Election Reflection

Well, not so much my reflection, but some interesting ones I've seen on the web in the past few days:

Why would someone want to be President of the United States? With all of the pressure and criticism that comes with the job, don't you think you'd have to be a little nuts to want the job? The New York Times explored what kind of psyche pursues the presidency.

The Mindset in the Middle of the Storm

It has been an amazing election year. The following story looks back at this historic election, and peeks ahead just a bit.

The Year of Living on the Edge of Our Seats

Immigrants who are now American citizens are motivated voters. How will their participation impact the election? Politico.com did a good story on them:
Immigrants the new face of 'real America' - Gebe Martinez - Politico.com

Coverage of "Race and the Election" has interesting stories from MSNBC looking at how this election (and a possible Obama victory) could impact the issue of race in America.

Who is still undecided, and why, after all the election coverage are they still undecided? The New York Times takes a look in:
The Undecided Few, Perplexed or Indifferent - NYTimes.com

How are the groups attending McCain rallies different from those attending Obama rallies?
At Rallies of Faithful, Contrasts in Red and Blue - NYTimes.com

Should ministers have the freedom to encourage their parishioners to vote for one candidate or another? Is it protected by freedom of expression, or should such ministers have their tax-exept status taken away? NPR looked at the issue:
Political Endorsement From The Pulpit : NPR

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

Will the Media Please Tell Me What to Think About the Debate I Watched Last Night?

Both campaigns know it is important to tell American voters what to think about the debate they did (or did not) watch last night. As the New York Times notes, there is:

a common belief in presidential politics: That many viewers base their judgment not necessarily on debate performance but on what they read and see in the days
afterward.

So, hopefully lots of people will think for themselves, and not let the pundits or the campaigns do it for them.

However, if you are a political junkie like me, you know that how people perceived the debate will some effect on the outcome of the race, so I've been watching the analysis appearing in the media closely.

A sampling of some of the analysis from the media:
The Next Day, a New Debate on Who Won NYTimes

Analysts: No Game-Changer in First Debate - ABC News

Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says - CNN

Analysis: Split decision, but John McCain wins first debate on points - NY Daily News

John McCain: Four More Years of 'You Just Don't Understand"? - Huffington Post

BBC NEWS Americas First presidential debate scorecard - A view from across the pond.

Debate Time!

Well the debate is about to start - I'm very excited about it! I think Barack Obama will win over a lot of undecided voters tonight. McCain has spent the week contradicting himself, and laying the groundwork for Obama to hammer home the point about McCain not having the judgement and temperment to be president.

Let's see how it turns out...

Iranian President: 'American empire' nearing its end - CNN.com

Ahmadinejad: 'American empire' nearing its end - CNN.com

U.S. Abortion Rate at 30-Year Low

Interesting trend. Interesting results. Among other things, these results suggest that reducing the number of abortions may be linked to helping people out of poverty and distressed economic situations.

U.S. Abortion Rate at 30-Year Low - US News and World Report

Did Palin support 'Bridge to Nowhere?' - CNN.com

Did Palin support 'Bridge to Nowhere?'

Yeah, she pretty much did.

Did she tell Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks" as she said in her acceptance speech?

Not really. She kept repeating the story though.

Look hard America, and remember what Thomas Jefferson once said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free . . . it expects what never was and never will be."

Initiative 1000 would let patients get help ending their lives | Seattle Times Newspaper

It is called many things: "physician-assisted suicide", "death with dignity", and others. Regardless of what it is called, the law in Oregon that lets doctors prescribe lethal doses of drugs to patients that are terminally ill and wish to end their lives before enduring a long and painful illness, has created a lot of controversy. This November Washington State voters will have the opportunity to vote on a law very similar to Oregon's assisted suicide law.

It is also an excellent case study in conflicting constitutional values. Does a limited government have the right to tell a terminally ill person how they should or should not end their lives? Should inidivdual rights win out over concerns about promoting a "culture of life" and preventing possible abuses of the law by greedy relatives that stand to inherit money? Or is opposing this law what would further the common good?

The Seattle Times did an excellent job of reporting on this initiative in their Sunday paper. Check it out.

Initiative 1000 would let patients get help ending their lives Seattle Times Newspaper

Taxpayers may spend $1 trillion in bailout

Wow! This plan, if enacted, will probably be the largest government intervention in the American economy since the Great Depression. It will certainly be the most expensive in our history. Why is the government considering such action? What is this crisis all about?

The plan proposed by President Bush and backed by many in Congress will give the Treasury Department the authority to spend something in the neighborhood of $700 billion dollars to buy up crappy investments and loans from Wall Street companies that are on the brink of collapse. Basically, these investment companies screwed up, and now the government (and the taxpayers!) are being asked to bail them out. The bad investments made by private individuals and corporations will then be owned by the U.S. government. (That is all of us!)

Why would we do such a thing?

Well, the warnings from D.C. are that the effects of all these companies failing would greatly damage the entire economy, especially the ability to get credit and loans. This would lead to a stronger recession, less jobs, and hurt the nation as a whole. Basically, they say they are acting to promote the common welfare to prevent an economic collapse.

The government has intervened in the economy before, especially during the Great Depression and during the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980's. (Remember FDR's bank holiday, and the creation of the National Recovery Agency?)

The problem is that this will be very expensive and no one is really sure how it will work out. It might save us from economic disaster or it could wind up fueling inflation and creating an even larger debt so that the things the Presidential candidates are promising to do might not happen. There will be a lot less money for the government to spend, if this plan is approved by Congress.

And there are fundamental Constitutional questions as well. Should Congress give this much power to the Treasury Department (Executive Branch)? Is this something the Framers of our Constitution would have envisioned the federal government doing? Both left-wing and right-wing commentators have criticized this plan over some of these questions.

Here is a video and some articles you may find helpful:

Taxpayers may spend $1 trillion in bailout - Seattle Times Newspaper

Depressingly familiar: Uncle Sam to the rescue
The stock market plummets, investors pull out money and loans dry up, triggering global financial turmoil. Enter the government, buying...

Policymakers: Congress Must Move Quickly to Avert Damage
Lawmakers Remain Deeply Skeptical of Financial Rescue Plan

Criticism and controversy:
Treasury chief Paulson on verge of historic new powers
The administration's bailout plan would make him temporary overseer of the US financial system.

Cash for Trash - by Paul Krugman
Some skeptics are calling Henry Paulson’s $700 billion rescue plan for the U.S. financial system “cash for trash.” Everyone agrees that something major must be done. But Mr. Paulson is demanding extraordinary power for himself — and for his successor — to deploy taxpayers’ money on behalf of a plan that, as far as I can see, doesn’t make sense.

Senator Chris Dodd: “After reading this proposal, I can only conclude that it is not only our economy that is at risk, Mr. Secretary, but our Constitution, as well.”

Conservatives: 'Take a breath' before passing bailout - CNN

Bailout could boost inflation, sink dollar
Oil and gold surged Monday as investors worried that huge new debts will harm US Treasury's credit standing.

Gregoire, Rossi far apart on social issues | Seattle Times Newspaper

We have a definate choice this year in the Governor's race:

Gregoire, Rossi far apart on social issues Seattle Times Newspaper

In a More Diverse America, A Mostly White Convention - washingtonpost.com

From the Washington Post: In a More Diverse America, A Mostly White Convention - washingtonpost.com

Palin’s Start in Alaska - Not Politics as Usual - NYTimes.com

From National Public Radio:

Assessing Palin's Reformist Record - From NPR: · Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin begins her vice presidential campaign as a self-proclaimed reformer. But as a mayor and as
governor, she defended the pork brought home by Alaska's congressional delegation, and even hired a lobbyist to get more. - Listen to this report - it shows how misleading parts of her speech were.

Palin’s Start in Alaska - Not Politics as Usual - NYTimes.com

Mayor Palin: A Rough Record

And Then There Was One - Thomas Friedman

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Penalty