This Week in American Politics

June 26, 2015December 7, 2021

Her View

First giving honor to God for his Amazing Grace! Whew! This has been quite a week! I mean really, the last two weeks have felt like a rollercoaster of events and emotions. I don’t want to go too deep into last week’s tragic, senseless, murders. However, what is freaking me out is the fact that it happened just LAST WEEK! I feel like we’re in a time warp or something with today’s fast paced news cycle. The past two weeks had lots packed in and keeping up has been a task…more of a task than usual.

Ok, so THIS week in American politics has been pretty awesome for this socially liberal, Southern, black woman! Just a quick run-down (because you can wait on His View to read something deep), here’s what’s happening and why I’m excited.

SCOTUS upheld the Affordable Care Act – Woop woop!!! I’m a borderline Socialist who believes that EVERBODY in this great nation should have access to healthcare and insurance.
SCOTUS made it legal for same sex couples to get married nationwide – Woop again!!! That is TERRIFIC for them! Even though I’m in a happy, heterosexual marriage I’m glad that all adults in loving, consensual relationships can get married if their hearts desire REGARDLESS of their sexual orientation! Love is Love!
Alabama took the lead (for once) and removed the confederate flag (nope…no capitalization over here) from the state capitol – Hooray for my home state! I don’t always agree with the governor, but this was a good move. I’m glad that lots of companies and other places are doing the same by removing any trace of the flag that represents hate and intolerance. “But it represents Southern heritage, not hate” they said. Oh really? Take a look down memory lane and see what “Southern heritage” includes, especially when it comes to waiving that flag. Mm, hmm. Yeah. Hate and intolerance. Bye.
More Republicans are entering the Presidential race – You know, there are SO many of them running now that it just dilutes their brand. Many of the contenders (if you can call them that) are just in it for the fame and won’t make it far. More Republican/Conservative flukes entering the race makes a good candidate all the more obvious. I look forward to the REAL campaign season when the REAL candidates are in the forefront.

Yes, yes…I know there was more, but that’s what I’m excited about this week. That’s QUITE enough for me right now! Lol I need time to process it all!

His View

Well I am sure you have seen the headlines from all the news articles this week. This has been a busy week for regional and national news. Not to mention how the news and politics have played out, presumably along party lines, depending on your view of some things. I will come out and say it…the Republican Party, from a political ideology standpoint, has taken quite a few losses this week. They’ve lost on so many of their core political ideals that even I have to acknowledge the sad week they had. You almost can’t help but feel a little sorry for them…I know Her would disagree fully with that statement, but this is Him talking folks.

Their week has been the culmination of months and years of work flushed down the toilet in a mere two day news cycle. It has to be hard if you are a Republican and your positions align fully or even partially with the national party. Please don’t worry if you can’t quite grasp their current struggle, let me help you. It’s like finding out that indeed FIFA lied and is corrupt…so corrupt that its members very likely sold your World Cup to Qatar when you thought Qatar won it based on their own merits. I’m not big on soccer so let me give you a real football analogy. (Yes, that was a shot at soccer… ha ha.) It’s like being a Dallas Cowboys fan and finally believing Tony Romo won’t choke in the playoffs and end your team’s chances of Super Bowl hopes. It’s like knowing that Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league and the Lakers are bound for the playoffs only to find out that Kobe has a season ending injury, and the Lakers can’t win enough games without him to even make the playoffs, let alone another championship.

This news tailspin pretty much started with the tragic act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a criminal whose motive was purely hate. I have wanted to see articles with this title from national and local newspapers and etc., but still haven’t seen them written in this way much. I can’t quite put my finger on why though, as this criminal has been portrayed as a deranged drug addict with problems…but that story has already been written plenty of times. That led to the conversation about the confederate battle flag, the stars and bars, or in the South (where I am) the confederate flag. A lot of people decided to take the flags down, and even the governor of good ‘ole Alabama swiftly took down that flag along with the other confederate flags at the state capitol’s confederate memorial. Let’s just say there was uproar about that. All I will say on this briefly is if it’s about respecting the history of confederate soldiers why not just use another confederate flag that doesn’t illicit such strong emotion. I mean of course these people know there is more than just the stars and bars they could use right?

Well, that lead to more conversations about race and hatred in the United States which a large segment of the Republican Party, and I am sure some in the Democratic Party, seem to believe doesn’t exist. Well least to say they weren’t happy about the conversation and were even less happy when the President of the United States, who happens to be a Democrat, was able to say the “N” word during a podcast discussion. Republicans were again angered that there were no repercussions or issues with him doing so. I mean, he is half black and they always complain that black people can use the word without issue. In the context with which it was used, it was appropriate, and not to piss off any Republicans…he is half black. I guess you wanted his half black side to chastise the half white side. Who knows, maybe the half black side was doing all the talking that day or maybe he did chastise his half white side for using the word.

The presidential fast-track bill for international trade passed some hurdles, and looks to pass additional hurdles. I would assume that is the case because Republicans know if they can get their guy or girl in, they can fast-track some trade as well. I mean everything else President Obama has wanted the party as a whole typically votes against and even some still did.

Later in the week it really started to get serious in the loss department. The Supreme Court upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act…yes, that is the name…not Obamacare. It bothers me at times the way that title is used, especially in the healthcare sector. Anyway, the Supreme Court essentially said that the “state” designation applied to the federal government with regard to exchanges. I for one am a little upset about this, and agree with the dissenting justices’ opinions on this one. It’s been a while since I had a history class, but even with all the confederate south there are only 50 states, right? Well the Supreme Court essentially said the federal government is a state, so let’s get D.C. some official representation and a state flag (preferably not similar to our previously mentioned flag). I mean, that is where the federal government is based. Has anyone talked about this yet? I will need to look around.

But oh wait, it gets worse…for them *in my late night infomercial voice*. Friday, The Supreme Court ruled that marriage for gays is a right protected by the constitution. This sent them in a rage and fit like nothing this week, month, year or even ever. (I joked with Her that we may need to re-up on supplies similar to how we did when talks of Ebola in the U.S. spread.) Down here in good ‘ole Alabama politicians are going crazy and people are mad but interestingly, or should I say suspiciously, social media is quiet. I’m not sure how things will play out this weekend, but don’t worry for us. To borrow Under Armour’s slogan…I WILL PROTECT THIS HOUSE from the crazies and the craziness that may lurk in the near future. I don’t think it will be that extreme, but we both got a good laugh talking about all the heads that blew up when they heard the news.