Hear It, Now!

The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court today to hear a case related to the Affordable Care Act.  Quick and dirty.

And politically calculated. From The New York Times:

The political calculus is complicated. A decision striking down President Obama’s signature legislative achievement only months before the election would doubtless be a blow. But a decision from a court divided along ideological lines could further energize voters already critical of last year’s 5-to-4 campaign finance decision, Citizens United.

A decision upholding the law might also both help and hurt Mr. Obama’s chances. It would represent vindication, but it could also spur some voters to redouble their efforts to elect candidates committed to repealing it.

Actually, in the end I think it’s a win-win for the Democrats.

Separation of Church and State, Damn It!

From Time:

Given the choice between jail and church, which would you choose?

The small southern Alabama town of Bay Minette is giving non-violent offenders a chance to pick between lockup and the Lord.

Beginning next week, Operation ROC (Restore Our Community) will have a city judge offer those found guilty of misdemeanors the choice between working off their offenses in jail and paying a fine or attending the church of their choice every week for a year. WKRG-TV in Mobile, Ala., reported 56 churches in North Baldwin County are participating in the program.

If offenders pick church, it doesn't necessarily guarantee eternal salvation, but they can check in each week with the pastor or the police department. If the program is completed successfully their case will be dropped.

Off to make sure my yearly membership in the ACLU is up-to-date.  And Americans United for Separation of Church and State too, while I am at it.

The Week In Review

Not much all else to say, if you ask me. From The Christian Science Monitor:

The execution Wednesday of Troy Davis, a Georgia death row inmate who convinced thousands across the world of his innocence, capped a sobering week of death penalty debate likely to play into shifting attitudes in the US over the ultimate sanction.

The execution, also on Wednesday, in Texas of Lawrence Brewer, convicted of dragging a black man to death in 1998, led to the elimination of the execution day "last meal" in Texas after Mr. Brewer ordered an elegant feast that he declined to eat.

Also this week, the US Supreme Court stayed the executions of two other Texas men in order to further review their innocence claims, while Alabama went forward with the 36th execution of the year in the US on Thursday, leading to the death of Derrick Mason for a 1994 murder.

A few important links:

Boalt Hall Death Penalty Clinic

Innocence Project

American Civil Liberties Union

Helen Prejean, CSJ

So much work to do.

From School Bullying to Republican Debates

A heart-breaking story from suburban Buffalo, one of my old hometowns:

Jamey Rodemeyer's death has unleashed a torrent of raw emotion.

It comes from major figures in the world of entertainment, media and politics, who never heard of the 14-year-old Williamsville North freshman, and relatives, teachers and students who saw him every day. His suicide this week, following what he called more than a year of "constant" bullying related to the fact that he identified as bisexual, seems to touch a new nerve every day.

That continued at a Williamsville North homecoming event Thursday night. Amherst Police Chief John Askey said a high school parent called to report malicious words being hurled at Jamey's older sister, who is a student at the high school and attended the outdoor function.

In the original complaint, a parent told police she understood that some students made harassing statements "suggesting that they're glad that Jamey's dead."

The story has focused international attention on Williamsville, and the life of Jamey Rodemeyer. England. Canada. India. And meanwhile here in the US, it is acceptable for the 2012-Republican-Presidential-nominee-wannabees to sit back and listen while their fans boo gay troops, in public:



None of the candidates said anything on stage during the debate, this week.

You can sign a petition here, calling for the candidates to explain themselves.

My heart goes out to all children who for whatever reasons see their life experiences marginalized by the most powerful forces in our society. On television, and splashed all over the headlines of newspapers. I can hardly imagine how a young, gay teenager must feel after being told by these Republican candidates that despite the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” they still shouldn’t be able to serve and defend their country. Oh, and by the way – was former Senator Rick Santorum suggesting everyone in the military pledge celibacy? I am confused.

Connections between what happened in Western New York this week and the Republican debate, anyone?

Eighteen Years and Counting

I know I am a day late on this, but after 18 years, what’s one more day?



No. Lying is not an honorable thing.  Love and respect go hand-hand-hand with service to country.

Celebrating the End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

So, how will you be marking the end of "don't ask, don't tell?"

After almost 18 years, the Pentagon on Tuesday plans to formally repeal the ban on gays in uniform, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” permitting troops for the first time to publicly reveal that they’re gay without fear of official retribution. Enlistees who tell military recruiters, or troops discharged under the ban who are eager to reenlist, will be eligible to join up if they are qualified. And the Defense Department says it will have zero tolerance for anti-gay behavior, as it does for religious, racial and gender discrimination.

Tomorrow, my thoughts will be with the gay troops deployed all around the world, and their concerns for partners left behind with little support.

Next up: a redefinition of the term "military family."

This Week in American-Style Ridiculousness

Evidently, there are people out there who think not being able to name a Boston Red Sox player makes you unqualified to sit in the United States Senate:

Byron emailed over a press release from the Massachusetts GOP, which points out that Elizabeth Warren couldn't name a Red Sox player when she was asked yesterday.

The release goes on to compare Warren's comments to Martha Coakley's "infamous gaffe" in 2010, and calls it a sign that Warren "comes from a world of Harvard elitism and is far removed from the middle-class values she claims to represent."

Geez. Does the fact that I can name the entire line-up make me qualified to be President, and capable enough to fix the big f***ing mess we are in?

Iowa Congressman Steve King wants me to believe that unemployed folks are unpatriotic.



Oh, and something about using the New Testament as a planning document to lower unemployment.

My old Congressional District elected a Republican for the first time in a gazillion years, to fill Democrat Anthony’s Weiner’s seat. I moved to a neighborhood that is now in NY-9 when I was in elementary school n 1972. I was greeted by a school boycott, over a busing issue. Am I surprised by the election results? No. Why is anybody else?

Just weeks ago, Democrats were expected to retain New York's 9th congressional district seat in Tuesday's special election, despite the spectacle of Weiner's downfall. Weprin, however, committed a series of gaffes in the six-week run-up to the election, including blanking on the size of the federal deficit (he cast himself a fiscal crusader) and bailing out of a debate the day after the debt goof.

And lastly, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be saving the best accusation, for last:



Socialism is all solutions emanating from Washington, DC. And Europe is a very, very scary place.

Learn something new, every day.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!!!

Silly me. Here I was thinking that my family wasn’t spending as much on “stuff” because we weren’t making as much money. But alas, it’s all my bad attitude, I guess.

From Gail Collins, in The New York Times.  The emphasis is mine.

Finally, we’re coming to a consensus about what’s wrong with the economy. It’s us. And our bad attitude.

Ben Bernanke says we’re too depressed. On Thursday, the Fed chairman suggested that consumers have an irrationally negative worldview.

“Even taking into account the many financial pressures that they face, households seem exceptionally cautious,” he told an audience in Minnesota, where the Twins are in last place, attendance at the state fair was way down and the state’s best-known elected official is Michele Bachmann. Also, star hockey player Dustin Byfuglien was arrested on Lake Minnetonka on suspicion of boating while intoxicated.

Ben Bernanke = #clueless.

And there’s more.

On Friday, President Obama told Americans to “shake off all the naysaying and the anxiety and the hand-wringing.” He is on the road, following up on the big jobs speech he gave before Congress. It got a pretty good reaction, which would probably have been even more positive if the television broadcasts had not been interspersed with reports that Homeland Security was searching for a trio of terrorist truckers.

I will just chalk my anger at getting rejected for a health insurance plan based on a bogus precondition to “naysaying.” Not sure what to do about the anxiety related to possibly having no health insurance.

Guess I just don’t have enough of that “can do” mentality to call myself a true American.

Why I Want To Be Your President: The Palmetto Freedom Forum Edition

Who knew South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint had such power?

Five of the Republican Party's leading presidential contenders traveled to South Carolina on Labor Day to kiss the ring of tea party kingmaker Jim DeMint at a first-of-its-kind forum devoted to the Constitution and the role of government.

DeMint, a South Carolina senator who rose to national prominence during the 2010 midterm elections as a power broker of the tea party movement, joined with Iowa Rep. Steve King and a Princeton law professor at the Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is ready for a “confrontation” with the Supreme Court over Roe v. Wade, by pushing a bill through Congress that would make abortion illegal.

"If the Supreme Court, by a plurality of the justices, may impose their own personal morality on the rest of the nation, then we are quite literally being ruled by those individuals as opposed to giving our consent to the people's representatives," Bachmann said.

When it’s her personal morality, I suppose.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wants us to know he makes decisions with his knees, as much as with his brain:

“I go on my knees,” Romney said of his decision-making process. “I’m a person of faith and I look for inspiration.”

Texas Rep. Ron Paul seems to be sticking with familiar points: reining in the Federal Reserve, eliminating the capital gains tax and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Business Herman Cain has found a way to turn his clever quips into economic policy:

Speaking Monday in South Carolina at the Palmetto Freedom Forum sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, Cain laid out his "bold" plan dubbed "9-9-9." The former businessman explained that he would do away with the existing tax code and replace it with a nine percent tax on corporate income, a nine percent tax on personal income and a nine percent national sales tax.

And Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich seemingly came off as a nice guy:

After the forum, Gingrich had kind words for his GOP rivals and said the tea partiers have been unfairly vilified by the media and Democrats.

He made reference to recent reports that Vice President Joe Biden called tea party activists "terrorists" in a closed-door meeting during the debt ceiling debate.

"It strikes me that despite every effort of the news media and every effort of the Democrats to isolate the tea party and treat them more hostilely than we treat terrorists who are trying to kill us," Gingrich said. "Here you have a Democratic Party where it's OK to call American citizens 'terrorists' but it's not OK to call terrorists 'terrorists'? There is something really bizarre about that."

And there’s a debate on Wednesday, no?

Happy Labor Day!

In honor of unpaid work, blogging included!

Happy Holiday, all!

Fed Up, Indeed

How refreshing! A politician who actually writes down exactly what he believes.

Maybe Rick Perry's not so "Fed Up!" after all.

Just nine months ago, the Texas governor released a rhetorical bomb-throwing book under that title. He dismissed Social Security as a New Deal relic that smacked of socialism. He said states' rights trump all else. He suggested that the Supreme Court's nine unelected "oligarchs in robes" could have their rulings overturned by two-thirds votes in both houses of Congress.

Now that the Republican is running for president, his campaign has begun distancing itself from some of the candidate's own words on issues such as Social Security and states' rights.

Of course, his campaign folks are saying that the book was simply an attempt to put some ideas on the table, to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. Like a debate around Social Security is likely to get swept under the table…

I for one am very happy to know exactly what we are up against, in Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Thank you sir, for respecting the intelligence of the American public and making it so clear!  You won’t regret it.

On "Labor" Day

A particularly haunting version of the classic union struggle song, by Natalie Merchant, on the occasion of peace activist Daniel Berrigan's 85th birthday.



And if you have not read former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's reaction to yesterday's jobs numbers, take a look at the whole post, here.

Do you hear me, Mr. President? Please — be bold next week. And if, as expected, Republicans refuse to go along, take it to the people. Mobilize the public. Use the bully pulpit. That’s what you have it for.

One more thing, Mr. President. You also have to tackle inequality. When so much income and wealth continues to flow to the very top, America’s vast middle class still won’t have enough purchasing power to boost the economy. Priming the pump is necessary but won’t be sufficient without enough water in the well.

As the good professor says, we're in a "zero economy." On Labor Day.