Another December, another faux "War on Christmas." Once again the Christian right and Fox News is dragging out that tired old refrain. To save energy they could just plug in a repeat of the previous year's show, I'm not sure why they don't. It's kind of like watching Miracle on 34th Street every single year - the dialogue doesn't change any.
Let's get one thing straight - there is no War on Christmas. There is a War on Diversity.
According to some Christians (not all, I'll admit), the only proper greeting to be made the entire month of December is "Merry Christmas." If one says "Happy Holidays" in an attempt to be inclusive of people who may be celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice or just Santa and reindeer, then you're trying to kill Jesus! You're taking the Christ out of Christmas! Where I come from you'll see bumper stickers saying "keep the Christ in Christmas" all the time. I didn't know anyone was trying to take him out of that particular holiday simply by using a greeting that is non-discriminatory of people who may have different beliefs.
It's clear that those who are so touchy about Christmas don't understand how the holiday came about in the first place. To facilitate the overtaking of pagan beliefs by Christianity, ancient Christians took the traditional winter celebration of the pagans, including the feast and the decorated tree, stuck a star on the top of the tree and called it Christmas. So now you can't call a decorated tree a holiday tree, even though that tradition was a pagan one, and if you say anything but Merry Christmas for an entire month you're trying to kill the Christian deity. All righty, then.
Corporations, including those that are publicly traded on the stock market, have faced backlash for wanting to be inclusive of people of varying faiths or no faith at all. This kind of inclusiveness is called diversity, something most corporations work hard to obtain. They have diversity teams, diversity events, people whose sole job it is to promote diversity. But some Christians just don't like it, especially during the month they want to claim belongs to Christians and Christians alone.
Those who disdain the greeting "Happy Holidays" are showing their ignorance, their prejudice and their bigotry. You can't tell someone's religion by looking at them. What if you say "Merry Christmas" to a Jew? Or a Buddhist? How about a secular humanist such as myself? These Christians have decided that it's their religion, and their religion only, that matters during December, and we're not supposed to be offended.
But I am offended; just as offended as I am that every day I have to handle currency that says "In God We Trust" (which, by the way, was adopted as the national motto in 1956 during the Red Scare). Every December, this one being no exception, I'm inundated with people greeting me with a "Merry Christmas" and sending me "Merry Christmas" cards, under the assumption that I am, of course, a Christian. When someone greets me with "Merry Christmas" I've decided just to say "same to you" in return. Until people get educated about why diversity is important, they're not going to understand why "Merry Christmas" is an inappropriate greeting unless you know the person you're addressing is a Christian.
I've even discovered that finding a charity I can support during this holiday season is getting increasingly tough. For years I "adopted" an Angel from the Salvation Army Christmas Angels program, i.e., I bought clothes and toys for little boys and girls who were in need. But the Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian organization, and despite what they may want you to believe if you read their website, has a very anti-gay stance. My belief is that the LGBT community suffers much from Christians who take one statement out of the Bible as reason to discriminate against them and even incite violence against them, yet they don't do the same for any other commandment in their holy book. This year I have resolved to stop supporting the Salvation Army and donate instead to the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.
Us secular humanists are just as charitable as Christians are, and yet charitable donations and offers of volunteer work from atheist organizations have literally been turned down by some charities so they won't be seen as affiliating with atheists. (See the article here from Religion News Service.)
The people who were going to be helped by their generosity may never know this.
Christians should not assume that their beliefs should apply to everyone, and any other beliefs (or non-beliefs) are invalid. That's the difference between saying "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays."
So Happy Holidays, everyone, whatever you're celebrating!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Why Senator Ted Cruz Is So Dangerous
I've been wanting to do a post on Senator Ted Cruz and his crackpot father Rafael Cruz for some time. Mother Jones has done it for me here in an article by David Corn. I'm still going to add my two cents, though!
I used to think that those Americans who are religious are perfectly fine to have their own thoughts about God and religion, and I still do... as long as they leave religion out of public policy. Yes, it's a shame that so much money goes to churches (tax free to the churches, tax deductible to the giver, and that means the rest of us pay more taxes because of it) -- as well as buying everything from Bibles to crosses to Christian music. I say it's a shame because I think of all the good that could be done with that money if we could get past religion in this country. Could we cure cancer? Make sure no one ever goes to bed hungry? It boggles the mind to think about.
But in recent years the conservative evangelicals in this country, aided by Fox News and right-wing radio hosts, have twisted religion into a political force. When you want to insert religion into laws and public policy, then I have a big problem with it.
Ted Cruz and his fundamentalist father are much scarier than most people, even those who voted for Ted, realize. Ted and Rafael Cruz are Dominionists. Google "Christian Reconstruction" or "Dominionism" sometime. If it doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should. Whether you are religious or not, these people are trying to turn the United States into an extremely fundamentalist Christian nation. Taking away women's rights, the rights of minorities, making sure the wealth flows only to the very top (and even to just certain "kings" of the hard Christian right, including Ted - I'm not joking, he literally was "anointed" by several pastors, as noted in the Mother Jones article)... this is all a part of their grand plan to rule in the "end times," which they believe we are now in.
Among Rafael Cruz's more incendiary remarks (and an outright lie) is that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, requires seniors to get suicide counseling. No, I'm not kidding. You and I might think that this old kook is just a crackpot that needs some serious psychological counseling, but the thing is, there are people who believe this crap!
It might be easy to just shrug your shoulders are say that people like this won't make much headway. But Ted Cruz is a United States Senator. With presidential aspirations. Not to mention the GOP war on women that continues unabated, with many states cutting women's rights to control their reproductive choices. Voter ID laws have hit young people, women and minorities particularly hard, as those groups tend to vote Democratic. There are many school districts who want to teach creationism in science classes. Fox News is watched by a lot of people; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Savage and other extreme far-right radio hosts are listened to by a lot of people, and they are all aiding and abetting in the attempt to paint this country as "Christian." Unfortunately, in some areas of the country it's working.
Let's get one thing straight - the United States is NOT a "Christian nation." A two-second Google search will give you all the ammunition you need to prove it. But I'll give you a quick way to prove it once and for all -- go here to the online searchable version of the Constitution, and search on the word "Christian." You will get NO results. Nor will you find any of the following words: God, Jesus, Christ or Christianity. If this country was meant to be a Christian nation, those words would be all over that document. A nation founded on religion is a theocracy, and we don't live in one.
To those people who want to live in a Christian nation, I suggest you pack your bags and get the hell out of my country. Because the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Which also means freedom from religion, if you so choose. If you don't like it, you're free to move. That includes you, Senator Cruz, and your father.
I used to think that those Americans who are religious are perfectly fine to have their own thoughts about God and religion, and I still do... as long as they leave religion out of public policy. Yes, it's a shame that so much money goes to churches (tax free to the churches, tax deductible to the giver, and that means the rest of us pay more taxes because of it) -- as well as buying everything from Bibles to crosses to Christian music. I say it's a shame because I think of all the good that could be done with that money if we could get past religion in this country. Could we cure cancer? Make sure no one ever goes to bed hungry? It boggles the mind to think about.
But in recent years the conservative evangelicals in this country, aided by Fox News and right-wing radio hosts, have twisted religion into a political force. When you want to insert religion into laws and public policy, then I have a big problem with it.
Ted Cruz and his fundamentalist father are much scarier than most people, even those who voted for Ted, realize. Ted and Rafael Cruz are Dominionists. Google "Christian Reconstruction" or "Dominionism" sometime. If it doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should. Whether you are religious or not, these people are trying to turn the United States into an extremely fundamentalist Christian nation. Taking away women's rights, the rights of minorities, making sure the wealth flows only to the very top (and even to just certain "kings" of the hard Christian right, including Ted - I'm not joking, he literally was "anointed" by several pastors, as noted in the Mother Jones article)... this is all a part of their grand plan to rule in the "end times," which they believe we are now in.
Among Rafael Cruz's more incendiary remarks (and an outright lie) is that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, requires seniors to get suicide counseling. No, I'm not kidding. You and I might think that this old kook is just a crackpot that needs some serious psychological counseling, but the thing is, there are people who believe this crap!
It might be easy to just shrug your shoulders are say that people like this won't make much headway. But Ted Cruz is a United States Senator. With presidential aspirations. Not to mention the GOP war on women that continues unabated, with many states cutting women's rights to control their reproductive choices. Voter ID laws have hit young people, women and minorities particularly hard, as those groups tend to vote Democratic. There are many school districts who want to teach creationism in science classes. Fox News is watched by a lot of people; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Savage and other extreme far-right radio hosts are listened to by a lot of people, and they are all aiding and abetting in the attempt to paint this country as "Christian." Unfortunately, in some areas of the country it's working.
Let's get one thing straight - the United States is NOT a "Christian nation." A two-second Google search will give you all the ammunition you need to prove it. But I'll give you a quick way to prove it once and for all -- go here to the online searchable version of the Constitution, and search on the word "Christian." You will get NO results. Nor will you find any of the following words: God, Jesus, Christ or Christianity. If this country was meant to be a Christian nation, those words would be all over that document. A nation founded on religion is a theocracy, and we don't live in one.
To those people who want to live in a Christian nation, I suggest you pack your bags and get the hell out of my country. Because the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Which also means freedom from religion, if you so choose. If you don't like it, you're free to move. That includes you, Senator Cruz, and your father.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Shutdown Showdown
Correction 10/4: The staff of Congress is being furloughed. Some of the Congresspeople and Senators are actually answering their own phones, giving tours, etc. Good for them!!
So let me get this straight... The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Some of its provisions have been in effect for years. The state medical exchanges opened as of the beginning of this month and millions of people are looking to sign up. The constitutionality of this law has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. The Republicans have tried and failed more than 40 times to pass a bill repealing ACA (colloquially known as Obamacare).
So they decide they're willing to shut down the entire federal government in a pathetic and desperate attempt to defund a law that was passed years ago, which has already been funded, and which they don't have the votes to repeal.
To be fair, there are a few grown-ups amongst the Republicans who recognize the futility of this, and are mad as hell at its instigator, narcissist Senator Ted Cruz.
I would not count Speaker of the House John Boehner amongst the grown-ups. He has enough votes between the Democrats and the Republicans to pass a clean bill (i.e., one without the defunding of ACA), but he won't allow it to come up for a vote. Why? Because he's going by the so-called "Hastert Rule," which is the idea that the Speaker should have a majority of the majority party voting for a bill before bringing it up for a vote. But here's the rub... today Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker for whom the law was named, said there never was such a "rule." He advocated bringing a bill up if a simple majority would vote for it. Oops.
Speaker Boehner and Senator Cruz should do the country a big favor and resign from Congress immediately. Their asinine idea to try to defund a law that was duly passed, signed into law and affirmed by SCOTUS, after having tried over 40 times to repeal it, is nothing short of an attempt by some members of the Republican party to circumvent the Constitution and hijack this country by sheer blackmail. They are pathetic excuses for congressmen and do not deserve the honor of serving in that institution.
As far as the shutdown goes, the very first thing that should happen in a government shutdown is that every member of Congress should be required to give up not only their paychecks, but their staff should be given paid furloughs. No congressperson or senator should have a driver or a car to shuttle them around. No assistant to go get their coffee. No one to read their bills for them. Period.
The second thing that should happen is that federal workers who are furloughed should be given back pay. Then, federal parks should remain open with the rangers receiving their full pay. Essential things like medical trials should be continued.
There's no sense in the American people suffering because we have some idiots sitting in Congress who are doing everything in their power to keep people who don't have health care from receiving it.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) had this to say: "We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is." Disrespect? Really. Like the Republicans haven't disrespected this President ever since he was elected! Rep. Stuzman, I am going to call 'em like I see 'em, and I say you're an ass. You don't deserve to "get" anything for this shameful attempt to blackmail our President into dumping a law that's already in effect just because you don't like it or him. You and your Republican colleagues need to get off your butts and get back to work. Go do your job, pass a damn budget bill like you've been elected to do, or get the hell out of Congress and let someone more worthy of your seat do it instead.
President Obama should stand his ground and not give the Republicans one damn thing. What they have done is unconscionable, and the GOP will pay for it in future elections.
I can just imagine what other developed countries think of us. They manage to have single-payer health care for all at a much lower cost than the patchwork mess that is our private, for-profit insurance model that until now has left millions of Americans without even basic health care. I'm sure they think Americans are just idiots. Right now, I'm agreeing that some of us certainly are, and they're sitting on Capitol Hill.
So let me get this straight... The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Some of its provisions have been in effect for years. The state medical exchanges opened as of the beginning of this month and millions of people are looking to sign up. The constitutionality of this law has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. The Republicans have tried and failed more than 40 times to pass a bill repealing ACA (colloquially known as Obamacare).
So they decide they're willing to shut down the entire federal government in a pathetic and desperate attempt to defund a law that was passed years ago, which has already been funded, and which they don't have the votes to repeal.
To be fair, there are a few grown-ups amongst the Republicans who recognize the futility of this, and are mad as hell at its instigator, narcissist Senator Ted Cruz.
I would not count Speaker of the House John Boehner amongst the grown-ups. He has enough votes between the Democrats and the Republicans to pass a clean bill (i.e., one without the defunding of ACA), but he won't allow it to come up for a vote. Why? Because he's going by the so-called "Hastert Rule," which is the idea that the Speaker should have a majority of the majority party voting for a bill before bringing it up for a vote. But here's the rub... today Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker for whom the law was named, said there never was such a "rule." He advocated bringing a bill up if a simple majority would vote for it. Oops.
Speaker Boehner and Senator Cruz should do the country a big favor and resign from Congress immediately. Their asinine idea to try to defund a law that was duly passed, signed into law and affirmed by SCOTUS, after having tried over 40 times to repeal it, is nothing short of an attempt by some members of the Republican party to circumvent the Constitution and hijack this country by sheer blackmail. They are pathetic excuses for congressmen and do not deserve the honor of serving in that institution.
As far as the shutdown goes, the very first thing that should happen in a government shutdown is that every member of Congress should be required to give up not only their paychecks, but their staff should be given paid furloughs. No congressperson or senator should have a driver or a car to shuttle them around. No assistant to go get their coffee. No one to read their bills for them. Period.
The second thing that should happen is that federal workers who are furloughed should be given back pay. Then, federal parks should remain open with the rangers receiving their full pay. Essential things like medical trials should be continued.
There's no sense in the American people suffering because we have some idiots sitting in Congress who are doing everything in their power to keep people who don't have health care from receiving it.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) had this to say: "We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is." Disrespect? Really. Like the Republicans haven't disrespected this President ever since he was elected! Rep. Stuzman, I am going to call 'em like I see 'em, and I say you're an ass. You don't deserve to "get" anything for this shameful attempt to blackmail our President into dumping a law that's already in effect just because you don't like it or him. You and your Republican colleagues need to get off your butts and get back to work. Go do your job, pass a damn budget bill like you've been elected to do, or get the hell out of Congress and let someone more worthy of your seat do it instead.
President Obama should stand his ground and not give the Republicans one damn thing. What they have done is unconscionable, and the GOP will pay for it in future elections.
I can just imagine what other developed countries think of us. They manage to have single-payer health care for all at a much lower cost than the patchwork mess that is our private, for-profit insurance model that until now has left millions of Americans without even basic health care. I'm sure they think Americans are just idiots. Right now, I'm agreeing that some of us certainly are, and they're sitting on Capitol Hill.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Another North Carolina Sneak Abortion Attack Bill
The Republicans in the North Carolina congress have instituted yet another sneak attack on women's rights. This time they have attached draconian anti-abortion measures to a motorcycle safety law. Yep, a motorcycle safety law! They did this without notifying either the public or the Democrats.
Bastards.
They wanted to bring the legislation to a vote yesterday, but ended up with the vote coming today (Thursday).
Governor Pat McCrory, who made a campaign promise not to sign any new restrictions on abortion in the state, threatened to veto such legislation, but members of his staff said they had no problems with the bill as it stands.
Anyone who is a public service employee or who would have health insurance via the Affordable Care Act exchanges would not have access to a plan that would include abortion coverage, which is clearly unconstitutional. In addition, abortion providers would face restrictions that would effectively shut down most, if not all, of the abortion clinics in the state.
In the meantime, the anti-abortion legislation that was previously put forth in the NC congress (attached to a bill outlawing sharia law) was dubbed the Family, FAITH and Freedom Protection Act after Rick Santorum's "tour" of the same name. Any legislation that has the word "Faith" in it is an obvious violation of the Constitutionally-guaranteed separation of church and state. And make no mistake, it's our rights to have our laws free from a group imposing their religion on others that's at stake here. The evangelical Christian right is determined to insinuate the Bible into our legislation so as to control every aspect of a woman's life, especially control over her own body, future, medical and economic health.
Maybe they think women have been getting a little too uppity or something, what with these birth control pills and working outside of the home and all. But maybe it's time us ladies see to it that their Viagra is outlawed, and they have to drive out of state to get Trojans.
Even Jewish groups have been outspoken about the fact that this kind of anti-abortion legislation is in violation of their religious views. In the Jewish faith, for instance, a futile pregnancy -- one in which the fetus has no chance of survival outside of the womb -- is not considered a "life" at any stage, even past 20 weeks. It is what it is... a horrible circumstance that can and does happen (I've known someone it happened to myself), for which a late-term abortion should be an option.
That's just one example of why we have to keep abortion legal and safe.
The Secretary of Commerce for the state says she is getting calls daily asking her what the hell is going on in the state. Since the Republicans took over and jerry-mandered the voting districts to make them red-friendly they have been a on a legislative tear to enact as many extreme right-wing policies as is humanly possible, completely ignoring things like, oh, jobs. She says it's making it very hard to market the state to prospective businesses. (Under Democratic control the state was a magnet to businesses looking to relocate.)
Ladies -- and you men who love them -- stand up for your rights! Vote the Neanderthals out as soon as you can. No state in this country should become a place where women are not treated as equals and where extreme evangelical religious views are allowed to become law. It's unconstitutional, it's undemocratic, it's dangerous, and it's just wrong.
While you're at it, send a donation to Planned Parenthood.
Bastards.
They wanted to bring the legislation to a vote yesterday, but ended up with the vote coming today (Thursday).
Governor Pat McCrory, who made a campaign promise not to sign any new restrictions on abortion in the state, threatened to veto such legislation, but members of his staff said they had no problems with the bill as it stands.
Anyone who is a public service employee or who would have health insurance via the Affordable Care Act exchanges would not have access to a plan that would include abortion coverage, which is clearly unconstitutional. In addition, abortion providers would face restrictions that would effectively shut down most, if not all, of the abortion clinics in the state.
In the meantime, the anti-abortion legislation that was previously put forth in the NC congress (attached to a bill outlawing sharia law) was dubbed the Family, FAITH and Freedom Protection Act after Rick Santorum's "tour" of the same name. Any legislation that has the word "Faith" in it is an obvious violation of the Constitutionally-guaranteed separation of church and state. And make no mistake, it's our rights to have our laws free from a group imposing their religion on others that's at stake here. The evangelical Christian right is determined to insinuate the Bible into our legislation so as to control every aspect of a woman's life, especially control over her own body, future, medical and economic health.
Maybe they think women have been getting a little too uppity or something, what with these birth control pills and working outside of the home and all. But maybe it's time us ladies see to it that their Viagra is outlawed, and they have to drive out of state to get Trojans.
Even Jewish groups have been outspoken about the fact that this kind of anti-abortion legislation is in violation of their religious views. In the Jewish faith, for instance, a futile pregnancy -- one in which the fetus has no chance of survival outside of the womb -- is not considered a "life" at any stage, even past 20 weeks. It is what it is... a horrible circumstance that can and does happen (I've known someone it happened to myself), for which a late-term abortion should be an option.
That's just one example of why we have to keep abortion legal and safe.
The Secretary of Commerce for the state says she is getting calls daily asking her what the hell is going on in the state. Since the Republicans took over and jerry-mandered the voting districts to make them red-friendly they have been a on a legislative tear to enact as many extreme right-wing policies as is humanly possible, completely ignoring things like, oh, jobs. She says it's making it very hard to market the state to prospective businesses. (Under Democratic control the state was a magnet to businesses looking to relocate.)
Ladies -- and you men who love them -- stand up for your rights! Vote the Neanderthals out as soon as you can. No state in this country should become a place where women are not treated as equals and where extreme evangelical religious views are allowed to become law. It's unconstitutional, it's undemocratic, it's dangerous, and it's just wrong.
While you're at it, send a donation to Planned Parenthood.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
WTF, NORTH CAROLINA???
Republicans clearly have decided to double-down on their war on women's health care and rights, as well as their slimy, sneaky attacks on voting rights.
I guess I missed the news that North Carolina now has full employment, and no other important business that needs to be done. Apparently the legislators there now have nothing else better to do than deal with this crap.
Just the latest attempt at government intrusion into every woman's vagina comes via a set of amendments to legislation that states North Carolina would not recognize sharia law (yeah, that's something we've really been worrying about). A late-night sneak attack, obviously not something the Democrats were prepared for, involved the GOP legislators adding these amendments to the sharia law legislation: 1) abortion clinics would have to meet the same standards as surgery centers (only one abortion clinic in NC now does, effectively shutting down the others, including all four Planned Parenthood clinics); 2) limits on health care coverage for abortions would be implemented; 3) clinics would be required to have "transfer agreements" to local hospitals; and 4) doctors would have to be present when the abortion medication RU486 is taken.
Rachel Maddow is right, North Carolina is like "Conservatives Gone Wild." Or maybe Conservatives Gone Crazy would be more like it.
Ever since the Republicans took over the governorship and the state congress they've been laser-focused on passing extreme right-wing legislation, including a ridiculous voter ID law clearly meant to make voting harder for minorities (read: blacks) and young people (who tend to vote in larger numbers for Democrats than Republicans). This includes a provision to severely limit early voting, outlaw voting on Sunday -- when black churches have traditionally gotten their folks in buses to go vote -- and to effectively make the parents of college kids pay $2,500 if their kids vote where they go to school. I'm not kidding.
North Carolinians, you know what you have to do. When primaries come up pay attention, find your voting place, and go vote. When it's time to go to the polls on election day, get out and let these Republicans know we're not going to stand for their extremist views in our state. Vote them out!
I guess I missed the news that North Carolina now has full employment, and no other important business that needs to be done. Apparently the legislators there now have nothing else better to do than deal with this crap.
Just the latest attempt at government intrusion into every woman's vagina comes via a set of amendments to legislation that states North Carolina would not recognize sharia law (yeah, that's something we've really been worrying about). A late-night sneak attack, obviously not something the Democrats were prepared for, involved the GOP legislators adding these amendments to the sharia law legislation: 1) abortion clinics would have to meet the same standards as surgery centers (only one abortion clinic in NC now does, effectively shutting down the others, including all four Planned Parenthood clinics); 2) limits on health care coverage for abortions would be implemented; 3) clinics would be required to have "transfer agreements" to local hospitals; and 4) doctors would have to be present when the abortion medication RU486 is taken.
Rachel Maddow is right, North Carolina is like "Conservatives Gone Wild." Or maybe Conservatives Gone Crazy would be more like it.
Ever since the Republicans took over the governorship and the state congress they've been laser-focused on passing extreme right-wing legislation, including a ridiculous voter ID law clearly meant to make voting harder for minorities (read: blacks) and young people (who tend to vote in larger numbers for Democrats than Republicans). This includes a provision to severely limit early voting, outlaw voting on Sunday -- when black churches have traditionally gotten their folks in buses to go vote -- and to effectively make the parents of college kids pay $2,500 if their kids vote where they go to school. I'm not kidding.
North Carolinians, you know what you have to do. When primaries come up pay attention, find your voting place, and go vote. When it's time to go to the polls on election day, get out and let these Republicans know we're not going to stand for their extremist views in our state. Vote them out!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Shame on Ohio
Texas may be getting a lot of publicity for State Sen. Wendy Davis' filibuster of an anti-abortion bill, but the women of Ohio were not so lucky. Unfortunately, the Ohio state legislature just managed to pass into law an extreme anti-abortion measure of their own, which was signed by conservative Republican Governor John Kasich. This was passed as part of the new state budget.
The right-wing's war on women continues.
The bill requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and to have the anatomical development of the fetus described to them. Abortion clinics must give information to the woman about adoption and other alternatives to abortion.
Rape crisis clinics will lose their funding if they counsel rape victims about the option of abortion. This is just unconscionable to me. What if the rape victim is a 10-year old who was raped by her father, or her uncle? Is Governor Kasich going to be the one to tell that little girl that she has to carry that fetus to term? If he wants to sign such a restrictive law, he should have to.
The bill provides funding for pregnancy crisis centers, but most of those are run by religious organizations, do not give referrals for abortion services, and quite often give inaccurate health information. The bill effectively cuts $1.4 million of funding to Planned Parenthood.
In addition, there will be cuts to low-cost birth control and family planning, which seems counterintuitive to me, if they want to cut the number of abortions.
Yes, this is happening in the United States in 2013.
It's very interesting to me that these extreme anti-abortion bills don't include any provisions for state-funded orphanages, yet budgets like this always cut benefits for low-income women and children. The right always wants to see women have more babies, but they don't want to give them any assistance in caring for them, forcing many women into deeper and deeper poverty.
Please donate to Planned Parenthood, and pay attention to the laws your state senators, congressmen and governors are passing. Anyone not representing the needs of women should be voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
The right-wing's war on women continues.
The bill requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and to have the anatomical development of the fetus described to them. Abortion clinics must give information to the woman about adoption and other alternatives to abortion.
Rape crisis clinics will lose their funding if they counsel rape victims about the option of abortion. This is just unconscionable to me. What if the rape victim is a 10-year old who was raped by her father, or her uncle? Is Governor Kasich going to be the one to tell that little girl that she has to carry that fetus to term? If he wants to sign such a restrictive law, he should have to.
The bill provides funding for pregnancy crisis centers, but most of those are run by religious organizations, do not give referrals for abortion services, and quite often give inaccurate health information. The bill effectively cuts $1.4 million of funding to Planned Parenthood.
In addition, there will be cuts to low-cost birth control and family planning, which seems counterintuitive to me, if they want to cut the number of abortions.
Yes, this is happening in the United States in 2013.
It's very interesting to me that these extreme anti-abortion bills don't include any provisions for state-funded orphanages, yet budgets like this always cut benefits for low-income women and children. The right always wants to see women have more babies, but they don't want to give them any assistance in caring for them, forcing many women into deeper and deeper poverty.
Please donate to Planned Parenthood, and pay attention to the laws your state senators, congressmen and governors are passing. Anyone not representing the needs of women should be voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Here's My Issue With Paula Deen
If Paula Deen's only problem was using the "N" word once years ago, there would have been no lawsuit. A lawyer would never have taken the case, and if one did, the judge would have thrown it out of court for just being lame.
This is not about using a racist word a few years ago, as many people seem to think. This lawsuit is about a pervasive racist and sexist workplace in Paula's restaurants. It's about Paula Deen's brother and how he treated some of his employees, and Paula's apparent inability or unwillingness to stop it.
I confess I've never been a big Paula Deen fan (although the PD griddle I have makes decent pancakes). But having grown up with a racist father -- who was from Missouri -- and a mother who was from the South, I know what it's like to be around racism. Actually, my mother was much more tolerant of people of color than my father was. My father embarrassed me in public with racist comments more than once.
In looking into the Paula Deen comments a little bit farther I ran across her appearance on "Who Do You Think You Are," the show that looks into celebrities' ancestors. It turns out that one of Paula's ancestors was a slave owner. In fact, before the Civil War he owned thirty slaves, who worked his plantation. In this segment on YouTube Paula is lamenting that her great (I'm not sure how many greats that would be) grandfather killed himself because after the War his "workers" were gone and he had no one to operate the plantation.
Here's Paula's big problem. She doesn't refer to them as slaves. They were workers. And she's boo-hooing the fact that an ancestor of hers, whom she never even knew existed before this show, killed himself because he was too cheap to actually pay people to work on his plantation. Seriously.
After the Civil War some former slaves did stay and worked for pay, if their (former) owners were benevolent enough, in large part because they hadn't received enough education during their years in slavery to be able to do much of anything else. But Paula's ancestor wasn't one of those former slave owners that his "workers" liked enough to stay with him, and without his slaves he just found life not worth living.
I'm not going to give her a pass just because she's from the South. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 60 years, you know it's not okay to say racist things, and it's certainly not okay to have racist and sexist policies in the workplace.
I'll hang onto the griddle, but it's the one and only Paula Deen item I will ever have in my kitchen.
This is not about using a racist word a few years ago, as many people seem to think. This lawsuit is about a pervasive racist and sexist workplace in Paula's restaurants. It's about Paula Deen's brother and how he treated some of his employees, and Paula's apparent inability or unwillingness to stop it.
I confess I've never been a big Paula Deen fan (although the PD griddle I have makes decent pancakes). But having grown up with a racist father -- who was from Missouri -- and a mother who was from the South, I know what it's like to be around racism. Actually, my mother was much more tolerant of people of color than my father was. My father embarrassed me in public with racist comments more than once.
In looking into the Paula Deen comments a little bit farther I ran across her appearance on "Who Do You Think You Are," the show that looks into celebrities' ancestors. It turns out that one of Paula's ancestors was a slave owner. In fact, before the Civil War he owned thirty slaves, who worked his plantation. In this segment on YouTube Paula is lamenting that her great (I'm not sure how many greats that would be) grandfather killed himself because after the War his "workers" were gone and he had no one to operate the plantation.
Here's Paula's big problem. She doesn't refer to them as slaves. They were workers. And she's boo-hooing the fact that an ancestor of hers, whom she never even knew existed before this show, killed himself because he was too cheap to actually pay people to work on his plantation. Seriously.
After the Civil War some former slaves did stay and worked for pay, if their (former) owners were benevolent enough, in large part because they hadn't received enough education during their years in slavery to be able to do much of anything else. But Paula's ancestor wasn't one of those former slave owners that his "workers" liked enough to stay with him, and without his slaves he just found life not worth living.
I'm not going to give her a pass just because she's from the South. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 60 years, you know it's not okay to say racist things, and it's certainly not okay to have racist and sexist policies in the workplace.
I'll hang onto the griddle, but it's the one and only Paula Deen item I will ever have in my kitchen.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Relax About the NSA Thing, Already!
I'm a little bemused by so many people, especially politicans, freaking out over the "news" that the National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting data on phone calls and e-mails.
Hello! Anybody heard of The Patriot Act that authorized this? Years ago? Like under President George W. Bush? Anybody?? This data collection has been happening for some 7-8 years, and in case you can't count, that was before the first Obama presidential term.
The people who are freaking out a) don't understand databases, b) don't understand what is being collected and what isn't, and c) don't understand how this data is being used.
Let me start by explaining what is being collected and what isn't. What is being collected is phone numbers, dates, and length of calls. Names are not being collected (so somebody can't go in and search on, say, Angelina Jolie to see who she's been calling, unless they have her phone number. They'd still be doing the search illegally). Content is not being collected, so nobody can hear the actual call.
In order to access this data, the NSA has to have a case for searching it, and they have to have signoff from a judge to do so. They're not interested in randomly searching this massive amount of data, nor can they do so on a whim.
Now, about databases... some of the comments by politicians and others tells me they have absolutely no clue how databases work. If there is a suspicion that a terrorist in Afghanistan has been in contact with someone here in the US, but no one knows who that person is, then if you have the Afghan terrorist's phone number it's a simple matter to search a database to find who in the States he's been calling. It works the other way around as well. If the NSA suspects that someone here in the US may have ties to terrorists either here or overseas, they can search that person's phone records to find out who they have been calling. They still can't hear the content of the call (without doing a separate wiretap), but it would give them the evidence necessary to be able to ask for the wiretap. Police departments have been able to gather phone records for decades, but they have to know who their target is in order to ask for specific records.
But what if you don't know who the second party is? Then you need a way to be able to find that out. In order for the database to be useful at all, it has to include virtually all phone calls and e-mails, or it's worthless, since there's no way to know who the other person is to be able to filter out everyone who is innocent of any wrongdoing. If you knew who the other party was, you wouldn't need the database, see?
This is a little bit simplified example, but so everyone reading this will understand I'll go with it. Let's say the NSA wants to search on phone number 123-456-7890. That number is sitting in this huge database, along with your number and everybody else's. The search will pick up a record, check it for 123-456-7890, and if that number doesn't show up, the record is discarded. Then it picks up the next record, and so on and so on. If you're not on the list of people someone with the number 123-456-7890 called (or you called them), then your record is discarded and will never show up in the results. It's just data the search chunks through that it pays no attention to once it realizes it doesn't need it. Period.
So everybody just take a deep breath. I don't have an issue with the NSA collecting this data, as I assumed they were doing it anyway. Besides, on NCIS McGee pulls this stuff all the time, and he doesn't even need a judge to sign off on it.
Hello! Anybody heard of The Patriot Act that authorized this? Years ago? Like under President George W. Bush? Anybody?? This data collection has been happening for some 7-8 years, and in case you can't count, that was before the first Obama presidential term.
The people who are freaking out a) don't understand databases, b) don't understand what is being collected and what isn't, and c) don't understand how this data is being used.
Let me start by explaining what is being collected and what isn't. What is being collected is phone numbers, dates, and length of calls. Names are not being collected (so somebody can't go in and search on, say, Angelina Jolie to see who she's been calling, unless they have her phone number. They'd still be doing the search illegally). Content is not being collected, so nobody can hear the actual call.
In order to access this data, the NSA has to have a case for searching it, and they have to have signoff from a judge to do so. They're not interested in randomly searching this massive amount of data, nor can they do so on a whim.
Now, about databases... some of the comments by politicians and others tells me they have absolutely no clue how databases work. If there is a suspicion that a terrorist in Afghanistan has been in contact with someone here in the US, but no one knows who that person is, then if you have the Afghan terrorist's phone number it's a simple matter to search a database to find who in the States he's been calling. It works the other way around as well. If the NSA suspects that someone here in the US may have ties to terrorists either here or overseas, they can search that person's phone records to find out who they have been calling. They still can't hear the content of the call (without doing a separate wiretap), but it would give them the evidence necessary to be able to ask for the wiretap. Police departments have been able to gather phone records for decades, but they have to know who their target is in order to ask for specific records.
But what if you don't know who the second party is? Then you need a way to be able to find that out. In order for the database to be useful at all, it has to include virtually all phone calls and e-mails, or it's worthless, since there's no way to know who the other person is to be able to filter out everyone who is innocent of any wrongdoing. If you knew who the other party was, you wouldn't need the database, see?
This is a little bit simplified example, but so everyone reading this will understand I'll go with it. Let's say the NSA wants to search on phone number 123-456-7890. That number is sitting in this huge database, along with your number and everybody else's. The search will pick up a record, check it for 123-456-7890, and if that number doesn't show up, the record is discarded. Then it picks up the next record, and so on and so on. If you're not on the list of people someone with the number 123-456-7890 called (or you called them), then your record is discarded and will never show up in the results. It's just data the search chunks through that it pays no attention to once it realizes it doesn't need it. Period.
So everybody just take a deep breath. I don't have an issue with the NSA collecting this data, as I assumed they were doing it anyway. Besides, on NCIS McGee pulls this stuff all the time, and he doesn't even need a judge to sign off on it.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Response to State Rep. Nate Bell
Yesterday morning, while the city of Boston and surrounding suburbs were being locked down, its citizens told to stay indoors while massive numbers of police officers searched for a dangerous terrorist, Arkansas State Rep. Nate Bell (need I tell you, a Republican) sent out this tweet:
To answer your question, Rep. Bell, none. Bostonians don't cower, liberal or otherwise. They followed the instructions of the authorities to stay in their homes so the police wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the law-abiding public, and so they could concentrate on finding the S.O.B. that perpetrated a terrorist act.
It was Senators from your party that made it easy for terrorists such as these, and other criminals, to get guns without any background check. Or maybe you forgot that already. I can tell from your Tweet that you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with.
If you think any citizen would rather confront a determined, gun-wielding, explosive throwing terrorist than have a trained SWAT team do it, then you're a bigger idiot than I thought.
My suggestion to you is to stick to worrying about naming post offices and leave the real legislating to people who have a grip on reality.
I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine?Yes, he really is that stupid.
To answer your question, Rep. Bell, none. Bostonians don't cower, liberal or otherwise. They followed the instructions of the authorities to stay in their homes so the police wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the law-abiding public, and so they could concentrate on finding the S.O.B. that perpetrated a terrorist act.
It was Senators from your party that made it easy for terrorists such as these, and other criminals, to get guns without any background check. Or maybe you forgot that already. I can tell from your Tweet that you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with.
If you think any citizen would rather confront a determined, gun-wielding, explosive throwing terrorist than have a trained SWAT team do it, then you're a bigger idiot than I thought.
My suggestion to you is to stick to worrying about naming post offices and leave the real legislating to people who have a grip on reality.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
GUTLESS
Yesterday the Senate voted down every common sense gun safety measure brought up for a vote. Scared of what the NRA would do to them in their next election, 54 Senators voted not to close gaping loopholes that allow terrorists, murderers, rapists, and other criminals from buying weapons at gun shows and online without background checks.
The NRA has flat-out lied about what's contained in this legislation. They know that this was carefully crafted to allow weapons to be passed from family member to family member, or neighbor to neighbor, without background checks. But they managed to use their propaganda machine to scare gullible people into believing otherwise. The Senators who voted against this also know what was contained in the bill, and they knew the NRA was lying about its contents to make people jittery about whether the government was going to create a national gun registry (even though the bill specifically forbids it), or whether Obama was "going to come and get their guns." Think about it, people... there are millions of homes in America. How many troops would the President need to pull this off? Duh.
Four Democrats sided with the 50 Republican Senators who voted this down. The Huffington Post has a list here of the Senators who voted against this common sense legislation in order to save their political hides. These are the folks we need to make sure get voted out in the next election cycle. If the Senate can't vote for legislation to keep terrorists and criminals from being able to buy any gun they want carte blanche, then we need to change the people who make up the Senate. We need to vote in people who give a damn about those kids and teachers who were killed at Sandy Hook. We need to vote in people who care more about doing what's right than saving their own careers. Only then will the people who have been killed by those who should never have been able to buy and use guns get any justice.
The NRA has flat-out lied about what's contained in this legislation. They know that this was carefully crafted to allow weapons to be passed from family member to family member, or neighbor to neighbor, without background checks. But they managed to use their propaganda machine to scare gullible people into believing otherwise. The Senators who voted against this also know what was contained in the bill, and they knew the NRA was lying about its contents to make people jittery about whether the government was going to create a national gun registry (even though the bill specifically forbids it), or whether Obama was "going to come and get their guns." Think about it, people... there are millions of homes in America. How many troops would the President need to pull this off? Duh.
Four Democrats sided with the 50 Republican Senators who voted this down. The Huffington Post has a list here of the Senators who voted against this common sense legislation in order to save their political hides. These are the folks we need to make sure get voted out in the next election cycle. If the Senate can't vote for legislation to keep terrorists and criminals from being able to buy any gun they want carte blanche, then we need to change the people who make up the Senate. We need to vote in people who give a damn about those kids and teachers who were killed at Sandy Hook. We need to vote in people who care more about doing what's right than saving their own careers. Only then will the people who have been killed by those who should never have been able to buy and use guns get any justice.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
North Carolina GOP Voter Suppression Legislation
As outlined here in The Nation and here in The Charlotte Observer, the Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature is working on passing not one, not two, but seven different ways to suppress (presumably Democratic) voting. At least one of these is obviously un-Constitutional.
I find it incredibly sad that North Carolina, which is a state that has such wonderful scenery, from mountains to the ocean and everything in between, has had its legislature taken over by the extreme right-wing nutcases who now control it. North Carolina will be hurt by this, from companies that will refuse to move jobs there because of this extremism, to the best and brightest people who will leave or never move to the state.
Eventually North Carolina will be blue, and permanently so, no matter what the Republicans try to do to stop it. The demographics are inevitable. In the meantime, instead of showing themselves to be reasonable and intelligent people, the right-wing extremists who now control the state are making it obvious that they are willing to stoop to any sleazy trick in the book -- and a few new ones they'll make up as they go -- to at least temporarily hang onto power. It's pathetic. There is no voter fraud problem, and they know it just like everyone knows it. If they're willing to put together a vote-rigging scheme like this just after their party lost so overwhelmingly on a national basis a few months ago, then they deserve for the Democrats in the state to do everything in their power to run them out of office.
It's just too bad tarring and feathering are illegal, because that's what these guys deserve.
- Voters will now be required to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls. The only good provision here is that they will accept drivers' licenses that have expired within the last 10 years, and people who are 70 and over don't need to get new IDs. Of course, they put these exceptions in because the GOP base tends to be older people.
- The early voting period would be cut from two and a half weeks to one week, and no voting would be allowed on the Sunday before Election Day. That Sunday, of course, is the traditional day for black churches to gather folks by bus to go to the polls.
- The provision of the bill that is obviously un-Constitutional is one that the Republicans really had to contort themselves to come up with. I mean, this really took some creativity on their part, I have to say. The provision involves eliminating the $2,500 tax credit parents can claim for their children if that child votes at the college he or she attends. That's right, folks... the GOP wants to tax parents of kids who vote at their college $2,500. That's called a poll tax, and it's illegal as hell.
- Straight-party voting will be ended. How the GOP thinks this will help them is beyond my imagination, but nonetheless this is part of the bill.
- No more same-day voter registration. After all, you wouldn't want to make it easier for people to vote now, would you? I guess the Republicans are assuming that since the bulk of their base is old, white and male, they're registered as Republicans already.
- Former felons would have to wait five years after serving their sentences and go through a lot of red tape to get back their right to vote. They would have to apply to the Board of Elections, get a unanimous vote from them that they can get their rights back, and supply two affidavits testifying to their "moral character." No, I'm not kidding.
- People with mental disabilities judged to be "incompetent," even if they are capable of understanding the issues, the candidates and the voting process, would be unable to vote.
I find it incredibly sad that North Carolina, which is a state that has such wonderful scenery, from mountains to the ocean and everything in between, has had its legislature taken over by the extreme right-wing nutcases who now control it. North Carolina will be hurt by this, from companies that will refuse to move jobs there because of this extremism, to the best and brightest people who will leave or never move to the state.
Eventually North Carolina will be blue, and permanently so, no matter what the Republicans try to do to stop it. The demographics are inevitable. In the meantime, instead of showing themselves to be reasonable and intelligent people, the right-wing extremists who now control the state are making it obvious that they are willing to stoop to any sleazy trick in the book -- and a few new ones they'll make up as they go -- to at least temporarily hang onto power. It's pathetic. There is no voter fraud problem, and they know it just like everyone knows it. If they're willing to put together a vote-rigging scheme like this just after their party lost so overwhelmingly on a national basis a few months ago, then they deserve for the Democrats in the state to do everything in their power to run them out of office.
It's just too bad tarring and feathering are illegal, because that's what these guys deserve.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
North Carolina's GOP Legislators are Un-American... and Quite Insane
[UPDATE: After getting a lot of blowback, this bill has been pulled. However, the GOP-controlled North Carolina state government is not done making up unconstitutional legislation. See the next post.]
I used to think that North Carolina was a bastion of semi-liberalism in a sea of Southern conservative states. Now I'm really beginning to wonder. When new Republican Governor Pat McCrory got rid of the Latino outreach group (such a great idea right now, McCrory) I had a hint that things were leaning too far right. But I would have never expected this.
Republican state legislators have proposed an official state religion. No, I'm not kidding! I do seem to remember that the Pilgrims came here in order to avoid such a thing, and that our Constitution prohibits it, but nonetheless the idiots in Raleigh, namely Rep. Carl Ford of China Grove and Harry Warren of Salisbury have put together a bill to create this "official state religion". According to them, states can exempt themselves from the parts of the Constitution they don't like and create their own laws.
Kind of like seceding from the Union, without all the bullets and gunpowder.
Co-sponsors are House Majority Leader (!) Edgar Starnes of Hickory and Rep. Larry Pittman of Concord.
North Carolinians, these are the folks you need to vote the hell out of office at the earliest opportunity, along with anybody else with an "R" after their name.
The Republican Party needs to go the way of the Dodo bird if this is what they stand for. I really think that religion (and possibly Rush Limbaugh) has twisted their minds to the point that they no longer make any logical sense whatsoever. It really is just mind-boggling what they come up with these days.
I used to think that North Carolina was a bastion of semi-liberalism in a sea of Southern conservative states. Now I'm really beginning to wonder. When new Republican Governor Pat McCrory got rid of the Latino outreach group (such a great idea right now, McCrory) I had a hint that things were leaning too far right. But I would have never expected this.
Republican state legislators have proposed an official state religion. No, I'm not kidding! I do seem to remember that the Pilgrims came here in order to avoid such a thing, and that our Constitution prohibits it, but nonetheless the idiots in Raleigh, namely Rep. Carl Ford of China Grove and Harry Warren of Salisbury have put together a bill to create this "official state religion". According to them, states can exempt themselves from the parts of the Constitution they don't like and create their own laws.
Kind of like seceding from the Union, without all the bullets and gunpowder.
Co-sponsors are House Majority Leader (!) Edgar Starnes of Hickory and Rep. Larry Pittman of Concord.
North Carolinians, these are the folks you need to vote the hell out of office at the earliest opportunity, along with anybody else with an "R" after their name.
The Republican Party needs to go the way of the Dodo bird if this is what they stand for. I really think that religion (and possibly Rush Limbaugh) has twisted their minds to the point that they no longer make any logical sense whatsoever. It really is just mind-boggling what they come up with these days.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
It's Not Easy Being Secular
I think secularism might be the last bastion of discrimination, now that the LGBT community seems to be making good strides. Today is Easter, a Christian holiday -- albeit one that was co-opted from a pagan fertility holiday. It didn't take long for me to notice that everyone just assumes you're a Christian and that you plan to celebrate Easter.
I went out for breakfast yesterday to a pancake house as I was headed for a long string of errands. The server asked me not once, but twice, whether I was "cooking tomorrow." I was a little confused as to why she would be asking me that, but then I realized she was assuming I am a Christian and was having a boatload of family over for dinner after going to church.
The second incident happened when I went to the craft store. The lady at the check-out was going on about how she was "born again!" and what a happy holiday it is for Christians. Now, check this -- she was wearing bunny ears. Like the Easter bunny. Cute, but I suppose the fact that this symbol of the pagan fertility holiday from whence Easter comes is completely lost on her. Just a guess. I think she was confused when I didn't join in on the merriment, because once again there was this assumption that I am a Christian, too.
Then it happened a third time, this time at the vet's. Happy Easter! Exhausted by this time, I just looked at the girl and said "it's not a holiday I celebrate." Maybe she'll think about that one a little. I mean, after all, I could be Jewish for all she knows.
Here's my celebration of Easter: a couple of Cadbury crème eggs. Might as well! They only come around once a year and chocolate is something I do celebrate.
I went out for breakfast yesterday to a pancake house as I was headed for a long string of errands. The server asked me not once, but twice, whether I was "cooking tomorrow." I was a little confused as to why she would be asking me that, but then I realized she was assuming I am a Christian and was having a boatload of family over for dinner after going to church.
The second incident happened when I went to the craft store. The lady at the check-out was going on about how she was "born again!" and what a happy holiday it is for Christians. Now, check this -- she was wearing bunny ears. Like the Easter bunny. Cute, but I suppose the fact that this symbol of the pagan fertility holiday from whence Easter comes is completely lost on her. Just a guess. I think she was confused when I didn't join in on the merriment, because once again there was this assumption that I am a Christian, too.
Then it happened a third time, this time at the vet's. Happy Easter! Exhausted by this time, I just looked at the girl and said "it's not a holiday I celebrate." Maybe she'll think about that one a little. I mean, after all, I could be Jewish for all she knows.
Here's my celebration of Easter: a couple of Cadbury crème eggs. Might as well! They only come around once a year and chocolate is something I do celebrate.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Here's What the Republican Party Needs To Do
I'm not even sure I should write this post. Frankly, I hope the Republican Party slides even further into irrelevance. And granted, since the election it's been somewhat amusing to see the conservative pundits and politicos tearing their hair out trying to figure out what went wrong. Soooo much money was thrown at this election from the right, and not only did Barack Obama get a second term, the Senate is still in Democratic hands and the House has a smaller Republican majority than before. In fact, the only reason the Republicans control the House is because there are very few competitive races left in the country due to their gerrymandering of voting districts.
But now the election is over and it's time to govern, and therein lies the problem. The Republicans in the House and Senate are terrified to do their jobs. They can't vote for anything they need to vote for, because of the threat of the Tea Party and other conservatives groups to "primary" them or otherwise make their lives miserable. So what happens? The majority of Republicans in the House wouldn't vote for the law just passed (with mostly Democratic support) that raises taxes on income over $400,000 for singles and $450,000 for couples, even though this is a much higher threshold than Obama wanted, and even though it's obvious that rolling back at least some of the ill-advised Bush tax cuts had to happen in order to get our financial house in order. After the Sandy Hook massacre, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that we need to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, limit the size of gun magazines, and close the gun show loophole. But will the Republicans vote to do that? Hell, no. I will be surprised if any of that type of legislation is even brought to the House floor.
Let's face it - what's most important to many people who have been elected to Congress is not doing what's right for the country, but what will continue to get them reelected to their cushy jobs, and they know that going against certain prominent conservatives and right-wing groups could threaten their seats in the Senate or the House.
So here's my suggestion for the Republican Party -- tell the Tea Party, the NRA, Grover Norquist, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the other far right-wing pundits and ultra-conservative groups to take a hike.
It's that easy. Because, where are they going to go? I'm referring to the assault weapon advocates, the birthers, the racists, the "small government" conservatives who want to shut down large sections of the federal government, the people who think those who are on Social Security or Medicare are "takers," the financial conservatives who think the rich are the "job creators" who shouldn't have to have go back to the tax rates of the Clinton era, the tinfoil hat crazies who think the U.N. is an evil organization that's going to take over the U.S. of A. with a fleet of black helicopters -- where are these people going to go? Let's face it, they're not going to vote for Democrats. They'll have to hold their noses and vote for the Republicans anyway.
Join the club, guys. Us Democrats who are environmentalists, or advocates for single-payer health care, or those of us who would like to see assault weapons melted down to make park benches have to buck up and vote for the Democrats on the ballot even though we haven't gotten much satisfaction from our politicians on any of those issues or a laundry list of other things we'd like to see. Sure, I'd like to vote for a Green Party candidate, but I can't, because I live in a swing state and I know it would be a wasted vote. So there it is, the choice is pretty obvious.
If the Republican Party doesn't tack back toward the middle, it will continue to be irrelevant on a national basis. This is the choice they have. They can continue to let Grover Norquist, the NRA, Fox News, the tinfoil hat crazies, the gun nuts, and the conspiracy theorists run their party, or they can take it back. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do.
But now the election is over and it's time to govern, and therein lies the problem. The Republicans in the House and Senate are terrified to do their jobs. They can't vote for anything they need to vote for, because of the threat of the Tea Party and other conservatives groups to "primary" them or otherwise make their lives miserable. So what happens? The majority of Republicans in the House wouldn't vote for the law just passed (with mostly Democratic support) that raises taxes on income over $400,000 for singles and $450,000 for couples, even though this is a much higher threshold than Obama wanted, and even though it's obvious that rolling back at least some of the ill-advised Bush tax cuts had to happen in order to get our financial house in order. After the Sandy Hook massacre, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that we need to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, limit the size of gun magazines, and close the gun show loophole. But will the Republicans vote to do that? Hell, no. I will be surprised if any of that type of legislation is even brought to the House floor.
Let's face it - what's most important to many people who have been elected to Congress is not doing what's right for the country, but what will continue to get them reelected to their cushy jobs, and they know that going against certain prominent conservatives and right-wing groups could threaten their seats in the Senate or the House.
So here's my suggestion for the Republican Party -- tell the Tea Party, the NRA, Grover Norquist, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the other far right-wing pundits and ultra-conservative groups to take a hike.
It's that easy. Because, where are they going to go? I'm referring to the assault weapon advocates, the birthers, the racists, the "small government" conservatives who want to shut down large sections of the federal government, the people who think those who are on Social Security or Medicare are "takers," the financial conservatives who think the rich are the "job creators" who shouldn't have to have go back to the tax rates of the Clinton era, the tinfoil hat crazies who think the U.N. is an evil organization that's going to take over the U.S. of A. with a fleet of black helicopters -- where are these people going to go? Let's face it, they're not going to vote for Democrats. They'll have to hold their noses and vote for the Republicans anyway.
Join the club, guys. Us Democrats who are environmentalists, or advocates for single-payer health care, or those of us who would like to see assault weapons melted down to make park benches have to buck up and vote for the Democrats on the ballot even though we haven't gotten much satisfaction from our politicians on any of those issues or a laundry list of other things we'd like to see. Sure, I'd like to vote for a Green Party candidate, but I can't, because I live in a swing state and I know it would be a wasted vote. So there it is, the choice is pretty obvious.
If the Republican Party doesn't tack back toward the middle, it will continue to be irrelevant on a national basis. This is the choice they have. They can continue to let Grover Norquist, the NRA, Fox News, the tinfoil hat crazies, the gun nuts, and the conspiracy theorists run their party, or they can take it back. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do.
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