Matters Of Opinion

Body Scanners and Pat Downs: Necessary, or Not?

This is one of those items where two different parts of my brain have an all out battle for possession of the right answer to such a difficult question. On one hand, my brain (and many, many other peoples brain) screams out that it is an invasion of privacy, and that it is wrong to make people consent to such action in order to fly on an airplane. Additionally, it would be more effective to have profiling, and target primarily suspicious looking people and people that look like they might be Muslim.

Now, the other side of my brain asks the other, one thing at a time.

Invasion of privacy? That sounds as though you’re trying to make a claim that we have a “right” to fly. If that is the case, is it  invasion of privacy when a guy that flashes his genitalia in front of a picture window, and then is arrested for indecent exposure, even though he was naked in his own home? Is it invasion of privacy for Google Earth to be able to watch from the sky? Is it invasion of privacy STILL if we are only doing it to Middle Eastern looking gentleman? Great points, side of brain one and side of brain two. It looks that this ones a lock.

While profiling would certainly be the most effective way to handle security, can that legally happen? After all, even with the Arizona illegal immigration debate, the assurances made by Republicans were against profiling. They said that they would certainly not be pulling over random Mexicans and asking for ID. So now, are they FOR profiling here? Since national security is at risk, is profiling then ok? And if that is that case, and national security the all or nothing trump card of the deck, then shouldn’t it be ok to have EVERYBODY give up that same right for a body scanner and/or a pat down? If your loved one was on an airplane and it crashed because of some guy blowing himself up, would that change your mind?

I understand that many people, particularly women, are concerned with their bodies being viewed by a bunch of perverted security guards, and I think that the first thing that should be done to help remedy that situation is pretty easy and dates back to my experiences in elementary school: a line for boys and a line for girls (transgendered? Whichever ones shorter, I guess…the line, that is). Have women watch the women and the men watch the men. Easy.

I know it seems that every time I write a piece like this, where I give both sides of what I’ve been thinking, it ends up ticking off somebody because I didn’t completely condemn one idea or the other. But screw it. I’m just writing about the little rat in my head that keeps running around and can’t seem to find the cheese. So what’s the right answer, folks? Body scanners or no scanners. Scanners ok, pat downs not. Or none of the above? This is one of those deals where, like the Patriot Act, one has to measure whether giving up some liberties in order to survive is worth being secure in knowing that the odds are stacked in ones favor for surviving. I don’t fly often, but I would happily go through the scanner, personally, and not be worried about my wife or children doing so either. Although I think I’m going to start working out before that next flight…you know, I don’t want to take a bad scan.

How To Get Rid Of Visclosky

There has been a lot of wondering around the Republican party for quite some time now about how to get rid of Pete Visclosky.

He’s been in D1 for YEARS.

His District has a whole slew of Democrats.

He has his head so far up the unions behinds it’s a wonder he ever sees daylight.

And Mark Leyva has made it apparent that he can’t beat Pete.

With those absolute truths set in place, one has to analyze what a new Republican candidate would need to win. There are three possible scenarios in place. Scenario one, is that we put forth a Republican that is conditioned to the area and has the right tools, and doesn’t need outside interference (I’ll elaborate on what that means later on). The short list for what that R would need:

1. Would need to fairly moderate. He or she would probably need to be able to garner support for the unions in that area in order to survive. We can’t put forth an uber conservative candidate to win. Not that I wouldn’t love an uber conservative candidate, or that one wouldn’t do a better job. All I’m saying is they won’t get the votes, so it doesn’t matter if they would do a better job or not. They would need to be able to bring home the bacon like Pete does, and would have to be willing to be critical of Republicans, because that is what the voters in that area would want. They would want a person who would be separate from their party, in some ways. This would be easy to settle with the local parties, all that person would have to do is make sure that his or her GOP leaders and fellow politicians knew the reasons for this type of behavior.

2. He or she would probably need to be black. I know that sounds like racial politics, but if you take a look at the demographics off Lake County, that area has a higher concentration of African Americans and Hispanics than any other area in Northern Indiana. This probably sounds silly, but take a look at the number of blacks that considered themselves Republicans that switched to Democrat in 2008 in order to vote for a fellow black man. I’m sure there are a lot of blacks in Lake County that would love to see a black Representative.

3. It would definitely help if this Republican was a former Democrat that has switched. Perhaps the party could troll the moderate and conservative Democrats in the area and try to convince them to switch parties, especially right now, since the D’s just got spanked. We can see if we can get one to “pull a Spector”.

These three things would GREATLY increase the chances of having a Republican House member in D1. Would the individual, a moderate, perhaps former Democratic, be my ideal Representative? Probably not, and probably not for a lot of you reading this. But it’s reality. Reality says most of the people in D1 aren’t as far to the right politically as those in almost every other District in Indiana.

The second scenario is that Visclosky’s District gets gerrymandered around so that he has a better chance of losing. This is a pretty unsavory scenario for me, because I don’t want the R’s to gerrymander, period. I think they should make it a point to try and follow natural boundaries and have some normal looking Districts so that they can say “Hey, look at us! Where not all about politics!”. Even if it means sacrificing a seat or two, in the long run it’s not only better politics, but is actual honest service to the taxpayers.

The third scenario is that the Republicans field a Democratic challenger against Visclosky. I’m not real crazy about this either, because it is pretty underhanded. This challenger, if a good enough candidate, could do one of two things:

1. Beat Pete, and then lose to us or switch parties later on.

2. Lose to Pete, and then endorse the Republican candidate.

Either one’s a little dirty for my taste, but either one could scoop away key votes from Pete and make the seat red.

These are three scenarios, one just better campaign preening, the other two underhanded tactics, that could help to take away the seat from Pete. Is it worth it to undertake the kind of tactics talked about above in order to win? I don’t think so, personally. I would rather just let Pete have the seat then to go through such muddy roads. But, they are things that COULD be done. Any thoughts?

Election 2010: The Day After Yesterday, The Day Before Tomorrow

All right, the title of this one is pretty silly, but hey, it’s the kind of mood I’ve been in all day. There’s nothing better than watching your home state turn a bright, eye blinding red, and then watch as Republicans take over the House and improve greatly in the Senate. And the cherry on top?! Go to work at the mill and gloat about it. Yeah, I gloated. Sue me.

I think that Chuck Harris’ reaction explained it all. The new Porter County Coroner pumped his fists in the air and gave a mammoth yell when the results of his win were read last night. Hell, I felt like the Cheshire cat, grinning ear to ear, while I heard the laundry list of Republican candidates, especially Porter County ones, being read their numbers out loud. In a sense, they had all just been hired. In that moment, they could relax. All of the hard work that they put forward, all of the long hours that they put in, had paid off in the long run.

Republicans in Indiana can breathe a little easier and be assured that redistricting won’t gerrymander districts to favor Democrats (of course I’ll breathe even easier if the Republicans do away with gerrymandering all together, but I’ll write about that when the time is right), and Republicans across the country can rest assured that Democrats no longer have an iron clad fist clenched around the…well…you know…of this nation.

However, there were some casualties last night.

Dan Klein, for one, lost against VanDenburgh for the Indiana House race that he was in. This surprised me: a lot. I’m not sure what the reasoning was for this (although I’m sure many of you on this site will be happy to let me know) but I was disappointed to hear that Klein wouldn’t be joining the other R’s this cycle. I like Dan Klein. He’s a good guy, he seems very genuine, and I look forward to watching his political career in the future, because Dan isn’t going anywhere. There are still big things in store for Klein, you wait and see.

Olson’s loss to Tallian was another disappointment. I knew it was a long shot, as I’m sure Shawn did when he decided to take that plunge, but at least he put that effort forward in a strong way and give it a shot. For me, I knew it was a coin flip. The numbers weren’t quite 50/50 numbers, but they weren’t slaughterhouse numbers. Olson is a lot like Klein. This year, he’s gotten the experience and set up a repertoire with area Republicans, and I look forward to seeing and hearing more from Olson in the future.

Levi’s loss to David Lain was the third of my third most disappointing losses. Not only because I know and like the Levi’s, but because I really do think that he would have done a marvelous job as Sheriff of Porter County. I wish them all the best in the world, and give all three of these candidates a metaphorical pat on the back and a “You’ll get em next time”…because I think they will.

But here I am whining about the three scant losses! What kind of nihilist am I?!

I for one am proud to have so many great local servants. This is the first year that I have worked this closely on local elections, and I am glad that I got involved at this level because I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know so many great people. Whether it was making elephant ears at the popcorn fest, or running the Republican booth at the Hebron block party, or helping to get ready for the Reagan Rally, or helping to manage a campaign in the primaries (albeit an unsuccessful one, an enlightening and friend making experience anyways) and still being able to shake hands with the winner of that primary, who won his general election race, as a fellow Republican with a genuine “No hard feelings” attitude…this election year has done more than make Porter County red, it has given me insight and helped me to make new friends. Because, like Jim’s signs said: it’s about people over politics.

Also, it should be duly noted the amount of time and effort that Joyce Webster, the Porter County Republican Chairwomen, put into helping make the Porter County wins possible. She essentially sacrificed her own position as Portage Township Trustee, in order to help make these valuable wins happen. Everybody should be thankful that she put forth such effort, and if you get the chance to shake her hand and tell her thank you, I hope you’ll take it.

Now, it’s time for them all to roll up their shirt sleeves and dive in. We’ve won…in the biggest amount since the 1920′s…with a larger House majority than the famous (infamous to some, I’m sure) ’94 Congress…and we could easily lose it. We have to progress as a party.

I know, I hate that word too (only because I think progressives are so intolerable). But progressing and growing as a party, working towards new, conservative based, good ideas, will not only take our party to a whole new level, but will show that we can adapt and remain constant and ever vigilant to the people. It doesn’t mean we have to be progressive in the liberal sense. But rather put forth ideas that are based squarely in a free market style solution, hold our values high while respecting those that dissent, and recognize that change can be more than a catchy slogan. It can be something that, when utilized in the proper way, can pull our country out of double digit unemployment, can enact real working reforms through deregulation on large nonsensical things combined with surgical accuracy like regulations (rather than blanket reforms that hurt more than help) on real problems, can respect peoples liberties and keep accountability up where it ought to be, and can make the Republican brand something that every person, regardless of age, creed, religion, or class, will be able to identify with and proudly shout approval from their rooftops.