Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections

Nearly 7 years after Indiana passed a law that requires people voting in person to provide a form of identification, the US is in the middle of a prolonged debate over voter ID laws.

The Democrats say making people show an ID at the polls amounts to an insurmountable poll tax that is designed not to prevent voter fraud but instead to prevent the poor minorities from voting. Lets look at this logically for a second I have to show an ID to purchase a gun, which is also a right guaranteed to me in the constitution, but that is not deemed unconstitutional. Now I know that I am going to be accused of taking the argument to extreme ends to try to make a point. I, however, believe that this is not an extreme position. The constitution does not rank our rights, no right is more or less important than another. So why can the government place restrictions on my right to own a firearm but when a state wants to ensure fair and proper elections is is called racist?

Because that is what the Democratic Party does, if your policy disagrees with one off there then you are a racist or sexist. I do not want to pay higher insurance premiums so that others can get birth control free. I have been told that this position makes me sexist and takes the woman's rights movement back 100 years. But keep in mind if a insurance company is required to provide a service to all people even though only a few will use the service we all have to pay for it. It's is basic economics, read Mancur Olson's writings on interest groups for a complete explanation.

Now back to the issue at hand. The Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws do not violate the constitution. In Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections the court ruled that the state has an inherent right to protect the sanctity of their elections and that requiring voters to show ID was not an considered to be a poll tax.

I call for every state in the union to pass similar laws to that of Indiana and to continue ton clear the voter roles of deceased persons and persons who no longer live in their states

The General Assembly

In the coming week the UN General Assembly will be meeting in New York. The UN will be meeting just two weeks after the 9/11 attacks on the US embassies and during the session they will be having a meeting on religious freedom. With the uproar caused throughout the Middle East over a supposed video that cast Mohammed in a bad light, will the UN look to ban all speech against Islam? Islam forbids anyone to make an image of any prophet, so this video offends the masses and the Muslim extremist use it as cover to spread their anti-western hate and violence.

Now back to the UN. On the 27 of September the UN will hold a high level meeting on religious freedom. I am concerned that the freedom of religion the UN is likely to side with is the right of the Muslims to be offended by someone's right to free speech. I look to see the UN try to outlaw any speech that is designed to inflame Muslims. So what does it matter to the US what the UN does? If the US doesn't sign then there is no problem however lets look at this logically because I believe the President will sign as a move of goodwill to appease the Muslim world.

- The US would sign it as the President knows the Senate would never ratify a treaty that limits freedom of speech. Once the treaty is rejected by the Senate, the US would not be bound by it within the US. However the rest of the world would treat US citizens as if it had been ratified because the US signed it. This would allow Muslims to hold Americans accountable for exercising their freedom of speech. So what sounds like a goodwill gesture will eventually limit our freedom of speech as Americans.

I know I sound very conspiracy theorist but that is my concern.

 

The More Things Change...

This week in Congress the Republican majority is pushing an ill-conceived attempt to pass a repeal of Obamacare. I know this is a time honored tradition of the majority in Congress, no matter which party is in control of that particular session. Wasting taxpayers time and money to pass bills and resolutions that have absolutely zero chance of being addressed by the Senate.

This is what I see as one of the major problems with the hyper-partisan politics. There are many pressing issues that are silently waiting in the corners of Congress just waiting to be addresses. Issues such as unemployment, how to get the US out of Afghanistan with dignity, voter ID laws, meaningful immigration reform and of course passing a budget that stands a chance of getting signed by the President. However, during an election year, Congress would rather spin there wheels making some grand gesture rather than doing something that helps pull the country out of the economic hell we are currently in.

I do not need grand gestures made by Congress. What I need is a Congress who is willing to work on both sides of the aisle to tackle the pressing issues of our time.

Most of the 2010 Republicans won their seats because they were Washington outsiders but are they really? If they are outsiders they sure have learned a lot from Pelosi and the Democrats when they last controlled Congress. We have, for far too long, gone without a Congress who is willing to put party loyalty behind what is good for the citizens of the US.

Chen Guangcheng and Junior Seau

     What a day today has been. First off living in San Diego the entire city was crushed at the sad news of Junior Seau’s death. My condolences go out to the entire Seau family.

     Today started with exciting news for anyone who follows US foreign policy. In China, a dissident made a harrowing escape from his house arrest, where he had been a prisoner since 2010 and was smuggled into the US Embassy seeking help from the US. This happened in the middle of Secretary of State Clinton’s visit to China.

     Clinton has long been a critic of the harsh treatment doled out to vocal opponents of the Chinese regime.

     Chen Guangcheng, the blind dissident, had been imprisoned for speaking out against the forced abortions and the one-child rule in China.

     The Drama started once Chen Guangcheng had arrived at the US Embassy. Chen had a seriously injured one of his legs (possibly a broken leg) do to his escape from his house arrest. According to reports, once Chen arrived, there were some negotiations between the US and China to see if Chen and his family would be allowed to leave. However, once that avenue had broken down the US wanted to and received assurances from the Chinese government that Chen and his family would not be harmed if they were to stay in China.  The embassy then arranged for Chen to go to a local hospital for treatment. At least that is what was reported.

     Once out of the control of the US Chen reported, through the twitter account @zengjinyan, that he was forced to stay in China in order to protect his family. The reports he was receiving was that his family could be beaten to death.

     So these are my questions to the Obama administration, how can we take the word of a government one the safety of Chen and his family when that same government threatens to brutally kill the family of a man who speaks out against a government policy? And will you apologize to the Chinese government for the US interfering with a Chinese domestic issue?  

     China has had so many human rights violations of the last 30 years that it would be nearly impossible to count, but the US will believe them when they say we wont do anything this time. If Chen or his family is harmed the blood will not easily wash off the hands of the Obama administration.

Justice or Vengeance

This Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman issue gets more ridiculous by the day.
 
The story as I know it is this, Zimmerman followed Martin ,who was on his way to the store, because he fit the profile of kids that have been conducting illegal activities in the neighborhood (young and black, yes there was some profiling involved). There was a confrontation, my guess is that Zimmerman started the confrontation, at some point the verbal confrontation turned into a fight where Martin got the upper hand and was on top of Zimmerman beating him. At this point, Zimmerman pulled his weapon and shot Martin. A very tragic and all together preventable ending to a young life.

There was an initial investigation where Zimmerman was cleared of all charges by the local police force. This is when the media got involved,(my guess is because it was good for ratings) and a national outrage caused a second investigation that quickly turned in a charge of second degree murder. Leaders of the black community have taken a tragic event and have used it to divide the country along racial lines, again. 20 years after the Rodney King verdict and the LA riots, leaders of the black community are stoking the fires of racism yet again. Enter AL Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and the New Black Panther Party.

The New Black Panthers have put a bounty on Zimmerman worth $10,000. (I want to ask the DOJ where this investigation is at?) A simple search on Twitter shows how many people are bent on getting revenge not on getting justice. @YunSav919 posted “FUCK GEORGE ZIMMERMAN!!! SOMEBODY BOUND TO MURK THAT ASS CUHH,” I’m not up on the twitter slang but I’m pretty sure this is not an invitation to dinner. @thekenmarigroup posted “Twitter lynch mob: George Zimmerman is out on bail? Let’s kill him…”, @KushAndCharlie posted, “Imma Kill George Zimmerman Bruh.. And See How His FaMily like It. #Tizzle”, and @Its_Trenee_o07 posted “So If I Go Kill George Zimmerman & Say he Attacked Me I Only fet About 4 Days Of Jail..?? Welp Whoo Tryna Go To Florida Eith Mee..??” Some of this I would imagine is hyperbole but there have already been revenge attacks and there will be more with people inciting this type of hate and violence.

Hate, not justice, is the overwhelming response to George Zimmerman getting out on bail. Someone getting out on bail on a second-degree murder charge in not an uncommon event at all and it is not just because he shot a black guy. It is part of the system get over it.

My biggest problem is that the public forced the hand of the investigators to file charges. What do people really believe the outcome is going to be? Will Zimmerman get a fair trial or will it will be another Casey Anthony verdict, not guilty because of lack of evidence and a prosecutor over charging. Then will there be another LA Riot?

Don’t get me wrong if Zimmerman acted recklessly, and it can be proved in court, he needs to be punished and punished at the max extent of the law. However, so do the people who are putting up bounties and threatening to kill him. Assault, murder for hire, and inciting riots are serious charges and people who commit these crimes should be charged.

We as a nation should be worried about Justice and not Vengeance.