Where You Stand Politically

So, you want to  know where you stand and how you can get that cool little icon like I have on my blog?

Well, just go to this site and take the quiz.  I would put no opinion if you are not sure about something.

Please post your results, and you get BIG TIME BONUS POINTS for reasonableness if you score Moderate, Conservative or Liberal!  I “hope” I have constructed a place where divergent views are allowed and where we gain from seeing each other’s perspective.  I also hope that sometimes someone will say, I see your point, or something like that.

So often politics are too personal, so maybe this would at least bring back agreeable discussion and dissent to the forefront.

I’m posting this on all topics to hopefully get maximum participation.

IF you wish to take the quiz it is here.

Thanks!

Kidnap and Rape Victim to Receive Public Flogging

Yes, you read that correctly.  Fox News reports that a 19 year old Saudi woman who was beaten and gang raped by seven men, who then took photos of her, and threatened to kill her was sentenced today to 90 lashes for being alone with men not related to her. 

According to the woman, who is only named as “G”, she was blackmailed into meeting a man, who had threatened to accuse her of having a relationship with him out of wedlock.  She met the man, and they drove off.  Later on men with knives and meat cleavers met the couple and proceeded to rape and photograph the woman.  Five of the rapists have received sentences of 10 months to five years, and the woman is to be flogged for being in a car with a man.

If there is one reason that America needs to be energy independent, and there are many, it is to keep ourselves from being beholden to “these people” of Saudi Arabia.  On any level, America needs to take every step possible towards this goal so we can truly be honest brokers in the Mideast region, and not have to tolerate working in partnership with the “Eddie Haskells” of the modern world.

This is a cause that the American public, left or right of the aisle can agree on.  While the Saudis are a sovereign people, and have the right to run their country as they see fit, America also should disassociate itself from this nation.  While we are at it let’s add China, a country that makes Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia look like Disneyworld – add up the math of the deaths since the “Cultural Revolution”, which effects are still being felt today.  Who you associate speaks volumes of who you are.  Would any of you tolerate a person in your house that would practice genital mutilation upon teen females?  Would any of you, regardless of your stand on abortion, have lunch at your table with a person that stuck a needle filled with poison into the skull of a child while being born – at the order of the state for being a second child?  While corporations and politicians, who are often their benefactors, talk about the need for interaction with these nations, I have my doubts that the good people of this country would willingly associate with people who commit such atrocities on a daily basis.  Such acts, whether done by individuals on their own, or by nation states, are indeed acts of terrorism.

The United States correctly disassociated itself from business with South Africa and Rhodesia due to their horrendous apartheid policies.  Clearly, the abuses against basic human rights is more than equalled by these two tyrannies.  As a nation we must be willing to maybe take the hit in the wallet and stand for moral principle.  If not, if we as a nation turn a blind eye to the excesses performed by the governments of these nations we are little better than they, and in fact bankroll their atrocities.

Morality has a place, and this is one place where as a nation we must decide with our wallets, if the concepts of progressive democracy, characterized in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution apply only to those lucky enough to be born in this nation, or if in fact they are gifts to mankind as stated by the Founding Fathers of our Republic.

“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.”  It is time for we the people to get off the fence.

Duplicity in the Mainstream Media?

Bill O’Reilly offered comments on the ACLU state level representative, Charles Rust-Tierney,  who has been found with massive amounts of child pornography in his possession.  Among the most odious of the pornography found in Mr. Tierney’s possession are images of pre-pubescent girls being raped.  The nature of this crime, combined with the efforts of Mr. Tierney and the ACLU of Virginia blocking filtering software from public libraries shows the growing ridiculousness of the nature of the ACLU’s positions.  What once was an organization that had the laudable goals of defending individuals from government gone amok has been taken over by the most nefarious elements of our society.  An American naturalist once wrote, “Americans must always be prepared to defend themselves from their own government”.  Certainly, that is the basis of the Bill of Rights, however, the ACLU has removed themselves from this trust by their consistent supporting the rights to allow access to material that is the most extreme and objectionable in our society.  This is typified by their continue association with NAMBLA, a well known organization that specializes in male predators seeking sexual contact with underage male minors.

Sadly, one has come to expect this type of behavior from the ACLU, and this issue of the danger of predators and child pornography should be an issue politicians gather about, whether Republican or Democrat.  Yet, little if any word of this atrocity has been heard by the politicians or most notably by the mainstream media.  While Ann Coulter’s remarks, which were offensive and in no way am I her apologist, made the headlines faster than a speeding bullet (or blog), and were widely denounced by the media and by Democrat and Republican leadership, no politician or major syndicated news outlet has picked up on this story.  This should be an issue where candidates are asked to speak on the record, and to state their position with regard to the activity of the ACLU, which enjoys the patronage of many in Washington D.C.  Yet, the mainstream media other than the briefest of reports by the Washington Post , which had a small segment buried in a secondary portion of the paper.  More shocking, this story of a leader of a major political organization, was passed on by the New York Times, NBC, CBS, and CNN.  ABC limited its coverage to a brief article on its website. 

Had this been a minor official of the VA. GOP organization, can the fervor that this incident would have generated been understated?  Consider the “shock” of the MSM when Ms. Coulter made her unfortunate remarks, yet consider the silence when Bill Maher insinuated his displeasure that terrorists attempts on Vice President Cheney’s life failed.  Consider the lack of coverage with regards to the offensive comments made by staffers for Presidential hopeful Edwards about the Roman Catholic Church.  Also, consider the coverage that would have followed had similar comments been said by supporters of GOP candidate Romney, whose religious belief in Mormonism is never forgotten to be mentioned by most media sources covering his campaign.

The duplicity of the MSM is over the top, and is no small part to their increased lack of voice with the public at large.  This is a sad occurence, as the media has a vital role to play in any democracy where information must be given to the hands of the citizenry.  Certainly, some fifteen to twenty minutes could have been taken away from the trivial event of Anna Nichole Smith’s death.  A celebrity died, and there is some controversy, who cares?  Her life touched a very small few in a meaningful way, although it touched many in a base way.  Child predators ruin the lives of the everyday people who work in our hospitals, drive the cabs, nurse the sick and teach our children.  These normal everyday people are served better by the media if they report on news that may deeply impact their lives. 

 Had it not been for the new watchdogs of the media Dan Rather’s flagrant abuse of journalistic ethics would have forever been hid under the rug.  The same way this is being hid under the rug.  However, the MSM should take notice; We’re on to your game.