Only In America...

      Only in America could it be viewed as a good thing to be a political candidate with no previous ties to the national or any level of government. Even though this seems like a complete paradox to me, not to mention bad critical thinking, many candidates are endorsing this title, and what's more, it seems to be helping them in their races.
      Why would any American citizen want a mayor, representative, senator, or governor with no political experience? Is it because they believe successfully running a multi-billion dollar corporation  warrants them the abilities needed to be elected on principle alone? Or, is it because being wealthy automatically means one is wise and trustworthy?
     The truth of the matter, whether one is conservative or liberal, is that in these challenging and awesome economic times, our society needs governmental leaders who are experienced and have exhibited loyalty  and dedication to our governmental system. Candidates such as Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have not done this. They decry the woes of the present status of our society, but fail to offer legitimate and sound plans to help our states and country recover. Should not this be a warning sign of their inadequate knowledge of how to correctly  govern?
      I am by no means saying that having been previously active in politics  warrants one an automatic spot in  government, but it does lend to their knowledge of what to and not to do in government. I do believe that if someone wishes to be elected to government, he or she should have at least consistently voted in past elections which Meg Whitman has not. He or she should also have showed concern for those that they have previously been in control of which, when they were CEOs of EBAY and HP, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina did not do. I could go on and on, but I will not.
      In conclusion, citizens should be weary of newcomers to government who have no experience to back-up their assurances that they will make great political leaders who will guide us in the right direction; they have no evidence that they will! Citizens need to truly research all their political candidates, and propositions, for that matter,  so that they will be able to adequately choose the right candidate for their community.

Don't Be A Goat

      I am not all that surprised that all the thingspeople want to hear from the candidates are about America's decline, jobs, and the economy. People just want simple, clear responses to the extremely complex issues that are present in our society. This is the wrong view to have. People must stick with the government and support it the best they can, if they want things to get better in our society.
      People currently have a completely wrong view of government and believe that they are completely right in that view, even though they only have a remedial understanding of it. People do not want to elect individuals who have been present in Washington government recently, or even government at all, because of what has happened in society lately. But one would think, citizens would want elected officials with as much experience as possible. At least, I would. Another bothersome and rather annoying thing about American society at large is that they forget that they are the reason that the country has the government that it does. If they had not previously elected the people who elected those officials, they would not be in government and in control of the country.
      Finally, here is my appeal to my fellow democrats out there... Historically, when a president's rating have been low (like right now), the president's party has lost a significant number of seats in both the House and the Senate. Also Tea Party messages and candidates are pretty popular among all conservatives and are likely to win. But that can all be changed if democrats, especially the younger ones, get out and go vote. If this does not happen democratic views will not be as well represented in the government, and the programs and policies that we cherish could be endangered. And no democrats would be able to complain, because every democrats would be at fault. So, as a democrat who is too young to vote, I really hope that everyone who is able to will take advantage of this privilege and get out to vote.  

Thank God For DNA Testing and Civil Rights Cases

  
     Since 1989, DNA exoneration has freed 248 prisoners, and 17 who were serving on death row (Innocent Project). Just think, what if those people had not been released? What if some, if not all, of the death row inmates had been killed? What about all those that did not have the privilege of DNA testing??
      With those two simple statistics above, I cannot believe that there are still people who do not think that Hank Skinner, a inmate on death row in Texas, has the right to have all the evidence from the crime scene tested. The worst part is that he is not even asking to be freed, he simply wants to have the results; he just does not want to be killed. I do not know who would have the right to argue with that, although I guess someone does. I think that people forget that, even though he is a convicted murderer, he is still a human being who deserves some dignity. I know that the Texas D.A. does not think the same way I do.
      The main reason that the Texas District Attorney said no to Hank Skinner's request is that he did not entirely meet all of the requirements to get DNA testing done. According to Texas's post-conviction testing law, a convicted criminal can only get the evidence questioned if the inmate had not been at fault for the evidence not having been tested for the trial. Since Skinner's lawyer, not him, by the way, would not allow the evidence to be tested, the Texas D. A. says that he is a fault and cannot receive the testing. The evidence that is in question is DNA found on the knife used to kill to of the victims and from a rape-kit used on the last victim. This evidence seems like it could really possibly help Skinner and that he should have a right, not just a privilege, to it. This is the case that Skinner's present lawyer is making for his case, whose claim is that Skinner's due process right is being violated. I do not see what the harm could possibly be in letting a human being try and save his own life, especially since it could prove that he did not end three other lives.

     
      I am very happy that, this week, a "Federal Judge from California issued an injunction barring the U.S. military worldwide from further implementing the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy" (Jim Lehrer). The judge said that the policy infringed upon the fundamental rights of U.S. service members. Now, the policy will go to the President, who has less than 60 days to repeal the decision. Secretary Gates believes that Congress should decide and not the President; he said that it was a legislative matter, not a judicial one. Earlier yesterday, the U.S. press secretary said that the President would also prefer to have the policy end in the legislature; that the President was simply looking for the judicial system to give an indication of the path that this form of policy and legislation was taking, relative to the Constitution. It is said that the policy will end in Congress during the lame duck period at the end of this year.
      I do not care how this legislation ends, as long as it ends. I believe that this kind of policy is completely immoral and am proud that it is not deemed constitutional, though am sad that it was still put into place by people of my country. It is also reassuring that as many people in my country believe this is wrong as they do, even if there is a significant amount that still believe that gays should not serve in the military. The policy is on its last day, and knowing that is good enough for me, at least for right now.

Yet More Ways To Possibly Help The Economy

     

       Recently Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that he is concerned that the economy is not "bouncing back" fast enough, even with all the funds and other things being pumped into it. Although every American knows that this economic crisis is a very serious situation, many do not understand how hard it is to pull a country out of a recession like this one. The FED  and experts have a few ideas for what could successfully and efficiently get the economy and the country out of this recession.
      All of the ideas being purposed are very complex and have quite a few risks, easily said, they are not fool-proof, but they are progress. The FED proposed, this week, that it might purchase more national debt, otherwise  known as quantitative easing. This sounds like a great idea and like it could help, even though many people have no idea what "quantitative easing" really means. It is essentially creating more money and buying more assets. Then, when it has served its purpose, the money is taken back. But in reality they are tons of risks with this approach because it has not been done many times. An even more daunting risk is that when it needs to be undone, if it is done in a wrong way or at a wrong time, it could provide another joint to the economy, that could just undo all the good it just did. Another proposal to further ease the economic problems of the country was inflation. This is normally seen as a bad thing, something which should not be done. However, the FED deems it an acceptable suggestion, because the inflation level is still lower than what they consider to be stable, which it 1.5-2%. The current inflation level is less than 1%. Even though this may seem like a good idea to some, there is a much more significant risk in deflation, which could potentially harm the country. Less risky approaches to helping the economy include the FED buying private assets or lowering the interest rates, even past zero, so they could push more money out into the country.
      I am personally in favor of whichever solution has the least risk, relatively to its possible reward; this seems like a fool-proof plan, to me.

Beyond Babyland

      A few days ago I watched a rerun of a PBS documentary, called "Beyond Babyland." I remember when I watched it the first time, I just thought it was extremely sad. This time, I saw more than that. I saw how completely wrong it is that one zip code in Memphis, Tennessee, has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. This zip code is 38108, and that neighborhood is filled, almost exclusively, with African American families with a single mom at their head. Also, anywhere there is a high concentration of African Americans, there is a higher level of infant mortality.
      This documentary seeks to understand the culture of poverty and teen pregnancy that is behind this health crisis. The narrator mentioned that one of the impetuses for this was the deep segregation of this city, with nearly all the white families and middle/upper class black families fleeing for the suburbs. Another impetus was the 1968 sanitation strike in the city. What was left in the inner city was a community of uneducated, underrepresented, and uncared-for people, who live in a city with the second highest homicide rate. These women that are left in the community tend to either miscarry or go into labor early because of stress or because of their inability to receive prenatal care. If the babies survive birth, they are almost all taken to one hospital, the MED, which is struggling to pay its bills, because of the lack of revenue coming from these uninsured women. The babies that do not make it are sent to basically one cemetery, which has been unofficially renamed as Babyland, because of the thousands of babies that are buried there. What is even more sad is that these babies lie in simple wooden boxes and were buried by the county morgue, because their parents cannot afford a funeral. These babies should never had died, they and their mothers should have received the care that they deserve, simply because they are Americans and human beings.
      If anything could be a reason for universal health care in this country I believe that the high infant mortality rates in African American communities would be it. I would hope that anyone who saw this documentary would support giving health care to these women and their babies, no matter how much it cost. If not, I would be very disappointed in the citizens of this country.