Race and Class

I've been thinking about race and class and all the issues that goes with it. For me it is of interest because I am Indian-American who was born and raised in this country. I’ve only had to deal with one incident of racism but other than that it’s been good for me. Now I’m not saying that racism is gone in this country, but compared to 40 years ago we made miles of progress, hell 40 years ago I was a second class citizen in this country. So I thought I could share my views and experiences on the subject to explain my point of view. To start off with let get what I am out of the way. I am an Indian-American, upper middle-class heterosexual male who lives in Washington. I have also lived in Illinois and Florida and in all three places I have yet to experience racism. I should point out that I am light skinned and on several occasions have been thought to be white. Whenever I enter a store I am immediately helped, whenever I go to an airport I am never searched, and I don’t feel any different from any of my white friends here in Washington. I think some of that may have to do with class, it seems the more money you have the less you encounter racism. Perhaps it is due to the face that I live in Washington, which is quite liberal and very tolerant. But then again when I lived in Florida my family took many trips to the “deep south” and even there I did not feel discriminated against. The once cause of racism I have dealt with took place in Western PA when my family was at a camp with a few other Indians families. At night the kids would hang out and talk and I guess some of the other campers complained and when the owner came to talk to us the term “you immigrants” was use, made us feel real good. I know the Jena 6 case is going on right now, which is horrible but an appeals court tossed out the conviction and that is a sign of progress would not have happened 40 years ago. So I guess my main point is this America is going in the right direction on the issue of race and what we need to improve on more are class issues. Still things are looking good. So keep your hopes up.

Bush Nominates New Attorney General

Today President Bush announced his nomination for Attorney General: Michael Mukasey who is a retired judge from New York.

As chief judge of the busy U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mukasey had presided over high-profile terrorism cases.” He knows what it takes to fight this war effectively and he knows how to do it in a manner consistent with our laws and our Constitution,” Bush said, standing next to Mukasey in the Rose Garden. As chief judge of the busy U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mukasey had presided over high-profile terrorism cases. “He knows what it takes to fight this war effectively and he knows how to do it in a manner consistent with our laws and our Constitution,” Bush said, standing next to Mukasey in the Rose Garden

He was also involved in many high profile cases post 9/11 including one involving Jose Padilla.

Mukasey also had a hand in one of the most hard-fought post-Sept. 11 terror cases: that of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in 2002 on a supposed mission to detonate a “dirty bomb.” The judge appointed a lawyer to represent Padilla, but before a hearing on whether there was sufficient cause to detain Padilla, President Bush declared him an enemy combatant. That started a legal odyssey that ended with Padilla in a different federal court. He was convicted last month of murder conspiracy, and faces sentencing later this year. Mukasey wrote an opinion piece recently in which he argued the Padilla case shows the current legal system is not well-equipped to aid a largely military effort to fight terrorists. He urged Congress to consider passing new laws to improve what he said was a mismatched legal system

He is known as a “law and order” judge which in GOP speak means one who doesn’t believe so much in rehabilitation as in punishment.
To me Mukasey is not the type of person I want as Attorney General. He too conservative and will be another Bush Puppet. But President Bush, with a little over a year left, is a lame duck and I don’t think he will nominate someone who the Democrats like. Mukasey, according to the news outlets is popular with some Democrats including Senator Schumer (D-NY). So approve him lets ride out the rest of Bush’s term and focus on winning in 2008.

Dear Congressional Democrats: Buck Up

Imagine my surprise today when I opened CNN.com today and saw that General Petraeus doesn't want to end the surge till July 2008. (For those of you who don't already know that was sarcasm.) I could expect nothing less from someone who has proven to be for the Iraq War and doesn't want to leave. Another thing that caught my eye was a new ad by MoveOn.org that said this: MoveOn.org Political Action, which paid for the ad, accuses Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House" on progress being made in Iraq and calls him "a military man constantly at war with the facts."
Congressional Republicans were outraged and making statements that were completely silly such as these: House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "Democratic leaders must make a choice today: Either embrace the character assassination tactics Moveon.org has leveled against the four-star general leading our troops in the fight against al Qaeda, or denounce it as disgraceful." "Gen. Petraeus and the other commanders in the U.S. Armed Services have dedicated their lives to defending the very freedom that enables MoveOn.org the right to free speech. I support that right, but I find the way they have chosen to exercise it today to be disrespectful and downright reprehensible," Boehner said in a statement.
What a silly statement, of course we respect the troops and their commanders but when they blatantly ignore the facts we will call them on it. To show that GOP hypocrisy knows no bounds they called on Democrats to condemn the ad. Funny when Democrats call on Republicans to condemn something on their side they just ignore us. So of course Lieberman quickly does (of course he is as much of a Democrat as President Bush) but to see Senator Kerry and other Congressional Democrats do the same was shameful. Where the hell is your intestinal fortitude?? So buck up congressional Democrats don't be afraid of looking weak, you won't the large majority of American people think this war was a mistake and needs to end. Act like Democrats and buck up. What a day to begin it by being called a centrist and now this it’s been eventful.
Sensible Democrat

Hypocrisy in the Republican Party

Hello all, this is my first of many blog entries and before I start a few quick notes. I am a liberal and this blog will have entries posted from a liberal's point of view. Also I will post at least once a week if not more than that. I am sure that many of you have heard about the scandal involving Senator Larry Craig (R-ID). Senator Craig was caught trying to solicit sex from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom. Senator Craig is the latest example of politicians who are anti-gay and then get busted for being gay. Now a few months before this Senator David Vitter (R-LA) was caught with his name in the address book of a D.C. madam. Senator Vitter is another Republican big on family values. So one can see what we have here are two similar scandals committed by two Republicans. When the Senator Craig scandal broke he was pressured by the Senate GOP to resign and he did. However Senator Vitter was not pressured to resign and was given support by the Senate GOP. The difference? Senator Vitter didn't have a homosexual scandal. The hypocrisy there is stunning.