Cal Thomas-State of the Union

In the article, Cal found that the speech was full of "lies and distortions". He believed that the best way for energy independence ws less consumption. He disagreed with the fact that Bush wanted to move away from the Middle East oil. He said that consumption wouldn't go down until gas reaches 4 dollars a gallon. He didn't like Bush's proposal to spend more money on education. I agree with the fact that American's are consuming to much. I don't really think gas prices should go up to 4 dollars though. I feel that the State of the Union Address had some good points but some bad points also. I wanted Bush to spend a little more time talking about Hurricane Katrina.

Virginia approves gay marriage ban

I do not believe that Virginia is doing the right thing. Gay marriage should be legal regardless of the "man and woman" mentality that seems to be shown in the government. All people are equal and therefore there should be no ban that denies the right of marriage to gay couples. I believe that this is similar to African-Americans getting denied the rights of whites in the past. It is not right and they should have the right to marriage.

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20050208-105116-7306r.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148865,00.html

Alito Hearings

The Alito hearings have been pretty intense thus far. Alito has recently stirred controversy with accusations that he was a member of a Princeton group who is rumored to be against minorities and women from entering the university. Alito's wife was seen crying during the Alito trials. I believe that it is necessary to find the truth about this rumor because it is an important issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/politics/politicsspecial1/16alito.html
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136541915440

Bush New Immigrant Policy

The President's new policy is outlined by a plan to help more immigrants find work legally in America. There was a big scare of terrorists slipping into the U.S. after 9/11. Bush believes that America should be a welcoming society. Many conservatives and liberals are both angry at the policy because it helps immigration. I am not really sure what to think at this point, but I feel like we need to get immigrants to work legally if they are in the U.S.

Detainee Policy

Torture of detainees is a big problem at the moment. We should follow the law and conduct of questioning. Torture does not solve anything and it makes us just as bad. Bush claims that there is no torture involved but this is definetly a big problem. There have been many cases recently and the issue is hot.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/06/congress.detainees.ap/index.html
http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/12/us1227.htm
http://hrw.org/campaigns/torture.htm

Kaine wins

I am very excited about Kaine's victory in the past week. I think he will do a much better job as Governor than Kilgore. I believe that he has what it takes to do a good job. People in Charlottesville voted mainly for Kaine but if you step right outside in the county than it was Kilgore. I like what Kaine wants to do with Virginia and I hope everything goes well.

Scooter Indictment

This is a very confusing situation. Why does he think he has done nothing wrong but the rest of the Government and world is going into a frenzy? He was even questioned extensively and is being indicted on perjury, false statement, and obstruction of justice charges. This is all due to the connection with the leaking of a CIA officer's identity. All of these things are hurting Bush right now and his approval rating is finally at an all time low. I think people are finally understanding what exactly is going on in the Bush Administration. This is also hurting Cheney.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1028051plame1.html