Let thy morals guide thee

So the blog I’ve chose to write on is found on The Daily Dish , and was written by Andrew Sullivan. The blog focuses on his moral beliefs and why has chosen to with hold support for the Republican candidate this election year. This blog editorial caught my attention because it puts into perspective for me why many people have chosen to support President Barack Obama this election year. I think Mr. Sullivan was reaching out to those with a moral conscious, those that truly consider who their going to vote for despite whichever political party the claim to be apart off. It also sounds like a bit of an “I’m sorry, but...” kind of article towards conservatives that read his blogs.

I’m not familiar with politics, as I’ve mentioned before, so I can’t offer much personal credibility about this author; however, I have been able to find some interesting fact about him. He is a former editor of The New Republic, has written five books, he is a speaker at universities, colleges, and civic organizations in the U.S., and is best known for his blog, The Dish. In his blog editorial, he talks about the main reasons he has decided to support the democratic candidate for this year’s election. He explains why he supports “Obamacare”, states that torture is “simply unacceptable”, and does not support a pre-emptive war against a country that has the ability to create a nuclear bomb but has not made threats to actually do so and use it. His logic is regarding all of these issues is coming from his own moral conscious. He states that the view comes from his Catholic faith and his personal challenges with a pre-existing condition that he would not be able to afford to treat if he did not have private healthcare. He believes that Mitt Romney will bring back torture into this country which Mr. Sullivan is morally against because he believes that allowing torture in the U.S. would give the green light to “every vicious dictator on the planet to do the same”. And in regards to pre-emptive war, he just doesn’t think that just because Iran has the material to make a nuclear bomb, they are still not a threat to any other country because they haven’t actually made any threats.

I appreciate what he’s going after, a clean conscious in regards to his voting, but I don’t 100% agree with his views. I don’t support the healthcare reform because I believe it can be done a different way. I can’t say that Romney won’t bring back torture, but being familiar with his views, I highly doubt it. Ryan on the other hand, well, that’s a different story. I somewhat agree with the pre-emptive war issue. No, we shouldn’t go to war with Iran simply because they can make a nuclear bomb, but I do think they should be monitored very closely.

Death Penalty

I found this editorial in the New York Times. It’s titled A Schizophrenic on Death Row. I was unable to determine the author.It briefly highlights a case in Florida where a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia has been given an execution sentence andthen describes how this action violates his constitutional rights. John Ferguson was on trial due to murders he committed. The Florida Supreme Court decided on Wednesday, October 17 to allow the state to proceed with his execution for next week. His lawyers stated that they will be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. A few things that stood out to me; the editorial states that the U.S. Supreme Court would have to review the case because there are two different interpretations of what constitutes competence betweenwhat the state of Florida says and what the Supreme Court says. The Supreme Court ruled that it would be unconstitutional to execute someone who doesn’t have the ability to comprehend the penalty, but Florida requires the accused to have only an awareness of the penalty.  

​ The authors intended audience is assumedly those that are somehow related to those with mental disabilities, more specifically schizophrenia, and those that may have strong feelings about the death penalty.  For the audience that have someone in their lives with a mental disability, this is a very sensitive issue that can stir up heart breaking emotions, but those that have strong opinions either for or against the death penalty are the ones that will possibly be more vocal about their opinions on the matter at hand. The author does well to argue against the death penalty in this particular case. He or she argues that the test Florida does to determine awareness is “plainly inadequate” because the level of understanding needed for the situation is not possible by Mr. Ferguson’s delusions and that “mistaken findings” from such tests have allowed states to execute many people with mental disabilities. He or she also argues that theU.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is the “law of the land” and should extend to Florida laws. In the closing comments, the author clearly states that the Supreme Court has an obligation to explain the different standards of Florida and the Supreme Court and how Florida is in clear violation and that they should stop the execution.

​I’m pretty sure I’m against the death penalty. I don’t believe men should decide whether a man should live or die unless that person is putting others in immediate danger, such as in self-defense. And I believe it’s just too easy of an out. If undecided, I would say that if there is any doubt at all that the accused does not understand or comprehend what is going on then they should not go to the extremes of execution.  Regardless, I agree with the author. Ialso think this editorial definitely makes those that are adamantly for the death penalty rethink their stance on it.

The Supreme Court on Affirmative Action

An article I found interesting was posted on USA Today Wednesday, October 10, 2012 titled Supreme Court to weigh in again on Affirmative action. This article mainly focuses on people’s weigh in on affirmative action in light of the Supreme Court dealing with Fisher v. University of Texas.  Abigail Fisher was rejected entry to the University of Texas in 2008 and claims she was rejected because she is white. The Affirmative action takes factors such as race, religion, gender, or national origin into consideration when it comes to employment, education, and business to promote equal opportunity. This article is worth a read because it gives insight into why many people disagree with affirmative action. I think many people are ok with it so it’s interesting to see legitimate reasons why people are on the other side of the fence about it. I found it relevant to me because it got me thinking about how affirmative action affects me and my family. We’re Hispanic. I have a better chance of getting into a university because of my skin color. How is that equal opportunity? I chose this article because this case could possibly alter the course of history for the U.S.

Here we go!

     My name is Lucinda, but you can call me Lucy. I tend to think of myself as a real simple girl. I love my family, I love my friends, I tolerate my job, I’m fairly satisfied with my two bedroom apartment, I can’t diet or exercise to save my life; I’m enjoying what life is giving me right now. My focus is on my work, my family, my survival. But one of my biggest flaws is the fact that I’m a sensitive soul. I’m fragile, my feelings get hurt easily and I’m very careful not to hurt anyone else’s for fear that they will dislike me and secretly roll their eyes when I speak. So, knowing this, I can’t begin to describe to you the look of fear in my eyes when I read that I would have to write blogs about my “political” views. “Ha! Yeah right… oh, crap!”      

                I am a U.S. citizen that is enjoying the rights she has been given by this country. I don’t, or have ever, thought about changing “the rules”. In my family, politics was NEVER a topic of discussion. I am a first generation American and, well, my family’s focus was never in politics in was usually more on survival (aside from trying to stay under the radar.) So, I’ve grown up just accepting what comes and never really took the time to think of how I can impact our government. I have my personal believes and moral standards that I live every day, but I’ve never really been outspoken about them other then living them every day and hope that my example will influence others to walk along the same line of principles. I know now, after moving to Austin, that this isn’t enough. The crowd here is unlike I’ve ever seen. So out there, so loud about our rights or rights we should have. It’s different.  But now that I’m taking this class, I can’t be the wallflower any longer. I’m not taking this class because I want to; I’m taking it because I have to. But, being the grown up person that I am, I know that I need to take this class. I want to become more knowledgeable in the government that is running this country. I want to be able to form solid opinions about hot topics and know sources to back them up.

                One of my biggest secrets is that I have never voted (a secret my husband has known for years but still gasps in astonishment every time we talk about it.) I couldn’t tell you whether I’m a republican or a democrat because I don’t think I understand liberal or conservative politics well enough to side with one or the other. I can tell you that I do tend to be more on the conservative side of issues. I believe in God and just about everything that comes with that.  But even then, I’m just not sure where to cast my nets. My hope for this class is be better U.S. citizen by gaining knowledge that will help me contribute to this country.