Horns up: Same-sex benefits for veterans
At odds with the Texas National Guard’s announcement Tuesday that it won’t grant benefits to same-sex couples, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told leaders in Congress on Wednesday that the Obama administration would no longer enforce a law preventing same-sex spouses of veterans from receiving benefits. The move piggybacks on the Supreme Court’s rationale in the June decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Although it’s not clear what effect the Justice Department’s ruling will have on the National Guard’s policy, Holder’s announcement is a step in the right direction for LGBTQ rights.
Horns down: Shaky concealed-carry certification
A knife fight at a suburban Houston high school has put the spotlight on a measure that proponents argue will make Texas schools safer. Under the program, which took effect Sunday, school officials could qualify to carry weapons on school property. While the Protection of Texas Children Act, as it is known, may reassure parents of Texas schoolchildren, we worry about the law’s certification requirements. Proponents of the bill likened the training course to the rigorous training federal air marshals undergo, but the differences between the two are stark: Those packing heat in our school’s halls will clock roughly half the hours of an air marshal trainee.
Horns up: Days when the rains came
Oh, this weather! As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, storm clouds were rumbling over the Daily Texan’s basement office. The ominous sounds emanating from the sky belied an unusual sense of agreement on Twitter over the beauty of the rain. Even Empower Texans’ Michael Quinn Sullivan, whose tweets usually lean… aggressive, showed his softer side by tweeting, “Amazing lightning storm moving by — no rain yet, but beautiful to see!”
Horns Down: Ted, take a little time to think
In an interview with TheBlaze on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz took the time to give a choice sound bite when he stated that the U.S. should not get involved in Syria because we shouldn’t be serving as “Al Qaeda’s air force.”
The problem with his comments isn’t that he expressed a position on invading Syria but rather the way in which he did it: callously and without the thoughtfulness other leaders in both parties have displayed.
