Today's mail was truly interesting

It’s not the political season in Oregon.  There is a special election in one Congressional District, to replace a man who resigned, but otherwise not much is happening locally.  However, for reasons I do not really know I received a mailing from Protect Marriage Oregon today.  It is, needless to say, a group that is dedicated to stopping any movement towards same-sex marriage.

From the looks of the envelope I think it was most likely a mass mailing to registered voters, so perhaps it was sent without any screening for likely supporters or whatever.  In any case, since they included a postage-paid return envelope (presumably for my donation to the cause) I thought I would respond.  Here’s what I sent them.

Re-examining the nature of Justice

In the United States one of the most basic principles of Justice in that of Innocent until proven guilty.  A second principle, also enshrined in the Constitution, is the Separation of Powers.  The Legislative Branch makes the laws, the Executive Branch enforces the laws, and the Judicial Branch judges the application of those laws.

Over the years, much has been made of the idea that the Executive Branch has tried to usurp powers of the Legislative Branch, and there are some pretty good arguments to be made about that.  In fact, there has always been a series of struggles between the branches with one side or the other claiming the territory in the middle where overlaps tend to occur.  Today, however, a Federal judge declared Enough!

Worshiping the False Prophets

In the wake of this week's debacle at Penn State, it's hard to find anything positive to write.  It's certainly not the only news, nor even the most important I think.  However, like the politics that I most often discuss, it reveals a fundamental flaw within the fabric of our society.

The Trick Play

It's football season.  Even if you're not remotely interested in the games and don't follow a team at any level, you can't help but notice.  While this isn't remotely about football, I think there's a very valid comparison to be made between football and Congress, so I'm going to ask your indulgence for a moment.

A term that we hear in football sometimes is "Trick Play."  The usual meaning is that the team with the ball did something unexpected...they "tricked" the defense.  Most often that's an unexpected on-side kick, maybe a fake punt, or even something known as the Statue of Liberty play.

The truth in Regulations

One of the current political battles deals with the concept of Regulation.  At this point it's pretty much a shouting match, with most of the shouting coming from the GOP candidates, each convinced that the US would be a better place if there was less governmental regulation.  House Speaker John Boehner has even gone so far as to say that the Job Creators are on strike because of Regulations, and now the Tea Party is circulating a letter to small businesses, asking them to Not Hire until the current President is out of office.  In other words, make things worse so we can be elected.

However, the concept of regulation is largely a straw man, created from whole cloth and designed, much like the patter of a stage magician, to distract the audience from the sleight of hand going on else where.

The New Education Program we need

Recently President Obama announced that he would entertain requests for waivers for some of the regulations of the so-called No Child Left Behind law.  Almost immediately several states announced they would be submitting those requests.  Oddly, those who have railed against the Department of Education and too many regulations immediately jumped to disagree with him...even though they had claimed that's what they wanted just days ago.

The reason for this change is pretty straightforward.  The law, as it is currently written and implemented, isn't working.  That's not to say it wasn't a good idea, it just doesn't seem to achieve the desired results.  However, as we've seen over the last few months, this isn't the Education problem we truly need to address.  The problem that is plaguing Education is the the total lack of Education of our elected Representatives.


This class is called Elections and Governance 101, and class is now in session.

On Strike? Well....maybe

For the past few months House Speaker John Boehner has continually told us that we need to lower taxes and cut regulations for the Job Creators if we want the jobs picture to improve.  He's been pretty vague about exactly who these Job Creators actually are, although he did invite ten of them to sit in his box during President Obama's recent address to Congress.

It's worth noting that the Bush tax cuts for the rich, which are one of the largest elements in the current deficit, are now ten years old, but somehow they hasn't inspired the Job Creators, so apparently we need to do more.  Now, Speaker Boehner has clarified the situation by stating that the Job Creators are on Strike.  Okay...now we know.