Andre's Executive Order

First, my apologies for not posting yesterday, but I was traveling and distracted. Fortunately I used the time wisely to think about where to go with my efforts to kick around the political topics of the day. I'm on a Conservative kick. For the next week, I'm going to be talking about what it means to be a conservative in America. What are conservatives thinking? What do they want? What do they object to most about Progressives and Liberals, and what would they like to see from America. My goal in this is not to mock the positions of the group I usually oppose, but to achieve two goals. First, I want to make sure that liberals and conservatives, themselves, understand why people identify themselves as conservative. What are the core elements of the American conservative and what do they hold most dear. In the average American conservative's mind, what does an ideal America look like? Second, I want to call into question whether or not the current Republican party is carryin...

Over 70% of the American population supported Arizona's proposition 1070, and the Republicans are going to town over Obama's suit that temporarily shut the majority of the bill down. Clearly the Obama administration is against the States and the will of the people. Well wait a minute. Five points that render Fox News' spin on it kinda suspect. First, the proposition didn't actually give police officers any more power than they had under the current federal immigration law. The law required new behavior from existing officers - all of which involved charging the immigrants with a new crime that would have placed those prisoners in local jails before INS got them instead of turning them directly over to INS. Realize Joe Arpaio, the 30 year sheriff of the county where this law originates is AGAINST this law. He's not a liberal, he's convinced that this law gives him nothing but additional red tape and costs. Second, this law effectively amends and extends the Feder...

Taxation. It's one of the big talk-points and battle lines between the two moderate parties we have. Republicans love to slam Democrats for raising taxes and hurting business while Democrats love to slam Republicans for using tax cuts to benefit corporate deals made to further corporate greed at the expense of Americans. The Tea Party has recently brought taxation to the forefront of the news by raging in a nearly incoherent way against the increases in tax funded programs, taking a nearly libertarian stance on the potential tax impacts. Again, the #1 cited reason for this rage? The interference with business that such costs would have. What the hell do politicans mean when they say 'Business'? It's convenient to lump every kind of economic effort into a single word like 'business' and then use broad generalizations to talk about how a tax or legislation is for or against it. But pay attention folks. Doing business in the US has changed enormously in the last fi...

Conservatives. Liberals. Pretty much anyone who starts their answers to political questions with things they heard on Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck or Randy Rhodes without having given fives seconds of time to verify what was said. America has been polarizing politically for years, but recently it's gotten worse. With so much information now flowing to voters, people simply pick the person that shouts the loudest in their particular party and recite what that person says as gospel truth. This kick in the pants is my way of challenging people to open their eyes and stop voting against their own interests. I'm likely to make more than a few people mad with what I say since my favorite unthinking voters recently tend to be Republicans, but the problem is a lot bigger than either party. The problem is that once upon a time, political opponents debated each other trying to convince one another of the merits of their points. The founding fathers weren't trying to win votes or sway m...