A way to change our broken government

The Columbus Dispatch by Jim Siegel Aug. 12, 2012
   Redistricting plan not one for all


 The effort to change the way we design our legislative and congressional districts in Ohio will go forward with a ballot initiative in November.
We already know the current gerrymandered system is unfair to a large part of our Ohio voting population.
 As a Democratic voter in a gerrymandered Republican district I feel as if my vote doesn't count except for statewide issues. Local issues and candidates are always decided by the huge mass of Republican voters in my district.
I'm not a lawyer but I think gerrymandering is a form of voter suppression.

 According to this Columbus Dispatch story (see above link) one reason Republicans oppose this ballot is because the new law will create an "unaccountable panel"

 An unaccountable panel is what we have had all these years. Its time to bring about a better way to draw our districts. I hope voters will vote yes.

When being square really matters

Former Gov Romney is a challenge for me. How to square his religion with keeping the Ten Commandments? 
I am not confident that Mitt Romney is the person God would want to lead our nation. Romney seems to go against the teaching of Jesus. Most obviously when he changes his opinion based on what he thinks the person wants to hear. Jesus did not do that. No matter where he was Jesus message was constant and believable. 


   There are things about the Mormon church I don't believe in and one thing I really dispute is the Mormon belief that their spiritual afterlife will be based on the relative importance of the life they lived while here on earth. Persons of little consequence will not be allowed to see God or Jesus according to the Mormon belief.  I expect to be judged but being judged is different from being ranked. I don't like to think of heaven as a place where I will be ranked. I like to think of God and Jesus as loving us all equally.
        Maybe Mitt Romney's quest for the highest office in the world is more for himself and his ranking in the heavenly order he believes will be his when he dies. 


    And this business of proxy baptizing the souls of the dead. How can Mormons do that? Jesus wouldn't want me if I didn't choose Him while I was alive. But I strongly suspect the devil would be OK with this practice.  It even sounds like something the devil would think up. The Mormon doctrine defends this practice as a means for all those who died without baptism to enter into the kingdom of God. Never mind what we decided to do about our religion while we were alive, the Mormon Church proxy baptism will rescue us from our dreadful free will. Imagine the confusion this must cause in the afterlife. 


I'd like to know how Christians are squaring Romney's religion with their religion. 

Titles - Just another rino

Mitt Romney

     CEO

co-founder of Bain Capital

moderate Republican in '94

Washington outsider

2002 Winter Olympics

turnaround artist 

moderate Washington outsider

Governor of Massachusetts 

closed tax loopholes

raised fees to reduce debt

courageous some said

flip flopped on social issues

Norquist tax pledge too


 2012 front runner

next in line

severely conservative Republican
he told CPAC
has become

 Romney in name only

Good Morning Republicans Have You Kept Your Pledge Today?

The Norquist factor - TheHill.com by Brent Budowsky

JB Says: The very idea of legislators taking the Norquist no tax pledge is contrary to the essential nature of our congress. The purpose of electing and sending a representative to Washington DC is so that a free and open debate might take place among the 50 states - 435 members.

In my opinion the only pledge our legislators should be bound to uphold is the pledge they take when sworn in to their office.

Brent Budowsky is right on about Ohio and the possible backlash for Republicans in 2012.

Upside down & to the left

Is any body awake out there?

999 turned upside down becomes ddd. Not 666.

Maybe Bachmann sees a democrat devil in the details....

What About Obama?

It was touch and go for several weeks though I never stopped liking Obama. What happened was, I became more and more disillusioned about the opportunity for economic accomplishment after 2012. I reasoned if Obama won, Republicans would continue their obstinate refusal to his every proposal (and thereby send America down the crapper).

Their kind of lunacy must arise from deep hatred. I think a deep and unacknowledged hatred for his race drives their desire to see Obama fail. And like most things, the Republicans are in denial about their true motives. (Like insisting tax cuts create jobs) Unreasonable stubborn refusal to compromise was and still is the hallmark of racism.

A few days back I got a phone call from a group called College Republicans. The first question asked was what did I think was Obama's biggest mistake during his first term as our President. I told the lady - he made the mistake of being black while president.

So I had to think about all this for a while. I had to ask myself if America could stand another 4 years of economic turmoil and dysfunctional government. I wondered how the world would judge us in 2016 if we put ourselves through a second Obama term that ended with a world economy in the tank.

For what?

For the privilege of standing up for his right to be a President of the United States of America. Thats what for!


Then I realized if I quit now I would be one more obstacle to his success. If I quit now, the hard won battles of the civil rights era would somehow be less impressive.

Obama as President gives me grounds to believe that something good can happen. Obama is the reason I can believe our future will have a positive outcome. And I'm not ready to give that up.

I have decided I want to help Obama win his 2012 election because he is worthy of my continued support.

January 19, 2009