I'm Just Sayin'

OK...here we are...Obama has given one hell of a speech and everyone has reacted in some fashion...almost everyone. Lots of folks think he delivered one of the best speeches in history, others think he just blew hot air and fanned the flames of racial strife. Some have come to think more of Obama's stature as a leader..and others less. He has been criticized for speaking up and criticized for saying too little.

 One thing is certain and cannot be disputed. He has incited interest in this election...and action. Voter turnout in the primaries has been at record levels. People who have, in past elections, stood by passively, have become interested...and some actually involved this time around.

Consider this question..how would the election of Obama sit with the rest of the world? On pure... initial reception...how would the rest of the world react to the election of Obama? Of course you say...EVERYBODY will figure Obama will be an improvement over noodle headed Bush. But from a realistic standpoint...would  the world give Obama a fair start?

I guess the place to start here is a brief outline of the history if the ACLU. In 1920, Crystal Eastman and Roger Baldwin founded the ACLU. Today the ACLU reports a membership of over 500,000 and it's stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the constitution and laws of the United States." The ACLU is a marvel of organized efficiency. In order to focus upon important local issues, this organization bases it's headquarters in New York City but has 53 locally based operating agencies or affiliates, each with it's own board of directors and staff. Each of these affiliate offices is registered as separate 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities.  This allows tremendous flexibility with respect to responding to very local situations and the need for help or council. It also is beneficial with respect to the educational efforts of the ACLU as they are able to better target these efforts. The ACLU operates as the ACLU Foundation which focuses on litigation and policy distribution and education and as the American Civil Liberties Union which, because it's effort is geared toward legislative lobbying, does not have tax exempt status. Most of the funding for the ACLU and the ACLU Foundation comes from private donations...about 87%. Other sources of income include awards of legal fees from litigation, royalty income, the sale of literature and from investment income. It also receives funding from certain foundations.

Most of us are familiar with at least some of the efforts and court cases in which the ACLU has been a part.  And most of us have cheered a cause or effort the ACLU has taken on ... and I'm sure, cussed a few also. From this point forward this article will be riddled with my personal opinions. I will be biased and unabashedly so. The comment feature of this blog site allows for rebuttal and I encourage it's use.

The ACLU is the watchdog for rational thought and logical application of equal opportunities and Constitutional guarantees. Rational and logical are key words here. Most of the decisions we make are best considered without or in the absence of emotion and that is why many of the efforts of the ACLU meet with so much controversy. Briefly, here are the major positions of the ACLU:

Religious liberty...meaning that the protection of the first amendment is of paramount importance to the continued freedom of the  choice of worship or non worship we own. Most of us are in support of this effort, however there are some who have made a mission of insisting that superior insight gives them permission to insist that all are subject to the moral judgements of their interpretation of their god's laws. This group of people hates the ACLU.

The separation of church and state......In order to allow for religious freedoms for all, no state agency must be influenced by any of the various religious entities. Again, most of us subscribe to this policy, but there are some who want their religion to be part of the government. This group of people hates the ACLU.

Full freedom of speech and the press...we all are allowed to speak our minds. Dissent is even protected when it is directed against the government. Some think that they alone are specially qualified to think for the rest of us. This group of people hates the ACLU.

Abolishment of capitol punishment....this is one of the most debated topics the ALCU has addressed. Opinion is all over the map on this one and each side has valid points....proponents of the policy of capital punishment frequently hate the ACLU.

Reproductive rights or the right to use contraceptives AND the right to have an abortion.  This is bigger than the capitol punishment issue. Another reason for some..a bunch of people, to hate the ACLU.

Full civil rights for  lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender people, including government benefits for same-sex couples equal to those provided for heterosexual ones. Narrow minded, often the morally anointed and thus morally superior hate the ACLU because of this stance.

Affirmative action as a means by which racially diverse student body can be established. Hey...I hate the ACLU for this one!!! 

The rights of defendants and suspects against unconstitutional practices....almost all of us are afraid of a run away police state and abusive police powers..few hate the ACLU because of this ACLU effort.

The decimalization of drugs...pot, heroin, opium, coke...all that stuff... I could really get going on this one. The war on drugs..ie.. the war against the rights of any of us to destroy ourselves if we wish is a hot topic and one of the most flagrant violations of logic and reason we have ever been a part. But still, many hate the ACLU because of this effort.

The protection of privacy...this has become a lightening rod of support for the ACLU as the current administration has violated the monkey shit out of this one.  Some hate the ACLU for this one, but they are probably a part of the very small percentage of Americans who think Bush is doing a good job. This dwindling number includes mostly delusional, brain dead and morally corrupt members of our society.

Immigrants' rights...this topic of concern is, in my opinion, given the least consideration and careful thought by most Americans. It's a complex issue, but one that is tainted with a high level of emotional distortion. Some of us hate the ACLU because of this support of immigrants' rights, but I think those have not REALLY considered the complete issue and the facts of this policy.

Gun control...the ACLU has basically declared itself to be neutral on this issue!  The ACLU has determined that the Second Amendment is not an individual guarantee to keep and bear arms and they have stepped aside in order to encourage each individual STATE to determine how much freedom of protection should be allowed the residents of each state.  Hey...I hate the ACLU for this one too...well I hate this policy of the ACLU's.

The above outline of the ACLU's positions was taken, mostly from wikipedia. It's just a general outline of these positions and is not complete with regards to all of the activities of the ACLU.  

There are many organizations who have dedicated themselves to the opposition of the ACLU....like this one: www.stoptheaclu.com . This is amazing. Rather than take separate issue with the ACLU depending on the topic at hand, these people are at complete  odds with the ACLU...this is a quote from one of the letters posted on their website, "If you are a faithful Stop the ACLU reader, you know full well that we do all we can to expose the ACLU and its affinity for the unnatural and perverse".  Do what???

The application of reason and logic to the decisions we make as we determine our parameters of freedom cannot be allowed by those who have narrow minded, bigoted beliefs. My effort as I write this article, is to encourage the unbiased consideration of all the facts and ramifications of each topic we address rather than the blanket dismissal of one of the most valuable groups of Constitution protectors we have. "If the rights of society's most vulnerable are denied, everybody's rights are imperiled."

Even when the ACLU is protecting the rights of someone we consider to be the worst of the worst...we can only support their effort and we must realize  that the overall concept and protocol is more important than the specific individual the ACLU protects. Actually there is really no such thing as specific protection...the protection is one of the protection of an ideal....in the broad sense. Just as the trial defense of a known child molester has to be vigorous and complete, we must allow for concept of presumed innocence. Our legal system would collapse otherwise.

I am of the opinion that the ACLU is one of the most important organizations  in existence. I don't agree with everything they do...no one does. But the thing to take into close consideration is that we are being protected by the ACLU...all of us.  

Hey what's up with Huck? I mean...why is Mike Huckabee staying in the Republican primary when he has absolutely no chance of gaining enough delegates to win the nomination? (Hint...Huckabee believes in miracles). When asked why he is hanging in there...his reply is, "I hate to leave the courtroom until the verdict's in". Wow...do you think he is delusional? Well of course he is, but I'm referring to being delusional about his chances of winning the nomination.

I have a theory. OK...maybe not a totally original theory, but  let's not nitpick. Huckabee thinks there is a chance that McCain will drop dead. It's as simple as that. McCain is getting on up there and with that temper and all... he could just drop dead of a heart attack or stroke. High blood pressure IS the silent killer. Especially if he keeps pissin' the conservatives off. They have connections you know. I'm not really sure how the process would proceed if Mac does kick the bucket. Surely this has been considered and there are rules in place.

There is another possibility. What if...what if with all the dirt digging that's going on...you know, the digging for trash against McCain that is underway...what if somebody finds something really bad. Really, really bad... illegal and he is indicted for a felony? The Republicans can't run a candidate for the presidency who is under indictment. Can they? What if he is elected anyway and then sent to prison? You see, by hanging in there, Huckabee stands to be next in line if something goes really wrong for McCain.

The kicker is this. Huck can then claim that whatever happens to McCain is God's will.

I can't prove any of this. Hell, that's what conspiracy theories are...unprovable speculations. And there have been other hangers on like Huck. Jerry Brown did it, so did Howard Dean, Bill Bradley, George H W Bush and Ronald Reagan...and others. Were they all secretly waiting for something to happen to their opponents? I'm just sayin'.

Would anybody be interested in free health care for every person in the United States? I mean free...really free..no insurance companies..no co-pays..unlimited health care. Free preventative care, free optical, free surgery, free medicine...everything...all of it...free...free...free. Well  you say..nothing is free...somebody has to pay for everything. And I say...yes, you are absolutely correct. But how about this...let's let the drug dealers pay for our health care. Yes...the drug dealers..you know, the guy with the hoodie on the dark corner...the mother who sells a few bags a week for extra grocery money..the college student who deals in study aids..errr a little crack or meth the side...the traffickers...the backyard cookers...let them pay.

And how would we get those folks to pay? We would simply take away their businesses by legalizing all drugs.  Hang with me a second. First and foremost...I am not advocating the use of drugs, but at the same time, the use of drugs is a personal matter and the fact that the sale and use opiates and crack, pot and meth...all those "street drugs" is illegal has not stemmed their use. What we have actually done is create a crime wave. What if we stop the war on drugs? What if we not only stop the war on drugs, but we legalize all those street drugs and sell them legally...with a substantial tax attached. While it is impossible to calculate the cost of this ineffective effort to make people stop using drugs, take a look at these numbers: the feds spent over $19 billion in 2003 for the war on drugs that's $600 a second..and that was in 2003 (Office of National Drug control Policy) State and local governments spent another $30 billion plus. If we adjust those two figures to reflect the increased spending that will occur in 2008...we are at about $55 or $60 billion. That is the money spent just to try to catch the drug dealers and users. We will spend another $40 billion or so for jails and prisons for federal drug offenders, $10 billion for police protection...hey the war on drugs is expensive and IS NOT WORKING.

We would, by taking away the high profit products of the gangs, reduce the cost to fight gang crime and reduce the costs associated with robberies and thefts by drug users who need $200 or $300 a day...sometimes more just to pay the inflated street prices for their drug of choice. OUR CRIME RATE WOULD GO DOWN! OUR INSURANCE RATES WOULD GO DOWN! THE STREETS WOULD BE SAFER!

Now then...the next thing we will have to do is  make the drugs available and tax the crap out of them...you know..tax at about the same rate we tax our legal drugs...tobacco and alcohol. How much revenue would this produce? I don't know, but I'll bet you the tax revenue would be HUGE...billions..maybe more! Then we spend the combined savings of not waging war on drugs and the tax revenue from the sale of drugs and buy socialized health care for all. Not health insurance...why would we pay the insurance companies a profit to pay out our money that we have agreed to use for health care?

If you can't stand the thought of just saying yes to drugs...please consider what you are really advocating. You are saying that you are in favor of reduced health care for America, spending billions on a war that will not work, and you are happy with America's crime rate.  An effort at rational thought can be a real jolt...be honest and relinquish your emotional obstacles...face reality....or convince me and others of like mind in this matter that we are wrong. Go ahead...give it a shot.

Well, he's done it...Little Bush has officially become the least popular president in recorded American history.  He has earned the lowest approval rating ever...the percentage of Americans who think Dubya is doing a good job is now less than 20%.  He now stands at 19% approval rating! And really, who are those 19% who think he is doing an approvable job? It amazes me that any sane person can give Bush a vote of confidence.

Even Richard Nixon, who had to resign from office had, at his lowest standing,  had a 23% approval rating.   The previous record low rating was held by Harry Truman during the Korean War. In February of 1952, his rating hit a low of 22%.

George Walker Bush...how could any one person lie as often and screw up as much as Little Bush has? The kicker here is that Bush actually thinks he has done a good job. He thinks history will prove him right...and sane. There is absolutely no use in listing all of his screw ups and lies and idiotic statements...we all know the scandals.   

I have a countdown clock in the control bar on my computer. This clock ticks off the number of days remaining until Bush leaves office.  You can check the countdown clock here.  Hey, consider this...as of today, February 21, 2008, Bush has 334 days...and a couple of hours, remaining before he leaves office. What do you suppose his final approval rating will be? Can he break 15%? Can he break 12%?   I'm just sayin'.