Category: Politics

A man without a party

I’ve been registered to vote for years, but I registered again today even though I haven’t moved in a decade. So why would I register again? Because I didn’t like my party affiliation.

I’m in agreement with most of the traditional principles of the GOP. However, I also agree with much of the Democrat platform. So it’s tough to decide how to register in the first place.

Of course, in the 2004 election I was registered Democrat so I could vote for a presidential candidate in the Primary Election. I realized how important it was to field a strong candidate to oppose Bush in the General Election. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way.

Unfortunately, I’ve been completely disenchanted with almost every Democrat in the legislature since 9/11, when the party turned into a flock of sheep. With the exception of perhaps only one Senator, every other Democrat in both the House and the Senate have devolved into invertebrates, kowtowing to almost every major initiative the president has brought forward simply because they’re afraid they’ll be seen as unpatriotic or weak against terrorism—liberty be damned!

On the other hand, the Republican party has completely lost its way. It has goose-stepped behind the leader of the party on every massive failure and fascist move he’s made these past five years. It has bought into Bush’s claim to have never made a mistake other than the handling of the Katrina aftermath. Almost every major Republican in the legislature has adopted Bush’s affinity for corruption. The party is infiltrated with neo-conservatives, and none of the others see that neo-cons are anything but conservative. The party has abandoned all of its traditional principles—the ones that I believe in—so I don’t even recognize it anymore.

I finally got fed up with all of the political parties. I don’t want to affiliate with any of them anymore, so I registered to vote. When I got to the Political Party section, I chose “I decline to state a political party” in the registration form. Not that I was leaving either party; it was the parties that left me. So it felt great to drop the form in the mailbox because now I can proudly state that I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

One nation, indivisible

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. One of the reasons I am allegiant to it is because of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

Likewise, Judge Karlton in a California US District Court today found that it is unconstitutional to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools with the words “under God” in it. Call me a strict constitutionalist, but I believe that it does not matter what Thomas Jefferson wrote in his letter to the Danbury Baptists regarding the wall of separation between church and state. All that matters is what it says in our Constitution. Therefore, Judge Karlton was bound to uphold the Federal appeals court’s 2002 finding that reciting the Pledge in a public school is an unconstitutional “endorsement of religion.” Agreeing with them, I too omit the religious endorsement whenever I pledge allegiance to this republic.

Furthermore, the words “under God” were not part of the Pledge for most of its history anyway. It wasn’t until 1954, when Congress made a law adding the words to the Pledge (and again in 2002 when Congress made another law ratifying it) that they became part of the pledge. The key here is that Congress had to make a law for the religious establishment to come into effect. It seems there could be no more clear-cut violation of the Establishment Clause.

Thus, it was disappointing that the Supreme Court, in effect, punted when a decision on this matter was brought before them. Rather than settling the matter last year, the Court sent it back to the lower courts on a technicality. Five justices said that the father who brought the case on behalf of his daughter could not do so simply because the mother (not the father) had custody of the girl. Could it be that the real reason they shied away from the decision was because the only one they could reasonably reach would be so wildly unpopular with their conservative counterparts?

The case is sure to return to the Supreme Court, but the next time without the technicality to get out of making a decision. However, it’s unclear which way the Court will find because two of the three justices who previously stated their opinions on the merits of the case will not be sitting on the bench. The confirmation hearings also going on today made it no less clear how Judge Roberts will find (and few would argue that he will not be part of that decision). This is one nation that will have to wait a while longer to find out what the Pledge of Allegiance will sound like in your child’s class next school year.