Archive for the ‘ Affirmative Action ’ Category

I have a dream

Jan 18, 2010 in Affirmative Action, Crime, Free speech, Holiday, Religion

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

It is a noble dream, and one I want to see within my lifetime. There is no reason why we can’t live in an open and free society without being shackled by our skin color. “Red and yellow, black and white, they’re all precious in His sight,” is how the old children’s’ song goes, highlighting how our skin color shouldn’t matter in our relationships and interactions with those of different racial background. This is the goal of King, but I don’t think we’ll achieve it with policies such as Affirmative Action and race-based Hate Crime legislation in the books.

King wanted people to be judged based upon their merit and quality of work, and not by any special “bonus” because they are a minority. Affirmative action did a lot to quickly integrate the whites and blacks together in the workplace and in schools, but now qualified individuals get passed up because of self-imposed quotas, fearing the risk of negative reputations if their workforce doesn’t match the demographics of the nearby communities. Take the National Football League (NFL) as an example. They have the “Rooney Rule” on their books, where they must interview at least one minority for head coaching and football operations positions. It doesn’t matter if they’ve already decided on the hire ahead of time, making this minority a “token” interview rather than a serious candidate. Is that what King wanted? Of course not.

As far as hate crimes go, what is the point of having a two-tiered punishment scale just because the person happens to be a different race? Is it less of a crime if the two persons involved are of the same race? What is the difference between a white man killing a black man (or vice versa) and a white man killing another white man? The end result is someone dying. The punishment should be the same, since the law is suppose to be blind (hence the statue of Lady Justice holding a scale while wearing a blindfold).

These examples above just continue to the division between the races rather than bringing them together. Of course we will never reach a point where the two races are completely blind to the color of their skins (you will still have racist groups similar to the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers running around), but we will get to the point where organizations such as the NAACP cease to be relevant. Some of this will come about as the races continue to blend together through marriage and procreation, but the majority of the change will come from maturity.

I have a dream, Dr. King. I have a dream of a color-blind society before my life ends. My hope is that those who profess to act on your behalf share that dream (no matter their racial background).

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Political Blog Weekly: 15 January 2010

Jan 16, 2010 in Affirmative Action, Candidates, Diplomacy, Economy, Free speech, Health Care, Homeland Security, Political Blog Listing, Political Blog Weekly, War on Terror

Don’t miss out.  Share you views with the world by submitting your work at the Blog Carnival website.

Scott Brown

Leah L. Burton presents Rebiblican Candidate Watch UPDATE: January 8, 2010 posted at God’s Own Party?.

The author is covering three Republican candidates currently running in the 2010 elections:  John Tanner, Bradley Byrne, and Scott Brown.

DWSUWF presents Scott Brown in Massachusetts: Hope or Delusion? posted at Divided We Stand – United We Fall.

REMARKS:  Scott Brown is doing some very smart things. Challenging Massachusetts voters to rethink the notion that this senate seat is an entitlement of the Democratic Party was exactly the right thing to do. In addition, he is soft pedaling the commitment required by voters, noting there are only three years left in the term. Saying in effect – Just try it out for while. If you don’t like it you don’t have to buy. Very smart salesmanship – first deal with the
objection, then
make it easy to sign on the dotted line.

Related articles:
Political Lore – "Scott Brown May Actually Win Massachusetts"
The New Clarion – "A Symbolic Incident"

Terrorism in Detroit

TheWashingtonMistress presents Yemen bomber arrested for Euthanasia posted at THE WASHINGTON MISTRESS.

REMARKS: This is a satirical article about the underwear bomber from Yemen and his "desire to euthanize" Detroit.

Scott Spiegel presents Liberal Syntax: A Noun, a Verb, and a Bush Smear posted at Scott Spiegel.

Comparing the first years of Bush and Obama in regards to national security. Sites how Obama chose to ignore the lessons under Bush, and how that made it more probably for the Ft. Hood and Detroit incidents to happen.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Rudy "Noun and a Verb and a 9-11" Giuliani Loses His Mind posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

A poem about Rudy Giuliani’s comment about there being no domestic terrorist attacks in the United States under Bush.

Related articles:
Chicagoray’s Views and News – "Yemen al-Qaeda link to Guantanamo Bay prision (And how Libs Fought to Set Them Free?)"
Connecting.the.Dots – "Presidential Testosterone"

Contributing members:

If you wish to be a contributing member, please visit the Political Blog Listing for more information.

Economy

Nick Ottens presents Capitalism Under Persecution posted at Atlantic Sentinel.

REMARKS: Defenders of capitalism have become scarce and capitalism itself, a forgotten ideal.

Wenchypoo presents D-I-Y Economic Reform–Starving the Evil Piggies posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.

Ten ways for you (and the government) can save money by doing tasks yourself.  This is a good read with some common sense points.

Related articles:
QandO – "By George The Stimulus Worked!  We Say So!"
Cato @ Liberty – "America vs. Europe"
Liberal Values – "David Axelrod Compares Government Spending Under Democrats vs. Republicans"

Miscellaneous

Steven and Debra presents Government False-flag Operations and Operation Northwoods posted at The END TIMES Hoax.

REMARKS:  Could our very own government be the enemy?

Scott Spiegel presents Reid to African Americans: "I Come Too Far From Where I Started From" posted at Scott Spiegel.

Exploring Harry Reid’s racially sensitive comments about Obama during the 2008 campaign, and comparing it to what was said by Trent Lott.

gaston delesdandroux presents » Book Review: An American’s Story by Gaston Delesdandroux – Blogger News Network posted at Blogger News Network.

REMARKS:  Review of my book about my time in the US Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a Cryptographer reviewed by Simon Barret. The politics of the Vietnam War and the Cuban Crisis are detailed. FREE COPIES to give away of this eBook. Thank you for your consideration.

David presents Jay Leno Reportedly Returning to Tonight Show posted at HollyWood Celebrities.

Covering the Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno battle over the Tonight Show.

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Political Blog Weekly: 8 January 2010

Jan 09, 2010 in Abortion, Affirmative Action, Diplomacy, Economy, Feminism, Free speech, Health Care, Homeland Security, Immigration, Political Blog Listing, Political Blog Weekly, Political Parties, Religion, War on Terror, racism, transportation

Welcome to the first Political Blog Weekly of 2010.  After a two-month break, it is time to get back in touch to what those around the internet are saying this week.  If you wish to have your articles highlighted on the PBW, please visit the Blog Carnival website to submit your work.  

Foreign Policy

Anthony presents Islamization of Europe: Barack Obama’s Support of Turkey posted at sannyasa.

This article discusses the possibility of Turkey being added into the European Union.  Concerned about the sudden spike of Muslims into the EU by the addition of Turkey, as well as those migrating into the continent, he calls on European leaders to put a stop to the growing Islamic domination of the world.

Surbhi Bhatia presents America and The Muslim World posted at The Viewspaper.

The author discusses the issues facing the United States and the Middle East, including stereotypes, prejudice, and mistrust.  Highlighting Obama’s speech in Egypt last year, the author hopes that the two sides will work on changing their perceptions of each other and replace the ignorance with knowledge and peace.

Israel’s Financial Expert presents Israel’s Financial Expert: Ron Paul is NOT anti-Semitic posted at Israel’s Financial Expert.

Discussing an exchange between Ron Paul and Ben Stein, where Stein referred to Paul’s argument that the terrorists exist because we are occupiers as anti-Semitic.

Related articles:
Sic Semper Tyrannis – "Drift into Extremism: Immigrant Communities and Terrorism – Adam Silverman, Ph. D."
Chicagoray’s Views and News – "Muslim Threatens Jews Taken Off Flight..Why no hate crime?"
Just Politics..? – "How Obama Can Improve Airline Security"

Health Care Reform

Manuel presents Let?s talk Health Care eh? posted at Teen Conservative.

Highlighting the comments by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during his address before the California assembly last week.  Also addressing the lack of transparency by Reid and Pelosi over the committee hearings to combine the Senate and House bills.

Scott Spiegel presents The Democrats’ Tower of Babel posted at Scott Spiegel.

The author discusses how the House and Senate has to work to combine two very different bills together.  Both bills passed by slim majorities, so there is a chance that the combined bill will not pass in Congress.  

Related articles:
Vulcan’s Hammer – "Californians will foot the bill"
Open Congress – "Senate Bill Could Undermine the Ban on Pre-Existing Condition Discrimination, Progressives Say"
Cato @ Liberty – "Medicaid’s Cash Cab"

Contributing members:

If you wish to be a contributing member, please visit the Political Blog Listing for more information.

Partisanship

vjack presents Delegitimizing Obama posted at Atheist Revolution.

Exploring the practice by the Republicans to "delegitimize" President Obama by being obstructionists in the Congress.  Noting that there isn’t anything wrong with being obstructionists, the author thinks that the Republicans should offer more alternatives to improve the legislation coming from the Democrats.

Leah L. Burton presents From the Great Beyond? The World According to Palin posted at God’s Own Party?.

The author criticizes the way Sarah Palin has used her children to promote her own political agenda.  This includes her interference with her daughters custody battle over her grandchild.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Shameless Republicans On Christmas Attack posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.

MadKane shares with us a catchy little poem about the reaction by some Republicans over the failed Christmas Day bomb plot in Detroit.

Related articles:
QandO – "The National Political Scene"
Right Wing Nut House – "Sarah Palin as the Pivot for ‘New’ GOP"
Pambie – "Sucks"

Miscellaneous

Joe Manausa, MBA presents Three Keys To Selling A Home In 2010 posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog.

REMARKS:  If you want to sell your home, you need to understand what today’s homebuyer is doing so that you can attract the one that will eventually own your home. Fortunately, the National Association of REALTORS® just released its 2009 PROFILE OF HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS report, which is chock full of information that is invaluable to an active home seller.

Our lone non-political submission for the week (and the only one to leave remarks on his submission) discusses how the current housing market is flooded with homes waiting to be sold.  The author recommends that those who don’t need to sell their homes to wait until the current inventory sells off so the market can stabilize.  

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Harry Reid needs a history lesson

Dec 07, 2009 in Affirmative Action, Economy, Health Care, Political Parties, Scandal, Voting, racism

Reading through the news today, I cam across the following quotes from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, “slow down, stop everything, let’s start over.” If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said “slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.” When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn’t quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.”

There are four points that I want to cover with this: slavery, women, civil rights, and rush to action.

Slavery:  It is interesting that Reid starts his argument by saying “there were those who dug in their heels” in regards to recognizing the wrongs of slavery. He is trying to imply that it was the Republican’s who favored slavery and attempted to bar the abolishment of the practice. However, truth be told, it was the Democratic Party that supported the practice leading up to the Civil War. Democratic President James Buchanan sided with the Supreme Court on the Dred Scott Decision and the pro-slavery Southern Democrat movement pushed to expand slavery into the Kansas Territory. The anti-slavery camp, known as the newly-formed Republican Party, was bolstered by the support of Northern Democrats who were afraid of the surge of the Southern Democratic power, resulting in the sweeping victory of Abraham Lincoln in the Northern states in 1860.

Women:  This is another interesting reference point. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson endorsed the 19th Amendment on January 8th. On January 9th, the Republican-lead House of Representatives passed the Amendment, though the Democrat-led Senate delayed the vote until October, and then voted against it. It wasn’t until June 1919 that the Senate finally passed the Amendment, with the now Republican-led Senate passing the Amendment 56 to 25, with 75% of Republicans and 42% of Democrats voting in favor. So far, Reid is two-for-two with endorsements of the Republicans.

Civil Rights:  A century after the civil war, when the nation fought against itself over issues to include slavery, the nation found itself fighting over the equality of men, or in this case, blacks. While the North continued to be more favorable towards racial issues, the South continued the tradition of elevating one race over another. The tides were changing in the 1960s, however, and a strong movement was growing in Congress to outlaw segregation bring voting equality to all. In 1964, the Congress voted on the Civil Rights Act, passing with 70% or more in both Houses. The Southern Democrats fought against passage, but in the end 69% of Senate Democrats and 63% of House Democrats voted in favor of the Act. This was trumped by Republican support, with 82% of Senate Republicans and 80% of House Republicans voting in favor.

In the three examples cited by Reid, the Republicans are shown to be not only necessary for passing major legislation, but also led the cause. I doubt that Reid doesn’t know this history, so I can only guess that he was attempting to somehow cast their involvement in a negative light as to deflect the public attentions to this fact. But Reid makes one other error in his rant on the Senate floor. His constant repeating of “slow down, stop everything, let’s start over” mirrors the comments made by Congressional Democrats during the lead-up to the Iraq war. In fact, Senator John Kerry accused Bush of “rushing to war without a plan to win the peace.”

So, if Kerry was right that we should not rush into decisions, how can Reid be correct with his rush to a conclusion on the Health Care Reform debate? Maybe Reid is four-times wrong in one floor speech.

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Political Blog Weekly: 18 September 2009

Sep 19, 2009 in Abortion, Affirmative Action, Economy, Free speech, Health Care, Helping Hands, Immigration, Political Blog Listing, Political Blog Weekly, Religion, Scandal, Uncategorized, Voting

ACORN

ACORN, the community organizing group that has been the focus of criticism for over a year, faced a severe blow this week when the House and Senate both voted to cut off funding for the organization.  A series of undercover videos were released showing how ACORN employees were advising actors pretending to be a prostitute and her pimp on how to use government funds to setup an adult business.  Some view this sting as a payback for their efforts in helping President Obama
to win the election last year.  Others feel that it proves that the organization is corrupt.

The BoBo Files – "BoBo’s Predicition – Obama administration most corrupt in history"
Len Penzo – "Black Coffee: My Favorite Blogs, Money News & Opinions #13"
Cato @ Liberty – "Funding ACORN"
Open Congress – "House Passes a Major Student Loan Overhaul (and Votes to Defund ACORN)"
The New Clarion – "Whack-an-Altruist"
D-Day – "Senate Bashes ACORN"
Chicagoray’s Views and News – "Census Bureau KILLS ALL ties with ACORN in 2010 count (Video)" 

Racism

One of my largest pet-peeves is racism.  I have written about it in the past, each time with hesitation since the concept makes me angry.  What makes me even more angry, however, are those who cry wolf and accuse someone of being racist.  A perfect example of that was Representative Hank Johnson who claimed that Representative Joe Wilson’s "You lie" outburst was racist.  Racism is nothing to take lightly, and those that pass the term around really need
to step back and examine their words carefully.  It doesn’t matter if you a sitting Congressman, former President, or political blogger.  The more you claim to see racism where none exists, the more likely people are going to ignore it when it really does happen.

Just Politics..? – "Joe Wilson and the Son of Confederate Veterans"
Taxes, Stupidity, and Death – "Maybe The Reparations Are Being Allowed To Show Your Extraordinary Stupidity While You Make Ridiculous Charges of Racism"
Political Castaway Blog – "Calling Critics of Obama Racist is Patronizing to Obama"
Connecting.the.Dots – "Uncovering the Race Card-Reluctantly"
Divided We Stand – United We Fall – "Racism increases 67% since January"
QandO – "Imagining Racism At Every Turn" 

Contributing members:

If you wish to be a contributing member, please visit the Political Blog Listing for more information.

DC Protests

On Saturday, we witnessed the largest single protest to date during the Obama administration.  Thousands of people who were upset at the record-level of spending over the past year, upset with the Health Care Reform proposals coming out of Congress, as well as those who just do not like the President filled the National Mall for hours calling on the government to change directions.  Though there were a few individuals carry hateful signs, the crowd remained peaceful
and civil.  I thought about taking a trip into DC to blog the event with one of our fellow bloggers, but things didn’t quite work out.  Maybe the next protest.

Political Lore – "9-12 Protest: Can You Hear Us Now?"
Political Castaway Blog – "Tea Party 9/12"
QandO – "Whistling Past The Graveyard"
The New Clarion – "The Start of Something Big"
Liberal Values – "Right Wing Craziness: Something Old or Something New?"
A Soldier’s Perspective – "Tea Party Post Show"
Right Wing Nut House – "Debate Over Tea Party Protest Numbers Masks the Real History Made"
Disillusioned Words – "Conservatives Make Me Smile"
Chicagoray’s Views and News – "Calling all Politico’s – Thousands Rally in Capital to Protest Big Government"

Health Care

Health Care Reform seems to be the theme of the Summer.  With the release of the Baucus Plan, Congressmen on both sides of the aisle (some who were hoping that this plan would bring both parties together) came out against the long-awaited bill.  This failure to gain bipartisanship support for reform has pushed those in favor of reform at any cost to tell the Democrats to proceed on their own.  This debate, in my opinion, has left the realm of logical to emotional, and
as such, it will not end nicely.  IF a bill is passed and signed this year, I will be surprised.  

First Door on the Left – "Single payer health care"
D-Day – "Rockefeller And Wyden: Senate Finance Holdouts"
Liberal Values – "Right Wing Uses Video Out Of Context To Attack Obama on Health Care Reform"
Open Congress – "Another Immigration Roadblock for Health Care Reform"
Talking With Americans – "Immigration and Health Care Collide"
A Disgruntled Republican – "Was Joe Wilson Right? Will illegal Immigrants be covered under Obamacare?"
 

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