Flag Burning Amendment Fails

This may surprise some but I have never been in favor of an amendment outlawing desecration of the flag. I think we are a much stronger nation than that and the constitution needs to deal with much bigger issues. In fact if given the option of one or the other, I would rather there be an amendment that says you are free to desecrate the flag anyway you like in the privacy of your home. I would insist thought that the very next amendment would say if you desecrate the flag in front of someone who objects to your actions, they have the right to kick the sh!t out of you, you ungrateful bastard.

Maria Cantwell need to "look into" the latest New York Times Treason

I just got off the phone with a Cantwell staffer in Washington D.C. asking Senator Cantwell's stance on the leaking of classified information by the New York Times. Specifically if she was going to call for an investigation. I was told that the Senator needs to "look into this further". Not sure what she needs to look into, the New York Times has said that this was a classified program they are divulging and clearly laws have been violated in making this programs existence public knowledge.

Here is Senator Cantwell's problem... she is getting hammered by the far left of her party over her stance on the Iraq war so she needs to appear to be more sympathetic to that side to keep the base from staying home on election day. What she should do is come out demanding an investigation into the New York Times leak and position it as we can bring the troops home sooner and maybe avoid future conflicts by having these kinds of legal surveillance. This kind of program should be a Seattle Socialists dream, no troops, no bombs and using money, the root of all evil, to catch the bad guys. Here is why Senator Cantwell will not call for an investigation... doing so would make her appear to be in the Bush camp on this issue and that is one sure fire way of really alienating a Seattle Democrat.

So in the meantime, Senator Cantwell will keep hitting those hot button issues for the constituents like keeping non profit voice mail services for the homeless.

Update:
I called Senator Patty Murray's office. The person who answered the phone had not heard anything about the New York Times story.

DUI Punishment

As heard on the Bryan Suits show earlier today, the subject was Susan West, convicted drunk driver. Listener Travis had a great idea about what to do with anyone convicted of a DUI. His idea was to treat them like teenagers, do not let them buy alcohol. The way to do this is issue them a special color coded, I am a drunk driver, drivers license. Then make it a crime for anyone with a DUI conviction to buy alcohol and a crime to sell alcohol to anyone with a DUI conviction. You want to buy alcohol, you need to show your drivers license. I think this is a great idea. Not because it will keep alcoholics from buying alcohol, for the most part it will not. What it will do is bring public shame to anyone convicted of drunk driving. Imagine the shame when someone you just met and want to impress, a potential boss, significant other, sees that you have the special drunk driver license. Excuse me sir, can I see some ID for that check you just wrote? Thank you Mr. Convicted Drunk Driver.

Father's Day Moment

Here is my proud father story from this last father’s day weekend. First understand that one of my college degrees is in Mathematics. I am having a discussion with my son, 6 years old, who is just finishing kindergarten. We are discussing which is bigger, huge or gigantic. We both agree it is gigantic. He then tells me that the biggest number is infinity, which is correct. I then ask him what about infinity plus 30, isn’t that bigger? He looks at me and says “Dad, if you were to sit down and think about if for a while, you would realize that infinity plus 30 is really the same as infinity.”

I think I will buy him a slide rule for his 7th birthday.

Zarqawi Murdered Audio Clip

Susan Turnbull, Vice Chair of the DNC, says "the murder of Zarqawi" on the Bryan Suits radio show on KVI. Click HERE for the audio.

Thanks to Allah Pundit for the hosting help.

Photos From Anti Bush Rally

Orbusmax links to a photo gallery from an Anti Bush rally. Just do not question their patriotism or their sanity. Or the massive, overwhelming support, even in the Socialist Republic of Seattle.

Zarqawi Murdered?

Susan Turnbull, Vice Chair of the Democratic Party, officially "misspoke" when she said on the Bryan Suits Show on KVI earlier this evening that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was murdered*.


*The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice

UPDATE:
In response to the comments about Liberal Larrys use of the word "ChickHawk" to describe Bryan Suits, please check out Larrys site to understand where that is coming from. I would personally recommend reading the post, What Part of "Safe House" Doesn't Bush Understand?

White Privilege, the Seattle Public School District and White Liberal Guilt

As a result of the definition of racism post, a comment left on a Sound Politics post pointed to the Seattle School District's Equity and Race Calendar which for April 26th, 2006, contained an entry for "WHITE PRIVILEGE CONFERENCE 7". This conference has all sorts of "interesting" people and ideas such as "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh who seems surprised that most people she comes into contact with are of her same race which I would have hoped would seem obvious since she is part of the majority race.

But here is where I think it gets weird.... the conference is sponsored by The Bush School, a school that is 84% white, 5% Black and charges $18,810 a year to attend. In randomly looking at the school staff, it appears 84% is probably low when describing the percent of the staff that is white. The Bush School is 3 blocks away, 370 yards per Microsoft MapPoint, from M.L. King Elementary which is 10% white, 82% black and scheduled to be closed by the Seattle School District, partly due to its poor performance. I think Ms. McIntosh should visit some classes at Bush, meet the faculty and see if she can find any white privilege present.

Full disclosure, my best friends daughter is currently enrolled at Bush, a former neighbor sent both of her sons to Bush and all are exceptional kids. I am sure Bush is a wonderful school and for almost 20K per year, it had better be.

Seattle Public Schools Racism Recap

Thought I should say something on the topic although clearly I could not do it as well as Sound Politics has here and here and here and here and here and here. I wrote a note to one of Sound Politics contributors earlier today, Jim Miller, who himself has an exceptional blog, to let him know it was an SP post about

The SPS Department of Race and Equity is looking for SEA members to participate in a "Prayer in Schools Committee," the charge of which is to look at how to address this issue District wide and to provide information about our Muslim students that will help teachers and building leaders make decisions that support the needs of our diverse students and families.

that got me looking into the Seattle Public Schools Department of Race and Equity and the next thing you know, Andrew Sullivan is blogging about what I found, I am hearing about it on the Michael Medved show and a guy I use to work with who has since moved to Kansas City MO. is telling me he heard about it.

Now to give proper credit, the one that really got this rolling was and always is Orbusmax which is the one stop shop for all things North West news related and posted the initial link that was picked up by Sound Politics and spread to the Seattle PI, Seattle Times, various KVI hosts etc.


But anyway... back to the reason I am finally posting again on the subject. As many already know, the original definition of racism site was taken down by the Seattle Public School District and "revised" with the following:

In response to the numerous concerns voiced regarding definitions posted on the Equity & Race website, we have decided to revise our website in a way that will hopefully provide more context to readers around the work that Seattle Public Schools is doing to address institutional racism. The intended purpose of our work in the area of race and social justice is to bring communities together through open dialogue and honest reflection around what is meant by racism and the impact is has on our society and more specifically, our students. Our intention is not to put up additional barriers or develop an "us against them" mindset, nor is it to continue to hold onto unsuccessful concepts such as a melting pot or colorblind mentality. It is our hope that we can explore the work of leading scholars in the areas of race and social justice issues to help us understand the dynamics and realities of how racism permeate throughout our society and use their knowledge to help us create meaningful change. This difficult work is vital to the success of our students and families. Thank you for sharing your concerns.

Warm regards,
Caprice D. Hollins, Psy.D.
Director of Equity & Race Relations
Seattle Public Schools

Now maybe I have missed it or maybe I am reading this wrong but why is nobody screaming and yelling over the statement "nor is it to continue to hold onto unsuccessful concepts such as a melting pot or colorblind mentality." I would really like a clarification from Dr. Hollins about that comment because it sure sounds to me like she thinks the idea of America being a melting pot and the goal of a colorblind society is not something that can be accomplished or should be pursued.

But if you think about it, I guess I should not be surprised that in Seattle, nobody is upset because assimilation and a colorblind society where everyone is treated equally is not the goal. For example, my State Senator, Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles has continually worked to allow Universities to use race as a factor in admissions, SB 5575 - 2005-06, in clear violation of I-200 which states:

The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

Isn't that what the government should do, treat everyone the same, regardless of the color of your skin, your race, sex or ethnicity? Liberals like to claim Martin Luther King as their own, just do not ask them to work towards his goals.

One true story... was talking with a neighbor a few years ago, a really good guy although your typical Seattle liberal, who happens to be a lawyer and graduated from the University of Michigan both undergrad and law school. After the Supreme Court cases dealing with U of M affirmative action were heard, I asked him his opinion on the subject. He said at the time of his admission, he would have been against affirmative action because he was on the admissions bubble and if they had it then, he most likely would not have got in. Now, he is in favor of it because he thinks it is important to have a more diverse society in jobs such as his where you can earn a decent living because if someone of color becomes a lawyer because of affirmative action, that persons kids will have a better chance when they are applying for law school and may not need affirmative action. So I explained my position that affirmative action, by its definition allows someone to be admitted who would otherwise not be admitted based on merit. So this person, who is displacing another person because there are a finite number of seats, clearly must be considered towards the bottom of the class academically at least at the start. Now some of the students from that class will drop out and it seems logical that those who just barely qualified to get in are more likely than those who easily made it in to drop out. So after a couple of years of school, if this person does not drop out, and if this person decides to take the bar exam and if this person passes the bar and if this person decides to practice law and if this person gets married and if this person has kids and if this persons kids decide to go to law school, then 25 or 35 years from now, maybe 2 or 3 more kids of color will not need affirmative action to get into law school.

So I asked why not try to find out the real problem in why that person of color does not qualify on his own merit now and fix the problem now? Well ya know, that is kind of a hard thing to do. Well sure it is if you live in Seattle where the Public School District considers a melting pot and colorblind society an "unsuccessful concept".