Vote 2006

I got to my polling place this morning around 6:40. The line wasn't too bad, there were about 40 or 50 people in front of me. They let us in right at 7:00 and started checking people in. The L-M line was a little slower than the others, so I ended up being behind about 75 people in the line to vote. I was done by 7:30.


How I Voted

Governor: David Gatchell
"Gay Marriage" Amendment: No
"Property Tax" Amendment: No
Senate: David Gatchell
House (6th District): I wrote myself in, because all of the candidates were big government advocates
State Representative (45th District): I wrote myself in
Alderman: Lisa West


Reasons Why I Voted That Way

In both the Governor & Senate race, I voted for David "None of the Above" Gatchell. He ran on the premise that we should have a NOTA (None of the Above) option on every ballot because too often, there are no quality candidates on the ballot. Especially when the only person to run is the incumbent. If the NOTA option received the most votes, there would have to be a 2nd election for that race that allowed new candidates. His campaign is that he will hold the office until a new election can be held for that office. In the hotly contested Senate race, most people felt like they had to choose between Ford and Corker. I couldn't vote for Ford because he voted for the MCA2006 (Military Commissions Act). I couldn't vote for anyone who voted for that and not get physically sick. Corker didn't vote for it, but that's only because he didn't have a chance to. He seems like a typical Republican rubber stamp.

I voted against the "Gay Marriage" amendment because it's an abuse of the constitution. The state constitution exists to grant powers from the people to the state. By adding language that limits the rights of people, we are reversing the flow of power. We are giving the signal that it is okay for the government to meddle in the affairs of the people. Plus, it raises red flags when there is language that specifically mentions that "judicial interpretations" will be void and unenforceable. It is the judicial branch's raison d'etre to interpret the constitution and stating in black and white that no matter what a judge decides, the amendment stands, it makes me think the amendment just might be unconstitutional to begin with.

The property tax amendment was a tough one to decide. While the idea of someone having lower taxes and helping senior citizens is appealing, I don't like the idea of basing taxes on age. I also think it will create a group of people who don't care about property tax issues, because it won't affect them. How about we all work toward lowering everyone's property tax?

As stated above, I wrote myself in the House and State Rep race because none of the candidates seemed to believe in individual liberty.

This is a must read

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15321167/

Mr. Olbermann has written an editorial on the the Military Commissions Act that says what I would say if I could write that well. I can't add or take away anything from this. Everyone should read this.

Some selected quotes...

"Each of these actions was undertaken for the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

And each was a betrayal of that for which the president who advocated them claimed to be fighting."

"We have accepted that the only way to stop the terrorists is to let the government become just a little bit like the terrorists.

Just the way we once accepted that the only way to stop the Soviets was to let the government become just a little bit like the Soviets.

Or substitute the Japanese.

Or the Germans.

Or the Socialists.

Or the Anarchists.

Or the Immigrants.

Or the British.

Or the Aliens.

The most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons. And, always, always wrong."

"We have a long and painful history of ignoring the prophecy attributed to Benjamin Franklin that “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

But even within this history we have not before codified the poisoning of habeas corpus, that wellspring of protection from which all essential liberties flow.

You, sir, have now befouled that spring.

You, sir, have now given us chaos and called it order.

You, sir, have now imposed subjugation and called it freedom.

For the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

And — again, Mr. Bush — all of them, wrong."

"We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens “unlawful enemy combatants” and ship them somewhere—anywhere -- but may now, if he so decides, declare you an “unlawful enemy combatant” and ship you somewhere - anywhere.

And if you think this hyperbole or hysteria, ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was president or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was president or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was president."

"This President now has his blank check.

He lied to get it.

He lied as he received it.

Is there any reason to even hope he has not lied about how he intends to use it nor who he intends to use it against?"

"The moral force we shined outwards to the world as an eternal beacon, and inwards at ourselves as an eternal protection? Snuffed out."

Habeas Corpus

Yesterday, President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law. Ironically, it is the 135th anniversary of the last time habeas corpus was suspended in this country.

This absolutely makes me sick. The few protesters that were at the White House were dressed up like Abu Ghraid prisoners like allowing torture is the worst part of this bill. This bill gives the president and the secretary of defense despotic power. What's the lead story at The Tennessean? "Ex-nanny says Evans' husband never made pass." A little known country singer's divorce bullshit. And there are 3 stories about this on the front page! There is nothing about the new law, not even in the U.S./World section. Do we as a society really not care about our freedom? Has the Constitution just become another piece of paper that doesn't mean anything?

There have been many books written where totalitarian governments used media as a way to pacify their subjects. 1984, Brave New World and Running Man just to name a few. I'm not going into conspiracy theory land here and saying that the present gov't is doing that, but look at how easy it would be. We are more interested in what celebrities are doing or what's going on on some "reality" show than the fact that the government that we elect and empower just gutted the supreme law of the land.

I have, in the past, voted for some Republicans and I have voted for some Democrats. Both parties have become a cancer to America. Their only goal is power. I cannot bring myself to vote for either party, I refuse to endorse the blatant power grab. Until enough people wake up and realize what is happening in our country, we will continue to have our rights trampled. I hope it happens soon.

"Every generation needs a new revolution"
--Thomas Jefferson

House update

Last weekend, I finished my 2nd home improvement project. My grandfather and I replaced the faucet in the upstairs bathroom. We ended up having to replace all the pipes underneath as well. I've taken down half the border in the living room and plan on finishing that tonight. I'm going to try to paint the living room this weekend.

Military Commissions Act of 2006

I've been gathering my thoughts on this issue for the past week. I'm sure everyone has heard about the Military Commissions Act of 2006 . If you haven't, it may be because of the ruckus over Mark Foley. The press seems to be paying a lot more attention to that scandal than the usurpation of the right of habeas corpus. People, it is time to wake up! Between this law and the two Patriot Acts (calling them "Patriot" is like having jumbo shrimp), the government has gutted the Constitution and a lot of people in this country think it's a great thing.

Some people have said that the law only applies to non-citizens while others claim that it can be applied to citizens because of the use of "unlawful enemy combatant" doesn't exclude citizens. But it does define "alien" as a non-U.S. citizen. And in a later paragraph refers to "alien unlawful enemy combatants". I'll leave the analysis to the lawyers. Either way it is truly frightening to me that we are willing to do away with one of the oldest cornerstones of a free society. The right of habeas corpus has been recognized as a necessary right in free society since the 11th century. If the government can imprison you without trial or even telling you why you are imprisoned, how can you be free? And for those who say they aren't worried because this only applies to non-citizens, this administration has attempted several times to have wording added to bills to allow for the stripping of citizenship from a person accused of "terrorist activity." How many times has President Bush said "You're either with us or against us"? So what happens when dissent becomes a "terrorist activity"?

For years, the government has overstepped the powers granted to it by the Constitution (more on this later). Since 9/11/01, our rights have been under a full scale assault. For a while after 9/11, there was a lot of talk about "if we do/don't X, we let the terrorists win." Like "If we can't travel freely, we let the terrorists win" or "If we don't shop for Christmas presents, we let the terrorists win." Well folks, by letting the government violate our inalienable rights in the name of security, we are letting the terrorists win. President Bush has often said that the terrorists hate us for our freedom, so I guess the plan is to do away with that freedom so they don't hate us anymore.

I mentioned more on powers granted in the Constitution in the last paragraph, so here it is. I often hear people say something like "The Constitution grants me the freedom of speech/religion/etc." No it doesn't. You have that right inherently and it is inalienable. The Constitution doesn't grant rights to the people, it grants priveledges to and puts restrictions on the government. It's purpose is to protect our rights from the government. The laws that are being passed are unconstitutional, and the lawmakers know they are. But they don't care. Their ultimate goal is power and the only way for them to get power is by violating our rights.

Elections are a few weeks away. Both major parties have proven they don't care about our rights. Don't vote for them. Vote for a candidate that believes in freedom. Find Libertarian or independent candidates. If there isn't one, write one in. In the TN Gov and Senate race, there is the option of David "None of the Above" Gatchell . A lot of people view this as "wasting" my vote, but if I don't vote in what I believe in, then I am truly wasting it. I'm tired of choosing the lesser of two evils.

Paranoid?

Bill O'Reilly says N. Korea nuke test was to influence our election

"the reason North Korea is causing trouble" by allegedly developing and testing nuclear weapons "is that it wants to influence the November election." He added: "That is not a partisan statement. It is a fact," then concluded that North Korea "hate[s] Mr. Bush and want[s] to weaken him as much as possible."

Yes, Bill, N. Korea spent years and all that money so a few extra Democrats could get elected to our Senate. And he doesn't present this as his opinion, but actually claims it's a "fact." What a maroon!*

*Before you comment saying I misspelled moron, see Bugs Bunny

Voter registration

Tomorrow (Oct 6) is the deadline for registering to vote if you want to vote in the upcoming election. It had slipped my mind, I was just checking on it because I recently moved. You can mail it in as long as it is postmarked by Saturday.

Here's where I got my form...

Voter Registration Form

It is especially important for Tennesseans to vote this year because we have a constitutional amendment on the ballet. So go register!

First project done

Last night I got my first home improvement project done. The kitchen used to have this monstrosity...



Now it has this...

Movie Invitation

I am going to the Belcourt theater to see America: Freedom to Facism on Sunday at 4:45pm. It is playing for one week only. Where Farenheit 9/11 was a personal attack on one politician, this movie shows what the entire government is attempting to do. It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or independent, you should see this movie.

Since I'm using the beta of blogger.com, I think comments are broken. So drop me an email if you can come at the same time and I'll meet you. If another time is better for several people, maybe we'll change it. Email is jeffwmartin at gmail dot com

Mi casa

I'm all set to move in tomorrow. I stopped by Wednesday and took a few pictures...

Welcome



The living room as you come in. That border is coming down by Sunday!



Other side of the living room. That border is ugly!



The kitchen. The wallpaper will come down soon and that light will come down as soon as I get to Lowe's to buy its replacement.


A few other things I want to do is scrape off the popcorn from the ceiling and repaint the ceilings. I'm going to paint everywhere. I want to replace all of the interior doors because the ones that are there are old and showing their age. I'm thinking about replacing the vanities & sinks in the bathrooms and when I win the lottery, I'll replace the appliances in the kitchen.

Words and Phrases I'm Tired of Hearing

• Talking points
• Alliances
• Mega-wealthy (usually preceded by "tax breaks for the")
  
• I approve this message
• Playing the game
  

I'm sure I will think of more later.

New House

After jumping through a bunch of hoops and hitting every possible roadblock when buying a house, I just closed on a condo. It's in Hendersonville, across the street from the lake. 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. I will post some pictures this week. I will be moving this weekend.

Pending updates

I haven't updated in a while. I've got a few big news items that I will be sharing, but I'm not ready just yet. Look for an update tonight.

Finally!

Our Tuesday game was rained out and we made it up last night. We were playing the team that had beat us so bad last week. They didn't really beat us, we just walked most of them the entire game. Anyway, last night the boys came out in the first inning and played good defense and kept them from scoring the 1st 2 innings. We scored 3 in the bottom of the first on actual hits! They were really hitting the ball last night. I haven't checked the book, but I think everyone at least put the bat on the ball. During the 3rd inning, they scored 3 to even it up. We threatened, but couldn't score in the 4th.

We started the 5th and held them from scoring. We got up to bat with Z being the lead off. I told him to bunt so we'd have a baserunner. He laid down a beautiful bunt that just barely went foul down the 3rd base line. I signaled for him to swing away because they were playing in looking for the bunt. He fouled one down the 3rd baseline again. So now he's got 0-2 count. Next 3 pitches were balls. Next pitch, he hits back up the middle for a single. My #2 batter gets up and gets a wild pitch, Z steals 2nd. #2 batter hits it back to the pitcher, who throws to first getting the out. But Z advanced to 3rd. I was coaching 3rd, so I had Z make the turn and threaten to go home. The 1st baseman ran in towards home to keep Z from going, then when Z turned back to 3rd, 1st threw it to the pitcher and he missed it. I sent Z in and he scored the winning run. Because we still had 1 minute, we kept playing (we play 6 innings, but won't start a new inning after 1.5 hours). We had a K and a out at first, then they called ballgame. Final score: 4-3. I had to take the boys to Sonic for ice cream after that one.

0-3

Game 2 was rough. We let a few kids who had never pitched before pitch and it was a walk-fest. The good news was we hit the ball a little better, but wasn't able to make up all the walked in runs.

Game 3 this past Saturday was a little better. We pitched another new pitcher, but he threw strikes. The other team was hitting everything he threw, but that's better than walks. On the offensive side, we got the bases loaded a couple of times but couldn't really take advantage of it. Z did steal 2 bases, 1 of which was home, scoring the first run of the game. We put in our star pitcher the last 2 innings and shut them down, but we couldn't mount enough offense to come back.

Baseball game

Well, my record as head coach is now 0-1. We lost our game last night 4-3. We definitely need some work on hitting. I haven't reviewed the scorebook yet, but I'm pretty sure all 3 runs were from walks and steals.

Next game is Monday night.

Racism and Christianity

Wow, our church service today was amazing. The pastor spoke about racism. Growing up in the south, even in the 80's, I was exposed to a lot of racist attitudes. My parents and their friends often told racial jokes and made comments. It was just something I never really thought much about until I was an adult. Because I have been able to work and interact with people of different races and nationalities, I realized that you cannot judge a person by their color.

We watched part of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech from 1963. It moved me to tears because I realized that it's been a couple of weeks shy of 43 years since he gave that speech and most of what he spoke about has not come to pass. And the truly sad part is that a lot of the people who still harbor prejudice towards other races were sitting in churches today. I personally know several people who regularly attend church, yet use racist words to describe entire groups of people. How can they reconcile this? I knew a woman who told me that I shouldn't let my son read the Harry Potter books because they were evil, when she freely used the "N" word around her son. Our children will learn from us. We should be teaching them to love, not to hate.

There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28

Will Hoge

Just found out that Will Hoge will be playing at the Exit Inn Sep 29 @ 9:00pm. So far, I've managed to miss his show every time I've planned to go. I will be there this time. Anyone else going?

Happy Birthday

to me! I've been 34 for about 3 hours now. There's nothing like having a birthday and having your son start high school the next day to make you feel old.

I'm celebrating by picking A and Z up tonight, going to dinner and then a round of mini-golf.

First night of baseball practice

Well, I survived my first night of coaching the baseball team Monday night. I had a couple of dads volunteer to help out and we split the kids up and had some hitting practice balls and the rest taking infield. We've got some pretty good kids. There are 2 that have never played before, so I want to make sure I work with them. I have 6 more practices to get them all ready to play.

One thing I learned about being the coach. There is no leaving right after practice. I ended up talking to various parents for 15 minutes after practice. Z and I had just enough time to run through Wendy's drive-through and make it to the high school for A's band meeting.

Our next practice is Saturday at high noon. I hope it's not too hot.