More than six months post Election-2008 firestorm, the minority candidate card is being played in the political game once again.  This time two-fold.  This time properly. 

I like to think we’re not so removed from the near political past that we’ve forgotten the sickeningly blatant play for pseudo-female acceptance – or old-horny men’s votes, or perhaps a combination of the two – that was made by the GOP when McCain fingered Sarah Palin for the VP spot on the presidential ticket.  So, this morning when President Obama officially introduced his nominee for Supreme Court Justice, New York judge Sonia Sotomayor, a small part of me danced a little jig of happiness on the inside; even if we did all know at least some political smearing was imminent. 

With the titles Prosecutor, Corporate Litigator, Trial Judge, and Appellate Judge all under her belt, if the supreme court was a poker game Sotomayor would come to the table with a full-hand of experience to play from.  Raised in a Bronx public housing project, she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of eight.  Just one year later her father, a factory worker with only a third grade education, passed away.  Her mother, a nurse, worked six days a week thereafter to support both Sotomayor and her brother.  

Sending them to Catholic School, Sotomayor’s mother, a Puerto Rican immigrant who came to America with their father during WWII, believed with a good education her children could accomplish The American Dream; and that they did.  Sonia later went on to study at two of the nation’s best universities, Princeton and Yale Law School before launching her bright legal career.  Her brother is a successful physician in New York. 

In short, Sotomayor, not only a woman but a Puerto Rican woman, has the gender, minority ethnicity, and life story to play; but more importantly the experience to back it up.  To put it in Sotomayor’s own words, she is “an ordinary person blessed with extraordinary opportunities.”  To put it bluntly her gender nor ethnicity are expected to land her the job. They’re just a bonus; as they should be. 

Because, being nominated to grace the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States of America based on having earned the credentials to prove she can do the job well while being a Hispanic woman, not because she was born a Hispanic woman?  That’s furthering women in politics; that’s progressing minorities in leadership positions. And that’s something everyone should be able to get excited about. 

Diana Prichard is an independent feminist political junkie living in rural Michigan with her husband and two daughters. She gets overly excited about progress for women in society, and overly fired up about ass-hat political moves that hinder that progress – and never lets them go. You can read more mundane musings at her parenting blog Of The Princess and The Pea or at her newly launched, self-titled personal blog Diana Prichard.

The GIVE/SERVE Act is making its way through the Senate as I type. Part of this legislation calls for the creation of  Youth Engagement Zones which would require children to participate in “service learning” and mandatory government service programs as part of their school curriculum. It also slyly imposes several restrictions on what these children can do during participation in these programs.

Oh, and it’s completely unconstitutional. But, pshh, who cares about that silly old piece of paper anymore?

Conservatives are calling the legislation “creepy” and references to Hitler, Orwell, and even a Twilight Zone episode, “To Serve Man,” abound. Michelle Malkin writes:

Especially troublesome to parents’ groups concerned about compulsory volunteerism requirements is a provision in the House version, directing Congress to explore “whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”

What this says to me is the government is attempting (again) to mold our young people to their liberal agenda.  “Strengthen the social fabric of the Nation?” Turning our kids into liberal cogs does nothing to strengthen our social fabric, it only serves to make big government stronger.  Tell me why we need to force people to volunteer? And not only volunteer, but contribute $6 billion to help the government force them to volunteer?

If you post about this on your blog, leave a comment here so I can link to you.

• Exposed: The GIVE Act Bans Religious Activities for (Mandatory) Participants

“If a police officer is pulling me over with my family in the car and he sees a bumper sticker on my vehicle that has been specifically identified as one that an extremist would have in their vehicle, the guy is probably going to be pretty apprehensive and not thinking in a rational manner,” Neal said. “And this guy’s walking up to my vehicle with a gun.”

From John’s site:

In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the novel’s hero John Galt leads a secret strike of the most productive citizens in an America where productivity and freedom is no longer valued.  The strike is an act of rebellion and self-preservation, fueled by Galt’s crucial insight that their enemies’ only weapons are the ones the strikers produce for them.  By recruiting more and more strikers, Galt precipitates the ultimate collapse of American society.

In a nutshell, John is proposing that a calculated work slowdown will demonstrate that the government can not continue to take and take and take from the productive citizens of our country.

I am thrilled that more and more people are considering Ayn Rand’s philosophy. How about you? What do you think of Going John Galt?

“Now is the time for all good taxpayers to turn the tables on free-lunching countrymen and their enablers in Washington. Community organizing helped propel Obama to the White House. It can work for fiscal conservatism, too.”

Love how Michelle Malkin is donating pork products to these protests.

Isn’t time to stop thowing money around after bad debt?  My first thought is how many years are we going to be paying for all of this?  We already gave $700 billion to the banks and Wall Street, we bailed out Fannie and Fredie before and has anyone forgotten the checks we got earlier this year?  The auto industry wants us to now bail them out.  Who’s going to be next in the line?

With the rebate checks, I had heard on a news program that only about 10% was invested back into the economy by purchase of goods and services. So much for all of us buying big screen TVs with our checks like they had hoped.  Some people had the checks taken away before they even got them due to garnishments, some invested them, some paid off debts and some people still haven’t claimed them.  For those checks not claims by a certain point, will the goverment take those dollars out of the total they have paid out and the total we may have to pay back in taxes?

Anyone remeber the The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003?  Yes, we were given a child tax credit for each child, but at the end of the year, we had to claim it on our taxes.  I use Turbo Tax and it asked me, did you receive this credit?  And what did most people I know do with the credit?  Pay off debt, not purchase new goods and services.  The govement gave us a short term loan for the Child Credit, are they going to do it again with the Stimulus check from February?  The IRS isn’t saying anything that I can find, how this will be accounted for 2008.

If we are investing in infastucture such as roads and bridges, does this create jobs for all the lost ones?  Who exactly is going to benefit from the food stamp increases?  How long do they plan to extend unemployment for? 

I also would like to know if the government is going to go after businesses they bailed out once they start turning a profit.  They should repay the government for the help they got.  But I have not seen an answer for this one either. 

It sounds so wonderful in the beginning, but we still have too many questions unanswered from the last bailouts.  And our economy is still going from Recession to Depression.

End result? Encouragement of future abuse by business because they’ve not been held accountable. And a country creeping quietly toward centrally planned socialism. That the government/taxpayer will then own a stake in said business is a quiet step towards nationalizing businesses a la Hugo Chavez.

For me, to actually have people engaged in a discussion about where the country is going, what the government’s role is and how to make this change, is truly revitalizing and important.  Most of the time, the average joe or georgina does not discuss ways to make the country better.  Really, before this election year, did you hear discussions about taxes, abortion, stem cell research, education and health care other than to complain?  Most of the time people don’t even think about how the country works (and indeed, the government) unless something bad happens in their life.  Then they are interested.

I wasn’t old enough during the 60’s to have been actively involved in many of the protests OR some of the lively discussions on campus. I came right after that, ohhh right around WATERGATE.  So I am very familiar with people who are dis-enchanted with politics.  The problem is that the big issues we face as a country somehow get linked with politics in people’s minds, so they don’t engage on issues. It’s only around election time that Americans engage in topical discussions that effect their lives.  Why is that?  Have we truly become a country that wants to turn over our thinking to the government?  Let them figure everything out?  Can’t we use our brains to think independently and more importantly, engage in topical discussions WITHOUT it being an election year?

Now, of course along with everyone else.  I’m sick and tired of all the sound bites, television ads and the same ole’ speeches.  If I hear Sarah Palin say, “I said NO to that bridge to nowhere”  ONE MORE TIME – I think I’ll scream.  But, that’s another post…

I see the malaise creeping back.  I see it in the rabid Obama followers.  I see it in the lock-step following of the McCainites (who by the way, only flock to see him if Sarah Palin is by his side – interesting, huh?)  The issues are not the focus anymore, it’s the candidates and after the election, everyone will go about their business of letting government handle the issues of our lives.  We need to continue the discussion of the issues.  We need to all read more and educate ourselves and have an OPINION about things instead of “checking out”.  Only interested, passionate believers get things done.  And, guess what?  They may end up running things while the rest of the country sits by and watches.  We all need to stay engaged even if the politics of today are off-putting.  The ones involved are the ones that advance the ball.  Don’t let it be someone else’s ball.

It seems odd to me that we consider Columbus Day a national holiday (when Columbus really did very little for our country), but not something like Constitution Day. I’ve been learning a lot about the American Revolution lately and I continue to be amazed at how little we are taught in school about our country’s road to independence. And how far our country has fallen from the time when we first celebrated our freedom.

Every day America moves more toward socialism and tyranny. We are required to make application for, and usually pay taxes or fees on, nearly everything we want to do. Opening a business? Better pay the government. Going fishing? Gotta pay your fee. Want to get married? Be sure to get your government permission slip marriage license. This is freedom? This is what our Constitution intends? Hardly.

On Constitution Day, I urge you to watch the documentary America: Freedom to Fascism if you haven’t yet seen it. Or maybe watch it again to get these ideas fresh in your mind. Director Aaron Russo attempts to find the law that requires US citizens to pay income tax… and finds that there is no such law. While there is controversy surrounding some of the claims made in the movie, I think it’s important to watch and understand the extent to which the government controls our lives. We might think our choice is democrat or republican in November, but it just might be a choice of tyranny or tyranny.