Political diatribe

I want to remember this, so, I'm putting it in my journal. Its rare that I let politics get to me anymore... too many years of activism- on the Right when I was in my late teens-early 20, and on the Left when I was in my late 20s, has worn me out and left me profoundly disilusioned with the party system and the irreconsilable differences between them.

The state of the domestic political scene here is pretty bad. Bush is asking for legislation authorizing deployment of military forces in the US in the event of an avain flu epidemic (my opinion: that is what National Guardsmen are for, bring them home!). The Pentagon is "preparing new guidelines governing the use of nuclear weapons that foresee possible pre-emptive strikes against terrorist groups or nations planning to use unconventional weapons against the United States (NY Times 9/11/2005)" which is great, just great. Like pre-emptive war against Iraq to prevent Saddam from using WMD. Bah. And then there is this business of nominating to the Supreme Court someone who has never been a judge! Jesus Mary and Joseph. Its like... nominating someone who rode a horsie business into oblivion to manage FEMA. Oh wait, Bush did do that. My problem with naming a woman to the Supreme Court who has never been a judge is that it will likley ensure that she will always be a junior member who has to defer to the broader experience and judgement of the men on the bench. She will not have a record to stand on to validate her positions, and more importantly, the reasonsing behind her positions. It is sad. The are many other, more worthy women out there.

We've got people starving here in the US. Most schools are cutting breakfast programs for needy kids and the school days are being lengthened so kids can pass tests for No Child Left Behind. How can kids learn when they are hungy? The Right to Lifers don't care. Guarantee the right to life, not the quality of life, that's their motto. *grumble* A fetus has the right to be born. It can go hungerty afterwards tho. Who knows how much this hurricane season is going to cost taxpayers... and the cost of the war in Iraq now has a price tag in excess of 195,000,000,000.00. Interest rates are going up, people were floating too much debt, especially on their homes, and more and more people cannot pay the interest on their debts, nevermind the principle. A windfall for the legal system, as more foreclosures and garnishments are pushed through the court system. So, more homeless, more people without heat and electricity, all at a time when we're pouring money into the military industrial complex to fund a war and reconstruction halfway around the world. *sigh*

Edit: And while I'm at it, today the Oregon Right to Die Law goes before the Supreme Court. The case before the Supreme Court is Gonzales v. Oregon, 04-623.