HEALTH CARE REFORM! The Squirrel Society is back and looking for some more nuts to tease, tag, and bag. Spread your cheeks wide open to speak out!!

I think both sides of this debate have been drinking too much KoolAide and need to quit bending over to the chemically flavoured coloured sugar rush of politics, and just do what is right for We The People in both practical care and further advancements within medical research and development. As a budding Participatory Economist and a Libertarian, this may seem to be a conflict of philosophies, however I disagree with both sides of the debate so far. I think that Health Care Reform is the perfect opportunity to move towards a new style of economics where money isn't the issue, but the affirmative answer to that historical question: "And we are our brothers keeper?" is the principle on which we stand!

Tomorrow @ 12 Noon concerned citizens across northeast Indiana can open their mouths, and the first 150 can even deep throat a Coney Dog, at the Allen County Courthouse on South Clinton at Main Street, to protest against national health care reform that is currently making its way through Congress. The hour long rally event is hosted by Americans 4 Prosperity and Patients United Now and will include commentary from highlighted speaker, Honorable David McIntosh, former US Representative from 1995-2001 in the 2nd District, who was succeeded by the Honorable Mike Pence in the sixth District, and is currently also working with Conservative Lobbying Groups against the Sonia Sotomayor nomination/appointment to The United States Supreme Court.

I believe that we can have a health system that both acknowledges personal and collective indemnity for basic health care yet at the same point assure a stable health care system that is not based on economic profit or to a very minimum more as a surplussed commodity of trade. Here are just some basic thoughts to start out:

1. Medical staff should be semi nationalized (LPN and below at min.) and all trained under a limited exchange pay system or for free. By not attaching such a cost to the education matrix persons in the medical field can be trained and monitored and advanced based on skills and desires to serve their fellow man not how much money they can accrue in a trust fund or slave to pay back for the next twenty years of their lives in college loans. The same regarding free education is true with teachers and other academics. All students should leave start college between 16-20 years old after six years at the age of 22-26 with at minimum a bachelors degree and possibly a Master Degree, and if able two - four years of apprenticeship and civil service under their belt.

2. By first eliminating the cost of education as a society we also trust that not far behind would be the serious reduction of and the amounts awarded because of malpractice or malfeasance to both a. an affordable standard and b. reasonable compensation, since the profit margin has been reduced drastically by the industry.

3. Basic care and wellness provisions would assure that everyone merits a basic standard of care. If you choose to be obese you will have to pay more into the system to deflect the cost of your added care but at the same pointe if you choose to work at maintaining a healthier life or donate time back to the work matrix the drain you added could be adjusted or removed from the matrix. If there are natural medical diagnosis like cancer or other ailments it would be covered under routine maintainability of life.

4. The matrices can be assigned locally and governed regionally with cross oversight by both a national council for final review and malpractice and a council of patrons served elected by each matrix's participants and professionals within each field of license to assure best practices management both locally and regionally.

5. Prescriptions and procedures are automatically covered no questions asked as the development cost is now covered by the matrix, this would greatly reduce the burden and profit margins simultaneously.

I began this post with a reminder of our own hopes and dreams for the future through where our current failures in leadership have and can follow towards by commentary of characters Captain Benjamin Sisko and Dr. Julian Bashir, whom while traveling back in time to AD 2024, expose us to the eventual fraud and dereliction of humanitarian services within indigent persons sanctuary districts, located in the abandon urban areas of major cities throughout this great Nation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Past Tense, 8 Parts, c/o Project Infinity). I will leave this debate to y'all for now with these words from Jay Brannan in 26 Hour Day and ask you to consider the future you wish to leave behind for our children and our fellow Americans. The time for reform is now. The questions we must ask ourselves as a people now is, What will that reform look like ten or fifty years from now? How can we be sure that we will always take care of our fellow American?



WEBSITES AND RESOURCES ON HEALTH CARE ALTERNATIVES:
Northeast Indiana Chapter of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan which promotes public financed, privately delivered, aka single-payer, universal health plan at the state and national level.

OTHER COMMENTARIES ON HEALTH CARE REFORM:

ObamaCare Yay or Nay? The Truth About Canada!
by Steven Crowder 13 July 2009
[Website][YouTube][Twitter][H/t: Fort Wayne News]

OTHER STAR TREK COMMENTARIES ON HEALTH CARE

VOYAGER: Season 7 Episode 5, Critical Care: The Emergency Medical Hologram Doctor willingly challenges the health care practices that are apportioned based on an individuals social class at a hospital facility he is held hostage at by infecting the Hospital Administrator and changing his designation to a lower section.
(Original Date 01 November 2000, 5 parts c/o Chromalias7)

NEWS STORIES AND OTHER BLOGS REPORTING OF EVENTS AND COMMENTARIES:

Pre Event Promotion:
08 July Rally Around Free Health Care Choices
by John B. Kalb @ Fort Wayne Politics
08 July Rally against Obamacare tomorrow at Courthouse Square
by Stephen Parker @ Around Fort Wayne Blog
08 July Rally Against Obamacare Tomorrow At Courhouse Square
09 July Patients United Now Rally Against Obamacare Today!
via Dan Turkette's @ Fort Wayne News

Local Commentaries on Health Care Reform debate:
22 June That Horse Is Dead
by Leo Morris Opening @ Arguments The News Sentinel
02 July Health Care Debate
by Jeff Pruitt @ Fort Wayne Politics
07 July Democrats To The Rescue?
by Leo Morris @ Opening Arguments The News Sentinel
08 July Evan Bayh's Priorities
by Craig Skinner @ Reverent and Free

Post Event Reports and Commentaries:
09 July Fort Wayne Health Care Tea Party
by Scott Sarvay Indiana News Center
09 July Protesting Obamacare in Fort Wayne
by Morgan @ My Two Cents Worth
10 July Obamacare Rally photos and video
by Stephen Parker @ Around Fort Wayne Blog


FOLLOWUP COMMENTARY: There is a snag excerpt copy of this post on the Libertarian Party of Allen County's blog. To which I will repost comments on that post here also:
1. Kevin Knuth, former Chair of the Allen Co. Democrats asked, "Anyone else find the humor (that an) event that wants to stop changes to health care is serving coney dogs and potato chips?"
2. To which I your Editor responded, "It was actually the second thing I noticed in the 1 1/2 page press release. It really got my creative and sarastic juices flowing.
Nothing says health care reform like 150 people digesting over processed meat smothered in sauteed onions and fried meat, sometimes with cheese, and always with mustard. The protest/rally organizers could have at least served ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and rasins) as well and eaten them in protest against a well rounded meal.
What really sucks is I didnt get the message til last night otherwise I could have forwarded out to more homeless people and had all them get fed a decent lunch. But I have a feeling some already know about it."
3. Robert Enders, Chair of the Libertarian Party in reply stated, "I'm planning on going and I'm planning on having a hotdog too. People should be allowed to make their own healthcare and diet choices."

EDITOR: More links, information, and comments to come later.

OUR PRIDE! Our Independence? If Democrats want 2 find our votes in 2010 .... repeal DADT & DOMA now, or more QUEERS will become Greens & Libertarians!

*PLEASE NOTE THIS POST HAS A MAJOR DOMA & DADT UPDATE BELOW*

It is official! June was GLBT Pride Month!

It was declared first by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then sheepishly a few more hours after that by President Barack Hussein Obama. The Gay & Lesbian Community has finally received a boost toward equality because as of now thirteen states have considered and eight passed or decided to make marriage available to everyone. Nevada and Wisconsin are in the process of creating Domestic Partnerships and the approximately 18 thousand Same Sex Marriages in California performed during the 6 month window last year were also retained as valid. Ironically even Rhode Island is considering legislation to allow for Same Sex Divorce proceedings. But wait, before you hoist your lovers across the threshold, that initial euphoria has begun to ware off.

That hope was quashed recently by two drastic legal injunctions done by the Obama Justice Department in recent Supreme Court cases which, as some speculate, set our fight for equality back five to ten years, as well as negate legislative and judicial victories across the fifty states. This has brought the GLBT Community to honestly call into review all of the previous promises made and financial investment in not just political campaigns but also national queer lobbying organizations also. Soon after the threats of such boycotts, like the DNCs 10th Annual LGBT Leadership Council Dinner fundraiser in D.C. last week (which still raised 1 million dollars supposedly), the Obama Administration made several courtship moves to keep the GLBT Community from curtailing any future investments in his and others of his Party's campaigns, leading up to the 2010 federal mid term election cycle.

WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME WE WILL ALL FEEL GAY!

Previously on F6 we covered the story of Air Force Major Margaret Witt whose case in the Ninth Federal Circuit Court elevated homosexuals judicial scrutiny to a suspect classification, in need of greater legal protections, and raised the bar in 9 western states for Military discharges based on United States Code 10§654 to include that "the military can't automatically discharge all openly gay soldiers, but must prove in each case that dismissal would promote troop readiness or unit cohesion" in order to permit the constitutional discharge from Military service, based upon sexual orientation or association within a judicially protected minority group.

The Obama Administration refused to challenge the decision in the Witt case to the Supreme Court, which 1. allows the precedent while the case is brought back to lower courts to be retried; 2. allows for the Obama Administration and certain Lobby Groups to strategically delay a Judicial Review of DADT; 3. puts pressure on Congress to repeal DADT through HR1283 Military Readiness Enhancement Act.

However at the same time, "President Obama's Solicitor General, Elena Kagan," interjected in the 1st District case (formerly Cook v. Gates) of James Pietrangelo II whom along with 12 other plaintiffs originally challenged their separation from US Military under DADT, "filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging it not to hear Pietrangelo's appeal. But Kagan's brief said that the 1st Circuit "properly upheld" the statute." The 1st District ruled that: 1. DADT is an exercise of Congressional judgment in the area of military affairs and warranted enormous deference from the judicial branch; 2. laws based on animus Romer v. Evans (1996) couldnt be used against DADT because the policy, it said, was based on legitimate concerns, not animus. 3. the military should do more than prove homosexuality to warrant dismissal 4. ensuring national security outweighs arguments from 12 former military members who say their rights were ignored when they were dismissed for being gay. The Supreme Court declined to hear the Pietrangelo appeal on the 8th of June 2009. (Source: The Bay Area Reporter)

Rather than standing on the principles of equality now for our Troops, by not having the Witt case go before the Supreme Court, The Obama Administration also threw off the 1st District case from being reviewed, as this would have forced the Supreme Court not only to deliberate the role of scrutiny in the lower courts, but also deal at the same time with the lower courts interpretation of the Supreme Court's legal precedent in Lawrence v Texas (2003) which was cited in both the 1st District and 9th District case regarding the same issues under law. In other words, certain politicians in Congress and the Administration are both trying to make DADT a mid term election cycle victory and at the same time prevent the Courts from doing their job by using legal tactics which remove the exercise of scrutiny and review of these two distinct precedents, and possibly overturning DADT, before Democrats in Congress could claim it as a victory for equality coming up to the midterm elections cycle in 2010. In summary Gay and Lesbian Service Members are nothing more to the Democrats than bargaining chips in an upcoming election cycle and they are using every trick to keep us and them in line.

There is nothing "LEGITIMATE" about the arguments in support of DADT, and "CONCERNS" over UNIT COHESION or GENERAL ORDER and MORALE are simply defamatory! Every time someone utters the absolute fallacy that is the arguments for the restriction on integral and honest lives of Gay and Lesbian Service Members they disrespect the honour of all of our Service Members. The very nature of the arguments for exclusion in fact surmises that our men and women in uniform cant uphold themselves to the highest standards. That is a slap in the face to every person who has, does, and will, wear the uniform in service and sacrifice for our freedom and liberty!


There have also been three more recent public cases of career soldiers being affected by the illegal implementation of Dont Ask Dont Tell. On the 7th May 2009 (video above) we were introduced to 2nd Lt. Sandy Tsao of the US Army,who originally told her story in an exclusive open letter to the American public in Audrey Magazine (pic to right open in new tab to enlarge) this past spring of life under DADT and received a personal hand written note from Barack Obama in return.

We also received followup on the story of Arabic Linguist and Environmental Engineer now an Infantry Platoon Leader, Lt. Dan Choi, who came out on national television back in March to announce the founding of of Knights Out for GLBT Graduates of the US Military Academy @ West Point. Lt. Dan Choi served in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division for 15 months in 2006 and 2007, leading combat patrols through a region called the Triangle of Death and serving as a translator and language instructor and also helped rebuild schools and hospitals. In 2008, he left the Army and joined the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry of the New York National Guard, based in Manhattan. Lt. Choi will also be the first to be discharged out of New York (Source: Today In The Military). On the 19th of May we were also introduced to Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach (1st & 3rd videos below) an eighteen year veteran of the Air Force. who flew 88 combat missions with over 2100 flying hours and 1800 of those in combat. (Source: Rachel Maddow Show MSNBC News Politics News)

Even though he continued to patronize our struggle for equality, by signing a light list of rights for federal employees, allowing GLBT partners to use their married name on their US Passports, and throwing a party on Monday at the WHITEHOUSE on the 40th Anniversary of the STONEWALL RIOTS. He still refused to act as Commander In Chief, as 78 members of Congress have requested him, to also suspend by Executive Order the unconstitutional discrimination towards our men and women that serve in the United States Uniformed Services, from being able to do so openly, without fear, reprisal, or discharge, based upon whom they love and not the merit of their service and sacrifice. The Secretary of Homeland Security did just the same thing with another law in regard to Immigration and Naturalization policies regarding an early death otherwise known as the 'widows penalty' (Source: Dan Savage c/o SLOG).

However over the last week new information has come to light that the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, whom originally stated that DADT was "something to kick down the road for awhile (13 April 2009)", like a can of tuna in a game of street hockey, while traveling back from the US European Command Center in a recent statement Stars & Stripes, The Associated Press, and ABC News, all report that, under his direction, Pentagon lawyers and Administration officials are now looking at ways to add "flexible enforcement" to the existing law to accommodate when a Service Member is outed by a third party specifically citing a scenario of a jilted ex lover or someone with an axe to grind with the Service Member or their family, while the Congress takes its sweet ass time to repeal the 16 year old law, which it unconstitutionally created.

WE'RE GOING TO SEEK JUSTICE BUT WE CANT EVEN FIND MERCY!

The California Supreme Court in their ruling on the matters surrounding Proposition 8 in essence created three classes of people when it maintained the validity of the 18 thousand marriages performed during the six month window in 2008 when it was legal to do so. Besides the actions by the Obama Administration in the above cases of law you also have the Justice Department interjecting with another case brought by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer out of San Francisco, California, in regards towards the validity of Proposition 8 in California, which directly challenges the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA based on several Constitutional grounds and previous Court precedent.

After having the case pulled from the State Courts to the Federal Court The Justice Department, according to John Aravosis of The AMERICA Blog, in order to maintain the defense of the current law's discrimination towards homosexuals they compare homosexuals to pedophiles, citing several previous domestic and foreign cases of heterosexual incest and adults marrying children, in their 54 page brief (pdf)to the Court.

Why did the Obama Administration file the brief if they are opposed to the law?

At first Justice Department Spokesperson Tracy Schmaler said that, "... until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the Administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system." After an outcry and official boycott of two DNC Fundraisers one in Boston (with picture to left c/o Wicked Gay Blog) and the 10th Annual LGBT Leadership Council Dinner in the District of Columbia began a week went by and Robert Gibbs, The WHITEHOUSE Press Secretary stated to Jake Tapper during his Daily Briefing on the 17th of June:

"Well, as you know, that the Justice Department is charged with upholding the law of the land, even though the President believes that that law should be repealed....Well, again, it's the President's Justice Department. And, again, we have the role of upholding the law of the land while the President has stated and will work with Congress to change that law."

Then during a panel discussion 10 days later President Obama's Staff "Secretary Lisa Brown, expressed personal reservations about some of the language in the Justice Department brief against same-sex marriage" by deflecting the conversation "It was an awful lot better that the brief that was written in the Bush administration," and trying to one up the Obama brief by comparing it back to the original Bush era version of the brief. (Source: Jake Tapper, Political Punch, ABC News)

That was not even an apology! That was an excuse, and a bad one at that!

After the DOJ brief in both the San Francisco DOMA case and the several DADT cases, the GLBTIQAS Democrats have finally had enough, and called the National Democratic Committee and certain elected officials to task for their pandering to and blatant disregard for our struggle for equality. The call went out across the blogoshpere and twitaverse and exploded center stage with the National Democratic Committee getting spanked across sidewalks and caught fudging the numbers to make it look like they raised up to and possibly exceeding 1 million dollars during the fundraisers, when most of the main players for the event backed out in protest of the political pandering and judicial slams against Our Community.

Why shouldn't our protests affect the lives and fortunes of politicians? One of the strong components of Libertarian thought and philosophy is that an open, transparent government is automatically drawn down and simplified because everyone is living by the same rules and laws that are passed on to by We The People. We have allowed our Congress to become a bloated self sustaining source of power for the certain 538 people, that We keep electing, who keep making the same promises and never deliver nor honour the oath of office that they take. The one thing we do have the ability to control is financial investment in political campaigns and the other is voting out the people whom just maintain the status quo in governance rather than doing what is right, defending the Constitution by protecting individual and minority rights from the tyranny of the majority rule and religious thoughts or opinions on civil issues.

OUR QUEER PRIDE! OUR COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE?

As I have stated many times before, specifically in F6's original format back in June of 2005, GLBT PRIDE is not just about being proud of who we are or forcing everyone to accept our flamboyant displays of independence. OUR PRIDE is outlined by individual sense of dignity and our collective value as created equal in the image of God/dess and viewed as such under the law of this land too. OUR PRIDE is defined as a group formed not necessarily based on heredity or biological connections, similar to that of a pride of lions. When we shout and holler back about OUR PRIDE, the rally cry doesn't mean we are a bunch of Dancing Queens but that We ARE Family!

E Pluribus Unum, Out Of Many One, is also why OUR PRIDE is very much attached to our Country's Independence, and why we can also say We The People with the greatest of honour and demand at the same time that self evident truth declared so many years ago "That All Men Are Created Equal" be applied to us also. That is what also caused our Founders during that first Continental Congress to not just Declare Independence from the tyranny of an oppressive King and a clueless Parliament that refused to hear our forebearers redress of grievances. That is what makes the United States of America by definition a Republic and not a Democracy. That is what prevents the majority from eliminating the rights of the minority.

America, please pay attention to your own words:
Have We forgotten to swear to one another our lives, fortunes, and sacred honour?
Have We traded each for the sake of ego, greed, and power rather than brotherhood?
How long will We stop declaring our independence and let these truths be denied us?


WE THE PEOPLE DEMAND THE SIMULTANEOUS REPEAL OF DADT & DOMA

In all reality both pieces of legislation DADT & DOMA are tied at the hip they revolve around the same issues of law and the same religious prejudices within Civil Society, but they also revolve around similar issues within the Constitution too.

1. The Declaration of Independence
A. The DOI has the force of law today as it is included in the United States Code at the beginning under Organic Laws of the United States of America. As the Constitution falls within that same category, The DOI, if not equal to, is at least subordinate to, and applicable in, interpretation of, the Constitution by the Courts and implementation of law by Congress and enforcement of law by the Executive Branch.B. We either hold all 5 truths self evident or none. Either "all men are created equal" or they're not. Make up your mind America, which do We The People hold dear? You cannt declare Life and Liberty without the Pursuit of Happiness. Yet Religious nut jobs thinks that they can deny equality to 1 of every 6 to 10 by law.

2. The Constitution Of The United States of America
A. Obviously 1st is the Full Faith & Credit Clause of Article 4 section 1:
... shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.
B. Article 6 paragraph 3 (specify last clause)
... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust.....
C. Amendment 14 (1868)
section 1 All persons born or naturalized...subject to the jurisdiction...are citizens of the United States....
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Marriage and Military Service an Office of or part of the Public Trust?

I would argue that they are. When clergy perform the marriage ritual they evoke two authorities to solemnize the act of Sacred Union, that of Deity and the State: "By the power invested in me by the State of Indiana and (insert affiliation) I now declare you (plural) to be partners in life" As I stated here a month ago, originally Civil Unions were intentionally done to strip religious test out of marriage in this Country, by the Puritans. Some how between the Civil War and Reconstruction through World War II and Korea religious test found their way back into the public ambiguity of normal regulation, to preventing interracial marriages from happening, until 1967 when Mildred and Richard Loving took on the State of Virginia at the Supreme Court.
The United States legally established tax code which recognizes married partners as a joined legal entity, or juristic person, which is also dually licensed by the State, and established to promote Public Trust. The Partners whom having entered into such arrangements by swearing an oath of allegiance, thereby become Officers of a Public Trust, whom at a minimum receive benefits and special privileges for that status. What is the first thing that happens when one enlists in the United States Military? They swear an oath or affirm to Defend the Constitution! That also means that both married partners and military personnel gay or straight are Officers holding the Public Trust, and therefore immune from any religious test and that includes any moral and religious objections towards homosexuality in Civil Marriages and Military Services!This is not just an issue of equality but the relationship and proximity between our Men, our Money, and our Mouths!We The People still swore to each other our lives, fortunes, and sacred honour; but can we honestly say "We hold these truths to be self evident:", when we deny them to one out of six of our fellow Americans? The reason why Congress is STONEWALLING on DADT and DOMA is simple: ego, greed, and power. Lets remove them from office, starting in 2010!

But the conversation can not stop there. When DADT is repealed DOMA will fall right behind it because about most* of the Military (*CORRECTION: 1.2 million, of which, 42% are E-4s & 5s and 75% are E-3 through E-6 ranks respectfully) is made up of Enlisted men and women.The minute DADT is repealed or found unconstitutional, DOMA will have to go right along with it because you are going to see a lot of really hot men and women in uniform walk their lovers down the aisles, get married, and then turn around and apply for off base housing, which locally ranges between $678-1180 per month and is overseas approximately $2 thousand dollars a month in increased income, multiplied by an estimated 65 thousand soldiers at a minimum. Military housing whether off base or on base is down right horrible. Out of the 134 thousand housing units 43% are substandard and approximately 25% are 7 years over their viability or years of service standard. Not forgetting to mention the spouses and children' health benefits and counseling and education services and all the other expenses from living on or off a Military base can include. Let's also not forget to mention the cost to reenlist at least 30 percent of the 12,000 that have already been discharged under Dont Ask Dont Tell back into service and an additional 20-45 percent of those that previously didn't sign back on when their original contract ended, and approximately 40 percent of them will be married by now, therefore requiring off base or non barracks housing. (Source: DODs DUnderSec's Report on Military Housing)

I HAVE FOUR MORE QUESTIONS FOR YOU AMERICA:

Are We The People willing to put our money where our mouth and motives are, not in politicians hands? Are We The People willing to allow the men and women whom fight for our freedom be free to love?
Are We The People willing to let them live together with whom they choose and raise their children?Are We The People willing to deny them the very sacrifice they offered us freely, personal liberty?

F6 LINKS & RESOURCES

Normally there would be a full battery of links, resources, and recommendations for the readers and other works cited either stated and/or recapped here from throughout the post, However due to both the length and the detail of both this post and the amount and individual text of the works cited, I felt it necessary to create a separate post on F6's LINKS PAGE for this post alone. Please refer to it for some pretty cool finds over the last month that it has taken me to write this post out, please. Thank you for your consideration.

F6 EDITORIAL POLICY STATEMENTS F6 has several resources and commentaries regarding GAYS IN THE MILITARY. As an issue of editorial policy, F6 will challenge any assertion that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is either Constitutional or proper policy in our great country, the land of the free and the home of the brave, especially in a place where all men are created equal!

F6's EDITOR UPDATE: 08 JULY 09 US Representative PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania, a retired Army Captain, and West Point Professor, has taken pointe on HR1283, The Military Readiness Enhancement Act which will cause the repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell by Congress. Please also note that Representative Murphy, four days after this post was originally published, specifically used (7:15 mark) my direct arguments above, that the Oath of Office that both Members of Congress and the Military both swear and affirm are equal and therefore our Troops have status as an Officer of or part of the Public Trust and therefore are free from any religious test or bias to hold such positions. Thank you Congress Member Murphy for picking up the ball for the final run across the field! (MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show via News Politics News)

F6's EDITOR FOLLOWUP: John P. Mortimer, Esq., a retired civil rights attorney, has a wonderful post that I was just referred to by RobMuch on You Tube, which also outlines similar ideas and develops deeper the arguments against The Defense Of Marriage Act, details stringently President Obama's hypocrisy and political pandering when dealing with the Gay and Lesbian Community's struggle for equality, and why he wants to keep DOMA out of the Court's proper place of review. I'm glad that he also chose to speak out about the disenfranchisement we have and are suffering at the whims of a religious bias in a secular nation.

F6 This post has been modified and revised in both content and format as certain multimedia was no longer unavailable from its original source it has been removed to allow the free flow of ideas and perceptions even if they are at this pointe historical and could be perceived by some to be archaic. Thank you for your continued patronage. (rvsd by editor 08Oct12)...