What a Day...

Or night as the case may be...I watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart as much as I can, it is one of my favorite shows. Last night former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O' Connor was Jon Stewart's guest. She is promoting a new website that expresses the need to futher the education of primary and secondary education in the areas of government and civics. O' Connor told Jon Stewart that according to polls taken by the Annenberg Foundation, that only 1/3 of Americans knew what the three branches of government were, compared to 75% of Americans being able to name at least one American Idol judge. (The entire episode can viewed at: http://www.thedailyshow.com)

What has happened to this nation? This takes me to a idea of Republican Motherhood. No, it doesn't refer to bible belt soccer moms in SUV's, but rather the idea that came into popularity during the birth of this nation. That mothers, as the main care givers of children, have a responsibility to educate their children and instill in them the values of democracy, not only that, but also to encourage them to seek office and be activly be engaged in politics. Obviously we are no longer in the 18th century so instead of mothers we have day care and public schools. Why are the youth of America not being taught the fundamentals of government? George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind provided federal money for schools with high test scores in math, science, and English but nothing for Government or History. In my own education, high school excluded, history and government were mere footnotes on the record in comparison to pre-algebra and reading. And, the only reason history and government were focused on in high school was because I chose to take advanced placement courses in those subjects. Honestly, looking at the general history and government curriculum, is seemed rather simplictic in my memory.

This is something within the educational system that needs to be fixed. I can no longer be surprized when I hear some hick saying "well taking Jesus out of the schools in un-American," when in fact, having him in the schools is unconstitutional, and knowing anything about the Bill of Rights would tell you that. Obviously if 1/3 of Americans can't even say Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, you cannot really expect them to know anything about the Constitution, let alone the Bill or Rights.

The purpose of O'Connors visit to the Daily Show, along with a visit to Good Morning America (which I didn't watch because I had school)as I said before, is to talk about a new website she is promoting. www.ourcourts.org is an attempt to amp up the feble curriculum for government and civics. Hopefully this helps. How can we expect democracy when our population is so unversed in the way the government works? You tell me.

Right Wing Gas Bags

I felt the need to comment on the many, often false and misleading, words of several republicans. The first of the worst is Bobby Jindal. He is the governor of Louisiana and the man who delivered the "republican response" to President Obama's recovery plan speech to congress a few nights ago.

Did you know that 8 billion dollars of the stimulous are going to a "sin train" that goes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Me either. Oh, wait, that is because it is not true. Here's to you Bobby Jindal. You may have a fabulous tan and alluring smile but that story just isn't going to fly...or roll as the case may be.

The second republican that I need to bring up is Senator Richard Sheldby of Alabama, but first a small divergance. I am employed as an infant care provider for children aged 6 weeks to 2 years old. One of the things I learned about infants (in college) is that if they can't see you, to them, it means that you are not there. Well, apparently Sen. Shelby is under one year old. He recently said he personally had never seen Pesident Obama's birth certificate which led him to believe that it basically didn't exsist. Sen. Shelby:"Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president." Thanks for the civics lesson Sen. Shelby, but I already took and passed Advanced Placement Government and Politics at Paradise High School in 2006. Oh and by the way,Sen. Shelby, it is called google you should try it some times. Works for me.

And last but certainly not least: the republican governors who won't take the stimulus package money. Don't worry about the people in your state who are losing their homes and unemployment benefits. I am sure that they can come to California and pick fruit for the farmers who will stay in business because my republican governor is smart enough to know that our state is broke! The only people who suffer from this kind of stupidity are the people of that state, I am sure Sarah Palin will not be losing her home any time soon.

A Night to Remember

It has been a while since I have been able to update my blog. I had computer issues that occured right during Christmas making it vitually impossible for me to deal with them along with dealing with the consumer hub-bub that was consuming me in late December. Finally, by the time all computer issues were resolved I had a birthday, a twenty first birthday to be exact, and I started the second half of my junior year at California State University, Chico. Basically, all these events made it difficult for me to find time to worry about my blog. So, here is the first of many soon to come posts from the forest.

Last night I watched the Oscars for the first time, in well, ever. I tend to find that all movies involved in Oscar nomination are long, boring, and rather uninteresting. Last night though, I watched with a new found enthusiasm. The movie "Milk" starring Sean Penn (who I still remember as Jeff Spicolli, a surfer/stoner from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High")won an Oscar for best origional screen play and Penn took home an Oscar for best actor. The acceptance speeches of Penn and Dustin Lance Black were both extremely moving. Penn's speech touches on a subject that I am very passionate about:



It brings me joy to know that free speech has again returned to this nation without fear of the Bush administration and its right-wing cronies.

Another pleasant surprize at the Oscars was the presentation of the best documentary (a category he should have been nominated in) by Bill Maher. I typically didn't associate the average Oscar viewer with the average "Real Time with Bill Maher" viewer but true to character Maher delivered a zinger to religion. I was unable to find the clip on youtube.com but I am glad that an idea I agree with was represented at such a mainstream event.

Presidential Reverence

President Elect Obama will be using the YouTube.com as well as his own website, change.gov in order to address the nation weekly. This sounds great. The thought of having a president that isn't sneaky or deceptive is almost unreal to me, I came of age during the Bush Administration. I am a history buff and I have learned about and studied presidents that are considered great, and this new policy by the President Elect reminds me of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Last March I had the opportunity to travel to Europe where I stayed in Paris, France for eight days. One of the things that I found incredibly unique about the city was their love for Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. On one of the streets directly in front of the Eiffel Tour there was actually a statue of FDR. There was also a main road named after him.This was a road near the Arc de Triomphe named after Woodrow Wilson. Both roads met at the Arc in a circle, which is the largest round-about in the world.

Of course this is no surprize. Wilson and Roosevelt were considered great presidents, and of course the were the leader during WWI and WWII, both wars were France and the United States fought on the same side. The symbolizm behind all of this is what is important. To have an American President that can garner that type of respect and reverence in a forign nation is practically unknown to my generation, especially as far as the French go.

I hope that someday President Elect Obama's name will grace a foreign nation in a way that lasts forever. But in the meantime, I have decided to post his weekly notices on my blog so that all of my readers are sure to view them.



So, watch the video. Visit www.change.gov and lets make this administration something that is worth admiration.

The Economy

Pretty broad topic. I know, but indeed noteworthy in these trying times. However, since the bailout more and more of the slimy details of what got us into this mess in the first place are coming out. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18 years, said in the New York Times that deregulation of the housing loan industry could have caused the problem and that his own idea of free market capitolism has been shaken.

Duh! You mean that if the government doesn't regulate industry then they will do whatever they can to maximize their own profit?

Obviously the "the invisibile hand" theory has failed. Supply and demand were not enough to keep us from an economic crisis. Yet, I still hear people talking about the importance of deregulation and of a supply side tax policy, which benefits the rich.

People say, "Joan, who stimulates the economy? Rich people. They start businesses, hire people, and they invest. That is what the country needs to jumpstart the economy."

To this I would argue that, isn't that what we have been doing for the last eight years? It seems to have failed. Not only that, when taxes are cut for the rich it doesn't always benefit everyone. The money recieved via tax cuts is private currancy. No one has any say in how it is used. So, who is to say that the dollars from this "upper class tax cut" will go to hiring more workers or investment in public goods?

As a product of the middle class I can personally atest to the failure of the tax policy that was put forth by George W. Bush and the Republican Congress. I have personally witnessed the struggle to make ends meat as well trying to provide the lifestyle that my family was used to during the 1990's. Of course the lifestyle was the first thing to go in place of groceries and the mortgage.

To this day my parents work extremely hard so that I can get a college education and eventually go to law school. It is not easy, on them or on me. I have to work part-time to support myself on a paycheck to paycheck basis. They cannot afford all of my expenses (rent, gas, groceries, utilities), plus tuition and books. Financial aid does nothing, apparently my parents are too rich for that.

I didn't want to turn my blog on the economy as a personal rant about the financial aid system or the cost of living, I simply want to point out the differences that one family experienced over the course of the Bush Administration and their sheep-like adherence to supply side economics.

In all, this type of policy has been pretty bad for the United States as a whole. Still people are reluctant to accept a new tax policy. Many people in this nation continue to vote against their own self interest on the basis of religion or political socialization. It is a disturbing trend. However, I feel that change is in the air.

Proposition 8

The passage of proposition 8, which will add an amendment to the California Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman, surprized many in California on Tuesday. I was one of them. Despite many people, whom I deem smarter than myself in this particular area, who said that they thought it would pass, I remained hopeful. To my dismay, Californians decided to deny fundamental rights to an entire group of people. I have decided to refer to this injustice as "California's Jim Crowe Laws," since basically, this new amendment is very similar to the laws which discriminated against blacks in the south for one- hundred years after slavery was abolished. The margine in which prop 8 passed was very small, but still a majority. According to several different newscasts the "Yes on 8" campaign was heavily funded by the Morman Church, mostly coming out of Utah. Also, a large number of African Americans voted yes on prop 8, as well as, (you will never guess) church goin' folk.

I was promted into a debate over the legality of prop 8. However, when this person only had "Biblical Facts" I had to gracefully bow out. I only argue based on United States Statues, the Constitution, and case law. Apparently, I am a minority.

I hope that the protest and lawsuits continue against the passage of prop 8. Prior to the election, I engaged in a political gathering, encouraging voters to vote "No" on prop 8. Sadly, our efforts failed and we now have the California Jim Crowe laws, denying fundamental rights. : (

My First Blog

I finally decided to do this because my friends and family are sick of hearing me rant and rave over "constitutionality" and "the civil rights issue of our time." So, I have decided to test my wit against other people, perhaps some who don't love me unconditionally. I hope to spread some of my ideas, and maybe, pick up some from others along the way.