Ladies and Gentlemen, 
may I present to you…
The Most Powerful Man in America, Justice Anthony Kennedy!
Kennedy’s presence on the Supreme Court as the one reliable “swing vote” between the liberals and conservatives means that it is he, and he alone, that has often made the difference between hugely important cases. Don’t believe me? His vote was the deciding one on:
Bill Maher did a “New Rule” this week that needs to be seen, in which he counters the “Reagan would never be accepted in the current Republican party” myth.
I remember Reagan, and except for a few minor issues, he would fit right in with the current Republican party. He’s their patron saint for a reason, you know.
Anyway, rather than just repeat the point Maher said, I urge you to watch. It’s funny, too.
And yeah, I know that in the headline, I’m using the term “teabagger”, which they hate. Ask me if I care.
Turns out there is a scandal after all.
The Republicans have searched for one since the incident happened. First they claimed that Obama never called it a terrorist act (like that is a crime). Turns out he did, the very next day. Remember how Romney tried to accuse him of that during the debate and instead just looked completely incompetent? That was fun.
Other than that, I haven’t been able to completely figure out what they’re saying. Apparently they are mad because the Obama administration didn’t have 20/20 hindsight to realize it was a terrorist attack. If there is something more, no one has been able to entirely explain it yet.
But one thing they said turns out to be true: Talking point memos were changed to make it seem that it was something other than it was.
Turns out though that those memos were changed by Republicans in their press releases to reporters, and not by the Obama administration.
Fake quotes. They just made them up.
So when people say that there is a scandal going on concerning Benghazi, you can reply “Yes, there is! I see it now!”
COMPROMISE IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
I used to be an Angry Young Man, who believed that any sort of compromise with my core principles could not be tolerated.
Actually, I still believe that — except I’ve decided to redefine “core principles.” My core principles that will not be compromised have to do with ethics — I will not tolerate dishonesty, hypocrisy, and cheating.
But politics? Law? My marriage? Life in general? Sure, let’s work together to solve our problems.
I’ve learned, as I’ve aged and become wiser, that I’d rather work with the other side and get 50% of what I want than be stubborn and get 0%.
There are gray areas in the world. Not everything is black and white. Compromise is needed to get things done.
A lot of the arguments I get into with people over politics seem to do with this refusal to compromise; with people who see things only in black and white. (And this includes many on the left as well.)
In some ways, it is like those who strongly believe their religion to the point where there can be no compromise because that means you’re helping evil prevail. Abortion is the best example I can think of there. I am more than willing to compromise on this issue — I agree that there should be restrictions based on medical science. Those who see no gray areas will not budge.
There are also political believers who have similar ideas. They see the world also in absolutes that allow no compromise.
And, of course, you all know what’s coming. The issue that falls into that category these days is gun control. The extremists think that it is impossible to have any compromise because it’s a violation of their civil liberties as guaranteed by the Constitution. They feel that any attempt to prevent felons, terrorists or the insane from having guns is as much of a violation of their rights as throwing someone in jail without giving them a hearing.
As I’ve stated before, all rights have reasonable limitations. The 1st amendment is written about as clear as it could be (and much clearer than the 2nd) and there are many reasonable restrictions on the 1st. I agree with these reasonable restrictions, as does just about every other American, including the 2nd amendment extremists.
There are reasonable restrictions on the 4th amendment concerning search and seizure laws. There are reasonable restrictions on the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. And just about every American agrees with those, too.
Yet when I talk about reasonable restrictions on the 2nd, suddenly people are calling me “anti-civil rights”. This despite my entire career being dedicated to the exact opposite.
Seriously, how do you deal with these people? Well, you can’t. You can lead someone to compromise, but you can’t make them think.
Some people never grow out of the “Angry Young Man” phase of their life.
With the vast majority of the public supporting background checks, enough cowardly Senators voted against them.
Within a few weeks, these Senators have plummeted in the polls.
I am shocked and surprised. Shocked that enough people are paying attention enough to give their disapproval, and surprised that it was so strong.
Seriously — Senator Flake from Arizona dropped 19 points. Portman from Ohio dropped 18. Ayotte from New Hampshire dropped 15.
Maybe this will be what it takes for these spineless politicians to realize that the leaders of the NRA do not represent anyone except the gun manufacturers.
EDIT, two days later: Republican Senator Toomey, from my home state of Pennsylvania, was one of the few Republicans who voted for background checks. His poll numbers have risen. Just in case anyone thought these numbers were not related to the gun vote.
There are many stupid arguments against gay marriage. In fact, most of them are stupid, especially since there are no good arguments against it.
But the one that has to take the cake is the one that an actual lawyer argued last week before — get this — the United States Supreme Court.
“Marriage has to be between only men and women because, you know, kids. Gays can’t make kids and so their marriage can’t be real.”
How bad do your legal arguments have to be if you’re relying on that? Or, alternatively, how bad of a lawyer must you be?
And how much of an insult is that to people like me and my wife, happily married now for 30 years and childless by choice? What, our marriage isn’t real? It’s not legitimate?
Fortunately, there are some actual smart people on the Supreme Court who are very good at cutting through this bullshit. Let’s all hope they can get through the heads of the bigots that are there, too.
ventrellaquest.com 