Why I Want To Be Your President: The NH GOP Forum Edition

Billed as a jobs summit and sponsored by the group Americans for Prosperity, the best of the possible-GOP-wannabe-Presidential-2012-nominees gathered in New Hampshire yesterday. Notably missing were Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump. And Sarah Palin, if we're still counting her.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is looking at many months of running away from his own state's health care overhaul:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a crowd of Republican activists here that if President Barack Obama meant to model the national health-care overhaul on Mr. Romney's own health law in Massachusetts, he should have picked up the phone first.

"Mr. President, why didn't you call and ask how it worked?" Mr. Romney said to a crowd of about 600. "Ours is an experiment. Some parts didn't work."

Even when in his best bi-partisan of moods, can't quite imagine President Obama calling Mitt to see how it all worked out in Massachusetts.  Who by the way, seems to have some problems with the English language:

"We're gonna have to hang the Obama misery index around his neck, and I'll tell you the fact that you've got people in this country really squeezed with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive; families are having a hard time making ends meet. So we're gonna have to talk about that," Romney said. "And housing foreclosures and bankruptcies and higher taxation -- we're gonna hang him with that..."

Quickly realizing how he phrased the statement, Romney walked his own words back saying, "So to speak, metaphorically with -- you have to be careful these days. I've learned that." 

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is still using his possible run, as a metaphor for wishy-washy-ness:

Pawlenty again slipped on the state of his near-campaign, telling the crowd that he was running for president, then correcting himself to say he's considering a White House bid. "To be formally and finally announced later," he quipped.

Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann seems to believe sitting around and letting President Obama raise your taxes is tantamount to not doing anything to stop the Holocaust.  But not really. Read on. The emphasis is mine:

In a speech to New Hampshire Republicans, Bachmann recounted learning about a horrific time in history as a child — the Holocaust — and wondering if her mother did anything to stop it. She said she was shocked to hear that many Americans weren't aware that millions of Jews had died until after World War II ended.

Bachmann said the next generation will ask similar questions about what their elders did to prevent them from facing a huge tax burden.

"I tell you this story because I think in our day and time, there is no analogy to that horrific action," she said, referring to the Holocaust. "But only to say, we are seeing eclipsed in front of our eyes a similar death and a similar taking away. It is this disenfranchisement that I think we have to answer to."

And, if American exceptionalism is your cup of tea, well then Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is your man:

Fresh off a speech to the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Pittsburgh earlier in the day — Santorum noted he's a member — the former Pennsylvania senator assailed Obama for saying recently that America was a great country because of programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

"America was founded great," Santorum said at the Americans for Prosperity forum here, his voice stopping short of a shout. "It wasn't made great because some politicians gave us stuff."

Because after all, America is not great in part because we have come to understand that there are indeed some very basic ways in which the government should care for us all. We are great, because well, we are great -- born that way!

More in the week to come, I am sure!

Mitch Daniels and "The Social Truce"

Mitch Daniels. Republican governor of Indiana. Possible, wannabe-Republican-2012-Presidential-nominee. Got (and still getting) lots and lots of press for what he told Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard, in an interview last year. I dare you to Google “Mitch Daniels Social Truce.” The emphasis is mine:

And then, he says, the next president, whoever he is, “would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues. We’re going to just have to agree to get along for a little while,” until the economic issues are resolved.

Today, this:

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels plans to sign a bill that will restrict abortions and make Indiana the first state to cut off all government funding for Planned Parenthood.

The move is likely to beef up his credentials among social conservatives as he considers a 2012 presidential run.

Daniels said Friday that he's supported the abortion restrictions from the outset and the provision added to defund Planned Parenthood didn't change his mind. Daniels says women's health, family planning and other services will remain available.

The move puts at risk $4 million a year in federal family planning grants likely to be cut off because of the bill. The legislation also would ban would abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy unless there's a substantial threat to the woman's life or health.

Daniels is well known as a fiscal guy. But if he’s doing this because he thinks it is going to save his state money, he’s dreaming. Unwanted pregnancies due to lack of family planning, and cancers caught too late to be treated effectively and efficiently do not save money.

But then again, maybe he thinks it’s time to call off the truce because all our economic issues have been resolved.

The World According to Oklahoma

If you missed it, Republican Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern gave quite a speech from her state’s House Floor this week. Part of the debate that ultimately ended in the Oklahoma House of Representatives approving a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate affirmative action in state government. She has apologized, but apparently faces no disciplinary action as of yet.

In her own words:

Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said minorities earn less than white people because they don’t work as hard and have less initiative.

“We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school? I’ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”

Kern said women earn less than men because “they tend to spend more time at home with their families.”

How funny this should come on the heels of Donald Trump -- and other birthers -- now requesting President Obama release his educational transcripts. Because after all, he must not have wanted to study as hard, and knew the government would take care of him through affirmative action. Coincidental, no?

From Steve Benen, at The Washington Monthly, commenting on the speech. The emphasis is mine:

Seriously, that's what she said. Kern, defending opposition to affirmative action, went on to suggest African Americans may end up in prison because "they don't want to study as hard in school." She added, "I've taught school and I saw a lot of people of color who didn't study hard because they said the government would take care of them."

Kern went on to argue that women earn less than men because "they tend to spend more time at home with their families."

This is the same state lawmaker who argued that homosexuality is more dangerous than terrorism, and fought for a ban on Sharia law.

Honestly, where does the Republican Party even find people like this? Is there a website where a party can order cartoonish racists to serve in state government?

Where do they find these people, indeed? Unfortunately for the Republican party, these folks seem to be the only ones who can climb their ranks. Fortunately for the rest of us, they can’t go anywhere outside their ranks.

You can read more here, here and here.

What Everybody Knows

I have found the events in birther-land this week very, very jarring. I am truly haunted by the racist roots of this discourse, particularly the post-birth-certificate-release narrative. Now it’s the college transcripts. Papers, please. Something must be fishy in the streets of Ivy League land.

My ode to the week that was. The Spanish subtitles just add insult to injury, in that papers-please-sort-of-way.  Happy weekend, all!



And here’s to some good cheer for the upcoming week!

Royal Wedding Nostalgia: The Top 100 Hits Edition

While I am totally not into this royal-wedding-thing, nostalgic me is thinking about where I was 30 years ago this upcoming summer, when I did indeed get up at some ungodly hour to watch the Charles and Diana hoopla.  I was anticipating spending part of the upcoming school year studying at the University of London, so I guess I chalked up my then interest to anthropological fieldwork.

To that end, the Billboard #1 hit song of April 29, 1981 was Kiss On My List by Hall and Oates.  Not that I have any idea what William and Kate and other 20-something-year-olds are listening to today.  Either here or in London.



Enjoy!

Palestinian Unity Deal

Some interesting commentary on yesterday's agreement between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas, as they announced a decision to reconcile and form an interim government ahead of elections, after a four-year feud.

Steve Clemons, at WashingtonNote:

Behind the scenes, Fatah and Hamas have been working and talking for years about terms of reconciliation. But their efforts were stymied by both their own suspicions and demands of each other -- but also by Omar Suleiman who was the anointed Egyptian peacemaker but who worked behind the scenes with the US to make sure that both sides never got to "yes" at the same time.

Now, Egypt is out of the game of working on one hand to appear supportive of a Palestinian unity government while on the other hand sabotaging it on behalf of the United States, and indirectly Israel.

Matt Yglesias, writing on the Israeli view of the Hamas-Fatah civil war:

Each of these positions has, on its own terms, been plausible. And as an Israeli tactical strategy for avoiding overwhelming political pressure to engage in serious negotiations and serious steps toward Palestinian statehood, it’s been incredibly successful.

But put in broader context, it looks an awful lot like a cross-party strategy for endless military domination of the West Bank. Politicians don’t want to explicitly endorse that vision, both because it would play poorly abroad and also because the domestic audience doesn’t seem to want to face up to what’s actually going on, so you see this affection for a shifting series of specific arguments about why now’s not the right time. Meanwhile, scenarios like the moral obscenity of Hebron and the construction of Jews-only highways through the West Bank continues apace even though nothing about Palestinian negotiating posture forces Israel to do these things. It’s become fashionable in left-wing Jewish American circles to argue that this kind of approach won’t work and will eventually cost Israel its international support. And maybe it will, but the reality is that American public opinion has become more strongly pro-Israeli even as Israeli conduct has become less defensible. The truth is that it’s morally wrong, whether or not it’s strategically viable.

From the horse's mouth, at least one of them:

Referring to the expected Fatah-Hamas unity deal, President Shimon Peres said on Thursday that the world could not support the foundation of a country, when part of the regime of which is a "bona fide terrorist organization.

"The move, as it stands, is a fatal mistake," Peres said, adding that a future Palestinian election could lead to a "terror organization ruling both Gaza and Judea and Samaria and the triumph of Hamas' policies."

Referring to the possible consequences of "walking hand in hand with a terror organization," the president said the reported unity deal "would lead to a regression and prevent the formation of a Palestinian state.

Peres added that the meaning of such a shift would be "continued rocket fire, the continued killing of innocent people, and the continuation of Iran's intervention, which supports and funds regional terror."

And finally, an excellent analysis from the editorial pages of Haaretz, tying in the status of the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, to the need for a formation of an independent, Palestinian state:

The weakness of the peace with Egypt and Jordan stems from the fact that the peace has only belonged to a few politicians, army officers, diplomats and a group of business people on both sides, while the gulf between peoples has continued. The main reason for this disconnect remains the public's criticism in the Arab countries of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the territories. Arab public opinion is concerned about the Palestinians in the same way Diaspora Jews are concerned about Israel's welfare, peace and prosperity. Israel has a clear interest in broadening international public support for the peace agreements and ensuring their stability and development. To further that goal, it should also reach a peace accord with the Palestinians based on a partitioning of the land into two states.

Peace deals negotiated with only a few -- in part represented by a dictatorial, ruling elite.  Strategically viable positions, that are nothing less than morally wrong.  The opportunity to reach a peace accord between two peoples, by taking into account politically (and geographically) much larger problems.

Much to consider.  Take it all in.

Happy Belated Birther Day!

Back at you, Donald Trump.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And as Rachel says, check out thegrio.com

A Big Win For Corporations

A lousy ending, to a lousy political day.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court gave corporations a major win Wednesday, ruling in a 5-4 decision that companies can block their disgruntled customers from joining together in a class-action lawsuit. The ruling arose from a California lawsuit involving cellphones, but it will have a nationwide impact.

In the past, consumers who bought a product or a service had been free to join a class-action lawsuit if they were dissatisfied or felt they had been cheated. By combining these small claims, they could bring a major lawsuit against a corporation.

But in Wednesday's decision, the high court said that under the Federal Arbitration Act companies can force these disgruntled customers to arbitrate their complaints individually, not as part of a group. Consumer-rights advocates said this rule would spell the end for small claims involving products or services.

Bye bye to whatever forms of corporate accountability were still left.  Let's see how in the world we consumers will be able to hold corporations accountable for any wrongdoing, now.  Look for lots and lots of signing away of our right to bring a class action suit.

The War On Women: The Indiana Edition

The saga continues. More news every day:

The Indiana state legislature is on the verge of becoming the first state to block Medicaid reimbursements for low-income patients seeking basic health services at Planned Parenthood clinics.

House Bill 1210, introduced by state Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero) in January, takes a number of swipes at abortion rights and includes a provision that would prohibit the state of Indiana from contracting with "any entity that performs abortions or maintains or operates a facility where abortions are performed." While the provision does not name a specific health provider, it effectively singles out Planned Parenthood, which receives $3 million dollars a year from the state.

All smoke and mirrors, of course.

Republican lawmakers are advancing the bill to prevent taxpayer-funded abortions, even though federal law already prohibits them. "The fundamental issue is that when we take tax dollars and fund any entity that performs abortions, we're forcing taxpayers to support a practice that many feel is objectionable," State Sen. Scott Schneider (R-Indianapolis), the author of the provision to cut Planned Parenthood's funding, told HuffPost in an interview.

What is not smoke and mirrors is that if this legislation comes to pass, low-income women on Medicaid will not be able to use their coverage for basic health care services through providers that also happen to perform abortions -- that pesky, little legal MEDICAL procedure.

While the bill does not mention any providers by name, the clears intention here is aimed at Planned Parenthood.  Blackmail of sorts:  if you want the $$$, just stop providing abortions.  After all, Planned Parenthood claims providing abortions accounts for only a small percentage of their medical service anyway, right?  So what's the problem, no?

Too many problems to count.

Can't We Just Stop Asking and Stop Telling, Already?

Enough of this ridiculousness, already:

A lesbian cadet who resigned from West Point last year has been rejected for readmission to the academy even as the military moves toward ending its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Officials at the U.S. Military Academy say they reached the only decision they could, because the repeal of the policy is not in effect yet.

Katherine Miller left halfway through her stint at the academy in August, saying she couldn't lie about her sexuality. The 21-year-old from Findlay, Ohio, became a prominent face in the debate over gays serving openly.

She re-applied to West Point around the time Congress voted to repeal the law in December. The repeal will go into effect 60 days after officials certify that it won't hurt troops' fighting ability.

Miller transferred to Yale University.

Some of you who have followed the never-ending saga of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell might remember the story of Katherine Miller.  She is a former cadet at the U.S. Military Academy who resigned from West Point a week before she would have been required to commit to finish her final two years and serve five years in the military.  Rachel Maddow did a wonderful interview with her last year, as part of her one-woman attempt to put a human face on this despicable piece of public policy.



Incredibly talented, smart and articulate.  Committed first and foremost, to country, service and duty.

When are we finally going to stop undermining our country's military might in the name of fear and prejudice?  All on a technicality, I might add.

Next Up, The College Transcripts, Please!

By now this morning, we all know that the White House released the long-form version of President Barack Obama's birth certificate. 

And this morning as well, this from Redstate.  My emphasis.

So he’ll release it and make it a non-issue for most and, for those who continue to believe there is something off, he’ll go back to portraying them as crazy, racists.

Of course, once the birth certificate issue is dispatched, will he release his college transcripts? That’s the issue for me.

When the birth certificate is reviewed and we can see what most of us have always known — that he was born in Hawaii — we can move on. For some, moving on will be to wonder what religion the man is.

He can’t win on this. Not that I care.

So, a tacit nod to the fact that (shockingly), our President is an American citizen!  Not that all birthers will be convinced of this, of course.  Even when folks with impeccable Republican credentials admit "what most of us have always known."

Two themes will continue to dominate the birther discourse: 

1)  Even if Barack Obama is American, he remains un-American.  A black-man-raised-in Hawaii-with-a-father-born-into-Islam-in-Africa-and-a-stepfather-from-Indonesia-and-having-lived-abroad-as-a-child-and certainly-not-Christian-enough.  Different.  Strange.  Not like you and me, even if he isn't technically a "foreigner."

2)   No possible way the black-man-raised-in Hawaii-with-a-father-born-into-Islam-who-was-from-Africa-and-a-stepfather-from-Indonesia-and-having-lived-abroad-as-a-child-and certainly-not-Christian-enough is anywhere near good enough to be President of the United States.  If we can no longer question his citizenship because of all of who he is, we can certainly ponder his qualifications for all the same reasons.  

We see evidence of both discourses in today's Redstate's post.  Continuing to question President Obama's faith  -- or outright claim he is a Muslim -- is a subtle way of saying he is un-American.  Now, questioning his Ivy League credentials.  Because after all, there is no possible way someone with this President's profile could have not one, but two Ivy League degrees. No. Can. Do.

I was the first of my cousins to be born in this country after my parents came here following the Cuban Revolution.  The joke when I was a child was that I was the first in my family entitled to run for President.  Today, this first generation, Cuban-American (with an Ivy League degree, by the way) is very, very perturbed. 

Rev. Franklin Graham and "The Other"

UPDATE:  As Franklin Graham backtracks today from last weekend's statements, he only offers more proof that he believes there really isn't any difference between being a Muslim, and being something other than a Christian.  They both equal being un-American.  And un-American = Obama.

______________________________

Last Sunday morning, as President Obama and members of his family were attending Easter services at Shiloh Baptist Church, in Washington, DC, ABC's This Week host Christiane Amanpour interviewed Franklin Graham, the evangelical leader and son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham.

You might remember Franklin Graham for his musings on the "very evil and wicked religion" that is Islam.  Or the fact that the good pastor got himself disinvited from speaking at the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service last year because of his comments about Islam.    Or his recent interview with newsmax.com where he asserted the Muslim Brotherhood, with the complicity of the Obama administration, has infiltrated the U.S. government at the highest levels and is influencing American policy. 

Well, now he has gone all-birther on us.  From David Corn, writing about the This Week interview, at Mother Jones.  The emphasis is mine:

Amanpour eventually raised Graham's "controversial comments about Islam," without noting what they were. To which he responded, "I love Muslim people. I don't believe that Muhammad can lead anybody to Heaven." She did not press him further on this front. She devoted more time to whom Graham fancies among the potential 2012 GOP candidates. After Graham remarked that celebrity mogul Donald Trump might be his candidate of choice, Amanpour asked whether Trump's unrelenting advocacy of birtherism bothers Graham. Not at all, Graham replied, adding that the president "has some issues to deal with here" regarding his birth certificate. Graham also questioned whether Obama was truly a committed Christian—though he did acknowledge that "God is the only one who knows his heart."

And that was it. Amanpour allowed Graham to drop a birther bomblet without forcing him to defend his remarks, as well as squeezing in some doubt about the authenticity of the president's Christian beliefs. The interview was an Easter gift to those on the right who believe the president is a secret Muslim plotting the end of the United States of America. ABC News had provided a much-coveted platform to a fellow who has publicly said Obama's government is riddled with Muslim Brotherhood agents at the most senior levels—that is, someone who promotes conspiratorial crackpottery.

By now we all know the birther movement is not so much about proving the President is not American, as it is about (constantly) reminding he is un-American. Different. Not like the rest of us. He is foreign. He is black. He grew up in Hawaii, of all places. His father was African. Having a birth father born into Islam makes him, well a Muslim. He step-father was Indonesian. Where else could he have studied when he lived Jakarta as a child, but a madrassa?  His sister's married name is Ng. He is after all, you fill-in-the-blank...

He is the quintessential, "other."

And while the Obama-as-Muslim dialogue has done wonders to push forward the Obama-as-un-American narrative, nothing quite does it like reminding us that being a Muslim means NOT BEING CHRISTIAN. And nothing quite defines the "other" in our society, in the way NOT BEING CHRISTIAN does. Especially on Easter Sunday morning. Even while the President is worshiping with his family at one of Washington, DC's most historic black churches.

But of course, Franklin Graham's comments would have been the same if the family had chosen to worship at the National Cathedral that morning with white folks.  But it sure does highlight the racist element of the birther movement. If you're black you will always be "the other" in our society, even the REAL CHRISTIANS sitting in the pews last Easter Sunday morning with the Obama.

There is no winning. Thanks for reminding me, Rev. Graham.

Where's The Constitutional Crisis?

No surprises here.  The emphasis is mine:

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider an early challenge to the federal health-care law, allowing appeals courts to hear arguments first over the constitutionality of the Obama administration's signature legislative achievement.

The justices, without comment, rejected Virginia Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's bid for early Supreme Court review. The move wasn't a surprise because the court rarely agrees to hear cases directly after rulings by federal district courts.

"Expediting our case would have been the exception and so, although disappointing, this is not surprising," Mr. Cuccinelli said in a statement.

Because you see, Mr. Cuccinelli, the case would have been an exception because the court steps into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts only rarely, in wartime or constitutional crisis.  And as much as you would like us to believe passage of President Obama's health care law signifies the end of the western world as we know it, it was not a declaration of war and does not come anywhere near constituting a constitutional crisis.  And yes, even the good Attorney General knows that.

Haley, We Hardly Knew Ya

Agreed.  Nate Silver has it right over at FiveThirtyEight.  The news about Haley Barbour not running for President is for the most part, irrelevant.

But, there is so much we will be missing:

There was also the potential for problems with independent voters. Mr. Barbour, as a 63-year-old white Southerner who began his career as a lobbyist and who had some history of making racially insensitive remarks, seemed to conform to every stereotype that swing voters negatively associate with Republicans. Even in Mississippi, Mr. Barbour’s margins had not been overwhelming; he won election with 53 percent of the vote in 2003 and re-election with 58 percent in 2007 — a solid showing but none one that speaks to preternatural political talent.

Downplaying the fact that this year's Virginia’s Confederate History Month made no mention of slavery. The cover story in the Weekly Standard late last year where he defended the White Citizens' Councils and claimed amnesia regarding what it was like to grow up in the Mississippi of the civil rights era. His plan to pardon two African-American sisters he released from prison earlier this year on condition one donate a kidney to another, and then his recent back-tracking.

But I was looking forward to the vision of Haley Barbour walking the snowy streets of Iowa and New Hampshire in the dead of winter in search of votes. Can anyone say, "culture clash?"

Praying For Rain

From the Office of Texas Governor Rick Perry:

Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas

Thursday, April 21, 2011  •  Austin, Texas  •  Proclamation

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:

WHEREAS, the state of Texas is in the midst of an exceptional drought, with some parts of the state receiving no significant rainfall for almost three months, matching rainfall deficit records dating back to the 1930s; and

WHEREAS, a combination of higher than normal temperatures, low precipitation and low relative humidity has caused an extreme fire danger over most of the State, sparking more than 8,000 wildfires which have cost several lives, engulfed more than 1.8 million acres of land and destroyed almost 400 homes, causing me to issue an ongoing disaster declaration since December of last year; and

WHEREAS, these dire conditions have caused agricultural crops to fail, lake and reservoir levels to fall and cattle and livestock to struggle under intense stress, imposing a tremendous financial and emotional toll on our land and our people; and

WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my Office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 21st day of April, 2011.

RICK PERRY
Governor of Texas

For no reason other than that Texas has a history of well, praying.  As a state and as individuals.  Humbly.

Good luck with that one, folks.

In Trump World

Lawrence O'Donnell went all out on Donald Trump last night on his MSNBC television show The Last Word.  And oh, to see Donald Trump in a Republican candidate debate.



He knows nothing.  He has no answers.  Is it really a flip-flop when you have no idea what you are talking about?

For the life of me, I can't understand how anyone can watch him on the tv-machine.  He is on television, no?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fanning the flames of hatred.  A man who believes nothing measures a person's value better than his or her worth in money.  May it only be true that as soon as his television show is re-upped, he will stop this running-for-president nonsense.  So then I will have a choice about whether I ever have to look at him again.

A Holy Day

For Passover. For Holy Week.

For all those who fight for – and continue to dream of, freedom. In honor of our personal and collective stories of resurrection, often drawn from the dark depths of suffering and destruction. For all those who are contemplating death, and what we will leave behind for our loved ones and strangers, alike. For our fragile earth, who despite an unspeakable planetary crisis, continues to be the wellspring of all new life.  Big and small.  For the great spirit's re-creation, of this new day.



From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

Thank you, Leonard Cohen. And may we all take a few moments to contemplate the dream of freedom, the destruction that is death, and the joy of walking up each morning to a new day re-created in the image of all that is good and holy.

Play on Words, Mississippi Style

Well, if Mississippi Governor (and Republican-Presidential-nominee-wannbe) Haley Barbour  isn't the ultimate wordsmith, I don't know who is.  His thoughts on health care reform.  The emphasis is mine:

The governor questioned the need for such a huge government effort. He also suggested in the interview that the plight of Mississippi’s uninsured residents is exaggerated by advocates.

“There’s nobody in Mississippi who does not have access to health care,’’ Barbour said. “One of the great problems in the conversation is the misimpression that if you don’t have insurance, you don’t get health care.’’

Hospitals and doctors in the state routinely provide charitable care, he said. Residents also can get care from clinics such as the one by the side of Route 49 in Yazoo City, as well as larger and better-equipped community clinics scattered around the state. And Barbour pointed to his efforts in the Mississippi Legislature, unsuccessful so far, to win passage of a voluntary insurance exchange where small businesses and individuals could shop for insurance at discount rates.

Barbour backs a plan passed by the Republican-controlled US House on Friday to transform Medicaid into a block-grant program, giving states broad leeway to manage care for the poor within their own borders.

If things are so peachy keen, then why does Mississippi have some of the worst health indicators in the country?  The situation for children is particularly appalling:  The state ranks #1 in the country for low birth weight babies, and pre-term labor.  And #2 for infant mortality. Adults rates for sexually transmitted diseases are among the highest in the country.  And things have not much improved over the last ten years.

So my guess is that while the claim is that people have access to health care, they don't actually get it.  My play on words.

Happy (Belated) Patriots Day!

Guess things aren't going so well for the Tea Party, after all.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And then this, from ThinkProgress. Clink on the link, and take a look at the numbers.

Yesterday was tax day and as in previous years, Tea Party activists rallied across the country on the movement’s most significant organizing day since it exploded on tax day 2009. But as observers wonder if the movement is waning in popularity, a ThinkProgress analysis found that in many cities, turnout was significantly lower at this year’s rallies than those on tax days in 2010 and 2009

Moreover, there seemed to be fewer rallies this year than last. A listing of events on the umbrella group Tea Party Patriots’ website for Monday and Friday showed a total of 145 events — the same listing shows 638 events on tax day 2010. Notably, there was also no tax day tea party rally in Washington, D.C. this year, unlike in years past.

And in dozens of state capitals and major cities across the country, turnout at rallies on Monday and Friday (the typical tax day of April 15) was down precipitously from last year, as a small sampling from ThinkProgress’ analysis shows:

I maintain that the Tea Partiers are nothing more than small sub-group of right-wing Republicans, re branded with a new label. They have always been around, and will no doubt remain. But in the end, new labels don't help keep you popular, even when you have the media behind you.

Good Enough For Lousiana

While Gov. Jan Brewer refused last week to sign a similar bill in Arizona, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has indicated he would do it differently.

Gov. Bobby Jindal would sign a bill requiring presidential candidates to provide a copy of their birth certificate to qualify for the Louisiana ballot if it reaches his desk, a spokesman said Monday.

A spokesman says Gov. Bobby Jindal will sign a bill to require presidential candidates to provide a birth certificate as proof of citizenship.

"It's not part of our package, but if the Legislature passes it we'll sign it," press secretary Kyle Plotkin said.

House Bill 561 was filed last week by two Republican lawmakers. President Barack Obama's citizenship has been challenged by some groups, derisively called "birthers," despite numerous independent investigations finding that documents and contemporary news reports show that Obama was born in Hawaii.

The bill by state Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, and Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, would require federal candidates who want to appear on Louisiana ballots to file an affidavit attesting to their citizenship, which would have to be accompanied by an "original or certified copy" of their birth certificate.

Do you think the Republican party would accept him as Donald Trump's running mate?  Not so much, me thinks.

Happy (Real) Tax Day!

Or go to jail....



Enjoy!

Happy (Almost) Tax Day!

Now she's in the typing pool at minumm wage.



Everything runs right on time.

This Day In Tea Party History, The Sunday Edition Round-Up

Potential Republican-Presidential-candidate-wanna-bes had a field day this pre-tax day weekend, polishing their tea party credentials.

As Sarah Palin spoke at a tax day rally outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, hundreds of pro-union labor supporters held their own protest.

Tim Pawlenty did double duty this tax day weekend. A stop at (where else, but) an Iowa tea party rally where he pledged he would cut the budget deficit in half during his first term. He evidently didn’t go into specifics about what he would do in his second term… Then off to Boston, where the thanked the tea party crowd for being “modern day Paul Reveres.”

Michele Bachmann used her appearance in front of a tea party rally in South Carolina to spout some incoherence about how the Libyan opposition is a front for Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. You’ll have to read it for yourself, and no, it won’t help you understand it any better.

Donald Trump picked Boca Raton, Florida for his tea party weekend appearance. The emphasis is mine:

"Most very successful people, the kind of people that we need running our country, don't want to be scrutinized and abused," he said. "This is the kind of person that this country must have right now."

Huh???

More fun and games tomorrow, on actual tax day tomorrow, I’m sure.

Abortion Battles

A nicely researched piece from CNN on the abortion battles raging in state legislatures all over the country this year.  Pay special attention to the map which lets you roll over individual states for a summary of their specific abortion laws, and changes made for 2011.

Consider that 374 anti-abortion bills were introduced in state legislatures this year, 200 more than last year, said Ted Miller, spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Of those, 61 bills in 25 states focus on prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortions. Another 20 in 10 states make ultrasounds mandatory before abortions.

The article cites a recently published study by the Guttmacher Institute, contending that "hostility" towards abortion rights is on the rise.  Click here for a summary of the study, and here for a detailed analysis.  Here's a taste:

To date, legislators have introduced 916 measures related to reproductive health and rights in the 49 legislatures that have convened their regular sessions. (Louisiana’s legislature will not convene until late April.) By the end of March, seven states had enacted 15 new laws on these issues, including provisions that:

* expand the pre-abortion waiting period requirement in South Dakota to make it more onerous than that in any other state, by extending the time from 24 hours to 72 hours and requiring women to obtain counseling from a crisis pregnancy center in the interim;

* expand the abortion counseling requirement in South Dakota to mandate that counseling be provided in-person by the physician who will perform the abortion and that counseling include information published after 1972 on all the risk factors related to abortion complications, even if the data are scientifically flawed;

* require the health departments in Utah and Virginia to develop new regulations governing abortion clinics;

* revise the Utah abortion refusal clause to allow any hospital employee to refuse to “participate in any way” in an abortion;

* limit abortion coverage in all private health plans in Utah, including plans that will be offered in the state’s health exchange; and

* revise the Mississippi sex education law to require all school districts to provide abstinence-only sex education while permitting discussion of contraception only with prior approval from the state.

The study goes on to summarize information from states where measures would restrict coverage of abortion in insurance plans, put gestational limits on legal abortion, and mandate that a woman obtain an ultrasound procedure before having an abortion.

Thanks to the Guttmacher Institute for such a comprehensively researched report.  It seems every day the battle to maintain our reproductive rights heats up in yet another state.  Fabulous to be able to see it all in once place like this.  I will be looking to see if anyone else besides CNN gives it the time of day.

This Day In Bad Legislation, The Friday Edition

The battle for next year’s budget has begun. The House of Representatives passed a Republican budget plan for 2012 aimed at privatizing Medicare and dramatically scaling back the size of the federal government. Should be fun.

It is looking like Gov. Nathan Deal (R-Georgia) will indeed sign into law what may be one of the nation's toughest anti-illegal immigration measures. The bill passed the Georgia State House last night, with a similar bill having already been approved by the State Senate. Arizona all over again.   Nice going on the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Nothing like reminiscences of slavery and Jim Crow.

And now that Arizona's birther bill has cleared the state legislature, will Republican Gov. Jan Brewer sign it? Inquiring minds want to know. In case you missed the details of this winner-of-a-piece of legislation, it requires presidential candidates to provide proof they were born in the U.S. The Arizona secretary of state would then determine if the submitted documents proved a candidate's citizenship. If unsatisfied with the documentation provided, the secretary of state could keep a candidate's name off the state ballot.  But not to worry.  If President Obama does not make it on the ballot in 2012, he can always go to court.

More next week, I am sure.

Detroit, MI Goes The Way Of Providence, RI

Remember when Providence, RI sent lay off notices to all its teachers a few months ago?  Looks like Detroit, MI will be doing the same.

About 5,500 Detroit Public Schools teachers will get layoff notices as the troubled district prepares for an expected drop in fall student enrollment.

The layoffs would take effect July 29, the district said Thursday afternoon in a release.

Non-renewal notices also will be sent to 248 administrators.

The notices are part of a process to allow the district time to assess staffing needs heading into the start of the 2011-12 academic year, according to the release.

And somehow, this news is not a surprise to the teachers' union president Keith Johnson.  Guess he must be used to the seriously poor planning that leads to such slash-and-burn tactics.

"We knew the layoff notices were going to go out," Johnson said. "They gave one to everybody. It is a notice in case layoffs become necessary."

We all know Detroit is in deep trouble, but 5,500 teachers?  I have said it before, and I will say it again.  It is hard to believe that even in Detroit, all these layoffs will come to be.  And the ramifications of the stress this all causes because no one knows what the hell they are doing are tremendous. 

Talented young teachers, too stressed to put up with instability in our already too unstable economy, leave the profession. Teachers get shifted around from school to school, hurting school cohesion. Specialty schools – often popular choices in large, inner-city school systems like Detroit – can suffer disproportionately, losing teachers that are hard to replace and causing loss of morale across otherwise committed school communities.

And of course, there are ties with parents that are ruptured. And loss of faith in a system that can only succeed if parents feel there is a good reason for them to be involved in their children’s education.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who really, really, really want to do away with public education.  They don't need any help from those who are paid to run our school districts.

Happy Tax Day!

Even though tax day isn't until April 18th this year, thanks to a Washington, DC holiday. Emancipation Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act, which president Abraham Lincoln signed on April 16, 1862. Since April 16th falls on a Saturday this year, the District is celebrating the holiday today.

Oh, and a happy weekend, to all!



On a personal note, April 15th has always been very good me.

23 years ago today, I adopted the best cat ever -- Waldo.  Long since gone.

5 years ago today, I returned to the SF Bay Area after a few happy years in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo rocks, by the way.

And a very happy anniversary to my wonderful husband, married 11 years ago today on a drizzly Palm Sunday weekend.

Oh, and did I say don't mind paying taxes?

Civil Unions, On The March

Onward and upward.  Good news from Delaware:

CNN) -- Delaware lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure legalizing civil unions, sending the bill to the governor for his signature.

the 26-15 vote by the state House of Representatives was heralded by gay rights groups. The state Senate passed the bill last week on a 13-6 vote.

"Parties who enter into a lawful civil union in Delaware, or whose legal union is recognized as a civil union under Delaware law, will have all of the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as married persons under Delaware law," the measure says.

 Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will sign the bill.

It seems those in the know long ago determined they did not have the political support in the state to pass a same-sex marriage bill. Hopefully, in a short while when the sky doesn't fall in due to the EXPANSION of rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities, that sentiment will change.

Congrats, all around!

Learning (Bad) Lessons From Arizona

Far, far, far from the Mexican border, the Georgia State House looks towards Arizona for inspiration.

Georgia’s House followed Arizona’s lead Thursday, convincingly passing stringent new legislation targeting illegal immigrants and those who harbor them here.

The 22-page bill now moves to the Senate, where a committee endorsed a similar but shorter measure Wednesday. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal campaigned last year on curbing illegal immigration in Georgia, but he has not yet taken a position on the House and Senate bills.

Like the groundbreaking law Arizona enacted last year, HB 87 would authorize state and local police to verify the immigration status of certain suspects. A federal judge halted a similar provision in Arizona last year after the Obama administration argued it is pre-empted by federal law. Arizona is appealing that judge’s decision.

Nothing new here, with supporters of the bill arguing the state was forced to act because the federal government has failed to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. If this bill, or a similar one passes the State Senate, we'll see if Republican Gov. Nathan Deal goes the way of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Arizona's Birther Bill

Delivered to the people of Arizona, with a little help from the likes of Donald Trump:

Arizona’s state Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that will require presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens before they can be included on a state ballot.

Prompted by challenges to President Barack Obama’s citizenship and, therefore, eligibility for the job, the bill passed 20-9 in the Senate, and now moves to the state House for a final vote before heading to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk.

The legislation, a revised version of an earlier bill that would have required each candidate to provide a “long-form” birth certificate, also gives candidates the option of instead providing two of the following documents: an early baptismal or circumcision certificate, a hospital birth record, a postpartum hospital record for the mother or an early census record.

When, when, when will the good citizens of Arizona finally come to insist their elected officials do the work of the people, instead of wasting taxpayer dollars to enact laws that do no fall within the state’s legislative power under the Constitution?

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said it requires presidential candidates to provide more proof than what’s required by the U.S. Constitution, an authority states like Arizona don’t have.

“In that specific and very basic level, we are overstepping our state bounds,” Sinema said.

Sinema also said the bill gives the Arizona Secretary of State “unfettered” control to determine whether a candidate has satisfied the requirements in the bill in order to be placed on the ballot.

As approved, the measure orders the Arizona’s secretary of state to not place candidates’ names on the ballot if they fail to submit and swear to the authenticity of the documents they are required to produce.

The candidates’ names may also be excluded from the ballot if the secretary of state believes the documents submitted show they do not meet the qualifications to run for the country’s highest office.

But not to worry. I suppose if and when a candidate is excluded from a ballot, they can always go to court.

The Budget Speech

Paul Krugman rather liked President Obama's speech this morning, in both substance and style.  The UPDATE to his blog post though, says it all.

Update: I should probably say, I could live with this as an end result. If this becomes the left pole, and the center is halfway between this and Ryan, then no — better to pursue the zero option of just doing nothing and letting the Bush tax cuts as a whole expire.

I will be spending the rest of the day reading (and listening to) the conventional wisdom through the lens of the good professor's words.

Rising Gas Prices

Just talking this week in my house about the seeming lack of outrage in this country over rising gas prices.  Not at all like in 2008.  And then I wake up to this on my radio this morning.  From NPR's Morning Edition:

Others are much less concerned, including Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at the forecasting firm IHS. "The increase in gasoline prices, even to above $4 a gallon, is not a huge deal," he says. "Clearly it is squeezing some households, especially lower-income households. But it's very different from what happened back in 2008."

Back then, gas prices also hit $4 a gallon. But at the same time, the country was sliding into a historic financial crisis. The Federal Reserve says the economic recovery is "on firmer footing."

Behravesh says most Americans really don't spend that much money on gas. "Average households spend about 5 percent of their after-tax income on gasoline. That has risen a little bit from about 2 percent a couple of years ago, when oil prices and gasoline prices collapsed. So it is higher, but it's not a killer," he says. "This is not something that's going to kill this recovery."

Because of course, things are SO much better in this country now than they were in the summer of 2008. 

Collective depression is setting in on this country at an alarming rate.  Just the way the all-too-powerful-and-mighty want it. 

Not Intended To Be A Factual Statement

If I could sum up my 84 year old mother's commentary on her 50 years of living in America, it would probably read something like this:  "Politician lie.  They get away with it.  Over and over again.  And no one cares."  And I have been hearing some version of that comment, for well, almost 50 years.

Enter Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ):

Stephen Colbert’s field day with Senator Jon Kyl’s unique relationship with “factual statements” continued last night which resulted in high (and absurd) comedy. After spending the better part of the day yesterday promoting imagined facts about about Kyl via Twitter, he continued to keep the joke alive last night by reading some of the best jokes offered under the #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement hashtag.

First some background: during last week’s Senate debate about the federal funding of various programs with a shutdown looming, Senator Jon Kyl claimed that “well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood” does is perform abortions. Turns out that the actual reported figure is 3%, though Kyl’s office clarified the discrepancy to CNN that claimed that Kyl’s comment “was not meant to be factual.” This bit of rhetorical back-peddling has earned a great amount of praise/derision, continued by Colbert last night.

What has public service become when it is acceptable for a sitting United States Senator to take to the Floor of the Senate and make public comments "not meant to be factual?"  To outright lie, and make it sound as if was meant to be such.  And that it's all acceptable.  The nonchalance of the statement makes it sounds all too routine, to me. And I don't mean the lying per se -- it's the seeming acceptance of the practice under these particular circumstances that is most despicable.  Lying on the floor of the Senate by design.

Senator Kyl is retiring at the end of his term.  I don't agree with his politics, but I have no reason to believe he does not love his country, and that he takes pride in serving his constituency well.  That said, this outrageous statement should be a indelible stain on his career.  And on any future career prospects he has.

Politicians lie.  They get away with it.  Over and over again.  If this one doesn't make people care, I don't know what will.

One Term President

That would actually be Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), not Barack Obama:

If Republican Michele Bachmann decided to make a run for the presidency, she said it will be without any thoughts of a second term.

"I'm a principled reformer, and my goal is to see the country turn around," she said. "I'm also committed to being a one-term president if that's what it takes in order to turn things around, because this is not about a personal ambition.

"It's about getting our financial house in order and to become respected again in the world on an international scale," Bachmann said in a telephone interview with The Des Moines Register on Friday.

And then this.  You need only watch the first minute.



Someone needs to tell Michele Bachmann that in order to serve a second term as President, she would need to be elected for a first term.  And that's not going to happen. 

Mitt Is In!

Watch carefully.  Lots of insight.



Well, you can say a lot of things about President Obama and “the people around him,” but to say none of them has ever worked in the “real economy” is an insult. Millions of out-of work and underemployed Americans would trade their work histories, for that of anyone’s serving in the White House.  Right now.

News From Arizona

News just in. From The Washington Post:

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower court decision that blocked the most contested provisions of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that a federal judge did not abuse her discretion in blocking provisions of the law that would, among other things, require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws.

The decision is a victory for the Obama administration, which had filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona law in court. 

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had argued that the federal government has not effectively enforced immigration laws, and that this state law would in the end assist federal authorities.  The real question is over whether states have the constitutional right to enact immigration law.

Much more later, I am sure.

War-On-Women vs. Budget Cuts

Watching President Obama’s speech of Friday might made me think it was the Democrats and not the Republicans making the case for irresponsible spending cuts over these last weeks. Sigh.



Real glimpses of Obama as community organizer, here. I have nothing against community organizers – quite the contrary. Over the years I have worked with some amazing individuals with great capacity to sit folks down and help them figure out what they want to make out of their lives and their communities. I have seen community organizers help good folks takes their plans into prioritization and implementation stages. And yes, I have seen what good organizing can do to bring people on different sides of the table together in compromise and good faith. In “bi-partisanship,” you might say.

And while the community organizer view of the world certainly assumes a certain level of competent leadership, I am not sure it is what this country needs right now. And my fear is, that is what we got this week in the budget compromise. Give each side the tools to figure out what they really want, and then let them duke it out in the name of the higher good – compromise.

Combine that with the fact that the Republicans have found the ultimate trump card in their continuing war-on-women, and the future is none-too-bright. I am convinced that at least on the Federal level, the Republicans don’t want to completely declare victory in the war-on-women. They would rather keep their negotiating card under the guise of such absurdities as cuts to Planned Parenthood, and then use it to continue chipping away on budgetary spending cuts. All in the name of compromise and bi-partisanship. While of course, taking the worst of their social issues agenda to the states, where never-ending damage can be done anyway.

In reality, the dialogue has not shifted much over the last 15 years, since the days of Speaker Newt Gingrich and the last government shutdown.  And I have no reason to believe that what we saw happen in the wee hours of Friday night will not become status quo during this time of divided government. Republicans trading in some of their social agenda imperatives – at least on the national level – in return for continuing cuts, cuts and cuts. In these last few days we even saw the likes of such anti-abortion stalwarts as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann calling for compromise.  They get to keep their trump card for future use, while turning to the state legislatures to chip away at the rights of women, gays and minorities.

A win-win, situation of sorts.

Voices From Miami

From today's Miami Herald, on the acquitted of Luis Posada Carriles on Friday on all 11 charges of lying to immigration officials about how he entered the U.S. in 2005 and his alleged role in bombings in Cuba in 1997.

Several Cuban-American leaders in Miami said that while the verdict was a surprise, Posada Carriles got something most Cubans don’t: a fair day in court. They stressed that the prolonged trial dragged the community into a bygone era most had happily left behind.

“We are glad for Posada; at the end of the day he is a man who has struggled during his entire life for Cuba,” said Jose “Pepe” Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation. “This whole circus of a trial brought us back to the past, to things that happened or could have happened many years ago. The Cuban people, in Cuba and here, definitely are taking other paths to confront the regime, paths that are nonviolent. That’s the positive thing of all of this.”

Cuban exile leader Carlos Saladrigas said it’s time to move on.

“We will have to heal old wounds, and this is one of them,” Saladrigas said. “There were a lot of issues over the years that looked at in today’s light, don’t make sense. We can go back second-guessing 20 or 30 years ago. I think it’s time for the whole Cuban nation to begin moving forward, not taking steps backward.”

University of Miami Institute of Cuban and Cuban American Studies senior fellow Andy Gomez stressed that Posada got his day in court.

“He was given the opportunity to present his side. Are Cubans on the island allowed to do that?” Gomez said. “It does surprise me a bit, but he was acquitted based on the evidence that was presented to the court and the jury.”

A bygone era.  Others paths, paths that are nonviolent.  Time to move on.  Healing old wounds.  The WHOLE CUBAN NATION moving forward.

Let's get to work on it.

The Saga of Luis Posada Carriles

It happened in Texas, but it might as well be Little Havana:

A Texas jury on Friday acquitted an 83-year-old anti-Castro Cuban exile and former CIA operative, considered an archfoe by Havana, of charges he lied to U.S. authorities about his role in bomb attacks against tourist areas in Cuba in 1997.

Attorneys said the federal jury deliberated for three hours after a 13-week trial in El Paso and acquitted Luis Posada Carriles of 11 counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and immigration fraud.

Posada, who had been active in anti-communist operations across Latin America for decades, is described as a "terrorist" by Cuba's communist leadership.

In Havana, the government website Cubadebate scathingly reported the acquittal, calling it "Justice made in USA."

Although Posada is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela for allegedly masterminding the bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane, killing 73 people, this trial had nothing to do with that incident. This case centered on charges that Posada lied in order to the get into the U.S., along with his role in a series of bomb attacks in Havana in the late 1990’s.

Posada has eluded justice on several occasions – he escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1995 after being convicted in the Cubana Airlines case, and was arrested on immigration charges here in the U.S., but later had the case tossed out.

Most interesting about this case is that prosecution witnesses included Cuban government officials, something that made the Cuban exile community in Miami none-too-happy:

Prosecution witnesses included a former New York Times reporter, Ann Louise Bardach, who said the Cuban exile militant claimed credit for bombings in Cuba in 1997 and two Cuban government officials – Lt. Col. Roberto Hernandez Caballero and Dr. Ileana Vizcaino Dime — who described the bombings and the autopsy of the sole fatal victim, Italian tourist Fabio Di Celmo.

Another key prosecution witness was a former crew member of the converted shrimper Santrina, Gilberto Abascal, who said Posada sneaked into the United States aboard the boat in 2005.

The wide chasm that in reality is only a 90 mile stretch between Miami and Cuba, just deepened yet a little bit more.

This Week In Race Relations

If ever there was an example of why putting the civil rights of others to the test of a vote is a bad idea, here goes.  From Public Policy Polling.  The emphasis is mine:

46% of these hardcore Republican voters believe interracial marriage should be illegal, while 40% think it should be legal.  With Barbour included, Huckabee gets more support (22%) from the former than the latter (15%), as does Palin (13-6).  The support for Bachmann (10-2), Gingrich (13-8), and Pawlenty (4-1) works the opposite way.

It's worth the time to take a read through the entire press release. Lots of interesting tidbits of information.

And then there's the open Senate seat race in Virginia, where George Allen is aiming for a comeback.

Virginia Senate candidate George Allen (R) apologized Wednesday to an African-American reporter for asking him, “What position did you play?” in an incident that evoked his infamous “macaca” gaffe.

Democrats seized on the apology. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted out the story in an email with the subject line “Awkward George Allen apology — the first of many.”

The incident renewed debate over whether Allen has learned his lesson since making a costly racial remark during his failed 2006 Senate campaign.

Allen, you will remember lost his seat five years ago to now-Sen Jim Webb, after using the racial slur "macaca" to describe a volunteer in his opponent's campaign, and then claiming he did not know it was a degrading term.  This week, Craig Melvin, an African-American correspondent for the NBC affiliate in Washington, DC tweeted that George Allen asked him "what position did you play?' -- as in sports, for the 2nd time in five months.  His response was precious:

In an effort to show his comment was not intended to be malicious, Dan Allen, a senior adviser to George Allen, pointed out that a white news anchor from Richmond, Va., also tweeted that Allen has frequently asked him what position he plays in sports.

“He learned early on that engaging in sports banter is a good way to connect with people,” the adviser said of the candidate, who is the son of former Washington Redskins coach George H. Allen. “He doesn’t single out any single person.”

In reality this incident says just as much about George Allen's insensitivity to racial concerns, as it does to the type of politician he is.  The idea that reporters are people you need to "connect to" is infuriating.  They are nothing more than people who collect and disseminate information -- in this case about a Senate candidate -- through the process of asking questions.  

Enough with the good-ole-boy schtick.  How about just answering the questions, please, Mr. Allen? 

Trumped!

Wow:

Real estate tycoon Donald Trump said Thursday he isn't convinced that President Barack Obama was born in the United States, but says he hopes the president can prove that he was.

Officials in Hawaii have certified Obama's citizenship, but "birthers" have demanded additional proof. And Trump, who is weighing whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination, says not all the questions have been answered.

In an interview broadcast Thursday, Trump told NBC News he plans to decide by June whether to run, and said that if he is the GOP nominee, "I'd like to beat him straight up," not on the basis of the question of where Obama was born.

Trump insisted he didn't introduce the citizenship issue, but he isn't letting go of it either. Since he was asked about it during an interview several weeks ago, the real estate executive said, he's looked into it and now believes "there is a big possibility" Obama may have violated the Constitution.

"I'd like to have him show his birth certificate," Trump said. "And to be honest with you, I hope he can."

Even after so many years of this nonsense, seeing these words straight up, sends shivers up my spine.

And then there's this, from Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans have mixed opinions about businessman, television personality, and potential presidential candidate Donald Trump, with 43% saying their opinion is favorable and 47% holding an unfavorable opinion. Trump's public image is roughly the same now as it was in September 1999, just before the real estate mogul formed an exploratory committee to investigate the possibility of running for president on the Reform Party ticket.

Just. Do. Not. Get. It.

As Indiana Goes, So Goes Idaho

The war on women continues.  This time, it's Idaho:

The Idaho House passed far-reaching anti-abortion legislation Tuesday with backers invoking “the hand of the Almighty” and saying they’re prepared to defend the new law in court.

Senate Bill 1165 bans abortion after 20 weeks on grounds of fetal pain. It includes no exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormality or the mental or psychological health of the mother. Only when the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life or physical health could a post-20-week abortion be performed.

“Is not the child of that rape or incest also a victim?” asked Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton. “It didn’t ask to be here. It was here under violent circumstances perhaps, but that was through no fault of its own.”

Must admit though, each state legislature puts their own spin on it:

The Idaho bill’s House sponsor, state Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told legislators that the “hand of the Almighty” was at work. “His ways are higher than our ways,” Crane said. “He has the ability to take difficult, tragic, horrific circumstances and then turn them into wonderful examples.”

 Don't know what's worse -- the nonsense about fetal pain, or the blatant disregard for the separation between church and state.