Mitt approached the podium after his victory and spoke of the benefits of a tough, competitive nominating season. He claimed the enduring challenge, rather than weaken the Republican party’s position against the incumbent president, would strengthen the GOP come this fall. He went on to criticize Obama and Democratic policies for the conditions of life in modern America, playing well to his assembled faithful and those without the understanding of facts/history/life when one isn’t a wealthy white man. He even included an obligatory out-of-context quote from an unassailable historical figure, Thomas Paine.

Gingrich came out to his own podium and thanked Floridians for their positive manners throughout his time in the state. This made veiled reference to the overwhelming deluge of negative campaign ads run by the Romney camp and the PACs who support him. Pot calling kettle black, Gingrich didn’t mention the attack ads that he also ran. But it’s fair to acknowledge Romney’s nearly five-to-one spending on such ads ($15.4 million by Romney against $3.7 million by Gingrich) contributed to the significant margin of victory he claimed over the opponent who stomped him in South Carolina. Newt continued by going back to the Gingrich well of expressing disgust with the “elite media,” and denigrating Romney for being a political moderate, which in Newt-speak is synonymous with “Massachusetts liberal.” He then went through a bizarre laundry list of extreme political maneuvers he would make between his eventual election to the presidency and the ceremonial balls of the inauguration. Also, he included the obligatory out-of-context quote from an unassailable historical figure, Abraham Lincoln.

In his remarks at the end of the night Newt may have done more to damage his chances to be the Republican nominee than anything done by Mitt Romney or the voters. His nonsense “people’s contract” was probably intended to come across as a bold declaration of purpose and intent to the tea party hardliners, but played like a rambling tirade from would-be-emperor Gingrich. It didn’t have the unsettling volume and pitch of Howard Dean’s howl of defeat, but hit the ear with the same note of equal desperation.

Gingrich promised before polls closed today to stay in the race until the nominating convention in August. With nearly seven full months between Florida’s primary and that event, he does still have legitimate opportunities across the rest of the convention season to secure primary victories and work against the front-running Romney. The result of the contest tonight and the consolidation of support for Romney among Republican elites in the days before the primary don’t help Newt, but he’s far from finished…unless he’s moved too far right for the far, far right. The Republican base is still divided, still unconvinced that Romney is their candidate.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. 

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

President Obama several times during the SOTU made a point of speaking directly to Congress, imploring them to pass legislation that would move his plans forward. It was a tactical move, putting the legislators on the spot to either act on his wishes or continue their failure in the realm of public perception. The promising statements in the SOTU speech, repeated in his appearances throughout the week, established the second step of that maneuver. While it is easy for the president’s critics to take the cynical view that he’s just parroting his campaign script, the visits delivered key segments of his message to carefully targeted subsets of the public most likely to benefit from his proposals – a much different audience than the assembled members of Congress.

At his first stop in Iowa, Obama focused heavily on income inequality, referencing his proposed “Buffet rule” of 30% minimum tax for those making $1,000,000 a year or more. He discussed the importance of correcting the tax code to stop jobs from migrating overseas and to encourage businesses to hire U.S. workers. He also took figures directly from the SOTU to show the growth of jobs during his administration:

Our businesses have created more than 3 million jobs over the last 22 months. If you look at a job chart, if you look at a chart of what’s happened in terms of jobs in America, we lost 4 million jobs before I took office, another 4 million in the few months right after I took office, before our economic policies had a chance to take effect, and we’ve been growing and increasing jobs ever since — 3 million over the last 22 months. Last year, we created the most jobs since 2005. And today, American manufacturers like this one are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s.

His next stop was an Intel campus in Chandler, Arizona. Here, the president emphasized the importance of developing manufacturing jobs in the U.S., encouraging companies to keep those jobs within our country through revisions to the tax code, and making education a budgetary priority to help American students prepare for engineering and other scientific careers. His argument to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans received support earlier that day from THE wealthiest American, Bill Gates. Obama made mention of this fact in Chandler:

We don’t begrudge success in America. We encourage it. We aspire to it. When we talk about everybody paying their fair share, it’s not because anybody envies the rich. Earlier today, Bill Gates said that he agrees that Americans who can afford it should pay their fair share. I promise you, Bill Gates doesn’t envy rich people. He feels pretty comfortable that he’s doing okay. It just has to do with basic math. We’re going to have to reduce our deficit, and if I get tax breaks that I don’t need and the country can’t afford, if a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffett get tax breaks that they don’t need and can’t afford, then one of two things is going to happen. Either it adds to our deficit, or it’s going to take away from somebody else – whether it’s a senior or a student or a family who’s trying to get by. And that’s not right. That’s not who we are.

The president’s next visit occurred Thursday morning at a Las Vegas UPS facility. Obama stressed at this appearance the administration’s energy policies, the reduction of dependence on foreign oil, and bolstering domestic production of fuels.

Now, a great place to start is with natural gas. Some of you may not have been following this, but because of new technologies, because we can now access natural gas that we couldn’t access before in an economic way, we’ve got a supply of natural gas under our feet that can last America nearly a hundred years. Nearly a hundred years. Now, when I say under our feet, I don’t know that there’s actually gas right here. I mean in all the United States. And developing it could power our cars and our homes and our factories in a cleaner and cheaper way. The experts believe it could support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. We, it turns out, are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. We’ve got a lot of it. We’ve got a lot of it.

That signaled good news to UPS, energy companies, and the transportation industry, but also illustrated Obama’s business-friendly centrist tendencies. Coming out in favor of “fracking” for natural gas couldn’t have sounded sweet to environmentally conscious liberals or the American families able to set fire to the water coming out of their faucets (thanks to the chemicals involved in the fracturing process). The president continued highlighting the energy agenda when he visited Buckley Air Force Base later the same day, mentioning specifically the military’s role in clean energy.

That’s why in December, the Navy made the single largest purchase of biofuel in government history. This summer, that fuel will power ships and subs during the world’s largest naval exercise. By the way, two years ago, I got a chance to see a Navy F-18 Green Hornet that can fly on biofuel. That was an impressive sight. The rest of the military – including here at Buckley – is doing its part as well. In 2010, you started installing thousands of solar panels here on the base. That same year the Air Force flew an A-10 Thunderbolt entirely on alternative fuels, a first for the military. And, overall, the Air Force is on track to save $500 million dollars in fuel costs over the next five years because you’re changing the way you run their operations.

Speaking at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, President Obama brought up the growing economic divide, the necessity of a quality education, and his plan to keep the skyrocketing costs of college tuition down.

If tuition is going up faster than inflation, faster than even health care is going up, no matter how much we subsidize it, sooner or later, we’re going to run out of money. And that means that others have to do their part. Colleges and universities need to do their part to keep costs down as well. Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who’ve done just that. Here at Michigan, you’ve done a lot to find savings in your budget. We know this is possible. So from now on, I’m telling Congress we should steer federal campus-based aid to those colleges that keep tuition affordable, provide good value, serve their students well. (Applause.) We are putting colleges on notice – you can’t keep – you can’t assume that you’ll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can’t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down. We should push colleges to do better. We should hold them accountable if they don’t.

Obama drew two types of lines during the State of the Union; one group pointing to the accomplishments of his first term and the other outlining his side of the coming year’s argument with the GOP. He took that information immediately to groups of constituents ready for his message, beginning the mobilization of voters toward his reelection. The inability thus far for the Republican opposition to develop a clear competitor for the Oval Office allows the president an important advantage: He gets to define the parameters of the conversation before the other side is ready to talk. It’s a plan with merit.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

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Gingrich, though, made a strong case Saturday night that he can put the pieces together better than the other options.

His comments after the results came in included a strategic mention of each other candidate on the South Carolina ballot. Gingrich praised Rick Santorum’s can-do persistence in Iowa and his adherence to social conservatism. He commended Ron Paul for consistent and accurate messaging on inflation and the Federal Reserve. He even offered an positive acknowledgement of Mitt Romney’s organizational success and business acumen. Though presented as a fair, friendly pat on the back to his rivals, it actually served as an advertisement to the followers of those other candidates. Gingrich was broadcasting to those voters, “I know what you like about those guys. I like those things, too, and I can combine all of their concerns in my agenda. Follow me now. I’m the winner.”

Gingrich still faces a considerable challenge to securing the nomination: his own history. Unlike the other candidates seeking the GOP nomination, Gingrich’s former role as Speaker of the House during the Clinton presidency means he is familiar to most voters heading to the ballot box in November. His approval rating among Republican voters across the U.S. is not high, while his approval among national Democrats is dismal. On this point, he simply can’t claim to be the Republican’s best choice for the purpose of defeating President Obama. Specific elements of Newt’s past contributing to his notoriety include well-known marital infidelities, presiding over two shutdowns of the federal government, and the $300,000 fine charged against him for ethics violations while serving as Speaker.

Newt possesses some positive characteristics. He’s intelligent and direct, articulating well when speaking in public. He’s adept at navigating the currents of political sentiment among varied audiences (though contradictions when speaking to a different audience are often later exposed). Gingrich also comes across as genuine, unlike the made-for-politics insincerity oozing from Mitt Romney at every appearance. But the GOP fears Gingrich’s volatility. It’s fair to describe the man as somewhat ego-maniacal. Newt’s directness and conviction of his own opinion worry Republicans who expect Newt to verbally shoot himself in the foot and, in the process, cripple any hope of unseating Obama.

After South Carolina, the Republican field remains open. Florida comes next and, with Ron Paul skipping the state, presents a stage for the Gingrich/Santorum tandem to further erode Romney’s former position as the heir apparent. The multiple factions within the GOP get more time to figure out their differences and decide if any common ground exists within a solitary candidate. Newt Gingrich claimed the common ground this week. South Carolina agreed.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died at a hotel in Memphis on April 4, 1968 after being shot from afar by James Earl Ray. The assassination ended a brilliant life dedicated to advancing the rights of black Americans (and, by extension, all Americans) through non-violent protest. Dr. King promoted understanding between disparate groups by encouraging open dialogue and peaceful demonstration, believing the alternate path of violent clashes and retribution would end badly for those he hoped to help.

King’s first real step into American history came in early December of 1955 alongside the trial of Rosa Parks, who defied the demands of a Montgomery, Alabama bus driver that she give up her seat (not at the front of the bus, actually, but in the first row of the “colored” section) to accommodate standing white passengers. The local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) met with King, a young civil rights leader in Montgomery, and suggested he lead a boycott of the city bus system. The boycott lasted longer than a year, costing Montgomery significant revenue from public transportation losses and courtroom defeats. The leadership MLK demonstrated through rousing speeches and organizing efforts resulted in victory via the repeal of segregated public transportation in Montgomery and renewed vitality for the civil rights movement in Alabama. It also brought violence and harassment to his door, establishing the pattern of cost and consequence he would struggle against for the remainder of his life.

Martin Luther King, Jr. continued promoting the civil rights agenda in the late ‘fifties and early ‘sixties through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The initial focus of King’s work during this period sought empowerment of blacks in the political process through voter registration and increased public awareness of the need for change. He met with many religious and civil rights leaders and gave speeches across the nation. His public life became a series of speaking engagements, protests, and arrests. One such arrest following a sizable demonstration in Birmingham led King to compose his now-well-known 1963 “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Within this letter, as a reply to criticism from his own community of southern clergymen, Dr. King spelled out the underlying reasoning of his peaceful modus operandi:

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.

Later that summer, King’s public work culminated in the massive march on Washington, D.C., where he offered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of over two-hundred thousand people. One could argue the changing sentiment of the American public regarding segregation and the eventual passage of 1964′s federal Civil Rights Act might have still transpired without MLK or his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, but King made an undeniable permanent impression on the public psyche that day, certainly changing some minds for the better with the power of his words.

As America moved further into the nineteen-sixties, Dr. King pressed on, and the civil rights movement see-sawed between advancements and set-backs. Even as he worked to push the cause into the larger cities around the country, King himself faced diminishing support for his methods from within the black community. Many felt their patience strained as MLK’s non-violent, politely confrontational tactics achieved change at such a gradual pace. Younger, more aggressive African-American leaders (including Malcolm X) felt Dr. King’s methods stepped too softly and allowed whites an undeserved concession of comfort.

By 1968, he, too, grew increasingly frustrated with the glacial crawl of civil rights. He felt aggravated with the continued harassment and arrests, exhausted by the marches and speeches, and discouraged by his critics. Yet he showed no intention of giving up. His final public appearance in Memphis to support striking public sanitation workers displayed his same trademark commitment to equal rights through peace in the face of hostile opposition. His murder the next day proved our nation not yet worthy of his nobility.

King could have celebrated his eighty-third birthday this year, but was taken at just thirty-nine. Incalculable quantities of words about the man have been written in the forty-plus years since his death and the likelihood of remembering him in a new or different way is practically nonexistent. But let us remember him again as a titan of progress. Let us remember that he demonstrated greater bravery than any of us ever dream of needing. And let’s remember that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed us that people – not just black people, but all people – deserve to be treated with equal dignity and equal respect and equal decency because they are people.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

I’ve often thought that if it were up to me to make the rules, I would make a 2-year service commitment obligatory for all young people graduating from high school in America. It would be similar to Israel’s mandatory draft at the age of 18 for both men and women – except you would have the choice of military service or public service. In this perfect little world of mine, both service commitments would involve the same sense of honor and patriotism we confer upon those who offer themselves for duty to the armed forces, but that sense of duty and civic pride would also be expanded to include domestic and foreign public service and rebuilding programs, such as serving one’s country by rebuilding parts of the nation destroyed by natural disasters, or building low-income housing, or repairing and beautifying city parks and playgrounds, or serving as foreign goodwill ambassadors by mitigating poverty in the Peace Corps abroad.

Wishful thinking, I know. But there are a lot of things that an individual can do without being involuntarily drafted to do so, or being a hopeless idealist. Most people don’t have a lot of money (and even less time) to do as much as they wish they could. So here are a few easy things that any normal workaday person who has the privilege of a job and home and a few extra dollars can do to make his or her little corner of the world a little bit better; and it probably wouldn’t even stray too far from the regular routine:

If you’re like most people, you do your grocery shopping every week. I like to go on Mondays because it’s quieter and there’s nothing good on TV. While you’re at the grocery store doing your weekly shopping, keep one of these on your list:

1.  A bag of socks and underwear to donate to a homeless shelter, especially in children’s sizes. You would be very surprised to know how many families with children rely on homeless shelters for basic living assistance. You can either take a detour sometime during the week to drop these items off, or if your church regularly takes a collection, you can take leave these items in your car and drop them off in the collection box next time you go to service.
2. Buy an extra children’s book. You can drop this off at your child’s school as a donation to the school library. This way, you can teach your child that giving can be done all year round instead of just Christmas, and it still feels just as good.
3. Buy a game or toy to donate to the children’s wing at your nearby hospital. There are some kids that spend a lot of time in the hospital, and they’ve probably already read every book and played every game there. Anything to break up the monotony is good.
4. If you don’t have kids, you can do what I do: buy an extra bag of dog or cat food at the grocery store and take a ride over to the animal shelter to drop it off. You get to look at all the adorable animals, and you may even end up coming home with a new family member. Instant hero.
5. Easier still, you could walk over to your pantry right now and take out all the canned goods that you know you’re not going to use, make sure they’re not expired, put those in a bag, and drive them over to your food bank. You can also add a couple of cans of nonperishable food to your weekly grocery list for the food bank. This is very inexpensive and it goes a long way to help the neediest in our communities. And again, if your church has a collection bin for the food bank,you can just drop them off when you normally go to service.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Martin Luther King Day of Service, go to http://mlkday.gov/serve/

If you are a hopeless idealist, here are a few other ways to change the world right now:

Get involved in community affairs, government, or politics:

Held or run for political office

Served on a committee for some local organizations

Make a speech

Sign or start a petition (in-person or online)

Write or call a politician at the state, local or national level

Work for a political party

Be an active member of any group that tries to influence public policy or government

Serve as an officer for some club or organization

Attended a political rally, speech, or organized protest of any kind

Take a survey

Attend a public meeting on city or school district affairs

Write a letter or e-mail to the editor of a newspaper, magazine, online publication, or call a live radio or TV show to express an opinion

Write an article for a magazine, newspaper, or online publication advocating for public service

Other things you can do:

Make a $25 microloan at kiva.org

Look for a non-profit job at Idealist.org

Spend a Saturday at a Habitat for Humanity build

Donate your old magazines to a hospital

Donate a gently used coat to a homeless shelter

Donate old towels or blankets to an animal shelter

Be a mentor at a Boys and Girls club

Volunteer for City Year

Look for green projects on takepart.com

Donate to Locks of Love

Be a driver volunteer for Meals on Wheels

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Mitt secured roughly thirty-nine percent of the vote in the primary. Some commentators suggest the below-forty-percent showing is a sign of Romney’s continuing struggle to rally support from the GOP base. In fact, his numbers are in nearly identical to John McCain’s win in 2008 and G.W. Bush’s victory in ’88. Romney’s share doesn’t indicate soft support as much as it shows his ability to emerge from a crowded field. Though he excites few within the Republican party and aggravates many, he remains the candidate the GOP sees as either most electable, most likely to overcome Obama, or most deserving of the nomination. Still nobody’s real favorite, but most people’s “good as we got.”

Ron Paul achieved a strong second-place showing with just over a fifth of voters punching the ballot for him. Paul’s significant totals between New Hampshire and Iowa guarantee a prolonged stay in the race against Romney and, assuming he does not secure the eventual nomination, raises the possibility of an independent campaign for the presidency. Though Ron Paul appeals to some college-age voters and anti-establishment groups, a third-party effort from Paul would likely siphon off more votes from the Republican candidate than the Democratic one.

Jon Huntsman finished last in Iowa (he did not technically participate) but managed a third place finish in New Hampshire. Keeping his candidacy alive and kicking might feel like a victory to some, but Huntsman spent a lot of time and money in this state and really needed a full win to establish any legitimate hope of becoming the republican nominee for president. This writer – speaking as someone with no interest in having a Republican president any time soon – finds it unfortunate for the GOP that Huntsman can’t find favor. His (comparatively) moderate conservatism, coupled with an ability to perform well on television and in public appearances, seems to make him the candidate with the most ability to unseat our incumbent president. The extreme right-wing forces holding sway over the present-day Republican party simply can’t abide Huntsman’s views on immigration, corporate taxes, torture policies, and Social Security.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum practically tied for fourth. Neither will be the nominee. Newt knows it, but Santorum probably retains some hope from his Iowa finish. The bruising of Gingrich’s ego will continue to make him a dangerous element for Romney in at least the next two contests as he pushes the GOP to select someone – anyone – other than Mitt. However, Romney’s New Hampshire win will push more of the Republican cheerleaders in the media and the government to get behind his candidacy, marginalizing Gingrich’s agenda and message even further.

Finally, Rick Perry finished last in New Hampshire, securing just one percent more of the vote than you or me. Perry’s pride may be damaged, but not enough to convince him that the end of his candidacy already came and went. He’s put significant resources into the South Carolina contest and hopes to surge back into contention with a strong turnout there. It’s over though. The real matter at question is Perry’s intention at this stage. Does he hope to come across well enough to secure a VP position on the eventual ticket, or does he want to make enough of an impression to bolster a future run for the Oval Office? The Republicans don’t have a history of picking the new guy, but someone who keeps trying, pays his dues…that’s a different story. Perry might actually be at the beginning of his 2016 campaign.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

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If you are interested and think you have what it takes, please visit our Contact Us page and tell us a little about yourself. We’ll reply directly as soon as we are able with more details.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The opinions expressed throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. To join in, please visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line.

President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on New Year’s Eve, going back on previous pledges to veto the legislation. With pen still effectively in hand and the ink of his signature not yet dry, the president claimed that the new law would not be used against citizens of the United States and promised the he personally would not utilize its powers to indefinitely detain individuals.

To put it mildly, Mr. President, that’s just not good enough.

Obama’s approval of this legislation means that by presidential order, any person can be detained indefinitely, without access to legal counsel, without being charged with any crime, and without any promise of jury trial. Without those three legal safeguards, the door is open for an individual to be imprisoned for anything at any time for the remainder of their lives. It’s a terrible thing. The practice has been strongly condemned by our country when practiced by other nations like South Africa and China. Obama’s pledge to never use the power is hardly comforting when one realizes that a)nothing exists to hold him to that pledge since using the power is now fully legal, b) he has a record of walking back on his promises, c) the power does not expire at the end of his presidency.

Despite his claim of “serious reservations” and a statement that the new law does no more than restate powers possessed by the Executive Branch since 2001, he went back on his word to veto the legislation and made it official. Obama’s duty to the American people was a veto of this legislation. The existing laws he referred to are the 2001 Authorized Use of Military Force granted to President Bush by Congress and the anti-terrorism measures codified by the Patriot Act, both unbalanced and poorly considered pieces of legislation themselves. By signing the NDAA into law as it was delivered, Obama betrayed Americans by strengthening and validating the misguided anti-terror laws of his predecessor.

Furthermore, the president claimed that the language of the law excludes American citizens from detention and treatment as military enemies of the United States. His statement was dishonest. The language of the law states that American citizens are exempt from the requirement of military detention. U.S. citizens may be detained indefinitely, non-citizens are required to be detained. See the difference? Maybe this doesn’t sound frightening to those who follow the “if you’re not guilty of anything, you have nothing to worry about” school of thought. The problem is that agencies within our government are classifying peaceful, non-terrorist groups as suspicious and threatening, including Peta, Greenpeace, anti-war protesters, and even Muslims. The leap to classifying any or all of these groups as terrorist organizations in only a presidential whim away.

Protections of U.S. citizens aside, the smart guys who started this country put forth the precept that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights. To amend that to say “all men are created equal, provided they were born in this country and have proper legal documentation to prove it, and never, ever, ever do anything to offend the corporate or political powers that keep the machine moving, otherwise we can pretend that those inalienable rights are suddenly alienable,” in my strong opinion, betrays what our country is intended to protect and represent. That’s why the NDAA, the Patriot Act, and all the other fear-mongering anti-terrorism measures hurt our country.

The opinions expressed in this post and throughout RedBrownandBlue.com are intended to encourage civil discussion and invite well-reasoned alternatives. You can participate in the conversation by finding us on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. We also encourage you to visit our Contact Us page and drop us a line. Your contribution may be highlighted as a selected response and posted to this site at a later date.

Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.

The Republican Party since the departure of G.W. Bush suffers an identity crisis. The “Tea Party” contingent of the right wing insists upon slash-and-burn budgets to eliminate entitlement programs and miniaturize the federal government. Fiscal conservatives want measures to reduce the deficit, except when it means taxing the wealthy or shrinking the military. Social conservatives controlled by religious interests demand limits on the reproductive rights of women and the civil liberties of homosexuals. Party loyalists simply want someone perceived as electable enough to unseat President Obama.

Unfortunately for themselves, Republicans can’t decide which is most important to them as a whole. They also find it impossible to find a human being who represents all aspects of the party personality without some contrary history to overcome. Because no such person exists, the Republican candidates have played musical chairs this season trying to prove themselves worthy of the divided factions, with each spending a little time hovering over the  best seat before being shoved on by the next in line. Iowa demonstrates continued indecision and uncertainty. Rick Santorum pleases the religious right, Ron Paul pleases the Tea Party, and Mitt Romney is the closest the rest of the party can come to a viable candidate. No one is confident enough, and no one is really happy.

Except Democrats. They clearly see the threat level: low.

The Iowa caucus has a spotty record of determining the eventual nominee, but does offer bottom-rung candidates a proper notice that the time to vacate has come. Michelle Bachmann’s five percent showing and the rock-bottom one percent secured by Jon Huntsman will likely lead to the cessation of their campaigns if they don’t dismiss dignity and good sense. Rick Perry, landing 10% of the vote, says he’ll return to Texas before deciding whether to pursue contests in New Hampshire and South Carolina later in the month. The race now really comes down to three men, with Newt Gingrich as a fourth just hanging around to erode support from his perceived enemies and probably hope for a shared ticket with the eventual winner.

The ultimate issue for Republicans coming out of this caucus is their dissatisfaction with the representatives of their own party. Turnout for the caucus tallied numbers below 2008 suggesting a lack of enthusiasm for this election and, by extension, weakened confidence in a November victory. With the prominent and unpopular tactics of John Boehner and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives further damaging the popularity of the GOP, Republicans must know what an uphill battle they face in the fall. As an outsider looking in, it seems the Republicans need a significant realignment of priorities in order to firm up an definitive identity, or they must accept that they are no longer a focused collective and divorce accordingly.

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Jake Negovan drives Red Brown and Blue to be an outlet for progressive political opinion that leads to the betterment of life for the real, multicultural population of the U.S. and the rest of the world. His columns address the issues faced by our country as we continue growing toward a society of equality. More about Jake can be found on the web at jakejots.com or on Twitter@jakenegovan.