As citizens of this nation, what should we be entitled to? Currently, we accept the notion that all citizens are entitled to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Anything else?

I watched a film the History Channel put out on Lincoln last night (that really made him look like a bi-polar nutcase incidentally). But, one of Lincoln's speeches struck me very interestingly when talking about slavery. He said when talking to a man from the South, paraphrased "if we could agree on the fact that a slave is not a human, but your property alone, then you would of course be free to do with your slave as you wished, but this is something that we simply can not agree on." This struck me as very similar to the abortion debate in America today, which can really not be properly discussed until we consense one way or the other on what a human is? ...and by the way, judging from the state of South Dakota's voting to ban gay marriage but not abortion, are they really saying that they would rather their children be dead than raised by a homosexual?

Yesterday was a historic day for the political world. The citizens of the United States said that they think Democrats can do a better job. Democrats all across this country should be excited. But, Republicans shouldn't jump off the train just yet. The current (before this new vote) majority in Congress in no way represents the conservative pulse in this country. This bastardization of fiscally liberally Republimoderates is just silly, and it's not the worst thing in the world that they're gone. Now, I think we will begin to see a shift into two new parties that better represent the country and are both fiscally conservative. These parties are the socially liberally, and the socially conservative. And that's not a bad debate to be had.

"Let us no longer defend a party, let us no longer defend a man. But, let us begin to defend ideas, most importantly, the notion that we may be wrong."

What's the difference between the Black Panther Party, whom, because they have been oppressed by white men, decide that justice means black domination, and Feminists, who believe that since they have been oppressed by men, decide that justice means female dominance?

So, since I didn't have cable growing up, the commercials for Sybaris pool suites were about the raciest thing I saw. Even before I understood marital exploration, the idea of a waterslide in a bedroom seemed awesome to me. So, somehow, that childhood suggestion stuck with me, and when I was looking for a place to spend my first night with my bride, I researched Sybaris and got on their e-mail list for special rates. I ended up choosing somewhere else, but I recently got an e-mail from them advertising a special rate. The rate was only good from Noon-2 PM on a weekday. Classy.

I just watched documentaries on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X back-to-back. It was fascinating how such dissenting views both came back to the brilliant words of Thomas Jefferson eventually. Those being, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Challenge: Rephrase this sentence however you like, in order to crystallize the foundation that America is or should be built upon. e.g. (change 'men' to 'persons', delete 'by their Creator', etc., or extrapolate how 'equal rights' should not be confused with 'special rights' or 'forced equality through distribution') Or vote that Jefferson's original statement takes the cake.

"We must not endorse a system where it is profitable to do nothing."

If people started holding the door for people more often, displaying a high-level of courtesy, would we begin to see a decline in traffic accidents? This is the backwards thinking we have to start looking for.

The Tipping Point for civil rights was arguably a single man. Martin Luther King, Jr. Are there currently any injustices close to the magnitude of that one still going on in our country today? Something that needs to be tipped to bring it out into the mainstream?