Tuesday, October 17th, 2006

Conservative Hypocricy
(No brainer, right?) The conservatives, or Republicans, say they are opposed to homosexuality and very much in favor of God and Faith and Christianity. And yet, it is more or less accepted in DC that there are many gay staffers, gay administrators, and no one has a problem with that. They are not being outted, and the ones who are already out are not being fired, dismissed, sanctioned, or in any way treated differently. But the message remains: homos bad. And the message: Christians good, is being touted by the same people who roll their eyes at the various pastors and other church officials with whom they have to deal on a regular basis. This is not just heresay: more than one major periodical has reported on the ridicule and disdain with which these "loonies" are treated behind their backs. This should be not surprising to anyone. The current herd of Republican politicians have become experts at "message" at the cost of having almost no leadership skills whatsoever. For them, the office is a prize for winning the best campaign competition and is in no wise a duty.

Republicans Throwing in a Few Towels
Word on the street is Republicans are giving up on Mike DeWine's race for the senate in Ohio, as he is polling too far behind his opponent, Sherrod Brown. Of course, Mike's got a lot of his own money left, so let's not count that chicken just yet. But I also heard a rumor they're abandoning Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, and with the few weeks remaining will focus on trying to keep Missouri, Virginia, or Tennessee. Missouri is where the real battle is going to be; Virginia is still being rocked by George Allen's racist past. But, again, don't get too comfy-- Republicans might go after New Jersey, since incumbent Democrat Robert Mendendez looks shaky. Let's not hope too shaky.

Don't Push It, Citizens
Some lady in Georgia is suing her county. It seems she was driving along one day and got a ticket for having an obscene bumper sticker, which read "I'm Tired of All the BUSH**." I don't know if the asterisks where on the bumper sticker or if the article was just too shy to spell it out. At any rate, a judge tossed the ticket, since the law which enforces "lewd decals" was ruled unconstitutional in 1990. And that should be the end of it. But she's suing for emotional distress, and she's suing the police officer who gave her the ticket too. I hope she loses. Because I want people to trust in how the law works, and how the constitution works. Justice was served, and that's all we should ever ask for in this country. Suing like this just spoils the victory, gets people fed up, which becomes apathy, which is a gateway to abusive legislation being passed.

Another Potential Scandal
Please note that it is only potential, and is fairly minor. A Republican representative, Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, is under investigation, to discover if he helped his daughter's business obtain lucrative lobbying contracts. The FBI has searched her home and the home of one of his associates. Of course, Curt is claiming the investigation is politically motivated, as he only found out about it a few weeks before the elections. He said. But then he also pointed out that a house ethics committee asked him about this in 2004. Which is it, Curt? Maybe it is politically motivated-- he's in a tight race with a former Clinton aide and 3-star admiral, Joe Sestak. Maybe the Republicans are doing it, because they'd rather have ex-military working with vote-trader Murtha than Weldon, who has not always toed the Bush war-loving line. Who knows. It's all in the potentials stages right now.

Real Quick: Missourians Get to Vote
A new law in Missouri requiring photo ID at the polls was struck down by the state supreme court. This is good news, because that means more people will be able to vote and high voter turn out will be essential if Claire McCaskill has any chance over incumbent Republican Jim Talent. And remember, Missouri is one of the Republican "must hold" seats for retention of the majority.