Why I Don't Want Hillary Clinton for President

I know there are those that want Hillary Clinton for President because it would be great to see that glass ceiling broken.  Here's why I don't want her to win the Democratic nomination:

Let's start with the electability concerns I have.  She's hate by the Right, not just because she's a woman in power but also because she's a Clinton.  And then she's got other baggage, boy howdy does she have other baggage.  From Bengazi to her private Email servers, the Right certainly doesn't have a lack of things to throw at Clinton.  So, we wouldn't have an issue-oriented exchange.  Also, she comes off as dishonest, so I'm not convinced it would be an easy victory.... depending upon who she goes up against.

O.k., so, we're not sure she could win.... but that's not all.  I'm just not interested in having her as President.  It has nothing to do with her being a woman.  If Senator Boxer or Senator Warren were running, I'd be all for either of them.  Indeed, I'm in favor of our breaking that glass ceiling, but I don't want to throw out the rest of my politics for it.  In 2008, she and Obama were moderates.  She then started to try to position herself as the liberal candidate at the start of her race this year, but, at least to me, it's only come off as insincere.  Not to mention the fact that there's a true liberal in the race and she's definitely not coming close to his stances on anything.

Also, she's a war hawk.  She's been pushing Obama to be more aggressive around the world and is in favor of supporting Israel financially, not for peace-keeping, but to assist with military spending.

Again, if Warren or Boxer or another woman candidate that I felt was on the correct side of the issues and could win were running, I'd be supporting her.  Clinton is not on the correct side of the issues and feels to me a lot like what Romney must have felt like to the Republicans in 2012.  Unfortunately, there aren't any other women running for the Democrats, so I side with the guy that fits my ideals on the political issues: Sanders.

2016 Presidential Candidates Review - 10-Sep-2015 Edition

So, I think it's about time for me to start commenting on things within the 2016 Presidential campaign.

Let's start with the Republicans because that's rather simple: holy bijesus!  17 declared candidates!  The frontrunner is, not surprisingly, an extremely wealthy white guy.  This time, the leader of the pack doesn't have to be caught saying ridiculous things in private, he's saying them out in the open.  The interesting thing to me is that we all thought Trump's support would die out after a few weeks, but it's been going strong for a while now (though others seem to be gaining some ground).  That's all for now for them, because, well, 17...

On to the Democrats.  Really, we've only heard from 3 candidates and 1 potential candidate.  There's the up-till-now front runner, Hillary Clinton, the second-place-till-now candidate, Bernie Sanders, the almost-heard-of candidate, Martin O'Malley, and the potential candidate, Joe Biden.

Let's start with O'Malley.  I think we can essentially dismiss him because he's burdened with the racial issues in Baltimore and is well behind Sanders, who is the most similar to him of the declared candidates in terms of politics.

Next, let's discuss Clinton.  Clinton is being bogged down by her perceived (and I believe actual) shadiness, dishonesty, and being just generally disingenuous.  In addition to these items, plus the Republicans hatred for her in general, there's the fact that she's always been a centrist and much more of a war hawk than the liberal base of the Democratic party to be too happy about.  Yes, she's a woman, and I shouldn't just shrug that off as older Democrats are likely to be more enthusiastic about her candidacy and Republicans are likely to be more against her based on this fact, but I don't think that's really what's going to drive things as we go through the primaries.

Then there's Sanders.  Sanders is a liberal's liberal.  I mean, my god is he liberal.  And he doesn't shy away from it.  It's amazing to me, in this day and age, to see someone who's not a complete loon talk honestly and seriously about liberal issues and stand up for them.  There are several in office now doing this but Sanders is the one running, so go him.  His honesty, in contrast to Clinton's dis-ingenuousness, is helping him, but so are his long-standing liberal stances.  Recent polls have had him gaining ground on Clinton and the most recent one I've heard of has them at a statistical tie!

Finally, there's Biden.  Biden had a death in his family earlier this year, so he's not sure whether he wants to run for President.  That's a very honest thing for him to say, and he's always seemed very honest.  That said, he's also always seemed to not be as presidential as Clinton and Sanders.  Biden is always saying things that just aren't as polished as you would expect from a president.  My general feeling is that, with Sanders appearing more and more an option, Biden won't run because the main push was to have someone other than Clinton be a contender.  That said, he's certainly making his way around the circuit, so it's not as clear as to make it definite.

So, I guess my thinking at the moment is that Sanders has a chance at winning the Democratic nomination, and provided Trump or one of the right wing nuts are nominated, he has a pretty good chance at winning the presidency.

Freedom of Religion

In the United States, we are free to practice our beliefs as we see fit, a right that is guaranteed by the first amendment in our constitution.  This freedom is only up to a point though.  You are free to believe whatever you want as long as that belief does not interfere with my rights, for instance.

One example of this restriction is the case of gay marriage.  Kim Davis, a country clerk, decided not to provide marriage licenses to anyone rather than providing marriage licenses to gay couples.  She claimed her right of religious freedom allowed this.  Here's the thing though, part of her job, as country clerk, is to provide marriage licenses, so either she should have stepped aside or she should have allowed her deputies to provide those licenses. She was sued and when she went to court she was put in jail because she wasn't willing to provide marriage licenses nor would she promise not to interfere with her deputies providing them.  She was let go yesterday with the understanding that she would not interfere with her deputies' work.  The amusing thing is that when she came out of the jail, there was a rally where her supporters (including presidential candidates Huckabee and Cruz) claimed victory.  But victory over what is my question.  She's being let go under the provision that something would be allowed to take place that she wasn't willing to agree to previously.  Had she agreed to it previously, she wouldn't have been in jail in the first place.  It's kind of like if I refused to put on shoes when going to a restaurant and they refused to seat me.... and then I put on shoes and claimed victory because they seated me.

It's interesting to see how the Republican presidential candidates are each responding to this matter.  While Huckabee and Cruz back Davis up, moderates such as Christie have said that Davis should have been moved to a position where her religious beliefs would not interfere with her duties and that we have to obey laws.