With Liberty and Justice for ALL

I'm torn.

For the first time in my life I know what patriotism is. I know what it feels like to be proud of your country, to want to sing your national anthem at the top of your lungs, to let everyone know that yes I am an American. We are making progress.

Then again, that giant leap forward can not overshadow the fact that intolerance is still an issue. The passage of proposition 8 is an insult to the progress this country has made in terms of human equality. I have no doubt in my mind that we will get there. We will mature in our thinking and even reminisce in disbelief that there was a time when we banned two people who love one another from marrying. The time will come. This bump will lengthen the journey but the end will be the same. The "truths" of our founding fathers will prevail...

...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Let us end with a few words from John Locke taken from "A Letter Concerning Toleration"

"Nobody...neither single persons nor churches, nay, nor even commonwealths, have any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of each other upon pretence of religion."


"...let us see what the duty of toleration requires from those who are distinguished from the rest of mankind...whether they be bishops, priests, presbyters, ministers, or however else dignified or distinguished. It is not my business to inquire here into the original of the power or dignity of the clergy. This only I say, that, whencesoever their authority be sprung, since it is ecclesiastical, it ought to be confined within the bounds of the Church, nor can it in any manner be extended to civil affairs, because the Church itself is a thing absolutely separate and distinct from the commonwealth. The boundaries on both sides are fixed and immovable,"

Democrats debate in NH

If you missed the democratic debate last night from New Hampshire I strongly encourage you to watch the above and as many other clips you can get your hands on. You can see more clips at msnbc.com but will have to go to Mike Gravel's youtube page to see more from him.

Other highlights include exit strategies for "Bush's War," Clinton dissing Cheney...



...and what each candidate wishes to accomplish in their first few months in office:

Edwards: “travel the world” and “re-establish America’s moral authority.”
Clinton: bring home U.S. troops from Iraq.
Obama: bring home U.S. troops and push for national health care.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: upgrade U.S. schools and push a $40,000-a-year minimum wage for teachers.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden: end the war in Iraq and defuse tensions with Iran and North Korea.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich: help “reshape the world for peace” and end all nuclear weapons.
Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel: Remind Congressional leaders they can end the war in Iraq now.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd: “Restore constitutional rights in this country.”

Also I was looking through clips from the democratic debate from April in South Carolina and felt guilty for not posting this earlier!

Bush applauded on global warming stance

President Bush recently proposed a step towards a global cooperative effort to fight global warming. Suggesting the 15 biggest emitters of greenhouse gases hold meetings and set an emissions goal. This proposal differs from other UN attempts (which have still yet to be ratified by the US) in that each country - including the U.S., China, India and the major European countries - would determine individually how to implement the goal.

"The U.S. initiatives on climate protections are very welcome to us, under the condition that they are channeled into the framework of the U.N. program," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel

A three day G-8 summit, hosted by Merkel, will take place on Wednesday. Though the main focus will be global warming, Tony Blair and Merkel have also discussed proposing aid to Africa to the agenda. In response to the U.S.'s recent positions on global warming treatie Merkel said:

"Every initiative must be channeled into the entire United Nations process. If that happens, this would mean that the United States is back in the community of those who are concerned about reduction, and that would already be something."

Future of the United Nations

Has the UN become obsolete? With the U.S. ignoring the UN and choosing to work unilaterally on most issues (global warming, terrorism, Iraq, etc.) our commitment to the organization is minimal and our opinion of the organization is for the most part negative.

"The fanatical Right...think the UN is a conspiracy to create a world government and destroy America's freedom" said former UK cabinet minister Clare Short

BUT I feel, despite recent U.S. dismissal of the IO, that it is an organization worth of preservation. Especially with the rising threats from non-state actors this is the time to act with the fellow citizens of this globe to defend our nations against looming crises. Short further examines the U.S.-UN relations in her commentary
What future for the UN?.

No More Blood for Oil

Here is another ad I really like though Dennis Kucinich goes in completely different direction than Richardson. This was just posted today on YouTube. I really wish more candidates could be as passionate and unwavering as Kucinich is in his beliefs. Though I do disagree with some of his proposals (some measures are just too liberal for me) I truly like him and can confidently say that his heart is in the right place and I would trust him to do what is best in the interest of the United States and more importantly the world.

Bill Moyer

This is a little preview of Bill Moyer's special "Buying the War" on how the administration marketed the war to the media and the general publice. The special aired in April but you can view more clips of his documentary on youtube.com. The Bill Moyer journal airs on PBS at 8pm or you can read his blog anytime.

More reasons to love him..

Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama opt to skip a FOX news/Congressional Black Caucus sponsered debate in September. The debate would be aimed at expressing the concerns of minority voters but despite the goodwill of the debate the three candidates are not attending most likely out of fear or disdain of the pro-Republican/conservative news outlet. I think this is the wrong move. They should learn something from Kucinich and jump at the chance to present themselves to the fox audience.

"Certainly many Fox viewers are not part of the traditional Democratic base but they have a right to hear from the Democratic candidates and we as candidates have an obligation to reach out to them." said Kucinich in his defense of the debate.

Here is the full article: Kucinich Defends Fox News