What Is Up With Politics Today?

I don’t know why but the fact that any group is denied basic civil rights over what kind of sex they like (I mean really, homosexuals are doing what most straight people I know do…and how would you like it if the government told you you couldn’t get married because of what you liked to do at home with you beloved? Hmm? tell me?)  just irks me no end so I was looking at the Constitution trying to figure out if I had a reason to be pissed.  I thought, hey, maybe I’m off base…so I’ll check it out. 

Amendment 10:

“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.”

Ok….I’ll give you that on the surface that makes it look like a state’s rights issue what with the reserved to the states bit BUT there is also that to the people bit…I know popular election puts it in the hands of the people.  Don’t worry I’m way ahead of you…

Amendment 9

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

Hmm…that pesky people bit again

Amendment 14 Section 1

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherin they reside.  No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United State; 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.”

Several things to notice here…the word privileges for one.  People talk about marriage being a privilege and not a right…I got your privileges ;)  The rest of it pretty much says to me you aren’t allowed to screw with privileges or rights….so no matter which side of the fence you go down on (privilege or right) marriage is covered.  Marriage is definitely one or the other and the government is definitely involved (otherwise we wouldn’t change tax status for married couples and we wouldn’t charge for marriage licenses or divorces or any of the other ways that the government screws with a ‘married’ couples money)

Now for the semantics bit.  Maybe we all just need to use different words…words are powerful and evoke powerful reactions in people.  I’ll even give you that various religions (see I’m not even going to nitpick that religion was used as government for the longest time) have a claim on the word marriage.  So let’s not regulate marriage…

Let’s regulate something called cohabitation….or a civil union… or some other term that won’t rile people up.  I think it is kind of how some women get pissed if they are called a whore or a bitch.  Neither word is (usually) accurate so they aren’t upset at the actual definition (she isn’t really a female dog) but more the emotion it evokes (I mean….logically if you aren’t taking money for sex and someone calls you a whore why would you be upset? …heck if you are taking money for sex and someone calls you a whore why would you be upset?) Being a bit random, sorry.

My point is…the government is regulating cohabitation at the moment and by making laws that prohibit consenting adults from enjoying the legal benefits of cohabitation they are denying said consenting adults of their Constitutional right of “equal protection of the laws”

Now if you still think people should be denied those Constitutional rights, please….lay it out for me and back it up with a legal reason.  I’m not interested in what your religion has to say about my sex life or anyone else’s sex life.  That concerns you…not my government….so legal defenses only.

Third Party Watch is a website I just found (if this is something you’ve known about and haven’t shared with me tsk tsk) The website is a blog but it is updated multiple times a day with news stories that focus only on third parties.  Pretty nifty, right?  The best part is that it has been up and running for three years now and it doesn’t look as though it will be going anywhere in the near future.  Pretty nifty resource even if it does talk about all the alternative parties and not just about the Libertarians.

Some of my favorite posts are Stop the Smearing because I would like for everyone to stop attacking each other politically and a post about Third Party Candidates for Congress where I was surprised by how many third party candidates are on various state ballots. 

Yes, yes, I know it is easy to look up the Constitution online, but how many people actually do?  Not many, it would seem.  In order to understand politics, political issues, legal issues, basically everything that I might blog about here you have to first understand (or at least be basically aware of) the Constitution.  To that end I’ll be doing several (read that as a ton) of posts on the Constitution.  I’ll break it into bite sized bits and link you some excellent resources along the way.  It is really amazing all of the rights we do (and don’t) have as well as the rights the government does (and shockingly enough doesn’t) have.  Let’s get started.

The Preamble of the Unites States Constitution

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

So what is it exactly?  Well it’s basically a hi there howdy folks this is what we’re going to be doing today.  Let’s break it down bit by bit, shall we?

• We the people of the United States – Pretty simple, right?  Usually thought to mean all citizens of the United States.  Clearly shows that the constitution was written by the people of the United States (albeit the actual writers were the upper echelon white guys) for the people of the United States.  It isn’t something the government, king, or gods wrote for us, we wrote it for ourselves.  As parents like to say to their children (parents in this case = citizens   children=government)  I gave you your life and I can take it away!
• In order to form a more perfect Union – They wanted a better system of government than they had.  It wouldn’t be perfect (it is a government after all) but they wanted to create something better.
• Establish justice – They wanted fairness or justice.  They were tired of the government taxing them unfairly and messing with their ability to trade and run their lives.
• Insure domestic tranquility -  Doesn’t do any good to for a new nation with new laws if the rebels are going to mess everything up
• Provide for the common defense - Well now.  The states tended to be a bit…selfish.  They wanted what was best just for them but sometimes that could get in the way of what was best for the nation as a whole.  For example during times of war when the ‘common defense’ was a major concern. 
• Promote the general welfare – basically this means commonwealth or common good…not welfare like public assistance ;)  Unique in that the Constitution isn’t just there to protect the powerful but also the weak.
• Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity – Two words tend to confuse people, liberty and posterity.  Liberty means personal freedom.  Posterity means future generations.
• Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America – Ordain means decree or hey guys this is what we want. 

Wow.  So that took a bit longer than I was expecting :)  If you don’t agree with my definitions of terms, please feel free to comment below and correct me (or debate with me).  Also, if you like the idea of a little Constitutional blogging class let me know, if you hate it let me know :) 

This isn’t strictly about the crazy world of politics in that it isn’t a news story.  However, it is excellent advice about the Fifth Amendment.  As the professor says, many people assume that invoking the Fifth Amendment means you are guilty.  Not so my friend.  Heck, a LOT of people don’t even realize they don’t have to talk to police if they don’t want to.  I taught American History and every time we’d get to the Constitution I’d have students who couldn’t believe they had rights. (a slight overstatement but not by much)  Oh that’s because they are kids you say?  Not so, I routinely read news articles that assume people don’t have basic rights.  But I digress.  I hope you enjoy the video.

What did you think of the video?  Will you invoke the Fifth Amendment if ever given the opportunity?