When Dealing With Lobotomized Baboons, Pick Your Battles

By now, most people have heard about The Response, Texas governor Rick Perry's prayer and fasting summit that will be held on August 6th at Reliant Stadium. The Response is a specifically Evangelical Christian meeting organized to save our nation's economy and society by appealing to Jesus for a solution. Yeah. Jesus. Apparently Rick Perry has looked at the current economy and said, "I've got nothing." The Response is mostly funded by the American Family Association, a racist, bigoted organization that blames the Muslim and homosexual communities for society's ills. This group has been labeled as a hate group, equal to groups like the Ku Klux Klan, by the Southern Poverty Law Center for their comments concerning the LGBT community. The AFA hosts numerous radio shows nationwide, notably one by Brian Fischer, who has blamed homosexuals for the Holocaust. Simply look up Brian Fischer and The American Family Association on Youtube should you be inclined to subject yourself to the astoundingly hateful rhetoric spewing from this organization. Rick Perry has remained unfazed by the criticism of his involvement with this organization.

This article, however, will not delve into any of these matters. The problems caused by the AFA and it's followers are plainly obvious to anyone with half a brain. The issue I have is with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization I often support. Last week they filed a lawsuit against Rick Perry attempting to stop The Response from occurring. The FFRF asserts that Rick Perry has violated the First Amendment, specifically the Establishment Clause by promoting and participating in this event. They claim that Perry's participation in the event gives the impression that the government endorses evangelical christian beliefs over other religious beliefs. His video inviting all citizens to join in prayer was shot from the Texas Capital and is posted on the governor's website. Additionally, they seek to have the use of the Texas state seal in promoting the event to be ruled unconstitutional. While Perry is using private funding to pay for this event, these actions are indeed a violation of separation of church and state. And that's the problem with this lawsuit.

Perry's promotion and participation concerning this event obviously push the boundaries of the establishment clause where secularists are concerned. The problem is they don't necessarily break the letter of the law, but they certainly clash with the spirit of the law. My fear concerning this lawsuit is that it doesn't have a 'smoking gun'. This isn't a slam dunk case. The problem that arises is when these types of lawsuits get turned down. Every time a case involving the establishment clause has a ruling against it, it sets a legal precedent. This stands in the way of stronger lawsuits in the future. An example of this is several of the Michael Newdow cases concerning the mention of God in the pledge of allegiance and on U.S. currency. Even extremely liberal justices ruled against him simply because courts had previously determined these religious statements to be constitutional.

I fear this case is overwhelmingly weak. The Establishment Clause does not prohibit a politician from holding religious beliefs as well as speaking about them. In my opinion, Rick Perry's video promotion is a violation of the first amendment as long as it is posted on the official governor's site. Does this, however, differ from the President of the United States proclaiming a national day of prayer? That case, also filed by the FFRF, is still being appealed. Will a lower court judge take this into consideration? You'd be a fool to conclude otherwise. The problem here for the FFRF and the rest of us, is not that Perry violates the First Amendment. It's that it's not a strong enough case to risk a precedent being set against us.

This is where the FFRF has gone wrong. In being overeager to do what's right according to the Constitution, they have risked setting their own movement back. When a government official blatantly violates the Establishment Clause, by all means, take them down. But when it's something as trivial as a governor of a state posting a video on his website, please for your own sake, stay quiet. Yes, you're absolutely right. The Constitution has been violated. This is a disgusting, shameful abuse of office by a politician and a nauseating display of arrogance by a fundamental Christian. But you most likely won't win in the current political climate and in the current society in which we live. Go for the cases you're absolutely sure of, not the feel good long shots based on principle. The chance to make a statement is not worth the chance of setting precedent that will hinder your mission in the future. Please, for everyone's sake, pick your battles more carefully. 

Having said that, here's hoping Rick Perry goes down... and goes down hard.

Why I'm a Progressive Democrat...

When one looks at the two predominant parties in our system, as say an independent or as someone who cares very little about politics, you may think they are two sides to the same coin. One might assume that if our current governing system is the center of the political spectrum that each party is only slightly to the left or right of that dividing line with Democrats to the left and Republicans to the right, and that both sides for the most part like our government. This, however, is not the case.

Despite the rhetoric you hear from the right saying that liberals are the ones that hate this country, the Republicans despise almost everything about our government. Republicans demonize taxes and government spending. They don't care about a social safety net (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) or health and safety organization like the EPA and FDA. They hate any and all regulations put on private industry with regards to polluting, fair business practices, or working conditions. They don’t like the concept of public schooling and hate the idea of giving grants for education and research.

Democrats on the other hand, feel that while some Americans will make more money than they will ever need to live several lifetimes, a large portion of the population will not have millions of dollars saved up for retirement. This is why we have decided as a country to ensure that past a certain age you will not have to worry about working to keep food on the table or cover increasing medical bills. And for those who get the worst life has to offer, Medicaid will make sure you don’t have to suffer needlessly. They understand that private industry has proven that it cares more about a bottom line than providing safe food and drugs, or keeping the water and air clean. They understand that education is an important and fundamental right of every citizen.  They also feel that this education should be based on honest and relevant topics without biased agendas.

Republicans want to cut the knees out from under the government.  They say they want to cut taxes, cap the deficit, and balance the budget. This sounds like a good idea from a simple numbers standpoint.  But let’s not forget how we ended up with our deficit and doubled national debt in the last 10 years. First we took a budget surplus and decided to cut taxes, instead of pay on the national debt. Then we decided to enter two wars without finding a way to pay for them. We deregulated the banking/lending system that led to a housing bust, and had to bailout companies that were deemed too big to fail. The slumping economy then hit the auto industry, which required its own bailout. Understand that with roughly the same government spending on social programs we turned a budget surplus into a deficit. Now republicans want to blame the deficit on the social programs that have been in place and working for 70 years. The Republicans are using this economy and our current budget issues, as well as the ignorance of the population on the topic and its history, to scare the country into slashing away all we have worked hard to accomplish as a whole. They want to make it really easy to cut taxes, but impossible to raise them. Republicans think all government spending is bad aside from national security, of course.

Democrats understand that the national debt in the short term is not a problem. In reality government debt creates a stable investment for everyone. This is because the government historically has always paid its bondholders. Government bonds are the most reliable investment available.  Bondholders range from pension funds to private business looking for a steady reliable return. This will not be true if we decide not to raise the debt ceiling. Deficit spending has been the model for economic recovery since the great depression, and it works. You have to spend money on things like infrastructure, so that when you come out of the recession you are a stronger country. Democratic government spending has spearheaded many of the major technological advancements in this country. Think about the following list of achievements that were only possible by government funding: The Transcontinental Railroad, the Interstate Highway System, the Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, the Space Race, and the Internet.  Every one of these projects has benefited private sector job growth. No private entity has the capital or longevity to benefit from these as privately funded project. The government has the longevity and stability to accomplish any goal of any size. Why is it bad to think that health care reform should be our next space race? Why should we cut social security so millionaires can get a tax cut? Why should we let our bridges and highways deteriorate so we can fight a war we never should have started? Don’t be fooled, Republicans want you to think they care about your financial well being, and that if we shrink government it will magically get better.

Another way of seeing how the two differ is by their respective news outlets. Conservative news media is about scaring you into voting for the Republican Party. They bully guests and interject warped reality into almost every situation. It always boils down to how the liberal progressives are out to destroy the country. They are often angry, ignorant maniacs like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh. These people don’t just disagree with their democratic counterparts, they hate them. Conservative media will often exaggerate, mislead, and even lie to make a point.

The reality is liberals don’t want to destroy the country; they only want to work to make it slightly better than it currently is. Republicans want to destroy the very essence of this country, our government. That’s not an exaggeration. Ask them if they like the size and role of our current government. Then ask yourself: Has it ever done anything negative to our economy or our way of life? Of course some will argue that liberal media is just as biased as conservative media, to which I say, maybe, but hardly ever are they misleading or untruthful. Having a political opinion is far different from spinning the facts to fit that opinion. I challenge anyone who thinks that MSNBC is just as bad as Fox News to actually sit down and watch it. You may be surprised. Although, if you lack even the slightest bit of empathy, you may not.

Finally, the Republican Party has made it almost impossible for a sane, honest, educated person to run for office under the republican flag. As a Republican you are not allowed to compromise for the greater good. Politics isn’t about having a rock hard ideology and never wavering from it. Raising taxes can be a necessary agenda if we have out of control deficit. Regulations on private business are usually helpful in preventing the exploitation of workers, consumers, and the environment. Gun control has its place, and can be done in a way that still preserves the second amendment. Healthcare is and ought to be a fundamental right for all Americans. And sometimes the billionaire who helped you get elected may not be worried about the best interest of the people. The next time someone tells you that raising taxes on the rich will cause them to leave the country in search of lower taxes, I say let them go. They won’t find another country as great as ours to live in, one that cares about all its citizens, not just the rich ones. A country built around a strong supporting government. A country that cares about education, clean air, and clean water. A country that can look at scientific facts about global warming and be proactive in trying to preventing a global catastrophe. Or at least that’s the country I hope we live in.

What's Going On Here?

Welcome to Communication Breakdown! This is a blog created by three people who fear the responsibility of providing a sufficient amount of content individually. Together, the three of us, one guy from Austin, Texas, one from College Station, Texas, and another from Denver, Colorado will come together to create one whole blogger! We are liberals, atheists, skeptics, and all around evil, secular progressives, among other things. Our primary aim is to provide not so humble musings on politics, religion, and the interaction between the two, although other unforeseen topics are certain to pop up. So, thank you for checking out our blog and we are on our way in getting our first posts out. We hope you enjoy this blog and find it entertaining and thought provoking!