Etan Thomas the Questioner

How can David Harold serve one year in prison for raping and sodomizing a four-year-old girl but Michael Vick serve nearly two years for dog fighting? Is the life of an animal worth more than the life of a human being? Let alone a child?

Why do Republicans forget, when complaining about the 1.3 trillion dollar deficit, that this was the mess leftover from the Bush administration? Why do they forget that President Obama didn't create this but is rather attempting to fix it?

Why are so many Christians in favor of the death penalty when there is no possible way to justify that belief using the New Testament (which is the new covenant Christians are suppose to abide by brought by Jesus Christ)?

Why does the United States have the highest reported incarceration rate in the world compared to its democratic, advanced market economy counterparts? The facts show that although crime rates have decreased since 1990, the rate of imprisonment has continued to increase. Why is that?

There have been many scare tactics employed mostly by Republicans of President Obama's health care plan. Claims such as:

Myth 1: "Health reform won't benefit people like me, who have insurance."
Myth 2: "The boomers will bankrupt Medicare."
Myth 3: "Reforming our health care system will cost us more."
Myth 4: "My access to quality health care will decline."
Myth 5: "I won't be able to visit my favorite doctor."
Myth 6: "The uninsured actually do have access to good care--in the emergency room."
Myth 7: "We can't afford to tackle this problem now."
Myth 8: "We'll end up with socialized medicine."

Why are so many people buying into these claims without their being any proof of one of these claims being true?

Is there perhaps a better method for Gov. Schwarzenegger to attempt to bail out California's budget deficit than to cut the heart out of the state's vital programs and services helping women, children and families deal with domestic violence? Was this line-item veto of the state's $20 million anti-family violence program evidence that he simply doesn't put women and families affected by domestic violence high on his list of priorities?

In Michael Moore's documentary, Sicko, he showed the story of an employee of the largest HMO in the country, Kaiser Permanente. Her name is Donnell Keys and she was fully insured by Kaiser. However, when her 18-month-old daughter drew a temperature of 104, and she took her to the hospital, she was somehow not allowed to be treated because she was told Kaiser would not cover the medicine needed. Her daughter later died after going into cardiac arrest. Now, how can Republicans see this story and feel proud of our health care system?

Alan Grayson from Florida said that the Republican health care plan is for sick people to die quickly and when asked to apologize he said, "yeah, I apologize to dead people... to all of the people who have died in this country because didn't have health care. Why can't more Democrats stand firm on what they believe in this way? Why does it appear as though far too many Democrats are so afraid to step on anyone's toes or ruffle anyone's feathers?

Before President Obama's address to students last month, Jim Greer, the head of Florida's Republican party said on CNN, "In this day and age the president has enough to do focusing on the economy and finding jobs for Americans than writing lesson plans out of the oval office". Is education really not a priority at all for Republicans?

Do Republicans have respect for the position of President of the United States only if it's a Republican in office? Or is there some other trait that President Obama possesses that has drawn their disrespectful tendencies?

After various athletes verbally objected to Rush Limbaugh, Stephen A. Smith wrote in an article on CNN.com, "Since when did athletes have a political conscious?"

Has he forgotten about…

A. Steve Nash speaking out against the war in Iraq?
B. Adonal Foyle’s group Democracy Matters that is specifically dedicated to engaging young people in politics?
C. Greg Oden verbally supporting Barack Obama throughout the presidential campaign?
D. Chauncey Billups introducing President Obama at an event in Denver?
E. Josh Howard speaking against the war in Iraq and then President George W. Bush while still in college?
F. Former Cavs player Ira Newble leading an effort to obtain signatures on an open letter to the government of China regarding its investments and business dealings in Sudan – where hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions have become refugees in Darfur Province?
G. The dozens of athletes that made donations to the Obama campaign?

Would it be possible for the NBA to instill a rule for which reporters covering the league would be fined if they misreport, contort facts or simply write blatant lies? Are the fans not deserving of accurate, factual reporting, instead of articles laced with anonymous sources, embellishments and overall inaccuracies?

Can any doctor state to a medical certainty that injecting yourself with the swine flu/H1N1 vaccine will have no ill effects, repercussions or reactions in the near or distant future? Is there enough data on this vaccine for team doctors to attempt to force, no, strongly suggest that players take this?

While on the subject of team trainers and doctors, is it possible to impose a fine or forced firing when a team trainer or doctor consistently misdiagnoses numerous players? Not to call out any names but certain teams (not here with the Oklahoma City Thunder) employ trainers and doctors who regularly make medical mishaps (if that’s a politically correct way of saying it).