Thank you Palin...

... for leaving.

I have debated on what I should write about Palin for the past day. A big part of me said, "You know what, she's a human being. And if you're going to write about her, you should treat her with respect." But another part of me said, "She's a public figure. Public figures should be treated differently. You are allowed to be hyper critical."

The second part of me won.

Now you should know something about me. I am not a dyed in blue liberal. I don't listen to how celebrities tell me how to vote. In fact, I hate it when celebrities act like we should listen to them. I hate Fox News along with CNN and MSNBC.

What I'm trying to say is that, although I LOVE Obama... it's not like I have dug in my heels within the Democratic Party. If Eisenhower were to run, I'd vote for him.

But back to the main point. I am so glad she's leaving. She just irked me. She wasn't very intelligent. Not very politically savvy. It seemed like she just loved the spotlight.

I have to tell you. The Republican Party in general is taking a beating. How can anyone still be Republican? The party of the religious right is scandalized with adultery, kickbacks, corruption, and lies. In a way I want to Republican again, but how can I. The party is so far away from representing my values.

Also, the Republican Party is not even conservative. Under Bush, we saw incredible fiscal irresponsibility. And the moral standing of the party is in jeopardy.

So I will keep voting democrat, but I welcome the return of an actual Conservative (capital C, like William F. Buckley) party.

The Supreme Court Nomination

I remember an interesting conversation I had with friend's family. It took place before the 2008 presidential election. The father expressed his view that he would be voting Republican mostly because he wanted conservative judges to be appointed to the supreme court.

I thought this was interesting. I guess I had never really factored that into my vote for president. Maybe it is because I wear these rose colored glasses that believes the supreme court acts impartially and makes it judgments based on precedent and what's in the constitution.

However, maybe this view is not so rose colored. Now I am not an expert on the Supreme Court, but I feel like there is an incredible respect for the constitution among the judges. In addition, I feel like it is extremely, exorbitantly, and remarkably rare that the Supreme Court drastically changes moral or social values.

So how much does the Supreme Court nomination's political affiliation matter to me? I guess it ranks low, unless I had reason for concern.

On a second note, I am actually pretty excited about Sotomayor mostly because President Obama picked her. Why? Because of this introductory paragraph from a NY times article about the Sotomayor nomination:

When talking about the Supreme Court, Barack Obama has resisted the familiar ideological categories that have defined our judicial battles for the past several decades. He has made clear that despite his progressive inclinations, he is not a 1960s-style, Warren Court liberal — someone who believes that the justices should boldly define constitutional rights in an effort to bring about social change. It’s true that Obama has cited Chief Justice Earl Warren as a judicial ideal, emphasizing that Warren, a former governor of California, had a sensitive understanding of the real-world effects of Supreme Court decisions. But at the same time, Obama has suggested that liberals in the Warren Court mold may have placed too much trust in the courts and not enough in political activism. “I wondered,” he writes in his book “The Audacity of Hope,” alluding to Senate battles over George W. Bush’s court appointments, “if in our reliance on the courts to vindicate not only our rights but also our values, progressives had lost too much faith in democracy.”

President Obama has an excellent grasp on what the court's role should be. Let's not forget that before his presidential career he taught constitutional law! So I'm excited for who ever he nominates. I know this sounds dumb but... President Obama is awesome.