The Supreme Court Rules on DOMA and Prop 8

Today, June 26, 2013 will be a day that is defined differently depending on whom you talk to. The Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act and sent Proposition 8 back to the State of California essentially ruling that the people who appealed the California Supreme Court's ruling that it was unconstitutional had no legal standing to challenge that decision.

Here are the two official SCOTUS rulings:

DOMA: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_g2bh.pdf

Prop 8: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-144_8ok0.pdf

So, what do you think? Did the SCOTUS make the right decisions? Did it "legislate from the bench?" Did it open up any judicial cans of worms? Please share your thoughts below.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

Yes, your new wave political radio is on at 10:00pm EST tonight! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week - and there are a LOT! You won't want to miss it! Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "The 405 Radio - Live Stream")

 This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Want to express your views on the recent Supreme Court hearings on gay marriage... or feel the need to chime in gun control... do you love/hate Obamacare? Whatever your opinions, our show is your platform. Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

 Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

Open Forum: President Obama's Second Inaugural Address - What Do You Think?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/

Below is the full transcript of President Obama's second inaugural address. It was found at CNN.Com.

This Open Forum is designated for debate on the President's speech. It has been label by republicans as divisive, while democrats praise it as encompassing and progressive.

What do you think? How would you rate this speech? Is it what the country needs and what the country needs to hear, or is it divisive and counterproductive? Please share your thoughts below.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution.We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional - what makes us American - is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

Modern Federalism: A Great Compromise - Part II: States' Rights and Personal Preferences

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite." 

- James Madison: From Federalist #45

As it was discussed in Part I, rights are nothing more than a set of permissions or rules adhered to and protected by a society or group of people, and societies and groups of people are defined by different cultures, religions, geographies, etc. While any citizen can make a claim such as, "it's my right to smoke marijuana" or "it's my right to marry whomever I want" or "it's my right to speak as freely as I want," the fact remains that these claims are unfounded, and there are no rights that are guaranteed other than those granted by society. To those who refuse to accept this reality, I ask, "if the rights you claim exist actually do, where do they come from?" Regardless of your answer, what luck do you suppose you'd have if you tried to execute the aforementioned rights in a society that didn't permit and protect them? It needs to be understood that a democratic society, as abhorrent as it sounds, can push its beliefs upon its citizens, even those who choose still live within it as non-participants or non-believers. Before protesting and scoffing at this idea, just think about the question I just asked. The will of the people, through a democratic system, ultimately determines the direction their society travels. You might ask, "well, what about the little guy, and what about his/her rights?" The answer is simple: what about them? If society doesn't grant a right, the right doesn't exist. Polygamy is a great example of this. Why can't polygamists marry whom they want and live in the peaceful way they wish with the same marriage-based government protections that non-polygamists and now some homosexual couples enjoy? Isn't it the polygamist's "right" to love and live as they choose? Simply, no... not yet. That right has not yet been granted by society, and yes, from those polygamists' view, their "rights" are being squashed. As we go forward, it's important to know that while the prescribed notion and understanding of rights discussed here is crucial to a properly functioning society, the axiom that rises above all notions, explained or not explained, is that for the people of any society to be truly free, they must have the ability to live in a society whereby they themselves choose the very society in which they live.

President Obama on Gay Marriage: Words Speak Louder Than Actions?

I guess you can say it's controversy time. Yesterday, in an exclusive interview, President Obama became the first U.S. President to explicitly endorse same-sex marriage. Check out the video from ABC news here:

http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/obama-same-sex-marriage-should-be-legal-29242313.html

This is a complicated issue, and there are reasons I, ME, am personally writing about it. Let me start by saying that as a social media user, immediately after the announcement, I noticed thousands of Facebook updates about this both for and against the President's new position. It was because of these posts that I decided to write about it. The posts made me realize that this, along with many, many other issues, will be misconstrued, misunderstood, and blasted all over the news and social media world. Ugh.