A Beacon of Light and Hope

Posted on November 17, 2022 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Yesterday was a red-letter day for human rights in the U.S. Senate. The senate passed a bill, the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA), that, if it passes in the House of Representatives, will codify protection for same-sex marriage. Now, that in itself is an accomplishment worthy of a big WHOO HOO!!! But even more encouraging, the bill was passed by a margin of 62-37 with 12 Republicans voting in favour! I had been reading for days about the Republican/conservative backlash against this bill, so when I heard that 12 Republicans voted to protect same-sex marriage, I was stunned … in a good way!

Republican Susan Collins joined forces with Democrat Tammy Baldwin and worked across the aisle to rally support for this bill. Those Republicans who voted in favour deserve recognition. In addition to Susan Collins, they are …

Rob Portman (Ohio)
Thom Tillis (N.C.)
Mitt Romney (Utah)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Roy Blunt (Mo.)
Richard Burr (N.C.)
Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.)
Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.)
Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
Joni Ernst (Iowa)
Todd Young (Ind.)

Thank you, Senators!

The RFMA repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. It also requires that every state recognize a valid same-sex marriage. It does fall short of requiring that every state issue licenses for same-sex marriages. The reason for this distinction is to keep the bill from being overridden by the Supreme Court who has previously ruled that the federal government cannot “commandeer” states to enforce federal laws or pass specific statutes. If Congress compelled states to license same-sex marriages, the judiciary would invalidate the law as a violation of this anti-commandeering doctrine.

There has been a very real concern that the Supreme Court is poised to strike down Obergefell v Hodges, the case that requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages. Once signed into law, the Respect for Marriage Act will make it more difficult for the Court to overturn the 2015 decision.

As an added bonus, the bill would also protect inter-racial marriages if the ultra-conservative, backward-looking Supreme Court were to decide to overturn the 1967 ruling in Loving v Virginia the ruling that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Next, the bill moves to the House where it is expected to pass, possibly by the end of this week. If they table it until January, it will be doomed to fail, but at present there is no reason to think it won’t pass the House and be signed into law by President Biden at least by the end of the year. Score one for human rights, for civil rights, for LGBTQ rights! Score one for bipartisanship.

On This Day In 2015 …

Posted on June 26, 2020 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Today’s post is courtesy of The Obama Foundation’s website …

JUSTICE LIKE A THUNDERBOLT

Five years ago marked an unforgettable day in the Obama Presidency. The Supreme Court ruled on marriage equality, President Obama paid tribute to Reverend Pinckney and his eight parishioners in Charleston, and the White House shone with pride for all to see.

To mark the anniversary of that fateful day, June 26, 2015, we created a retrospective video and collected reflections of many who experienced it firsthand.

June 26, 2015, also marked the end of a unique ten-day stretch in American history. After the murder of nine parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church by a white supremacist, organizers held protests in South Carolina that led to the removal of the Confederate flag from the State house grounds. The Supreme Court upheld a critical piece of the Affordable Care Act in King v. Burwell, guaranteeing that millions of Americans would not lose their health insurance. And on the morning of June 26, millions of Americans were waiting to hear how those same justices would rule on the question of whether same-sex couples had the right to marry, in Obergefell v. Hodges.

As so many who lived through that day will tell you, that morning’s decision was decades in the making. It was a moment made possible by the work of activists who demanded justice, government leaders who took action, and millions of ordinary Americans who dared to live openly and challenge their government to honor their commitment.

The path to progress rarely runs in a straight line. Broader cultural support for gay rights was routinely met with legal resistance. The path to racial progress has long been punctuated by horrific acts of white supremacist violence. And through the long arc of history, it can be difficult to see how an individual act—a cry of grief, a protest, a phone call to a representative, a ballot cast—can lead to justice.

But once in a while, that work adds up to days like June 26, 2015, where justice arrives, “like a thunderbolt.”

Another One Slinks Out …

Posted on June 18, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Jeff Amyx is a symbol of what is wrong with this country – with the world. Jeff Amyx is one of the creatures that I often refer to as having slithered out from under a rock with the advent of Trump and the so-called populist movement. Jeff Amyx, my friends, is a homophobe and in short, a hater of the human race except those who fit into his small white, Christian box.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled on Obergefell v Hodges in a 5-4 ruling that guarantees the right of same-sex couples to legally marry. Mr. Amyx took umbrage with that ruling and almost immediately placed a sign in the window of his Washburn, Tennessee hardware store …Amyx quietly removed the sign a short time later and replaced it with one that read:

“We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech & freedom of religion.”

Just how, I wonder, does he figure that a gay person coming into his store, buying a hammer and paying for the hammer, thus putting profit in Amyx’ pocket, is violating his rights to freedom of either speech or religion? Nobody has asked him to become transgender or gay! Nobody even cares about his opinion, so long as he keeps it to himself!

Well, Amyx popped his ugly head back up last week, after the Supreme Court ruled that a Colorado baker was within his rights to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Amyx put his “No Gays Allowed” sign back in the window of his store.

“Christianity is under attack. This is a great win, don’t get me wrong, but this is not the end, this is just the beginning. Right now we’re seeing a ray of sunshine. This is ‘happy days’ for Christians all over America, but dark days will come.”

But Amyx hasn’t stopped there … it wasn’t enough to harass and discriminate, but he is now selling ‘homophobic products’. Who knew that such a thing even existed? And why does such a thing exist??? Amyx claims to be a Baptist minister, but frankly, I think he falls far short of having the qualifications for the job. He claims that “Christianity is under attack”, but from where I stand, he is the one doing the attacking – attacking peaceful people who only want to be left alone to love whomever they choose.

Amyx may end up regretting his decision to put his homophobia on display, however. Yelp, the most widely-used app for rating businesses and posting reviews, received so many negative and one-star reviews for Amyx’ hardware store that they eventually had to thin them out! I visited the Yelp page for Amyx’ hardware store and despite the ‘thinning out’, there were hundreds of reviews urging consumers to boycott this business. Take heart, folks … people like Amyx are in the minority, though a loud and obnoxious minority they are. A recent Reuters/lpsos poll found that 72% of the people in this nation believe that businesses should not have the right on religious grounds to deny services to customers based on their sexual orientation. Granted, it should be 99%, but 72% is still a significant majority of people who are scratching their heads and wondering, as I am, just what rock Jeff Amyx crawled out from under.

I am not a vindictive person, I believe in the old adage, “Live and Let Live”, but I have very little tolerance for bigotry in any form. I reluctantly took a trip to Mr. Amyx’ Facebook page where I found just about what I would have expected … support of Trump and condemnation of the LGBT community. He praised Trump for failing to even acknowledge Pride Month for the second year in a row, while acknowledging such things as National Homeownership Month, and National Ocean Month. I found the picture of his business and parking lot interesting … doesn’t look like he has too many customers, does it?And he takes the transgender bathroom issue to a new level …I hope the 72% of us who are without prejudice against the LGBT community will boycott his business and by this time next year, Mr. Amyx will be seeking a job in the local grocery store or service station. Why am I telling you about this homophobic jerk? Because the best way to send these slugs back under the rock is to shine a bright light on them. Pouring boiling water on them would work as well, but I’m not in the mood to travel to Tennessee just to get thrown in jail!

Idiot of the Week — Rep. Mike Kelly

Posted on December 24, 2017 by jilldennison under Idiot of the Week, Political commentary, Social commentary

I hadn’t planned to do an Idiot of the Week column today. It is, after all, Christmas Eve and it seems a bit uncharitable. Besides that, I was working on a piece about the Koch Brothers, David & Charles, and was trying to stay focused on that. But this one person just kept jumping onto my radar screen, practically screaming, “PICK ME, PICK ME!!!” Okay, Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, you asked for it, you got it.

Friends, please allow me to formally introduce U.S. Representative George Joseph “Mike” Kelly Jr, a republican representing the 3^rd Congressional district of Pennsylvania. Kelly came onto my radar last night by way of his appearance on Fox News on Friday, where he said …

“I will tell you what. For those people on the Trump train or not on the Trump train, this is high-speed rail right now. And so if you’re not on the Trump train, you get on the train or get off the tracks. You’re gonna get run over. Look, the House had done its work in the appropriations. We had our 12 bills ready to go. Unfortunately, it didn’t get through the Senate. But the big news — the big news is for America, you look at today, and I can tell you walking around the streets of Pittsburgh, people walking more erect, not just whispering ‘Merry Christmas’ but saying ‘Hey, Merry Christmas.’ You can feel it, you can see it. And I’m not just pumping sunshine for the sake of pumping sunshine. I am telling you, this is a different country. In 11 months, this president has changed the entire complexion of our entire country and our place in the world. We are no longer leading from behind, we are leading from the front and everybody else is looking to us and saying ‘go, go, go.’”

Oh please. Since it wouldn’t be Filosofa’s Word if I didn’t inject a few comments; 1) Yes, Trump has changed the “complexion” of the country — he has given it a severe case of acne, and 2) You are quite right that we are no longer “leading from behind” — we are no longer leading. Period. Since Trump’s approval rating in Pennsylvania is just 29%, below the national rate, I am curious as to who all these ebullient people riding the “Trump train” might be. So this is Mr. Kelly’s most recent bout of idiocy, but taking a look back, I find that it is far from his first.

In March 2017, Mr. Kelly launched a conspiracy theory that President Obama was running a “shadow government” with the intention of undermining Trump.

“President Obama himself said he was going to stay in Washington until his daughter graduated. I think we ought to pitch in to let him go someplace else, because he is only there for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to run a shadow government that is going to totally upset the new agenda. It just doesn’t make sense. And people sit back and they say to me, ‘My gosh, why can’t you guys get this done?’ I say, ‘We’ve got a new CEO, we’ve got some new heads in the different departments, but the same people are there, and they don’t believe that the new owners or the new managers should be running the ship.’”

When asked to comment, a spokesperson for his office said …

“Rep. Kelly does not believe that President Obama is personally operating a shadow government, He does believe it would be helpful to the new administration if the former president would personally call for an end to all leaks and obstruction by personnel from his administration who currently serve in the executive branch.”

Seriously???

In June 2015, Mr. Kelly took on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), comparing it to a terrorist organization:

“You talk about terrorism — you can do it in a lot of different ways. But you terrorize the people who supply everything this country needs to be great — and you keep them on the sidelines — my goodness, what have we become? When a government can level on you taxes and regulations that makes it impossible for you to compete, then you’re going to stay on the sidelines.”

And where, exactly, will you be when there is no oxygen to breathe, no food to eat, for we have destroyed the planet, Mr. Kelly, huh?

Kelly authored the Coal Country Protection Act, legislation which attempted to reverse the EPA’s carbon rule and any regulation that aimed to limit carbon from power plants. The legislation failed, until Trump took office and signed similar legislation.

And then there was the time that Kelly just had to put his two cents worth in after the Supreme Court upheld a ruling to allow same-sex marriage in the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges:

“The high court had a responsibility to follow the Constitution but instead chose to follow the wishes of a political movement. The natural, traditional definition of marriage that I and millions of others believe in worldwide remains a cornerstone of human civilization. To redefine this institution, especially on a national scale, carries uncertain consequences and deserves serious scrutiny. Today’s ruling rips this critical debate from the democratic process by redefining marriage for all 50 states. Going forward, defenders of our Constitution have a renewed duty to protect every single citizen’s First Amendment rights and guarantee that no person or organization’s religious freedom is in any way undermined by today’s controversial decision.”

I do believe that Mr. Kelly fails to understand the 1^st Amendment … I wonder if he has ever read the Constitution? But wait, for I have saved the best for last! Mr. Kelly, not surprisingly, didn’t much like the Affordable Care Act (ACA), lovingly dubbed by republicans as ‘Obamacare’. He referred to the employer mandate to provide contraception coverage as “an attack on Americans’ constitutionally protected religious rights” and claimed that August 1, 2012, would go down in infamy as “the day that religious freedom died”. A bit of a drama queen, don’t you think? But he went on to compare it to the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9/11!!!

“I know in your mind, you can think of the times America was attacked. One is Dec. 7, that’s Pearl Harbor Day. The other is Sept. 11, and that’s the day the terrorists attacked. I want you to remember Aug. 1, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”

Okay, my friends in Pennsylvania … you need to get this guy out of office next November. He ran virtually uncontested in 2016, but there are two challengers for the 2018 elections. He has been in office for four terms … eight years … get him out!!!

Meanwhile, Mr. Kelly, for your backward and bigoted ways, and for your truly misguided belief that Donald Trump is somehow “pumping sunshine” into our lives, I award you this most coveted, most honoured award, Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week award. Please display it with pride, for you have certainly earned it!

Idiot of the Week – Jason Rapert

Posted on March 28, 2017 by jilldennison under Idiot of the Week, Social commentary

There is certainly no shortage of idiots out there … so many idiots, so little time … sigh. I have not been as faithful as I would like in awarding my esteemed Idiot of the Week award, but my fingers have been kept hopping with Trump, Trump, and more Trump. I was actually planning to award this week’s IOTW award to Sean Hannity, but then I realized I had already awarded it to him last year (once an idiot, always an idiot). Suddenly, out of the blue, along came another idiot, a man who most of you have never heard of, but he made headlines last month … and the month before … and almost every month for the past several years. So without further ado, allow me to introduce this week’s idiot, Arkansas State Senator, Jason Rapert!

Mr. Rapert has engaged in idiocy so many times that the Arkansas Times has devoted an entire column titled ‘Your daily dose of Jason Rapert’. The February 4^th column begins, “Listen, sometimes I wonder whether Sen. Jason Rapert was created in a lab by the Arkansas Times to give us material.” But let’s move on to the topic that dumped him onto my radar.

The largest and busiest airport in Arkansas is located in Little Rock and is named Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. Okay … Bill Clinton is the first and only native of Arkansas to ever be president, so that makes him pretty special to the state, yes? And it certainly is not unusual to name an airport after a president. Consider these:

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) – New York, New York
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – Houston, Texas
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) – Washington, DC
Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) – Grand Rapids, Michigan
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI) – Springfield, Illinois
Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) – Wichita, Kansas
Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport (DIK) – Dickinson, North Dakota

But now, State Senator Rapert wants to change that and has introduced a bill into the state senate to do just that, saying, “The state of Arkansas would just like to forget the Clinton era.”

But his idiocy does not end here … you know I require more than a single incident before I will consider an idiot deserving of this award … I have my standards, you know. So let us take a look at some of his more egregious comments and positions.

Rapert authored a bill to ban all abortions in Arkansas after twelve weeks of pregnancy. A federal judge stopped the law from being implemented, saying it was likely unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court refused to overturn the federal judge’s ruling. Rapert’s bill eventually cost the State of Arkansas $97,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiffs before the Supreme Court decision was finalized. What a wonderful way to have wasted taxpayer’s money, Jason! You da man!

Rapert has stated that the U.S. should use nuclear weapons to eradicate Daesh. Seriously??? We just killed some 200 innocent civilians in Mosul last weekend with traditional bombs … can anybody even begin to imagine how many dead children there would have been if we had dropped a nuclear bomb? What does this man think nukes are??? Lego toys?

At a Tea Party rally he told the crowd, “I hear you loud and clear, Barack Obama. You don’t represent the country that I grew up with. And your values is [sic] not going to save us. We’re going to take this country back to the Lord. We’re going to try to take this country back for conservatism. And we’re not going to allow minorities to run roughshod over what you people believe in!” And later, on his Facebook page, “We the majority grant you rights by choice.” Words fail me.

After being approached in a store by a constituent one day, he then tweeted, “Not smart to come up and harass somebody in a parking lot who’s carrying a handgun. Better be glad you decided to walk away #armed&ready”. This became the source of much controversy … gee, I wonder why?

In 2015, Rapert began a push to have a ten commandments monument installed on the state Capitol grounds. Nobody thought it was a good idea, but Rapert went ahead with the project. He actually got the Arkansas General Assembly to pass a law that read in part, “Placing of a monument to the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol would help the people of the United States and of the State of Arkansas to know the Ten Commandments as the moral foundation of the law.” (Ever hear of ‘separation of church and state’, Bozo?) The law, however, called for funding the project with private donations, thus Rapert set up a GoFundMe site which, to date, has generated some $26,244 in donations. Apparently it was enough, as the monument has been built and installed, but I suspect it will be removed before too long. The Satanic Temple is now demanding to install a Baphomet statue right next to the Christian monument. We all know where this will end up, and Filosofa has only two comments: 1) what a colossal waste of both time and money, and 2) did anybody in the Arkansas State government ever hear of the term “separation of church and state”?

Those examples are good qualifiers for this award, but there is one more big one that put the icing on the cake. Rapert wants to amend the U.S. Constitution. Yes, you heard me right. I noted in a post the other night how difficult it is to pass a constitutional amendment, and that only 27 have passed since the framing of the original document in 1787. But Rapert wants an amendment that would read …

“SECTION 1. Nothing in this Constitution or in the constitution or laws of any state may define or be construed to define marriage except as the union of one man and one woman, and no other union shall be recognized with legal incidents thereof within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Never mind that of the seven polls I researched, every single one showed that the people of Arkansas are NOT against same-sex marriage. And never mind that on 26 June 2015, the Supreme Court struck down all existing or future marriage bans at the federal level. Mr. Rapert wants it … that is all that matters to him. (Remind you of anyone else?) Fortunately, the resolution failed in the Arkansas House of Representatives by a large margin (29-41) and is currently dead in the water. No doubt Mr. Rapert is scheming his next move.

Rapert celebrating his award by fiddling!

Meanwhile, let me congratulate you, Mr. Rapert, on your total dedication to your homophobic, racist, arrogant and intolerant ways … that, coupled with your utter despicability, have earned you this much-coveted Idiot of the Week award! I know you must be so excited! No, no need to thank me … you earned this one a thousand times over, Mr. Rapert! Enjoy!

Idiot of the Week – Dr. Ben Carson

Posted on March 7, 2017 by jilldennison under Idiot of the Week

On March 2^nd, former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was sworn in as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last November, Carson indicated that he was not interested in serving in any official capacity in the Trump regime, and regarding a cabinet position, he said that he did not feel qualified, having no government experience and never having run a federal agency. But once nominated for the position he currently occupies, he suddenly … somehow … felt qualified, saying, “I know that I grew up in the inner city, and have spent a lot of time there. And have dealt with a lot of patients from that area. And recognize that we cannot have a strong nation if we have weak inner cities. And we have to get beyond the promises and start really doing something.”

Now, before we go into that which made him a strong candidate for the IOTW award, let us hear some of the things he said while on the campaign trail and even before … things that almost, but not quite, qualified him for the award last year.

“You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control.”

“Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition.”

“There comes a time when people with values simply have to stand up. Think about Nazi Germany. Most of those people did not believe in what Hitler was doing. But did they speak up? Did they stand up for what they believe in? They did not, and you saw what happened.” (Isn’t it ironic, and perhaps prophetic?)

“Because 9/11 is an isolated incident. Things that are isolated issues as opposed to things that fundamentally change the United Sates of America and shift power from the people to the government. That is a huge shift. You have to take a long-term look at something that fundamentally changes the power structure of America.” (he was comparing ACA – Obamacare – to 9/11)

“A lot of people who go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay.” (I cannot believe … I simply cannot believe he said this!)

“My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big — when you stop and think about it, and I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time — to store that much grain.”

There’s more, but I am saving the best for last. First let us list Carson’s qualifications to be Secretary of HUD:

He is breathing

Well … that was a rather short list, yes? What, exactly, is HUD? According to Investopedia:

“The Department of Housing and Urban Development, often called HUD, assists U.S. communities in providing fair and equal housing. HUD encourages home ownership and keeps an eye on the amount of affordable housing that is available nationwide.

The department is also involved in fighting housing discrimination, and works to support first-time home buyers who may need assistance in overcoming financial hardships that may disqualify them for bank loans.”

And the responsibilities of Mr. Carson, as Secretary:

“To advise the President on issues regarding housing. The Secretary makes policies, creates rules and coordinates the efforts of HUD so that headquarters and all offices serve the same mission. That mission is to make sure the citizenry has affordable housing, including both rental and owned properties.”

For which, by the way, he receives annual compensation of $199,700.

Carson is as unqualified as DeVos and Sessions, but no surprise. Living in the inner city as a child does not, in and of itself, qualify one for the job of Secretary of HUD. Now, if as an adult he still lived there, then maybe. Let’s take a look at Carson’s Palm Beach, Florida house that is on the market because of his job relocation.

Estimated value: $1.2 million. Not exactly the projects, right. In fairness, owning a $1 million plus home does not disqualify him from the job, but coupled with the lack of government experience, lack of knowledge of the issues surrounding his new department and, more importantly, lack of understanding what it is like simply trying to scrape together a down payment for an $80,000 home … all of that makes him remarkably un-qualified.

But here is what pushed the envelope the final millimeter to become Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week. Yesterday Carson gave his first speech to hundreds of employees in his department, a speech intended to motivate and inspire, when he said … well … let us hear from Ben in his own words just what he said:

“ ,,, That’s what America is about.

A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less.

But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”

Um … Benji? Let me explain something here. Immigrants come to this country sometimes seeking refuge or asylum, other times simply seeking a better opportunity to provide a good life for their families. Slaves were kidnapped from the African continent, brought against their will to this country, then treated brutally, often beaten, even lynched, given little to eat and forced to work under threat of a whip or gun. No, for them this was definitely not the land of opportunity. For them, this was hell.

Dr. Carson was once a well-respected neurosurgeon, a member of the medical community. Perhaps his biggest act of idiocy was leaving that community to enter politics where he has become a laughingstock. At any rate, Dr. Carson … here is what may well be your most prestigious award yet: Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week award! No … no need to thank me … you have more than earned it! I hope it looks nice in your new office!

Red Letter Week for the United States

Posted on June 28, 2015 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two highly significant cases and the outcome of both was, at least in the opinion of this writer, right and proper. No, I am not dancing in the streets as are some, but I am quietly pleased and optimistic that these two rulings signify a trend toward a more tolerant, kinder national ideology.

The first, on Thursday June 25th 2015, was to uphold the subsidies for ACA (Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare”). The subsidies, government funds to assist in the purchase of health care, are a key provision for ACA and without them, the entire act would likely have crumbled. Given that there are 11.7 million people currently enrolled in the health care exchanges, the loss of those subsidies would have been devastating to a large portion of the population. GOP presidential hopefuls have been threatening a repeal of ACA, but Thursday’s ruling makes that highly improbable. Many have ranted and railed against ACA since its inception, blaming President Obama for increased medical and insurance costs, but that blame is misplaced. We have created a culture whereby if something goes awry, something is inconvenient, then surely somebody must be to blame, so we start pointing fingers, often without researching facts. The fact regarding healthcare costs is that neither ACA nor President Obama are the guilty parties here. Looking to blame someone? Blame the insurance industry who seek ever-increasing profits. Blame the healthcare industry, doctors who order unnecessary tests, prescribe unnecessary medications and schedule patients for routine office visits far more frequently than necessary. Blame the pharmaceutical companies who pass the costs of past failures on to us. Blame laboratories who charge exorbitant fees for even the simplest of tests. And lastly, blame individuals who visit the doctor at the first sign of a sniffle, ache or pain. Those are all the causes of the rise in healthcare costs, not the subsidies that have enabled families to obtain at least minimal healthcare without having to sacrifice such essentials as food and shelter. In the long run, the subsidies are unlikely to cost the taxpayers any more than indigent care if there were no affordable healthcare for the poor and lower middle income people.

The second ruling actually overshadowed the first in terms of being controversial and burning up the social media sites, and that is, of course, the ruling on Friday, June 26th 2015, in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. I have no intention of becoming embroiled in a discussion of this topic, other than to say it was the right thing to do. If two people are in love, they should have the right to marry. Period. Don’t like the idea of same-sex marriage? Fine, don’t marry somebody of the same gender as yourself. The ruling certainly doesn’t force anybody to marry anybody they don’t wish to marry … it merely gives all people the right to marry the person they love. Don’t understand the concept? That’s okay too … there are many concepts that others follow that I don’t understand, but I accept. Think same-sex, marriage is a sin? That’s okay … again, nobody is forcing you to commit what you consider a sin, and frankly, nobody is holding you accountable for the sins of another person. The bigger sin, in my book, is to spew hate and vitriol toward those who choose differently than you simply because you do not understand or agree with their decision. I count among my friends a number of gay couples and I am happy for them. The Supreme Court ruling does nothing to harm any individual nor to deprive anyone of their rights, it merely gives official legitimacy to what most of us already knew was legitimate. As my mother used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything”.

So, all in all, the U.S. Supreme Court took some giant steps toward human rights in this nation and we can only hope that the controversies will die down quickly and before any irreparable damage is done. Let us hope that the good citizens of this nation will live up to the image of the United States as a nation of tolerance, of “liberty and justice for all”.

Comments are welcomed, but inappropriate or rude comments will be removed.

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Idiot of the Week – Dr. Ben Carson