Tag Archives: Politics

George Will, a well respected conservative columnist comments on Sunday’s political talk show, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, response to Republican Senator Rob Portman from Ohio who announced earlier this week that he now supports same sex marriage and cited his gay son as the reason for the change of heart and position.  FYI – Portman becomes the first Republican US Senator to voice his support for same sex marriage.

Self-made billionaire and out-going Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has set his sites on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and is putting his money where his rhetoric has been for years, forming a super PAC to target political candidates opposed to sensible gun reforms.

On Monday Bloomberg’s PAC released an ad against former Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.)  who is running to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D).  His PAC has said it will spend $1+ million against her this week.  The ad says “Gun violence — it’s out of control. Debbie Halvorson will make it worse.  Halvorson opposed a ban on deadly assault weapons.  She co-sponsored legislation to allow some criminals to carry loaded hidden guns across state lines.  No wonder Halvorson received an A+ rating from the NRA, the special interest lobby against effective background checks.  Debbie Halvorson’s record: more guns in the hands of criminals.”  Watch the ad here.

Can Bloomberg’s money in key elections around the country combined with President Obama’s focus on passing sensible reforms  make a difference? I certainly hope so.

I know that the Brown – Warren US Senate race last November received a lot of attention and the election cycle has resulted in making Elizabeth Warren a more divisive figure in politics.  But one of the many things I found appealing about Warren was her promise to act as a consumer watch dog for ordinary people like you and me.  So I was heartened to read that last week she made news for asking top regulators from our largest financial regulatory agencies why they had remained so inactive in pursuing criminal action following the banking crisis.

You may read the full article that inspired this post in the Huffington Post, Whine Street.

Politico pointed out that President Barack Obama became the first to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address when he addressed the nation on Monday.

I thought this particular quote shows a continued evolution from last spring when he first voiced his support. The introspective nature of that initial endorsement has become more forceful.

Thank you Mr. President for using your Inauguration Speech on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to recognize inequality and to call all Americans to come together.

With Sen. John Kerry’s nomination to be President Obama’s next Secretary of State all but assured, Massachusetts will once again hold a special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat.  US Representative Ed Markey has emerged as the early favorite to seek (and get) the Democratic Party nomination. Prominent politicians have quickly lined up to express their support, but I’m not the least bit happy about this news.

Over the past few years the Massachusetts delegation has lost significant clout with the loss of Congressional districts and after powerful politicians have left office.  If Rep. Markey leaves the US House of Rep., he will be the second (following Rep. Frank who just retired) loss for our delegation.  Adding to the problem is both US Senators from MA will have no seniority.  While voters may not be thinking about how this will impact the state, mark my words – this will make thing difficult for a state that is accustomed to having powerful legislators in D.C. able to negotiate and work on our behalf.

Aside from this significant issue (and rest assured – it is a significant), the opening in the US Senate should in theory allow for “new blood” to enter our state’s political landscape. If MA is going to be faced with the reality that both US Senators will have zero seniority, I’d prefer to see someone come from the outside the current political machine who can bring new ideas to the table. So while many may have personal / political biases in favor of or opposing Rep. Markey, my reservations are based on reality, and I’m not pleased.

On January 22, 1973 (40 years ago) the US Supreme Court legalized a woman’s right to choose to have a safe and legal abortion.

While I can appreciate arguments from those who oppose the legalization of abortion, I see this simply as an individual right that can be summed up as such, your body = your choice.

Are you an advocate for choice?  Learn from the LGBT movement and do not take your rights for granted.  The LGBT community learned this lesson the hard way as we watched both states and the federal government restrict our individual liberties through a combination of legislation and judicial rulings in the previous century and first few years of this one.

One month ago today was the Sandy Hook tragedy.  While I still cannot wrap my head around the senseless killings that took the lives of 27 innocent victims, what I find equally inconceivable is the callous response from the National Rifle Association in the days that followed.

While I’m paraphrasing the NRA’s response, they indicated schools are easy targets so Americans should focus on arming them to prevent future tragedies like Sandy Hook.  This line of thought smacks of a deep-seated paranoia that I can’t comprehend.  As I understand it, the NRA’s argument is do not limit the manufacturing of weapons – rather arm yourself and everyone.  The thought of people being able to purchase a semi automatic assault rifle would have been inconceivable when I was the age of the elementary school children killed, but now the NRA (and apparently America) find this an inalienable right.  Following that line of thought, one expects that only providing more deadly weaponry is the answer so perhaps in another decade we’ll be discussing the need to bring grenade launchers (shown above) or having armored tanks at our schools.

I suppose why I’m writing this post is because I want to ask, is this the kind of society we want to live and is this what we truly value?

Bushmaster .223 assault rifle was used in Sandy Hook