th century, and Bush practically ignored her accomplishments that were recognized surrounding her death.

To be fair to Bush, not many republicans made it to her funeral. The most notable ones who made it are Bill Frist and Sam Alito. It's obvious though that they were there for the photo op, especially Alito.

As usual, comments are welcome. You can even IM me at IMTheWalrus610. There's plenty of other shit that I am pissed off about, so I will hopefully update again soon.