Hats in Church

Well, not exactly hats in church. More like hoodies on the floor of the House.

Hoodies on the House floor are verboten, apparently. Rep. Bobby Rush (D) of Illinois was scolded and escorted from the chamber of the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning, when he attempted to give a speech on the need for a full investigation of the Trayvon Martin shooting while wearing sunglasses and a gray hooded sweat shirt.

“Racial profiling has to stop, Mr. Speaker,” said Representative Rush while doffing his suit jacket to reveal his hoodie garb. “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.

Rush continued to speak while the presiding officer, Rep. Gregg Harper (R) of Mississippi, banged the gavel, ordering him to desist. Eventually someone from the office of the House sergeant-at-arms appeared and escorted Rush, hoodie and all, off the floor.

I am a stickler for protocol of this type. But not this time. I’m with Nancy Pelosi on this one:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi applauded Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who was admonished Wednesday for wearing a "hoodie" sweatshirt during a speech in memory of Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was killed in February.

"I think that Bobby Rush deserves a great deal of credit for the courage he had to go to the floor in a hoodie, knowing that he would be told he was out of order," Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "He quickly left the floor, he wasn't contentious about it. But he made his point. He called attention to a situation in this country that needs to be addressed in a way a man in a suit and tie might not be able to do."

If anyone knows some rules are meant to be broken sometimes, it’s Rep. Bobby Rush.

I wonder what the scuttlebutt would have been if he had been allowed to finish up without incident.

But alas.  The Republicans are too clueless to have acted in any other manner.  And certainly not brave enough to have stood up to the political firestorm that would have followed.

The Strange Case of the Hoodie: Personal or Political?

President Obama:

But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon. If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.

2012-Republican-Presidential-Nominee-Wannabe Newt Gingrich in an all-too-predictable, cynical response: 

What the president said, in a sense, is disgraceful. It’s not a question of who that young man looked like. Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period. We should all be horrified no matter what the ethnic background.

Geraldo Rivera, who took a lot of slack for his appearance on Fox News with this one.  The emphasis is mine:

When you see a kid walking down the street, particularly a dark skinned kid like my son Cruz, who I constantly yelled at when he was going out wearing a damn hoodie or those pants around his ankles. Don't let your kid—you know the old Johnny Cash song, don't take your gun to town, son. Leave your gun at home. There is some things that are almost inevitable. I'm not suggesting that Trayvon Martin had any kind of weapon or anything, but he wore an outfit that allowed someone to respond in this irrational, overzealous way and if he had been dressed more appropriately, I think unless it's raining out, or you're at a track meet, leave the hoodie home. Don't let your children go out there.

Well, perhaps not as simple personal or political.  Sometimes the line is finer than I care to admit – no matter what your political persuasion.

Cuba and the Church

Cross-posted at ProgressivePatriotGirl.tumblr.com:

I tend to agree with the Washington Post on this one.  Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba benefits the Vatican, and Fidel and Raul Castro. The Cuban people, not so much.

When Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, he called for the island nation “to open to the world and for the world to open to Cuba.

Pope Benedict XVI now will walk in that wider doorway.

The official reason for the trip is pastoral. Just weeks before his 85th birthday, Benedict is mustering his strength to bring encouragement to the Cuban flock after his first stop in Mexico this week.

The pope will bless the patroness of Cuba, La Caridad, the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, on the 400th anniversary of her statue found floating in the sea.

The article goes on to say how weak churchgoing is in Cuba, despite the fact that an estimated 4 million came to see La Caridad as the statue toured the island in the last 15 months.

Well sure church going is weak in Cuba. Cubans threw the Catholic Church off their backs along with the Spanish priests associated with pre-1898 repressive rule a long, long time before Fidel Castro was even born. Even I regularly burn a candle of La Caridad – and I am not, and have never been Catholic.

Culture and religion are not the same thing. And in the case of the Catholic Church and Cuba, something the Vatican has never quite gotten a hold of.

Etchy-Sketchy

Well, this time former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney really did do something to stimulate the economy. The emphasis is mine:

Mitt Romney probably never wants to see another Etch A Sketch, but investors don't feel that way: The toy that caused a campaign faux pas Wednesday led the stock of its owner, Ohio Art Co., to more than double.

Granted, that’s with thin trading volume on the over-the-counter market. The 141% jump pushed the value up $5.65 to close at $9.65 a share.

What’s bad news for Eric Fehrnstrom -- the Romney senior aide who, on Wednesday, likened his boss’ policy strategy to the Etch A Sketch’s ever-changing chameleon ways, and on CNN no less -- is great news for Ohio Art.

Rachel Maddow may also have added to Ohio Art Co.’s good fortune last night on MSNBC. Too funny.

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

Mitt Romney won’t lose this election because of this comment – especially since it came from someone in his campaign instead of the horse’s mouth. But this will stick. Four years after the 2008 election we are still talking about John McCain not knowing how many houses he owned.

This, is sort of like, that.

Categorical Denial

John Edwards.  Like the evil ex-boyfriend who keeps rearing his ugly head.

Now I really, really, really want my money back.