Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
‘Phobes brewing up fresh pot of hate in Arkansas
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has given his okay to the Family Council’s drive to get a ban on gay people serving as foster parents and adopting on the ballot for the next election:
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has certified the Family Council’s revised initiated act to ban gay foster parenting and adoption for the ballot. This clears the way for their effort to gather signatures to qualify it for the 2008 ballot.
On this day: AR Nat. Guard prevents Little Rock Nine from going to school
Unfortunately: On this day in 1957 Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to prevent 9 black students from entering Little Rock Central High School. He left the National Guard in place for 16 days until a federal judge ordered him to withdraw them.
On the Twenty-third, the students were snuck into the school and when the white parents who had been demonstrating outside heard of it there was a near riot. The students were quickly whisked from the school to ensure their safety.
On September 24, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborn Division to escort the black students into Little Rock Central High School and to ensure their safety. Eisenhower also federalized the Arkansas National Guard.
The 101st stayed at Central High until Thanksgiving when its guard duties were handed over to Task Force 153rd Infantry, a specialized unit of the Arkansas National Guard. Task Force 153rd Infantry stayed on guard duty at Central High until the end of the school year.
Arkansas Troops Bar Negro Pupils; Governor Defiant | New York Times’ On This Day
Gonzales Resigns. Who’s next? Who’s left?
News is that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned on Friday and is soon to announce that fact officially to the news media.
According to Juan Williams on NPR’s Morning Edition, he is the last of the people with “long-term relationships” with George Bush to depart and all that’s left are, as Mr. Williams put it, “professionals”.
Update:
Audio from the resignation announcement:
Thompson will run on social non-issues instead of something important?
In an interview with CNN, Fred Thompson said that he would work towards a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and overturning Roe v. Wade.
I don’t think that one state ought to be able to pass a law requiring gay marriage or allowing gay marriage and have another state be required to follow along,
Nevermind the fact that the current DOMA exempts marriage equality from the Full Faith and Credit Clause.
When asked about how he would deal with Iraq, the only answer he gave was, “We can’t run away with our tails between our legs.” (paraphrased)
CNN Political Ticker Thompson: Roe ‘bad law and bad medicine’ «
Texas Mega-Church Rev.: “Homosexuality == Murder”
The Reverend Gary Simons of the High Point Church said no to hosting a funeral for Cecil Sinclair, a Navy veteran, but that’s not all he said:
The pastor said that he could imagine a similar situation involving a different sin. Perhaps a mother who is a member of the church loses a son who is a thief or murderer, Mr. Simons said. The church would surely volunteer to hold a service, he said.
“But I don’t think the mother would submit photos of her son murdering someone,” he said. “That’s a red light going off.”
Yeah, because being gay is the same as stealing or murder. Because Mr. Sinclair’s very existence deprived someone else of their property or life? I don’t understand the connection that Mr. Simons is trying to make unless he’s just demonstrating his immense bigotry and stupidity.
Church Denies Navy Vet a Funeral After Discovering He Was Gay — Towleroad
Church won’t hold funeral for gay man | Dallas Morning News
Forget Mecca, let’s bomb Nigeria
Let’s set aside Tom Tancredo’s ludicrous idea to bomb Mecca and Medina. Instead, let’s turn our attention to Nigeria and wipe it off the map.
Eighteen men have been arrested in northern Nigeria for alleged sodomy, which carries the death sentence under Bauchi state’s Islamic sharia law, the official NAN news agency reported Thursday.
Is it wrong of me to advocate bombing a country into nothingness? Is it worse than the world turning a blind eye to persecution and murder simply because Nigeria has a load of oil under the ground?
Shame On Us All | QueerSighted
18 face death sentence for homosexual activities in Nigeria
| IC Publications
BURN! Raaditz smacks Tony Snow down. Hard.
Check it out:
Asked by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz during a press briefing if Iraqi officials were planning to take August off, despite another progress report due in September, Snow said, “It looks like they may, yes, just like the U.S. Congress is.”
Pressed as to whether American officials had tried to talk Iraqi leaders out of their vacation, Snow said, “You know, it’s 130 degrees in Baghdad in August. I’ll pass on your recommendation.”
“Well, Tony, Tony, I’m sorry,” Raddatz replied. “There are a lot of things that happen by September, and it’s 130 degrees for the U.S. military also on the ground.”
CNN.com – CNN Political Ticker Snow singed over remark on Iraq heat
Obama translations
During the Democratic debate last Thursday night, Joe Biden and Barack Obama had this exchange:
Joe Biden: …I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There’s no shame in being tested for AIDS. It’s an important thing because the fact of the matter is, in the communities engaged in denial, no one wants to talk about it in the community and we do not have enough leaders in the community and outside the community demanding we face the reality, confront the men in the community as well as the women, letting them know there are alternatives.
Tavis Smiley: Thank you.
Barack Obama: Tavis, I just got to make clear that I got tested with Michelle when we were in Kenya in Africa, so I don’t want any confusion here about what’s going on.
Joe Biden: Well, I got tested to save my life because I had a blood transfusion.
Barack Obama: I was tested with my wife.
Tavis Smiley: And I’m sure Michelle appreciates you clarifying that.
Barack Obama: In public.
He was so insistent that it was just a publicity stunt. God forbid anyone think he got tested because it’s a responsible thing to do.
TerranceDC at Pam’s House Blend has another take on it. He might be, and probably is, right:
Maybe I’m drawing too much on my experience as a black gay man, but Obama’s reaction came across to me as much like the reaction of so many “bruthas” when the topic of homosexuality comes up. Even the most seemingly non-homophic will follow up a seemingly progressive statement about homosexuality by saying or otherwise affirming that “I ain’t no punk.”
Pam’s House Blend:: Did Obama Blow It? That Depends…
On Joe Biden, though, and his second quoted statement, I never knew that he’d had a transfusion. I wonder if there was a real concern of tainted blood or if it was just a routine test and he’s being dramatic.
Memorial Day 2007 – How many more kids will Bush’s war kill?
In the past year, Bush’s war has killed at least 980 982 985 soldiers. 6,883 have been reported wounded. How many more will his war kill and wound before the next Memorial Day?
Source: Iraq Coalition Casualties
Update: Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq – Yahoo! News
Two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Sunday, pushing May to the brink of becoming the deadliest month for U.S. forces this year.
Update 2: I just saw a graphic on “ABC’s World News with Charlie Gibson” that said there have been 985 casualties since Memorial Day 2006.
Even with a Democratic majority, Bush is still leading us down the wrong path
More Americans — 72 percent — now say that “generally, things in the country are seriously off on the wrong track” than at any time since the Times/CBS News poll began asking the question in 1983. The figure had been in the high 60’s earlier this year.
Sixty-one percent of respondents now say that the United States should never have taken military action against Iraq, up from 51 percent in a CBS News poll in April and 58 percent in the same poll in January. Seventy-six percent say that things are going badly in the effort to bring stability and order to Iraq, including 47 percent who say they’re going very badly.
A large majority of the public — 76 percent, including a majority of Republicans — say that the additional American troops sent to Iraq this year by Mr. Bush have either had no impact or are making things worse there. Twenty percent think the troop increase is improving the situation in Iraq.
U.S. Opposition to Iraq War at All-Time High, Poll Shows | NYTimes.com
And it’s only going to get worse now that the Democrats have caved in and given Bush his blank check for Iraq.
