What The Hell is This Electoral College?

Tuesday night the nation elected its 44th president of the United States: Barack Obama. As it turns out both with a majority of electoral votes and eventually the majority of popular votes as well.

As they say, “So goes Ohio, so goes the nation,” and as it turns out this statement appeared to be true, as once Obama had been declared the victor in Ohio, in a matter of minutes, he was also declared the President of the United States.

What was interesting for me was reading some of the comments I had received from some of the international community who are members of my FaceBook  Google+ and Twitter, and those who email me as well, all asking the question:

“What is this electoral college thing?”


I also heard from some Americans abroad that as the international community tuned into the television where they were, the stations were trying in vain to explain what exactly the electoral college was and how it worked. So I thought I would try and explain a little bit about it, for my international readers, but also for many Americans as well. It seems even in America very few people actually know what the electoral college is, and how it works, and why we use it to determine our presidential elections.

• What is the Electoral College?

In 1787 during the meeting of the first constitutional convention, representatives trying to decide how to elect a president discussed many ideas. The most popular idea at the time was that the Congress would be responsible for selecting its president; however some believed that the American people would not support a president whose selection was made behind closed doors, by an established roomful of men that could decide a path purely based on political majority. Others like Madison believed that the president should be elected based purely on the most popular vote by a majority of the people. This idea, of course was obliterated because it meant that in states with little population, voting for a candidate would have little effect on the election, if the candidate, for example were very popular in a state with a higher population. This meant that states with the highest populations could run candidates, and guarantee they would be elected. Instead, ultimately they decided that each state would apportion electors equal to their representatives in congress, decided by the legislature of each state.

Presently there are 538 electors in this country, equal to the representatives of both houses of congress (435 Representatives, 100 Senators) and three from the District of Columbia.

• What is the electoral value of each state and how is it determined?

Each state is granted (x number of electors), based on the (number of y representatives), from that state. The representatives are determined by the population of that state, as determined by a census of states done every 10 years. The term redistricting refers to the process that takes place every ten years in each state to redraw lines around areas within each state. This can have a huge effect on presidential elections because a state during this redistricting period could eliminate or move around a district that once leaned toward a specific party that might now include a more diverse group, or even eliminate the party altogether. Because elector numbers are based entirely on the number of representatives from that state, a state that redistricts an area commonly held by a democratic majority to include more republicans could help to sway elections in favor of their party for state representatives. Thus if a state sends more republicans to the congress than democrats, it can not only gain a majority of representatives in the congress, but also help to push their state choice of presidential candidate.

• Why are some states blue and some states red?

On the electoral map, a state which is traditionally red swings in favor of the republican, but a state that is traditionally blue, swings in favor of the democrat. In southern states, where more people tend to be religious with conservative values, they tend to elect republicans, as the modern Republican Party supports more conservative values. In areas like the East Coast and West Coast, the people tend to be more liberal and support the democrats, whose ideals more match a liberal agenda. Since the state legislature is ultimately responsible for choosing its electors, they will choose an elector that more closely fits the ideological values of the state they are in, and so all but a few states are pretty much predetermined to fit in either the category of being a red state or a blue state.

• What are these swing states?

Swing states, or purple states as they are sometimes referred to are states whose electors could choose either a republican or a democrat, and these states become the most important states for a candidate during an election cycle. Technically, the federal constitution does not outline any case where an elector must choose the candidate for which the population of his state voted for, however most states have in fact put into their own constitutions, that which prohibit electors from doing just that. Most states have also imposed laws that force a “winner take all” approach to electoral votes, thus if popularity swings in favor of one candidate, all electoral votes must go to that candidate, even if in a particular district the voting went the other way.

• What is the difference between the popular vote and the electoral vote?

Each state as I have discussed, is given a number of electors which are equal to the number of representatives that the state will send to the congress. That number becomes its point value on the electoral map. For example, California has 55 districts, so they send 55 representatives to congress, and 55 electors that decide the election for their state. Because that state tends to elect mostly democrats to their legislature and democrats to the congress, all 55 electoral votes in California go to the democrat. For a president to win the Electoral College, they must get a majority of electoral votes, at present that number is 270. If no candidate is able to get a majority, i.e. hit that magic 270 number, under the 12th amendment of the federal constitution, the election is decided by the United States House of Representatives. Technically, electors must cast two votes under the rules of our constitution, one for President and one for Vice-President, and should a majority not approve a Vice-President as well, that job goes to the United States Senate for vote.

The popular vote, which many have argued is a more appropriate way to pick the President, does not decide the election, and in four elections in our history, four presidents were elected with a majority of the electoral votes, but not by the majority of popular vote:

John Quincy Adams, 1824
Rutherford B. Hayes, 1876
Benjamin Harrison, 1888
George W. Bush, 2000

The reason why the popular vote is still not used to decide elections is that very large states with a higher population would be able to decide the election, where as smaller states with relatively lower population would have almost no effect on the election. This is easily evident by the populations in states like California, New York, and Texas. However, most of the swing states have a relatively large population, which gives proponents of the Electoral College more credence when arguing their position, because single party leaning states with heavy populations would ultimately swing an election, if not for the Electoral College.

Because of this, every ten years, swing states may change, as populations change, and it is in these states where an election can be decided. The fact is, states like California, New York, and Texas being as large as they are will always have a larger population, and growing population than the smaller states, and because of this their electoral votes will go up. If you eliminate the Electoral College and use a purely popular vote to determine the election, than the populations in states like California, or New York, or Texas will solidify the election in favor of the party their state typically leans more toward, reducing the votes in smaller states to not be counted.

However, because of the Electoral College, even as the redistricting continues, as the population in these large states grows, giving them more electoral votes, so do the electoral votes grow elsewhere, helping to maintain equality of votes throughout the Union. Because of this, and the fact that a majority is still needed to win the election, large populations leaning toward a particular party cannot hijack an election, and serve to inject at least some measure of equality in votes, even if not all votes are needed, as votes in a non-swing state mostly do not help in either case.

Having said all that, the popular vote still serves as a measure of legitimacy for some people and a president that wins the electoral victory but not the popular one, tends to absorb some amount of incredulity, and derision.

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The Inmates Are Taking Over The Asylum: What The Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Their Candidates.

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” – John Wooden

With the presidential election a mere four days away, I wanted to talk a little bit about the two men that the republican party have nominated as their candidates for the white house. Anyone who has read my blog, followed me on Facebook or Twitter, or talked to me for a few minutes, knows where I stand on issues and what I think of the Republican Party. They know how I feel about this election and what it means if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan ascend to the white house for, seniors, disabled, veterans, sick, dying, gay, women, minorities, etc. All the things these two assholes are not.

I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life, I have seen republican and democratic governors come and go. I have seen the best and worst in both parties, and I like to think I know character. When I was a child, my grandfather instilled in me a set of core beliefs that I live by today.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

I didn't know then my grandfather was quoting William Shakespeare, in fact, I didn't even know he knew who the man was, or where the quote even came from. But it didn't matter to me, I was impressionable, and something about what he said meant everything to me. My grandfather was a man of unwavering principles, who truly believed that honesty was the best policy; integrity was worth more than gold, and charity was the true test of a man, how he treated others, and how he presented himself to the world.

Growing up, I never once saw my grandfather tell another man, he couldn't help him. I never once saw my grandfather deny another man anything he had, if he had it to give. It is one thing to say these things; it is truly something different to live by them. My grandfather my was hero growing up, and remains so today, because he was an example of how all of us should live.

Don’t get me wrong, he wasn't perfect; he made plenty of mistakes, and said some terrible things. But he was the kind of man who might call you every name in the book and five minutes later, give you a ride somewhere. Although I don’t think my grandmother knew, my grandfather supported several charities, even though he wasn't rich, he supported himself on an army retirement and social security. I once noticed him filling out one of those cards that come in the mail from the various charities, asking for a donation and he told me that he donated every month. I don’t remember which one it was, but it doesn't matter, because he believed that supporting something he believed in mattered, that giving a little money to a cause that needs it is worth more than that pack of cigarettes, or cup of coffee, or gallon of gas.

When I think of what “good people” is, its people like my grandfather that come to mind.

Throughout my youth, I believed that this ideology must be the way people live, that being good, is better than being bad. Reality, however has taught me something different. There are people out there who say one thing, and do another thing. There are people out there who lie at every opportunity. There are people who believe that it’s okay to steal from those who need it most, and give it to those who need it the least. There are people who believe that greed is good, and charity is bad; or only worth it if it’s tax-deductible. There are people who have too many things, too much money, and have traded the most important principles to have them.

There is value in having character, integrity, and morality: knowing that a man can be trusted to do the right thing, even if it’s unpopular, even when no one is watching him.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

I have a handful of friends in my life; they all know the kind of person I am. They trust that I do what I say, and always do what I think is right. They know that I will always be there to help them when they ask for it, and give them what I can, even to my own detriment.

I have never denied to anyone help, if it were asked for and truly needed. Although I have been poor all my life, I have always given to charity, and to anyone who needed a helping hand. Throughout my life I have been asked by many to “borrow” money, and have never once denied it to anyone asking, if they truly needed it, and even when I knew I would not get it back. I have never chosen to eat, while others starve around me. I have never woken up a single day in my life and thought to myself; today I only do for myself. I have never asked someone to do something that I am unwilling to do myself.  I have never taken pride in another person’s anguish. I have never profited on or from another person’s loss. I never cheated anyone out of something they deserved. I've never done a favor, expecting something in return. I've never taken money in exchange for a favor.

Over the last few years, I have become sicker as I age, corrupted in body, by the diseases that ail my wounded digestive system. I can see a future for which the prospect is a grim one, and although my future is writhe with some uncertainty, how I have lived thus far is not. I always told myself that I would never let it be said that I sat idly by, while others did not. My body has tried to corrupt my mind, it has made the very simple task of getting out of bed, terribly difficult at times, and thus most of my work now is done writing, and providing support that requires little excursion. I get sick every day; I get tired easy, and require rest more often than I am about. My diet, though I have tried to push through my ailment, consists of randomness, each with a random result. Even water, the essence of life, pains me sometimes, like a twisting dagger.

Mitt Romney wants everyone to believe that he was a wonderful governor that made Massachusetts a better place just for being here. Unfortunately, the truth just doesn't fit with his interpretation of events. So let’s talk about a few things the governor accomplished during his term in Massachusetts.

When the rest of the nation saw a surge in job growth, here is Massachusetts we dropped from 36th to 47th. In his first two years as governor, job wages dropped by 5%. While most states saw middle income growth, Massachusetts saw middle income decline. By the end of his term, Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts had lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs. While most governors increased funding to state economic development projects that would increase job growth, Mitt Romney cut more than $100 million dollars from the budget for such projects. Mitt Romney also touts how he wants to save jobs: He outsourced jobs in child support enforcement, food stamps, and unemployment insurance to India. And he vetoed a bill that would have prevented companies from doing just that to jobs in Massachusetts.

Mitt Romney has taken the Grover Norquist pledge of not raising taxes. Of course, he made a similar pledge, promising not to raise taxes on the middle class and small businesses of Massachusetts, when he asked for their vote. * Although it was my original intention to display the taxes and fees Mitt Romney created or increased as a governor, it was more than 70 pages, so instead they can be found in this PDF if you are interested in reading them. In his defense, some taxes I'm okay with, after all taxing cigarettes, alcohol, and polluters who dump waste, get no sympathy from me, but taxing a blind person for getting the blind status added to an ID, seems overly despicable, and utterly unforgivable.

Long-term debt increased by 16% in just four years, and when Mitt Romney left office Massachusetts had the highest debt per person in the nation. Over $2.6 billion in debt was added while Romney was governor.

And my most favorite whopper of them all. Education. Although Mitt Romney likes to tout how he is proud of the state of Massachusetts being number one in education while he was governor, let’s examine why this happened and how he did it.

During the 2002 election cycle, a ballot question was proposed to Massachusetts voters that involved an English immersion program. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, basically students, who are normally taught bilingually, are instead taught primarily or entirely in English. Although this seems like common sense, after all, as English is more dominant in the market place as a standard language, and the requirement to speak it is more lucrative, consider how difficult it must be for someone who speaks little to no English, suddenly forced to only speak it. Worse still, English immersion requires that the student be taught in English, and tested in English. If a person is not able to speak a language, testing them on it, will likely not yield impressive results.

So when Mitt Romney began testing all students across the state to evaluate how well Massachusetts was educating its students, one thing was clear, those who were literate in English would do quite well. Considering that Massachusetts has a well established and fairly large population of Hispanic people, it seems likely that testing all these students in English would not have a good outcome, and that’s just what Romney thought. So students were tested first to see how capable they would be in being tested, and those with an incapability to understand or function in English tests were ignored. Thus the results of such testing allowed only students who could actually read and write in English, tested. It’s pretty easy to score high on examinations when you do not even examine half your students.

So how will Massachusetts vote in this presidential election?

Turns out that as of writing this Mitt Romney is nearly thirty points down to Obama state-wide. So if you are truly interested in knowing how he is regarded in his home state, there’s your indicator.

I’d like to also talk a little about something that bugs me that Mr. Romney likes to assert: he’s a job creator. Now in some regard this isn't completely a lie, he has created jobs: In China. While Romney worked at Bain Capital his company helped create job-outsourcing, that’s right, before Bain Capital did it as a business model, it almost never occurred, for which now it has become a standard. When Mitt Romney stands at the podium and tells people how he was a business man, and knows what it takes to create jobs, he is being less than honest. For one, his job at Bain Capital had nothing to do with job creation, if jobs were created overseas, it was only because it saved money here, and that money went into the pockets of investors in Bain Capital, of which Mitt Romney is one.

Bain Capital is a private equity firm. So you have an idea what that means, in business terms equity means debt. Equity is defined as the money value of a property or of an interest in a property in excess of claims or liens against it. When a firm like Bain Capital purchases a business, it’s not with the idea that they will create jobs, and a thriving business, nor help the economy.  Its sole design is to make money, and here is how they do it.

Bain finds a business that is doing ok, maybe not making a tremendous amount of profit, but they are floating by and the company is solvent. Bain then borrows a large sum of money to purchase the business, using only a small percentage of their money. It’s a legal equivalency to how purchasers were able to buy homes with little to no money down, the reason the mortgage system collapsed. And much like the lenders lending money to home buyers, the interest rates are exorbitant. But that doesn't matter to Bain Capital, because upon purchasing the company’s assets, the debt which Bain has created in buying the company immediately becomes that of the company. If the debt gets repaid, or doesn't get repaid and the company becomes insolvent it doesn't matter because Bain still makes money. Bain is granted a fee for administration of debt, for which they created, and to pay investors back and make a huge profit, Bain eliminates all jobs that are not vital to keep the business solvent enough to make their money back.  What that means is that the business makes cuts that eliminate spending, which drive up profits, making money for investors, all while the debt remains, which when the company goes bankrupt becomes included in the bankruptcy filing. Of course, this is after Bain strips all remaining funds from the company, and ships whatever jobs remain overseas for more profit.

This is what Mitt Romney wants people to believe makes him a job creator.

For those of you who believe that this is not relevant, that Mitt Romney hasn't worked for Bain Capital in a long time, consider the fact that he is a shareholder. Consider the fact that he currently profits from what most people would consider amoral standards. Consider Freeport, Illinois.

Freeport is the home of a company called Sensata. Sensata is the lifeblood of the small town of Freeport bringing over 8 million dollars a year in revenue to that town. Sensata is responsible for manufacturing the sensors that go into automobiles. In 2006 Bain Capital purchased Sensata and began its predatory practices of gutting the company, which caused its company to produce record profits giving Bain shareholders a maximum profit, and now after four straight years of record profits, its jobs are being outsourced to China, and the company is being obliterated. All 170 workers in Freeport have lost their jobs, and were required to train their Chinese replacements.

And all the while, Mr. Romney talks about punishing China, and stopping job outsourcing, he holds shares in Bain Capital, that's right even now as Freeport loses its jobs to Chinese workers, Mitt Romney makes money from it.

Consider for a moment that Mr. Romney truly believes what he says, that the things he talks about are not lies; consider the 47 percent comment for just a moment.

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax; my role is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Mr. Romney gave that speech to a room full of millionaires and billionaires, his base, his people, the people who support him with absolute certainty. Some have referred to this merely as political pandering; however I believe this to be an incorrect assertion. For one, pandering usually involves someone indulging those who are not part of their base, for example: Pandering to women or seniors in spite of your policies to the contrary. When Mitt Romney stands on a stage and tells a bunch of women he supports contraception, when his policies contradict that assertion that is political pandering because it is that group he must indulge to gain political votes. Standing on stage with a bunch of factory workers talking about creating jobs and securing a future for them, is pandering because it contradicts his record as an outsourcer of American jobs. Second, a man has no reason to indulge his own base; he has no reason to entice those who have already imbibed the Kool-Aid. Those millionaires and billionaires are already voting for Romney, so although it would seem like a perfect opportunity to simply tell them what they want to hear, doing so has no real value, instead it is more likely that he would be honest, or as honest as a pathological liar can be in these types of situations.
Having said all that, he still lied, although not directly, as I’m sure it’s hard to remember every dishonest thing you have done throughout your life in any given situation.

It has been a long standing tradition that Presidential candidates release their tax returns for at least five years, most release ten years or more. When Mitt Romney was asked to release his tax returns he only released one year of tax returns. When questioned about it, he didn't consider it a big deal. Well normally I would agree, paying taxes seems like an irrelevant thing when you consider everything else in a campaign, however in this case it becomes something relevant.

Last month, an attorney who helped file tax documents for Romney asserted that although Mitt Romney paid 14 percent in federal income taxes, he actually qualified to pay much, much less. In fact, Romney’s advisers made the attorney work the numbers to get them to the 14 percent. Ok not a big deal I guess, except knowing Romney pays less in taxes than a low income family seems a little despicable, but that is a matter that should be dealt with by Congress and the IRS. The argument can be made that if everyone could pay a lower tax burden they would, and I grant you most Americans would. Although I find this is less likely to be reasoned by a wanting to not pay income tax and more likely an inequality in tax burden to income. That means, most Americans would pay more in taxes, if it meant they would make more money and take home more money.

So we cannot fault Mr. Romney for taking advantage of bad tax codes implemented by wealthy people in Congress looking to pay less in taxes, but even wealthy people pay their fair share of taxes, if you consider a fair share the burden the federal government has allowed them to pay.

This of course doesn't excuse the news that Mr. Romney didn't want to come out, and the reason why he has failed to release his tax documents further back than one year. In 1996, Mr. Romney established a trust with the Mormon Church that allows him to “borrow” tax exemption status on some of his income, a legal tax avoidance exemption that churches are granted for being churches. It should also be of no surprise that Mr. Romney has avoided paying taxes by establishing a trust in his children’s names that allows him to escape gift and estate taxes that would normally accrue. When you understand that the bulk of his income is held in the Cayman Islands, of which he pays no taxes on, and then he uses loopholes to escape those taxes he would pay in the United States, a picture begins to emerge of what kind of person Mitt Romney really is. When Mitt Romney didn't think it mattered, i.e. when he thought no one was paying attention, he paid no taxes for 15 years. When he believed it mattered, when he wanted to run for president, he offered up 14 percent of his income to the federal government as proof that he is a tax payer.

Mitt Romney is content in labeling 47 percent of the country as non-tax paying freeloaders who take no responsibility, but fails to see that he himself fits into this category. Now I don’t have to tell you that hypocrisy is standard practice among republicans, I think even the ignorant few convinced by Mr. Romney’s lies can admit he often etch-a-sketches, although I don’t know how they justify it.

In all fairness everyone is entitled to make mistakes, but when Romney goes on television during the primary season and tells viewers that “he doesn't concern himself with the poor,” and later in a moment when he thinks no one can hear him is heard saying, “I fucking hate the poor,” a pattern emerges. Isn't it the job of an American president to concern himself with the lives of all Americans? If through no fault of their own, someone is unequally condemned, isn't justice a concern a president should have?

What should be very clear is that Mitt Romney’s position is that he takes no position, that his ideology, his campaign, and his morals are plastic. He is content with the position that taking any side, means defining oneself. And Mitt Romney wants everyone to believe that about him, otherwise why would he not stick to a position? The problem is everything that comes from his mouth is rhetoric, and should be treated as such, and if we do that, and ignore the 47 percent comment we are left merely with records. So if we take away all the rhetoric and take his record at face value, we are still left with a problem. Because his record shows that he was an ineffectual governor, and plutocrat who has supported overwhelmingly bad legislation that is harmful to anyone who fails the litmus test of a fellow plutocrat.

What astonishes me about Mitt Romney is his inability to sell even a lousy agenda to the American people, a job for which he seems to have been born. A consummate salesman, it seems like if Mitt Romney would be good at anything it would be in stealing an election much like he stole the jobs of those employed by companies that Bain procured when he was in charge. But much like most sociopaths, he is concerned with the moment and how it will benefit him, and neglects to foresee future endeavors. If Mitt Romney could have foreseen a possibility where he might have to choose doing the right thing over the wrong thing, he might have done so, since ultimately it would have benefited him. But his utter lack of forethought has allowed those with a more genuine approach to rise above him at times, and use his utter lack of conscience against him.

You can always spot the liar. Lies pile up, they get repeated, and there is a cold tone in a bad lie. Genuine people need no practice, they are who they are, and it’s apparent when they speak. And unfortunately for Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan, their words always come off sounding like a prepared response to an inquisitive mind sensing deception.

Unfortunately, these two sociopaths having not practiced enough, knowing they might need to be under spotlight but maybe not such a big one, or never assuming they would be questioned, come off cold, and evasive. It’s hard work being a douchebag: lying, cheating, stealing, and all with a smile.

Paul Ryan is no stranger to demagoguery either. He reminds me of the character of Rumpelstiltskin from the television show Once Upon A Time, who convinces people of things that appear to be in their best interests, which of course secretly sway in favor of the character. I imagine Paul Ryan, like Rumpelstiltskin, cackles away when no one is looking, content in the deals and lies he has told.

Like Romney, Ryan is no stranger to controversy. In 2011, when he thought he was speaking to a base of voters at a town hall meeting, he was startled when a 71 year-old man rose and asked Mr. Ryan how he would be able to afford his medication if Ryan’s plans went into effect. As if at the ready for any encroachment, the man is promptly removed, tossed to the ground, subdued and arrested. To this Paul Ryan retorts, “I hope he’s taken his blood pressure medication,” with a snide little laugh.

In September 2011, during a parade in his own hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, Paul Ryan was approached by an unemployed constituent.

“So what should I have to work for to get a job? Should I have to work for the same wages as in China? Should I have to work for one dollar an hour?” The man asks.

Ryan in his gleefully snide way, with a little chuckle remarks:  “Have a nice day, alright? Would you like some candy?”

So, in a moment of pure candidness, Paul Ryan shows the kind of human being he is when asked about jobs from an unemployed constituent. He laughs in the man's face.

Remember these incidents folks. Raul Ryan wasn't running for vice-president, he wasn't in need of pandering; he was being candid because there was no value in not doing so.

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when (he thinks) no one is watching.”

It may seem that Mitt Romney is worse than Paul Ryan, but don’t be fooled. Although Mitt Romney’s record as governor has been less than stellar, he has no other voting record to fall back on, and so attacks against his character are mainly through what he says, and what he did when he operated Bain Capital, and the decisions he has made in his personal life. This is in stark contrast to Paul Ryan, who has made douchebaggery a public policy. His voting record as a member of Congress has been one of despotism. And now that he stands before a podium looking for your vote in this election, he wants you to ignore his record.

On issues of Abortion:

• He’s said: Private & public life inseparable on faith & life issues. (Oct 2012)
• He’s said: Judges shouldn't decide abortion; Congress should. (Oct 2012)
• Voted YES on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion. (May 2011)
• Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)
• Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
• Voted YES on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005)
• Voted YES on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)
• Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)
• Voted YES on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)
• Voted YES on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)
• Voted YES on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)
• Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)
• Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortions. (Apr 2000)
• Voted YES on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (Jun 1999)
• He’s wants: Prohibit federal funding for abortion. (May 2011)
• He’s wants: Congress shall protect life beginning with fertilization. (Jan 2011)
• He’s wants: Prohibit federal funding to groups like Planned Parenthood. (Jan 2011)
• He’s wants: Grant the pre-born equal protection under 14th Amendment. (Jan 2007)

On issues of economy:

• Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program. (Mar 2011)
• Voted YES on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)
• Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)
• Voted YES on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)
• Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on defining "energy emergency" on federal gas prices. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on revitalizing severely distressed public housing. (Jan 2008)
• Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)
• Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)
• He’s said: Road Map for America's Future: cut entitlement spending. (Jul 2009)

On issues of Civil Rights:

• He’s said: Keep DADT; no gay adoption; no need for gay hate crime laws. (Aug 2012)
• He’s said: Let each state separately define DOMA and marriage. (Jul 2004)
• Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
• Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)
• Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
• Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
• Voted YES on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
• Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
• He’s said: Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
• Rated 13% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
• Rated 36% by NAACP, indicating a mixed record on affirmative-action. (Dec 2006)

On issues of Education:

• He’s said: Stop pushing God from the public realm & public schools. (Aug 2012)
• Voted YES on reauthorizing the DC opportunity scholarship program. (Mar 2011)
• Voted NO on $40B for green public schools. (May 2009)
• Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
• Voted NO on allowing Courts to decide on "God" in Pledge of Allegiance. (Jul 2006)
• Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges. (Mar 2006)
• Voted YES on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror. (Nov 2001)
• Voted YES on requiring states to test students. (May 2001)
• Rated 8% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)

On issues of Oil and Energy:

• Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling. (May 2011)
• Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. (Apr 2011)
• Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution. (Jun 2009)
• Voted NO on tax credits for renewable electricity, with PAYGO offsets. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (May 2008)
• Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
• Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
• Voted YES on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)
• Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)
• Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on scheduling permitting for new oil refinieries. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)
• Voted NO on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy. (Jun 2004)
• Voted NO on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov 2003)
• Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)
• Voted NO on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. (Aug 2001)
• Voted NO on starting implementation of Kyoto Protocol. (Jun 2000)
• Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)

On issues of Health Care:

• Voted YES on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts. (Apr 2011)
• Voted YES on repealing the "Prevention and Public Health" slush fund. (Apr 2011)
• Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)
• Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
• Voted YES on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
• Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
• Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
• Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
• Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)
• Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
• Voted YES on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. (Nov 2003)
• Voted YES on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs. (Jul 2003)
• Voted YES on small business associations for buying health insurance. (Jun 2003)
• Voted YES on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)
• Voted YES on allowing suing HMOs, but under federal rules & limited award. (Aug 2001)
• Voted YES on subsidizing private insurance for Medicare Rx drug coverage. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on banning physician-assisted suicide. (Oct 1999)
• Voted YES on establishing tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts. (Oct 1999)
• Rated 11% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)

From his record it should be easy to discern his character on the issues.

I. He’s anti-abortion, and believes government should impose laws prohibiting the right for a woman to make decisions about her own body.

II. On the economy he believes that banks should be deregulated, and protections for consumers should be obliterated.

III. He’s opposed to allowing children to be adopted by homosexuals, and believes that legislation that protects people from hate crimes is unnecessary. He also believes that states should have a right to decide if people who love one another be given the right to marry and granted all the protections guaranteed in doing so.

IV. He is okay with making the patriot act permanent  forever taking away some of your civil liberties, in favor of security, for which Ben Franklin warned: Those who would do such a thing, deserve neither.

V. He believes that religion and government are inseparable, in complete contradiction to the founder’s separation of church and state mandate.

VI. He believes teachers should be preaching in classrooms as much they educate, as if the two things are mutually inclusive. Prayer is not education. Religion is not education. Teaching alternative theory to reality in classrooms help to build a workforce of scientifically ignorant children who will always be behind the rest of the world.

VII. He believes that oil companies should be free of regulation, and that the EPA should be dismantled. He believes tax breaks and incentives for oil companies are ok, but not ok for renewable energy sources.

VIII. He believes Medicare, social security, and Medicaid budgets must be slashed. He has voted to obliterate programs that people depend on to survive. Let’s be serious, when you do remove the funding that supports a person’s ability to live, you effectively sentence them to death.

IX. Voted to protect big tobacco, by not regulating it as a drug, which even those addicted to it, know that it is.

X. He believes that people who suffer mental malady do not suffer equally to those with physical conditions.

XI. He has voted repeatedly to harmful legislation that affects the elderly, by voting to cuts in medicare, and prescription drug programs.

XII. Voted against the Affordable Care Act that now protects millions of people from being turned down by insurance companies for preexisting conditions, takes money away from insurance companies that is wastefully spent, and insures millions of children who might otherwise not be covered. 

He is pretty much part and parcel with the republican agenda, and his record showcases that quite well.

Now he wants to stand there and tell people that he cares about them, as if he is the Wizard of Oz, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” But we know better, the man behind the curtain is his record, and the policies he has voted for.

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when (he thinks) no one is watching.”

Truer words might never be spoken. A politician isn't often challenged on his record, after all for members of congress; there are a lot of votes, and a lot of different bills to vote on. If no one is paying attention, it might be easy to take a position and stick to it, and no one might ever be the wiser for it. But when you run for President or Vice-President, everything you have ever done, said, or voted on is up for debate. Your life and how you have conducted yourself becomes as much a part of how a voter decides as much as any stump speech you may give.

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” ― Mark Twain

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Some of The Strangest Things in The Universe

I thought in honor of Halloween, I might blog a little bit about the strange but true. I figured it might be fun to discuss some of the wackiest things about our universe that although seem utterly impossible or unlikely, are very true and help to fill this universe with the awe and wonder that will hopefully inspire everyone for generations to come. I've created a list of some of the things I've found very strange, but fascinating about our universe, in no particular order of course.

1. BLACK HOLES

One of the most amazing phenomena in our universe for a long time was thought only to be a theory. Conceived accidently by Albert Einstein while explaining his theory of relativity, black holes are a point in spacetime where gravity has become so strong, that nothing, not even light can escape its grasp.

A black hole is created when a very large star, one that is three to five times the mass of our own star, or 3 to 5 solar masses, collapses in on itself, producing a supernova and leaving its black hole corpse behind. At the very heart of every star is an engine of nuclear fusion that fuses hydrogen atoms into helium, the explosion created when the atoms fuse together becomes the fuel of the star. Because stars are so massive, they have very large gravitational force that continually pushes against the surface of the star. At the same time, the star’s inner fusion is creating outward pressure that counteracts the force of the gravity pushing inward. It’s a very real balancing act that is taking place in every star, even our own Sun. But this star is bigger than our Sun, as the star’s hydrogen fuel begins to run out and less helium can be fused, the star begins its expansion phase. The star will continue to expand, as it does, it begins combining helium into heavier elements: Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc. It will continue to fuse elements together as the star expands, and only when it begins to fuse Iron, is the star on its final countdown. The problem with iron is that the amount of energy needed to fuse elements into iron exceeds the amount of energy released by the fusion itself. Because the iron fusion process begins absorbing energy instead of radiating it, the star can no longer sustain the pressure needed to keep gravity from collapsing it, and the star begins to collapse in on itself. Within seconds the star will explode but not before gravity crushes all the remaining elements into heavier ones at the core. The star explodes, sloughing off its layer of elemental particles and tossing them into the cosmos. Then suddenly without any energy left, gravity collapses the remaining core into an infinitesimal point of extreme gravity, the black hole.

Once believed to be a terrifying reality of gravity that is the harbinger of doom, a deeper understanding of the process has left scientists understanding that although black holes certainly mean death, they are also critical to life as their process has helped seed our universe with the elements necessary to create life.

An example of a stellar black hole.

2. NEUTRON STARS

Not all stars become black holes when they supernova, because not all stars are large enough and have enough mass for that to occur. Some stars become even stranger objects when they die than a black hole.
Neutron stars form when a star with mass equivalent to about three solar masses collapses into a supernova, but the process is halted because the gravitational mass of the star was not big enough to cause it to collapse further, the outer layers of the star containing elemental particles are sloughed off, leaving behind a stellar remnant comprised almost entirely of neutrons. Neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoon of its material would weigh 5.5×10¹² kg or 5,000 million tonnes.

Artwork depicting a neutron star.

3. MAGNETARS

As if Neutron Stars were not weird enough, some Neutron stars form into something stranger called the Magnetar.  Magnetars form when a newly formed spinning Neutron Star with a perfectly aligned magnetic field and enough heat, causes it to convert heat and rotation into magnetic energy. The resulting stellar remnant becomes a dense magnet of pure neutrons. So dangerous are the effects of magnetars that a small change in the surface of a magnetar, can cause a quake on the star that would burst energy that could be felt as far as 50,000 light-years away, that’s halfway across our own Milky Way galaxy. The electromagnetic energy would be strong enough to fry unshielded electronic equipment.

Actual NASA photo of a distant magnetar.

4. PULSARS

When a Neutron Star forms, if its angular momentum is strong enough, it can emit electromagnetic beam of energy from its axis which shines outward like the beam of light coming from a lighthouse. As the star spins faster and faster, the star’s light appears to pulsate, hence its name: Pulsar.

Actual NASA photo of distant pulsar.

5. SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES

When scientists went snooping at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, they discovered that something odd was occurring there. Around the center were dozens of stars that appeared to be orbiting very quickly around an invisible object, at seemingly astronomical speeds. Typical stars move through space around 220 km/s. These orbiting stars were moving around this invisible object around 5,000 km/s, approximately 22 times faster than our Sun moves through space, indicating a massive gravitational field. But when scientists looked with telescopes, they saw nothing was there. Scientists then began to examine the orbit of these stars over time and could see that each orbit had a common focal point. Toward its center there is a faint radio emission scientists dubbed Sagittarius A, which doesn't seem to be moving much at all, indicating that it’s tied to something much more massive. When you examine the mass around Sagittarius A, you reach something of a lower limit of 4 million solar masses. Astronomers can't see the galactic center well enough to measure exactly how large Sagittarius A is, but they can say for sure that its radius is no larger than about two-tenths the distance between the Earth and the sun. That means that something 4 million times more massive than our own Sun fits inside an area that would fit the orbit of Mercury, astronomers could only draw from this one conclusion. At the center of our galaxy lies a supermassive black hole. Intrigued, scientists began looking at other galaxies, and were astonished to find that each galaxy they looked at appeared to have at its center a supermassive black hole. Scientists now believe all galaxies have them.

There has been much speculation as to why they exist, and where they came from, but much of that remains a mystery. Most scientists believe that these supermassive black holes formed from very massive stars that formed long after the big bang, during its infancy, when galaxies were still forming. As the gas and dust coalesced, the supermassive black holes pulled the gas and dust together, allowing smaller stars to form, and the angular momentum of the supermassive black hole continued to spin the galaxy allowing everything within to coalesce. In a very real sense, all galaxies owe their existence to black holes, without which nothing would have stuck together. It is believed that the angular momentum that continues to spin the black holes allows galaxies to rotate continuously, moving everything throughout the universe.

Example depiction of supermassive black hole.

6. QUASARS

Until recently, Quasars were kind of a mystery. Much of why they exist remained a mystery, but due to the discovery of supermassive black holes, quasars can be more easily explained. A Quasar is a very energetic and active galactic nucleus. Quasars are very luminous and some of the brightest objects in the universe and are responsible for much of the light that can be seen at the center of some galaxies. Quasars are believed to be the compact region of space that surrounds the supermassive black hole at the center of each galaxy. It’s powered entirely by the accretion disc surrounding that black hole. Quasars emit a radio signal that can be picked up as x-rays and gamma rays extend outward from its center.

Actual NASA photo of a distant quasar.

7. GAMMA RAY BURSTS

When a star goes supernova producing a black hole, the black hole begins sucking everything in around it. Much of what is left of the star that hasn't escaped its gravitational grasp begins being deposited into the black hole’s event horizon at a tremendous rate. So much material begins passing through this tiny hole in space that eventually the black hole burps, sending out a burst of pure gamma radiation, so bright it will outshine anything else in the universe, and vaporizing everything in its path for thousands of light-years. So powerful are these bursts that if a star exploded within close relative distance to Earth that produced a gamma ray burst in our path, it would wipe out all life on Earth. It has also been observed that primordial galaxies produced massive gamma-ray bursts at their center during formation, an occurrence that can now be explained by supermassive black holes.

Actual NASA photo of gamma ray burst.

8. NEUTRINOS

Neutrinos are tiny almost massless particles that pass seemingly through everything, all the time, with no interaction. Neutrinos do not carry electric charge, which means that they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces that act on charged particles such as electrons and protons. Neutrinos are affected only by the weak sub-atomic force. Because of this neutrinos can pass through matter completely unimpeded. Neutrinos are produced in a variety of ways, either through the process of nuclear fusion in a star, or as a result of supernova, or even through radioactive decay.

Actual image of neutrinos interacting with other particles.

9. COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION

When the universe was in its infancy, before the formation of stars and planets, it was smaller, much hotter, and filled with a uniform glow from its white-hot fog of hydrogen plasma. As the universe expanded, it cooled off. When the universe cooled enough, protons and electrons could form neutral atoms. These atoms could no longer absorb the thermal radiation, and the universe became transparent. As photons began freely flowing throughout the universe, their wavelengths increased over time, as it expanded and they grew less energetic. This produced a glow that could be seen uniformly throughout the universe and could be picked up by radio telescopes as a hum.

This hum is evidence of our universe’s beginning, and before we switched our televisions to a digital signal, the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation could be felt, anytime a television network went off the air, leaving static on your television.

WMAP reading of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

10. DARK MATTER

When scientists with apparently a lot of time on their hands wanted to know how much the universe weighed, they began adding up all the matter in the universe and came to an astonishing inaccuracy. If you account for all observable matter in the universe, there is a large chunk of matter that cannot account for what is actually out there. That means that the universe weighs more than it’s letting on. This didn't make a whole lot of sense, so a scientist by the name of Fritz Zwicky hypothesized that there must be some type of matter out there that cannot be seen, and must account for the missing matter. He dubbed this phenomena dark matter. After years of calculations we now know that dark matter accounts for 84% of all the matter in the universe and 23% of the mass-energy. So much of the matter that exists today, is completely unseen, and undetectable by modern instrumentation, however  there are indicators to suggest that dark matter really does exist.

When scientists began looking into galactic formations they observed that in some galaxies density of star formation could not account for enough gravity and kinetic energy to keep the stars in the galaxy. The only plausible explanation why a galaxy with stars so far from each other could hold themselves together gravitationally would be if there was some force that was holding them together. This force is dark matter. If the matter unseen between stars, accounted for the missing gravity, it would explain that much of the matter in galaxies is actually dark and it’s this binding force that holds things together.

NASA Hubble map of dark matter.

11. DARK ENERGY

When scientists convinced that the expansion of the universe was slowing down peered into the universe for a look, they made an astonishing discovery. Not only was the universe not on the verge of collapse, but indeed its expansion was accelerating exponentially. This meant that galaxies were accelerating away from each other faster and faster as time passes. Scientists have come to dub this mysterious phenomenon as Dark Energy. Once you account for everything in the universe something amazing happens, Dark Energy accounts for 72% of all the mass-energy in the universe today, 23% of it accounted for by Dark Matter, and only 4.6% of it from Atoms. That means all the galaxies, planets, stars, moons, comets, asteroids, and life account for almost nothing. The universe is mostly made up of stuff we can’t see or detect, and remain partially a mystery.

Because of Dark Energy, ultimately the fate of our universe has already been decided. Eventually the light from galaxies will be too far from each other to ever reach, and the light inside each galaxy will slowly fade over time. As each star fades away into darkness, without a supply of new hydrogen, no new stars will form, and eventually all the light in the universe will go out and all that will be left is a cold, dark shell of a once brilliant existence. And on that day when the last star’s light dims out for the last time, like a candle in the wind, the universe will breathe its last breath, and its last light, will go out, and it will die, cold, alone, in the vast emptiness.

Example of web-like effect of Dark Energy, pervasive in universe.

12. QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT

When quantum particles interact physically and separate, sometimes they take on the characteristics of each other. This means that two particles become a pair, which otherwise would not have. It has been shown that this pair will remain identical until a measurement is taken, at which point one particle will decide to change its characteristic, which then forces the other to take on this characteristic as well. What seems most amazing about this phenomenon is that entangled particles can change other particles even over vastly large distances, where it would seem that a connection would be impossible. In lab experiments entanglement has been used for the first time to teleport information from one position to another. If ever the possibility of future Star Trek type transporters exists, it will be from the work with quantum entanglement that such a thing becomes possible.

Depiction of two particles entangled together.

13. QUANTUM TUNNELING

Quantum tunneling is an effect where a particle can pass through a barrier it would not normally have the energy to surmount.  Because of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle on particles that disallows a certain amount of knowledge to ever be known about the particle, the probability of a particle passing through a barrier becomes as probable as it would not. Thus a particle can borrow energy from the barrier that it is interacting with, allowing it to pass through it, effortlessly, and then simply discard the energy. And this is where it gets really weird, because the energy of the particle cannot be measured accurately, the particle can be in many places on its way to the barrier including passing through and being on the other side. It is only when such a measurement is taken, that the particle decides its position. So for a time, the particle is indeed in every place it could be, in front, inside, and on the other side of the barrier.

Example of quantum tunneling physics.

14. NEBULAE

Nebulae are extremely large clouds of dense, hot, dust, gas, and plasma. Nebulae which can span light-years across are the birth place of stars. It is in this dense cloud of material that the amazing process of star formation begins, when gas and dust coalesce into new baby stars. This stellar nursery is responsible for the cluster formation of thousands of stars to form in galaxies.

Actual NASA photo of Eta Carinae Nebula

15. LIFE

Maybe the strangest thing to come out of our universe is found in abundance on our planet Earth. Life is a wonderfully mysterious result of billions of years of cosmic evolution. And as much as we do know about how life evolved, we still know little about the chemistry that allowed it to form in the first place. As we expand ourselves outward in our own universal backyard, we look to places inside our own solar system that we believe will have life.

Three candidates with the best possibilities are Jupiter’s little moon Europa, and the moons of Saturn, Titan and Enceladus. Europa is a small moon covered in ice marked with a cracked eggshell-like appearance that suggests reformation. Because of the intense gravitational pull of Jupiter it is believed that beneath its icy surface lies a deep liquid ocean of water, a natural womb for the possibility of life outside our own planet. Saturn’s moon Titan is another candidate for the possibility of life, besides Earth, it is the only known place in our solar system with liquid lakes. Although Titan does not have water per se, its liquid lakes of methane, and endless hydrocarbon rain, allow the possibility of life to form. It is believed that for life to form liquid is necessary in whatever form, because it is only through the natural motion of liquid that interaction of molecules can occur freely. And although water is not in the equation for Titan, its liquid-formed lakes of natural gas do allow for life to form chemically. But maybe the best chance for life to form in our solar neighborhood beyond Earth lies on the icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus. When NASA’s Cassini photographed geysers of hot water spewing from cracks in its surface, it meant that below the surface of that moon exist reservoirs of liquid water, heated by the gravitational pull of Saturn on the little moon. And if liquid water exists, so does the possibility of life.  

Actual photo of unlinked DNA under a microscope.

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A War Over States’ Rights

In the first presidential debate of the season, Mitt Romney the republican candidate attacked President Obama on many issues, but none so more than the Affordable Care Act; he referred negatively to as Obamacare. Romney continued to echo the republican view on states’ rights when he sighted that in Massachusetts, his state-wide insurance plan worked, but wasn't right for America. Over and over, Romney continued to poke the viewers with this republican ideal about states’ rights, but just where did this come from? Where exactly does it say that States’ have rights over the federal government? Romney continued the attack and even referenced the constitution and declaration of independence, although incorrectly as I will explain.

So just where did this view on states’ rights come from?


Well if you believe the republicans, our constitution. But since the only two things a republican knows about our constitution is that it grants people the right to hold their bible in one hand and a gun in the other, we know it’s just not so.

So what does the constitution say about states’ rights?

Amendment X:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Now what republicans would like you to believe is that the government of each state is granted the right to make decisions about its state as long as the constitution doesn't specifically say otherwise. And at first glance it does seem to make sense. But then there is article XI, clause two, referred to as the supremacy clause, which reads:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

This is important because it clearly states that the Federal government and its powers are supreme, and judges in those states shall be bound to the laws of the federal constitution. It states that where contradictions between constitutions, state and federal happen, federal law is supreme.

What does this all mean?

It means that each state has the right to create its own constitution, granting rights to the citizens of its states, however when any such right contradicts federal law, than the state must set aside its laws in favor of the federal law. Now for some people, this sounds terrible. There are people out there who consider themselves an American second only to membership in their state first, as if there existed this commonwealth of independent states.  Although it may seem as if states are independent, and in some respect they may be, they are all part of the same republic. In the federalist papers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, two of the founders of this nation, wrote that the Supremacy clause of the constitution was vital to enforce the powers of the federal government, that ratification of the constitution alone, gave the federal government supremacy over the rights of the states.

So we know that the intention of the founders was to give the federal government authority over states as well as constitutionally overriding power.

So where did this issue of states’ rights come from?

Well it should be no surprise that the idea of states making their own decisions came from the south. In the 1820’s the South was a major exporter of agriculture both foreign and domestic. The south benefited heavily from the agriculture of crops farmed in the south exclusively through slave labor. The north at the time in contrast relied heavily on industry, and the two sides clashed on basic policies. In 1828, Congress passed tariff legislation that heavily benefited the north and punished the south simultaneously. The only thing that continued to allow the south to compete with the northern industrial explosion was its use of free labor, with slavery. Never more was the term of states’ rights brought into the minds of the citizens than on the subject of slavery. In the years leading up to the civil war, many debates were held between the members of northern abolitionists and southern slave owners. Southerners maintained that their economy built on the backs of slaves would crumble to dust if they were to succumb to the public discord in the north calling for the abolishment of slavery. Furthermore, this idea of states’ rights played vital in the ability of slave owners to move product through states that did not support their cause. Northern states, whose public outrage at slavery led citizens to free slaves whenever they encountered them in the north, caused a battle between the abolitionists and slave owners that ended in the 1857 Supreme Court decision affirming the right of slave owners. Ultimately, this decision as well as the electing of President Lincoln and the Republican Party, the tariffs and unsavory opinion of the south are what probably led to the civil war.

Although it was widely held that the Republican Party were not in favor of slavery, Lincoln himself stated that his only intention was to restore that which had been taken illegally, calling the cessation of southern states “legally void.” Lincoln’s primary goal was to restore the Union of states and although the issue of slavery was one that his party did not tolerate, it was secondary to his primary goal. Had Lincoln been able to restore the Union to what it was without abolishing slavery, he would have done so. The confederacy believed that cessation allowed them to form a new independent government, and sent representatives to Washington offering a monetary settlement with the Union that granted the confederacy federal properties they had already taken. Lincoln tossed the men from his office, believing that any negotiation with the confederacy would be a sign of acceptance of a sovereign nation. To show his determination Lincoln ordered troops to guard forts, even against overwhelming odds. This cost the lives of thousands of men.

In 1862, Lincoln discussed at length with his cabinet the possibility of ending slavery in contested states. Lincoln believed that in order to push the idea throughout the Union, he would need to show everyone the force of the Union, in order to make it a completely popular one. He also believed that by doing so he could solidify those on the fence, and force the war into the slave states. On September 17, 1862 President Lincoln would get his chance. The battle of Antietam, a decisive victory for General Lee, allows the president just five days later to announce to his cabinet the content of his proclamation.  On January 1, 1863, by executive order, Lincoln announced his Emancipation Proclamation. The executive order granted the freedom of slaves in contested states, but did not grant freedom for all, or an end to slavery.  Nearing the end of the civil war, abolitionists in his party believing that the proclamation was merely a war act, pressured Lincoln to make it something permanent. Lincoln concerned with his own re-election, pushed the idea through the Congress which enacted the 13th amendment abolishing slavery.

Now although slavery had been abolished, equal rights were another thing. After all, the idea that a black man was 3/5 a white man was still very popular, even if they had severed the shackles of slavery. Over the next 100 years, southern states would fight vigorously to oppress black citizens.

In the 1960’s it was well known that “states’ rights” was a term used when referring to segregation. During the period from 1876 to 1965, southern states formerly part of the confederacy adopted a set of policies referred to as the “Jim Crow” laws. These policies were meant to substantiate the mentality flowing through the minds of southerners that blacks were “separate but equal.” These policies allowed the formerly confederate states to create an entirely segregated society which favored the whites of society. With these laws, the legislators were able to create separate schools, transportation, restaurants, restrooms and drinking fountains for whites and for blacks. It also made illegal, the usage of any of these segregated services by someone of the other race. These laws would remain in effect until 1954 in a landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Although it is hard to say for sure where the civil rights movement began, this is by far a pivotal moment for that movement.

In 1890 Louisiana began segregating its railway cars, a move to fall in line with the segregation of other services provided in the southern states. To many this was just another act of torture being perpetrated on the blacks in the south. Railway cars in those days were not air conditioned as they are today, and the accommodations in the blacks-only cars were less than accommodating. Many saw this as a chance to challenge these new laws, and a committee was formed to try and repeal the law. A man by the name of Homer Plessy was asked if he would like to be the one to challenge the law, and he agreed. On June 7, 1892, Plessy bought his first-class ticket and boarded the train. He immediately sat in the whites-only car as instructed by the committee. When Plessy was asked to move to the blacks-only car, he refused, and was arrested.

When Plessy appeared before the judge he argued that his rights under the 13th and 14th amendments of the constitution were violated, asking the judge to dismiss the case. The judge declined, and the found him guilty. Plessy was not done of course, and he and the committee appealed the decision to the State Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld the original ruling. With one more shot, Plessy appealed his case to the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, and on April 13, 1896, four years later oral arguments were heard on the case. Plessy’s attorney argued that his client’s rights under the constitution’s 13th and 14th amendments did not allow Louisiana to treat him any differently because of the color of his skin. He offered the notion that such treatment continued to subject blacks to the feeling of being property. On May 18, 1896, the court handed down its 7-1 decision, rejecting Plessy’s arguments and establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine that would continue until Brown v. Board of Education. The only dissenting opinion was that of Justice Harlan, who almost prophetically called the decision infamous, sighting that its court’s decision would create a racial divide that would be felt for a long time to come, and believed that the constitution should be seen as “color-blind.”

With established segregation laws in place throughout the south, things remained “separate but equal” until 1951 when the parents of elementary school children decided to file a class action suit against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. The parents with the help of the local NAACP, attempted to enroll their children in closest available schools in their district only to be turned away to the segregated schools. On August 3rd, 1951, the district court handed down their decision rejecting the plaintiff’s arguments and citing the original Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court decision.

Although the Supreme Court would hear the arguments first in December of 1952, they were unable to reach a decision and it seemed as if the issue would remain in limbo. In reality, a plan was being hatched by Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter who wanted to delay the case to allow the court to reach a unanimous decision in favor of desegregation. Although, a unanimous decision was not required to rule on the arguments, those who believed the original court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson to be a moral question and ultimately wrong believed that a strong united message of opposition would be needed to stop segregation. With the dissenters finally agreeing to rule in favor, arguments were reheard on December 8, 1953. On May 17th, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson and rule in favor of Brown, ending the segregation of public schools.

Although the decision was accepted easily in some states, others like Virginia, and Texas opposed the desegregation by organizing citizen’s campaigns and closing schools rather than allow the integration. In a story that became national news, June 11, 1963, Gov. George Wallace personally blocked the doors at the University of Alabama to prevent the enrollment of two black students and only moved when ordered by a member of the National Guard following the orders of President Kennedy.

Many brave individuals who risked life and limb, like Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr. are shining examples of individuals who believed their rights were more important as human beings, than the rights of any state.

April 4th 1968, one day after giving his most famous speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. What was surely an attempt to silence the civil rights movement by removing its most prominent figure, turned into another of its most pivotal moments, making the man a martyr for the cause. Riots broke out all throughout the United States, cries for justice and want for the things he saw in his dreams to come true. Only a week after his assassination, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1968; this effectively ends the practice of segregation in the United States. All challenges prove to fail as all forms of segregation are then declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Since the end of the civil rights movement of the 60's, the term had not been used, until it was reawakened by the Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas in 2010. Since the days of Lincoln, the Republican Party has changed quite a bit. The Republican Party that elected presidents Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, and Theodore Roosevelt, is not the same Republican Party that exists today. The modern Republican Party began its decline into insanity around the time that Ronald Reagan was elected president. That party has since turned into a class of wealthy, white, religious, bigoted individuals who believe their ideologies on government outweigh the common good. They believe that the only laws worth preserving are the ones dictated to them by a holy book full of hatred, and violence. In the last thirty years the redistribution of wealth in this country has resulted in an economy of corrupt wealthy few who capitalize on the need of others, taking advantage of the weak to gain strength, a parasite on the American public. This 1% believes they can control what the other 99% of people can do in this country and it starts with gaining control of our politicians.

Of course, controlling individual politicians in Congress and even the white house is not enough. You see again, individuals perceive themselves to be Americans, but only second to being part of their state, and it is there that war must be waged, and won, in order to control the Union.

Throughout the last thirty years in the modern Republican Party no issue as much as the issue of equality of the LGBT community has been so polarizing. The uncanny treatment of this community echoes the treatment of blacks during the civil rights movement so closely that the opposition of these two could be juxtaposed against each other with little difference. As if the constitution were written on an etch-a-sketch, Republicans would have you believe that civil rights apply to just about anyone, except homosexuals. As if history were merely the memory of another nation’s past, with nothing to look back at as an example of moral judgment, those who enjoy the rights others fought so hard to grant them, with a callous heart, turn against those who demand equality. Nevermore has the utter hypocrisy of the Republican Party been so clearly seen as it has been on this issue.

September 21, 1996, then President Bill Clinton a democrat signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally defined marriage between a man and a woman. Since that time, Clinton has changed his view, advocating for same-sex marriages throughout the United States. President Obama has called the Act a violation of the principles of the constitution, and ordered the Department of Justice to not defend any case brought before a court where the law was challenged. Republicans, who have taken on the role of bigot party, have instructed their party’s lawyers to defend the law in place of the Department of Justice. Since 2004, six states now recognize same-sex marriages as legal in their state, but because of the provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act, their marriages are only legal in the states in which they were married. The Supreme Court of the United States is slated to hear arguments on this Act in cases, as early as next year.

 So what is the problem?

The same Party that has been advocating for States’ rights has been pushing for a federal law making same-sex marriage illegal under the supremacy clause of the constitution. The same clause that grants a federal mandate be treated by each state as law, the same clause for which those who continue to argue States’ rights, I.E. republicans, are supreme. Hypocrisy unfortunately is seemingly part and parcel with that party. It’s not just on issues of same-sex marriage, they continue to push for federal laws banning abortion, an issue of health, at the same time crying foul when the federal government impose healthcare mandates across the nation.

What should be clear is that States are given latitude on issues involving how each state wants to govern itself, and federal mandates are only made on issues that affect everyone equally.

As I mentioned in the beginning Mitt Romney attacked the president and referenced the constitution and declaration of independence, albeit incorrectly.

He said, “The role of government is to promote and protect the principles of those documents.” He continued, “First, life, and liberty. We have a responsibility to protect the lives and liberties of our people…”

The problem is, he doesn't understand what that statement even means, or he doesn't believe it himself. Calling for States’ rights in the face of a federal document that grants supremacy over state government is tantamount to the confederacy asking Lincoln for sovereignty for the confederate states. There is something else that document mentions, although I’m sure Gov. Romney only memorized the portions he felt he needed. It mentions the principle of a Perfect Union. It mentions by name several times, the United States, not Separatist States, of America.

Life, Liberty?

Words to a man, who believes States’, should have the right to mandate separate laws.

Like the southern States of old republic that believed blacks were 3/5 a man?

Segregated their lives to inferiority based on the color of their skin?

You mean those states?

Do you mean those same states, now asking for states’ rights being able to decide how two people can show love for each other?

Is that what you mean Gov. Romney?

Or was it merely your attempt to slide those issues by, in disguise of the Affordable Care Act, that not only guarantees no citizen can ever be denied medical coverage because they were born with a condition, but grants every child in this country the care they need to survive, and gives support to millions of people who otherwise would not have it. You see Gov. Romney, when you seek to classify states as sovereign entities, merely to reverse the laws in that constitution, that already grant people life and liberty, you offend the lives of every man and woman who defended with their lives, that document, and reduce it to a rag of parchment, covered in the signatures of people whose ideas founded this nation with the blood of patriots. That declaration of independence you referred to was signed by fifty-six men who knew signing it, would be signing their own death warrants. Those men, you so effortlessly and figuratively shat on, by mentioning that document, would rather have died than give up their liberties, the very liberties you seek to take away from people, by granting state sovereignty.

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