2020 Votes – Florida Congressional District 14

Florida Congressional District 14 is between Democratic incumbent Kathy Castor and Republican Christine Quinn. I am not a huge fan of Kathy Castor. Not that I have opposed much of what she pushes, just that she doesn’t seem to push much, nor very hard. Quinn, on the other hand, has no grasp of major issues. Time and again, in interviews, she demurs and claims to not know much on the topics.  “When asked about immigration, Quinn says she’s not equipped to give a short, succinct answer. But when asked if she supports the wall Donald Trump has proposed along the U.S. Southern border, she backs that idea with enthusiasm, adding her fear is that the undocumented could be bringing over diseases that could compromise our health system.” She reminds me a bit of Louie Gohmert of Texas.

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Ducks and Congressmen – How They Differ

Today, I was contemplating the story of the shooting at the Congressional Baseball practice session (and later in the day after another workplace shooting at a UPS facility in San Francisco), and something occurred to me about our priorities. Reports from the scene of the Congressional Baseball practice say something like 50 shots were fired, meaning the gunman had a relatively high capacity magazine in what has been described as an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon.

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Rep. Steve King, Talking Lawnmowers and The Baker Act

It worries and embarrasses me the idiocy I see in too many of our elected officials, and making it worse is the knowledge we elect them, and keep re-electing them. Evangelicals and Conservatives, especially Republican conservatives seem to try to out-stupid each other, and the rhetoric has simply crossed a line, especially on the gay marriage issue. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa[they should be really proud]) provides a ton of grist for the stupid mill, and I think his latest, were he anyone else, would qualify him for a Baker Act petition.

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Back with My Thoughts on the Aurora Shooting

Everyone needs to just take a breath, and let’s bring some sanity to the discussion. We all want to know why. We want to understand how this person came to this place. We want to assign some motivation, some identifiable cause. We want to blame someone or something so it will look like we can control these situations. We want these answers because we want to be safe. Blame doesn’t mend the families or even the nation. The answers given so far are little more than bandages that easily fail after just a few dips in reality. Because there isn’t a good answer, we need to just stop and say a prayer for the families and friends of the victims in Aurora and a scared nation.

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Open Letter to App. State Chancellor

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents the congressional district that includes my alma mater, and she has attended ASU events and activities to advance her political career and give her an undeserved credibility. Over the past several days, Rep. Foxx has made a number of inflammatory statements during the House’s consideration of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. Today, Rep. Foxx crossed a line when she took to the floor of the House, claimed that Shepard was killed as part of a robbery, and called the hate aspect of the crime “a hoax.”

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Tortured Logic on Torture

Sen. John McCain was on Face the Nation Sunday morning, and the contortions he went through to let the previous administration off the hook for their illegal torturing was astounding. He tried to claim that it was all just the result of some bad legal advice. Early in the interview McCain makes the claim that he believes no other Administration will ever make the same mistake (of using bad legal advice…I guess), and torture again.

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Administration Seeks to Narrow War Crimes Act

The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a U.S. war crimes law “passed in the mid-1990s that criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions.” The changes would mean interrogators would no longer face possible prosecution for committing “outrages upon [the] personal dignity” of prisoners.

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White House Still Pushing Torture

Reuters has a story saying that the White House has been meeting with Sen. John McCain in an effort to obtain an exemption so that the CIA can torture people. I continue to find it abhorrent that we are even discussing how this country might use torture. It’s proven to be ineffective, so to what end is Dick Cheney so interested in keeping this option open.

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Some Leaks Are More Important Than Others

Less than a week after a Washington Post story about the existence of the CIA’s secret prisons, Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) have called for an investigation into the leak of this information. “Such an egregious disclosure could have long-term and far-reaching damaging and dangerous consequences.”

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Sick But True-Healthcare in America

For some time, the conservative “position” on health care has been a stalwart commitment to the status quo, resisting any proposals for sweeping reform. Two new studies comparing global health data — one by American Progress distinguished senior fellow Tom Daschle, another by the Commonwealth Fund — spell out what this position entails: conservatives apparently are content with a health care system that ranks #37 in the world (behind both developed and developing countries).

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