Beholding the Beauty

Today, I sent the following to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA): Senator Boxer, You worked tirelessly to end the ill-conceived War in Iraq, and I applaud your efforts on the front. I write to you now because I am concerned that the U.S. is about to get itself involved in yet another ill-conceived conflict, spending yet more money that we don't have to support the perpetrators of unspeakable atrocities, and harm the cause of democracy world-wide by encouraging even more sectarian, religiously oppressive, anti-freedom activities. I'm referring specifically to the statements coming from President Obama and others indicating that the U.S. will be sending military assistance to the rebels opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad. The line of reasoning in support of the rebels has been the reports (unlikely and unconfirmed, but let's assume for the sake of discussion that they are accurate) that Assad has used chemical weapons, which is against international law, and so sho...

What happened last night in the gallery of the Texas Senate is ATROCIOUS, and should be considered so regardless of your standpoint on the bill in question. First off, neither we as a nation, nor Texas as a State, are a "democracy". In fact, the Constitution of the United States specifically requires all participant States to have be republics, not democracies, and the Constitution of Texas explicitly states that Texas is, in fact, a Republic. That means representative government. What is so atrocious about what happened last night, is that rather than allowing the rule of law (including filibusters) to work, the so-called "people" simply overrode the law. I say "so-called" because the people shouting in the gallery were NOT elected. They (illegally, in my opinion) inserted themselves (via their voices) in the place of the ELECTED representatives (on both sides!) in the Senate well. I say it is atrocious because this sets a precedent of "barroom...