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Just A Rambling Meandering Smattering of Almost-Completed Thoughts…
You Have To Serve Before You Can Lead
Seriously, Obama - Why In the World Southwest Virginia?
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politics_and_issues
You Have To Serve Before You Can Lead
Jul 09, 2008Now HERE’s an interesting idea - make it mandatory that, in order to serve as President of the United States - i.e. Commander in Chief - you must have served a minimum of two years in the military.
Hmm. Of course, I’m not talking about trying to put it into effect in the near future. Something like this would have to be arranged for, say, ten years before it went into effect, just to make things fair. But wouldn’t it be a huge advantage for our President to have actually served in the armed forces before he is put in charge of them?
This debate is being bandied about in political circles and the idea is apparently gaining some steam for the moment.
Personally I’m a no-go on this one. While I think that a military background - even a brief one - would be a big advantage, I would hate to automatically exclude a potentially great leader because he had flat feet or her eyesight was insufficient for service.
Then again, there is a big argument in favor of mandatory military service for a presidential candidate - do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
That, friend, is my question to YOU....
Posted by Jody Lee Who Died and Made YOU God?
Jun 26, 2008Let’s forget the moral question about capital punishment for just a moment.
(Can’t wait to see how THAT goes over).
On this, the occasion of Virginia’s 100th execution via the death penalty, let’s explore just how EFFECTIVE it is as a deterrent to crime.
Of course, since there is no way to statistically figure how many times a crime MIGHT have been committed under these or any other circumstances, still, there are some things we can look at to give us an idea of how death-as-
punishment is working.
I invite you to consider a letter from a group called the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (http://deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=125).
It is a group made up of current and former law and law-enforcement folks and it raises some interesting points. While they talk specifically about the California death penalty, the same reasoning can be applied to any state’s d-p.
In part, they write “A trial seeking life without parole is far speedier than a death penalty case and costs far less. By pursuing life without parole sentences instead of death, resources now spent on the death penalty prosecutions and appeals could be used to investigate unsolved homicides, modernize crime labs, and expand effective violence prevention programs.”
Good logic, I think.
Then, of course, there is the bottom line that when life and death are at stake, there is no margin for error.
Enough opinion – let’s look at some facts; specifically the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime. I went to deathpenaltyinfo.org – a non-profit non-biased gathering of information. Take a look at the chart at this link – it’ll just take a second:
http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=168#stateswithvwithout
It’s obvious that the death penalty is NOT preventing murder, When the states that HAVE the death penalty have consistently higher murder rates, there’s no arguing it.
Which leaves us with one thing to consider – justice. Is that what the death penalty is about? Delivering justice? It isn’t about deterrence, it isn’t about saving money, it isn’t about protecting society (life without parole would do that) - so what else is left?
And if justice is the goal, my question to you is –
who died and made US God?
Illegal Immigration - Sense and Nonsense
Mar 12, 2008Since no reasonable solution to the problem of illegal immigration appears forthcoming on the national level (unless our elected reps suddenly inexplicably get wise and give Heath Shuler’s proposal the go-ahead), it falls to the states to do something.
And in Tennessee, they actually might.
Do something, I mean.
Go figure.
But is it enough? Is it, in fact, even worth getting out of bed for?
Nonsense: The Tn. Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously recently to make it a crime for illegal immigrants to accept pay done for work in Tennessee.
Come again?
Tornado of Ignorance Sweeps Homes Away?
Mar 06, 2008For Dorothy, it was a tornado that swept her house away. For many new homeowners, it is the recent trend toward subprime loans and adjustable-rate mortgages.
I hate to see anyone lose their home. Tornados, though, are an act of nature. The financial contracts entered into by eager homeowners are not. They were a choice. For some, as it turns out, a bad choice.
So here comes Big Brother – whoops, make that Big Government – to lend them a hand.
I must have missed that paragraph in the Constitution.
On the state side, we have the Governor and the Senate approving legislation giving homeowners another 30 days beyond what normally be foreclosure point, during which they can pray for a miracle.
(http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news/education.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2008-03-03-0022.html_
On the national side, we have Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke actually encouraging banks to bite the big one and “forgive” (translate “cancel”) large portions of these homeowners’ mortgages. In other words, just forget about the money the banks are legally and rightfully owed.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/361d85a6-ea58-11dc-b3c9-0000779fd2ac.html
McCain’s Faceless Threat
Mar 06, 2008There is an awful lot of talk about whether Hillary or Obama would make a better president.
But who do you think has a better chance of beating McCain? After all, unless they can do that, the question of who would be a better leader is moot.
And what will it take to take McCain down?
I do not think McCain’s age will be a major factor, though many disagree with me. And there are certainly enough folks around who believe that going to Iraq and tackling terrorism head-on was the RIGHT thing to do, that his agreement with Bush on that end will only hurt him, I think, to a limited degree.
No, the main thing - maybe the only thing - that can kill McCain’s chances is not a Democrat candidate – ANY Democrat candidate. It is whoever the Perot turns out to be.
