The Gordo Blogga

Formerly known as "Untying the Gordian Knot"

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

DEMS win!!

Well, the people have finally come to their senses. The Dems took both the House and the Senate on Tuesday!! :-) Let's hope they'll actually do something productive with that power!

Also, the ballot measures spoke about how people feel about certain issues. I was pleasantly surprised to find that every state that voted on lifting the minimum wage approved that measure. Also, parental notification was turned down! I was surprised to see that two states (Nevada and Colorado) voted on making marijuana legal and while the measures were soundly defeated in both states it's a victory to see them on the ballot in the first place and to see that 44 and 40% of the voting public said yes! Astounding!!

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/ballot.measures/

Same-sex marriage took a sound beating in every state in which it was voted on. The saddest was in Colorado where "Domestic Partnership" was defeated even though it clearly stayed clear of marriage itself.

"Would legalize domestic partnerships, providing same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the legal protections and responsibilities granted to married couples under Colorado law. The measure specifies that domestic partnerships are not marriage and do not change the public policy of the state, which defines marriage as only the union of one man and one woman."

C'mon Colorado. Have some tolerance for those who are not just like you! Especially when they are just looking for some of the same legal protection for their partners that everyone else gets.

posted by z @ 11:05 PM  

20 Comments:

  • At 11:21 PM, Blogger z said…

    For all those who noticed I've been gone - thank you for your concern! I took a vacation in August and stopped working in September. As a result I am not killing hours in front of the computer (not saying I'm not spending the time, just not trying to kill it) and thus my internet crawling has died. As a result my blog has suffered.

    I have no idea where life will take me from here so The Gordo Blogga is now officially on sabbatical until further notice.

     

  • At 8:50 AM, Blogger Rama said…

    One thing I am concerned with... I wonder how many people voted the way they did on these issues because it's how they actually felt rather than because it was the "opposite of how they presumed a Republican would vote". I heard so many people say they were voting Dem just because it wasn't Rep. That bothers me. A lot. No idea of the candidate's position... scary.

    And. Just to be devil's advocate... the Dems campaign in every race was "We Can Bring Change." Change isn't always for the better. "Bringing Change" doesn't make me feel safer.

    I worry about raising the min. wage. Mainly from an inflation standpoint. Everytime it has been raised, prices on goods go up, thus making that increase irrelevant. I'm not sure yet if legalizing pot at a state level is the right way to go... I'll need to consider the pros and cons at a federal and state level. As for gay marriage, or "domestic partnership"... after numerous debates with a few gay friends, I realize that they refuse to settle for anything less than calling it "marriage." I'd agree with that. Even with the same privileges, calling anything two different things implies an inequality and that's just not right.

     

  • At 11:00 AM, Blogger Rama said…

    I didn't comment on the parental notification... I think that if parents are still legally responsible for their child until the age of 18, they should be notified. If you're going to allow a minor to make a decision this big without involving the parents, then the parents should be absolved of all responsibility for the child since you've just declared they can make their own decisions. Thoughts?

     

  • At 7:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Glad you're still alive Z! You in the wild and cold northland or still in Ca?

     

  • At 6:20 PM, Blogger Rama said…

    Z--care to come down to DC the weekend of December 9th and be my date to my firm's holiday party? You can even speak Serbian with two of my managers, Alex and Vlad...

     

  • At 3:18 PM, Blogger z said…

    Rama - I'd love to, but unfortunately that is not a prudent option at this time. I'd need a US visa (money) and then travel expenses (money). At this time I need to focus on getting a job and establishing a life for myself here. Once that is done I would absolutely love to!

     

  • At 3:20 PM, Blogger z said…

    matt - I am in Canada now. I moved in May. It's slowly getting cooler, but so far nothing too crazy. For all the talk it's not that much colder than VT or WI.

     

  • At 3:27 PM, Blogger z said…

    and then the issues... :)

    i think most people these days don't vote on the issues (unfortunately). the candidates don't even talk about issues that much. most of the focus seems to be on their personality and past. people end up voting for the candidate they feel resembles them most closely.

    it was a good campaign though. people wanted change and the Dem party came along and said: "we are that change". and for the most part there wasn't much discussion on what exactly that change would be, but enough people didn't care that the Dems won.

    the US needs to devise a better wealth distribution scheme. raising the min wage may not be the best way to go about it, but considering raising taxes and gov't programs are not favored then minimum wage becomes a safer way to re-distribute the wealth on a small scale.

    and while we're on the subject - this is a great article on large philanthropic giving and the lack of modern discussion on wealth distribution.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2152830/

     

  • At 3:33 PM, Blogger z said…

    looking at things short term legalizing pot on a state level is pointless. however, the issue is to start the discussion and show that there are actually a fair number of people who do not think this drug should be illegal.

    pragmatism is sometimes necessary. the biggest thing about "marriage" in actual terms are the legal protections and financial incentives. now, the social/cultural implications are a different story. but considering the number of people against this i am surprised they're not willing to accept legal recognition of their unions. that would be a good start if you ask me.

    too many people are stuck on marriage! it's just a legal recognition that two people have pledged to be together. in my mind it's no different from looking someone in the eye and telling them: "i love you and i pledge myself to always stand by your side". at that point the only differences are the legal protections. civil unions would allow that and so it's a bit pigheaded to ask for more at this point. not that i don't think they should have more, but the reality on the ground...

     

  • At 3:45 PM, Blogger z said…

    re: parental notification. you bring up a VERY good point. it's a point that is hard to argue against.

    the only valid concern i can raise is that a person will be responsible for the child long after their parents are no longer responsible for them. thus, parents of a 15 year old girl force her to have and keep the baby. after 3 years they can kick her out and now she's on her own, raising that baby for the next 15 years.

    still, the paradox of saying to parents "you're responsible" and then allowing kids to make decisions that will impact the parents' finances is hard to swallow.

    my solution - lower the age of adulthood. i think we baby kids too much these days. if they can have sex when they're 12 or 13 they're surely grown up. lower the age of adulthood to at least 16 (ideally 13 or 14) and change all the other laws accordingly. streamline and toughen the education system. start treating these "kids" as adults earlier and give them real decisions to make.

    there is currently a real disconnect between how kids grow up physically, emotionally and legally. these need to be equalized. equalize physical and legal and through education do your best to get the emotional in line.

     

  • At 3:48 PM, Blogger z said…

    in other words - treat them as adults and they're more likely to act like ones.

    not allowing adults to drink or enter most clubs before 21 is criminal. it's the state babying its population. how can they expect this population to act like mature grown up adults?

    thoughts/comments/critiques?

     

  • At 2:21 PM, Blogger Rama said…

    If you lower the age of "adulthood", aren't we just taking away the joys of being a kid? There's no reason to rush the growing-up process. What about notifying the parent, having a discussion with the doctors, and leave the ultimate decision to the pregger teen? That also allows time for everyone to wrap their mind around the issue.

    I've always viewed "marriage" as a religious/spiritual committment... if you get married at city hall--you have a civil union. Committment ceremonies and paperwork are a means of protecting individuals in case the union doesn't work out... besides, you have to have some kind of "contract" in order to claim tax relief and such.

     

  • At 2:23 PM, Blogger Rama said…

    You state "there is currently a real disconnect between how kids grow up physically, emotionally and legally. these need to be equalized."

    I'd hardly consider a 13 year old physically or emotionally grown. Frankly, I wouldn't consider a 16 year old grown either... some, yes, the majority, no.

     

  • At 3:39 AM, Blogger z said…

    Re: marriage. We're in complete agreement there. As far as I know in the vast majority of states these things are one in the same. You don't go to the state and get a civil union and then to go a church and sanctify it into marriage, right? It's all marriage - the holy and the bureaucratic lumped together.

    In my mind the simplest solution is to dissolve the religious idea of marriage from the state. Have the state grant licenses for unions which give all the legal rights to people who wish to enter into one. Should the religious folk wish to sanctify it further let them refer to their religion (whatever it may be).

    In this scenario the state would just approve unions between people, for legal purposes. And ideally over time this would also translate into allowances for establishing whatever kind of union people wish to enter, however many people there are wishing to enter such a union.

     

  • At 3:53 AM, Blogger z said…

    re: parental notification. sure, i agree with your suggestion for tackling the issue, in an ideal world. the main problem with parental notification is that not everyone has understanding and supportive parents.

    this is a very tricky issue. there is really no ideal solution. just shades of right and wrong. and people's views on the world put them somewhere along that line.

    deep down i'm a libertarian and thus like to have as little gov't interference as possible. thus, i would vote against parental notification giving the "child" the benefit of the doubt and allowing them to make decisions for themselves (including whether to tell their parents or not).

    i would be willing to compromise though. i'd be willing to accept parental notification (as well as some other similar measures i disagree with) in exchange for an aggressive sex education program in schools starting around age 11 or 12. this program would recognize abstinence as a safe and effective prevention method, but would also teach and explain safe sex (both physical and emotional) in as much detail as possible.

     

  • At 4:06 AM, Blogger z said…

    re: age of adulthood. yes... childhood is nice. and it's nice to play as long as possible. but the play has to end at one point. and the poorer you are the sooner it ends.

    i just think that our society is babying its population too much. and i know this trend will not reverse, but it would be nice to see 16 or 18 becoming the default age of adulthood where everything becomes accessible (including renting a car, even if you have to pay a higher insurance fee).

     

  • At 12:27 PM, Blogger Rama said…

    18 is the legal age of adulthood, and yes... it's strange that you can't rent a car or hotel room until 21. Yes, childhood ends for some earlier than others, but that's life. Some kids have their childhood ended at age 8, does that mean the age of adulthood should be lowered to that? I think the end of high school age is just right.

    Man, I missed ya Z!

     

  • At 5:32 AM, Blogger z said…

    alright. i'll go for that. but they should reduce the drinking age, dammit!

    thanks! i'm not really fully back yet. but it's nice to know one is missed.

     

  • At 7:01 PM, Blogger Bistro said…

    I'm a little late to the conversation, but I'll hop in here (and it's good to see you're still alive Z).

    Gay Marriage was not struck down in every state that voted on it. Arizona had a measure to define Marriage as between 1 man and 1 woman, and it was soundly defeated. I agree that the title of marriage is a silly quible over semantics. The important thing is legal equality that's being denied one set of people because of another set of people's religious beliefs, and I'm sorry, but that's just plain unconstitutional.

    The 21 year-old drinking age is not state-level, but federal. The federal government gives billions to states with the stipulation that if they're drinking age goes under 21, the money goes bye-bye. Many states (including WI) have been trying for years to find a way to replace that money and lower their drinking age, but have failed.

    Z, I think you have a point about coddling kids today, but I think you go a little extreme with lowering the adult age. I find that parents and schools today give children too many choices. There's an emphasis on allowing kids to do whatever they want with no real consequence. This leads to 2 things I've noticed. 1) when they don't have to choose, nothing gains importance and it furthers the trend of our nation's apathy. 2) When these kids can quit anything they're doing at any point and suffer no consequence, they never learn responsibility ("It doesn't matter if I did anything or not.")

     

  • At 11:17 PM, Blogger z said…

    Bistro! Nice to hear from you. Thanks for joining in.

    Re: same-sex marriage. Well said. Couldn't have done it better myself.

    Re: drinking age. Yeah, that's the problem with centralized power. Too much power in one place leads to less freedom everywhere. Here's to hoping WI (and other states) will be able to reduce the drinking age to 18 without breaking their budget.

    Re: age of adulthood. OK, I'll recognize again that I did go a little extreme there. However, I think that there should be a discussion on the subject. Just like we should discuss introducing some drastic changes to the way we educate. The bottom line is that the world is changing rapidly and we need to re-examine what makes people adults - in terms of both knowledge and physical age.

     

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