Spain Legalizes Gay Marriage

From the New York Times:

MADRID, June 30 - The Spanish Parliament gave final approval today to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making Spain only the second nation to eliminate all legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions, according to supporters of the bill.

The measure, passed by a vote of 187 to 147, establishes that couples will have the same rights, including the freedom to marry and to adopt children, regardless of gender.

"Today, Spanish society is responding to a group of people who have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, their dignity offended, their identity denied and their freedom restricted," Prime Minister José Luis Rodíguez Zapatero told Parliament.

Spain is the 4th country to legalize gay marraige, behind Canada, The Netherlands, and Belgium.

Strange Bedfellows

Today, Leah Sears was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. This is a big deal, because, as the AJC reports,

Sears is the first black woman ever to head the highest appeals court in any of the 50 states, although there have been woman chief judges in the nonfederal appeals courts for the District of Columbia, and a Hispanic woman has been chief justice in New Mexico.

What made the occasion particularly strange though, is that Sears, a liberal Democrat, is good friends with US Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, who was present at the swearing in ceremony. While a liberal/conservative friendship isn't abnormal, considering the Georgia Republican Party viciously campaigned against Sears, and that Justice Thomas is certainly one of the heroes of the American conservative movement, I just think it's a bit weird. Certainly, Thomas didn't play the part of partisan at the ceremonies:

Thomas, like Sears a native of the Savannah, Ga., area, called the event "a day when my pride runs deep as a human being, as a member of the judiciary and as a Georgian" and added, "I never thought that in my lifetime I would be able to witness a black woman as the chief justice of the state of Georgia's Supreme Court."

Thomas paid tribute to former ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who delivered the oath of office to Sears, as a man whose work in the civil rights movement made it "possible for us to be here today in our various capacities and positions to witness this historic event."

He made only a passing reference to the political waiting game over whether there soon will be a vacancy on the nation's highest court.

"As we ended our term at our Supreme Court — at your Supreme Court — the winds of controversy swirled about the court's decisions and, unfortunately, about the imagined resignations. As I considered what was happening around our building, I thought about the calm civility of today's events. I thought of the wonderful times that we would have here today," he said.

Thomas also said he was confident Sears will "call them as you see them" and told her, "Those of us who are judges know that it is easy to judge when you already have your mind made up. It is hard to judge when you have to make your mind up."

Either way, good luck to new Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice, Leah Sears.

Shelby Foote Died

Amateur Civil War Historian Sheby Foote died today. He was 88 yeares old. I've been meaning to try and pick up his three volume work on the Civil War, but I have too many other books in my queue right now.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't try them out though:



The Civil War: A Narrative (3 Vol. Set)
by Shelby Foote (Paperback - December 1, 1986)
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Hurricane Tax Holiday

Georgia Considers Hurricane Tax Holiday

ATLANTA (AP) -- One week after Florida held a sales-tax holiday on the purchase of hurricane supplies, Georgia officials say they're interested in creating a similar event here.

Earlier this month, Floridians could buy such items as portable generators, flashlights and radios tax-free.

While I have no problem with the passage of this as legislation, and I support any efforts on the part of the state that encourages safety among its residents, I wonder if something like this is necessary in the state of Georgia. Hurricanes either rip through Florida and end up in the Gulf states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, or rip through Florida and end up in the Carolinas. Strangely enough, Georgia rarely sees any hurricane action, as it has a geographic luxury that isn't shared by its neighbors (especially Florida). As the article points out:

The last time Georgia took a direct hit from a hurricane was in 1979.

Just pondering...

Another Big 'Eff You for Veterans

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress that its health care costs grew faster than expected and left a $1 billion hole in its budget this year, lawmakers said Thursday.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, the Republican from Indiana, said the department can meet this year's health care costs by drawing on spare funds and money from other operations, including building construction.

But next year's health care budget falls well over $1 billion short, said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.

"I was on the phone this morning with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson letting him know that I am not pleased that this has happened," said Craig, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

"This shortfall results from either deliberate misdirection or gross incompetence by this administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington.

For a party that supposedly cares more about our military than us peacenik indictment-preparing, therapy-offering liberals, they sure do a shitty job of taking care of our soldiers.

Another Reason

If anything, this weekend's tragedy in Iraq, in which 14 women found themselves as casualties (which apparantly made this past Friday the bloodiest day for women in the war in Iraq), sheds light on another reason as to why women should not be restricted from combat roles in the military. From CNN:

Female Marines have been playing a more prominent role around Falluja, manning checkpoints and searching Iraqi women and children. (Read more)

They have become a necessity, out of respect for Iraqi cultural sensitivities.

Some women insurgents have hid weapons, cell phones, documents and other material under their clothing, and in some cases, Iraqi women have shot at Marines, said Arraf.

As a result, female soldiers and Marines have been increasingly used to aid those searches.

Arraf continues, in another CNN article:

CNN's Jane Arraf, embedded with a Marine unit in western Iraq, says that the military is grappling with the issue of having women accompany combat units to search women during raids or at checkpoints.

"It's one of the things that the Marines and the Army feel they're lacking right now, particularly the Marines, which have very few women in those roles," Arraf said.

Arraf reported that several weeks ago, a Marine was shot and killed by a woman who opened fire on him. The woman was killed by return fire from Marines.

"But when we go into houses with the Marines and with the Army, there is almost never a female along who can search women to see if they have weapons on them. It's something they are grappling with in this ever-changing insurgency and the ever-changing tactics of he insurgents and the foreign fighters."

In other word, there is a specific purpose as to why women need to be on the front lines. And considering the "cultural sensitivities" that Arraf mentions, considering women are maligned in Iraqi culture, I believe that the everyday presence of women on the "front lines" (as there aren't really any front lines in Iraq) could serve as an example for a nation trying to get off its feet and progress in such a hostile environment. Step by step, women are making strides in our military:

Tennessee woman awarded Silver Star

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 23-year-old sergeant with the Kentucky National Guard has become the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star -- the nation's third-highest medal for valor -- since World War II.

Woman joins Air Force Thunderbirds

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Just weeks after a high-profile debate about the role of women in the military, the Air Force is putting a woman in one of its most prestigious and high-profile jobs. Capt. Nicole Malachowski has been named the first woman pilot in the Air Force's world-famous Thunderbirds demonstration squadron.

Now if only Congress would take heed and open up opportunities for women in the military as opposed to trying to take away those opportunities.

The City of Sandy Springs

The big news around these parts is that yesterday, by way of referendum, the community of Sandy Springs (a suburb north of Atlanta) finally became it's own incorporated city, after decades of fighting for that status. 93% of voters voted for incorporation. This makes Sandy Springs, GA the state's largest city (if anyone is curious about Georgia geography, it is preceded by Athens, Macon, Savannah, Columbus, Augusta, and finally Atlanta as the largest city in the state). So why did Sandy Springs residents want cityhood? Residents have argued that Fulton County, in which Atlanta is the county seat and takes up the most land area, did not reciprocate in services the amount that those residents paid in taxes. In other words, they want what they are paying for. Case in point:

"We have been abused, misused, malnourished and mistreated," said Gabriel Sterling of Sandy Springs. "This is not surprising. They have treated us like a cash cow forever and they didn't plan for this. I expect them to want to keep the cash cow."

The list of grievances are long: runaway taxes, poor service, out-of-control development, north Fulton taxes paying for south Fulton services; and downright hostility by county officials to Sandy Springs' wishes.

While that sounds like a good idea, with proponents of cityhood citing "taxation with representation" and all that libertarian jazz, it is certainly not good for Fulton County and the city of Atlanta. Essentially, what we have here is an upper-class community that exists primarily because of white flight from the city of Atlanta, and now wants to consolidate its tax monies.

This is like California deciding to secede from the Union because even though it pays more taxes than any other state of the country, its returns are the 9th least in the nation (in other words, for every dollar the federal government the state pays in taxes, it gets a return of $0.81. Is this unjust? Certainly not; poorer and communities and poorer states (primarily in "red states") need the investment much more than states like California (and other relatively affluent "blue states").

To illustrate (swiped from TaxProf Blog):

States Receiving Most in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:

1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)

States Receiving Least in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:

1. New Jersey ($0.62)
2. Connecticut ($0.64)
3. New Hampshire ($0.68)
4. Nevada ($0.73)
5. Illinois ($0.77)
6. Minnesota ($0.77)
7. Colorado ($0.79)
8. Massachusetts ($0.79)
9. California ($0.81)
10. New York ($0.81)

Notice a difference in which kinds of states hold the greatest federal tax burden? So my question is, if we don't apply that kind of dollar-per-dollar standard when it comes to taxation around the country, why should it be applied to Sandy Springs? If they have problems with county services, they *do* have a county commissioner (his name is Tom Lowe).

The incorporation of Sandy Springs is unfair to Atlanta; the tax burden on people that are not as affluent as those in Sandy Springs can only get worse as more and more people move to the area, utilizing Atlanta and Fulton County's service without actually financially contributing to their maintainance. Metropolitan Atlanta encompasses ten counties after all (and most of those people commute to Fulton County for work on a daily basis).

So how will this affect Fulton County? (from the first AJC article):

County officials opposed the vote because they feared the county would lose $68 million a year, which could force them to cut services in unincorporated neighborhoods south of Atlanta.

The County Commission chairwoman, Karen Handel, a Republican who supported Sandy Springs' right to decide its future, says county leaders now need to change the way business is done.

"I view this as an opportunity to re-evaluate service delivery for our citizens," Handel said Tuesday.

One interesting proposal, put forth by state Senator Sam Zamarippa, is to reconfigure Fulton County altogether, creating two new counties, Atlanta County and Milton County in the north. Good luck to the people in Sandy Springs though, they're gonna need it:

In Sandy Springs, advocates for cityhood now have their work cut out for them.

A rookie city council has to build a municipal infrastructure — from police and fire departments to a tax office — for a population of 85,000, which would make it the second-largest city, behind Atlanta, in Fulton County.

Leaders have to build a government from the ground up that will operate on $75 million in 2006, when the new city would have to begin providing services to residents. Proposed budget figures already have ignited debate.

The first mayor and council probably will reflect the community's Republican voting record and will have to negotiate service contracts and other policy matters with the Democrats who dominate the Fulton County Commission.

It's Official: Biden '08

I truly think that Biden will be a strong candidate for the party in 2008. How he personalized his opposition to the administration torture memos that surfaced last year was brilliant and endearing. However, I am concerned about the fact that he is announcing his candidacy so early. There are still major elections in 2006, so if anything, his commitment to his party should be relegated to helping elect and reelect Democrats across the country, particularly in Delaware. A lot can happen in three years.

Miller Endorses Reed

Apparantly Zell Miller has recently endorsed Ralph Reed for Lt. Governor, and Georgia Democrats are loving it.

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed used a raucous rally Friday to define his campaign to become the first Republican lieutenant governor in Georgia history.

And he basked in the endorsement — 13 months before next year's GOP primary election — of a former Democratic lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator: Zell Miller.

"I am for Ralph Reed as strongly as I have ever been for anyone," Miller declared.

Why are state Democrats loving this fact? Well, Ralph Reed seems to have a lot of baggage:

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is scheduled to resume hearings Wednesday into allegations that Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon swindled the Tigua Indians. They are accused of secretly working through Reed to close the tribe's casino in El Paso, and then collecting millions from the Tiguas to lobby Congress in a failed attempt to reopen the gambling hall.

How much Reed knew about Abramoff's activities remains an open question as he embarks on his first run for office: lieutenant governor of Georgia. The Republican candidate, who has acknowledged collecting more than $4 million from Abramoff and Scanlon, declined to speak for publication about the matter last week. Spokeswoman Lisa Baron said Reed paid his own way to Scotland, returned on a separate plane and did nothing wrong.
...
Reed, a longtime gambling opponent, apparently mounted a radio campaign in 2001 that prompted Texans to inundate their legislators with anti-casino telephone calls. He organized pastors in 2002 to provide what he called "cover" for the Texas attorney general, who had filed a lawsuit to close the Tiguas' casino. Reed once wrote an e-mail to Abramoff suggesting they "budget for an ataboy" for the attorney general.

As the Tigua campaign unfolded, Abramoff and Reed exchanged e-mails that paint an unvarnished picture of their work together.

"I wish those moronic Tiguas were smarter in their political contributions," Abramoff wrote to Reed in a 2002 message that since has been widely circulated. "I'd love us to get our mitts on that moolah!! Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out."

"Got it," Reed replied.

Essentially, the greater the chance of him winning the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor, the greater the chance of the Democratic Party winning that election. So far, the frontrunner for the Democrats in this race is Sen. Greg Hecht.

The "Isakson-Chambliss Project"

The "country's No. 1 caller to television talk shows," who also happens to be a Georgia resident, weighs in on Georgia's senatorial duo of Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss:

McCutchen calls congressional offices, C-SPAN, talkmeisters Sean Hannity and Larry King, and just about anyone else who will listen to his mach-speed rails against pork-barrel spending and rising federal deficits. He brings up the same issues on his local TV show, "Focus on Excellence," which airs in a five-county area of North Georgia. He has phoned some lawmakers' offices so often he's become known by his mantra: "Cut Spending, Put the Taxpayers First McCutchen."

Now the retired carpet-maker and Republican celebrity of sorts is training his tongue on two men he has long supported: GOP U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss.

McCutchen says Isakson and Chambliss have failed to live up to their "conservative" labels, voting for pork-laden spending plans that have produced bigger federal deficits. And he has started a one-man, two-year crusade to persuade them to change their voting ways.

McCutchen calls it the "Isakson-Chambliss Project." And if you're anywhere in North Georgia, a regular listener to talk radio or a viewer of TV news channels, you'll probably learn more about it.

McCutchen is nothing if not persistent.

"Personally, I like them both, but they're not doing a good job for the taxpayers," McCutchen, 65, said of the two Republican senators. "I don't see how anyone could call them conservative.

"Look, we pay 100 percent of their salary, and they're only voting with us 50 percent of the time. It's like my wife. I don't want to see her sleeping with somebody else 50 percent of the time."

Both the offices of Senators Isakson and Chambliss seem to be taking the criticism lightly. I don't really blame them though, since McCutchen's claim to fame seems to be his habit of being persistantly obnoxious when it comes to teh media. But then again, McCutchen's appearance in a full-length article in the largest newspaper in the state certainly doesn't bode well for their image. It really doesn't matter though. By 2008 (the next senatorial election in Georgia), even the intra-party detractors will succumb to the sea of partisanship expected of any statewide election.

A Setback for Sonny

It seems Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue was found guilty of ethics violations by the State Ethics Commission.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has championed ethics reform legislation for three years, Friday became Georgia's first governor fined by the State Ethics Commission for campaign violations.

As part of a consent order approved by the State Ethics Commission, the Republican governor agreed to pay a $1,900 fine and repay $18,000 in excess campaign contributions to settle a host of complaints lodged against him by the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Granted, the Governor's penalty is simply a fine (and a small one at that), you can be assured that the Georgia Democratic Party will try to use this to their advantage with the upcoming gubinatorial election. With that in mind, Republican spin doctors have been busy at work:

Randy Evans, a Republican attorney who represented Perdue and his campaign, said the commission dismissed hundreds of allegations made by the Democrats against the governor and his staff. And some of the violations Perdue acknowledged having committed were "technical," he said.

"This was a huge defeat for the Democrats," Evans said. "They started alleging hundreds and thousands of violations, suggesting that there would be hefty fines, tens of thousands of dollars."

I don't know what's in the Kool-Aid he's been drinking, but I seriously don't know how a Republican governor's admission of wrongdoing is a "huge defeat for the Democrats."

Zack Brown In Recent History (Part II)

Zack enjoying a nice day at the ballpark.

Letting Go

With the recent revelations about the Terry Schiavo spectacle, it seems that some people (understandably Schiavo's parents, and not understandably Florida Governor Jeb Bush) have trouble letting go. At least Bill Frist has conceded the issue.

Atlanta Can Finally Breathe A Little Easier...

...literally. From AJC:

For the first time since 1978, Atlanta's air meets federal standards which specify how polluted the air can be during any one-hour period, state and federal officials announced Thursday.

While hailing the development as a milestone, they acknowledged that there is a new, tougher standard which measures the level of pollution over eight hours. The region does not yet meet that.
...
The region at one point was so far out of line with federal standards that it was unable to spend federal road construction money in Atlanta.

That is certainly great (especially since I've been running a lot recently), but I wonder how long it will last? According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, a series of road improvements in Atlanta will make transportation miserable for a lot of people this summer.

The orange cones have emerged along metro Atlanta's busiest roads, signaling what may be one of the most painful summers in history for vacationers heading out of town and weekend commuters just trying to get around.

"It's going to rank up there high as one of the worst," says Mark McKinnon, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. "We have so many projects on the major roadways in and around the city."

In other words, get that auto air conditioner serviced, buy a stack of books on tape and prepare for freeway misery.

Beginning this Friday, drivers across metro Atlanta will see 30 to 40 lane closings that will lead to delays every weekend from 9 p.m. on Fridays to 5 a.m. on Mondays.
...
"I'm just going to be real upfront with you — that is going to be a bear," he says. "There's going to be some miserable traffic in that area. We are really encouraging people if they have to be in that area to look for another way around it."

At least they're honest. More cars stalled on the highway only means greater aggregate emissions from their vehicles. So we shouldn't pop the cork off the wine just yet.

Pardon?

Gov. Perdue Planning New Antilitter Effort

ATLANTA (AP) -- The governor is launching a spruce-up Georgia campaign to try to reduce the amount of litter on the state's roads and highways. An executive order he plans to sign today will create a special Litter Abatement and Prevention Team made up of members of nearly two dozen state agencies and business groups which will be asked to develop recommendations for an antilitter campaign.

Governor Perdue says there may NOT be more litter than there used to be, but there's more than there should be. He says reducing litter will help promote tourism and economic development and may even have some impact on crime. Among other things, the anti-litter team will be asked to review existing litter control and prevention laws and regulations and recommend any changes it thinks are needed.

Maybe its just the way the article is written, but from what I gather, Governor Perdue isn't really actually doing anything about litter; he's just creating some bureaucracy to have other people figure out how to solve the problem. That in itself is not all that problematic, but to promote a campaign that in reality has no substance seems a bit egregious.

Sorry About the Lack of Updates

Internet has been acting up on me lately.

Sad

As Kevin Drum has pointed out, Gov. Schwarzeneggar has issues, but he doesn't deserve this.

This student said it best:

"It didn't matter. I just ignored them," graduate Ray Lewis, 21, of Los Angeles, said when asked about the racket from protesters. Schwarzenegger's "political views and all that had nothing to do with the graduation," Lewis said.

Oy.

Obligatory Micheal Jackson Lyrics

I don't care what you talkin' 'bout baby/
I don't care what you say/
Don't you come walkin' beggin' back mama/
I don't care anyway/

Time after time I gave you all of my money/
No excuses to make/
Ain't no mountain that I can't climb baby/
All is goin' my way/

'Cause there's a time when you're right and you know you must fight/
(Who's laughing baby? Don't you know?)
And there's the choice that we make and this choice you willtake/
(Who's laughing baby?) So just/

Leave me alone
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
leave me alone! Stop it
Just stop doggin' me around!

After listening to the radio on my way home from running, I realized that it's kinda like the OJ verdict all over again. Endless lines of callers declared their support for Jackson; multiple black rap stations played Michael Jackson songs. So it seems that despite all the jokes and the anti-Jackson rhetoric from the black community (it's sad, but when I was a kid, we used to have a rhyme that went "I pledge allegience to the flag/ Michael Jackson is a fag"), blacks seem to have embraced the decision and to have embraced Jackson himself. Despite all of his "changes," Jackson, apparantly, is still one of us. Strange times indeed. At least the Jackson media circus is over with... for now.

Oh Well

The Georgia Force lost to the Colorado Crush in the ArenaBowl, 51-48. From USA Today:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Clay Rush kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired to give the Colorado Crush a 51-48 victory over the Georgia Force on Sunday in the ArenaBowl.

John Dutton set up the winning field goal with a 37-yard pass to Kevin McKenzie with 5 seconds left. Georgia also was penalized for roughing Dutton on the play, giving the Crush the ball on the 4.

The Force committing a penalty in the final and most crucial seconds of the game? Well knock me over with a feather...

No More Window Tinting In Georgia

Something else for libertarians to bitch about:

MACON, GA -- The state window tinting law changed last month. Right now if your windows are too dark you can be pulled over.

All cars, even people passing through on vacation, can be ticketed for dark tinting this summer.

Centerville Police Sergeant Michael Mullins says dark windows are dangerous for officers making traffic stops.

I like this law, as I see no reason for tinted windows in the first place. If you want to keep to yourself, then stay at home.

And what about people that travel in limousines? Well, little will change for them:

Law enforcement is only concerned about your front windshield and windows.

The rear windows can be as dark as you like because many cars from the dealer come tinted.

The Jesse Helms Thing

This is lovely:

"I did not advocate segregation, and I did not advocate aggravation," Helms writes. "By that I mean that I thought it was wrong for people who did not know, and who did not care, about the relationships between neighbors and friends to force their ideas about how communities should work on the people who had built those communities in the first place. I believed right would prevail as people followed their own consciences. "

He added: "We will never know how integration might have been achieved in neighborhoods across our land, because the opportunity was snatched away by outside agitators who had their own agendas to advance. We certainly do know the price paid by the stirring of hatred, the encouragement of violence, the suspicion and distrust. We do know that too many lives were lost, businesses were destroyed, millions of dollars were diverted from books and teachers to support the cost of buses and gasoline. We do know that turning our public schools into social laboratories almost destroyed them."

Outside agitators like Civil Rights heroes Martin Luther King Jr. (a Georgia native and Alabama resident), Fannie Lou Hamer (from Mississippi), Fred Shuttlesworth (Alabama), E.D. Nixon (Alabama), John Lewis (Alabama native and current Georgia Congressman), Ralph Abernathy (Alabama), James Meredith (Mississippi), and Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair, Jr., the four black students that began the lunch counter sit-in movement at a Woolworth's in Helms' native North Carolina? While it is true that by 1964, sympathetic white northerners rushed to the South to help organize, particularly in Mississippi (and as a side note, this created a backlash among black activists, ultimately creating the Black Power movement), the backbone of the Civil Rights movement was comprised by southerners.

Helms complains that these "outside agitators" caused more problems than would have existed had the South been left alone. That is garbage, considering that the North, and the federal government in general, had left the South alone since 1877, when federal troops were removed from the region as part of the compromise between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden. With no protection, that left blacks vulnerable to white terrorism, seen in the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow, as well as the dramatic rise in lynching over the years. With the culmination of the First World War which created a labor shortage in the North, these undesirable living conditions led to the first black northern migration. In other words, there was absolutely no historical precedent that suggested that the South would have ended racism and segregation without northern and federal intervention. At least George Wallace recanted his segregationist views. Helms remains a tired old dinosaur that is bitter because the South had finally moved into modernity.

SCOTUS Rules On Medicinal Pot

I believe that marijuana totally and completely should be legalized, and even if that doesn't become a reality, I believe that at the very least, the drug laws have become oppressive and should be less strict. The majority of people in prison are there for drug related issues, and, of course, the majority of those people are black. However, I have no problem with the federal government having more leverage in regards to legislation for or against marijuana use, which was recently decided by the Supreme Court. CNN reports:

In a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled the Bush administration can block the backyard cultivation of pot for personal use, because such use has broader social and financial implications.

"Congress' power to regulate purely activities that are part of an economic 'class of activities' that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce is firmly established," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.

Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas dissented. The case took an unusually long time to be resolved, with oral arguments held in November.

The decision means that federal anti-drug laws trump state laws that allow the use of medical marijuana, said CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Ten states have such laws.

I should point out that the recent ruling doesn't actually overturn the state laws allowing medicinal marijuana use, per se. Rather, it's more like, "don't be surprised if the DEA comes knocking at your door." Essentially, it's at the federal government's discretion whether or not you could be prosecuted for drug use, and in my opinion, that's the way it should be. I will say that I am Hamiltonian in my views concerning the federal government; a strong centralized government is necessary for a strong nation. Hamilton is by far my favorite framer, as I have recently become more turned off by the more libertarian Thomas Jefferson. Right now I am reading an excellent biography of Hamilton written by Ron Chernow. But I digress.

The national government used the same logic and loose Constitutional interpretation (in regards to the Constitution's "commerce clause") in order to trump segregation in most private institutions. Although the federal goverment sometimes passes laws that I don't agree with (possibly the understatement of the year), I still disagree with the principles of federalism.

In regards to California's marijuana laws as they currently stand, for consistancy's sake, I don't think that even medicinal marijuana users should be able to grow their own marijuana. Not only should it be prescribed by the doctor, but it should also be distributed either by a doctor or a qualified individual. Just because you own a chemical lab doesn't mean you should be able to manufacture your own Prozac. If users weren't allowed to grow their own marijuana, I doubt the Justice Department would have had a case against them.

Zack's Blog

My friend Zack Brown recently started a weblog called The Big Red Blog. Check it out. To celebrate, I decided to start kind of a bi-weekly random featurette called "Zack Brown in Recent History." Confused? Well, here's the first edition. Hopefully you'll catch on (and yes, I need something better to do with my time).



**update** Link edited, thanks Zack.

On "Deep Throat"

Recently, there has been a lot of commentary about whether or not W. Mark Felt should be considered a hero. Arguments point out that he was a top-ranking member in J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, which was a sleazy and subversive organization at the time (which is an understandible view point). However, where I detract from Felt's critics is in their assertion that Felt should not be considered a hero because he acted selfishly in allowing the press to break open the Watergate case; they argue that Felt only did what he did because he was upset that he was passed over for the top spot at the Bureau.

But if you were to read Bob Woodward's recent article in the Washington Post, or even the Vanity Fair article that brought about the recent "Deep Throat" media frenzy, you would see that is not the case. You will read about a man who was very concerned and protective of the Bureau, and who felt the integrity of his organization was being compromised by the Nixon White House (of course, the "integrity" of the Hoover FBI is certainly debatable). Considering that he leaked information to Woodward and the press about Nixon Administration corruption prior to Hoover's death (in regards to Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew's taking of bribes), I don't think that this is an accurate portrayal.

Was he an arbiter in an extremely subversive organization? Certainly, and for that reason he deserves to be maligned. But considering the topic, it should be his actions in the Watergate scandal, not his history as an FBI bureaucrat, that should be under scrutiny, especially as it is our actions that deem us heroic and rarely anything else. Martin Luther King Jr. had several illicit extra-marital affairs; that does not make him any less of an individual to aspire to be like. Are Oskar Schindler's actions any less meaningful because he did not speak truth to power and did not publicly renounce Nazism as he was certainly aware that the Holocaust was going on? Felt was not perfect, but nor were any of these other people, or anyone else we consider to be heroes for that matter.

As an example of the type of criticism that has been made on the character of Felt these past few days, I want to point to an article featured in the Chicago Tribune written by Clarence Page. He writes:

In a telephone interview, Jackson, a veteran of the Rev. Martin Luther King's civil rights organization, described his reaction as "mixed." He was delighted that Nixon's reign ended but troubled that Deep Throat turned out to be a top lieutenant in the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's Constitution-trampling war against civil rights leaders, anti-war protesters, Black Panther leaders and other left leaners.

Indeed, Felt was a top enforcer of burglaries, wiretaps, extortions and other "black-bag" jobs for Hoover during the time when then-Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy authorized the FBI to wiretap and otherwise spy on King, based on Hoover's unfounded suspicions that King was a communist.
...
No, Felt was not a pristine clean "goo-goo," which is what the Democratic machine used to call "good-government" types when I was covering Chicago politics in the '70s. But few anonymous whistleblowers fit the image of Boy Scouts motivated only by their duty to do the right thing. In fact, many whistleblowers have mixed motives and that puts an extra burden on journalists to use anonymous sources cautiously and sparingly.
...
Felt appears to have had some dirt under his fingernails and his detractors are making the most of it. He resented being passed over by Nixon to succeed Hoover as FBI director. Judging by Woodward's account, and others, Felt also was engaged in an old-fashioned Washington turf battle to preserve the independence of Hoover's FBI against power grabs by Nixon's White House.

I disagree with this author's assertion of Felt's character. It is unfortunate that the author minimizes Felt's loyalty to the FBI as "an old-fashioned Washington turf battle," because a lot of that mischaracterization explains Felt's actions. He did not like the corruption he was seeing in the Nixon Administration. And he certainly did not like that corruption spilling over into the FBI (re: the appointment of Gray as the new head of the FBI).

I will end with a quote from the Woodward piece in the Washington Post:

Felt believed he was protecting the bureau by finding a way, clandestine as it was, to push some of the information from the FBI interviews and files out to the public, to help build public and political pressure to make Nixon and his people answerable. He had nothing but contempt for the Nixon White House and their efforts to manipulate the bureau for political reasons. The young eager-beaver patrol of White House underlings, best exemplified by John W. Dean III, was odious to him.

Just a Quick Note

With the recent public criticisms that Senators Joe Biden and John Edwards have made in light of the recent Howard Dean commentary on Republicans, I'd like to point out that both Biden's and Edwards' names have been tossed out there as possible contenders for the presidency in 2008.

Just sayin'...

Carville In Atlanta; Don't Blame Gays for Dem Loss

At an Atlanta Human Rights Campaign black-tie dinner, Democratic strategist James Carville made some comments involving the role of gays, namely ballot initiatives to ban gay marraige, in the re-election of President George W. Bush:

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry lost the key state of Ohio in last November’s election, one of 11 states with a same-sex marriage ban on its ballot. Some political pundits and key Democrats, as well as many social conservatives, have suggested the issue of gay marriage is what put Bush over the top in Ohio and cost Kerry the election.

But Carville, married to key Republican political strategist Mary Matlin and a co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” said it was simply poor Democratic campaigning that put Bush back in the White House.

Why is it important that Carville brings this up at a Georgia gathering? Because, as the Southern Voice reports, the gay marraige issue could once again bite Georgia Democrats in the ass in 2006:

The 2006 statewide elections, particularly the race for the governor’s mansion, could be one of the final opportunities for the Democratic Party to remain relevant in state politics, according to one political expert.
...
But the Democrats’ chance of reclaiming the state’s top elected office, already a tough task after the party lost control of the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature in the last two elections, may be even more difficult if Georgia’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage reappears on the 2006 ballot.
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The gay marriage ban was approved with 76 percent of the vote in November 2004, but is currently being challenged in court on the grounds that it was improperly presented to voters. If the lawsuit is successful in striking down the amendment, the GOP-dominated state legislature is widely expected to reintroduce the measure and again place it before voters.

Will it really be a replay of 2004? I seriously doubt it. Democrats were mollywhopped in the state of Georgia in the election; Republicans controlled both the state House and Senate for the first time in history. However, in regards to the statewide elections, the Democratic Party simply ran weak candidates. For Senate, Denise Majette, a 1-term Congresswoman ran for Senate, and subsequently, won the nomination. She had no chance against a seasoned candidate like Johnny Isaakson. One of the reasons why the Senatorial candidates were so weak was because a lot of Georgia's strongest Democrats were planning on making moves in 2006; in particular, I'm referring to Lt. Governor Mark Taylor and Secretary of State Cathy Cox, both of whom are running for governor. Because of the relative strength of these two candidates, and the relative weakness of Gov. Purdue, I'm confidant that the Democrats have a fighting chance in 2006, gay marraige boogeyman be damned.

Another point (also from the Southern Voice article):

When Georgia’s gay marriage ban was introduced in January 2004, Cox issued a statement opposing the measure on the grounds that it was “unnecessary” because it duplicated the 1996 state Defense of Marriage Act.
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Taylor — who presided over the Senate in 2004 when it passed the gay marriage ban, but only votes in case of a tie — has been publicly mum on whether the Georgia constitution should ban same-sex unions.

Considering that Cox, the only one of the two candidates that has said anything about the gay marraige issue (in this case, her opposition to the ban, although her reasoning behind her opposition has earned her some criticism), is currently polling evenly with Purdue, I am even more confidant that the issue won't be that great of a boon to Democratic candidates. But then again, I have been wrong before.

Hey... I'll Take It

Although it's not the Super Bowl, the Arena Bowl* is still a pretty cool achievement. What's even cooler is that I was at the game. But what's sad is that when offered to go to the game for free, I didn't even know it was a playoff game, let alone the Conference Championship. Oh well. The coolest thing about the Georgia Force is that it was recently bought by Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, so if anything, this will certainly feed into the excitement for the beginning of the NFL's football season in September.



Some general comments about my first ever Arena Football League Game:

1) I've never seen a sporting event that seemed so cracked out. The game included pretty hot cheerleaders, lots of smoke, lots of flashing lights, nothing but nonstop crunk music, and guys rappeling from the ceiling to toss out free t-shirts on their way down (double-u tee eff!). Combined with the fact that the action on the field is literally right in front of your face, it made for a damned cool event.

2) The final seconds of the game were pretty crazy. They included an Orlando touchdown which brought the Predators within 2 points, forcing a 2-point conversion attempt, and which also included 4 pass interference calls, 3 of which, consecutively, were during the 2-point conversion attempt. The final attempt featured another pass interference on the part of Georgia, but it wasn't called, and it certainly cost Orlando the game. Oh well, I'm not going to complain about that.

3) Arthur Blank could become Atlanta's next mayor if he wanted to.

Tomorrow, the Chicago Rush play the Colorado Crush (confusing matchup if you ask me), and the winner will play Georgia in the Arena Bowl in Las Vegas. I'm personally hoping for a Chicago win because I know a lot of people from Chicago that I certainly would like to gloat to.

*The Atlanta Journal-Constitution requires free registration.

Rethinking Howard Dean

Yesterday, CNN reported that Howard Dean, in usual Howard Dean fashion, made some remarks that upset several Republicans.

"I don't hate Republicans," he said, in an interview Friday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "But I sure hate what this Republican Party is doing to America."

In a speech Thursday before a Washington conference sponsored by the "Campaign for America's Future," Dean told the audience that many Republicans "had never made an honest living in their lives."

I'm not too distraught over the comments, in the sense that I'm sure that the same kind of anti-Republican and anti-Democrat commentary was made under the recent leadership of Terry McAuliffe and Ed Gillespie respectively. What bothers me, however, is that when Dean says these type of things, he becomes a lighting rod of media attention. And a lot of that is negative attention. Having met the man myself, I am certainly convinced that he has the ability to be a strong leader of the national party. But can he be a liability as well? I don't know. It certainly does not help that John Edwards is now criticizing Dean for his comments.

"The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party. He's a voice. I don't agree with it."

I disagree with that analysis in a way; that's like saying President Bush isn't the spokesman for the United States. It's a technically true statement, but it doesn't really matter for those on the outside looking in; it's all the same. And that's who really matters in all of this. Namely, those people who don't necessarily consider themselves part of the Democratic movement and may perceive Chairman Dean's comments a sign weakness within the party. Oh well, time will tell. If Democrats make significant gains in the 2006 mid-terms, a lot of doubters will be singing Dean's praises.