South Chicagoland Young Democrats: The Blog

There are certain rights that all Americans are entitled to. All of these rights are defined by the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to our Constitution. Over the past five years, however, the Republican party led by, you guessed it, George W. himself, have taken it upon themselves to slowly erode our freedoms in attempt to make this country “safer” from the terrorist threat. The first of these laws was the “Patriot Act”, a name that I put in quotes because no true patriot would ever support such a bill, which allows for illegal searches and other illegal police actions when the suspect is a “terrorist”. This bill is unbelievably unconstitutional but I will let it slide because, as of yet, it has not been flagrantly abused. The most recent actions of Congress, on the other hand, we cannot let slide. The most recent bill approved by Congress allows for suspected terrorists to be held without being sent to trial for an indefinate amount of time, thus legalizing the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This “compromise” blatantly violates the writ of habeas corpus, the right to a speedy trial, and gives the federal government for too much power.

With this right taken away, the federal government will be able to arrest whomever they want, whenever they want, and for whatever the reason for an indefinate amount of time. Many countries in this world have laws like this but they are called dictatorships. It is understandable for the American people to be afraid of terrorism, but what cost will we pay to make our world safer. Personally I would rather die in a terrorist attack than live in an America where my Constitutional rights are laid forfeit. By putting these laws in place, we are declaring the terrorists victorious. They have scared us so much that we are willing to give up all of the principles that our country was founded on.

One final note. With all other logical reasons for invading Iraq proven wrong, the Bush administration has fallen back on “Saddam Hussein was an evil man and the Iraqi people are better off without him in power.” What made Saddam such an evil leader? He locked up his citizens without just reason and tortured them until they submitted to his authority. I leave you with a question: What power is Congress giving the president at this very moment by passing these new laws? Perhaps we should start referring to President Bush as President Saddam because that title seems more fitting.

From the brilliant mind of Mike Kean, your friendly but very afraid Sergeant at Arms.

Confirmed! Mr. Henley can meet with us on Monday at 3 p.m. See you there if you can make it.? Address is 3241 East End Ave. Chicago Heights, IL 60411.

Minutes From 9/21

Members present: Marcella N, Eric P, Cait P, Jake W, Meghan W, Matt H, Mike K, Jessica E, and Nichole Williams

1. Battle of the bands

-Need new location, possibilities: VFW in Crete, St. Paul’s in Homewood, or Steger Community Center

-Possibly wait until December or February to have show at Unitarian church

2. Approved Minutes

3. Discussed the need for links for Website

4. Agreed to attend NAACP meeting

-Will be attending on October 20 at 7pm at Marie Irwin Center

5. Roller Skating Party

-What will the cost be?

-How many people need to attend?

-At what time and on what day?

-Can we have a battle of bands there?

6. Discussed meeting with Rich East’s GSA

This post will be in two parts, one concerning the bad image that Bush gives America and the other regarding Jon Stewart’s interview of the president of Pakistan.

I know that this is the second time that I have written about the Daily Show but I feel that it must be said. Tonight, Jon interviewed the President of Pakistan and I feel compelled to congratulate him on showing more tact and intelligence in this interview than George W. Bush ever could. Therefore, I am going out on a limb and nominating Jon Stewart for the presidential election of ‘08 on the platform of running America like the people want it to be run.

On a more serious note, while sitting at home tonight I began to think about the world’s perception of America and why they all hate us so much. The answer that I keep coming back to is George Bush and his supporters. As far as I am concerned, the elected leader of our country is the type of person that we should be hiding from world view, not putting out on show. For the first time in my life, I feel almost ashamed to be associated with this country because, to the rest of the world, that associates me to that moron. Anyone who does not believe me should look at the new CIA report that shows that since the war in Iraq, Islamic extremism and over all hatred of America has gone up. Thank you Mr President. When the whole world is telling you that they hate you for acting like you control everything everywhere what do you do? You invade another country and force you beiefs on them, basically proving the whole world right and causing them to hate you more. Gee, who thought that would happen. I am sick of that man making this world “safer” for Americans because to him, safer apparently means make even more of them hate us and give them a place to kill our people (Iraq). Once again, thankyou Mr President. Personally, the next time that I need the world to be safer for me, I will start carrying around a baseball bat and a sign that says “I am not American” becuase it will do just as much good. I end by saying yet again, a resounding thank you to you, Mr. President, for making my world safer.

From the brilliant and very annoyed mind of Mike Kean, your currently not so friendly Sergeant at Arms

The other day I was accused of being unpatriotic because of my views regarding the war in Iraq. As an ardent protestor to this war, I was greatly offended by these remarks. Although I do not support the war, and personally feel that President Bush deserves to be impeached for the lies that he told to get us into the war in the first place, I support our country very strongly.

In defense of all of the antiwar citizens of this country, I hereby claim that by opposing the war, I am showing more patriotism than any of those war mongering fools in the White House. Few things have been more detrimental to the American people in recent memory than this war and by opposing it, we are fighting for the lives of the thousands of American soldiers that are put in harms way daily for the sake of the president’s ego. Who actually supports the troops, the men that send them to die or those who fight for them to be brought back home? Also, our country was founded on the principle of protest. We are simply using the right of free speech to carry on an American tradition, insulting an acting government openly and publicly. Now I challenge all of you, every peace loving teenager in the country, to come together and protest the war openly. Anyone who calls you unpatriotic is simply a fool and they do not deserve your time or your attention. Thank you.

From the brilliant mind of Mike Kean, your friendly Sergeant at Arms.

Welcome to the Official blog of the South Chicagoland Young Democrats. My name is Nicole Williams and I am the new President of this organization. Our group is fairly new, and this organization has been around for about two years. The greatest thing about this club is that our group talks openly about various issues in the world. Then each month we publish a newsletter, which also highlights world issues, local issues, and events that are occuring within the next month or two. This group is very involved in supporting and endorsing senator’s campains, as well as other political figures. Our number one supporter who we have helped all throughout our campain has been Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson. During this past summer the Young Democrats volunteered at her golf outing, and marched with Senator Halvorson in a parade in Chicago Heights. We have also volunteered at the WTTW television station by taking pledges on the telephone. I really hope that this year the Young Democrats can become even more involved in political activities so that our organization can grow. We eventually would like to have our own golf outing in the summer, and also take a trip to Springfield sometime this year. Our group is geared toward high school students; however eight graders are also welcome to become junior members. We also need speakers to come to our meetings as well. Some dates to look forward to in October are October 21st at Carpernter’s Hall we are hosting the Membership Meeting at 1:00 for the young Democrats of Illinois. Also on October 28th is a bus tour for John Pavich. I am very excited to be taking on this new leadership role and I hope that you will become active and help support our group. Our group meets on Thursdays at Borders off of Cicero Ave. in Matteson around 7:00.

Thank you so much,

Nicole Williams

The President of the South Chicagoland Young Democrats

Minutes from 9/14

1. Voted on Officers:
   -President- Nicole Williams, First Vice President- Cait Phipps, Second Vice President- Matt Hennessy, Secretary- Jessica Ewalt
2. Battle of bands
   -either October 20 or 27
   -food and drink budget $40
   -$1 raffle & $20 gift card pirze
   -need flyers
3. Blog created
4. Voted and agreed to endorse Pat McGuire
5. Discussed John Pavich’s bus tour on October 28
6. Agreed on making business cards
7. Changed Young Democrats of Illinois meeting at Carpenters Hall from October 14^th to October 21^st
8. Discussed the ad for Martin Flowers

On tonight’s episode of the top “news source of choice for all discerning young people,” the Daily Show, the special guest was former president Bill Clinton. As young people, the only Democratic president that we can recall is Bill Clinton which is both good and bad. It is good because he was a great president, in my opinion the best in 20 years (he happens to be the only Democratic president in the last 20 years therefore he must be the best), and it is bad because it is a reminder of the experiment in idiocy that is the Bush administration. Clinton appeared on the show to discuss his Clinton Global Initiative, a noble organization that is seeking to unite private citizens globally to act on the main social and environmental issues that the world faces today. For more information on the organization please visit the website: www.clintonglobalinitiative.org

He also commented on his wife’s rumored presidential campaign. In support of his views, I agree in stating that Hillary Clinton would do great things as president and in the event that she does run and wins the nomination of the Democratic Party, I will support her. To Bill Clinton I say: Keep on truckin and remember that one day, people will stop focusing on who you slept with in office and remember the what is important, the good that you did while serving as president.

To view a replay of the former president’s interview visit www.comedycentral.com

From the brilliant mind of Mike Kean, your friendly Sergeant at Arms.

Welcome to the blog of the South Chicagoland Young Democrats!