I've never met her, but she seems nice!

This is the type of blogger I can understand. Not just because Michelle is a liberal (and I happen to be, too), but well-worded, strongly-spoken, and well-informed people tend to author good reading.

I appreciate, very much, the citing of references to back up an opinion or factual statements. This is not an issue when reading michelleisliberandwhy. In fact, the last two words of her blog title is: AND WHY. I think it is actually somewhat ironic that her blog incorporates one of the most important aspects in generating credibility. Backing up your position with facts is crucial. So many outspoken and overly critical political talking-heads, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh to name two, spout off wild, agenda-driven lies without any factual basis just so that their ignorant Republican supporters will begin to believe one way even if these fabrications are entirely proven to be lies later. I'm willing to bet my entire life savings that if Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh were to begin telling their right-wing nutjob followers that President Obama started the Iraq war, that after hearing it enough times Republicans would start to believe them. (I also find it interesting that the cities in the United States that have the highest number of colleges and universities and large portions of their population with Bachelor's degrees or higher tend to be Democratic)

Nonetheless, as a liberal who backs up her facts and writes very readable material, michelleisliberalandwhy is my kind of blog.

Governating.

So, as if anybody had any doubt about it, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is now officially in the gubernatorial race. Not that I don't welcome, with open arms and sacrificial lambs, a gubernatorial candidate that is NOT Rick Perry, but it is somewhat disheartening that the Democrats don't even remotely stand a chance. It is absurd, and a mockery of what representative government should be, that the Democratic candidate couldn't win even if they had 10 times the air time and twice the purse to spend. What concerns me even more, is that the average Texan (a below-national-average wage earner prone to benefit from WIC or TANF) votes for a party in power that doesn't even have their own interest truly on their political agendas. Key issue at hand: the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Now, I can understand a few of the key elements in the platform, and how they somewhat relate to the corridor. Protecting private property, both from taxes and the annexation by exercising eminent domain, is definitely a core issue at the heart of many Americans (not just Texans). But to say that you are doing it ultimately to prevent the construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor is a terrible decision. You're talking about construction jobs on all levels, income to local police departments, taxes on tolls and ticket fares , and all associated fees with creating a superhighway for tankers, shippers, trains, and long distance travelers. Not to mention the relief that urban areas would see from reduced congestion on immediately local and highway routes.

This is all fine and well, and is but one talking point, I know. What really saddens me as an American, is that exercising my right to vote will only afford me the opportunity to vote for the lesser of two evils. Thanks, Texas. You should read What's the Matter With Kansas?

Critical Elements in Blogging

First, and crucial in establishing your credibility, you must check your spelling. After perusing TexasTemper, I think I had grossly underestimated the power of misspelling word after word. I think most readers are willing to overlook a single spelling error as potentially a typo, but to read further and discover that not only are words misspelled, but it has resulted in the use of words incorrectly associated with their intended meanings. (Please see the use of the word "isle" in place of what was intended to be "aisle", first paragraph, fourth line)

Second, you must be consistent in your word use so that you can allow the reader to sense when you are intentionally manipulating your text for effect. I'd say one of the most easily recognizable and commonly used is typing in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS to indicate a sense of anger, almost as if the author is yelling. A reader would not be able to infer this type of meaning from the text in TexasTemper because of the inconsistency even in whether or not to capitalize the names of political parties. Democrats and Republicans are typed with capital letters beginning their names in some instances, and in others they are not. Skillfully manipulating the style of your text, while remaining in compliance with fundamental grammar and writing rules, can bring a level of intrigue to your writing that will captivate the reader again and again.

Last, making declarative statements about your opinion without elaborating further does not engage your reader. Give them something to think about. Everyone has an opinion, and getting your reader involved and listening not only has the potential to influence their belief on the subject in your favor, but even if they disagree with you it won't be because you didn't defend your point thoroughly.

Where were these guys during the last administration?

I love tea parties.

I'm all for holding elected officials accountable, and for demonstrating support for your cause, but when you have a blind mass of Republicans showing up at these "Tea Party" events without anything more than a vague sense of what to protest (please watch the youtube video here, referred to from The Texas Observer), any intelligent individual would have to wonder: Where were these people to hold President Bush accountable for his mistakes and lies? They are out there because they believe it is patriotic to protest something they feel is going on without justification, and as a matter of fact, it is. But even in the video above, it comes into question what the demonstrators are even out there for. There is so little unification in the message they are trying to convey, that ultimately there isn't a message at all. You have some people protesting higher taxes, some demanding greater transparency and accountability for government finances, some promoting limited government, and others taking issue with the deployment of our troops all over the world. Let us address some of these issues, and some more of the inconsistencies with the Republican message.

Let's start with taxes. Taxes are a fear that Republicans are playing on to manipulate public opinion in regards to universal healthcare and the bailout programs. Now what concerns me the most is the issue of universal healthcare. Republicans, of the most ignorant of sorts, believe that President Obama is going to raise taxes on all U.S. citizens to allow for universal health care that is going to insure illegal immigrants, pay for abortions, and convene death panels to euthanize our loved ones. The plan that has been proposed is going to raise taxes, but only on individuals or couples making 250k a year (see NYTimes). Not only that, but it is an increase in the Medicare portion of the tax code that already exists, and will be raising it from 1.45% to 1.95%. The plan also explicitly outlines the potential eligibility of up to 31 million more Americans, ALL of legal resident status. And to address abortions, this is a particularly sensitive issue, but somehow (mostly due to sheer ignorance I suppose) all conservative sheep believe that abortions might as well all be partial-birth abortions, and that every case is identical. I love that their God gave people free-will, but they seek to take the ability to choose away from them.
As for TARP, it amazes me that as time goes on, more and more Republicans ACTUALLY believe that President Obama started the program, and that the whole bailout is the Democrats fault. Please see here and here. President Bush started the program on October 3, 2008, and even more interestingly, on December 19, 2008, negated section 102 allowing him to authorize the expenditure of TARP funds on anything HE deems worthy. That's hilarious.

Let's address some more key Republican issues: Transparency and accountability. This is a relatively overrunning theme in every one of their arguments, but let's refer to the previous administration once again. Where was the accountability for illegal wiretapping? Where was the transparency when we decided to go with a gut feeling and invade Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction? Let's not forget my favorite: torturing detainees. For any self-proclaimed Christian and President of the United States, this surely couldn't have been allowed to happen. I'm glad we were demanding transparency and accountability then. If we weren't, I don't know what I would've done to myself. I think I might have had a tea party.

Which brings me to my last point for tonight: When did we decide we were entitled to policing the world? Finally we find that the masses of people who so ardently supported the cause of freedom in the name of the Lord and in support of our great country, are fatigued by war and the toll it is taking on our troops. And with this comes the blame game. Bush put us at war, in the wrong country, for the wrong reasons, lied to us, and vacated office without an exit strategy. If it's the accountability game you want to play, then you've lost.

But the worst part is, you're not smart enough to figure that out.

This guy is NUTS!

  So I'm all for freedom of speech and the press, (among others: the guarantee to the right to have a militia and keep and bear arms, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, due process and a trial by jury, but most uneducated and ignorant right wing nut-jobs couldn't repeat that list if they tried) but it never ceases to amaze me how the overwhelming majority of Tea Party loving, NRA card-carrying, GOP devotees perpetuate lies about President Obama moving the U.S. towards Socialism (which most of them don't even know the DEFINITION of Socialism or what it implies), and that their movement is to protect the embodiment that is America and the institution of Democracy as it should "rightly" be...literally. Please reference these two posts: here and here, on the North Texas Conservative blog. First, please allow me to address one very significant issue I have with this blogger, and many other conservative bloggers and ranters: your grammar is atrocious. Please, if you have time (surely you must have SOME free time after church on Sundays), reference a dictionary and an MLA guide. If you ever intend to legitimately support your viewpoint, and the viewpoint of your political party, please establish at least a somewhat firm grasp on the English language. Second, stop watching Glenn Beck. Not only is he as uneducated as your average GOP member, but if Republicans on a whole were aware that he was a Mormon (who used to be a raging alcoholic and a marijuana user, oh my), I think his success would be comparable to that of Mitt Romney's bid for the President of the United States. Although it also isn't fair for me to compare Mitt Romney to the likes of Glenn Beck, as Romney is sharp and well-educated.
 
  To return to the issue at hand, The North Texas Conservative, we look at the product of misinformation and the media machine that is the Republican Party. The blogger references Governor Rick Perry visiting the Midland Republican Women's weekly meeting where the Governor says that the Obama administration is leading the country towards socialism. He does this through yet another example of terrible grammar, and doesn't even have a direct or indirect citation for this reference. He also states that President Obama is overstepping his constitutional boundaries, yet again without citation or reference. I don't think he realizes, or the vast majority of Republicans for that matter, that President Obama was the President of the Harvard Law Review and taught U.S. Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. I'd say this would certainly provide good support that President Obama supports AND understands the United States Constitution, which is something that could not be said about the previous U.S. President.

  Lastly, the further you read into these blogs, the more you realize just how misinformed the blogger really is. He references a lack of transparency that was initially promised by this administration, and how the proceedings are occurring behind closed doors and not on "CNN" as promised. It is C-SPAN, and please learn a little bit more about what you plan to verbally assault before you continue to make yourself look bad, Shawn M. Griffiths.

Governor Rick Perry at it Again

Although I have long since been convinced that Governor Perry is only out for himself, and not the people of Texas, this piece at the Austin American Statesman simply reinforces my belief. Written by Boyd Richie, Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, he talks about Perry's tendency to sweep issues under the rug rather than deal with them. This is something that is most certainly aimed at all Texans, but ultimately the tone of the article focuses on the feelings of local Democrats. He points out a recent event, that could loosely be described as obstruction of justice, in which Governor Perry replaced three Texas Forensic Science Commission investigators looking into the possibility that an innocent man was condemned to death under Perry's watch. This came only several days before the investigation, and caused the investigation to be postponed indefinitely. Richie holds Gov. Perry in much the same regard I do, judging by his tone in the article, and to reinforce his notion of Perry, Richie also brings up similar issues in which Perry turned a blind eye or avoided the topic in order to further his own political career. These other issues, one a child sexual abuse scandal and the other abuse of mentally-handicapped persons in a state school, are ones that should not have been taken lightly, but were largely ignored and never really pinned to the Governor. Richie is just pointing out the white elephant in the room, but thanks to the ignorance of his constituents and his ability to make problems disappear, he got himself and his cronies back into office.

Eminent Domain--Prop 11

Of great concern to me is how few people were even aware that early voting was happening, and on the ballot are some important issues. One particularly important to preserving the landscape of Texas, Proposition 11, was brought up briefly at News8Austin. Few people actually know what eminent domain is, or how it can effect an area (both positively and negatively). I just find it somewhat ironic that Governor Rick Perry, who typically would promote eminent domain, finds himself on the supporting end of a backhanded proposition that makes him look good for the upcoming primary, but still maintains language used in the proposition that would benefit himself and associated members of his party and supporters. Definitely worth the quick read, and might I recommend searching eminent domain elsewhere. Thanks, and please feel free to comment!