Office of the Independent Blogger

One of the odder phenomena of today’s age (starting in the sixties) is the “Rights” movement. Everybody has a movement of some sort, with organizations ranging from people who want to criminalize Baby Jesus Displays “In The Public Square” During Christmas to people who want to criminalize the existence of Ban Baby Jesus-types, NAMBLA-types to the “God Hates Fags, God Hates Switzerland” types. There are so many people who believe they are entitled to some right or another because they feel it’s something they need or want, and that’s absurd to me. There are plenty of good, strong, intelligent movements in this world, but there are a ton of useless organizations. A friend of mine recently redirected me to the National Youth Rights Association, saying it was a great group. I beg to differ.

Its goals are juvenile, its aims immature. I don’t consider it necessary to lower the drinking age, and I even think that their one justifiable goal — the lowering of the voting age — is ultimately indefensible. I just don’t believe that sixteen year olds deserve the right to vote, although I was sixteen a short while ago. Simply put, the eighteen year old limit is fine. For God’s sake, you aren’t even done with your basic education at the age of sixteen.

Not only are the group’s goals weak, from where I’m looking, its “accomplishments” page is a joke. Since its birth as an “organization” in 1998, it hasn’t accomplished anything, and if you read carefully, you’ll see that. Everything is a not-an-accomplishment-but-looks-like-it-if-you’re-lazy. For instance, “NYRA-Berkeley holds a voting age debate.” That’s it. Quite the accomplishment, isn’t it?

I guess what I’m saying is, not everyone is an abused group in need of more Constitutional protection or who merit a change in the Constitution.

Back in political news, I’ve been thinking about Joe Lieberman, and the more I do, the more I support his independent-Democrat campaign to retain his Senate seat. Ned Lamont can go to hell. He’s an overpriveleged rich boy with no stance on anything but his opposition to the War in Iraq. Joe Lieberman is a guy who pulled himself up by the bootstraps all his life and stuck by his principles at all times. I very much respect that, and if he loses, it’ll be a shame.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 19th, 2006 at 9:04 am and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).