North Carolina Moves Confederate Flag Display

Not many symbols in history make me as angry as the Confederate flag.  We see it everywhere even today.  Even in states that weren't even states at the time of the Civil War.  

Some say it is a symbol for a rebel spirit and independent thinking.  This thinking has spread to Canada where the flag is even depicted there.  Some say it represents the rights of the states to push back against Federal regulation.  I do not agree.

This flag represents the Confederate States of America.  Technically, it is the Battle Flag but it is the flag most associated with the Confederates.  Let's not get hung up on that.  This flag represents the reason that 750,000 or more Americans were killed.  The South fought for their rights to keep slaves and the North fought to hold the Union together.  Later there was a bit about freeing the slaves, but the initial goal of the North and President Lincoln was to keep the country together.  

Some would argue that the Civil War was fought over "state's rights."  Yeah, sure, I can agree with that, but can you tell me what specific right they wanted the states to have power over?  The right to own slaves.

U.S. History is not as comforting as you are led to believe from the nice survey history textbooks you read in grade school.  It is a harsh story with many players that have good and bad parts to their individual tales.  The Alamo, for example, was not this bastion of freedom that some people like to claim.  This battle was fought over the rights of the Texans to keep their slaves.  Texas was part of Mexico at the time and Mexico had just abolished slavery.  They fought for Texan freedom, yes, but not for all.  

So when I see this flag on trucks, barns, shirts, and hats all over the country I cannot help but think the owner/wearer is either ignorant to its meaning or is a racist.  I really don't think it's a stretch to think that since the KKK has used the flag and the KKK was founded by former Confederate officers after the Civil War.  “The [revival of the] flag is a sign that the south is trying to relive their glory days,” and  they are “holding onto a glorified identity that never existed.”

North Carolina decided to hang the flag in their Capitol building as part of an exhibit commemorating the Civil War.  The exhibit, with the flag, was set to remain until April 2015 to mark the 150th anniversary of Federal troops arriving in Raleigh.  Once it was known that the Governor was going to use that part of the Capitol as a work space, the exhibit was set to be moved. State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.

“Our goal is not to create issues.  Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. … If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history.”

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber did not share Hardison's thoughts on the matter.

“He is right that it has a historical context,” Barber said. “But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn’t be offensive, then either you don’t know the history, or you are denying the history.”

The exhibit is remaining up, but across the street in another building.

I actually don't oppose the exhibit itself because of the historical context.  I do think that it was inappropriate to have it in a working part of the Capitol building.  I think it is a neat idea to have the flag flying in the proper context of representing the 150 year anniversary of the Civil War.  I think there should be some sort of ceremony in 2015 to represent Union troops entering Raleigh and bringing the flag down.  That could be very interesting but I don't know if they have something like that planned.

Rep. Steve King Is A Despicable Human Being

Last night, I read something that Iowa Congressman Steve King said and it made me mad as expected. Knowing that one of my friends lives in his district and actually likes King, I decided to post the following on Facebook: 

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is a despicable human being 

Nothing more, simply a statement. And to my enjoyment, this friend responded. He said: 

Please tell me why you don't like Steve King? 

I couldn’t have asked for a better response. The following is what I sent him. Just a simple list of awfulness provided by Steve King.

Steve King: Hurricane Sandy Aid Must Have Strings Attached To Avoid Waste On 'Gucci Bags'

Steve King: Idea That Diversity Strengthens America Has 'Never Been Backed Up By Logic'

Rep. Steve King: Immigrants are like dogs.

Steve King: Comparing Immigrants To Dogs Was 'A Compliment'

Iowa rep will file lawsuit over immigration announcement

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) recently told a local Iowa radio station that al Qaeda would “be dancing in the middle of the streets” if Barack Obama were elected President “because of his middle name.”

King compared immigrants to “livestock” in proposing an electrified fence for the southern border. 

King said the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib amounted to little more than “hazing.” 

King praised Joe McCarthy as “a great American hero.” 

After Bush vetoed a bill that would have expanded children’s health insurance, King declared it a “victory” for kids. 

The Des Moines Register wrote in 2005: “Spare us more embarrassment: Replace King.”

Steve King Attacks Sasha And Malia Obama

Rep. Steve King Defends Dogfighting Enthusiasts From State Governments

Steve King: Gays Wouldn't Face Discrimination If They Didn't 'Wear Their Sexuality On Their Sleeve'

King happily explained his history of working against the equal rights agenda and the "screaming, profane gays." 

King renewed his campaign against gay marriage in late 2010, saying that children raised by same-sex married couples would be similar to those "raised in warehouses."

He has yet to respond. 

LGBT Rights Would Mean Christian Persecution?

With the Supreme Court hearing arguments on California's Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, chatter on both sides of the issue has really cranked up.  However, the right-wing arguments are increasingly ridiculous.

Two Fox News contributors... no really, Fox News, talked about the persecution Christians will feel if same-sex marriage is more accepted in society.

STARNES: You know, it’s as if we’re second-class citizens now because we support the traditional, Biblical definition of marriage, or perhaps we are pro-life, and that means we’re somehow second-class citizens who don’t deserve to be in the public marketplace of ideas.

RIOS (HOST): Absolutely. In fact, it’ll be worse than that. You know there’s going to be punishment. There will be tremendous punishment. If gay marriage is embraced by the country, if the Supreme Court goes south this week in its hearings, we are in for – of course, we’re not going to hear about it until June – but we are in for persecution like we have never seen it.

STARNES: Well, it’s already started.

Any Christian who refuses to recognize that man wants to upend God’s order will have to be driven from the national conversation. They will be labeled bigots and ultimately criminals…Once the world decides that real marriage is something other than natural or Godly, those who would point it out must be silenced and, if not, punished. The state must be used to do this. Consequently, the libertarian pipe dream of getting government out of marriage can never ever be possible.

Within a year or two we will see Christian schools attacked for refusing to admit students whose parents are gay. We will see churches suffer the loss of their tax exempt status for refusing to hold gay weddings. We will see private businesses shut down because they refuse to treat as legitimate that which perverts God’s own established plan. In some places this is already happening.

The idea of a group that is basically a majority in this country being persecuted against is laughable.  Bigotry should be attacked and excluding people for who they are is exactly that.  I have no tolerance for the intolerant.

Marriage Equality Is Inevitable

I am swamped tonight again but figured I'd throw up some really stupid arguments against marriage equality.  We can laugh and cringe together.

Via MediaMatters

Right Wing Comments: Palin Edition

Sarah Palin recently posted on Facebook, like all serious political people do, a response to the President visiting Israel last week.

Here is her post:

As always, one must listen carefully to what leadership says, or fails to say, in analyzing current affairs. During his trip to Israel, President Obama said, “It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own.” Of course, as people of good will we would like everyone to have the right of self-determination and God-given liberty, but we also have to ask ourselves what has been done to establish the circumstances necessary for that. It’s been observed that a Palestinian child cannot grow up “in a state of her own” because of Palestinian leaders’ decisions.

There seems to be nothing on the horizon to change the mindset of those who would raise Palestinian children to hate and be intolerant of Jews, Christians, and other “infidels.” Bottom line: until that changes and until the Palestinian people become genuine partners in peace with Israel, little movement towards peace can be made. This is tragic for all, including those Palestinian children being indoctrinated. I hope our President understands this and could acknowledge it so the public could better understand the conflict. We can’t be naive to the causes of this centuries-old plight, and we mustn’t fail to ignore the one-sided effort to finally bring peace to Israel.

In the meantime, pray for peace in the Holy Land.

- Sarah Palin

Any country that fires rockets on people within their own country which they are trying to make peace with, is not actually interested in peace.  Israel is not innocent in this fight.  She is right that it is a centuries-old plight, but it is more complicated than she could ever understand.  The President was correct when he said Palestinian children do not have a state of their own.  Palestine was erased off the map for Israel to exist.  It is a political and religious fight full of pride on both sides.  It is complicated and I am glad our President acknowledges that.

As always, the best part of something like this is the comments that follow.  Some are quite amazing in their ignorance and praise for someone who could not even say the name of a newspaper she read or a Supreme Court case she didn't agree with.

These are posted anonymously, and without names.  I won't even link to where I got them, but rest assured, they are all in response to this post by Palin, reposted on a right-wing blog.

• Thank you, Governor Palin. You always say just what I'm thinking about the president. He is so rude to go to Israel and not speak to the officials in the Knesset and instead speak to the youth of the country... very likely going against the wishes of their parents.  He went over to Israel to try his sleazy hand at "organizing in the Alinsky/Chicago way".  We wish that it were you over there representing us in the American way - 100% standing with Israel.  Governor, please pray and consult with your family and run in 2016. We need you so badly. You are the authentic one.

• Sarah needs to visit Israel and Gaza next week to meet with all the leaders of the region, staighten out the mess in a day or two, and take in some sight-seeing with her kids, too 

• They are not Palestinians. They are Lebanese, Jordanians, and Syrians. Ship them back to their real native lands and leave the native Jewish land of Israel alone.  If Israel claimed that an iceberg in Antarctica was a holy Jewish site, then the Muslims would also claim that Muhammad talked about that site as holy to Islam. Islam has no claim whatsoever to Jerusalem. Islam claims it because Israel claims it. Palestinians (a made up people) have no claim to any part of Israel.  True peace is when the fake refugees of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria go home and Israel reclaims Gaza, Judea and Samaria. 

• I applaud you for bringing any kind of Palin news forward here. If Palin isn't giving out a swift kick in the pants to the "elites", she's pouring out a soothing balm on the rest of us who recognize her as the leader of our patriotic and justice-loving heart. There is truly no one like her today. 

• Thanks (website), yep, right to the core of the matter. Palin as laways is first a brilliant analytical thinker and then the thoughtful policy maker. The narcissistic Liar in Chief is neither one and everywhere he goes he either creates problems or accentuates those which exist already.

Emphasis mine.

• Pity Obama doesn't have her backbone but then again Sarah doesn't hate Jews the way he does. 

• Gov Palin the country needs a real choice in 2016 please run and please keep writing on facebook and consider writing an Op- ed 

• If Obama read the Bible he'd know as Sarah said the conflict is centuries old but since he is delusional and thinks he's the Savior he will never understand the truth.

• Peace is a great idea and will work in most cases. However, there will never be peace here until one side totally destroys the other. SORRY !

I hope she does run in 2016.  She is comedic gold.

Fox Afraid Of Iranian Invasion

On Friday, Lou Dobbs had Angela McGlowan on his show to discuss the violence in Syria.  Naturally, during this conversation gun control came up. Wait, that isn't a natural progression for a conversation? Let me allow Angela McGlowan to explain.

“What scares the hell out of me we have a president, as we were discussing during break, that wants to take away our guns, but yet he wants to attack Iran and Syria. So if they come and attack us here, we don’t have the right to bear arms under this Obama administration.”

See?  Iran and Syria might send people here to get us!  Perfectly logical...if you ignore facts and actual logic.  Surely Lou Dobbs pointed out the unlikelihood of such a scenario.  Go ahead Lou.

“We’re told by Homeland Security that there are already agents of Al Qaeda here working in this country. Why in the world would you not want to make certain that all American citizens were armed and prepared?” 

WHAT!?  Way to double down on the crazy, Lou.  

Syria and Iran are not coming to get us.  The last time an opposing army came to our shores was 1812.  I really don't see either of them beating our Navy and Air Force to either come by land or air.  It simply is not going to happen and you do a disservice to your viewers when you spread such conspiracy theories.

Other scenarios of equal likelihood that all Americans need to be armed:

Sasquatch invasion due to their search for Jack Links jerky.  Seriously, stop messing with them.  You're putting us all in danger.

North Korea invades like in this game.  They tested that nuke, now all they need is a way to get here.

A War of the Worlds type situation.  

And last but not least, zombie apocalypse.

Punxsutawney Phil Indicted!

Famed rodent and annual Pennsylvanian oracle, Punxsutawney Phil, is in hot water.  

Look at his lying face...

Mike Gmoser decided to indict Phil for purposely misleading the people of Ohio into thinking spring was coming early.  Many parts of Ohio are expected to see 4-8 inches of snow on Sunday from Winter Storm Virgil.

“Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the people to believe that spring would come early,” Mike Gmoser, the prosecutor in southwestern Ohio’s Butler County, wrote in an official-looking indictment.

The president of the Punxsutawney club that organizes the Groundhog day festivities, Bill Deeley said that Phil has a lawyer and will fight the charges. “We’ll have to plead our case one way or the other, but I think we can beat the rap,” Deeley said.

Gmoser has stated that he is seeking the death penalty in the case.

Silly?  Yes, but awesome.

Friday Shakedown

Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) took to the House floor on Thursday arguing for the repeal of Obamacare.  The House GOP has put this up for a vote, and failed, so many times now.  It was funny for a while, but now it's just a waste of time.  They should try to do something more constructive, like trying to solve the sequester problem.

BACHMANN: That’s why we’re here because we’re saying let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let’s not do that. Let’s love people, let’s care about people. Let’s repeal it now while we can.

First of all, Obamacare does not kill anyone.  Oh I get it, affordable healthcare kills people but not guns.  If she really cared about keeping people alive, she would support the gun legislation being talked about on the Hill.

Speaking of guns, has-been musician and gun nut Ted Nugent wrote a column for a birther website.  In his column he claims that "leftist stooges" are at fault for gun crime.  Here's what he said:

The left has lied for decades about guns because they hate guns, despise the Second Amendment and blame the NRA families for crime and violence in our cities.

Truth is, it is the socialist stooges who are responsible for violence. It is their policies that prevent good guys from arming and protecting themselves and creates the big lie of "gun free" slaughter zones.

It isn't just anti-gun leftist policies that have enabled thugs to breed and prosper. The violence on America's streets is the result of a number of other leftist big-government policies that have worked to destroy families and entire communities by discouraging accountability and rewarding dangerous behavior.

That's the turbo destructo modus operandi of the socialists: Intentionally destroy something and then claim the solution to fix it is always more government, more laws, more control and less freedom.

Good people want to protect our children. Leftist stooges want to create conditions for evil to flourish. They don't care one bit about protecting kids.

Never trust leftist goons. They will put you and your children at risk to advance their socialist, anti-freedom agenda.

All he is doing is perpetuating gun advocate arguments that do not have facts behind them.  Believe it or not, states with more gun laws actually have less gun violence.

And lastly, out of Arizona, a bill which the local media has dubbed the "Show Me Your Papers Before You Go Potty" bill.  This is a reference, of course, to their controversial 2010 immigration bill.

The bill is targeted at transgender people and would legally require you to use the bathroom that corresponds to your gender as listed on your birth certificate.  

With more people identifying as transgender, state and local governments are increasingly banning gender-identity discrimination to ward off legal battles, but opponents and proponents alike complain the laws don't explicitly demand businesses provide equal access for transgender people, creating confusion over how governments, restaurants, clothing stores and other establishments must act.
It's been a crazy week, next week will likely be more of the same.

A First Step To Ending BSA Discrimination Policy?

A Boy Scout council in the San Francisco area has become the first in the country to denounce the national council's ban on gay scouts and scouters.

Via The Huffington Post:

The Mount Diablo-Silverado Council conducted a survey of over one million adult members about homosexuality in the organization. The results showed that 65 percent of respondents and 81 percent of current Scouts favored dropping the ban.

In the council newsletter, Scout Executive John Fenoglio vowed to use the results to push back on the national ban.

"It was not just the data that was so compelling; many of the responses got to the heart of the issue," wrote Scout Executive John Fenoglio in the council newsletter. "As an example, respondent number 104: 'We are so proud of everything scouting does for our sons and our community, but we are so ashamed of the national anti-gay policy. Please change the national policy, so that we do not have to apologize to our friends and family that our son is an Eagle Scout.'"

This is great news and perhaps this can put some pressure on the national council to drop their support of discrimination.  

Many Eagle Scouts have returned their Eagle badges in protest of the policy.  I still have mine but I am not proud of having earned it.  It was a lot of work and I learned a lot but right now there is a cloud hanging over it.  I don't tell people I was in scouts because I feel ashamed that I have been involved with the organization for so long.

Hopefully soon, those feelings will fade along with the policy.

Limbaugh Proves The Fight Isn't Over

Earlier this week, Rush Limbaugh went on a rant that seemed to imply that he didn't think civil rights are very important.  He said: "Young People Have This Almost Romantic Attachment To Civil Rights, Civil Liberties"

Have a listen:

Why shouldn't young people support civil rights and equality?  Oh, here's a better question: Why isn't everyone in support of these ideals?

Why do we need laws protecting these groups?

On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr., a black man, was attacked by three men with ties to a white supremacist gang.  A fight broke out and the outnumbered Byrd was tied to the truck bumper with a 24½-foot logging chain. Three miles later, what was left of his shredded remains was dumped between a black church and cemetery where the pavement ended on the remote road.

In 2008, Brandon McClelland was killed by two men with ties to a white supremacist group. McClelland died after going with two white acquaintances on a late-night beer run across the state line to Oklahoma, investigators said. Authorities said he was run over and dragged as much as 70 feet beneath the truck. His torn-apart body was discovered along a bloodstained rural road on Sept. 16. His mother said pieces of his skull could still be found three days later.

After being severely bullied for being gay, both in person and online, Jadin Bell, a 15-year-old Oregon high school student climbed on a playground structure and attempted to hang himself.  This happened this year.  2013.

Marco McMillian, the first openly gay candidate for public office in Mississippi was beaten, dragged, and set on fire.  This happened this month.  March 2013.

This is why we still fight.

Clearly Rush doesn't have any notion of history of facts of any kind really.  He spouts his bigotry and revisionist history every day on the airwaves and millions of people eat it up.  The man at CPAC that thinks segregation is a good thing is the kind of crowd Rush caters to.

If people could relax and see past their own prejudice, they would see a person.  A person that bleeds the same as you.  Laughs the same as you.  Loves and cries the same as you.  Sadly, this takes a lot of time, but we are making progress.  And have made progress.  And will continue to make progress.

50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. stood in Washington and said these words that are just as applicable to LGBT issues as it was to end segregation:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

We're trying, Reverend, we're trying.

GOPzilla!

CPAC, Overwhelmed With Crazy

CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference was this weekend and the usual crazy was heard by all.

Donald Trump was invited to speak because the Republicans have not noticed how utterly insane the man is.  In his speech, he slammed immigration from Latin American countries and asked why we can't have more immigrants from Europe.  He said undocumented workers should not be given any path to citizenship because if they get to vote they will vote Democratic.

Sarah Palin sipped a Big Gulp during her speech to thumb her nose at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  The fact that increased serving sizes, especially for soft drinks, has increased the rate of obesity is not an issue for Palin and folks like her.

There was so much crazy in such a small compact place.  One could go insane going through all of it.

I do want to narrow in on one nugget of crap out of CPAC.  The following video is of a panel with the Frederick Douglass Republicans where one participant, Scott Terry, demonstrated his ignorance of history.

When the speaker talks about a letter that Frederick Douglass wrote to his slave master thanking him, Terry interrupts.

Terry: “For what? For feeding him and housing him?”

After the outburst, he was overheard saying, “why can’t we just have segregation?”

Via ThinkProgress:

Terry maintained that white people have been “systematically disenfranchised” by federal legislation.

When asked by ThinkProgress if he’d accept a society where African-Americans were permanently subservient to whites, he said “I’d be fine with that.” He also claimed that African-Americans “should be allowed to vote in Africa,” and that “all the Tea Parties” were concerned with the same racial problems that he was.

At one point, a woman challenged him on the Republican Party’s roots, to which Terry responded, “I didn’t know the legacy of the Republican Party included women correcting men in public.”

So he decided to touch on sexism as well.  Well it is nice to spread the hate around, I guess.

Sadly, people like this still exist.

Friday Shakedown

Bill Gates was interviewed by Politico's Mike Allen and discussed some of the things he learned while in the Boy Scouts.  Then the conversation turned, as it inevitably would, to the Boy Scouts' ban on gay scouts and scouters.  Gates did not feel the need to elaborate on his response, nor should he have to.

ALLEN: Should the Boy Scouts of America rescind its ban on gay members and leaders?
GATES: Absolutely.
ALLEN: …Why?

GATES: Because it’s 2013.

This is exactly the right attitude to have about this.  This is the attitude to have about a lot of issues.  Why is gay marriage not a thing?  Why are women paid less than men?  Why is evolution, a.k.a. actual science not taught in every science class?  It's 2013, let's get a clue.

Also, CPAC is happening right now, but more on that tomorrow.  There are some bigoted racist homophobic sexist interesting characters there.

Obama Is Not Hitler, Stop It

Audio from MediaMatters:

Can we please get together and stop comparing everything Obama does to Hitler and Stalin?  Seriously, it's as cliche as a lead balloon.  Godwin's Law, it is alive and well.  

More moronic gems from Rush:

Limbaugh: Obama Benefits From "Complicit Media," Like Stalin Did While Killing And Imprisoning Wealthy Farmers

Limbaugh: Like Dictators Such As Hitler, Stalin, Obama Has Avoided Blame For Bad Things Happening

Limbaugh: "Adolf Hitler, Like Barack Obama, Also Ruled By Dictate"

Just stop, seriously, it makes you look like a clown, and a historically and politically ignorant clown at that.

Sen. Cornyn & Rep. King Excited For The Passage of VAWA (Which They Voted Against)

With the passage of the Violence Against Women Act and signed into law again, most people were excited about it.  Even Republicans that voted against it were excited!

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released a statement after the President signed the bill praising the bill.  You see, Sen. Cornyn championed the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act which made it into the final version of the VAWA bill.  The Senator pushed very hard for it when it was its own stand-alone bill.  Once it was part of VAWA, he backed away from it... until it passed.

His statement:

“An unacceptable national backlog of untested rape kits has compounded the pain for too many victims of sexual assault over the years. Today, we take a significant step toward reducing that backlog.

“I’m pleased with the wide bipartisan support the SAFER Act received and with the President’s signature today, law enforcement can begin working immediately to test outstanding kits and see that justice is served.”

The press release goes on to outline the provisions of the SAFER portion of VAWA.  

Nowhere in the press release does it say anything about him voting no on the bill.

Sen. Cornyn is not the only Republican trying to deliberately mislead constituents.  Congressman Steve King (R-IA) has a post on his website with the title "King Votes in Support of Violence Against Women Act."  It's only when you click into the post that you discover that he says he voted for the House version.  I could not find a post that points out that he voted against the final version of the bill,  Was Rep. King embarrassed that he voted against helping women who are raped or victims of domestic violence?  Perhaps that's why his website is void of any mention of his no vote.

The lone post on the topic features a quote from Rep. King on VAWA:

"Although I am concerned that this bill was brought to the floor in a manner that undermined work done by the Judiciary Committee, I understand the importance of reauthorizing VAWA to ensure its resources are available to help fight domestic abuse and sexual assault," said King. "I supported this legislation because I know how important it is to empower women in difficult situations. If a woman is at risk, she should know that she has a place to turn for support and assistance. I supported VAWA in 2005, 2012, and today I voted in support of the House version to see that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault have access to the resources and protection when they need it the most."

He understands it, but doesn't think it is important enough to support the version of the bill with the most protections.  At best, he's a hypocrite.  

Both of these men should be ashamed of themselves.  They vote to take away protections from women and then tout the passing of those protections and publish posts claiming they voted for it, in Rep. King's case.  Sen. Cornyn deliberately voted against something he has been pushing for.  This doesn't make any sense.  Maybe they should go volunteer at a battered women's shelter or something to open their eyes.  I'm not sure I'd want to subject the women there to men like them though.

Paul Ryan's Fantasy

Paul Ryan does not seem to understand the political climate right now.  John Boehner understands the Obamacare is here to stay.  Earlier this year he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer "I think the election changes that, it's pretty clear that the president was re-elected, Obamacare is the law of the land." 

Congressman Ryan should probably get on the same page with the Speaker.  Today on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace he had the following exchange.  To Wallace's credit, he didn't let his comments go without comment.

Ryan: These are increases that have not come yet, so by repealing Obamacare and the Medicaid expansions, which haven't occurred yet, we are basically preventing the explosion of a program that is already failing. So we're saying, don't grow this program through Obamacare because it doesn't work.

Wallace: Are you saying, as part of you budget, you would repeal -- you assume the repeal of Obamacare?

Ryan: Yes.

Wallace: Well, that's not going to happen.

Ryan: Well, we believe it should, that's the point.

Chris Wallace is exactly right, it isn't going to be repealed.  The House GOP has tried dozens of times to repeal it, and have failed miserably.  As more and more benefits of the Affordable Care Act become available to people, the popularity of the law increases.  His budget is dishonest because it centers around an impossibility.  Obamacare is here to stay and the country is better for it.  

Idiot Quote of the Day

Recording via MediaMatters, obviously.

"Of Course Hitler Was A Left-Winger" - Ben Shapiro

No, actually, he wasn't.

It takes all of about 2 seconds to type into Google and find a decent article from a credible source to debunk this fool.  Here is one from the BBC that outlines Hitler's whole life.

I thought about going into a lot of detail about why what Shapiro said is wrong, but I really don't see the point.  Anyone that has taken a survey of 20th Century history knows that this is ridiculous.  I have a history degree with a focus in German history so I think I'm a little more qualified to talk about it.

Hitler used German Worker's Party as a tool to get into politics.  He was an extreme anti-Semite, obviously, and the men in that party shared his views.  The party name was later changed to National Socialist German Workers Party.  You know them as the Nazis.  They were hyper nationalists, anti-Semitic, 

The businesses that were shut down were mostly run by Jews and other people they didn't agree with.  They were shut down because he hated Jews, not big business.  

The name of his party having "socialist" in the name is a weak argument.  People's Republic of China, are they a republic?  Shapiro must think so.  National Socialism and Socialism are two drastically different things.  National Socialism is "a form of socialism featuring racism and expansionism and obedience to a strong leader."

Ben Shapiro is the one who is historically ignorant here.

Friday Shakedown

I found this video and thought it seemed appropriate because of the cycling post earlier in the week.  Stretching is important before you exercise and apparently just in general.  I didn't know about this at all.  

There are some images of cadavers, so if that creeps you out, don't watch.

I was directed to this site this morning.  It is the original website for the movie Space Jam and has not been updated since 1996.  It's a nice window back to the early days of the internet.

That's it for now, more tomorrow.

Washington Cyclists Could Pay Extra Tax

In a demonstration of complete ignorance to current climate science, Washington State Representative Ed Orcutt claimed in an email that cyclists contribute to greenhouse emissions by breathing harder when they ride.  In an email to bike shop owner Dale Carson he said:

"Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride,"

Rep. Orcutt has introduced a bill that would levy a 5% tax on new bicycles that cost more than $500.  He argues that this is fair because cyclists do not pay any transportation tax.  Motorists pay a tax when they register their cars and there is a tax on gas.  These help pay for the roads and other places cyclists ride.  I ride and I also have a car, which means I do pay the normal taxes.  While I don't live in Washington state, I have a problem with his argument.  

The 5% tax would be added to the sales tax you already pay.  This means you could end up paying 11% or more extra for your new bike.  My advice?  Go get your bike in Oregon should this pass.

This kind of thing is a great indicator on why very little seems to get done politically on climate change.  They just don't get it.  I don't need, nor am I really qualified, to go over the science of climate change with you.  This is simply ridiculous on its face.

He has since apologized for his statements.

"My point was that by not driving a car, a cyclist was not necessarily having a zero-carbon footprint," He said in the email, according to Reuters. "In looking back, it was not a point worthy of even mentioning so, again, I apologize."

VAWA Passes House Despite Some Republican Opposition

Last week the House finally passed the Violence Against Women Act, which the Senate had passed earlier.  The Republicans in the House had been holding up this legislation for quite some time.  Speaker Boehner finally brought the Senate version of the bill to the floor for a vote and it passed 286-138, winning over 199 Democrats and 87 Republicans.

The Republicans had proposed their own version of VAWA, which did not include the same protections for LGBT, Native Americans living on reservations or undocumented women.  It would create extra steps for Native women that are brutalized on reservations to find justice.  It would also create very strict guidelines for undocumented victims.  LGBT families would not be included in the protections.

Megan Whittemore, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said, “The House is expected to take up a strong Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization...so we can protect all women from acts of violence and help law enforcement prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”  Apparently she thinks excluding certain groups from protection constitutes "all women."

This is why it was really no shock when Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) admitted that she opposed VAWA because it granted protections to those groups. 

When you start to make this about other things it becomes an “against violence act” and not a targeted focus act… I didn’t like the way it was expanded to include other different groups. What you need is something that is focused specifically to help the shelters and to help out law enforcement, who is trying to work with the crimes that have been committed against women and helping them to stand up. 

Watch here:

Ah, I see.  If only we used the money to open new crisis centers and shelters, maybe on reservations, she would support it.  And then there is that bit about diluting the money that goes to the existing shelters, so she probably wouldn't want new shelters being opened either.  The only way I read her comments is that she is upset that these extra provisions are taking away money from women in her district, her predominately white district.  If she was truly about protecting women, adding more groups of women to protect would not be a problem for her.

I won't even touch how she seems to oppose an "against violence act."

These groups do need protection just as much as any women in America do.  If a lesbian is the victim of domestic violence does she not deserve justice?  Does an immigrant deserve justice?

There is currently an epidemic of sexual assaults on Native American reservations.  This is why it was so important for this provision to be included.  While it's estimated that 1 out of 6 American women will be raped and/or sexually assaulted in her lifetime, more than 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in her lifetime.  And 80% of rapes on reservations are committed by non-natives.  This creates many legal hurdles for reservation authorities.  Only Federal authorities can prosecute crimes on tribal lands.  This means that many rapes are not reported.

An NPR investigation also revealed a system underfunded and often broken: a tribal health center inadequately staffed and without rape kits to collect DNA from victims; tribal leaders and Native police unable to prosecute non-native perpetrators; and a patchwork of confusing jurisdictions in which federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement intersect and clash with each other.

Sean Hannity Vs. Congressman Keith Ellison

Why Rep. Ellison agreed to come on Hannity's show at all is a mystery to me.  I'm sure he could have imagined how it would go, and potentially what would be the result.

Round 1:

Sean Hannity opened the segment talking about something that didn't sit very well with the Congressman.  He was apparently misrepresenting the President, as well.  I know what you're saying, "Hannity wouldn't do such a thing!," but believe it.

Right before he cuts to Congressman Ellison he plays a video of the president giving speeches on the problems the sequester cuts would have on people.  Hannity calls it "The Obama Sequester" and then claims he is more interested in fear-mongering than finding a solution to the problem he, President Obama, created.  He then says that the President is very good at staying on message.

Here is a video of the exchange:

HANNITY: I guess that's what we can describe as staying on message, something the Democratic Party I would argue is very good at.

ELLISON: You're pretty good at it too.

HANNITY: Thank you.

ELLISON: Quite frankly you are the worst excuse for a journalist I've ever seen.

HANNITY: I can't hear you.

ELLISON: You heard me.

HANNITY: No, say it again. I didn't hear you.

ELLISON: What you just displayed was not journalism, It was yellow journalism. It wasn't anything close to trying to tell the American people what's really going on, and I mean, it's just shocking.

Sean Hannity is trying really hard to pin all the problems that the cuts will cause on the President.  This is simply unfair and I have a hunch that he knows that.  The President is the one that has come up with a plan to fix the issue and the Republicans will not even consider it.  His plan has been regarded as fair by many and it certainly is not as arbitrary as the sequester cuts were set up to be.  

Rep. Ellison should have known this would not be the end of this.

Round 2:

On his Thursday show, Hannity implied the Congressman was an anti-semite and a racist.  He unearthed some old attacks on Ellison from when he ran for Congress in 2006.

During the 1990's, while Ellison was in law school, he worked with a group that helped organize the Million-Man March. This group included Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.  Ellison wrote in his school newspaper defending Farrakhan from charges of anti-semitism.

Ellison had apologized saying he did not “adequately scrutinize the positions and statements” of the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan six years ago. He wrote this in a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.

“I wrongly dismissed concerns that they were anti-Semitic,” he wrote, adding, “They were and are anti-Semitic and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did.” “I have long since distanced myself from and rejected the Nation of Islam due to its propagation of bigoted and anti-Semitic ideas and statements, as well as other issues.”

When these statements surfaced people that went to law school with Ellison dismissed the idea of him being an anti-semite.  They said they never got that impression from him. Also, in the 2006 campaign, Ellison was endorsed by American Jewish World, the newspaper for Minnesota’s Jewish community.  This doesn't exactly scream anti-semite.  I don't think Jewish groups are in the habit of endorsing anti-semitic people for Congress.  

I believe Hannity has a problem with Rep. Ellison because he is Muslim, and even if he doesn't personally, he is playing it up for his audience that probably do have a problem with Muslims in general.  It's despicable and really proves all of the Congressman's critiques he made at the beginning of their interview.  The sad thing is people watch this guy and think they're getting real information.

Once Congressman Ellison was elected, he chose to be sworn in on the Qur'an because he is Muslim.  Hannity compared this to a racist being sworn in on Hitler's Mein Kampf, as he put it, the Nazi Bible.

And then, this:

Apparently going back five years on something he said, that he never retracted, is too far.  Pulling up an issue that happened in the 1990's and was resolved seven years ago is fair game.

Stay classy, Sean.

Friday Shakedown

It's Friday, time for another shakedown.

As everyone knows, because the media was obsessed with this story since it broke and not for no reason, the Pope retired yesterday.  Every time any news channel ran a story on this the question was always: "What's next?" We now have an answer to that question.

The President took a little heat today when he violated a huge taboo: confused Star Trek and Star Wars.  He said in a press conference that he is unable to do a Jedi mind meld on Congress to get them to do something on the sequester.  Of course, there is a Jedi mind trick and a Vulcan mind meld.  Two drastically different things on two entirely different planes of nerd-dom.  Twitter exploded because of this, of course.

The White House has rolled with it beautifully, however.  If you go to WH.gov/jedimindmeld it redirects to the President's plan for the sequester.

But seriously, it was good to see him take it too the Republicans.  He pointed out that he had a plan and had submitted it to Congress.  Most people had said that it was a reasonable plan and Congress would rather the arbitrary cuts go into affect ultimately hurting the economy.  I hope Congress as a whole, not just the Senate, can "get off their ass" and solve this problem before too many people are hurt.

Sean Hannity and Congressman Keith Ellison got into it this week, but more on that tomorrow.