Damned Internets!

Actually, damned ISP. I was going to do some research for a new article last night, but I was unable to get my cable modem to work. Sorry, no new post today.

Thought of the Day

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

-- James Baldwin

Christmas Presents

My mother-in-law bought me a keg of beer for Christmas.

I'm not kidding.

It was my favorite gift of the year.

I don't particularly care for Christmas gifts. I presume that I'm in the minority, but I just don't enjoy opening gifts at all. I don't want Christmas gifts. Really, I don't. I'm pretty hard to buy for. I'm 40 and I have most everything I could possibly want. Even when I was relatively young, I didn't like opening gifts or the whole thing. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if we just did away with Christmas gifts all together. But, hey, a keg of beer? The idea of a keg of beer for Christmas, well let's just say that it is unique.

Every year, my mother-in-law gives me beer. Last year, it was a twelve pack of a variety of different beers. The year before, it was a two quart bottle of Heineken. This year, it was a keg of Heineken. A one-gallon keg. It can be tapped and you can drink it for up to 21 days after it is tapped. A gallon of beer is just less than 11 bottles. So for the next couple of weeks, if I want a glass of cold Heineken, I'll go out onto the deck and draw a glass from my Christmas present.

What I'm Trying to do Here

As I mentioned in my welcoming post below, I am going to attempt to write about policy issues.

That's part of what I want to do.

I'd absolute love it if this blog became a place where policy ideas were debated and better ideas resulted. I don't pretend to know everything and I seriously doubt that I'll present the right answer or even a good answer to every topic about which I write. What I do hope to do is provide food for thought that spurs conversations about issues. I don't know if that will happen, but I'll try.

I have a finite amount of time that I can spend on this blog. I don't promise to churn out an opinion piece every single day -- I simply don't have that kind of time. I'm thinking that one or two pieces a week may be the tops of what I can do. Considering that the NY Times columnists write two columns a week, I would say that two reasonably decent columns a week by me would be tremendous output.

However, I hope to post every single day. What? Well, I like to read a lot of news stories and I hope to provide links to pertinent stories on a regular basis along with brief commentary. If the stories strike you as interesting, shameful, wonderful, outrageous, or whatever, leave a comment. The more, the merrier. So, that's what I'm going to do.

If you have blogs or news sources that you think might be interesting, let me know. I'll link to pages that catch my eye. I'd like to find Minnesota pages as I don't know as much about Minnesota issues as I'd like. If you have links to information about particular topics, let me know.

Anyway, that's where I'm at. I hope you will visit often. The more visitors I have, the more I will write.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

U.S. Constitution, Amendment I

These sixteen words are some of the most important words ever written in this country. The people who settled this country left England to escape religious persecution at the hands of the State. They wanted to be free to worship as they chose. Mindful of their past, the Framers of the Constitution wanted a government free from the entanglement of religions.

As a result, Americans are free to worship as they choose. The State cannot endorse a religion. If you go to church on Christmas, remember that in some parts of the world, people are not free to worship openly. In other countries, the State mandates the religion for the people. But, in the United States, you are free to be Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, agnostic, or atheist, to name a few. I believe in the secular state and the freedom of religion. As Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Give to God what is God's." Amen to that.

Welcome

Welcome to Founded on Dissent.

My name is SBG. I write another blog called Stick and Ball Guy (hence the moniker SBG), which concentrates primarily on Minnesota pro sports teams and other topics of a personal nature. Most likely, you already know that, because I've directed you here from that site.

I have started this site because I want to talk about political ideas. I want to express my ideas in a forum that allows people to discuss them. I was a founding blogger of Four Hoarsemen, but I have dropped out of that blog because of what I consider to be the insulting nature of the posting there. I don't intend to call people names or demonize those who do not believe what I believe. This is, after all, the United States of America, the great melting pot. The great democratic experiment. I believe in engaging those that do not believe the same as me. I believe in the strength of my ideas.

I believe that the Great Strength of this country is the collection of Civil Liberties afforded to the citizens and residents of this country. Among those Liberties are the Freedom of Speech, the Freedom of Religion, and the Freedom from Religion. These liberties are at odds with the aims of those who would control the government. That is the truly ingenious idea of the Bill of Rights. The government of the United States of America has institutionalized Rights that have given the people of this country protection from tyrannous governmental figures.

I am a liberal. I believe in liberal philosophies. Ronald Reagan demonized the word liberal and for 20 years people have run away from that term. I do not. I am a liberal in the classic sense. Let me give you a definition. From wikipedia:

Liberalism is an ideology, or current of political thought, which strives to maximize liberty. Liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on the power of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a free market economy that supports private enterprise, and a system of government that is transparent, a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have by law equal rights and an equal opportunity.

Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the divine right of kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Fundamental human rights that all liberals support include the right to life, liberty, and property.

The bedrock of liberal political thought, in my opinion, are the ideas that government is limited in its power and the civil liberties of people are protected. The liberal ideal is opposed to totalitarianism and seeks to protect against it. It encourages freedom of thought and fosters a healthy distrust of government.

In short, liberal thought seeks a government Of the People, By the People, and For the People.

In this blog, I intend to focus on policies of governance. There are a lot of people who write tremendous blogs focused on political tactics. The biggest of course is Daily Kos. I am a regular reader of that site and I post as mndemguy. Markos Mousalitas, the founder of Daily Kos, wrote recently that his blog is focused primarliy on tactics rather than policy, but recognized the need for policy discussions. I hope to provide a small piece of the policy discussions required to advance the cause.

I am not a political scientist, so in one sense, it could be argued that I have no educational background that qualifies me to discuss such topics knowledgeably. However, I am a lawyer, and thus I have at least studied Constitutional Law in Law School. Some might say that this doesn't qualify me, either. I'll remind those who feel that way that this site is free.

I am glad that you've stopped by. I am excited to write about the issues of the day, from the perspective of a liberal who believes in the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all. I hope to write one or two new articles a week. I'll also link to articles that I find to be pertinent. Stop by once a day or so to see if there is anything new.

I leave you with this exchange from two senators recently.

Sen. John Cornyn: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."
Sen. Russ Feingold: "Give me liberty or give me death."

This is a country Founded on Dissent.