Morals and Jobs

Throughout the 2008 Presidential Campaign, then Senator Obama spoke frequently about the necessity of protecting jobs during these tough economic times.  In light of today's announcement regarding the new administration's abortion policy we can see that what Obama meant was: "we should protect the jobs of those people that meet with our (i.e. the administration's) own ideology."  

In the final days of the Bush administration a new policy was put in place to protect doctors and nurses who refused to perform abortions based on personal moral objections.  More specifically, the policy ensured that hospitals receiving federal funding would agree to allow these professionals to refuse to perform these procedures based on moral grounds-- or in the alternative lose their funding.

It seems odd to me that someone like President Obama, who is pro-choice, cannot see the moral argument made by those who are pro-life.  Sure, he can disagree with pro-lifers on when human life begins or on government intervention into a woman's right to choose.  But how in the world can anyone believe anything but those who describe themselves as pro-life arrive at their beliefs based on a certain set of morals and beliefs?  And then, to eliminate job protection for those who freely exercise their rights granted by the Constitution? 

In the end, it comes down to plain and simple ideology.  The taxpayers should be forced to bail out the automakers in the name of protecting jobs.  Despite the fact that deals struck by the UAW and the Big Three have made this once great American industry unable to compete on a global platform, we should still continue to throw good money after bad.  Why? Because too many American jobs rely on GM, Ford and Chrysler.  However, when it comes to a select few doctors and nurses who find themselves in a position of having a different set of morals or a different ideology than the President, job protection should be eliminated.

While using taxpayer money to bail out the automakers may cause some to raise an eyebrow in disagreement, the elimination of job protection for hard-working doctors and nurses who have a moral ground for refusing to administer certain procedures is simply outrageous and should make us furious-- even if your own set of morals lead you to be pro-choice rather than pro-life.

60 Minutes- Objective Journalism?

Its Sunday March 1, 2009 and I am sitting here shocked as I watch 60 minutes.  I am so surprised to see the naturally left wing magazine show do a positive piece on a Republican Governor.  Even more surprising is that CBS had the perfect opportunity to take a shot at Bobby Jindal after he provided the awkward Republican response to the enormously popular Congressional address by President Obama.  While this might cause me to think that there is actually hope for objectivity for the liberal mainstream media, I am sure that this is merely a blip on the screen and nothing more.  Unfortunately, this might be the one piece of journalism that CBS will continually use to evidence their so-called objectivity.  Stay tuned.

NBA All Star Wrestling

After watching the NBA All Star activities it is hard to tell the difference between the NBA and the WWE.  First there was the Slam Dunk Contest where the league allowed Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson to take the Superman sketch to WWE-like levels.  The inclusion of the phone booth for Howard to morph into Superman combined with Robinson's use of the kryptonite thing would have been fine if it did not appear as if the whole thing was staged by an NBA version of Vince McMahon.  While the Slam Dunk Contest is meant to be more entertainment than sport, the activities of the All Star Game should make true sports fans feel a little sick and quite a bit used.  During the player introductions Shaq appeared with a mask.  Now, Shaq is a funny guy and if he had simply done this on his own, it would be easy for fans to say it was "just Shaq being Shaq".  But the League couldn't resist taking it to the next level by having a handful of dancers wearing the same mask and dancing around Shaq.  Once again, if it would have stopped there we might have been able to dismiss this as just "pure hollywood".  However, the real clincher was handing the game MVP to Shaq and Kobe together.  Are you kidding me?  Shaq scored only 17 points in 11 minutes of play.  Good but hardly MVP worthy.  This kind of blatant manipulation stinks of something less than sport.  Bash baseball Commissioner Bud Selig all you want, but he did make the baseball All Star Game something worth watching without turning it into the circus that the NBA did for their All Star game.  I guess the lesson to be learned is that if referees bet on the game and hence fix the outcome it is bad. If the NBA does it, its all in the name of entertainment.  Next year, lets just paint some faces and include a cage match.  At least, we wouldn't feel as if we were there to watch a game.

Size of the US Federal Government

I know that Obama is still in the middle of the honeymoon period, so this post might actually cause people to think that I want the new president to fail.  However, for those who believe in free enterprise and smaller government, it should be cause for concern that the size of the federal government's workforce is actually increasing.  This is exactly what conservatives and even moderates warned of when pointing out Obama's political philosophy.  Stay tuned.  Irrespective of the state of the economy, we will find a more government controlled America four years from now.

Aussie Open Final

I missed today's Aussie Open Men's Final.  The 3:30 am start makes it hard to watch.  However, I do regret not turning on the TV when I woke up at 7:00 am.  The fact that the final was settled in five sets is great for tennis.  For sports like tennis and boxing to garner the same attention that they did 20 years ago, it requires great rivalries.  Ferderer and Nadal is just that type of rivalry.  Hopefully it carries over to the US Open and Wimbeldon.