Liberal College Kid

I recently was forwarded this picture and others in an email. Apparently at Montebello High School in California the students played a prank and hung the Mexican flag on top of an upside down American one. The last line of the email was “If this ticks YOU off…PASS IT ON!” Here is my response:
There are a lot of different ways to react to these pictures. On the one hand, it is horrible that we are in a society in which people have more pride in another country than the one in which they currently reside. Of course, hanging the American flag upside down is much more offensive than simply hanging an Israeli, Irish, or Italian flag outside one’s house.

What may be more important than these pictures, though, is the fact that this email is being sent out. Does this really make people that angry? This seems like a teenage prank to me, and it’s just a piece of fabric we hang on poles. Of course it represents something larger, but is this really the most pressing issue to Americans right now? These kids in a high school in California hanging the American flag upside down?

More than 3,300 Americans have died fighting a war with a country that never attacked us, nor threatened to attack us. They went for a president who told them that Iraq had ties to the people that planned and executed September 11, 2001. That same president said that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons that they planned to use against us. The only study done to examine how many Iraqi civilians have died came up with slightly over 650,000 people. Not to mention the millions who have become refuges or simply fled the country for fear of their own lives.

But this flag thing… I mean, they put the Mexican flag ON TOP of the American one. I can accept the fact that we’ve sent more than 3,300 of our own people to early death and been the cause of 650,000 deaths in a country that never attacked us… But those Mexican kids in a California high school?! That’s what’s wrong with America, right?

Perhaps it’s because we hate Mexicans. They come to our country “illegally” and take our jobs. Yeah, because there’s so many white Americans who are waiting in line to be janitors, fast food workers, and other minimum wage non-union jobs. What, do you think Mexicans come over and become executives for Fortune 500 companies? Even more egregious, most Americans of Mexican decent arrived here legally, or were born here. But they don’t pay taxes right? Sales tax is the number one revenue generator for every state that has one. If you shop and buy food, you are paying taxes.

And so the war that we supposedly won four years ago rolls on. More people die and we hear more rhetoric about “supporting the troops” and withdrawal deadlines. And we get distracted when celebrities with huge boobs die and when some kids at a high school in California play a practical joke and put the Mexican flag above an upside-down American one.

So if I was supposed to get “ticked off” by this email, I’m sorry. I’ve been ticked off since 2000 when the Supreme Court circumvented democracy and elected our president for us. I’ve been ticked off since people attacked us in 2001 and we still haven’t caught the man responsible. I’m ticked off that we went to war with a country that had never invaded us when we were in the middle of a different war all together. I’m ticked off that the administration ousted a CIA officer because they didn’t like her husband. I’m ticked off that the administration fired eight attorneys because they wouldn’t drum up charges against Democrats.

And, finally, I’m ticked off that Americans have gotten to the point that they are more upset about some teenagers pulling a prank than they are about the deaths of the troops that they claim to support.

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I know it’s early… But tonight was a great way to kick off the debates for the presidential candidates.  There were some who shined brightly and some even more brightly.  For now, I give you the liberalcollegekid.com post debate analysis of each candidate.  The scale is from 1-10 with 10 being everyone and their mom should vote for this person and 1 being I thought their debate was next week.

Hillary Clinton:  7

Hillary did pretty well, although she missed an opportunity to really go after Giuliani for the comments he made about a Democrat’s ability to wage the war on terror.  Her best moment came when she talked about her efforts in the early 90’s on the topic of universal health care, which has now become a staple of every presidential nominee.  Her only moment of weakness came when she was talking about her mistakes in terms of the War in Iraq.  She’s a hawk, and it could cost her in the long run.

Barack Obama:  8

Obama did very well until the topic of Iran was brought up.  He got into a little bit of an argument with Dennis Kucinich as to his intentions for dealing with Iran’s nuclear aspirations, but otherwise brought up several great issues.  Highlights included referencing black-infant mortality rates on the rise and the Bush administrations abominable handling of Katrina.  His weak spot came when he failed to make a clear statement on what his intentions were for Iran, however, in the Obama v. Hillary showdown, Obama came out narrowly on top in this one.

John Edwards: 5

I really expected more from Edwards, especially in the state of his birth.  Edwards got one very peculiar question that asked him who his moral leader was… He struggled to answer it referencing his lord and wife after a pause.  His biggest highlight came when Edwards made the plea for America to invest in developing nations and provide funding for third world nation children to go to school.  He missed a great chance to nail Hillary for still not really saying she made a mistake voting on the war and failed to really separate himself from the other candidates.

Bill Richardson: 6

Richardson would have done better had he gotten away from his, “number 1, number 2, etc.” format with which he answered every question posed to him.  His best moment came when he described his experience in an executive office and he also spoke very well on what the US policy with Russia should be.  That said, he loses points for supporting Alberto Gonzalez solely for being Hispanic and for his pro-gun stance in response to the Virginia Tech response.  Richardson is still out pick as the sleeper though; governors do well for the Democrats in presidential elections.

Mike Gravel:  3

I loved what former Sen. Gravel was saying, and we can all appreciate an excited candidate.  Gravel though failed to provide any of his own ideas for addressing issues and relied instead on bashing the other candidates.  Gravel’s best moments came in his discussion about the ‘waste of life’ in Iraq and his zest the entire debate.  Again though, these debates are where people need to hear what you have in mind, not just what’s wrong with everyone else.

Chris Dodd:  4

He looks like a president, but that’s not quite enough this year as the two front runners are unlike any other presidents in history.  He lost points with his stance of being pro civil union but anti gay marriage.  He didn’t really have one single big moment in the entire debate and remained someone seemingly lost in the middle.  Something that didn’t come up that Dodd scores major points on though; a carbon tax on businesses.  We need to remember that real change needs to come from government, not simply by everyone changing to fluorescent bulbs.

Joe Biden: 5

 Biden scores right in the middle.  His one word response to his ability to hold his tong was humorous and his brief statement on his plans for addressing global climate change was good.  Biden failed to really rectify his statements he made about Sen. Obama and failed to make himself stand out.  Gravel called him arrogant, and really that’s exactly how he came off: good on the issues, but very full of himself.

Dennis Kucinich: 9

The little guy from Ohio came out swinging taking on everyone from Obama to Vice President Cheney.  He called for the Vice President’s impeachment, cited numerous international treaties the US needs to sign, discussed the flawed strategy of using war as policy, and spoke eloquently on addressing not just abortion but health in this country.  Gravel was able to fill the role of left-winger in the debate which allowed Kucinich to come over as very progressive but still intelligible.  Perhaps the best case Kucinich made was that funding the war, even with withdrawal deadlines, is still supporting the President’s war.  The Democrats have the power to end the war now, and Kucinich is the only one who has been against it the entire time.  So why doesn’t he get a 10?  He forgot to address his COLLEGE plan that includes providing for free public education from pre-kindergarten through college. 

While it does seem very early for debates, I think it is more indicative of the country’s hope for change in 2008.  Hopefully that change will be realized with a Democratic president. 

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 I was reading the New York Times and I came upon an article  that struck my fancy. See in Somalia right now all of the rebels are causing a ruckus because they don’t want a government; they like the anarchy. It got me thinking what do you do in a country where business is run by warlords and opportunist? It has been that way for quite a while and at least thirteen times before this one the government had tried to set up a central authority. It hasn’t worked and why would it? I mean, put yourself in the shoes of these ‘opportunist,’ as the article calls them, that don’t have to pay taxes or report to anyone and most have their own personal militias. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me so why in the world would they give that up to be taxed and knocked down the totem pole to be replaced by some government official?. So what do you do in a situation like this? I don’t have the answer, anyone got any ideas?

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Apparently “America’s Mayor” is going to borrow one of Bush’s most successful political strategies: scare America into thinking that only a Republican can save us from the impending doom.  Regardless of the fact that you are still more likely to be struck by lightning twice in this country than you are to be killed by a terrorist, let’s just roll with what Mr. Giuliani said for now.

“They do not seem to get the fact that there are people, terrorists in this world, really dangerous people that want to come here and kill us,” Giuliani said on “The Sean Hannity Show,” according to a transcript distributed by his campaign. “They want to take us back to not being as alert which to me will just extend this war much, much longer.” from the LA Times.

So, let me get this straight… Democrats are idiots and the only way to save the country is to vote Republican?  And not just Republican, vote Giuliani~?!

How dumb does he think we are?  Who was in the White House on September 11th?  A REPUBLICAN!!  Who has led us into an illegal war that was sold to us citing ties between Iraq and 9/11?  A REPUBLICAN!!  What party threw Geneva out the window and started torturing suspects who hadn’t even been changed with anything?  A REPUBLICAN!!

The list could go on, and yet we’re supposed to belive that we’re in better hands with a Republican at the helm… Yeah, because the War on Terror is going so well thus far!  Mr. Giuliani should be ashamed of himself for making voting Democrat sound like a death sentance.  Barack Obama summed it up best:

“Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a new low and I believe Americans are ready to reject those kind of politics.”

We are ready to reject Republicans insistence that they are the only party with credible experience in the War on Islam… I mean War on Terror.

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With a veto threat being vociferously touted by the Bush administration the Democrats need to take the reigns of the situation and stop letting the White House dictate the tone of the national debate. As it stands right now no Democrats are standing up to the claims made by the Bush administration that “they” (the Democrats) are delaying funding for our troops. Bush has successfully argued thus far that the Democrats are effectually refusing to keep our troops safe because they are refusing to fund the war. This argument is false on two counts: first the Democrats aren’t putting our troops in harms way by asking that they be brought home, they’re trying to get them out of danger as opposed to Bush’s “surge” which is putting more troops in the line of fire. Secondly, and this is the point the Dems really need to hammer home, it’s Bush who is refusing to fund (and thereby, using his logic at least, support) the troops, not the Democrats. It’s slightly unsettling that the Democrats have allowed the White House to argue day after day that the lack of money for body armor and training lay with the Left because of timetables attached to the spending bills. In a country which has yet to cancel “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” you’d think that Harry Reid, et al, would be having a heyday by arguing that they’re giving Bush the money he wants, he’s the one refusing to take it.

Instead of insisting to the American public that they are giving Bush the money he’s asking for the Democrats have taken the approach of publicly refusing to take the timetable aspect out of the bills, something the White House is quick to criticize. This is a huge mistake. First of all the timetable that will be attached to the reconciled bill won’t be binding, it will simply suggest that the troops be pulled out of Iraq in a timely fashion. If Bush needs this money so bad then why can’t he simply accept the bill and refuse to adhere to the suggestion? The answer is that he can, and this is what the Democrats need to harp on. Secondly timetables or no timetables, binding or non-binding, the Democrats are giving Bush the money he wants. It’s that simple and America loves simple. If they give him the money and Bush vetoes the bill it makes the Democrats the good guys and the White House the bad guys which makes a nice, easy, package for America to digest. Instead the Democrats seem intent on pursuing their more intellectually based argument as to why a timetable should be attached to the bill and what our role in Iraq should evolve into. While this is a perfectly valid argument it gets lost on the American people because of the nuances used in explaining it. While the Democrats are out winning the academic vote the White House is garnering support from the millions of people who voted for Blake 15 times last week on American Idol. Americans don’t like to have to think too hard about the icky realm of politics when they have so many more pressing matters to occupy themselves with (who is right for The Bachelor, why Heather Mills got kicked off “Dancing With The Stars”, If Brittney’s rehab actually worked, etc) and this is something the Bush administration has exploited since their first day in office. So here it is, my suggested argument the Democrats can make for their spending bill:

The Democrats love our troops and, because of this, are going to pass a bill which will give them the funding they need without a binding timetable attached to it. If Bush vetoes the bill, that’s not our fault.

See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

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Dear Congress,

I am but a lowly college student, and I understand that what I have to say here may well be considered insignificant. But, as representatives of people like me, I feel that my own input (theoretically) is just as important as any of yours. With this bit of formality out of the way I will begin my plea.

Stop financing the war. Again, stop financing the war. This backwards, illegitimate administration has pushed the envelope so far that I fear we may never really recover. Do not appease this administration by letting them come out as the victor. Do not give them a war financing bill contingent upon troop removal. Instead, simply do not give them a war financing bill. The only way to support the troops is to bring them home. Now.  Yes, this may well mean coming off as giving up.  Then again, we declared victory more than three years ago.  What will be giving up?  Policing a country in the midst of civil war?  No, policing three former Ottoman provinces that the British Empire turned into a country to make it easier to govern.

Our military actions abroad are no longer our greatest defense. Instead they are seen as imperialist reminders that America feels that it owns the world. My friends, we do not own the world and the sooner we wake up to this fact the better. Bring our troops home and live up to the term defense. A preemptive war by definition is not defensive.

Congressmen and women, force the United States to rejoin the international community. Sign Kyoto and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Encourage scientific research into potentially life saving technology and fund this nation’s health care. It is time to reexamine our nation’s priorities. We should no longer value the right of an immigrant to buy a gun over the right of every American to have the quality of health care they deserve.

It is time to make America great again. I know that it will be difficult with a tyrant in the White House, but January 20, 2009 is fast approaching. Thank you for reading.

p.s. In case I did not get my point across fully: STOP FINANCING THE WAR!!!!!

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CNN reported today that Turner County High School in Georgia celebrated, for the first time ever, an integrated prom this year. It took until the year 2007 to have a prom with both whites and blacks in attendance? Seriously? This just goes to show how far the country has to go in terms of racial equality. You can read the article here and get just as mad as I did when I first read it. Sure it’s a great step (if you can call doing something that should have been done 40 years ago a great step) but how is it that we live in a country that still has two, “seperate but equal”, school dances?

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To put it simply… The question everyone should be asking themselves about global climate change is not whether it exists or not.  For now, let’s throw out all the scientific data supporting it, Al Gore and John Kerry and the other champions of the environmental movement.  Disregard all of that for now and ask yourself one question: what’s the worst that can happen if we do what the advocates of global climate change recommend?

Well, we’ll be healthier.  We’ll breathe cleaner air, be less reliant on foreign oil, create new jobs, construct clean and efficient buildings, pollute less, and pretty much make the world a cleaner and better place.

Is that so bad?  Oh, and every study done on the matter has shown that companies can actually make a lot of money by going green.  Don’t believe that stat, WALMART has emerged as one of the leading companies that is making an effort to go green.  If a monster like WALMART is doing it, it MUST be making them money.

On the other hand, what happens if we follow the Republicans (those few that hate science… you know evolution, gravity, all that liberal propaganda)?  The unthinkable will happen.  First we’ll see species dying off, glaciers melt away, and storms grow in severity.  Eventually we would see Greenland and Antarctica melt flooding areas in which over 1 billion people live.

Everyone keeps saying this is not a political issue… It should be.  It should be THE political issue: the political issue that paves the way for the Democrats in 2008.

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John McCain today sang “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” in response to the question of what America should be doing to respond to threats from Iran. Sure the crowd, in South Carolina mind you, laughed… But what is going on when a presidential candidate is singing about bombing a nation to the tune of the beach boys? For me, this is just one more reason of how ridiculous and out of touch McCain has become.

He called a Baghdad market safe and the next week it was bombed. He said it would be a short war with Iraq… I guess we was right, it ended over 1,460 days ago. He has called Jerry Falwell intolerant, then gave the commencement speech at the scariest university ever: Liberty.

(-side note, something like 150 people in the Bush administration graduated from Falwell’s law school: a tier four! And Monica Goodling, you know the one that quit and said she’d plead the fifth if called to testify, who graduated from Falwell’s law school, hired a lawyer from a real law school to defend her.-)

It all boils down to this: an old man who is desperate to be in the White House. Once touted as a rebel and someone who went his own way, McCain is the last man defending the “stay the course” mentality. His strategy this election season seems to be ‘agree with everything the Decider says.’ McCain wants to identify with the administration that said today that they were pleased with Alberto Gonzalez’s testimony… You know, because admitting to firing people without asking why you were firing them is really something to be pleased about?!

I am far from a Republican… In fact I can’t even imagine how it would feel, (words like cold, and angry come to mind) but I do know that McCain is existing in his own reality right now where anything he’s said or done in the past has no meaning or purpose any longer. He has redefined the notion of political flip-flopping on issues, and doesn’t seem to care one way or the other.

This said I fully endorse McCain as the Republican nomination… There’s no way we won’t be able to beat him!

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Sunday April 15th, 2007, Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day. This day commemorated Robinson’s efforts and achievements during his tenure in Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson was much more then a figure head for Major League Baseball,though. He was also an early and ground-breaking leader in the Civil Rights movement. As one historian said during an interview on ESPN “Jackie was more then a ball player. He was a father, an activist, a leader, and a role model for the children of America to look up to.” Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball forever.

The celebration that commenced on Sunday the 15th has been flagged as “watering down Robinson’s achievements”. I ask how is that possible? Robinson was just as important to the Civil Rights Movement as Stokley Carmichael was or Martin Luther King Jr. Many people down play Robinson’s efforts to end inequality because he was a baseball player. However, Robinson was an incredible activist and never stopped his effort to end inequality. In his last public speech he stated that “Major League Baseball will be a better sport when I can look over to the dugout and see a black coach.” Robinson Never stopped his fight for achieving equality.

How far have we come in 60 years? In my opinion, not far at all. The United States society has this concept stuck in their minds today that all is well. Everyone is supposedly equal in this society. So I ask, why are people of color still discriminated against? In the workplace, people of color still make less money than a white people in the same positions. After the comments of Don Imus last week, it should be clear to society that we have not come far at all since the troubling times of the Civil Rights Era. With the ideology of racism still floating around in many minds of people with power, I fear the light still can not be seen at the end of the tunnel.

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