Brian Baldowski
“No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
These are the qualifications set out in the constitution regarding who can be President.
Okay, I have heard enough from commentators who are claiming the tax day tea parties were racist. The claim is that conservatives and whites participated in the parties because they are trying to destroy a black president. The facts are, there have been several of these tea parties in the past. They were better organized and publicized this year though. One thing the conservatives in this country can do is learn from their opponents. The anti-immigration rallies that were very organized the last couple of years taught conservatives they need as much organization to get their message out. That is were the publicity for the events came from. The idea that a person who stands up for their constitutional rights and freedom are racists is repugnant and absurd.
I am curious about James Clyburn’s assertion that southern governors who refuse stimulus money are harming black people. Why did he single out southern governors? I know there is a history of racism in all the states that he named. It is well documented. But, the four states he mentioned, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, are not the only ones thinking about rejecting the stimulus money. So why these states? It is because of the history of racism. There is an assumption that all white southerners are racist.
I have been accused of racism solely because I am from Georgia and am white. I know I will never understand what blacks have gone through in many cases, but an accusation against me, by someone who doesn’t know me, is just as harmful. From an early age I have been taught to respect all people. It has been emphasized in my family because I do have family members who are not as tolerant. Many of them have changed, but some have not. Because of these elements in my family, my father and mother have taught me not to judge. I try not to judge also. It does become hard when people do accuse me of racism solely because of the place I was born. I begin to wonder what the fight is for when some blacks only see my heritage not me.
There has been a phrase “The New South” used to describe the increased industrialization of Southern states. But, it also means there are new people with new ways to see race, mostly not to see race. I am from this generation. I chose to continue to fight against bigotry. I chose not to let cynicism come into my heart because of peoples prejudice against me. I chose, none else, me. My only wish is that others will join me and begin to drown out the old way of thinking. Looking forward is much better than looking back. I believe Martin Luther King would agree today that his proclamation of “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I’m free at last.” should apply not only to equality of the races but also the unshackling from past thought processes and stepping forward to a new way where all people are free from racist beliefs. A place where it is just as wrong to stereotype whites a it is to stereotype blacks or asians or hispanics. Let us free our minds so we can free ourselves and this nation.
Now we begin the administration of President Obama. I hope he is able to bring about the good many people believe he will. I am worried though that he will only make this country worse and reduce our opportunities instead of increasing them. I really hope I’m wrong. We shall see in a year’s time.
Since Kay Hagan won her Senate race, she has dropped her lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole. She claims it would be a distraction and a reminder of a bitter campaign best forgotten. It may be the cynic in me, but I wonder if she had lost the race would she still have dropped the lawsuit? It would be to the Democrats advantage to keep Dole otherwise occupied if she had won. I doubt she would have dropped the suit. Just my opinion, I could be wrong. Anyone who knows Hagan and wants to respond, let me know.
I just watched this documentary in the Environmental Science class. It is fast paced, fairly entertaining documentary. There are many flaws though. One of the biggest is the environmental movements belief that businesses should develop eco-friendly products solely because it is morally right to do. They seem to ignore the purpose of business, to make money for its investors. If the product that is desired is unprofitable, the business will not produce the product.
In this movie the focus is General Motors EV1 and California attempt to force zero emission cars onto the road. It failed. The makersrs of the documentary put the major blame for this failure on GM and their desire to make money, as though it is evil to make money. They also blame the Bush administration, consumers, and the oil business. They fail to point out the weaknesses in their products. They tout the abilities of the car, which are impressive, but ignore the fact that the batteries take several hours to charge and then you can go only 60 miles to the charge, although better batteries have been created that allow for longer travel times. They do point out the “greed” of the industries involved. They assume that GM killed the EV1 solely because they didn’t want it to compete against their other products, even though, GM had done studies of the profitability of the EV1 and showed it would not be profitable in the long run. Since GM is in the business to make money, why would they produce a product that would lose money?
As far as consumers, they blame them for having too high expectations for the car. The consumers would be willing to buy the EV1 if it performed as well as their internal combustion engine cars, which, when running, it did. But the fact it took so long to charge and the limited mileage per charge was a major roadblock. The newer batteries would have helped consumer desirability, but there was still the charge time that needed to be improved. As far as I could tell from the movie, there was no attempts to improve that aspect of the vehicle.
Oil industries would, of course, oppose electric cars. They are a direct threat to their profits. The ad campaign and media blitz against the EV1 is a natural reaction, and not immoral or illegal. The oil companies, like GM, is responsible to their shareholders, not the environment. I have no problem with their opposition on the business end.
The Bush administration is singled out for the harshest criticism. It is assumed that administration officials with previous ties to the oil companies directly affected the fate of the car. The truth is unknown. It is a poor logical argument to say that previous association implies guilt. What happened in the campaign when Obama’s and McCain’s previous associations were mentioned? The people bringing them up were excoriated, especially those that mentioned Obama’s past. Similar comments about Bush and his administration are treated as poof of corruption. It is a classic guilt by association. When I did a similar thing in a paper in college, I failed the paper and was told by the teacher to never assume guilt without proof. Association is not proof.
The best way to get a business to do something you want is to make it economically desirable. If the California Air Resources Board had made some kind of tax credit or incentive for GM to make money, they would have had a better shot at GM producing the car. Again, as far as I can tell from the video, there was no incentive for GM to comply. Environmentalist need to learn to work with business and give them reasons to want to produce eco-friendly products, which has been happening lately, rather than try to force business to comply through laws and mandates. Businesses will always resist measures that will lose them money. This is true with any industry.
The following is a quote by Terry Pratchett:
You had to admire the way perfectly innocent words were mugged, ravished, stripped of all true meaning and decency and then sent to walk the gutter for Reacher Gilt, although “synergistically” had probably been a whore from the start. No one was sorry for anything because no living creature had done anything wrong; bad things had happened by spontaneous generation in some weird, chilly, geometrical otherworld, and “were to be regretted*”. [*Footnote:Another bastard phrase that’d sell itself to any weasel in a tight corner.]
Now read this and find all the “bastard quotes” in this speech. You can do this with any political speech. I chose this one because it is a current, newsworthy speech, not because I did not support the candidate.
Elizabeth Dole ran an ad in, the senatorial race, pointing out Kay Hagan attended a fund raiser with and received money from a group whose stated claim is to remove the name of God from all aspects of the government. Now Hagan is upset. She claims Dole accused her of being godless and questioned her Christianity. The ad did not do that. What Hagan is really upset about is Dole’s use of her associations with this particular group for political game. But, in the world of politics, your associates and contributors are fair game for questioning. Hagan should know this. Look at Obama and Ayers and McCain and Keating. These associations are legitimate for questioning in the political realm. Hagan now hopes the lawsuit she plans to bring against Dole will take the focus off her associates. I think it will backfire and only shed more light on her connections with these people.
Hagan is realizing the people of NC can accept a lot from their politicians but they are fairly conservative and will never accept a person who advocates for the removal of God’s name from money, the pledge, and any other government document. She should have chosen her friends better. That is a truth for anyone in politics.
I went to the early voting place yesterday. For the first time I voted my conscience rather than practicality. I voted almost straight ticket Libertarian. The only one I didn’t vote for was the person running for Senate. I have been impressed by Dole, so I stayed with her. Yes I know some of you will be happy, some will be sad. Many will say I threw my vote away. In this world and with the choices we have, though, I was not happy with either candidate or party. Real change would be if a third party, especially one that stands for personal liberty and responsibility, were to be elected. Given the fact that both mainstream candidates supported the “bailout” and both seem to want to continue to expand the power of the federal government, neither share my view of limiting government and returning responsibility to the people or the states. I do not agree with everything the Libertarian party stands for but I have come to believe that neither mainstream party represents my views at all. Since there are not a lot of Libertarians running, though, some races I did have to choose from Democrat or Republican.
I am tired of people wanting the government to run their lives. The government seems happy to step in an oblige. I want people in office who will say, “No, its your responsibility to find what you need. We will not give it anything to you just because you scream for it.” I obviously am not heartless. If there are people, which I know there are, who truly can’t fend for themselves, than we need to help them. But, I believe that private entities in the community should be the driving force for that help, not Washington. Neither party seems to believe that any more. Not that one of them didn’t stop believing that in the 1930’s.
Is my vote just wasted. No, I truly believe that this may help create a basis for change in the future. Libertarians need to start winning ballot recognition and keeping it. Once they are permanently on the ballot then they will begin to be invited to debates. In NC Mike Munger was invited to too gubernatorial debates. We need to see a national push for presidential debate representation.
Change, true change, comes gradually. Sudden events that seem to force change really force compromise, which is not change, it is repeating the status quo in a new way. For real change to come to Washington we need new ideas. Neither party offers new ideas. There are only the old ideas dressed in new clothes. One day I hope they will be exposed, like the emperor was. For now, we must be patient. Change will come.
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