Vote Ginger: It's Not Like Politicians Have Souls Anyway

My fellow South Carolinians, aren't you sick of politicians caring about silly things like lightbulbs? I'm here today to tell you why you should vote for me to be your Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of South Carolina this November. I promise I won't tweet pictures of myself in my underwear. Probably.

It's time the Fourth District had a representative that cared about the issues our residents face. Someone who is on the ground there every single day, tirelessly working to improve your lives. Someone who only cackled for five minutes at Clemson's recent devastating Orange Bowl loss. As I sit here this evening in my apartment in Michigan, I can't help but think I am that person.

As someone who was born* and raised right here in Greenville, I know what we need in Congress. We need someone who can push for the needs of South Carolina. Someone who will reject the special interests and lobbying efforts of companies (unless they are currently based in or planning to move to our district, in which case contact me about sponsorship deals (I'm looking at you, BMW)). Someone who will ensure our district's dominance of the state, including demanding tribute and territory from lesser districts. Someone who can do her damnedest to step to the current Congress Crazy-Eyes Champion, Rep. Bachmann.

Now I know what you're saying. You think I'm too young, but the Founding Fathers disagree. See, a little document called the Constitution says I'll be old enough to run well before the election itself. Clearly that's all the authority you need. You might think I won't know what I'm doing, but do the current members of the House? In order to promote a more transparent government, I promise not to pretend I have any clue what's going on.

So remember: a vote for me is a vote for a better tomorrow, because hell, it's not like it can get much worse.

*Note: Tragically, my birth certificate was lost in a very small fire. No other copies are available anywhere, so you'll have to trust me on this.

Omissions & Easy Anger

I was thinking I would make my second post a reflection on working with MiUI this semester, since it's been interesting in a way if not exactly satisfying. Then this morning Wonkette posted something interesting regarding the lifting of an injunction preventing Boston cops from removing Occupy Boston.

The thing that caught my eye was what the blogger called the creepy stand-out line: “Little in the way of expression is outlawed in the United States Constitution, but an act which incites forceful response is unlikely to pass as express speech.” That sure is an awful line, which made me think there had to be more context. I read the opinion itself, and there is indeed something more. There's a missing word that is just a wee bit important. What it actually says is “Little in the way of expression is outlawed in the United States Constitution, but an act which incites a lawful forceful response is unlikely to pass as express speech.” P. 14, emphasis added. The blog Wonkette links as a source made the same omission.

That little word, lawful, changes the impact of the quote just a bit. It helps give meaning to Judge McIntyre's entire opinion; her conclusion is that the occupation itself is not protected speech, but the living activities the occupiers are using to express their idea that an egalitarian society away from our corporate overlords is possible are. You can take issue with her conclusion that the two are separable, since the protected expression is somewhat lacking without the occupation. You can argue all day long about what lawful force is; people have, continue to do so, and will until human beings are no longer capable of force. If you're going to be outraged, though, at least be outraged about the right thing.

Normally this is the sort of thing where I'd just move past it or maybe comment noting the error, depending on if I felt like registering. This struck a nerve though. It's just such an easy thing to check; failure to do so is the sort of thing people you expect from places like Fox. It's kind of symbolic of one of the problems with the national discourse: going for the easy anger to get people on your side, regardless of accuracy. It just doesn't help.