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I love George Lopez. Thanks for providing the title of tonight's post.
I've taken to not frequenting my usual news sites (Yahoo, Times Union, and occasionally CNN) over the last few days because all I see and hear about are two topics: the proposed Muslim community center/mosque, and the ongoing saga of Proposition 8. And in all those articles, the bigotry and blatant racism on the part of people who post comments to those articles keeps flowing like Niagara Falls. So I've taken more to the only true news site, The Onion.
Both issues are bringing out the horrible nature of people. In a way, one could argue that such hot issues are encouraging conversation, but the more and more this drags on, the more and more divisive it becomes. Since this is an election year (every seat in the House of Representatives is up for grabs, several governor positions, and some US Senate positions, not including state and local government positions), politicians are grabbing a position on these (although, primarily on the mosque issue here in NY) and using it to bash their opponents over the head with it.
It's disgusting.
Readers of this LJ (what few there are left) may already know my position on the matters, in brief: I'm all for gay marriage, since, plain and simple, who are we to deny any other person happiness--especially when it's not hurting anyone? And for the mosque/community center (which, as more info comes to light, we find that it's basically going to be set up sort of like a Muslim version of a YMCA): build it. Regardless of the other questions surrounding who pays for it, who's running it, etc, we still have that thing called the 1st Amendment. It's not the 1st Amendment Until You Disagree With It.
In a conversation I had with my wife recently about the mosque, she mentioned that she was surprised that our government hadn't yet done to the Muslims in this country what they did to the Japanese during World War II--round them up and put them into interment camps. Even though what the US did to the Japanese Americans (many of them being legal citizens) is now illegal (, I'm also surprised our government hasn't tried to figure out a way around that in the wake of 9/11.
People are sick. And the fact that our legislatures are turning this into a campaign issue is really discouraging me to vote. Even now, as we begin to see the ads for candidates, all I see are negative, mud-slinging ads. Apparently, politicians are going to once again try to win my vote by essentially calling their opponents jerks, pricks, and assholes.
I can't wait to go on vacation--I'll get to avoid all of this for a week, and then school starts, and my mind will be focused on schoolwork instead of how people find ways to willingly hurt others.
I've taken to not frequenting my usual news sites (Yahoo, Times Union, and occasionally CNN) over the last few days because all I see and hear about are two topics: the proposed Muslim community center/mosque, and the ongoing saga of Proposition 8. And in all those articles, the bigotry and blatant racism on the part of people who post comments to those articles keeps flowing like Niagara Falls. So I've taken more to the only true news site, The Onion.
Both issues are bringing out the horrible nature of people. In a way, one could argue that such hot issues are encouraging conversation, but the more and more this drags on, the more and more divisive it becomes. Since this is an election year (every seat in the House of Representatives is up for grabs, several governor positions, and some US Senate positions, not including state and local government positions), politicians are grabbing a position on these (although, primarily on the mosque issue here in NY) and using it to bash their opponents over the head with it.
It's disgusting.
Readers of this LJ (what few there are left) may already know my position on the matters, in brief: I'm all for gay marriage, since, plain and simple, who are we to deny any other person happiness--especially when it's not hurting anyone? And for the mosque/community center (which, as more info comes to light, we find that it's basically going to be set up sort of like a Muslim version of a YMCA): build it. Regardless of the other questions surrounding who pays for it, who's running it, etc, we still have that thing called the 1st Amendment. It's not the 1st Amendment Until You Disagree With It.
In a conversation I had with my wife recently about the mosque, she mentioned that she was surprised that our government hadn't yet done to the Muslims in this country what they did to the Japanese during World War II--round them up and put them into interment camps. Even though what the US did to the Japanese Americans (many of them being legal citizens) is now illegal (, I'm also surprised our government hasn't tried to figure out a way around that in the wake of 9/11.
People are sick. And the fact that our legislatures are turning this into a campaign issue is really discouraging me to vote. Even now, as we begin to see the ads for candidates, all I see are negative, mud-slinging ads. Apparently, politicians are going to once again try to win my vote by essentially calling their opponents jerks, pricks, and assholes.
I can't wait to go on vacation--I'll get to avoid all of this for a week, and then school starts, and my mind will be focused on schoolwork instead of how people find ways to willingly hurt others.
