On Natasha’s blog Political Brainstorm I read and entry called “Legalize Drunk Driving.” In her entry, Natasha makes the argument that drunk driving shouldn’t be illegal, and that those who drive drunk should not get arrested and go to jail for it. I disagree. I definitely think drunk driving should stay illegal. One of the main points of the legal drinking age being 21 is because by this age and level of maturity, you should be well aware of how alcohol affects you, the consequences associated with drinking and driving (getting a DWI included), and understanding that you take responsibility for your actions. As Natasha states, taking someone to jail for a DWI after they have hit and killed someone, indeed wont “bring the dead back to life”, but a life has been taken and someone has to answer for it. In my opinion it damn well better be the person who took it. Alcohol is referred to as an “adult beverage” because you are expected to act like an adult when you are consuming it. Part of acting like an adult is drinking responsibly, knowing your limits, and not driving if you are too intoxicated to do so. If you choose to risk driving drunk then that is you making a decision. If you wind up killing an innocent person in the process, then that person’s death is your fault. It occurred as a result of your poor decision making. Whether your actions were intentional or not does not affect the fact that they happened.  If you get a bar of chocolate and intend to eat only one piece, but wind eating the whole thing and get sick to your stomach, you still have to deal with being sick to your stomach. Even though you never meant to eat the whole chocolate bar, it is still your fault that you did and you have to accept the consequences. Vague analogy I know, but you catch my drift. I do agree that alcohol ads and commercials shove drinking and getting drunk in our faces. However, after every single one of those ads they note to “please drink responsibly.” Bottom line, don’t drink and drive. If you do, be prepared to bear the burden of your actions.

The 2012 presidential election seemed to hover around social and moral issues more than anything else. In August, a particularly interesting story was that of Shauna Prewitt. As shown in her CNN coverage, Shauna was raped while in college. As a result, she conceived a child which she decided to keep. Word of her story began to grow while she was speaking out against comments made by Republican senator candidate Todd Akin. As reported by the New York Times article, Akin claimed women could not get pregnant during what he called “legitimate rape.” That, “to his knowledge woman had a way of shutting their bodies down to prevent conception.” I’m going to go ahead and say that I disagree and find that comment ignorant. Of course, there is absolutely NO medical evidence to back up his claim.

            Ridiculous as that situation was, it helped bring Shauna’s story and a disturbing issue to the forefront. While awaiting trial, Shauna was served with custody papers. The man who allegedly raped her was suing for parental rights to her daughter. Many of us never think about a situation like this actually happening. If it did, of course we assume there would be no chance of a rapist actually gaining parental rights over a child. However, after doing some research Shauna discovered that there are very few laws out there that could prevent that from happening. A map used on motherjones.com shows which laws are in place for each state regarding a rapist claiming legal rights for custody and even visitations with the child. One of the saddest and scariest aspects about these cases is that rapists and their lawyers have actually been using this as a tactic in their favor to lower sentencing. In a “The Meddin Law Firm” article they state “The rapist will allow the victim to have full custody if they don’t prosecute him for the crime of rape. Rapists do this as a bargaining tool, asserting their power over their victims.” In other words, the easiest way for women in this situation to rid themselves of their attacker and to protect their child is to allow their rapist to go free. If the woman does choose to pursue the trial, even if her rapist is found guilty of the crime, the woman could still be forced to co-parent their child with them. Of course, they can go to court seeking sole custody for their child, but as the Shauna Prewitt case shows, this can be a long and expensive nightmare that many women don’t have the time and money to fight.

            I definitely feel these laws need to be enforced across the states. It is terrible that women who have already had such a traumatic experience should also fear something like this happening to them. Shauna, as a lawyer, has been a driving force in appealing to states to pass more laws to help remove parental rights from rapists. She wrote a very extensive paper on the issue and since its publication by the Georgetown Law Journal in 2010 three more states have passed these laws. This is a huge issue in my eyes. Our legal system is in a sad state when we cannot prevent a victim from being blackmailed by their assailant in order to go free. I believe by committing the crime of rape someone is giving up their rights to be anywhere near a child and that there should be laws in place that prevent it, regardless of the situation.

On Patrick Carter's blog “US Government In My Eyes.”I read an entry entitled “Unemployment." Here, Patrick states it is not the lack of jobs that has many people claiming they “can’t” find work, but the fact that they don’t want to take the jobs that are available. Like Patrick, I too hear the constant complaints about how “there are just no jobs to be found.” And I, like Patrick am getting a little sickened by them. I have never really had a problem getting a job either. I currently work 2 of them and I was hired onto both during this past year in the midst of the same economy in which NO jobs can be found. Are they my dream jobs? No, but they keep my bills paid. A large portion of our country is becoming a bunch of lazy spoiled by the government brats. Too many Americans have developed the attitude of what Patrick describes as “well if I can’t find a job that’s easy and I like, I’m just going to go on welfare or unemployment!” And I agree. I’d like to add that many have also developed a stuck up “that job is too beneath me” attitude as well and opt for the government to take care of them until something they feel is worthy comes along. The truth is it that this usually never happens and people become government assistance dependent. It is a blessing if you find a job that you can’t wait to get to every day. However, this is rarely the case for the vast majority of us and Americans need to start realizing this.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not knocking those who actually need government assistance. There are thousands out there that do and I’m thankful we have programs that can help them while they get back on their feet. I do, however, agree with Patrick that there is a mass amount of abuse of these organizations going on that needs to be regulated and limited. I also feel for our troops, because they are specifically trained while in service for jobs that they expect, but can’t always get when they return home. However, there are also thousands of college students who graduate with the same expectations to find the same circumstances. Instead of depending on the government once they realize they can’t have the job they planned for, they need to get regular employment like everyone else. They can keep trying for the career they are trained for while working a job that is currently available.

I agree with Patrick, that this is a people’s problem. However, I also feel it has turned in to a big government problem as well. They need to knock it off with trying to win votes and favoritism by running our country into the ground with “let me help you” programs and start embracing some “here’s how you can help yourself” programs instead. The site http://evidencebasedprograms.org/wordpress/about/employment-and-welfare/ offers lists of all kinds of programs that are alternatives to welfare, as well as, other government assistance programs. It also lists places people can go for help with getting employment all around the country. There are thousands of jobs out there, people just have to go get them and accept the fact that work is work and the job we can get isn’t always going to be their dream job. I think Patrick has brought up an excellent point about the state of our country made a good argument to back up his opinions.