Del Rocco case

The issues presented by social networking sites are very intriguing to me, and I hope everyone. I honestly think that a lot of the decision-making when it comes to these issues is a matter of common sense. Think about what you personally would do, or how you would feel if you were in that exact situation and someone used your Facebook or MySpace account without your direct consent for the good of a story and then make your decision.

For instance in regards to the Virginia Tech shooting where the article says that journalists were using the Facebook update feed to get leads on people to try to interview after such a wide-spread tragedy is amazing to me. In a situation like this, where multiple people have just died, that could or could not (you just don’t know) have direct connections to some of the deceased are posting on Facebook, they should simply be left alone.

I feel different about the Bailey and Del Rocco instance. Del Rocco has some information on her Facebook that is incredibly newsworthy, and could help in the formation of a current, local murder case. I feel that as long as her identity were kept hidden and protected that posting some of her Facebook statuses is not an unethical thing. She clearly wanted people to know the things she said, otherwise she wouldn’t have posted them on a website like Facebook for all to see.

Using some of the Facebook statuses, while protecting her identity is probably giving her more protection than she deserves. To put the things that she put on Facebook, she had to have known that all of her friends would be talking, and gossiping about the posts anyways, it’s why we put our every thought on Facebook, is to be talked about.

I think that Bass should have to look at the potential damages to her reputation (I don’t see any), and the newsworthiness of the information. I think that there would not be any damages and it is very newsworthy.

GOP merry-go-round

I love debates.

They bring out all the different sides of the candidates, and show each one in a different light each and every night they take to the podiums. It is fascinating to watch the candidates line up and drive their own points into the ground as fast as they can, while unearthing their opponents’ arguments and throwing them in the fire at the same rate.

It is a competition in it’s purest nature: repeated facing off with the same candidates, covering different discussion topics.

Think about how this would play out on the athletic front. Create all-around athlete super teams, and pit them against each other every year in an all-inclusive competition of all sports to prove to the world who the best team of super-athletes is. It would be awesome.

The system lets the cream rise to the top.

The competition being displayed by the GOP presidents this year is incredibly reminiscent of the Democratic primary debates of last cycle. This has to be encouraging to all GOP supporters, look how it worked out for the Democrats last time around. When it finally comes time to vote, the turnout will be great, and the passion for the primary election and presidential election will reach fever pitch.

Seeing the passion exuded by the Democrats during the last cycle and the Republicans currently is especially exciting for me.

Competition makes us stronger, and is the point of a democracy. The competition is on and the marketplace of ideas is open for business.

The GOP candidates are smelling blood: all of them. Each one sees the opportunity before them, and it’s all or nothing at all at this point.

Long-standing front runner Mitt Romney is beginning to be looked at in a less-flattering light, but still remains a strong contender. Watching the debates, Romney still exudes confidence with every word.

His success has largely been due to the fact that he refuses to slip up. He seems to be the most consistent candidate out there, but he doesn’t have the star power to take down President Barack Obama.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has enjoyed his fair amount of success as well. The devout Christian icon of Texas carries himself well, and tends to butt heads with Romney on most occasions. Despite his slip up in the last debate, his chances remain as strong as any.

Herman Cain has the political world on fire. The business mogul has had success everywhere he’s been in life (except for with the ladies, which is coming back to haunt him). The major question surrounding Cain is whether or not the allegations against him are going to sink his campaign to irreconcilable lows. If he can stifle the negative momentum he could still make a very strong push towards getting the nod for the GOP.

The newest (and oldest?) Republican to take center stage is Newt Gingrich. See my last post for information on him. I can't get a read on Gingrich yet, but he claims to be a changed man, and he definitely has the star power.

Michelle Bachman, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum all maintain confidence as well that they are in a good position to secure the primary election.

I don’t know who will end up on top, but what I do know is that this presidential election cycle will be every bit as entertaining as the last one was. Let’s just wait and see who pulls a Hillary first and cries on national TV.

More updates to come!

Gingrich back from the dead?

Newt Gingrich.

I repeat: Newt Gingrich.

Ladies and Gentlemen: take a moment and welcome Newt Gingrich to the GOP primary race. Then take a moment and think about what I just said. And keep on thinking about it…

Newt Gingrich is a political enigma. Who would have thought that the small Pennsylvania born and raised boy would become the boisterous political spearhead of the far right that he is today? Gingrich is one of the most polarizing controversial, and interesting figures in the history of the Republican Party.

-See his views

Gingrich has been the center of numerous scandals. He was the Speaker of the House of Representatives under President Bill Clinton, and was a major contributor to the government shutdown of 1995 and 1996. He has been married three different times, with the first two marriages being ended by affairs. He has married double digits his senior and double digits his minor. Hardly conservative by any standards.

Controversial as he may be, none can deny that the man possesses immense leadership qualities, and a personality that can drown out a room of movie stars. Most importantly he has the power of persuasion. He still maintains that the government shutdown he contributed to led to a balanced budget deal a year later, and despite his continued marital unfaithfulness, he continues to claim devout faith in his Catholic denomination of the Christian faith.

His ideas are mind boggling to both those to the left and the right of political equilibrium, infuriating to some, and a rallying cry for all to one side or another.

Despite his oft illogical, brash statements and ideologies, he is a political titan that cannot seem to be controlled for any extended period of time.

Look back at the polls from the summer and early fall and you will see his name on the straw poll ballots, but getting little to no recognition by anyone. He was out of it.

Even the man himself thought that his career was headed for the dreaded “Elephant Graveyard.” He told CNN in a recent article, “I’ve done this for 53 years. And the two hardest months were June and July.”

What he did not take into account in the summer heat was the fickle nature of the GOP voters as they scavenge the pool of potential presidential candidates for the one that might be able to topple over President Barack Obama.

Or maybe he was right in thinking his career was dead. Perhaps his career did die. Perhaps the GOP mourned the death of Newt much like we mourn the death of loved ones, forgetting their past transgressions as we fondly recall every positive moment shared throughout the life of the deceased.

The one crucial difference lies within the composition of a political career when put next to the composition of the human body. Once the person is gone, we cannot have them back. But in the case of Gingrich’s political career, it seems to have experienced a resurrection of sorts.

Gingrich claims to have undergone a rebirth, asking the public to place his past transgression in the past. It’s working. At least for now.

He is soaring up the polls at the moment, and is appearing to assert himself as a true challenger to the presidential candidacy.

Will this be simply the next in the ever-growing line of Republican flavor of the week candidates? Will his mouth get him in trouble and stifle his momentum like it has so many times in the past, or could this finally be his moment of glory? It will certainly be entertaining to follow at the least.

Supreme Court to take on Obamacare

Universal healthcare: healthcare for all people. Doesn’t sound too bad to the average person, does it?

But what comes along with universal healthcare?

Higher taxes. When those two words are shoved together in virtually any context, most Americans begin to squirm in their seats.

Ever since we stuck it to the Brits and their Stamp Act in Boston Harbor, a distaste of high taxes has been an inherent quality of every baby capitalist to be born on the red, white and blue soil.

It is this hatred of taxes that has led Americans to battle the idea of universal healthcare from taking root here ever since it’s inception as an idea. So when President Barack Obama pushed Obamacare through the House and Senate during his second year in office, naturally there was an uproar from all corners of the country.

Obamacare, was one of the President’s main platforms when running for office, which is the aspect that confuses me. Obama never hid his desire to enstate a form of universal healthcare in the US, yet he was still elected into office, and jeered from members of both parties for his efforts to enact said system.

The system is based off of the Massachusetts system that was installed under the leadership of former governor Mitt Romney, which ultimately requires all Americans to purchase health insurance, sign up for government insurance, or pay a fine. Employers are also forced to pay for health care for employees or be fined. The basic premise is that all Americans will have health care, which sounds good.

But not to everyone.

A coalition of 26 states and a group of small business owners have teamed up and taken Obamacare to the courts, and now to the Supreme Court in an unprecedented format.

The Supreme Court normally hears one case at a time, and gives just over an hour to argue the case. In this case though, they have agreed to tackle four different issues that surround the bill over a span of five and a half hours.

-See what the Obama administration and the GOP leaders have to say about the bill being taken to the Supreme Court.

Is it constitutional? The Obama administration certainly is convinced that it is, while the coalition against the bill is certainly convinced of the contrary. One thing is for sure; the bill toes a fine line. That line separates freedom and capitalism from government regulation and a more socialist system.

But the question isn’t whether it is good or evil, but whether it is unconstitutional or constitutional. I think that the courts will ultimately rule it unconstitutional for it’s sweeping overbreadth of power under the Constitution, whether it be for the better or worse.

The results of the ruling to be made by the Supreme Court could be the tipping point in next year’s presidential election. If the decision comes up lame on Obama’s end, it could push him straight out of the oval office, while if it is deemed constitutional it could be the final momentum push to send him into a second term.

Many do not care about the healthcare bill so much, but feel as if Obama neglected the economy for two years in order to push his healthcare bill through.

If his bill is upheld, Obama will be able to justify the work that he has done while in office, but if the bill is struck down, watch out for the GOP to make a strong run in the 2012 election.

Tell me what you think about the bill and it’s chances of being upheld!

Change for the Better

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”

-John Adams, 1789

I am sick and tired of turning on the TV, or picking up the paper, or getting online and seeing article after article and talk show after talk show discus how nothing ever gets done in our governmental system.

The two party system that we “enjoy” today arose through natural causes. The founding fathers never enacted a two party system, or called for it. They even warned against it. Warnings or not, it just happened.

Lots of things “just happen” in life: your favorite sports team loses a game to Texas Tech to take them out of the national title race, you lose a loved one in an accident, or your dog runs away and never returns. We cannot directly effect the outcomes of these situations or situations like these, but they still make us angry to think about.

This is not one of those cases. We, the American people, cannot sit back and watch as the two lumbering behemoths, better known as the Democrats and the Republicans, become the iceberg waiting to sink the Titanic that is the United States of America.

Due to the polarizing partisan nature of our political systems it currently seems as if everything in our national policy making bodies has come to the final stalemate. The unstoppable force has met the unmovable object. Two political parties holding all the chips in the most powerful country in history, each wanting absolute power in a balanced democracy that will NEVER grant it to them.

So what do they do? They use all the power that they do posses in the three branches of government to block the power the other party posses within the three branches of government. It is a vicious cycle, and the repeat button has been jammed to the floor.

We are in a debt crisis, a jobs crisis, an education crisis and a healthcare crisis. Sounds fairly similar to every other civilized democracy in the world, so what’s the big deal you say?

We Americans took what the Athenians did when they created democracy: what worked and what didn’t, and formed the best and most imitated balanced democracy in the history of government. We need to continue being the trend setters for the good.

The question remains though; what would be better than what we already have, and how could we do it?

Listen to this debate on NPR (if you have the time) and then continue reading.

The parties simply have to go. Our government has turned into Democrats and Republicans trying to get a leg up on one another, when what they should really be doing is focusing on making our country a better place to live. One might think that it is the politicians fault, but I don’t believe it is.

Politicians often begin as good people that are in politics for the right reasons, but are forced by our system to act in ways that they wouldn’t normally act, or risk losing party support (a.k.a. funding from lobbyists and corporations). In order to toe the party line and keep their campaigns funded, they are forced to change many of their beliefs and policies, or make them more extreme than they initially were.

What we need is a system of non-party primaries, where candidates are chosen on their personal merit, and not simply from the GOP and Democratic circles. Right now Americans are only allowed to look at the north and south poles. Let’s open up the rest of the world for business. Lets elect leaders based off of their campaigns rather than their mascots.

According to the NPR debaters 37% of registered to vote Americans are registered as independents. People don't feel represented by the parties anymore.

The people are choosing to take matters into their own hands by engaging in civic action activities instead of completing their civic duty of voting, because frankly they feel like they aren’t represented even if they do vote because of our current system.

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they’ve tried everything else.”

-Winston Churchill

We have tried it all in the current system, and it just doesn't work. We should view ourselves as Americans above all. Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, we all need to fight for our freedom to be represented by people that will lead our country instead of their party. Let’s choose to do what’s best for the country that gives us such great freedom to succeed and fail.

Land of the Free, Home of the Hypocrites?

The recent developments with Herman Cain and his scandal pose this serious question: What standard should we hold our politicians to?

Has the United States of America become the “Land of the free, home of the hypocrites?”

Turn on basically any TV station during primetime and what will you see? There is a better-than-not chance that you will see a program laced with constant sexual humor, sexual activity and infidelity. Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl, and even top medical shows like Grey’s Anatomy have strong sexual undertones. Sex sells.

At least when it isn’t real.

Politicians and athletes when confronted with sexual allegations often try their very best to sweep them under the rug and act like they never happened. What they are really trying to do is hide their humanity.

But there is good reason for this. If the public finds out about a sexual slip up made by one of these celebrity politicians or athletes, often times their careers and reputations are taken to irreparable lows.

The simple fact of the matter is that people love to point fingers, and people love to feel superior to others. Humans inherently make mistakes, it’s part of our nature. But what’s to say that the mistake of a celebrity should carry more weight than a mistake you or I make?

Take a look at Tiger Woods; hands down the most talented golfer ever to step on the lush green grass of a golf course. Woods was once the most recognizable and loved athlete in the world, in the realm of the Michael Jordans and Peyton Mannings. He was a titan, an untouchable, a golden boy that people could look to when they needed direction in life.

This all changed one fateful night when Woods was discovered crashed into a tree at the end of his driveway while fleeing from his then golf club brandishing wife. This was followed up by hundreds of allegations by women claiming to have slept with Woods while he was a married man and his subsequent divorce. He then became the most scrutinized man in America.

Woods, who was famous for being a professional golfer not a role model, was thrown under the bus by virtually everyone in the civilized world simultaneously for cheating on his wife and sleeping with hundreds of women. I understand this, and I share the sentiment with the Tiger haters out there: I am one of them. But for me, I always hated Tiger (I’m a Phil fan) and infidelity is my number one no-no in life.

However if you told most men that they could be married to a Swedish super model, be one of the richest athletes in the world and sleep with hundreds of other women without being caught for years upon years I can guarantee that they would take it. Yet millions of men around the country that would fall into this category jumped right on the Tiger-hating bandwagon.

So should we throw someone under the bus, and gather like an angry mob calling for their blood to be spilled for them doing something that probably over half of the members of the mob would do, or have already done in their lives?

Herman Cain was in the process of a meteoric rise to the top of the polls when allegations of past sexual harassment charges came to light regarding Cain and former women he had worked with. The debate has raged on since these accusations first emerged as to the credibility of the accusers, but regardless of the truth or falsity of the accusers, Cain’s reputation has taken a hit.

Last month on Fox News, Cain was actually beating Obama in a potential match up poll 43% to 41%. The most recent poll has Cain losing that same matchup by 10%.

I don’t by any stretch of the imagination think that people shouldn’t be accountable for their actions. I think quite the contrary, rather that people should be held absolutely accountable for his or her own actions.

I simply think that before we jump on the hate bandwagon of the next politician or celebrity to make a mistake, that we should look at our own values and actions. The change starts with the man in the mirror, and if we want a more moral public, and morally charged leaders then we should start with our own families and ourselves.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

-Matthew 7:3