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The idiots in politics


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I have avoided the topic of religion for the past six months since my views find little favor here and some are easily offended. But although the Catholic Church offers such a juicy target on a daily basis I have decided to leave them rot by the side of the road. Now on to politics...

No matter your view on political parties, they are at the moment, both full of crap. Today we have Rick Perry announcing his bid for President. His horse will drop dead about twenty feet from the starting gate. Nothing from Texas will go anywhere this time around.

The GOP and the Democrats do not impress me, they never have. It is interesting to note that the Republicans are the party supporting Christian fanatics, or perhaps it's the other way round. But neither party takes a hard look at the people they are supposed to represent...you and me. Instead, the GOP is the party sucking up billions from the wealthiest among us thanks to the lunacy of the Supreme Court.

But now we move on to the real challenge facing Americans...what will be left when we grow old? Read this and weep:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/the-gops-anti-elderly-pro-billionaire-agenda_b_7510564.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

I hear Christianists speak about armed revolution if gay marriage becomes the law of the land...and they miss the real danger. What is it going to take to get people alarmed at the right thing? The next revolt needs to be from the taxpayers who see their politicians taking away the money they put into Social Security. I'd pick up and gun for that cause.

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There's a whole new world of crazy out there, Chris.

Whether it's religion or politics, the right wing conservatives have been tarnished by their ignorance, The left wing is a cause of concern in that there is an obvious breakdown in understanding its own ideology. I find Bernie Sanders a man of some hope, but I doubt that he can withstand the right wingg attacks.

In Australia we have joined so many other countries in the shift to the right. Fascism is rife, even if its actions are covert, but what is of real concern is that so many respond to greed and avarice put forward as a legitimate path to a future that the right wing worships and the left wing seems helpless to stop.

Hawkings, Hitchens, and Dawkins have all warned us that the reason we do not get visited by aliens is because civilisations that eventually achieve the same position as we find ourselves, inevitably destroy themselves.

I could go on with much more, but currently I think we are surviving because we do, with a little calm thought, see that there is much to gain by not allowing these shape-shifters to ruin our day.

If they want a war they can wait whilst I examine the worth of getting out of bed.

And when I do arise it shall be with a joy and a sadness of knowing I tried to live without creating this mess, or contributing to it.

Like the last war against fascists, just when do we become like the enemy and fight for peace?

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I suppose it comes as no surprise that so many of these GOP candidates for President don't know a thing about the U.S. Constitution. This article just brings us the latest ramblings of a demented candidate:

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/scott-walker-says-states-should-make-gay-marriage-decisions

While most right wing speechifiers tend to claim that marriage is the holy grail of religious institutions here we have another approach to ramming religious beliefs down the throats of the secular. Marriage is a civil institution and requires no religious beliefs for the state to issue the license. In fact marriage is a civil right available to residents of this country and has no religious component.

Passing a constitutional amendment is time consuming and expensive. What Walker fails to understand is that such an amendment will not override decisions by the Supreme Court who may very well decide it, too, is unconstitutional for a lot of reasons. Religious functionaries should just be happy that they have First Amendment rights to believe what they want but they cross a line when they try and force those beliefs on the rest of us. (Ask anyone in the South how that slavery thing ended)

The SCOTUS is due with their decision on gay marriage by the end of this month. We have no real idea what they will decide but at least it will be a decision based upon solid constitutional grounds and not some vague notion of religious supremacy in all things. Maybe Scott Walker and his ilk will feel persecuted but he hasn't a chance in hell of passing his idea of a constitutional amendment.

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If SCOTUS goes against gay marriage, they'd be going against the 14th Amendment which supports equal protection for all. As there are legal and financial benefits for married couples than single people don't enjoy, SCOTUS would have to find a way to override or dodge around the equal protection amendment. We can only hope they're sober enough not to do that.

C

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What Walker fails to understand is that such an amendment will not override decisions by the Supreme Court who may very well decide it, too, is unconstitutional for a lot of reasons.

Actually, under the Supremacy clause, what the constitution says is the final word. The constitution can be (and has been) amended to specifically supersede contrary U.S. Supreme Court decisions. It is a non sequitur for a court to pronounce that specific language in the constitution is "unconstitutional."

R

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The United States Constitution is unusually difficult to amend. As spelled out in Article V, the Constitution can be amended in one of two ways. First, amendment can take place by a vote of two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate followed by a ratification of three-fourths of the various state legislatures (ratification by thirty-eight states would be required to ratify an amendment today). This first method of amendment is the only one used to date. Second, the Constitution might be amended by a Convention called for this purpose by two-thirds of the state legislatures, if the Convention's proposed amendments are later ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

Because any amendment can be blocked by a mere thirteen states withholding approval (in either of their two houses), amendments don't come easy. In fact, only 27 amendments have been ratified since the Constitution became effective, and ten of those ratifications occurred almost immediately--as the Bill of Rights. The very difficulty of amending the Constitution greatly increases the importance of Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Constitution, because reversal of the Court's decision by amendment is unlikely except in cases when the public's disagreement is intense and close to unanimous. Even unpopular Court decisions (such as the Court's protection of flagburning) are likely to stand unless the Court itself changes its collective mind.

From Exploring Constitutional Law – Use here for educational purposes is consistent with the terms of use established by Creative Commons.

Colin :icon_geek:

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Had your laugh today? Glen Beck is always good for a chuckle:

https://youtu.be/m7_0My3Vagw

Of course, we all see him as the new MLK...NOT! I suppose it doesn't matter that he is a Mormon because the Christian fanatics will follow anyone....especially one who lies.

Just a few years ago Beck was touting his acceptance of gay marriage:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/glenn-beck-gay-marriage-n_n_679691.html

Except of course he did say that marriage had nothing to do with government and that it was a religious function. Wrong. Tell that to the IRS when you file jointly without a marriage license. Hmm, wonder if anyone has asked to see Beck's license?

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Except of course he did say that marriage had nothing to do with government and that it was a religious function. Wrong. Tell that to the IRS when you file jointly without a marriage license. Hmm, wonder if anyone has asked to see Beck's license?

You are right, Chris. Without a marriage license filing as married (either jointly or separately) is gonna get you a boatload of hurt. A minor clarification: you don't include a copy of your marriage license with your income tax return when you file as married. The reason is that when you apply for a marriage license each party has to enter their social security number on the application form, and it's recorded and sent to the Social Security Administration and the IRS.

Colin :icon_geek:

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