"Tee" Party

More... on... Santorum!

Santorum: Obama wants to 'indoctrinate' students by boosting college enrollment

Me: I don't think he's doing a bang up job considering all the graduated conservatives I know...

And on another note entirely...

Howard Dean Syndrome

There's a point in virtually every election where a candidate has everything going for them and inevitably ruins it by losing their mind. Look at Howard Dean. Smart guy, good ideas but unelectable for a lot of other reasons but mostly this:

The same might be said for Rick Santorum. He's a front runner, he's came in first in a few states. But as Dean's law dictates one candidate has to start saying insanely unelectable things at some point.

Case in point, this recent quote:

“It’s so funny that this party that criticizes the right for being anti-science, but when it comes to the management of the Earth, they are the anti-science ones!"

Disregarding any stance you have on global warming, Santorum appears to imply the Republican party ruling over Earth. They might have won big in the 2010 election but I don't think that big. Also, ranting incoherently is not a big selling point toward getting a position entitling you to enough nuclear weapons to kill virtually every person on the planet (and probably space).

Also, for your consideration I offer this:

“There are no Palestinians. All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis. There are no Palestinians. This is Israeli land.”

This is a good quote if you want to get the votes of people in Israel. And maybe, with Santorum seeing the Republican party extending across the globe he really thinks they might have an extra 20-25 electoral votes waiting for him. However, this is a terribly bad quote if you know anything of history. A great many Israelies were sent to the West Bank and Israel after the second world war. Now, maybe God said let there be land after the British protectorate ended and there never were Muslims living in the West Bank. And maybe the state of Israel existed in its modern form in the bizarre sweater-vest wearing dimension Santorum is from but I highly doubt it.

When a Celebrity Dies

There has been a fervant backlash lately on the internet against the mourning of dead celebrities.  Grief in many cases has been mocked and minimalized.  This is wrong to me for several reasons. 1.) Despite the fame and hype they hold, the sometimes over bloated effect Hollywood has on our perceptions, celebrities; actors, musicians, etc. are still people. We might disagree at the level of grief directed toward one individual and not another. It might make us wish our loved ones had had such outpouring, or that we ourselves will when the time comes. But, society's flaws should not lead us into mocking anyone that feels a genuine emotion at another's death whether it be a celebrity or relative. There is another time and place to debate the influence of popular culture on our lives. 2.) Those mourning Whitney Houston and others are not simply mourning them. Most have not met her, Steve Jobs or others. People are mourning instead, a memory, an ideal.  Celebrities are symbols; perhaps of a better time, our youth, an old love, friendships gone by the way side. A song or film reminds us of this as do those included; specifically the central characters. Art has had a face this past century in perhaps ways it never had before. We relate and hope and strive to live up an ideal created that isn't even always real. We want the fantasy to be reality. Death has a way of shocking us, however, to our core. We're reminded that these perfect people we looked up to almost like Gods to get us through the day were human with more vice because of our fixation. And when they fall we fall with them. Not because we don't appreciate the sacrifices or remember the names of dead soldiers; other innovators we percieve as having changed our world. The celebrity is a greater symbol of everyone behind the scenes crafting something doomed yet beautiful. They are greater symbols for the things we've lost and can't attain, yet continue holding onto in blind hope.

Pro-Choice

My impression might be wrong but at least in the area I live it appears pro-life dominates over pro-choice as the standard stance on the issue of abortion. This might because of outside groups or inside groups being more active on one side than the other. I'm not sure. Yesterday, I posed this question to my friends on Facebook, to see how many people were pro-choice and let their viewpoints be heard, since so often I have only heard one side. What I received were some surprising and enlightening revleations:

"I think the way every woman treats their body is up to them." -Nikki S.

"Pro-choice, because I know it's not my choice. I wouldn't get an abortion myself, but I won't push my feelings onto someone else." -Danielle W.

"I am. I would not presume to tell anyone else what they can or can't do with their body and while a woman is carrying a fetus inside herself, it is part of her body. The law does not recognize a child as a human being until it has drawn a breath outside the mother's body, which means it's not murder. If you give a fetus rights, you could also arrest any expectant mother who ate too much junk food or smoked with child endangerment. If you give a fetus rights, what do you call a miscarriage? Involuntary manslaughter? I think adoption is dandy, but abortion is fine too. It's not my choice and I don't want to make it for other women." -Kathryn J.

"I think there are certain situations where it would be okay; rape, too sick to stay pregnant, a forming fetus that may never fully form, too high a chance of miscarriage. These are situations where it could cause more harm and pain having the child, than ending the pregnancy before it really begins. Though I am torn, if you just kill a child because you don't want to be a parent, I feel that is wrong. That is just my opinion, but there are MANY families who cannot have a child and are up for open adoptions and paying your bills while pregnant." -Rebeca G.

The Welfare State?

via Being Liberal

Sadtorum

Santorum to sick child: If you can pay for an iPod, you can pay for your drugs... that is, if you bought a new one every month and if you used it the price tripled.