Still a Hillary Girl

I know this is yesterday news, but I am going to blog once about my disappointment with the primary race.

There are both gracious Senator Clinton supporters and Senator Obama supporters and there are also some not-so-gracious Senator Clinton supporters and Senator Obama supporters. Obama supporters need to stop telling Clinton supporters to get over it and Clinton supporters need to stop threatening to vote for Senator McCain.

And I am TIRED of hearing that Senator Obama has a "Hillary Problem." It is disturbing to called a problem and we're not going to go run to Senator McCain. I am sorry, but Senator McCain is not the champion of women's rights. His Supreme Court nominees would make progress harder, and I am NOT talking about abortion rights; there is more to modern day feminism than abortion noise.

Both candidates received over 18 million votes across the country; it was a close race. But if the Democratic Primary was like the Republican Primary, Senator Clinton would have won. Republicans use the “winner-take-all” strategy, that if an individual wins the popular vote of the state, he receives all the pledged votes. Alternatively, Democrats split up the pledged delegates by percentage of the popular vote.

My point is that Senator Clinton could have won and she came close. I understand that life is full of rules that must be followed. But that dimension of her momentous run made it much harder to move pass the loss.

I like Senator Obama and there are no great differences between the two candidates besides age, race, and gender. But I have been slow to “fall in love” with him like I did for Senator Clinton.

During the primary, Senator Clinton stood by her Iraq war vote and Senator Obama ran to the left. Now Senator Obama is running back to the center, like ALL politicians do during primary and general elections on their respective sides. But it makes me angry because Senator Clinton lost votes for her centrist position. She stood firm for various reasons, but an obvious reason was to stay closer to the middle, as to not alienate people during the general, not do what Senator Obama did. Besides, Senator Obama was lucky to have not been in the Senate when it authorized invasion; he even admitted to the great Tim Russert in 2004 that he did not know how he would have voted if he had to make that Senate vote. He did not have all the intelligence and reports that Senator Clinton did. I thought it was a cheap line during the primary election, but it worked for him, he is the nominee. From the LA Times:

Many women who support Obama say they were torn, but are unapologetic about their choice. For many, the decision turns on one vote cast by Clinton in 2002:
for the bill authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq.

Earlier this year, a group calling itself “New York Feminists for Peace and Barack Obama,” circulated an online petition that was a nuanced endorsement of the Illinois senator. It was so popular that the words “New York” were dropped from the name, and the effort went national.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/02/nation/na-feminists2

When a race is close, it is easy to look back and see where votes were lost and ask what if. But she lost. It is time to move one with Senators Obama and Biden.

-Jen

A Welcome Home Present

Matt and I arrived back in Phoenix yesterday. We are excited to be back, as there is a lot to do such as getting a job, finish unpacking, cleaning (meaning major dusting and I can’t wait!), and some serious wedding planning.

We had a present when we got back. I always like presents, but I did not like the one that I got yesterday.

I got into the shower yesterday and halfway through my shower I glanced down at the floor to see a teeny tiny lizard!! AHHHH. The poor guy was quickly evicted. At least I should be happy it was not a scorpion. I just hope the lizard does not have any friends around…

He was just a little guy.

-Jen

Proof of Night Fishing

I just uploaded my pictures from my trip back home. I have to post a couple pictures of night fishing for all to enjoy. :-)

We fished below the dam in Pierre, South Dakota,

which is called fast-water fishing.

Matt's first walleye of the trip. Just a little guy, but he did catch

bigger ones. Walleye are very yummy too.

Matt and I night fishing.

-Jen

President Bush a Bully?

The conflict between Russia and Georgia is terrible. I do think Russia is acting like a bully and needs to stop. I just think it is funny and interesting how President Bush is responding.

A quote from President Bush,"bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st Century." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7563452.stm

REALLY?? I think it is universally agreed that bullying is not a form of foreign policy, but isn't that what President Bush did in Iraq?? President Bush can call other leaders bullies and condemn them for it, but it does not apply to him? Why can he be a bully and not others? Ditto to Senator McCain and his speeches.

From the BBC.

Just updated from Human Rights Watch as reported on CNN - Russia is using cluster bombs in civilian areas. Nice. Good job Russia.

What is a cluster bomb? I had to look it up - cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number of smaller submunitions: a cluster of bomblets.

The source? Wikipedia. I am being lazy, but if Senator John McCain can use Wikipedia for a foreign affairs speech? I know that the speech was not exact and a speech writer wrote it, but foreign affairs is supposed to be his strong point. If this was Senator Obama, he would have been laughed out of the room. Just interesting how much slack Senator McCain receives.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/08/12/mccain-gets-wiki.aspx

-Jen

LOVE doesn't know RELIGION

following in Jen's blogging footstep...

We all have been there and by there I mean when a friend gets a new significant other. Now there are a couple of camps of thought on how much friends should interject and give their opinions of a friend’s significant other. Now most of you know that I shoot straight from the hip and if I don’t like/agree with something I’m not going to sugar coat it but I will tell you my honest opinion as your friend. So when I see friend’s get into relationships that don’t make them a better person or make them happy your damn right I’m going to make my opinion known. But on the other hand when I see a healthy relationship where the couple makes each other happy, better people and overall a positive experience I’m going to voice that opinion too. You see I am an equal opinion voicer – in other words with me your going to get the good with the bad. I should also note that at anytime my opinion can and does change. For example if you want a fast pass (think Disneyland) to get on my bad side ask how much something cost or if I am paying for something…that is none of your damn business whether it be someone’s home, car, dinner, or OUR WEDDING. I repeat my money is none of your DAMN business.

So I got a little side tracked but I will get back on track and why I wanted to write this entry. Many of our single friends have recently entered into committed relationships and currently I could not be happier for them. They all seem so excited and happy and it is refreshing to be around new LUST and this just reminds me that I have a man who I LOVE so much and I remember lusting after him at one time (almost 5 years ago). So when trying to get to know these new girlfriends of my friends I ask questions like: do they make you happy? What do they do? Where are they from? What do they enjoy? Basic questions in order to get some basic information so when we met in person they know that I am generally interested in getting to know them as a person outside of the couple they have just formed. So it angers me when I hear “educated” people asking inappropriate questions. And when getting to know someone’s new significant other religion is an inappropriate question Why does someone’s religion have any indication on how much they might LOVE or any indication on the out come of the relationship? You see I am in a relationship with a man who loves me and I love him and at no point in time did our differing religions determine how much we would love or not love each other. Do only “Christians” love the right way? Is that why it matters?

For me being of a certain religion is not a deal breaker with regards to being in a healthy monogamous committed relationship. It is all about being a good, honest, ethical, moral, respectable person (I could go on and on). There are horrible people of all religions. Is Warren Jeffs a “Christian”? If so than that isn’t what I consider a good person let alone someone I would want to date/marry just because they are “Christian.” Who is “Christian”? Is it someone who believes in Jesus? So are Catholics, Methodists, Baptist “Christians”? Or is it only people who consider themselves “Christians” true “Christians”? And what about the “born again Christians”? I do hope one day those who believe/act like their religion is superior to others will take sometime to think about the message they are sending out and if that is the message that their religion would want other to judge it by. Why can’t people be happy for someone when they find love, regardless of religion, and realize that what you think you need in a significant other (i.e. your prerequisites) are different than your friend who has just entered into a new budding relationship?

Ultimately these are your friends. You have chosen them for reasons, let’s hope other than a specific religion, but to respect them for their differing religion (or their significant others religion) from yours is a true sign of someone secure with oneself and personal religion. I am pleased to say that in my group of friends and family I have many types of relationships to learned from and respect even if they are different from mine because we have one common bond and that is LOVE.

LOVE (xoxo)

britt

Equal Protection of the Laws Really…

Since this blog covers topics of news, marriage, and opinions, it was time for me to do a gay marriage blog.

The Sioux City Journal did a front page story about gay marriage, which the Iowa Supreme Court is facing a challenge to the state’s constitution’s equal protection clause. I was horrified to read what the republican state legislators said regarding the issue. They had the audacity to quote THE BIBLE. There are plenty of legal arguments on both sides; there is no need to use and abuse the Bible. One republican quoted Sodom and Gomorrah. Really?? I thought that story was against sodomy, but I guess that is my interpretation of the story.

I think gay marriage will be viewed like interracial marriage someday. Not so long ago interracial marriage (miscegenation) was considered an evil. It was not until 1967 in Loving v. Virginia when the United States Supreme Court ruled that bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Also, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed on Meet the Press that California led the way with interracial marriage in the California Supreme Court similar to gay marriage.

Justice Kennedy was thrown under the bus by conservatives when he authored the opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a Texas statute that criminalized gay sodomy. I know that the Court struck down the law under Substantive Due Process because consensual sexual conduct is a protected liberty. But I also think the argument can be made using the text, and I am not even a textualist, but I am just doing it to prove a point.

The Fourteenth Amendment of our great United States Constitution advances that all citizens shall be treated equally. It states, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Therefore, statutes that criminalize or single out individuals because of their sexual orientation is NOT the equal protection of the laws. I know there are other dimensions to the argument and that sexual orientation is not a suspect class but I am trying to avoid becoming too “law student” about this.

In the end, we all have a right to privacy and who cares who is kissing who. “Heterosexual couples” do enough to screw up marriage with the divorce rate as high as it is. If we are in the business of regulating marriage, then why don’t we put a time limit on how long one should know someone from online dating before getting married or require marriage counseling or even arranged marriages??

If a person finds love in their life, which can be hard enough, then who are we to deny them of that love?

P.S. An interesting website - http://www.filibustercartoons.com/marriage.htm

-Jen

Shut up!!!

"Shut up!!" Those are the words my mother said when I told her that our wedding is in 11 months. She can't believe how fast time has gone either.

xoxo
britt