This post will be entirely related to the recent US Supreme Court decision that The Wall Street Journal so kindly outlines for us here. Basically, the decision ruled in favor of a group of white firefighters that sued the city of New Haven, CT for denying them promotions solely because of their race. Juicy enough for you? Let's talk it out...
OK, so Race War is something I'm familiar with. Just kidding. Actually the opposite is true. Being a recent alumnus of Reston College, the amount of diversity we experience puts the graduates of our fair institution probably in the top 1% of liberally-minded people when it comes to race. Boundaries simply should not exist because of color. People are just people!
But boundaries do exist. And color does matter. Just as it did for these firefighters. After taking a test to EARN a promotion (I will come back to the word EARN in a minute), they were told the test would be thrown out. The reason? Not enough minorities did well on the test, and the city wanted to avoid being sued by affirmative action supporters. The merit of the individual was disregarded because of the failure of a group, and that group happened to be made up of people that shared one similarity: they were minorities. Thus, personal performance and achievement were trumped by race. The race card once again acted as a net to save minorities that stumbled and a governor on the engines of advancement for the white individuals that worked hard to succeed and move forward.
Did the department intend for the test to hold minorities back? Decidedly not. They even testified that the reason they threw out the test was because it made them liable to suits by affirmative action supporters! In my mind, that means they did nothing wrong. They intended for the outcome of the test to act as a basis for promoting deserving individuals, and they even hoped that a significant number of these individuals would be minorities. So intent to make things fair was clearly their.
And that is all that matters. Or at least all that should matter. And the Supreme Court apparently agrees with me as their decision favors the white firefighters. And I thank them for entering the debate on race not on the side of white or black or any other color, but on the side of fairness.
I'll sum up now. For a long time race was used as a way to hold people back. Just as sex was. People feared difference, and fear turned to hatred and violence and simply evil. And good things have happened in the last fifty years to turn that around, thanks to heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others.
But we all know that. The question is where do we stand now? And I think the answer is that we have come nearly full circle. People see each other as equals, as people. We are now, finally, starting to look past race. No, not in every situation, but in both institutional and individual instances, and it's a noticeable change.
So we're down to the final question: where do we go from here? I fear that if things continue in the affirmative action vein, then race will begin to be used not as a reason to offer aid to minorities, but as a way to hold the majority back. And the Supreme Court seems to share my view in this manner. In this case it was clear that the city was holding white individuals back in order to allow for the group that did not do as well to succeed. And that group contained a substantial number of minorities, and it was clear that this was the SOLE reason that any action was taken at all. Situations like that cannot arise, and the Supreme Court was right to condemn this instance of it and all future instances as well.
EARN. I said it before, and I'm returning to it now. People, all people of all races, need to EARN their advancement. That is the American Dream. When people are held back or pushed forward without EARNING either treatment, the tenets of our great nation are put at risk, and that we simply cannot afford.
Given the same opportunities, race should not matter. Only what someone earns. However, people should be given the same opportunities, and the attempt to create equality, then, should come through balancing out the opportunities afforded to young people everywhere in terms of getting an education! If students are motivated to succeed, they should be given that opportunity. By the time they graduate from college, all students should have been given the same opportunities. What they chose to do with them, and what they choose to do after them, are entirely up to them.
Rx: Ignoring race completely
Signed,
The Doctor
Monday, June 29, 2009
Race War!!!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Politics, why bother?
I'm a Bostonian born and raised, but unlike most from my state I am a diehard conservative. It brings me so much joy to see Sal Dimasi go down in flames along with the past 3 speakers of the house for MA. On the national level you have completely incompetent people like Barney Frank attempting to get as much media coverage with his persecution of those he deemed "responsible" for the financial collapse when he attacked Edward Libby. And on the international level you have the joke that is the English parliament. Not only did Gordon Brown's party, the labour party, lose their elections last week but they fell from first to worst.
Politicians are a joke. Never are they acting in the best interest of our society. They are always trying to appeal to the mob in order to secure reelection. They will take whatever money they need to fatten their state's wallet (bridge to nowhere) and their own wallets (British elected officials writing off having their moats cleaned as an expense).
Sadly enough though this effects all parties and all countries throughout the world. The big they are, the more money they have to spend, the more falls through the cracks and the less of it we see actually helping where it’s needed. Give States their power back, force term limits on all public officials and for the love of god give us a reason to vote.
Monday, August 11, 2008
WTF Russia
So I thought I would take a moment and speak about something besides technology today. Late last week violence broke out in the separatist region of Georgia known as South Ossetia. Now for those not familiar with this area the politics and history of it are almost as complicated as those of Israel and Palestine and I don't think I could possibly scratch the surface. What I would like to talk about is the possible future impactions of this. The Russian aggression in this region reeks of pre-1990s Soviet policy. The popularity of Putin and his party have never been greater as he regions Russia to its former greatness. The question that remains how long will the west stand by on the side lines and allow this second coming of the iron curtain to go unopposed. Now while I do not like either candidate in this fall's upcoming election, I do feel that if Obama get elected Russia aggression will continue and it will be unchecked. This is one region of the world that will be interesting to watch as the years go on.
Read More......Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Another Lost Liberty
The Department of Homeland Security recently released this gem about their policy regarding the search and seizure of laptops and other electronic devices, "Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed." The policy also includes their ability to share any information obtained with other agencies as well as the right to send your computer to non-government agencies for translation and things of that nature. Now while the seizure of laptops without a warrant at the boarder might not seem like that big a deal, its not far from the government claiming the right to tap any and all international communication because importation of information from a laptop is no different then sharing information over a VPN. On top of this several European government are in the works of passing legislation that will allow airport security to search laptops for pirated software and songs.
I know many of you will say that this is for the greater good and the government is only doing this to protect us. But who is regulating the government? When you are no long allowed to freely share information with others without the fear of big brother looking over your shoulder things start to look a little bleak. Along with all the recent news about net neutrality it looks like the age of unregulated internet is coming to an end.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
I'm Conservative... About Ya Motha
It's rare to see the Doctor making house calls (unless it's to slay bitches or something cool like that), but it might be even more rare to see him break into the realm of politics. So consider yourselves damned lucky. I stumbled across (or upon if you're cool in that way) an article on www.cnn.com written by someone whom I thought I hated. He's got a baby face, sounds like a gay? Yeah, you know who I'm talking about. Anyway, he wrote a pretty great article on conservative politics today, and I thought I'd give a reflection on it. And a colonic. Find out what a colonic is (and where to sign up to receive one) after the jump.
A colonic is a 45 minute enema. Yes, that long. Yes, a hose in your butt. Having doubt? Steven Jackson got one (no joke, look it up on Yahoo! Sports).
Back to YA BOY Glenn Beck on CNN. A link to the article is here. Anyway, let me tell you about my political ideology before I begin.
I am a pretty devout Catholic and identify as a Republican for that reason. I vote on lines of respecting human life, respecting religious practice of all kind, and rejecting anything totally contrary to my beliefs. Sure I have other ideas and issues I take a stance on, but the ones I care most strongly about are religiously affiliated and that sort of thing. So yeah, I'm a Republican.
Or so I thought. See, despite having my strong Catholic views which steer me to the Republican party, there are a number of things I dislike. The opposition to gun control laws. Some of our foreign policy stances. Tax cuts (or loopholes) for the ridiculously wealthy. Oil lobbyists. Big business influencing Washington. Things like that. Now some of those things aren't solely done by Republicans, but people definitely associate those things with them. For that reason, for this "lesser of two evils" quality of our two-party system, I've always wondered if I'd prefer a different form of political organization in America. Maybe a parliamentary system or something like that. I don't really know. But I did realize, at some point, that my heart did not wholly belong to the Republican party. I was something else.
I was, and am, a conservative.
And I discovered that when I read the article that Glenn Beck wrote. I always thought I was a conservative because I knew I was definitely not a liberal, but I admit to not knowing much about conservative ideology outside of two things: they opposed liberals and conserve means "don't change." But Glenn Beck's attempt to define conservative beliefs, to lay out most if not all the points of contention that conservatives agree upon, really showed me what the ideological camp that I had ascribed myself to was. I could not help but nod my head with everything Glenn Beck wrote in his article, all of which he wrote in a careful, deliberate, and honest manner. Two of the points he made really grabbed my attention:
The right to fail. I've been thinking those things for so long, but no politician could ever say it at the risk of losing votes. Yes, yes and yes! The only society that can offer the chance to succeed fairly and without bias is one that must also allow you to fail. There's something that America requires, and it's drive and work ethic. The American Dream isn't given, it isn't handed over. It is earned and deserved. All the way back to our founding and up through the times of Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick (yes I just wanted to say Dick, you caught me) right up until today, America is a land where you earn what you keep, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Families. I think that really should be the core of everything in this country. The building block, if you will. It's what we were founded on, and it's not something that needs to be changed. This is a good example of something not exclusive to either party. Some people emphasize this point and it's not important to others. I was raised eating dinner at the table with my family every night, and it's something that simply cannot be replaced. This quote, attributed to a Hasidic Rabbi (if you know the author please let me know, I couldn't find it), says a lot about how I feel about the family. I heard it in 8th grade English class with Mrs. Black.
When I was young, I set out to change the world. When I grew a little older, I perceived that this was too ambitious so I set out to change my state. This, too, I realized as I grew older was too ambitious, so I set out to change my town. When I realized I could not even do this, I tried to change my family. Now as an old man, I know that I should have started by changing myself. If I had started with myself, maybe then I would have succeeded in changing my family, the town, or even the state— and who knows, maybe even the world.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Two Things
First, commentary about the Democrats' decision to seat all the Florida and Michigan delegates and award them all half-votes at the convention. (Here at bibttp, we're always cutting-edge and relevant. [Actually, blogsquatch and Doctor Dozer actually are cutting-edge and relevant. So I guess I'm just being sarcastic about me.]) I think this decision cuts to the core of the problem of the Democratic Party. It shows: a) an inability to follow rules and b) an unwillingness to enforce them. Draw that out as you will.
Second, I came across a brilliant post at Bugs and Cranks, which is a great baseball blog. This one actually is relevant, because it comments on all 30 Major League teams' seasons based on Mitch Hedberg quotes. Baseball and the Blogfather! Doesn't get much better than that.
href="http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/first-13-grades-brought-to-you-by-mitch-altogether/"
Please enjoy. Someday, I'm going to learn how to make "brilliant post" the link directly to the article, and not have to copy the whole hyperlink. Someday. Also someday, I'm going to learn how to make the friggin' hyperlink work anywhere on this page. Does one of my tech nerd friends want to hasten that day?
UPDATE:
blogsquatch has been kind enough to fix the link. SoBDD doesn't realize that all he has to do is highlight the words he would like to hyperlink, click on the symbol that looks like an earth with a chain in the area above the section where he writes out his posts, and then places in the hyperlink in the area provided.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
McCain: The Right Man for America
We’ve been around for about a week now and, best we can tell, the only people who have visited the site are us trying to see if anyone else has visited the site. What do you do when nobody is paying attention to you? Well, to take a page out of the collective books of Skip Bayless, Jay Mariotti, and salesgenie.com—that last one is the people who ran the racist Super Bowl ads—you say something sure to piss people off and wait for the attention to start rolling in. The critics among you might point out that for people to get pissed off, they have to hear it first, to which I reply: a) it’s lack of critical thinking skills on issues like that one that mean we still have no readers, and b) if we have no readers we have no critics, so who am I arguing with right now? So, here’s my sure-to-piss-people-off stand, at least in the liberal world that is the Internet, the Northeast, and Reston University: I support John McCain for president.
Now, how sure-to-piss-people-off (STPPO) is that? In the grand scheme of things I could’ve chosen to support, maybe not that STPPO, but I’m new at this. (Coming tomorrow: I support global warming and climate change.) Over the past two months, John McCain has received the primary vote of almost six million Americans. But he’s also failed to receive even 50% in 18 of the 24 states (plus the District of Columbia) which have held elections, got less votes than Ron Paul in four caucus states—future election rule: you get less votes than Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich (and you know those crackpots will keep running for president) in any state, you have to drop out then and there—and drawn the ire of such a spectrum as The New York Times, Anne Coulter, and, most recently and most notably, Bill Cunningham. To which I say: if you’ve manage to piss off all those people, you’re either doing something very wrong or very right.
So then, why is John McCain the right man to lead our country? Before I begin, and you start tuning out because you don’t want to hear about or can’t even wrap your head around how John McCain’s immigration plan is better than Obama’s or why McCain’s thoughts on the economy are superior to Hillary’s, I will promise you this: I will not turn this into a policy wonking session. So what if you don’t understand them? [Disclaimer: I do not actually feel this way. I hope to God you understand the issues at least on some level. But bear with me here.] If you are reading this, you’re probably more media-savvy and well-educated (not to mention hotter and better endowed!) than the mouth-breathers in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania who will decide this election. (I can just hear the people in Iowa saying, “We’re mouth-breathers, too! Don’t forget about us!”) But anyway. No issues. Just people.
John McCain is the right man to lead our country, now more than ever, for three reasons. John McCain is the right man for Washington. Some decry him as a Washington insider, and not, on some level, without merit. But McCain, with his 22 years of Senate experience, is a Washington insider in the best sense of the word. For all the talk about Barack Obama’s ability to reach across the aisle to heal political wounds, I say the same thing everyone has been asking—or should’ve been asking—about all the elements of the Obama campaign: Where’s the beef? (Ed. Note: The Eighties called. They want their joke back.) (Ed. Ed. Note: They want that one back, too.) Obama’s work and votes in the Senate are so liberal (check out the National Journal Senator rankings for now, I’m looking for another one to corroborate) as to lend absolutely no credence to the idea that he will bring much-needed much-promised postpartisan Change ™ to Washington. But as we speak of this business of “healing DC”, it is important to note that, contrary of the opinions of Mitt Romney—who simultaneously tried to run as the candidate anointed by Republican elites and the outsider candidate—Washington is not “broken”. Contrary to the opinions of Barack “Shawshank”—that’s Andy Dufresne’s rhetoric, Red’s voice, and Rita Hayworth’s emptiness-behind-the-sexy-front— Obama, Washington is not “where good ideas go to die”. Good things happen in Washington every day, and I don’t just mean Gilbert’s blog posts. What it takes for good things to happen in Washington—or hell, anyway—is for people to be willing to listen to each other and work with each other. And though it’s pissed a lot of people off, John McCain has consistently shown a willingness to do just that. I point you to McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy and the Gang of 14. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, you’ve done the hard part and gotten access to the internet. Google ’em yourself. And plus, I promised no policy-wonking-off.) You may disagree with the conclusions reached and ends aimed for, but the Good Lord knows the man is trying. McCain has shown a willingness to work with others with the country’s best interests at heart.
As you surely know, because even attack ads against him make note of it, John McCain’s war record is exemplary. McCain, for those you who don’t know, served our country in the Navy for upwards of 20 years, of which seven years were spent in combat in Vietnam. Of course, over five of those years were as a Prisoner of War of the North Vietnamese, where he was constantly subject to intense and inhumane torture. I have heard it whispered that five and a half years in a POW camp aren’t so good for your brain. To which I reply: five and a half years of coke ain’t so good for your health either, but that’s not stopping Barack Obama. But I digress. I don’t want this to be an anti-Barack Obama post, because Lord knows he’s the people we’ve been waiting for. (Coming tomorrow: Obama’s Christ Complex.) McCain’s military experience give him a significant advantage over the other candidates when it comes to deciding the best course of action in Iraq. He pushed for a greater influx of troops—“the surge”—when it was wildly unpopular, and his campaign only rallied from the hit it took from this stand when his views where vindicated and the surge proved to be successful. Please understand we do not need a military man to run the country, even in a time of war—look no further than Abraham Lincoln, our greatest wartime (or anytime) president who never served in the military. If our Founding Fathers had believed military experience was necessary to head the government, they wouldn’t’ve made the military subordinate to the civilian government. Instead, it appears they, like me, subscribed to Georges Clemenceau’s thoughts on the subject: War is much too serious a business to be entrusted to the military. And again, I digress. The point is, as a man who has served his country honorably in uniform and out, John McCain can be trusted to do the right thing with the American military.
This brings me to my final point on John McCain’s candidacy. Any discussion of McCain must start and end with one word: ethical. (Here, I’ve chosen just to end with it because it would look pretty fucking stupid to have the same paragraph at the beginning and end of the post.) Throughout his life, John McCain has constantly shown himself to be a man of the highest integrity and honor. A quick side story, one that does serve a purpose besides allowing me to show off the fact that I have real political knowledge and can do more that slip in one-liners directed at Obama. There are two recently trends in politics driven by Karl Rove, both counter to the way politicians usually think. (If you know anything about politicians, it should come as no surprise that these trends are wildly successful.) Rove beliefs were thus: first, instead of moving to the center and courting moderate voters, candidates are better served appealing to their “base”—voters firmly in their camp ideologically but often cannot be motivated to get out and vote. Rove got them off their asses and to the polls. Second, instead of attacking your opponent where he is weakest, attack him at his strength and take his voters there. (I’m sure you will remember the hullabaloo about John Kerry’s military service. No matter your views on the Swift-Boating, one thing is clear: John Kerry gave more to this country while in uniform than George W. Bush did. But when the election came, who was perceived as the more military-savvy man? Exactly.) So, anyway, attack an opponent at his strength. And over the past week, both Barack Obama and The New York Times (if you don’t think the Times is McCain’s opponent just as much as Obama is, well, you’ve never read The New York Times) have gone after McCain’s credibility and ethics, both in regards to his marital fidelity and his relationship with lobbyists. (Coming tomorrow: I go after The New York Times’ creditability. Whoops, Jayson Blair beat me to it.) Given that all attacks were quickly defanged and debunked, even by national media aching for a black cock, it is fair to say that this Caesar’s wife truly is beyond reproach.
John McCain is the right man for America. Does it help McCain’s cause that I agree with him on many major issues? Of course. But I disagree with him on some major issues as well. Does it McCain’s cause that one of my buddies worked on his campaign? Of course. But I have plenty of friends working for Obama too. Does it McCain’s cause that he has a banging hot 54 year old wife? Of course. And I ain’t qualifying that one with a but. Really, though, the reason I think John McCain should be our next president is that more than anyone, I trust him to do right by our country. He is a man of of courage and integrity, who has served the United States honorably in the past and will continue to do so, no matter the outcome of this election. He is a man of principle, but he is unafraid to compromise when it is in the country’s best interest. And… after 1750 words, I have no conclusion.
Vote McCain.
Read More......