Same Sex Marriage

Here is another case of our administration totally blowing my mind. When did we decide it was okay to start
discriminating people again based on their lifestyle choices. The president has put forth a bill to congress that
would create a new Amendment to the Constitution (think Bill of Rights here) that would make it impossible for
same sex couples to be legally wed.

This is my opinion on my marriage. Marriage is a religious affair. It is the joining of two souls in the
eyes of God to become one person. In my opinion, the government has no place regulating marriage at all, as I feel
it is a religious issue, not a government issue. The reason our government is involved is that we recognize
married couples for the purpose of special taxation, power of attorney, and ownership of properties.

I don't understand homosexuality. I don't have any gay friends, and I'll readily admit that I'm a bit uncomfortable
around the topic. I do, however, understand the concept of love, and it is my opinion that any two people that share
a love should, so long as our government recognizes married couples, have the same rights as anyone else. To
publicly discriminate against any peoples is wrong in my mind. I am aware that the majority of Americans do not
share this opinion (polls show just over 50% of americans support the idea of banning same-sex marriage). It just
seems so wrong to me that in the middle of a document detailing how fairly and equally all people in the US should
be treated, we would stick this black eye detailing how one group of people should NOT be treated equally.

Illegal Immigrants

The media magnifying glass has been on the subject of illegal aliens recently. We've seen hundreds of thousands of
people leave their jobs for a day to petition the US government to provide amnesty to those who have entered the
country illegally but contribute to American society. The argument is that these folks want to be Americans,
contribute to the American way of life, take jobs that are either unwanted or underpaid, and are of indespensable
utility to the US. For this reason, illegal immigrants should not be prosecuted, and should instead be made full
citizens and given the right to vote.

This just doesn't sit right with me. It's not that I have something against people wanting to become American
citizens. I think that's fantastic. It shows just what a great country we have the people are falling over
themselves to break in and become Americans. What bothers me is the attitude that, if enough people do something
illegal over a long enough period of time, we should just accept it. There are literally millions of people in
the United States who broke the law to get here. To give up on our legal system and just say, "Ok, you beat the
law, so you win" sends a terrible message. It's sets a precedent for other types of unlawful behavior to become
acceptable. What other difficult to enforce laws are going to hit with this same reasoning?

Here's an analogy. Imagine someone breaks into your home in the middle of the night. They wash your dirty dishes,
vacuum your floors, and generally tidy up around the house. In the morning, you wake up, and find your house is
truly better for it, but aren't you a little creeped out that someone has invaded your home? What if the breakin
artist hadn't been so benevolent?

The system for gaining citizenship in the US is broken, there is no doubt about that. The solution, though, is
not to throw out our immigration laws but to find a way to allow those who want to be Americans and contribute
to our society to enter our country in an organized way. What makes our country great is not just our freedoms,
but our melting pot of cultures and peoples. The way to keep our brew going, so to speak, is to continue to bring
in people from all over the world to contribute to our society.

So to those out there in our country illegal, I'm sorry, but I can't sympathize with you. You have broken the law
and you should not simply be forgiven because so many other people have done it for so long. I have worked with
too many good people who have done the long and arduous paper shuffle to legitimately become citizens to allow you
to shortcut the system like that. I appreciate your desire to contribute to our society, and I do want you to
eventually be able to do that. Before you do, I beg you to come to our country in the free and clear.

Domestic Spying

This topic totally floors me. I can't begin to explain just how deeply disappointed I am with our government for
instituting a system for spying on our own citizens. What's worse is that it seems most Americans don't care. Our
freedom from government intrusion into our lives is one of our inalienable rights! Holy crap, when did search
without a warrant become OK? This is an incredibly slippery slope which seems to have no safeguards to prevent
some perverse member of our government (Karl Rove? Donald Rumsfeld?) from using it to treat us all as potential
criminals. Back in revolutionary days, the English government could search your home for any reason without warrant.
They could demand that you quarter their soldiers. The Bill of Rights specified inalienable rights that would
prevent these types of intrusions from ever being brought to bear against American citizens. Yet somehow, we've
forgotten that. Here is Amendment IV of the Bill of Rights:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Regardless of whether we are in wartime or peacetime, no person in this country should endure the intrusion upon
their private conversations in their homes. Based on current reasoning, how long until all of our conversations
are recorded and analyzed for potential "Anti-Americanism". How long until telling your buddy on the phone that
"You don't like Bush" leads to your being whisked away to a Cuban prison? Don't think this isn't already happening?
How about when CIA agent Valery Plame's husband publicly disagreed with Bush, and his wife's agent status was
suddenly "leaked" days later? How about the reporter, Judith Miller, who exposed the story being sent to jail
because she wouldn't out her informer.

There are so many instances of abominable behavior by this administration that I really fear where our country is
headed. We imprison thousands in an offshore military camp without hope of trial. We imprison reporters for
exposing improper government activity. We destroy the careers of those who oppose the actions of the president.
And the worst, we spy on the conversations of every one of our citizens we can. Election day can't come soon enough,
I just hope enough Americans are as disgusted as I am so we can get things set right.

Political Stuff

There's been a lot of political stuff in the news lately that irritates me, so I'm going to force myself to take a break from Warcraft to post some opinions. I know, shocking!