Obama's Candidacy Angers, Excites Hate Groups : NPR

Have you heard about the skinhead, Neo-Nazi, white supremacists that were arrested for plotting to kill 88 at a predominately black school, and then try to kill Obama as their finale? It is scary that there are nuts out there with guns who want to kill people because of the color of their skin.

In 2008.

I don't get it.

There was also a kid at a gun show that shot himself this past week, and singer/actress Jennifer Hudson had four family members killed by gunmen in Chicago. It makes you wonder about gun controal and the Second Amendment.

The First Amendment protects even stupid and hateful expression up until the point a crime is commited. When these people are arrested, they must still be given due process rights. And, of course, as a part of the police power of government, we need to prevent murders.

The secret service did a good job on this and other threats Obama has faced. It does bring up the issue of whether the hate groups out there are benefiting from Obama's success. You can read or listen to a fascinating story by NPR at:

Obama's Candidacy Angers, Excites Hate Groups : NPR

Is it time to scrap the Electoral College? - Decision '08- msnbc.com

Is it time to scrap the Electoral College? - Decision '08- msnbc.com

I would love to have us change to a system of popular vote for the President, and I'm shocked that it didn't happen after the 2000 election. If the popular vote determined the presidency, Al Gore would have been the President, receiving over a 1/2 million votes than George W. Bush.

Unfortunately, there are many interests in the nation that benefit from the Electoral College: small states, rural voters, and the Republican Party.

The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that presidential elections only happen every four years, and people forget about the issue as more urgent matters deserve the government's attention. But, taking a chance on a someone becoming president that doesn't have the support of a majority of the voters is a big problem.

I wish there were more pressure on our government to change the Electoral College.

Justices’ Ruling on Guns Faces Attacks, From the Right

One of the big cases from the Supreme Court's last term was District of Columbia v. Heller. It was the big gun rights case. Apparently some of the more conservative judges are saying they think the court made a poor decision. It was a 5-4 vote, and there was an article about it in today's New York Times.

Justices’ Ruling on Guns Faces Attacks, From the Right - NYTimes.com

Muslims Are Americans Too

I've been waiting desparately for someone of stature in this campaign to say what Colin Powell said Sunday morning.

Thank you General Powell, for reminding not only your party, but all of America, what this country is all about.

THE DAILY BANTER.COM: Muslims Are Americans Too: "As Colin Powell poignantly pointed out, Arab Muslims have served America just like every other racial, religious and ethnic minority. It is a crying shame anyone needs to point this out."

This is a 7 minute clip from Meet the Press. He addresses the "Muslims are Americans" issue somewhere after the half-way point.

Shame on University of Texas!

This is totally ridiculous! And, students wanting to hang pro-Republican signs can't either.

Something is seriously wrong in Texas!

Texas students punished for Obama signs
University says it has a policy against political signs in dorm windows

Why Habeas Corpus is so important

I just got home from work and read this article about 17 Guantanamo Bay prisoners finally being released after 6 years. They did nothing wrong, but were turned in (sold out) by Pakistanis that wanted the $5,000 bounty the U.S. government was offering.

So now, after last year's Boumediene v. Bush decision, they had the right to make a habeas corpus appeal to a U.S. judge, and the judge ordered them to be released.

Unfortunately for these folks, the Justice Department wants a "stay" in the ruling (keeping them imprisoned) in a separation of powers argument. They say the judicial branch doesn't have the authority to tell the government to settle these 17 people in the United States.

Check it out:

Federal Judge Orders Release of Chinese Muslims

The Supreme Court is Now in Session!

The Roberts Court is back at work as of today, the first Monday in October, which is the day the Court is required to begin hearing cases again after a summer break that began in late June. Some interesting cases and decisions are already coming down from the court:

High court refuses to hear racial profiling case csmonitor.com
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a man who was kicked off an American Airlines jetliner in Boston because a flight attendant thought he looked like a Middle Eastern terrorist.

This doesn't seem right to me. The guy was clearly treated very badly by the airline, and won his case, only to have it overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

High court case: If harassed workers talk, can they be fired?
A Tennessee woman lost her job after she cooperated in a company investigation.

Let me be clear - I'm against the death penalty, and I am not in favor of this man being executed. However, I can certainly see why the Court refused to hear this case. It seems like a real stretch to say that one's fair trial rights were violated because of a bible reading in the jury deliberation room. Maybe there are some details I'm missing here, but it sounds like they were standing on pretty shakey legal ground when the defendant filed this suit.

Supreme Court lets stand death sentence after Bible reading
A death-row inmate claimed the jury foreman violated his fair-trial rights by reading out loud from Romans.

Finally, from a few days ago, the Court refused to reconsider a controversial ruling from last term:
Court Won't Reconsider Ban on Execution for Child Rape
The Supreme Court yesterday declined to revisit its June decision that imposing the death penalty on child-rapists is unconstitutional, although two justices said they would have reopened the case and two others sharply criticized the majority.

Justices Return to Work, With Less Meaty Docket - NYTimes.com

The Supreme Court has been on summer break since the end of June. However, the Supreme Court begins its new term every year on the first Monday of October - That's tomorrow!

Read about what cases are on on the court's docket here:

Justices Return to Work, With Less Meaty Docket - NYTimes.com

FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate

This organization does a great job of researching the claims made by candidates running for office. Click below to see the run-down of misinformation that was aired during the V.P. debate last night.

FactCheck.org: FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate