Mike Huckabee 'Ick Factor' Comments Slammed By Gay Rights Groups

"We can get into the ick factor?" It's like he's begging to talk about it. I actually think it would have been better if he had said "I won't go into the ick factor," because that at least would have been consistent. As it is, it almost sounds like he's begging someone to ask him about where the pee-pees go when gay men do what mommies and daddies do in their bedrooms. Latent tendencies, much?
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Faisal Shahzad Arrest: Beck Versus McCain On Miranda Rights For Times Square Suspect (VIDEO)

I may choke on these words, but I have to say them: "I'm with Glenn Beck on this one." To think that I would even have to make a political statement of my support for mirandizing an American citizen just shows how far some elements in our society have sunk. The best support they can come up with for their position is "but still?" But still what? This is America. Americans have rights even if they don't deserve them, including the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Reading this man his miranda rights should in no way bar us from finding him guilty. Our justice system may have flaws, but are we saying that it doesn't work? If we ignore his Constitutional rights, we only open ourselves to letting this guy off on a technicality. Why take that risk?
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Wants To Be President

Meh, to be honest, I wouldn't mind this being amended. Not for Ah-nold's sake, but just because I don't really see the point. He's an American, right? What if Obama had been born in Kenya or Indonesia? Would that have made him any less capable of leading? What if McCain had been born off-base instead of in a military hospital? I think that if someone is not a natural-born citizen, they should be able to run 35 years after naturalization. I have to be a citizen for 35 years before I can run for president, so should anyone else.
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Family Value: Paying It Forward

Happy Pay It Forward Day, everyone. What's that, you've never heard of this holiday? Neither had I until a few days ago when I noticed that one of my friends had marked themselves as "attending" this event on Facebook. I promptly did the same, as the concept of paying it forward is one of the guiding principles of our family.

As a matter of fact, when I mentioned the holiday to my husband this morning, we discussed it and realized that we were already participating without even knowing about the special date. Today is also the anniversary of the Make a Wish Foundations's first granted wish, and many local organizations, including ours, are having fundraising events today. Our daughter's dance team is scheduled to lead the warmup at our local Wish Walk, and our entire family was already signed up to participate.

In addition, as this is the last day of regular classes for most of the classes we teach, my husband was bringing in food for his students. I was unable to do something so nifty, since I'm administering state exit exams. However, for the most part, what we found is that we will be participating without even having to change our schedules.

For Progressive parents who are living their values with their children, probably every day, or nearly, is Pay It Forward Day. Granted, it's nice to have reminders like this, and we will probably make an effort to look for additional ways to make a difference to the people around us in honor of the day. How about you? What will you do today to make your community a better place? Is it pretty close to the things you do every day to teach your kids to be responsible citizens?

Not a Family Value: Racial Profiling

Arizona's new anti-immigration laws have me somewhat stunned. This law not only allows racial profiling, it will actually serve to require it of law enforcement.

I know that Arizona has had some serious issues with illegal immigration, and specifically with crime related to human trafficking. These are serious problems, and the citizens of AZ have been begging the federal government to assist for years, to no avail. However, policies of racial profiling are not the way to solve these problems. Much like torture in interrogation, racial profiling is the kind of thing that people may feel is distasteful, but necessary. In reality, both of these things actually serve to amplify the problems they purport to be solving.

Kendrick Meeks, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in FL, recently released a statement in which he said, in effect, that his experience in the highway patrol led him to believe that these kinds of policies are detrimental to law enforcement officers. The problem is that they erode the trust that officers need from the community in order to solve crimes and get witnesses to speak.

So, even if these policies weren't morally abhorrent, they remain ineffective. Still don't believe that they are, in fact, morally abhorrent? Think about the many, many people in AZ who are brown skinned, speak with an accent, and are legal immigrants or American citizens. How can it possibly be okay to hold these brown-skinned citizens to a different standard than their white-skinned counterparts? If it is just too hard for you to imagine what legal and government-enforced racism might look like when it applies to your ethnic group, try watching M.I.A.'s new video.

If you disagree with me, please tell me why in rational, non-vulgar, non-insulting language. If you agree, please take action. Color of Change has a petition going in conjunction with Presente.org. Please go check it out here.