Commentary on Classmate's Blog

As I was reading the original editorial, Texas Strict Voter ID Law by Next Generation Feminist; I caught some key things that were stated.

As the author stated, I feel as if the law passed caused a lot of confusion and discomfort. Political races are a detrimental thing in our society. For instance, we elect a person to make drastic decisions and laws that could effect each and every one of our daily lives during presidential elections. 

Although I believe that the United States should make voting easy, I do believe that there should be some regulation on voting. If each voter voted one additional time, the outcome would severely change. Forcing the voter to supple some sort of identification, whether it be a birth certificate or not, is just in my book. As I previously stated, political elections are important to our society and should be taken with extreme caution.

Unlawful Officers

KVUE reporter, Tina Shively, publishes an article about the state's commitment to research deeper into Sandra Bland's case and see how they can prevent cases like this to happen in the future. If you are not familiar with the case I will quickly get you updated. On the day of July 10, a State Trooper made a routine stop for a traffic violation. What was supposed to be routine escalated and became very violent for Ms. Bland when she refused to step out of the car. Later in the day, in the jail cell, Sandra Bland was found dead with question as to how it happened. The questions asked were if her death was caused by suicidal inside the cell or was her death existing before she actually arrived in jail. The verdict came out to be suicidal but her family disagreed. They requested an autopsy but those results have not gone public yet. Things like this should not happen in a government regulated facilities. Regulated facilities such as jail houses should be watched carefully and diligently. Bland was found hanging by a trash bag and nobody heard? Now whether you are arrested for murder or a simple ticket that went wrong, the safety of the inmates are still important. I believe that no matter what the reason for your arrest is, the liability and safety falls on the officers. We need to alter the procedures and standards in order to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

Destroying Dreams

KVUE author, Mark Wiggins, writes a compelling article about the elected lieutenant governor, Patrick, taking away the rights of foreign persons to apply for in-state tuition for college. Wiggins starts the article by showing a personal opinion by a young man with the last name of Villalobos. Gov. Rick Perry passed both the House Bill 1403 and Senate Bill 1528 which is called the DREAM Act. Without the DREAM Act, Villalobos exclaims that he would not be able to afford college nor law school.

Patrick along with other Republicans feel as if the law attracts more illegal immigrants and want to pass a law dissolving the DREAM Act. Rick Perry states, "Economically, what was in the best interest of the state of Texas was to give these young people the opportunity to be givers rather than takers...To be a constructive part of this society, and that's what we did overwhelmingly." While Rick Perry shows empathy for immigrants who are trying to better their lives, Greg Abbot shows a different emotion. Abbot says, "The way that it's supposed to work is a student is supposed to be showing that they are making progress toward establishing legal status...And that simply is not being done." Rather than showing support, they are trying to discourage DREAMers from trying to better their futures and obtain more knowledge.

Lastly, I want to leave my peers with this quote by Villalobos: "I also feel that most of the Texas Legislature is reasonable, is pragmatic, and knows that in-state tuition is something that's good for Texas. It's good for students and it's good for the future of the state." Do you agree?

Justifying the Unjust

In the Texas Insider, author Michelle Malkin speaks the truth about abortion and how immoral the act is. First off, Malkin is a very experienced author with over twenty-three years under her belt. With a resume that consists of Fox News and Los Angeles Daily News, she has the experience and knowledge to write a credible article. The intended audience for this topic of discussion are the citizens of the great state of Texas. Now the article is about abortions but the authors adds a unique twist to it. Doctor Deborah Nucatola of the Center for Medical Progress states that unborn body parts are a progressing market. Dr. Nucatola states, "I would say it’s probably anywhere from $30 to $100″ per specimen. This has put me in awe. Not only do the doctors feel as if planned parenthood, abortion, is morally correct but they also feel as if selling unborn body parts is not harmful. The article explains how the doctors use ultra-sound as a tool to find their way to the unborn baby's heart, lungs, etc. They use the same device that is also banned when consulting about abortion. While the Planned Parenthood has declared it torture to see the fetus via ultra-sound, they still use it to guide them en-route to the baby. Malkin concludes the article with something I would like to share. She states, "What kind of country do we live in where law-abiding businesses are fined, threatened and demonized for refusing to bake gay wedding cakes, but barbaric baby butchers are hailed by feminists, Hollywood and a president who asked God to “bless” them?"

On Wednesday, April 1, 2015, The Shorthorn's David Dunn and Matthew Shaw wrote and published an article about a controversial bill proposal. The bill is simple yet very offensive. It gives business owners the right to not serve an individual merely based on religious views. The article includes some students and staff's opinion on the bill by supporting quote about how the bill is "discrimination at its finest." (Elimu Sosa-Jackson) Professor Saxe of the University of Texas at Arlington says, . “These are a clash of rights. There are religious rights, people are arguing the First Amendment, then there’s the rights of other individuals under different kinds of federal laws. It’s a battle of competing rights.” The bill is very controversial but has compelling arguments on both sides. Which one are you on?