The Supreme Court and Gay Marriage



NPR provides this timeline and article on gay marriage, mainly dealing with the Supreme Court case that will be held next month. In summary, the The Defense of Marriage Act and California's ban on gay marriage are being challenged as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court could go many ways on this; ranging from upholding these laws as constitutional to striking them down, and thus, ruling all bans/state amendments banning gay marriage as also unconstitutional. Or, they could decide somewhere in the middle.
I want you to predict what will happen and explain why, and I want you to use the Constitution as the basis of your prediction. The Supreme Court must look to the Constitution in framing their decisions, and be able to connect a modern issue like gay marriage to a 225 year old document. Which amendment(s) are relevant in this case and how do you think they will be interpreted?

South Dakota and Guns

Common sense (and the Hatch Act!) prevent me from elaborating upon my own views in regards to this article. Nevertheless, wherever one stands on the political spectrum of gun control, from pacifist to ardent 2nd Amendment supporter, allowing guns in schools will certainly raise the eyebrows of even the most casual of political interests.
What I find most interesting about the article is that 58% of individuals polled believe that school employees who are licensed to carry a gun should be able to at school. Do you find this interesting? Perhaps surprising? I would like to say that I do.
Will this serve a bellwether to other states? Many additional states have similar legislation in the works.
Earn yourself some extra credit by commenting with your take on this. Is South Dakota's law a watershed moment for American political culture, or will it be ignored and forgotten without incident? There is so much to think about with this issue, and so many opinions to consider, let's get a conversation rolling about this.

Interest Groups and Rating Politicians



The New York Times recently published this interactive regarding how the National Rifle Association rates members of Congress. The graphic explains how these grades are derived, and the accompanying article provides insight into the entire gun debate currently taking place in the United States.
I found it to be a wonderful example of how an interest group attempts to impact both policy and voting behavior. What do you think?
Another interesting way to analyze this post is to think about the fact that the N.R.A. is largely backed by, and supportive of, Republican politicians (as evidenced by the ratings), and New York Times is notoriously liberal. So, is the New York Times essentially acting as an anti-NRA interest group by publishing this, or by publishing this are they actually supporting the agenda of the NRA?
Lots of fun stuff to analyze; let me know what you think.