TabRivera79's Blog tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/tabrivera79//4368 2008-11-07T15:09:29Z Movable Type Pro 4.21-en Saving just a bit of the tax payer dollar tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/tabrivera79//4368.243460 2008-11-07T14:48:51Z 2008-11-07T15:09:29Z Dear President-elect Obama,Please see the following:The Young Turks: How much did you pay for a portrait of Rumsfeld?Can we please just take a cell phone pic of George W. Bush and call it a day? In our current economic crunch,... TabRivera79
Please see the following:

The Young Turks: How much did you pay for a portrait of Rumsfeld?

Can we please just take a cell phone pic of George W. Bush and call it a day? In our current economic crunch, every little bit helps.

Sincerely, 

A Concerned Citizen

P.S.: If the cell phone pic could be taken on January 20th, showing his back as he leaves the  White House, it would be most appreciated.  
]]> A new Proposition tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/tabrivera79//4368.243320 2008-11-06T18:27:20Z 2008-11-06T18:41:36Z In light of the recent vote on Proposition 8 in California, a friend of mine and I propose the following.  I'm going to use her words, because she's so damned awesome:It's the wording, you know.  I've thought about this a... TabRivera79
It's the wording, you know.  I've thought about this a lot, and the only
solution I can come up with that doesn't activate the Jesus freaks is to
define marriage as "a religious institution that, as such, has no legal
standing."  That way, anyone and everyone can get a civil union, and a
civil union is the only arrangement that provides legal protection.  But
if you want to get "married" you talk to a priest, cause the government
isn't involved.

So any church that wants to perform marriage ceremonies can do so as they see fit.  Anyone who wants religious approval can go to the church of their choice, or fight within their churches to gain approval for their unions in the eyes of god.  But any adult couple that wants to join in co-owning, child-sharing, joint-tax-filing prosperity must do in a government-provided civil union.  

Yeah, it'll mean getting two ceremonies if you want religious approval.  But it will definitively remove government from what is, in essence as it relates to the topic of gay marriage, a RELIGIOUS debate.   

Thoughts?  Bonus question: if I get a lot of support behind this, who wants to join in with me to get this to be the actual policy in our states and, eventually, our country?  Or am I behind the times, and is there already a fight like this going on?  :-)
]]> So, are the smear attacks over? tag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.222681 2008-10-08T02:56:05Z 2008-10-08T02:56:05Z See, this shouldn't even be a blog entry, but I am intensely curious and want to see what kind of responses I get...So, for months (years? decades? God, but these political seasons seem to stretch out) McCain responded to questions... TabRivera79 So, for months (years? decades? God, but these political seasons seem to stretch out) McCain responded to questions about his smear ads by saying that if ONLY Obama would participate in a town hall-style meeting, all the smears would stop. I'm not even going to bother posting links showing this, because TPM does such a good job of providing evidence of the above. 
So, now that Obama has faced off with McCain in a town hall debate, does that mean that McCain is going to keep his implied word and stop talking all the ridiculous smack about sex-ed for preschoolers and Obama being Jesus or Paris Hilton or a Muslim extremist or someone like that?  How about we keep an eye out, and see if those ads magically disappear?]]> Who knew Congress was so religious? tag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.221169 2008-10-01T17:54:45Z 2008-10-01T17:54:45Z I was home on Monday listening to NPR when the word came out that the bailout bill failed to pass in the House. It was almost fascinating, listening to NPR attempt to get the latest word on why the... TabRivera79 I was home on Monday listening to NPR when the word came out that the bailout bill failed to pass in the House. It was almost fascinating, listening to NPR attempt to get the latest word on why the bill failed, switching frantically from BBC to CNN, then finally giving up and going back to their original broadcast. When I heard later that there would be no further immediate action from Congress due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday, two things immediately came to mind: 1) Really? There are that many Jews in Congress? 2) Didn't the President say our need for a bill was dire? I could have sworn that he had the authority to make Congress come back and keep on working in case of emergency... where did I get that idea? Oh yeah... ARTICLE II, SECTION 3 OF THE FRIGGIN' CONSTITUTION! Law scholars, help me out, would you? Doesn't the President have the authority to convene Congress under extraordinary circumstances? If so, would this not have constituted an extraordinary circumstance? Weren't we meant to crater or implode or get out our hobo-bags and get to riding the freight-cars to Canada or something if this bill hadn't passed by two days ago? Oh yeah, wait, none of those things happened. And the Dow is rallying back; having panicked on Monday like a nineteen fifties housewife upon seeing a mouse, the stock market is catching its breath, slowly stepping off the chair, reaching for the bottle of cooking sherry it uses to calm its nerves, and waiting for the husband to come home to take care of the scary animal. It's kind of interesting, though, that the unregulated market itself made this mess, and is looking for the American taxpayer to be the husband who bravely takes care of the scary animal and makes everything better. Who else thinks that, since the market didn't fall down to the ninth circle of hell and at least some of us still have jobs, the urgency to pass this particular bill is something of a scam job? It's kind of cool to know that both Jon Stewart and Dennis Kucinich agree with me. Check out Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show (avaiable on thedailyshow.com) and Tuesday's episode of The Rachel Maddow show (available at msnbc.com) to see why.