Proud to be an American

Wow, this is the first time I haven't had to rant on here! I actually get to be excited that I'm from the U.S. and enjoy my fellow citizens.

In a 12-hour period, the Democratic party managed to shut down an extreme abortion bill in Texas, and the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be unconstitutional.

Just...I'm so excited right now. Senator Wendy Davis- you are an amazing woman. She spoke for 10 straight hours, reciting letters, testimonies, and her own story. She did this to block a vote on Senate Bill 5- banning abortions after 20 weeks.

There are other serious implications of this bill- the most dangerous implication being that abortions are nearly entirely defined by their medical necessity at all stages of pregnancy.

Unfortunately, it's possible for the governor (Rick Perry- you remember him, right? The guy who said that you don't need to go to church every Sunday to know there's something wrong when gays can openly serve in the military.) to call another special session to get the vote through. It also seems highly likely as their vote was only three minutes past the deadline.

But really, Mr. Governor, don't do that. You are already an embarrassment to politics, and to call another special session when 400+ protesters cried out to prevent a vote would only make it worse. Call it underhanded, or whatever- this is way politics should be. The voice of the people, not politicians who do what they think will get them re-elected.

(That's an interesting thought, isn't it? We elect officials to make decisions based on our views and needs, but they are terribly self-serving because their job is on the line. Too bad, that.)

And then DOMA, ah, your reign ends. As my cousin pointed out, this does little to solve a large part of the problem- that same sex marriages don't have the same reciprocity that "traditional" marriages do; thus negating federal recognition as well. I agree, but I still believe this is a huge step.

As DOMA had been backed by both Democrats and Republicans, I believe it finally being overturned is the mark that the our federal level of legislators will soon stand behind the judgment of the Supreme Court in recognizing that they are still persecuting Americans.

So, obviously there are positive and negative points to these victories.

Even President Obama had kind of a rough week in my mind. I mean, kudos to him for being mindful of carbon emissions, but I'm a little ashamed that he would be so short-sighted.

Greenhouse gases are an extremely pressing matter, we recently reached a point often considered to be "the point of no return." A sustained measure of 400ppm globally would take so long to clear out that we would, ultimately, be doomed- and some regions are already there.

However, GHGs are not the only environmental issue. The fact that Obama is okay building the Keystone Pipeline should it not cause significant carbon pollution is extremely short-sighted. I understand, economically it makes sense, it should have been done years ago. But when the President condones fracking and other invasive, harmful techniques for the sake of industry, we need to take a step back and consider what we're really willing to trade. We need to regulate the carbon emissions problem, but remember- water is a precious limited resource as well.

Anyway, good job America. I really hope these decisions and actions are upheld.