Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Is the Abortion Sonogram Law Unconstitutional?

If you aren't already aware, Texas has created a new abortion sonogram law. This is a law that requires all women considering abortion to have a sonogram and listen to a description of the fetus before aborting it. This law was deemed unconstitutional by some, saying that it affects the women's reproductive rights. Because the law was granted unconstitutional, the law was appealed. The Supreme Court is now refusing Texas the permission to enforce the new sonogram law while under appeal. The real question is, is the new abortion sonogram law unconstitutional? Although I believe the law is a tad deviant, I don't believe it is unconstitutional. Even though the reason behind this law may be of biased opinion (people not believing in abortion) it can be argued that the law was created for medical purposes. It can be argued that the law was created by concerns for the health of the mother. It doesn't seem unconstitutional to me because it is just another required "medical test." Pregnant women have sonograms all the time, the only thing that could seem unconstitutional is that the mothers do not have an option to say no to the sonogram. The doctor giving a description of the fetus to the patient is not unconstitutional because that is a Doctor's job. I believe people are upset with the fact that they do not have an option to say no to all of this, which is interesting to me because there has never really been a reason to before. In my opinion, I like the law. It allows women to understand what exactly is happening to their bodies when they're pregnant and I believe that is something they need to be informed of. I believe it is necessary that before women get an abortion they truly understand what the procedure is. So in my opinion, the law is not unconstitutional, it just comes from biased opinions.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Little Perry Humor

I chose the blog entry Do You Want a Revolution by Eileen Smith, editor of In the Pink. This critique of the  ABC news article was very entertaining to me. The author's intended audience was obviously for someone who enjoys the sight of Rick Perry making a fool of himself in the recent debates. If you are informed at all about how these debates are going, you will know that debates aren't Perry's strong point. The author bluntly points that out and makes her opinion clear to all that she agrees with that statement.

The author states that Perry discussed some American history with the Beta Theta Pi fraternity from Dartmouth university and slipped up on his dates. Actually, Perry was off by two whole centuries! Perry was making a point about the intentions of our founding fathers, and their intentions on where the wisdom and power should be held in this country. During this "informative" speech Perry made the mistake of saying the American Revolution happened in the 16th century, when it actually was held during the 18th century. This didn't look too good for Perry.

According to the author, Perry is in the danger zone and is not safe. According to her, Perry's debate performance was at its best "coma-inducing." Although I enjoy the authors humor and sarcasm in this editorial, i feel like its a little too biased for my taste. I agree with the author about Perry making a fool out of himself but it seems to me like the author is bashing on Perry. Although Perry's dates were pretty far off, everyone makes mistakes when they're under pressure. The question is, is it okay for a future leader of our country to make those kind of mistakes under pressure? I certainly don't believe so.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The rise of Cain, the downfall of Perry

I chose the article Herman Cain Rising written by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann from 
the Texas Insider on September 26th, 2011. Since the debate, Rick Perry has shown to be a weak opponent of illegal 
immigration and an even weaker debater. The performance of candidate Herman Cain 
caught the public’s eyes of the conservatives with his “superstar” quality. A 
phenomenal debate performance by Cain led to a third place victory in the 
president’s straw poll in Florida. It also landed him a third place finish in 
the Michigan straw poll right behind Romney and Perry. Cain is a candidate that 
offers something different to the table. He offers “an alternative to Obamas 
class warfare.”  Cain takes a new perspective on this issue giving another 
alternative for minorities to be successful. Obama’s way to the top was through 
community organizing, affirmative action, and a slow rise up the political 
ladder. Cain’s alternative to this is dedicating hard work to the private 
sector, having entrepreneurial initiative and managerial skills, and this is 
exactly what Cain did. He looks at the upper-class as models, not as envy and 
doesn’t despise the healthy class. Apparently, he “wants everyone to be rich.” 
Cain and Mitt Romney’s views are almost parallel to each other, both agreeing 
that experience in the private sector is better equipped to solve America’s 
economic problems rather than experience in government service. As Perry slowly 
fades, Romney is rising and Cain is not far behind him! 
This editorial caught my eye because although it was fact based, there was an 
immense amount of opinion evident throughout the editorial. The writers, Dick 
Morris & Eileen McGann, seemed a little bias to me in this editorial. It was 
obvious that they had biased feelings towards Herman Cain, calling him a 
“superstar” and saying how he blew everyone away in the debate. They made sure 
not to leave out the fact the Perry didn’t do well at all, and even had a 
downfall in the debate. It was a good editorial, but I would have liked to see 
opinions about the other candidates as well. It was obvious who the writers were 
rooting for, and that could be dangerous to a reader that lacks knowledge about 
other candidates. This editorial could easily change anyone’s mind. Although I 
think this editorial was biased, I do agree with some of the statements. I agree 
with Cain’s and Romney’s opinion that experience in the private sector is better 
equipped to solve America’s economic problems over the government service 
argument. Perry has devoted years of government service and was not able to have 
a reasonable explanation for illegal immigration and other factors that affect 
our economy during the debate.

Monday, September 12, 2011

It's not all about jobs; education's an issue, too!

It's not all about jobs; education's an issue, too!

This article is definitely worth reading; it is quite interesting! Just to summarize the article, since Governor Rick Perry became a candidate for president, some interesting arguments have escalated from citizens wanting answers about our education system.
If you are not already aware, Texas is looking at last place right now for the percentage of Texas residents who have completed high school and have received a high school degree. Now, I will have you know that Texas has not always been in last place. While Perry has been governor, we have gone from being ranked 45th to 50th in number of high school graduates. Some say that Perry was not to blame for our lack of education, and that Texas was already struggling with it before Perry came into office. Other facts show that more people, such as illegal immigrants, have moved to Texas recently who have not completed high school. Some false statements have also been made by Perry which look like excuses to some Texans for why our education isn't where it should be. How will Texas improve their education when Texas' ranking on per pupil spending has dropped from 35th to 43rd since Perry has been elected governor?  This article has made some compelling points on the status of Texas education and is worth further investigation.