In my last article, “Why Prop 8 and anti-gay sentiment have to go”, I discussed a number of reasons why gays were entitled to marriage rights under the constitution. I hastily erupted as to why the 14th amendment and equal protection automatically guaranteed those rights. Here I will attempt to take a more specific and legal position.

The Supreme Court of the United States has more than once acknowledged  that homosexuals are entitled to certain rights under the constitution–most notably in the Romer V Evans and Lawrence V Texas decisions.

In Romer V Evans, the Supreme court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Amendment 2 that passed by initiative in Colorado was unconstitutional. Amendment 2 banned anti-discrimination laws for gays in Colorado.  In  rejecting this preposterous notion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “The amendment imposes a special disability upon those persons alone. [through this amendment,] homosexuals are forbidden the safeguards that others enjoy or may seek without constraint.” Justice Kennedy argued that because the anti-discrimination laws did not give preferential treatment, but only ensured that the liberties all citizens enjoy were not denied to gays.

In Lawrence V Texas, the supreme court overturned a sodomy law in a 6-3 decision finding that the statute unfairly targeted not only the rights of gays, but also their privacy. While the majority of the supreme court still did not recognize what the plaintiff argued  was a “fundamental right,” they did acknowledge that Lawrence’s rights, and for that matter gay rights had been violated under the Texas sodomy laws.

Although the court did maintain that both of these decisions did not give homosexuals the right to marry, the simple question is: why not? If the supreme court declared with these decisions that homosexual rights and anti-discriminatory protections were civically violated in Lawrence V Texas and Romer V Evans, and that such civil rights are protected by the equal protection clause, how can it not be rational that a civil legal marriage is not also constitutional. The response of the conservative court is that gay marriage is a social issue and not a place for courts to take a stance. Needless to say it is difficult to understand how equal rights are a social issue but then I guess the same arguments were made by proponents of slavery.  How can anything that provides legal and civic benefits be social and not civil? If marriage is indeed a civil issue and a civil right, how does the 14th amendment not encompass and protect that right. How can you insist that some rights of gays are protected, but not all? It’s baffling. I am not abusing the 14th amendment or even making claims for laws that haven’t already been made; I am merely stating that it is inconceivable for the supreme court to declare that gays are equally protected as a minority under specific laws but then deny them the same equal rights under all laws.

Conservative critics will probably argue with me about how the constitution says nothing about homosexuality and that’s true. But it also says nothing about a government’s right  to purchase land as Jefferson did in 1803. It also says nothing about John Marshall’s proclaimed judicial review. Moreover it says nothing about  the rights of privacy. Yet, I don’t see conservatives complaining about those implied powers.

The previous supreme court decisions that have guaranteed certain rights under the constitution and lay the very foundation for the argument of gay marriage. How can anyone possibly make the argument  that only some laws provide the guarantee of equal protection  and not all of them? How can the supreme court strike down sodomy and a ban on anti-discrimination laws possibly not symbolize a judicial understanding that gays are entitled to equal protection as a minority group. By Justice Kennedy recognizing gays as a minority, he also recognizes their natural rights as citizens. I am not manipulating anything for the sake of a cause; I am only reading the 14th amendment and taking those words to mean the simple things they purport to say.

Rahm Emanuel is not a weaselly liberal, he is not soft-spoken. Rahm Emanuel is quite the opposite, he is a bipartisan workhorse, who, when en tasked with getting something done, most always does it. Emanuel is the first choice in what many think to be a very pragmatic, bipartisan, “get-things-done” type of administration Barack Obama will employ.

As John Lapp, a former top Emanuel aide at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, puts it:

“He’s from the Lombardi wing of the party — he’s a guy who wants to win at any cost and will do whatever it takes.”

Another characteristic of Rahm that is becoming ubiquitous in Obama’s administration selections, is the fact that the two are close, “brotherly” close in fact. The two are said to have a deep understanding of eachothers’ personality, as well as political ideologies.

Yet this does not mean Rahm will blindly follow President Obama’s lead:

If so, he’s a sibling who long ago showed he knows how to talk back in the family. As a longtime aide to Bill Clinton, Emanuel was known for his willingness to talk bluntly to colleagues from the president on down.

Rahm Emanuel is a symbol of what is to come. A symbol of a dynamic, tight-knit, cohesive administration that will have all the necessary checks and balances to make rational and effective decisions.

One of the smartest most accomplished Jews in America will now be at the forefront of our new adminstration. Additionally, Rahm Emanuel is not a Jew divored from his roots. His father fought for the Irgun, and Rahm has been to Israel serveral times, and has a very deep and intimate love for his country and all that it represents. I have never been more proud than I am today in saying I am a Jewish American.

A Day Frozen in Time, A Nation Thrust Towards the Future

By Max Godnick

I go to a school with six hundred well to do New Yorkers. My peers, and most members of my generation, have been long stricken with a case of apathy.  I never thought that in my adolescence, I would see my generation brought together over politics and history.

Yesterday changed all that. Throughout the day, I could tell I was living out the pages of my grandchildren’s textbooks. Something was different. There was an undeniable energy in the air. People knew something was coming. While they may not have watched the primaries, followed the veepstakes, or seen the debates, they realized that their country was on the brink of a new era; a true turning point in a sometimes negative and drawn out history.

At eleven o’clock, time stopped. Horns honked, pots and pans were smashed, and fireworks were set off. A catharsis was about to begin. I looked outside my window and saw a scene straight out of a movie. People were cheering, strangers were jumping amongst one another, they were chanting, they were elated; they recognized that the world was changing, and they would be at the center of it.

Granted, I live in New York City in a largely African American neighborhood. I bet the scene in rural Idaho looked a lot different. But it did not matter. The country came together for the first time since September 11th,  yet this time, it was in joy and elation rather than tragedy and despair.

Who knows whether Barack Obama will be a successful president. Many questions are still left to be answered. But the world will turn their heads towards America, and look to us in a positive light. Respect, dignity, and awe will grace the ground of the United States. Americans will become truly engaged in politics again. As Obama builds his candidacy, the nation will watch, rooting, or not rooting, for a new day in American politics and culture.

I do not think I will ever see a time like this one ever again in my lifetime. My generation, the “purple youth”, has engaged in its country and culture like I never expected it could. My city can finally unite, shedding racial barriers that have stood strong for hundreds of years, and my country can look towards the future and to a new path.

Politics really do not play such a large role in what happened yesterday and what will happen in the days and years to come. Sure, it is based around the political process, but it is more than that. It is a general consensus that “now” matters. Now is our chance and we must grasp it. Absorb the moment. This is a rare opportunity, that wont be felt again for many years to come.

Emanuel, a hard nosed political insider has a reputation of playing hardball to get things done. One senior Obama aid explained the potential choice: “Obama wants a bad cop, so he can be good cop 90 percent of the time.”

Emanuel is considered a political centrist, and has went on numerous occasions against liberal othrodoxy with center right positions on anti-crime measures, and welfare reforms.

Emanuel also has a good relationship with many republican representatives.

Obama, with a strong democratic majority in the Senate and House, and now a cutthroat “get-things-done” political insider as his chief of staff, looks to be in the catbird seat for getting things he wants done quickly, efficiently, and without much objection.

Whether this is a good or bad thing will be seen in the coming months.

One final note: I recently found out that Rahm Emanuel served in the Israeli Defense Force and even knows a little bit of hebrew. Should be a welcome bit of news for all the zionists out there (me included).

And with that, a new chapter in the book of America has been written. Social and racial boundaries have been shattered, and hopefully political ones will be traversed as well. Mr. Obama has now a great responsibility to live up to the change he told us he would bring. Mr. Obama has won tonight in an unprecedented way, and this election is by all means historic, but with that comes the pressure of performing, the pressure of realizing the potential he has so eloquently told America, and the rest of the world he has.

I think I speak for quite a few when I say,

Good luck Barack Obama.

(One final addition: John McCain’s concession speech was one of the most gracious, and genuinely heartfelt addresses I’ve ever seen a politician give. The same cannot be said of his crowd.)

To TPY readers,
Stay tuned now for updates on global affairs as well. There will definitely be some interesting updates coming in the near future. And finally, the results of the Election Projection Contest will be posted shortly.

- Gabiel Rom

Barack Obama has won the presidency of the United States of America. God save the president. God save the United States of America. 

It’s been an honor and a pleasure to have shared this election with all of our loyal readers. On behalf of all the staff at TPY let me say thank you very much for your support and devoted readership. This election is not the end of our site. Stay tuned in the coming months for not only politics and global affairs, but arts and culture as well. 

With the handful of states he has already won, plus those that are nearly certain to fall into his column, Barack Obama is nearly certain to clinch the presidency in the near future.

Although battleground states like Virginia and Indiana are still too close to call, Obama’s core strategy of carrying John Kerry’s states and tacking on a few extras appears to be in the bag. While there are no surprises among the states he has won thus far, his early performance has put to rest fears by paranoid Democrats that his comfortable lead in the polls was greatly inflated.

With a win in one or two states that George W. Bush won in 2004, Obama will have wrapped up this election. Based on the last round of polls before the election, Obama is already poised to win at least 264 electoral votes comfortably. A win in Colorado or another Bush state will push him over the edge.

Counties Counties Counties

Okay, so votes are beginning to trickle in. But lets remember, when it says 1% of precincts reporting…that means that about one district is reporting votes.

So lets look at some of these early states

Indiana: this is looking a lot closer than I had expected. While Mccain holds about a 4% lead now, Obama is running extremely competitive given that some of his strongest counties have not reported any votes yet. Lake County, which houses the African American stronghold of Gary, has not reported anything yet. Once Gary begins to come in, look for this to tighten up significantly.

Virginia: Mccainites, dont get excited. I know there is a 15% lead in Virginia right now, but the only counties that have reported are primarily in the southern region. Obama holds great strength in Northern and Eastern Virginia. Lots of money and attention were put in to Prince Edward county, keep an eye out for that.

We dont have much info on Ohio, but word is that Obama is leading.

The opposite is true for West Virginia, Mccain is leading.

Florida is not realistic right now. Obama holds a huge lead, but only about one county is in.

I’m still going to stick with my projections, but I am very intrigued by Indiana. Obama is over performing.

Be back soon.

Max

The states looking good for Obama:

Florida: 52 percent to 44 percent
Iowa: 52 percent to 48 percent
Missouri: 52 percent to 48 percent
North Carolina: 52 percent to 48 percent
New Hampshire: 57 percent to 43 percent
Nevada: 55 percent to 45 percent
Pennsylvania: 57 percent to 42 percent
Ohio: 54 percent to 45 percent
Wisconsin: 58 percent to 42 percent
Indiana: 52 percent to 48 percent
New Mexico: 56 percent to 43 percent
Minnesota: 60 percent to 39 percent

The States looking good for McCain

Georgia: 51 percent to 47 percent
West Virginia: 45 percent to 55 percent

One major problem with exit polls is that it is widely accepted that young adults are much more likely to do exit surveys after they vote than seniors do, this gives the polls a highly obama biased tint. Make of them what you wish.

The democrats are back to their 1994 swagger and no one seems to realize how much power this party is going to gain. The democrats will likely pick up 60 senate seats and other large gains in the house. So, how much does this election matter? If a senator McCain is elected, don’t expect any legislation to be passed that is anything more than moderately liberal. If senator Obama is elected, expect some wide ranging policy changes probably to the effect of FDR’s New Deal. Regardless of who wins, one thing is clear: the Reagan era of conservatism is dead.

This country has had almost thirty years of no regulations or rules and look where it has gotten us–recession if not depression. Republicans believe that the government that governs least is usually the government that governs best. Mostly because when they are in power, that’s largely true. It’s time for a change and it will either come from a blue congress or completely blue government.

Perhaps the largest impact this race will have is the effects on the judicial system. Lets not forget the fact that the executive appoints judges throughout the nation–from the Supreme Court to Appellate Court. Voters, when you go out there, know you are voting for either conservatism, or liberalism. It’s time for a change. Conservatives of each generation gradually turn into the liberals of the generation that preceded them…so let me ask you this: should we procrastinate necessary reforms in the economy and energy for the next generation the way we did with slavery, women’s rights, and progressivism? Or should we do something about it today so my generation won’t have to pick up the slack for the truly pathetic job the baby boomers have done?

Please please please vote for Barack Obama. We beg of you and ask that you vote for those who cannot such as me. I should not have to pay off the debt of two wars and failures of Bush economic policies when I reach your age. I should not have to worry about my apartment next to the East River in New York being submerged because Washington refuses to admit that global warming is actually happening. I should be forced to watch the White House become a mockery once more. Haven’t we had enough of comedy in the White House? When was the last time in the last eight years that you honestly thought about the executive branch without either laughing or crying? We had Humpty Dumpty for the last eight years. Do we want to solve issues or do we want to put Barracuda Barbie in charge of our nuclear codes.

You decide. For once though, think about our future, and not your golden years.