Politics As Usual

This morning I went for a 7 mile run with Amanda in Sonoma.  Then this afternoon I went over to Debbie and Mike's place in Sebastopol to watch Super Bowl XLVIII.  It was a fun watching the game, having drinks and snacks with friends.

Politics has been on my mind again, there's been a lot in the news lately that just doesn't make sense.  That's when I get most frustrated when politicians are not listening to the people or the people are so poorly educated on something that they choose poor political candidates.

One of the big misinformation mills the Republicans and the belt way media have been pressing is that our President is a dictator.  One of the things they point to is his use of the executive order.  Unfortunately, once again, for Republicans they are sadly mistaken in their facts.  Five years into his presidency Obama has signed 168 while his predecessor (George Bush) had signed 173 in his first four years.  As usual, if executive power was actually an issue for Republicans, then I expect them to bring it up when "one of theirs" is in office.  Sadly, that isn't the case.

Then in Idaho, the Republican's have put forth Senate Bill 1254 which would allow individuals to bring weapons onto college campuses in Idaho.  The presidents of the school board met and unanimously voted to oppose the legislation.  They also provided extensive rationale for why this is the best course of action.  Despite the efforts of our highest education administrators throughout the state and significant citizen push back, the Republicans in the statehouse passed the law anyways and it was singed into law.

Continuing on for some time now is the "Add The Words" campaign in Idaho.  After years of trying to get equal protections for the GLBT community, a strong group of politically active citizens have started to escalate the fight for our protections.  In Idaho, it's perfectly legal for an employer to fire an employee just because of their association or identity when it comes to sexual orientation.  This is banned in Boise, but it's not state-wide.  Of course the Republicans aren't going to address this.  But the group is working very hard with rally's and making it clear we want protection just like any other minority class.  Thanks to those brave souls who are working so hard.

So glad to be living in California.  Idaho seems to be in a constant state of one step forward and two steps back!