Interesting Read... Options

[Blakjak]

Anybody read Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas? I'm about halfway through it now and I find it very interesting. Druid you're from Kansas right lol. No, but it really is a thought-provoking read, something I think everyone should try and muscle their way through.

*I know this isn't about the War on Terror but it deals with politics so I thought it would be relevant.

This post has been edited by Blakjak: 06/27/05 4:55pm

[Blakjak]

I too thuoght he was rather full of himself Druid, and I took many of his anecdotes with a grain of salt to say the least. His focus on Kansas was meaningless to me because I know absolutely nothing about Kansas other than it's flat. However, some of the ideas that he presents hold true, at least here in Georgia anyways from talking to different people from around our state during debate tournaments and the like. It all boils down to under education in my mind.

I think the general point is that way more people are voting for the wrong reasons and they don't understand that, not so much that they are simply mistaken. 50/50 for the poor may seem disjointed, but should that 50% really be voting Republican, probably not, based on Frank's reasoning. What got me most of all is just the fact that people would vote on social issues at all; social standards are very hard to adjust, Roe v. Wade being an excellent example.

Protesting about issues like abortion is pointless unless the Supreme Court takes radical action; furthermore, appointing enough conservative justices to the court to overturn a decision like Roe is extremely unlikely. This doesn't even take into account the historical implications and ramifications of any such landmark reversal - the integrity of the court would suffer if there were not some egregious violation of the constitution to justify it (i.e. segregation, slavery, etc.)

[holden_caulfield]

Protesting about issues like abortion is pointless unless the Supreme Court takes radical action; furthermore, appointing enough conservative justices to the court to overturn a decision like Roe is extremely unlikely.  This doesn't even take into account the historical implications and ramifications of any such landmark reversal - the integrity of the court would suffer if there were not some egregious violation of the constitution to justify it (i.e. segregation, slavery, etc.)

The organized religious organizations who protest abortion don't care about what's practical, or what's constitutional, or what the other side is willing to concede. To them the issue is very black and white. Just look around: when it comes to the issue of abortion, they are the minority voice (moral majority is a nice spin). But that doesn't stop them.

If what they need is radical action from the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, then that's what they will push for. Do you think they care what their opponents think? How many times have we heard good ole' Pat Robertson tell us that killing the unborn is a sin, that this is God's battle being waged on earth. His followers won't be stopped by the Constitution, since they are held to a higher law.

It has nothing to do with the Consitution.

Sometimes we get too comfortable. We think, "Surely the US won't lock up people in camps without due process, or a time table, or, hell, even a transparent process at all. Surely a land that loves freedom, such as ours, would repel anything which threatens personal freedom and first amendment rights." Unfortunately, history has shown otherwise.

JA Internment
Read First Sentence, Section 2

We can't take these things for granted.