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Political Columnist
APLEBLOG

Homosexual marriage has been a contentious, divisive topic that has played into race, politics and elections. Into race: when the campaign for homosexual marriage is pegged with the plight of racial minorities and the civil rights movement; into politics: when representatives propose legislation to redefine or protect marriage; and into elections: when candidates state their opposition or support for electoral gain. By any measure, it is an issue that could forever stain or adorn one who dares to take a stand. Nevertheless cries of discrimination and challenges similar to the argument presented before the California Supreme Court which led to an overturn of the state’s ban on homosexual marriage, continue to resonate in federal courts throughout the 50 states.

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Political Columnist
APLEBLOG

Though the War Between the States, otherwise known as the Civil War, has been over for close to 150 years, a remnant of the Confederate ideology still thrives, particularly in the South. Nostalgic for a past gone with the wind, the South continues to challenge the federal government on issues pertaining to civil rights as it relates to States’ rights and the Tenth Amendment. Emancipation, integration, civil and voting rights, Medicare, and health care reform are benchmark legislation enacted by Congress that not only defines a civilization, but emphasized the federal government’s longstanding constitutional power to impose civil standards on the States. Nevertheless, federal sovereignty remains a point of conflict for those who subscribe to the Confederate ideology; the age-old challenge on grounds of a violation of the Tenth Amendment has not changed since mid 1800s.

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