We haven't been happy with some of the big changes happening on a legal basis to our nation. We've never been one to decry "activist judges," but we're starting to wonder whether some serious misunderstandings regarding the basic freedoms we enjoy ARE under attack... and not in the name of progress, but comfort and status quo.

We don't agree with the mess surrounding the affirmative action decision made by the Supreme Court this week, although we do respect the solidity of its majority decision. Something simply feels amiss when we give up the great advances we all made as a people in reaching greater protections for minority view points to allow majorities to shift back laws in such ways. I suspect this thing has many repercussions, including the ways in which communities can control development within their borders, or the make-up of their sense of community. Is it really okay for one group, even if they are many, to say "enough" to another?

But more than that Michigan-based phenomenon, what about that other case now before the Supremes tied to an Ohio case regarding abortion? Seems that a candidate was putting up billboards against another candidate, claiming they voted for Obamacare, which would expand the availability of public abortions. The accused candidate said wait one second, that's not true on several accounts... and courts agreed. But now it's all up in the air because some are saying that all they agreed with was the fact that the case was moot because the accused candidate lost and the billboards never went up.

Confused yet? Well, here's where it gets simple. The legal question being decided now has to do with whether it should be okay to say whatever you want in a political ad, and whether attempts to prove truth inhibit free speech.

Yow... is it me or does that seem like truly dangerous territory to be treading into, especially given the many setbacks we've been handed down in recent years regarding any attempts to curb the influence of money in politics? Or now, given the end result that laws have to be withheld no matter their moral right if decreed by large enough majorities?

Need we extrapolate about where this might lead us, from the return of segregation and repeal of gay and other rights to the removal of healthcare and other benefits from people who need them, let alone a further splintering of national unity at a time when our role as a world power is already taking internal blows on a weekly basis?

Not all dangers come from a weakening of religious influence or longheld traditions. Some come from simple allowances for power to grow ever stronger to those with money and other attributes already.

Big questions need big discussions. Maybe this coming midterm election will be bigger than expected... but only if such things get talked about, and our races aren't overrun by too many lying ads that no one dare protest, or increasing attempts to shrink the numbers in our nation who vote, instead of expanding freedom as best we can.

Meanwhile, there's also some good news we should celebrate. We're talking about the New York State Community Action Association's tour around the state in an effort to bring attention to poverty and it's having made its first stop at the Ulster County Community Action headquarters, where they highlighted local efforts to help people prepare for jobs and gain access to everything from food to Head Start to weatherizing their homes.

The group is fully funded through the federal government via President Johnson's 1964 Economic Opportunity Act, known as the "War on Poverty." But something that's been facing growing opposition on a national level as some push for greater funding for such things from private corporations, individuals and organizations, as well as individual local communities. While meanwhile, many in leadership roles in our Congress have taken to decrying those in need, intrinsically supporting a "survival of the fittest" mantra.

Aren't we taught not to judge a person in need because how they came into their circumstances may be more common than most people think?

We hope THIS, too, becomes a subject for discussion this election. And all years, until it's a problem truly vanquished.