The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Constitutional issues and questions are posted to this category.
I just couldn’t resist reposting this. The krazy kristian kooks want to enshrine what they call “biblical” marriage into our Constitution. Well, so long as it goes with their inerant Bible, I’m OK with it. Vote ahead. Sometimes people just need to stop and think, and read what they believe they are referencing.
Read moreWell, of course the war over writing bigotry and discrimination into the North Carolina Constitution is in full swing. I am sadly disappointed that this is what my home state has come to, but I’m not surprised. I’ve talked to several of the legislators who voted to put this on the ballot, and they absolve themselves by saying, “Well, I just think the people should vote.” But when I ask them why they don’t put every civil right on the ballot, I was called, “absurd.”
Read moreOK, so here’s how to avoid all the headaches of the TSA checkpoints. Just get one of these. I loved the takeoff procedure, but I can see where landing could get a little complicated depending on your speed. Kind of reminded of Fred Flintstone, but it could be a lot of fun.
Read moreWell, you knew it would be just a matter of time. I think I want one of each. My personal favorite, the one about the Freedom Pat. I can see some Congressman startting to use that to justify TSA.
Read moreFinally people seem to be waking to the ridiculousness of the TSA’s “security theater” at the airport gates, just not before Micheal Chertoff, former head of Homeland Security, got to sock away a nice retirement package from selling us taxpayers the bogus x-ray machines. Don’t want to go through those, then get yourself a rub down from a TSA agent, but I’ve found a way to get through the rub down pretty fast.
Read moreAs I picked up my rental car here at Dulles Airport Monday morning, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was on C-Span Radio trying to defend TSA’s ridiculous and overly intrusive pat downs and use of the prono-x-ray machines. I noticed she kept talking about people who opt out of the backscatter machines can get a “same-gender” pat down. She kept saying “same-gender” over and over.
Read moreThis is a CNN Video of Ted Olson discussing the ruling by Judge Walker today in the Constitutional Challenge to California’s Proposition 8. As you’ve probably now heard, Judge Walked declared Proposition 8 Unconstitutional, and basically said if failed on strict scrutiny and on a rational basis argument.
Read moreAs most of you know, the United States Senate has a cloture rule which requires at least 60 votes to end debate to then vote up or down on the bill itself. It is important to note that the Constitution says nothing about the rules of the Senate, and does not require such a super-majority. Should the rule be modified to require a lower threshold for cloture, or eliminated all together? Tell us what you think in our poll.
Read moreBelow is a youtube of a segment from Meet The Press this past Sunday in which E. J. Dionne calls out Sen. Orrin Hatch for the Republican’s continuing bullshit about the use of reconciliation to pass things based on a simple majority vote in the Senate. We need to be discussing policy and health insurance reform (or elimination), but instead, all the Republicans can come up with to try to “win” is to run around like Chicken Little complaining that the sky will fall if some Senate procedure is “out-procedured.”
Read moreWashington State recently enacted a domestic partnership registry and granted most of the same rights held by married people to domestic partners. Needless to say, the wingnut fringe of the Republican party came unglued, and launched a petition effort to repeal the law. The organization sponsoring the drive has sought and received a temporary restraining order to keep the names of the petition signers secret.
Read moreOne can’t be as opinionated as I, and not post a message on Independence Day. As I have stated before, I remain concerned about the condition of our Republic. We no longer seem to be one nation…we have devolved into red and blue states, with the extreme right and left pulling the center apart. We’ve become a nation of “haves” and “have nots” We have lost touch with that primary Constitutional principle of “the common good.”
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