I have mixed feelings on this topic. On one hand, it makes me embarrassed and ashamed to be associated with conservatives and the Republican Party. On the other hand, it is the peoples right to protest, and I am glad to see them exercising that right. This topic of healthcare reform had divided the country, which is interesting, considering that Obama pledged to unite the country like never before. I am personally against the healthcare plan. I am not going to say why, because that is not he point here. But I am sure if I was at one of the TEA parties, I could easily get caught up in the moment as well. Mob psychology is a powerful thing.

Like I said, I am happy to see the people voicing their thoughts. We need that for a stable democracy. I do think part of the reason why these TEA parties have attracted so many is because many Republicans are just angry at Obama and this is an outlet. They go because they dislike his as a President, not just for the healthcare reason. However, people need to take a step back to realize what is going on. A heated protest is one thing. I am fine with signs that vilifie Obama as Hitler and so on. That has been done with pretty much every politician over the past 50 years. That in itself is not dangerous. It also does get the message across that they are serious. But calling “niggers” and “faggots” is not okay. Throwing a brick through a window and spitting on the representatives as they pass is not okay. Threatening to kill the politicians is not okay.

These TEA parties are beneficial to a point. But once they reach this point, then it goes in reverse. Then it just looks like a stereotypical group of republicans. Stupid, racist gun-toting rednecks. This is not the entire make-up of the crowds, but that is the image it gives off when these violent, senseless protests take place. Once it reaches a level such as this, Republicans are going in reverse. As a fellow Republican, I feel that we need to take it back a few notches. Hit the books and petitions. Its good to have a grass roots movement, but make it sensible. That will garner more respect than throwing a brick through a window.

A much better way would be to get a petition going, or set up a town meeting for fellow Republicans. If you take a more organized approach you won’t look like a bunch of mullets from West Virginia who came out here in pick-up trucks. I am interested in this whole healthcare debate, and want to do my part to stop it, but I am not going to be joining these ridiculous TEA parties anytime soon.

I though that this story was very interesting. I know there will be people split on both ends. There will be some who will be like “football is a man’s game and she has no place” and there will be some who think this is the next big step for women. I personally stand on the middle ground. One part of me recognizes the historical significance of it all, but the reality is if we lower standards and act like women were never capable of this, that is sexist. I think we just have to wait and see what happens with the upcoming season. I personally never had a woman for a coach so I don’t know what it will be like for her team. If she is successful, it is because she is a good coach. This should have nothing to do with gender once the season starts. I personally wish her the best. I hope she can whip those boys into men and make them run gassers until they puke. That’s what I did when I played. I hope she keeps her high standards that she has already set. Also she is hot and smart! I bet some boys are gonna be wishing they could “go long” with her. But I digress.

She seemed to be quiet and reserved from what I saw, but I believe she is tough. She has been an athlete all her life and a fan of football. She wanted to play in high school but she didn’t want to get injured for track. She then played in a women’s tackle football league and busted some heads. I saw some of her highlights and they were pretty impressive. She knows her stuff. She has the passion. That is the most important thing in a coach. Some will say that she is not a yeller, and therefore not going to be effective. You don’t have to scream to get your point across. As long as she is firm and commands respect, her team will get along just fine.

So do I think this is a big step for women? Yes and no. Yes because of the historical significance. But no because they have been capable all along. Like I mentioned before, to hold them to anything less would be wrong. The season will have to be played out, and then a few more seasons after that before we can make a real clear judgment on her. But all in all this is a great story, one that I enjoyed. It is also inspirational. Work hard and good things will happen. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says, just do your best and you will be fine. I am sure that if my football coach was a women I would be unsure of how to go about things, but I would get used to it after she told me runs some laps.

This certainly is a quirky and interesting story. I have many Jewish friends and have been to many bar/bat mitzvahs. However, I have never heard of tefillin before. If I were the flight attendant in that situation, I probably would have done the same thing. Mind you this latest event only happened weeks after the “underwear” bomber. It was a misunderstanding, plain and simple. It was handled very well. People these days are very paranoid. It was better to err on the side of caution. Both the pilot and the flight attendant were simply doing their jobs. You can’t really fault any single person in this situation. Stuff like this happens. The kid was just 17 and probably flying for the first time with his sister. He was probably praying to make it through the flight alive!

This does highlight a few points though. It shows that it would help to culture ourselves a little more. Granted the tefillin is pretty rare, I saw comments from Jewish people that didn’t even know anything about it. But still, if we took the time out to read a book, or research a culture that we were curious about, we may not run into these types of problems. Americans are very narrow-minded and have very little regard for other people’s cultures. I know I am guilty of this as well. I do not always try to expand my boundaries like I should. We all need to try a little harder.

I do not understand how there could be any uproar from any party in this situation. Sam seemed to be a bit miffed about how the Jewish community was very relaxed about this whole deal. In my opinion they should be. They realized it was misunderstanding. The police treated the boy and his sister with respect and the whole thing was resolved without anyone getting hurt. This was not a case of racism either. Any person pulling out wires and cables will get some odd looks and people will be suspicious of that person.

I think airport security needs to be better though. Not necessarily more involved, but just better and more efficient. The “underwear bomber” highlighted the holes in our current system. As a result it make people suspicious and there is no trust. If our system was much closer to being bulletproof, this incident may not have happened. The trust would have been there that what the kid was doing was all right. Instead this whole ordeal had to take place. I hope airport security can be shored up in the near future. It just seems like a whole act without any type of actual effectiveness. Lets go Obama, lets put some change in place.

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