Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
During the recent debt ceiling debate the GOP and their right wing propaganda machine harped on the fact that then Senator Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006. He admitted that his vote was political but wasn’t needed to pass or defeat the raise. I learned today that the Republicans have also had changed views on taxes, favoring corporations, and health care reform.
According to Politifact, Senator Obama’s vote was typical and not needed:
This is just in case Dave Barton, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and other thick heads need a refresher on American History. I recommend the entire School House Rock series. Those short videos helped me through school at times. Lucky for us these were made before the fans of anti-intellectualism got a chance to rewrite history. Happy 4th of July!
School House Rock – Shot Heard ‘Round the World (America Rock)
The good news is that the New York state legislature finally approved a law that will allow same sex marriage. The bad news is that in order for this great thing to happen, changes in the law will allow religious sects AND the non-church businesses they operate to discriminate against gays without any legal repercussions. In the zeal to get these new rights for the LGBT community, did proponents give away the farm?
From the NY Times:
Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, held out as the model of integrity, resigned Monday as the pressure mounted due to a memorabilia-for-tattoo scandal that showed no sign of simmering down. Like all media created heroes, the backlash and piling on has been merciless. Besides the obvious questions about what is true or not, where was the Columbus media when all this was going on?
The start was in December when we all found out that 5 players had traded memorabilia (rings, jerseys, autographs, etc…) for tattoos at a Columbus tattoo parlor. At the time Coach Tressel and Ohio State officials claimed they found out about it in December. The five players were allowed to play in the season ending Sugar Bowl but were suspended for five games to start the 2011 season.
Today is Memorial Day when we honor those who have served and/or died for this country. One of those military members was my Dad. He was killed in Vietnam in 1968. To those members of the Armed Forces who answered their country’s call, I tip my hat and say thanks.
This is my Dad in his dress uniform:
