Day: April 13, 2010

Growing Concern About April 19! The Danger Of Domestic Terrorism And Anarchy!

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Monday, April 19, is a day looked to as one of growing concern about the possibility of violence.

The day marks the anniversary of two events, one inspiring, and one depressing!

April 19, 1775, marks the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution.

April 19, 1995, marks the horror of the terrorist and anarchistic attack on the Oklahoma City Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh, who was inspired by anti government militia groups. The worst domestic terrorist attack in US History killed 168 and wounded a thousand other citizens!

Now there is a call by militia groups and the Tea Party Movement for their followers to mass in Arlington, Virginia, right outside the city of Washington, DC, fully equipped with their guns and other weapons to reassert their rights to the Second Amendment!

There is also a planned demonstration in the government area of the US Capitol, unarmed, but making a strong assertion of the rights of the people to bear arms, and to oppose federal government action on health care and other issues that these elements claim is unconstitutional interference with personal civil liberties and states rights.

The hope is that there will be no violent confrontations, but the whole atmosphere of defiance being encouraged by many members of the Republican party and conservative talks shows could very well create an incendiary situation that might lead to the danger of some event similar to Oklahoma City!

When some irresponsible elements talk about “revolution”, it presents a terrifying scenario of possible anarchy and lawlessness. The federal government must not bend to this blackmail and threats, as these extremists represent a far greater threat to all of us than anything the US government does!

We were created as one nation, and we cannot allow any secessionists or right wing militia groups to destroy this nation that has, over time, improved and promoted equal opportunity, freedom and equality! These extremist groups do not have the welfare of the American people in mind, but rather their own aggrandizement! 🙁

Mike Huckabee, Gay Marriage And Gay Rights

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Fox News Channel talk show host, and former candidate for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, has stirred up a storm with his recent comments on gay marriage and gay rights.

Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, compared gay marriage to incest, drug addiction, and polygamy! Just because some people believe in these things, he says, does not mean society has to accept it!

Gay rights and marriage is becoming more accepted, particularly among younger people, and for a possible presidential candidate to be so blunt in his attack on this issue is bound to cause a lot of turmoil. It is not appropriate to compare gay marriage to the other issues that Huckabee mentions!

This issue is seen by its supporters as an issue of civil rights, and Huckabee now sounds like a bigot, as he also opposes gay adoptions, and has also come out in the past against civil unions. He says the gay lifestyle is outside the “ideal”. He also has said in the past that a man and his pet or multiple partners should not be considered allowable, comparing it to gay relationships. He also has been against gays serving openly in the military, and being foster parents.

Somehow, most of the European democracies, Canada, Australia, and Israel have managed to adjust to gays being part of society, and certainly have gone further on gay rights. It is tragic that this issue has to divide this nation, as while any individual certainly can hold whatever beliefs he wants to, discrimination should not be allowed just because some people have trouble accepting change!

Four Moderate Republicans And Unemployment Compensation Extension Support!

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The Republican Party has been extremely negative on anything Barack Obama wants to do, and the multiple delays in extension of unemployment compensation, held up by the infamous Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, and now Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, is finally over!

We are in the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and these senators, and others, who had no problem funding the two wars we are in, and the Medicare prescription Part D plan of George W. Bush, without figuring out how to pay for it, have now been overcome by cooperation of four colleagues, all of whom should have backed the Health Care reform legislation, but failed to do that!

But at least now there are signs of cooperation by these four moderates–Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and George Voinovich of Ohio.

The extension of unemployment benefits was won by a 60-34 vote, enough to stop any further attempt at a filibuster.

It is also encouraging to see Scott Brown, who accepted Tea Party support during his campaign to fill Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, now fail to find time to go to a Tea Party event in Boston starring Sarah Palin. It seems that Brown is trying to separate himself from any association with Palin, certainly a smart move if he hopes to win reelection in 2012 when he will likely have to face a Kennedy family member challenging him for a full Senate term.

The hope is that these four senators, and a few others in the Republican party, will now back the Obama Administration on climate change and financial reform legislation coming up for consideration soon.

The best way to get things done is to promote bipartisanship, so let us applaud these four moderates for finally acting statesmanlike, instead of just territorially staying loyal to their party when it makes no sense!

What We Should Celebrate About Thomas Jefferson On His 267th Birthday!

Ronald 2 Comments

Today, April 13, is the 267th Birthday of Thomas Jefferson, our most brilliant President, and one of the greatest of all the Founding Fathers!

This is the man who wrote the primary draft of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which promoted his basic principle of separation of church and state.

This is the man who helped to found a political party opposition, the Democratic Republicans, in the 1790s.

This is the man who promoted a philosophy called “liberal” at the time, but is now seen as “conservatism”–limited national government and strict interpretation of the Constitution. However, as President, he abandoned much of this concept and endorsed Alexander Hamilton’s stronger national government and broad interpretation of the Constitution!

This is the man who served as Governor of Virginia, Ambassador to France, Secretary of State, Vice President, and President (1801-1809), and doubled our land via the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from Napoleon’s France.

This is the man who kept us at peace when he realized that we could not defeat the nation he had long despised, Great Britain. I am referring to the Chesapeake Affair.

This is also the man who owned slaves, and was always a maze of contradictions, which has made interpreting him extremely difficult. One can both agree and disagree with what he said and did.

But what one cannot do, legitimately, is decide to write Thomas Jefferson out of the textbooks of history, or to knock him down to a minor role in American history, which unfortunately, is what the Texas Board of Education has been doing in its once a decade review of what should be taught and emphasized in the publication of new textbooks for students. It is a disgraceful distortion of history, and really promoting lies and myths, to deny the greatness of our third President!

We must continue to honor the man whose memorial stands proudly on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC! While not perfect by any means, there is no debate that Thomas Jefferson was a GREAT man who deserves our respect and consideration as a major factor in American history!