I believe

I am a centralist lesbian who is liberal in social views and fiscally conservative.

I believe that if you work hard, you can achieve the American Dream.  

I believe that we were lied to at the start of the War In Iraq and I believe that now we're in a huge mess over there that will end up causing more terrorism in the world.  

I believe that the huge tax cuts for the rich and corporations, that started until Ronald Reagan in the 1980's, proved to be ultimately bad for our economy.  I believe that we need to make our borders tighter and work on keeping out both illegal immigrants and legal ones.  In this economic crisis, we can't afford foreign workers to take the few jobs available for American workers.

I believe that without the unions, we would all be working six days a week, without healthcare and without vacations.  

I believe that large companies only care about their bottom line and not the people that work for them.  I believe that without high tariffs and high taxes on companies that close American plants to move them overseas, we will remain in this recession and it will only get worse, not better.

I believe that people who only watch Fox News are missing half the story.

I believe that people who only watch MSNBC are missing half the story.

I believe that we could be a better nation if we all just spent more time watching what happens in Washington and our state legislatures and less time watching the train wreck that is Lindsey Lohan's life and stop paying attention to Sarah Palin.

Speaking of Sarah Palin, I believe she is a "big deal" because the media tells us that she is.  She sells papers, so the couple of million followers she has, appears to be greater.  Fox News having no one else pretty puts her on and the rest of the media goes wild.  I believe her fifteen minutes of fame are up and her base will let her down in November when the tea party Republicans run against mostly centralist democrats.

I believe that the majority of the country are centralists and if they vote in an election, the polarizing ends will lose.  I, also, believe that a lot of people in this nation don't know what a centralist is.

I believe that if we don't educate our children in technology and science at a young age, we will remain 4th for technology and probably fall farther still.  We need to educate our people or we will lose this country and no one will have to fire a shot.

I believe that the First Amendment still is and always will be the most important Amendment.  I don't believe that the Second Amendment really means it is okay for the average person to wear a side arm.  I don't believe that it makes us any safer.

Speaking of Amendments, I believe that if you asked anyone on the street to name the ten that makes up the Bill of Rights, most people probably couldn't name more than five.  (I could only name 9 a few days ago.) 

I believe that the NRA is one of the worse organizations in this nation.  I was a member back in the 80's, so I should know.  Any organization that supports armor piercing bullets really only cares about their own agenda and not what is best for the nation.

I believe that if we keep listening to the fringe wingnuts on the right and left, we will fight ourselves into oblivion.

I believe that people who believe the world will end in 2012 need to be pitied. We've had a lot of end times and they haven't happened yet.

I believe that gay people should have the right to marry whomever they want and the country will not collapse.

I believe that people should have the right to make their own decisions about end of life decisions.  I don't believe anyone has the right to tell them what the decision should be.  I believe that when I'm old, in pain and become incontinent, that I will want to be put down.   I believe that it is too bad doctors can't just give you a shot, like we do with animals.

I believe that God loves me, but He doesn't give a rat's ass about who is president and, He certainly doesn't give a damn about this country.

Speaking of God, I believe that one nation under God was only added to the pledge in the 1950's to combat the godless communists.  I believe that it doesn't matter to most Americans that it is there or not. I believe that if you don't want to say it, you shouldn't have to say it.  I, also, love to tell right-wing Christians that it should be removed, just to watch those veins pop out of their neck and their faces to turn red.  I believe that I can be a little shit every once in a while.

I believe that we waste a lot of money on our nation's drug war.  I believe we should legalize pot and, possibly, legalize cocaine.  I believe that would cause the drug lords south of the border to financially collapse.  I believe it would cause Americans who weren't good for much anyone to do themselves in (the coke users).  I believe we could tax the hell out of these drugs and pay for healthcare.

Speaking of taxes, I believe that President Obama should allow the tax cuts for the rich to expire next year.  I'm not that rich, so they won't affect me and they won't affect most Americans.

I believe that we have a lot of problems in this country and they won't be solved overnight.  We have a long way to go and we need to work together.

But, despite our differences and our problems, I believe that we still live in the greatest country on earth.

And, I believe I'd like to hear what you believe.  That's what the comments section is for.

The Three States that Matter... In other words, the Hell with the rest of you...

Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  Three states with a grand total of 8,893,673 Americans (2000 census) are the ones who get to see our candidates for President first and the most.


Why is that?


If a good candidate does well in one of these states, most likely, he will go on to be either the Democratic or Republican candidate for President.


Does that seem fair?  Does it seem right?


A candidate that is seen as dissing one of these three states will be punished there.


What is up with that?


Why are we letting less than 9 million of our fellow citizens determine the most important job in this country?


I don't understand the purpose of a candidate throwing his or her hat into the political ring by kissing up to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.


Anyone else feel this way?


God Bless

Funding a War, by cutting Social Security...

Representative John Bohner - R-Ohio, House Minority Leader - announced yesterday a plan to cut Social Security and raise the retirement age to 70.  Now, this is not a new idea, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. discussed a similar plan last month.  For the record, I would support this with a few provisions.
However; there's a problem with Rep. Bohner's plan: He wants to use the money to pay for the war in Afghanistan. (I've been trying to find an exact quote, but I can't.)
Social Security money should NEVER be used for anything in the regular budget.  And, that's the problem.  Social Security used to have enough money to last a very long time without making many changes.  However; our government - Republicans & Democrats - have been dipping into the Social Security program to pay for other programs and to help lower the deficit.  The time to touch Social Security for anything other than what it is intended to be is over.  If we're going to save it, then let's save it right.  Leave the money saved by spending cuts and raising the retirement age to 70 in Social Security.  Otherwise, we'll just have bigger problems later on.
What do you think?
God Bless

Can we talk?

As Joan Rivers used to say, Can we talk because all I'm hearing is the shouting.  I'm serious.  We have a failure to communicate in this country.  And, we're in serious, serious trouble.


Our National debt in over 13 trillion dollars.  That's a lot of money we owe.  That's over $42,000 per U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Debt Clock.  We really need to do something about this debt.  We need to have a serious discussion about it and we need to lower it before the people to whom we owe the money come looking for it.


Our National deficit to date is roughly 1.4 trillion dollars.  There are only two ways to cut our deficit: Cut our spending or raise taxes.


It is simple math, people.  The last Presidential Candidate who said quite honestly, "We're going to have to raise taxes." didn't become President.  That was Walter Mondale.


That leaves cut spending.  What should the government cut?  What programs?  


We're fighting two wars which have added billions to our debt, so we can't cut military spending - at least not for our troops.


We have 24 million people unemployed in this country, so cutting unemployment benefits isn't a wise thing to do.


I'm not sure just what spending we should cut, but as Americans, we need to have this serious discussion.  We not only need to cut our spending, but we need to pay pay down our debt.


I'd like to hear some discussion -- real discussion, not this ballyhoo and crap that's been going on for the past sixteen years.


So, the topic is National Debt and how we're going to reduce it - Discuss.


God Bless

Political America

America is not a true democracy.  We are democracy, mixed with republic with a bit of socialism and a pinch of libertarian.  The sad thing about this is that a great deal of Americans don't even understand this - even the ones with college degrees.

Sad, isn't it?

Now, the big thing is that Obama is a socialist and we're going to become this giant socialist nation and all of our rights will be taken away.  Sad thing is, we've had socialism in our society for well over 60 years and, in some cases, since almost the beginning.

Being the libertarian that I am, I say, let's get rid of all of the socialistic programs.  This is the only way to make our federal government smaller: (these are MY ideas and not necessarily the ideas of the libertarian party)

Socialistic Programs to Cancel
Social Security	Bank Regulations
Farm Subsidies	School lunch programs
Public Schools	Head start
Corporate Welfare	Welfare
Medicaid	Medicare
VA Benefits	Labor Laws

I would support a tea party candidate.  I wholeheartedly support libertarianism.  My problem with them is that they want to be libertarians with a huge amount of right-wing Christianity mixed in.  The whole idea of libertarianism is NO government interference and individual liberties.  The problem with the tea party is they want NO government interference and only those individual liberties THEY support.  They aren't what they seem to be.  Most of them are just Republicans in sheep's clothing. 

Let's change our government mix into a libertarian one. To find out just where you fall on the political spectrum, take this quiz.

You might be surprised.

God Bless

Republicans on the side lines

A vote is a vote is a vote. According to the law we all get a vote. What makes us Democrats or republicans is the person who agrees with our beliefs at the time and voices what we are wanting to say as a nation. That then determines which candidate wins the election. Yes it come in waves, but we as a people create the waves in which they come. How do we tell the difference between a lie and a truth, pure research and not just what the runners want us to hear. So, if the republicans are upset because the democrats are in the house now, the wave of the people put them there. Don't be upset, but get in there and mix it up. Vote put you there let your voice be heard and let the vote keep you there to continue the fight.

My Healthcare Plan

Let me come clean and tell you which plan was written by whom:
Plan A is the House Democratic Bill. Plan B is the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's Bill. Plan C is a plan under discussion by a bipartisan group of six senators on the Finance Committee. Plan D is the House Republican proposal. All of these can be found here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090813/NEWS/90813006/-1/NEWS04 It is the news site where I found them.
Now, I try to stay positive about all of the plans, but I have to say I'm highly disappointed in Plan D – the House Republican proposal. It pretty much leaves things as they are and that bothers me. I know Republicans don't want a government run plan. I know Republicans think that government interference is a bad thing and I can understand that. But, what I can't understand is how they can just continue to ignore the fact that the system is broken. 47 million American citizens have no health insurance. That is 13% of the population. It is a high enough number to swing an election. On top of that, those 47 million Americans leave the rest of us paying a much higher price. Hospitals, when they provide care and aren't reimbursed, have to make up the money loss somewhere and that means charging more for the care those of us who are insured receive. Which means the insurance companies pay more and the premiums go up and so on and so on. We all suffer.
Now, I'm not saying I'm extremely happy with any one of the four plans, but I think combining them might not be a bad idea.
First, the who is covered: the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill aims to cover 97% of Americans, as does the bipartisan, Finance Committee's plan. This is very important. The whole point is to get as many people covered as possible.
Second, the cost: I think the Senate plan at being only $650 million over ten years and covering 97% of the people is a little unrealistic. I think the $1 trillion mark sounds about right. This doesn't mean I think we should spend that much, but that it is a reasonable to believe the healthcare plan will cost that much over ten years.
Third, how's it paid for: Let's face it, a plan with this much coverage is going to cost us some dough. The Republican plan, which didn't even offer a proposed cost, states no new taxes. Boy, that sounds good. The plan implies that by reducing Medicare and Medicaid fraud, the plan would be paid for. Unfortunately, I don't have the numbers for the amount of money lost due to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, but I'm thinking it probably isn't enough to pay for any plan. Now, I would be interested in hearing or reading someone's idea on how it could. I wrote Paul Ryan regarding his plan and I still don't have an answer. (Which I'm very disappointed, he is usually right on the ball.)
I think a combination of all four plans might be the answer to how to pay for this. Raising taxes on singles who earn more than $280,000 a year seems reasonable to me. Most of the people I know don't come anywhere near that figure. Raising taxes on families that earn more than $350,000 isn't a bad idea either. The highest tax bracket in this country is 33%. We jump from 15% to 25%, but after 25%, the jumps are much smaller. Trust me, a single person earning $280,000 a year will be able to afford a two percent tax raise. I'm also for raising the taxes on other items, such as cigarettes or liquor, but I think I'm alone in that regard.
I'm not for cutting Medicare nor am I for cutting Medicaid. No cuts. The elderly have enough problems. No cuts, but rooting out fraud -- that's a good idea.
Further – charging companies a portion of the insurance costs the government pays is a terrific idea. I think that it is only fair. Companies benefit from their workers' hard work. More and more companies are expecting more from their employees – especially salary employees – without offering raises. Being penalize if they allow employees and employees' children to be on a government program is a good thing. Penalizing companies such as, oh, I don't know, Wal-Mart, could help pay a great deal toward the program.
I think the combination of rooting out Medicare and Medicaid fraud, a small tax raise on the wealthy and penalizing large companies for not providing affordable health insurance should be able to pay for the plan. I think not purchasing the F-22 from Lockheed, which has cost us the taxpayers over $351 million in overruns is an example of government waste we could cut and use to help pay for the plan.i
Fourth, the mandates: I know the government mandates a lot of different things and that's not always a good thing, but the only way any healthcare plan will work is if we all have insurance. The healthcare costs of those people who are uninsured are staggering. This is not to say that we all have to have fancy group coverage. The bare minimum should be catastrophe insurance, along with a pre-taxed Health Savings Plan. I know that some people say, well, rich people don't need health insurance, so they shouldn't be forced to carry it, but even a rich person could have their entire wealth wiped out by the cost of cancer treatments.
To support my argument further, let's consider this: everyone of us who has care insurance has coverage that includes uninsured and under-insured motorists. And, why do we do that? So, we can still be protected if someone that doesn't have insurance slams into our car. Hospitals will need the same protection. There are some people out there who can cover $3200 out of pocket expense for a cardio-test, but I'm not one of them. Had I had to pay for the test myself, I'd still be making payments. And, the hospital would still be waiting for their money, which is one of the reasons hospitals have to charge so much. If everyone is covered by health insurance, hospitals wouldn't to write off unpaid bills, thus reducing their overhead. Of course, I'm notoriously cheap and I probably wouldn't get the test. I would be the type of person who would take chances with her healthcare. In interest of full disclosure, in this case, I would be okay without the test. My heart is strong, like bull.
Fifth, how to choose the health insurance plan. I like the exchange idea, but I was just reading an articleii that in Massachusetts the exchange isn't working. That being noted, I think if the Massachusetts plan isn't working, we use it to take what does work and throw away what doesn't. I, also, like the idea that the exchange is state run, with Federal standards. Each state should know what its citizens need and is better prepared to make changes for what doesn't work more quickly than the Feds.
Sixth, for the benefits, I like the Democratic plan, so I just copied it verbatim: “A committee would recommend an "essential benefits package" including preventive services, mental health services, oral heath and vision for children; out-of pocket costs would be capped. The new benefit package would be the basic benefit package offered in the exchange and over time would become the minimum quality standard for employer plans. Insurers wouldn't be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.”iii
Finally, the government run plan, I like the idea of a government run plan to a point that competes with private insurers. I think private insurers deserve a little unfair competition. However; I think it should be limited to cover those who don't qualify for any other plan or subsidy. Let's not create a huge fiasco here. Also, I like the part in the Senate where the plan would “would pay doctors and hospitals based on what private insurers now pay.”iv
Okay, that's it. That's my plan in a nutshell. I think it works better and is better for all of us than the four plans.
This is a pretty long blog post, but I wanted to include as much as I could. I'm posting this as a PDF, as well, so you can print it out and share it. If you like my idea, please feel free to post it on your own blog – as long as you link back to mine. Further, send it to your representative and say you support it. I'm sending it to mine. We need to improve healthcare in this country, but none of those four plans mentioned are going to cut it. If you don't like what I've outlined, I'd love to hear why and I encourage you to come up with your own plan. I, also, encourage you to make sure you write your representative. Healthcare is too important to leave up to the politicians and lobbyists.
God Bless
iMother Jones September / October 2009, page 41
iihttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/08/obamas-insurance-plan-comes-right-wing-think-tank
iiihttp://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090813/NEWS/90813006/-1/NEWS04
ivibid

What's Wrong With America

We are. That's right, it is us citizens. You see, not only do we want things to be perfect, but we're not really wanting to work for it. I'm not talking about people who go to work to earn money. I'm talking about the work it takes to keep our great country great.
Case in point, on Facebook, I challenged someone's statement that President Obama had promised to fix Iraq and Afghanistan in 6 months. I hadn't heard that in a campaign speech and I said so. Instead of responding with an intelligent response to back up the claim, the response was "whatever".
I get that a lot. You can't have an intelligent debate anymore in this country -- on the right or the left -- because there aren't enough intelligent people to go around. It ends in name calling or shrugs. There is middle ground, not every issue is black and white. If you take out the ones the right-wing Christians care about -- abortion, gay rights and the death penalty -- the rest are things we can discuss, debate and come to a consensus on, but we don't.
We all just make blanket statements and we don't do any research to back them up. I'm all for everyone having their own opinion, but I think we've gone too far.
And, I blame Rush Limbaugh. Seriously, I think he was the start of no debate. Callers who agree will just say Ditto and callers who disagree don't get a chance to say anything at all and/or they get made fun of. Admittedly, I haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh in well over 15 years, so he might've changed.
It's really too bad we've come to this because no President stands much of a chance and if we keep it up, we as a country don't either.
God Bless

Taxing Healthcare Benefits

Okay, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that one of the three reasons I didn't vote for McCain was that he wanted to put a tax on my healthcare benefits. Yesterday, a co-worker of mine mentioned that he hoped I was happy now that Obama was going to start taxing healthcare benefits. I was more than a little stunned, especially since 1/3 of my reasons for voting for Obama was that he was against this idea. So, this morning, I have set out on a mission to see if I can find the justification for my co-worker's remark. I have found one article, but then my router went down and I discovered that my archives weren't working, so I haven't finished reading the article, but trust me, I will get to the bottom of this and I will be calling Feingold, Kohl and Ryan to let them know the taxing of healthcare benefits is wrong.
One quick thought before I'm off:
The article I'm reading states "The wealthy enjoy the biggest boon from the policy, with their better jobs and richer perks. Still, Obama and many lawmakers are reluctant to embrace a tax." Well, I don't think I would be considered among the wealthy of the country, so there might be hope. I wouldn't be opposed to paying taxes on the healthcare if, say, they had to earn a certain amount, like $100,000 for a single person and $200,000 for a married person -- that, my dear friends, would leave most of us out of it.
Anyway, I would like to formulate a better thought on this, but I want to do my research -- just like I did when McCain first proposed this idea.
Oh, I almost forgot, according to my co-worker, this taxing of healthcare is Hillary's idea and it was part of the "deal" she made with Obama last year. Where is that coming from? Anyone know?
God Bless

We have Nothing to Fear but the Conservatives

Rush Limbaugh wants Republicans to take back America by picking a good candidate for President in 2012. In the meantime, he wants Obama and the liberals to fail. In other words, he wants our nation to fall even farther down the rat hole.

I especially love the part of his speech where he claims that Conservatives want this: "We don't want to tell anybody how to live. "1 Really? Aren't these the same Conservatives who push for anti-gay amendments? They don't want to "tell you how to live", but they certainly want to butt in. And, aren't these the same Conservatives who are against a woman's right to choose? Again, they won't "tell you how to live", but they're going to control your body. For the record, I should disclose that I am pro-life, but I would never join the pro-life movement, because 90% of the pro-lifers I met are just jerks.

Moving on...

Rush said, "We love people"2 Really? ALL people or just the ones that happen to agree with you? Because, I don't see the love when you don't believe in programs that help the poor. I don't see the love when you want families to lose their homes, but you bailout the bankers. I don't see the love when an 8% profit isn't good enough to NOT layoff employees.

He's also claimed that Democrats have wanted all Republican Presidents to fail. He said, " the Democrat Party has actively not just sought the failure of Republican presidents and policies and now wars for the first time, the Democrat Party doesn't stop at failure. Talk to Judge Robert Bork or Justice Clarence Thomas about how they tried to destroy lives, reputations and character, and I'm supposed to say I don't want the President to fail?"3 Really? Judge Robert Bork? Isn't he the guy who worked in Nixon White House and carried out Nixon's firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox? I mean, Nixon ordered two other guys to fire Cox (don't know who Cox is? Read about the Saturday Night Massacre on Wikipedia). Those two guys, Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than fire the special prosecutor, but not Robert Bork. So, who destroyed his life? He's a judge now, even though he didn't have the courage to stand up to the President of the United States when he knew it was wrong.

Rush is clearly running scared, as a matter of fact, the whole conservative movement is running scared. They had this country for 8 years and what happened? Well, nevermind, we all know what happened. The problem is that they don't want to take the blame, but they're not offering solutions.

God Bless

I Am Woman

Sarah Palin is only the second woman in American history to be nominated to be the Vice President of these United States. The first time this happened, the lady was Geraldine Ferraro and the year was 1984 (when I was still a proud card carrying Republican). I can remember discussions at that time that Mondale would win because "them Women Libbers" will vote for a woman. Mondale lost and if I remember correctly, he only won his home state of Minnesota. Apparently, not enough women chose to vote for Mondale.

Now, here it is 24 years later and I'm seeing headlines and hearing people say things like "McCain's going to win. The women will vote for Palin."

Are we still in the dark ages? What woman is going to vote for McCain just because he picked a woman as his running mate? I'm not.

Just like I didn't cast my vote for Hillary, I'm not going to cast a vote for Palin. And, to the people who think one woman is the same as another, Sarah Palin is NOT Hillary Clinton. Palin wants us all to go back to the stone age and Hillary embraces the future, so they're nothing a like.

But, getting back to my point. What was my point?

Oh, yeah, all these crazy statements just distract from the real issues of the campaign. What will happen when either of these men make it to the White House.

So, to my female readers, please don't vote for McCain because he picked a woman running mate, just like I wouldn't expect my black readers to vote for Obama because he's 1/2 black.

There's going to be a lot of tough decisions to be made in the next four years. We need to find out how to insure the 45 million working Americans that have no health insurance. We need to find a way to walk away from the War in Iraq that won't come back to bite us in the ass twenty years from now. We need to find Bin Laden and bring him to justice -- on American soil. We need to lower the unemployement rate. We need to ensure that Social Security will be there when we retire. We have an infastructure in this country that's falling apart, we need to fix it. We need to find better ways to build cars and end our dependence on oil -- all of it, not just the foreign oil. We need to stop the ownership of our major companies from going overseas. We need to find a better way -- if we're truly a Christian nation -- to help our neighbors.

I believe that if we've learned anything from the past eight years, a divided house may keep going, but the road is easier to travel if we are united.

So, in November, when you're voting, think which candidate is going to join us together to work for a better, brighter future for America.

In the immortal words of Charlie Daniels, "this lady may have stumbled, but she ain't never fell."

God Bless

GOP On Democrats and other thoughts...

Why is any news outlet interviewing Republicans about the Democratic convention? This isn't the week of the Republicans -- it is the week of the Democrats. Who cares what the other side has to say this week. They'll have their chance during their convention. Now, so no one can say I'm being unfair, I'll just state it now: I don't care what the Democrats have to say during the Republican convention. Can we hear the messages and speeches without hearing the twisting of words from the opposite side?

Why do people still think Al Gore said he invented the Internet? How come that sticks in people's minds, especially when it isn't true?

And, speaking of Al Gore, why do people still believe that Global Warming is fake, even when there is a mound of evidence to the contrary? Plus, how could anyone be against making air safer to breath and water safer to drink? What are these people thinking?

And, why is it that when I'm in the shower, I get great ideas for things to write, but the minute my feet hit the tile floor, the idea is gone? How could I do my best thinking in the bathroom?

Why do people think that because they attend church they're good Christians? I can stand in my garage, it doesn't make me a Buick.

One last thing: why is Halle Berry the first Black woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar and Barack Obama the first Black nominee for President when both of them are each 1/2 white? Why aren't they the first mixed race Best Actress Oscar winner and the first mixed race nominee for President?

God Bless

Integrity

Yesterday, my brother was on a roll about how Bush isn't at fault with his response to the people of Louisiana after Katrina. Then, he said, "Senator Craig would still have his job, if he were a Democrat." He went on to mention that Clinton had sex in the Oval office and kept his job.

He missed the point entirely. Craig did not lose his job for having sex. He lost his job because he approached an undercover officer for sex in a mens room at an airport. Further, Craig has publicly supported anti-gay legislation and when you've done that, you don't want to get caught trying to have sex with a man in an airport bathroom. It isn't the sex itself, it's the fact that Senator Craig is a hypocrite.

Then, my cool headed brother ranted and raved that Craig's fellow Republicans have deserted him and they should've stood by him. All right and what would they gain with that?

Fred Thompson is against an anti-gay marriage amendment. He wants one that would prevent one state from imposing its laws on another state. The Religious Right have gone shopping for another candidate because they want true anti-gay legislation and this isn't it. (I'll rant about the amendment Mr. Thompson is proposing on another day.)

Republican candidates believe - and probably rightly so - that they can't get elected without the support of the Religious Wrongs. This is one of the reasons I don't vote for Republican Candidates, I can't stand their pandering to the Religious Wrongs. So, what would make my brother thing that Republicans will stand up for Craig? And, why should they take a risk of offending the Religious Wrongs and lose their own jobs for a hypocrite like Craig?

Now, Craig probably shouldn't have lost his job until he was convicted -- rather if he is convicted. We still have innocent until proven guilty in this country. On the other hand, maybe he shouldn't have tapped the right foot of the person in the next stall in the first place. Maybe, if he has gay tendencies, he shouldn't have voted against gay rights and he could be living his life openly and wouldn't have to look for sex in bathrooms in the first place.

But, then he would have integrity and that's something we seem to have lost in this country a long time ago.

God Bless