The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Liberals often like to pride themselves on being open-minded, accepting of change, differences, and diversity. They tend to believe in equality across all ages, genders, races, creeds, and orientations. They tend to favor life-imprisonment-without-parole over the death penalty, of felons being able to vote, of people being able to turn their lives around via rehab, and being rightly rewarded with a second chance due to this. So why is it many liberals showcase inconsistency when it comes to providing individuals with second chances in life, most notably, former NFL quarterback and convicted dogfighter, Michael Vick? Before I continue, it should be noted I'm a lover of dogs, animals in general, but especially dogs. My current Siberian Husky, Lexi, is my fourth dog, adds a great amount of joy to my life, and it pains me to think of her or any other animal/pet being abused in any manner. In saying that, Michael Vick was charged, convicted, and sentenced for his role in a dogfighting...

So, Donald Trump has signed a pledge to fight against internet pornography. No, really. You can stop laughing now. Okay, I'll give you five more minutes. :: gives you ten minutes :: Okay, I'm back. Get all that laughing out of your system? Good. The reason this anti-pornography pledge is so funny is the fact Donald Trump appeared on the cover of Playboy  magazine in 1990 (long before nude pictures were banned); his 3rd wife, Melania, has taken nude girl-on-girl photos; the GOP nominee has admitted to being unfaithful to at least two of his three wives and sleeping around quite a bit during his day, often times with married women, etc. Given the reality of Mr. Trump's history with marriage, infidelity, and pornography, what he's now essentially saying is this: "I was once the face of a magazine where, if kids flipped through the pages, they could see lots, and I mean lots of vaginas, breasts, and asses. I'm against gay stuff, but think my 3rd wife, Melan...

After getting picked off three times in the first quarter against Buffalo last week, New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith got benched in favor of veteran Michael Vick. In his 3+ quarters of work, Vick, whom hadn't started a game in about a year, looked electric at times, yet quite rusty at others. He wound up leading the Jets to 23 points in his three quarters of work, yet also lost two fumbles and was intercepted once. In his defense, he hadn't gotten any reps with the first-team for quite some time, and the lack of reps showed on a number of plays where Vick either ran the wrong direction, bumped into a tailback on a hand-off, etc. Also, when a quarterback gets put in a game already down 14-0, the odds increase of him feeling pressure to succeed early and often, which can lead to some rather careless plays. Unsurprisingly, not long after the game ended, head coach Rex Ryan named Vick the starter for this coming week's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Leading ...

While I've never personally watched the show, I think I hear more people talk about the "reality" show Duck Dynasty than I hear them talk about anything else, including their kids. Well, based on recent remarks made by star of the show Phil Robertson to GQ magazine, it appears as if some regular viewers may opt to start watching something else instead. In the interview, Robertson made the following statements: - [When] "everything is blurred on what's right and what's wrong ... sin becomes fine." - "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there - bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men." - "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers - they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right." - "It seems...

As I predicted earlier today, it sounds as if Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Michael Vick will sit in the team's upcoming game against Tampa Bay next Sunday. As I also predicted, sports-writers and analysts have felt the need to debate whether Vick or Nick Foles should be the starting quarterback for the team. What I didn't predict was a headline-grabbing statement made by ESPN's Adam Schefter which would have earned him a low D for honesty, and that's probably being kind. Just a few minutes ago on Monday Night Countdown , Schefter announced that Foles would be starting for the injured Vick against Tampa Bay this coming Sunday. He then reported that Eagles coach Chip Kelly hasn't decided on who the starter will be beyond that game. Earlier in the day, ESPN (led by Schefter and Phil Sheridan) reported that Chip Kelly had said this regarding a possible long-term change at quarterback: "Can [Foles] win the starting job? If Nick goes out there and g...

With the conservative Supreme Court ruling to do away with section IV of the Voting Rights Act today, I think I've come to a realization. That is that modern day conservatives believe more in the rights of corporations, guns, and fetuses than actual living, breathing humans. If there were a corporation called Fetuses With Guns, the Republican Party of today would be in heaven, singing happy hymnals to an invisible person whom they believe created this world and is in control of everything in it. Guns aren't counted as part the human population. Neither are corporations. Fetuses aren't either. Yet, they're to be treated as people, as equals in this great land. Guns don't kill people. Corporations and fetuses are people. Well, if we go by that logic, I'm not aware of guns killing corporations or fetuses, so in that context, they may not kill people. Now it's all making sense. Going by that logic, a piece of paper constitutes as a person. Dust = people. A rug i...

The concept of sin fascinates me. It's perhaps partially due to the fact religion fascinates me. While I am in no way religious, I still find it to be a fascinating concept, and enjoy reading and pondering about it. Is sin subjective? Is there one set of sins according to religion and the after-life and another set according to living humans and the present life, or are they one and the same? Whenever I hear the word "sin," I immediately think of the Ten Commandments, which go as follows: 1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" 2. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" 3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" 4. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" 5. "Honour thy father and thy mother" 6. "Thou shalt not kill" 7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" 8. "Thou shalt not steal" 9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neig...

After losing their second consecutive presidential election, I've heard many Republicans either lay down excuses as to why they lost ("If it hadn't have been for Hurricane Sandy, then...") or make suggestions on how they can win in the future. One suggestion I've heard floating around and which was written about in the right-leaning National Review is that Republicans should push for more states to go by the congressional-district model as opposed to the winner-take-all one. In this very model or some version of it, Romney would have won in two of the three possible scenarios. Romney would have won, despite losing by a little less than five-million votes to Obama - losing to the president by around 3.5%. Yeah, that would make a lot of sense. It would have been one thing if Mitt Romney won the popular vote in November, yet lost in the electoral college, and Republicans decided to push legislation on altering the electoral college to a popular vote contest. I co...

Remember how many big-name Republicans went after Obamacare, saying it was trampling on our freedoms and the first step toward socialism? Even former Senator and current president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation - Jim DeMint - referred to Obamacare as "a cancer" and said that it "is fundamentally inconsistent with liberty." I only mention DeMint specifically because of the recently released 2013 Heritage Economic Freedom Index, where the conservative-leaning group ranks countries based on their level of freedom from an economic standpoint. Number 10 on the list of most free countries, according to the Heritage Foundation, is the United States. This is both surprising and unsurprising. It's surprising, given the fact that the liberty-trampling Obamacare (according to many conservatives) looks like it's here to stay. However, many of these same conservatives who decry Obamacare for that alleged reason also lay claim that the U.S. is the freest, gre...

Does anyone else find it funny that the same far-right individuals whom consistently clamor about President Obama and liberals in Congress driving us toward a police state are suggesting that to ensure our safety, we need more armed cops in schools and elsewhere?

There are two issues which have dominated the hard-core Christian right's thoughts in recent years - abortion and homosexuality. This has played a very large role in their refusing to vote for Democratic candidates and instead opting to support the pro-life, anti-gay marriage Republican candidates. The two phrases which have been repeated by them more than "Go team!" by a group of high school cheerleaders suffering from a combination Alzheimer's and Tourette's Syndrome are "They're baby-killers" and "homosexuality is an abomination!" Yeah, because if a person is pro-choice and supports a woman's right to choose what she does with her body post-pregnancy, then obviously this person supports the killing of babies. It's just like if they support people's right to eat what they please (within reason, that is...), they're obviously animal-killers. The reason many of them seem so insistent homosexuality being an abomination is ...

Yeah, that's right. The arguable front-runner to become the Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential election's tax plan would increase taxes for 83.8% of this country. Republicans recently voted down the American Jobs Act, which would have resulted in a raise of taxes for the top 1-2%, meaning that 98-99% of the country would be unaffected. In Cain's plan, those making anywhere from under $10,000 to $200,000 would see a mean tax hike of $3,381.75, a 950% spike for those making between $10,000 and $20,000 a year. For those making between $200,000 and over $1,000,000? They'd see a mean tax cut of $175,297, including a $455,247 tax cut for those making over $1,000,000. That's right, folks. The anti-tax party, also know as the Republican Party, is a strong opponent of a plan which would increase taxes on the 1-2% wealthiest in this country while leaving 98-99% unscathed, yet support a plan which would increase taxes on the bottom 84%, with the top 16% being the b...

This isn't true in all cases, of course, but more times than not, when talking about the government's role in people's lives, Republicans tend to sway to the side of, "They have too much control!" The Tea Party, a sub-party of angry Republicans, spout those same sentiments fairly regularly. I find this amusing, because as polls have shown for a while now, Republicans tend to be more "religious," more involved with the church, more regular attenders of church services, etc. Now, nobody really knows with certainty why religions were created, what the reasons for them were, if any of them are accurate and/or superior to all others, etc. We can have faith that one is accurate and superior, but until we pass, we won't know. Personally, I've always believed that religion was a tool used by the governments of the world to mold citizens in a certain-like, in hopes that it would provoke fear, especially of authority figures and in turn, bring about ...

...when those whom are 99.9% certain of something, that one-tenth of a percentage usually represents a much larger number than is stated? ...when those whom let out the big "P" (promise) or "L" word (love), it's only honest and sincere about once every two times said? ...that narrow minds and large mouths usually go together? ...when one is blind to problems of their own and outspoken on those very same problems pertaining to others? ...considered moral to believe religious tall tales, yet considered loony to believe conspiracy theories? ...considered unpatriotic to question authority, yet patriotic to express one's first amendment rights? ...that the worst tasting alcoholic drinks are considered macho? ...that immigrants whom take and pass the test to become legal then probably know more about this country than born citizens? ...we look up to figures in society for their status alone when all we know about them is their status? ...we seem ...