AgentCooper.NET

I went out with the flight instructor again on Saturday for practicing maneuvers, some of which were quite interesting. We did some basic climbs, descents, and turns at various speeds. At one point I was requested to do a climb at 50kt which wigged me out a little bit because Vs (stall speed) is at 46kt, this ultimately brought me to the point where I ended up getting nauseous. Which brings me to the valuable lesson of the day – before flying ensure your body is in state capable of flying! The fact I stayed out late the night before (wasn’t completely well rested), wasn’t operating at 100%, and that I had crap for lunch (McDonalds) are all contributing factors… lesson learned!

On a brighter note it was also my first shot at taking a jab at the radio communication which is as cryptic as cryptic can be. I believe the line requesting permission to taxi was something like “Boeing Ground Cessna six-three-three-niner-six at Wings Aloft, Zulu, requesting clearance for Vashon departure”. Let’s just say I have a lot to learn before I become fluent in the lingo.

In other news, I ran into G. Gordon Liddy on Saturday night. Everyone around him was treating him as if he was God which agitated me a bit; who are these folks and do they not know he is one of the biggest crooks of all time? I just wanted to grab him by that ludicrous mustache of his and drag him down the street though it’s probably a good thing I didn’t because I have a feeling he “knows people” and I may not have woken up the next morning… I’ll just leave it be with stating that I don’t like him.

President Bush speaking at a fundraiser last night effectively stated that the Democrats shouldn’t be trusted to run Congress…

“If you listen closely to some of the leaders of the Democratic Party, – it sounds like — they think the best way to protect the American people is, wait until we’re attacked again”

Wow, talk about the pot call the kettle black!

Does he know that a State Department official has confirmed that Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice) did indeed receive a CIA briefing regarding active terror threats two months prior to the attacks even though she has repeatedly stated she doesn’t recall such a briefing? In which case it would have been his administration who *waited until we were attacked *. I also guess he didn’t read the recent intelligence report that suggests that the war on Iraq has if anything *helped* recruit more terrorists.

Bush is scared of the fact that control of the House is up for grabs in the November and current signs indicate a less than ideal outcome for the GOP. Perhaps they should have thought of that sooner and kept a tighter leash on former GOP representative Mark Foley — which allegations surfaced today that he interrupted a vote on the House floor in 2003 to engage in cyber-sex with a former page. Let’s also not forget the allegations — some of which from fellow GOP representatives — that Foley’s behavior had been covered up by House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Although there is no hard evidence regarding Hastert was involved in a cover-up the allegations aren’t completely without merit based on what information is available.

I’m not all that surprised that even with all this going on that President Bush would stand up and say that it’s the Democrats that can’t be trusted, afterall he’s never really known what’s actually going on in reality, so why should he start now?

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled today with a 5-4 majority that the Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional. Now I understand there are masses on both sides of the issue, but I’ll admit I’m deeply angered at the ruling. My anger isn’t stemming from the issue explicitly but rather how justices in the state supreme court have a blatant disregard for upholding the state constitution.

It’s pretty cut and dry that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is *unconstitutional* by the nature it restricts marriage to only those who are in opposite-sex relationships; effectively violating Article I, Section 12 of the state constitution by granting some citizens a privilege which does not equally belong to all citizens.

Washington State Constitution
Article I – Declaration of Rights, Section 12
Special Privileges and Immunities Prohibited
“No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens, or corporations.”

Quote from Seattle Times:
“Madsen wrote that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently show that gays are members of a suspect class — a reference to groups entitled to protection against discrimination by virtue of characteristics such as race – or that there is a fundamental right to marriage that includes the right to marry a person of the same sex. Therefore, the Legislature’s decision that only opposite-sex couples are entitled to civil marriage is a “rational basis” for the Defense of Marriage Act.”

Say what???? Gays are not members of a suspect class which are entitled to protection against discrimination??? If that was the case why did we have revise our state’s “Freedom from discrimination” law to include sexual orientation? I know we do things for fun every now and again but we certainly don’t go around revising laws just for fun… I think President Bush has enough fun all of us in this department.

Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 49.60.030
Freedom from discrimination — Declaration of civil rights, Section 1
“The right to be free from discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a disabled person is recognized as and declared to be a civil right.”

By definition of this law it shows gays were determined to be a “suspect class”, yet some justices chose to ignore this in their ruling. Also, whether or not gays are a “suspect class” is irrelevant, they’re a class of citizens nonetheless and the fact of the matter is DOMA grants some classes of citizens a privilege which is not available to all classes of citizens.

On the second part of the Maden’s comments on whether there is a fundamental right to marriage that includes the right to marry a person of the same sex… there isn’t but once again that’s not what this is about. No one has the fundamental right to marriage, so wouldn’t this make it a privilege, a privilege that is being made some citizens but not others?

Anyways, I can rant and rave all day but ultimately not much can be done; the Supreme Court has ruled. It’s unfortunate that five ignorant justices are allowing their personal views to dictate the future of the entire state. All I can say is election time is coming up and three of the nine justices have already submitted their candidacy. Justices Tom Chambers and Susan Owens have secured my vote, however Chief Justice Gerry Alexander may want to check ‘Texas Justice’ for an opening.