IM2Opinionated - Common sense views on politics

This is the speech I gave this past Saturday August 18th at Storm Expo 2012. Hello, I would like to address the ways in which politics play a role in hurricane preparedness. Fortunately, we have not experienced any hurricanes in South Florida thus far this year and hopefully, we will be spared this fate for the remainder of the season.   As for believing that we will never be faced with the devastation that a hurricane can cause, no one here is that naive.   The best we can do is to mitigate the potential damage by being as prepared as we possibly can be when the next storm strikes. Having emergency supplies on hand can greatly reduce the pain of loss as well as mean the difference between life and death.   If municipal water supplies are cut off or contaminated, a set aside of five gallons of water can not only provide the sustenance a family may need, but also serve to buoy their spirits until assistance can arrive; If that five gallons runs out, bleach can be used to d

As voter suppression laws are passed in states where republicans control a majority of all branches of state governments, something occurs to me.  Why are republican voters not standing up in opposition to these illogical, illegitimate and immoral laws?  The obvious answer is that these actions could guarantee a win for their presidential candidate, but there could be another reason:  A reason that has been primarily ignored by the media.  In my humble opinion, I believe that republican voters have remained mum on this matter, because it does not affect them. Why the major news outlets have not  given a voice to this possibility is of less importance than what tolerance of tactics that circumvent our Democracy mean for our country.  This reluctance to stand up for "other" people's rights has been seen throughout history.  It was this attitude of "looking the other way" that allowed the Nazi's to kill so many Jewish people and "others" who did not

With the shooting at the Family Research Council, I feel that we are seeing an initial attack against individuals and organizations that have fought for so long to deny the rights of other people, simply because they do not share the same values or have similar lifestyles.  It seems to me that you can only attack certain groups or people who have divergent beliefs and ideas for so long before those who have been victimized lash out against their tormentors. Any individual, group or organization that has deemed it their calling to oppose basic rights to any other group, whether they be gay, black, poor or 'other' in any sense of the word, may want to rethink the logic behind their arguments:  First, denying a gay man or lesbian the right to marry shouldn't even be considered a legitimate pursuit when the economy is falling down all around us.  Secondly, how someone lives their life is that person's own cross to bear or gift to share, depending on what part of the count