;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 8, 2013
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday approved a ban on discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity, voting 64 to 32 in a bipartisan show of support that is rare for any social issue. It was the first time in the institution's history that it had voted to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the country's nondiscrimination law. Despite initial wariness among many Republicans about the bill, 10 of them voted with 54 members of the Democratic majority to approve the measure.... Speaker John A. Boehner has repeatedly said he opposes the bill...."
One party in one house of Congress should not stand in the way of millions of Americans who want to go to work each day and simply be judged by the job they do. Now is the time to end this kind of discrimination in the workplace, not enable it. -- President Obama, in a written statement
... Kate Nocera of BuzzFeed: "As the Senate passed the Employee Non-Discrimination Act on Thursday, just one Republican senator -- Indiana's Dan Coats -- took to the floor to oppose it. The silence from the Senate Republican caucus stunned social conservatives, who have been arguing that the legislation, which provides workplace protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees, will undermine religious liberty." CW: As far as I can tell, they're arguing that discrimination & gay-bashing in the workplace is protected by the First Amendment's establishment clause. ...
... Daniel Horowitz of Red State calls the Republican senators who voted for the bill "undocumented Democrats.... With leadership that refuses to fight on anything, leaves the carcass of the fractured conference to Democrat scavenging, and completely surrenders on even the most bedrock social/liberty issues, what is left of the GOP in the Senate?"
** Jackie Calmes & Robert Pear of the New York Times: " The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.... In the White House, the regulations are also seen as critical to President Obama's program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders. In issuing the regulations, senior officials said, the administration will have acted on all 23 executive actions that the president and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced early this year to reduce gun crimes after the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.... The parity law does not apply to Medicare, according to Irvin L. Muszynski, a lawyer at the American Psychiatric Association." ...
... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama bowed Thursday night to mounting criticism that he misled the American people about the health care law, apologizing to people who were forced off their health insurance plans by the Affordable Care Act despite 'assurances from me':
We, in good faith, have been trying to take on a health care system that has been broken for a very long time. And what we've been trying to do is to change it in the least disruptive way possible ... everybody is acting as if the existing market was working ... the average increase on premiums in this individual market for somebody who kept their health care for awhile, the average increase was double digits. If they actually got sick and used the insurance, they might find the next year their premiums had gone up. Or the insurer might have dropped them altogether, because now they had a preexisting condition. -- President Obama, in the Todd interview (via Greg Sargent)
... Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post: "What Obama isn't offering is an apology for the cancellation notices themselves. Eliminating certain health plans from the market -- ones that the White House thinks are too skimpy -- is a feature, not a bug, of the Affordable Care Act." ...
... Zeke Miller of Time: "For the second time in as many months, President Barack Obama has dramatically changed his communications strategy for coping with the troubled rollout of his signature legislation." ...
... Brett Norman of Politico: "The Obama administration again called out states that have refused to expand Medicaid on Thursday, calling it a 'reckless' play to undercut Obamacare at the expense of their constituents' health. The White House held a conference call featuring officials in Florida and Louisiana who made the case for expanding the program and attacked those holding it up. President Barack Obama is traveling to the two states tomorrow on unrelated business, but the messaging is part of a larger drive to draw attention to the states that have refused to cover low-income people...." ...
... Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic: Yes, some people -- it's impossible to say how many -- will have to pay more for equivalent insurance under the ACA than they did in the good ole days. "The truth is that, until now, people in this situation have been among the few, fortunate souls for whom American health insurance is a bargain. They've been relatively healthy, and they've had relatively good incomes, making it possible to buy comprehensive policies at prices they could afford. But the practices that made insurance cheap for them made it expensive -- and in many cases unavailable -- for others. Their good fortune was the by-product of bad fortune for many others. As one ends, so must the other." ...
... Eugene Kiely of FactCheck.org: "Sen. Rand Paul says the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion may 'bankrupt' rural hospitals in Kentucky. But state health care leaders say its hospitals stand to benefit, since the expansion would provide insurance to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to pay their hospital bills." CW: This demonstrates why plagiarism is such a useful tool for Li'l Randy. He's more apt to get things right if he copies somebody else's work word-for-word. ...
It annoys the hell out of me. I feel like if I could just go to detention after school for a couple days, then everything would be okay. But do I have to be in detention for the rest of my career? ... I'm being criticized for not having proper attribution, and yet they are able to write stuff that if I were their journalism teacher in college, I would fail them.-- Sen. Rand Paul, reacting to press reports of his serial plagiarism (via Bob Costa of National Review; read the whole post)
... The Plagiarist, Ctd. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Several more sections of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's 2012 book Government Bullies appear to be plagiarized from articles by think tank scholars, BuzzFeed has found. As BuzzFeed previously reported, more than three pages of the book were plagiarized from The Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, and another section of the Kentucky senator's book was plagiarized from a Forbes article. As was the case with the other cut-and-pasted jobs, Paul included links to the works in his book's footnotes but made no effort to indicate that the words themselves had been taken from other sources." ...
... Dave Weigel of Slate: Twenty-four hours after the Washington Examiner fired suspended Li'l Randy for plagiarizing one of his weekly Examiner columns, that bastion of journalistic integrity "Breitbart.com announced it would pick up the column. Its official announcement made no mention of the copied-text scandal...." Perfect. ...
... Hunter of Daily Kos: Paul's move to Breitbart "further demonstrates how little the actual sitting senator Paul knows or cares about journalistic or editorial ethics or anything we other inhabitants of the planet might recognize as shame.... He's just moving his regular output of writing from the racist-coddling, conspiracy-mongering Washington Times to an ideological burrow that has even fewer ethical restrictions on his work. And that is freaking hilarious."
... James Carroll of the Louisville Courier-Journal in USA Today: "Sen. Rand Paul's handling of recent plagiarism charges adds doubts about his readiness for a presidential campaign, some observers said Wednesday." ...
... Count Mike Huckabee Out of the Doubters Club. Huckabee is "appalled" that "liberals who have nothing better to do" are picking on Rand about "this nutty thing." ...
... Humor Break. Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "The campaign website of a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in North Carolina, Greg Brannon, who[m Rand] Paul supports, includes descriptions of various policy positions that match those of Mr. Paul's 2010 campaign website word for word.... A spokesman for Mr. Brannon did not respond to a emails about the similarities between the two sites Thursday, and Mr. Paul's office had no comment." CW: So, honor among thieves. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link.
Charles Pierce: Coming up on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Ted Cruz warns President Obama he shouldn't have come to Dallas.
Catherine Thompson of TPM: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday introduced legislation that would ban abortions nationwide for women more than 20 weeks pregnant, the senator's office announced." CW: If you can think of any senator who knows less about women's health issues than Graham, do tell.
Donna Cassata of the AP: "The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is pressuring the House to act on immigration legislation before the end of the year, calling the issue 'a matter of great moral urgency' that cannot wait. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said in a letter to Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Thursday that he was troubled by reports that immigration reform is delayed in the House since lawmakers have a responsibility to resolve the issue. Writing on behalf of the 450-plus U.S. cardinals and bishops, Dolan said they respectfully request that the House address the immigration issue as soon as possible."
Kim Severson & Winnie Hu of the New York Times: "...for millions of poor Americans who rely on food stamps, reductions that began this month present awful choices.... And for many, it will mean turning to a food pantry or a soup kitchen by the middle of the month.... The reduction in benefits has affected more than 47 million people.... It is the largest wholesale cut in the program since Congress passed the first Food Stamps Act in 1964 and touches about one in every seven Americans.... The cuts are also hurting stores in poor neighborhoods. The average food stamps household receives $272 a month, which then passes into the local economy." ...
... CW: I don't know why it is so seldom mentioned, but programs like SNAP & Medicaid are so costly because these programs effectively subsidize employers who pay their workers less than a living wage. As Media Matters reported last year, "41% [of SNAP recipients] lived in a household with earnings from a job -- the so-called 'working poor.'" (Almost half of SNAP beneficiaries are children & eight percent are 60 years old or more.) Case in point: Wal-Mart: "Walmart's employees receive $2.66 billion in government help every year.... They are also the top recipients of Medicaid in numerous states." Now, get this: "One of the major beneficiaries of the nation's food-stamp program is actually a hugely profitable company: Walmart. Americans spend about 18 percent of all food stamp dollars at Walmart...." ...
... Catherine Rampell & Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The White House has thrown its weight behind a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.... The legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Tom Harkin of Iowa and in the House by George Miller of California, both Democrats."
... Annie Lowrey of the New York Times: "Lost work: 6.6 million days. Back-pay costs: $2 billion. Private-sector jobs lost: 120,000. Those are just some of the costs of the 16-day partial government shutdown that ended last month, the Obama administration said in a detailed report released Thursday." ...
... Paul Krugman: The weak economy is costing the U.S. $1 trillion a year -- for years. Krugman aptly blames deficit scolds. "It's really a terrible story: a tale of self-inflicted harm, made all the worse because it was done in the name of responsibility. And the damage continues as we speak."
Mark Hosenball & Warren Strobel of Reuters: Edward "Snowden may have persuaded between 20 and 25 fellow workers at the NSA regional operations center in Hawaii to give him their logins and passwords by telling them they were needed for him to do his job as a computer systems administrator, a second source said. The revelation is the latest to indicate that inadequate security measures at the NSA played a significant role in the worst breach of classified data in the super-secret eavesdropping agency's 61-year history."
Second Amendment, Sí. First Amendment, No. Andrew Kirell of Mediaite. "Guns and Ammo Magazine, the 'world's most widely read firearms magazine,' has fired contributing editor Dick Metcalf after the publication received immense backlash for its December 2013 issue featuring his editorial advocating for gun control." After apologizing for running Metcalf's column, Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette "announced his own resignation earlier than anticipated." ...
... Hamilton Nolan of Gawker: "In Metcalf's column, which is extremely basic and mild by 'sane person' standards, he gently notes that it is not true that any regulation of guns is automatically an infringement of the Second Amendment.... Ad Age characterizes the backlash as 'stiff.' I might characterize it as 'indicative of the scary insanity present in the minds of many of those Americans who also, unfortunately, own guns." Nolan cites a few examples of said backlash, with commentary on each. "Thank god everyone involved in this is heavily armed."
Oh, My God! Sarah Posner in Mother Jones: "Next week, former President George W. Bush is scheduled to keynote a fundraiser in Irving, Texas, for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, a group that trains people in the United States, Israel, and around the world to convince Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The organization's goal: to 'restore' Israel and the Jews and bring about about the second coming of Christ.... Last year, Glenn Beck was the star of the group's fundraiser.... Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles' Sinai Temple, whom Newsweek has called the most influential rabbi in the country, tweeted, 'This is infuriating.'" ...
... Ed Kilgore: "... it sure appears W. is going back to the hard-core well of support from those who thought the invasion of Iraq was a divinely blessed first-step towards Armageddon."
New York Times Editors: "The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit erred badly last week when it stayed the remedies ordered by Judge Shira Scheindlin of Federal District Court to correct the civil rights violations associated with New York City's stop-and-frisk policy, including an independent monitor to review police practices. It also unjustly damaged Judge Scheindlin's reputation when it removed her from the case. A motion filed on Wednesday by Judge Scheindlin's lawyers seeks to have her removal vacated. The motion offers a strong argument that the three-judge panel moved with unseemly haste, acted on a skewed reading of the evidence and violated a court rule that gives judges accused of misconduct the opportunity to defend themselves."
Local News
Rosalind Helderman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the wealthy benefactor who is at the heart of a federal investigation into Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, is stepping down as chief executive of Star Scientific Inc., the dietary supplement maker announced Thursday.... A criminal probe [of the McDonnell-Williams transactions] is ongoing." ...
... More Bad News for Bob. Helderman & Leonnig: "Home renovations and landscaping were performed at Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's Richmond area home last year by the brother of [Jonnie R. Williams, Sr.].... Two people familiar with the criminal probe said Donnie O. Williams, 56, was interviewed about the work by federal prosecutors in recent weeks.... Donnie Williams, a former sheriff's deputy, told prosecutors that he believed he was doing the work at the McDonnells' home for free last year, at the request of his brother, the two people said. Williams eventually was paid for the work." ...
... Emily Schultheis of Politico: "As the possibility of a federal indictment swirled around scandal-plagued Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell this summer, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli was planning a 'dramatic' break from the sitting governor in which he would use the Virginia state Constitution to try to remove McDonnell from office, a prominent state political analyst reported Thursday. According to Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, Cuccinelli planned to employ a never-before-used section of the state Constitution to deem McDonnell unfit to govern." The Sabato (et al.) report is here. ...
... John Harris & Anna Palmer of Politico: "The old saying about victory having a thousand fathers while defeat is an orphan turns out not to be quite right. The paternity suit over Cuccinelli's narrow loss is vigorously under way."
AP: "Betsy Hodges, a Democratic member of the Minneapolis City Council, emerged as the winner of the race for mayor of Minnesota's largest city Thursday night. Hodges received the most votes of the 35 candidates but fell shy of an outright majority. Minneapolis uses a ranked-choice system, which allowed voters on Tuesday to make up to three choices of candidates on their ballots. Ballots were reassigned as candidates were deemed out of contention." The Minneapolis Star Tribune story is here.
News Ledes
Washington Post: "Two U.S. admirals -- including the director of naval intelligence -- are under investigation as part of a major bribery scandal involving a foreign defense contractor, Navy officials announced Friday night. Vice Adm. Ted Branch, the service's top intelligence officer, and Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, the Navy's director of intelligence operations, were placed on leave Friday and their access to classified material was suspended, the Navy said in a statement."
Bloomberg News: "Payrolls in the U.S. increased more than forecast in October, a sign that employers were optimistic the world's biggest economy would weather the effects of the federal government shutdown. The addition of 204,000 workers followed a revised 163,000 gain in September that was larger than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today.... The median forecast of 91 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 120,000 advance. The jobless rate rose to 7.3 percent from an almost five-year low."
Reuters: "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow big power foreign ministers headed to Geneva on Friday to help clinch an interim nuclear deal with Iran and ease a decade-old standoff, with Israel warning they were making an epic mistake." ...
... The New York Times has an updated story here. ...
... New York Times: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly opposes the interim Iranian nuclear program deal being negotiated in Geneva.
AP: "Syria's main Western-backed opposition group has refused to participate in talks in Moscow with Syrian government organizations on resolving the country's humanitarian crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry and opposition figures said Friday."
New York Times: "Standard & Poor's on Friday cut its credit rating on France by one notch, saying the government's current policy initiatives did not appear capable of addressing impediments to economic growth."
Washington Post: Federal prosecutors have obtained evidence that with the help of high-ranking U.S. Naval officers, Glenn Defense Marine has been bilking the U.S. government for years. "The case is shaping up as the biggest corruption scandal to hit the Navy in years. Two Navy commanders have been arrested ... and charged with feeding inside information to Francis, as has a senior agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In addition, a Navy captain who has not been charged but is under investigation was relieved of his ship's command last month. Court papers suggest that still more officers could be implicated."
Reuters: "Egypt will hold parliamentary elections 'between February and March', to be followed by a presidential vote in early summer, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said on Friday."
AP: "The strongest typhoon this year slammed into the central Philippines on Friday, setting off landslides and knocking out power and communication lines in several provinces. At least four people died."
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Reader Comments (26)
Time for me to hate on Chuckie Todd! Whatta bitchy interview with ill-disguised hostility that Republican shill did with President Obama tonight. ICK! His body language gave it away, even as his acid tongue spit out those toxic questions. "Are you sure you didn't know, Mis-ter Prez-i-dent? You know all the world is talking about how YOU LIED to the American people! Did you know you wuz lying? I have to come back to this--I don't think you realize how all America--not Washington--is soooo upset about this. They think you was lying! Huh? Huh? Huh?" (I am obviously paraphrasing, but this certainly was the gist of his "interview."
I hope the Obama team nevah lets that asswipe into the Big White House again. My friends in D.C. tell me he brags about his "access," but it is beyond me how he has ANY! All that aside, he needs to borrow "Lil Randy's wig--or shave his outsized, clown head.
Maybe, hopefully, Chuckie will resign to become Big Teddy's head press honcho on the campaign to nowhere! I would absolutely love that. Yes, I would!
So GW wants to raise funds to bring to convert Jews to Christianity in order to bring back a man whom I doubt was ever here in the first place. Get down and wallow in the slime with the likes of Glen Beck. Georgie. Instead of doing fundraising, you and Mr.. Undisclosed Location should be on trial for war crimes..
I'm actually shocked––well, maybe not shocked exactly, but very surprised that our past president and now painter of dogs and trees would lend himself to this come to Jesus organization. Does he not realize that the likes of Glen Beck, those that believe that the entire spectrum of the left wants to separate "us from our Constitution and God" are who these people are? I mean, gee whiz, it's one thing to have Jesus dictate to you while doing the people's business, but to lend your voice to a bat shit crazy group who actually thinks this Jesus character will pay them a visit if only they get as many Jews as possible to accept this aberration is quite astounding.
@ PD Pepe: I'm thinking of converting if only to see how it plays out. ;-)
@Noodge: When your time comes, bee-you-tee-ful angels will carry you into the heavenly clouds, where all of your long-gone friends & family will greet you at the right hand of the Son.* You will get a Noodge-specific hi-def teevee that allows you to view your enemies burning in the fires of hell. Definitely convert.
Marie
*Not sure about the heavenly virgins thing. A fellow may need to sign up with another group for that. What I've always wondered is this: are the virgins also happy with this deal? From a merely mortal POV, I'm thinking I would not like to get stuck being the eternal 72nd girlfriend.
PRESIDENTIAL LIES–––A Great American Tradition: (The following has been copied from a cartoon ––just to be honest and truthful unlike you know who).
Reagan: I knew nothing of the selling of arms to...(my own addition)
Bush I: Read my lips, no new taxes
Clinton: I did not have sexual relations with...
Bush II: Saddam has weapons of mass destruction...
Obama: If you like your health care you can keep it...
Re; In other's words; Rand Paul the home educated doctor doesn't have the personal history to understand why everyone is so upset that he steals other's work. If Rand had attended a university he would, at least once, been confronted with a primary source research paper. The form of which is pretty standardized. But no, Randy went to "Ayes are Us" college where hanging up the eye chart and repeating, " Don't stick anything in your eye bigger than a fork." got him his sheepskin. Oh well, better someone else's thoughts than his own.
Re; Sweet baby Jesus; How can anyone presume that they are on the short list for the Rapture? I can come up with about three names and I'm not totally sure of two of them.
I believe that the driving force in religion for a large percentage of believers is the fact that not very deep down they have serious doubts about their god stories. They are driven to tell the story and get more people to support it in a desperate attempt to make them feel more secure in their belief. Of course there is the other leadership that just tells the story to make money.
And case you want a definition of the weakness of the human mind it can be done in one word, Scientology.
@JJG––in full form you are today––so funny. So to continue with your rant of Rand ze plot it ez thickening: Seems a Greg Brannon, a Republican from N.C, who is running for a US senate seat has plagiarized Paul. Amazing grace! Look for yourself:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/rand-paul-may-have-had-his-own-writings-plagiarized/
@JJG If behavior is an indication, Rand has experienced a lot of damage from violating the defining rule of "Ayes are Us" University. Clearly, he has repeatedly stabbed himself in the eye just to underscore his Libertarian beliefs. Specifically, to prove that he is free to stab himself in the eye whenever the urge hits. Although I can't comment on whether it was a dinner fork or a pitch fork.
@Kate. I didn't listen to the interview because Tuck Chodd is an entirely useless worm. I doubt that he would even make good fish bait.
Tip to Readers: If you are not a New York Times or Washington Post subscriber & are having trouble opening Reality Chex links to Times & WashPo articles, call up Reality Chex in a private window on your browser & link from there.
I've heard this workaround may not work forever, but it does now.
Marie
@JJG: To be fair to Li'l Randy, I consulted one of his favorite sources -- Wikipedia -- and learned that "Paul attended Baylor University from fall 1981 to summer 1984. He was enrolled in the honors program at Baylor, and had scored approximately in the 90th percentile on the Medical College Admission Test.... Paul left Baylor early when he was accepted into the Duke University School of Medicine, where he earned an M.D. in 1988, and completed his residency in 1993."
Duke has an excellent medical school. Maybe Li'l Randy's problem is that he left Baylor early & skipped the undergrad class that covered attribution v. plagiarism.
Marie
The Li'l Randy story is the perfect example of what narcissism is all about. Randy is not dumb, he knows the rules but the rules do not apply to him. And the very idea that he is being questioned about anything is simply absurd.
I am beginning to wonder whether or not narcissism and politics are actually the same disorder.
(Danger: long post ahead. Couldn't be helped.)
Religion, Religion, Religion. But Not Just Any Religion…
So the Supremes get to haggle over prayer in the public arena in Town of Greece v Galloway, a case that will determine whether or not public officials can open a public meeting with a prayer, in this case, well, in every case I’ve ever heard of, a Christian prayer, calling upon Jesus and God the Father. George Bush agrees to address a fundamentalist group whose mission is to push Christianity on Jews. Does anyone else feel that slippery slope angling up a few degrees?
The Supremes who have no problem promoting Christianity over all other religions (you know who they are) have been calling up a previous case, Marsh v Chambers, a decision that allowed public officials to pray before an open meeting. The 6-3 Marsh decision (Marshall, Brennan, and Stevens all dissented—what I wouldn’t give for a couple of those guys today) relied on history, citing the fact that it had been common practice to begin sessions of congress and other public meetings, practically from day one in this country, and even earlier in colonial public meetings.
I’ve never been particularly convinced by the “But we’ve always done it that way” argument. This is one of the more common logical fallacies trotted out, especially by the right, an appeal to antiquity or tradition. It’s right because we’ve always done it that way, which overlooks the distinct possibility that some important elements affected by such decisions may have changed a bit over 300 years.
Just a tad, mind you.
And before going on, I need to invoke a little history myself. Hopefully not fallaciously.
Most of us are old enough to remember when hints of religion in a public setting didn’t seem to be such a big deal. References to “god” are embedded in official public documents, in interactions (courtroom oaths, eg), and on currency.
I don’t recall all that many people getting too worked up about this when I was a kid. But, as mentioned above, times have changed. Prayers and religious references in public used not to be such hot button issues, largely, I would suggest, because they had a more anodyne feel about them. They were mostly formalities, not unlike someone at a ballgame saying “I hope to god that umpire learns where the strike zone is before the ninth inning”. It’s not truly an appeal to a higher power to bless the ump with better vision. But it just ain’t that way anymore.
Since the rise of the Christian right, public displays of their religious beliefs are designed for two, maybe three purposes. First, to acknowledge in the most public way possible their faith in a Christian god; second, to convert any and all present who are not currently believers to follow their path, and third, as an act of defiance against members of the public, the government, or non-Christians who don’t agree with them. A stick in the eye, if you will. You pay a big chunk of money for a good seat at a baseball or football game and some jamoke stands up in front of you whenever they think a camera might be on them holding up a big JOHN 3:16 sign. Not cool. But do they care? Fuck no. They’re doing god’s work, and if you disagree, go to hell. Literally.
And here’s where it gets dicey and why the court needs to recognize that things have changed.
I’m all for anyone practicing whatever religion they believe. For many people, religion offers something of value to their lives and who would want to deprive them of that? Not me. But I sure don’t want them sticking it in my face and demanding that I abide by their tenets either. And this is the problem with Christian prayer in official public meetings and public schools today. There is a new sense of mission abroad. And a sense that anyone who doesn’t go along with them is evil and going to hell. This provides many of these people with a sense of moral superiority and a feeling that it doesn’t matter if they don’t obey the letter of the Constitution, or the law; they’re doing god’s work.
Wingnut Christian candidates have come right out (Santorum, eg) and declared that citizens who are believers don’t have to abide governmental rules, laws, or regulations if they feel they infringe on their duty to god. This is all well and good as long as they’re willing to suffer the consequences. But that’s the problem. The candidates who get elected feel the same way. Back in the 40s, a case involving some Jehovah’s Witnesses who declined to say the Pledge of Allegiance became a flash point for religious freedom. Their point was that taking an oath to an earthly power was not in their playbook so they declined. And a court ruling upheld their right not to say the Pledge.
Now, I’m not a big believer in required oaths myself. It smacks of totalitarianism. But when I was in school I did it along with everyone else. But at least it wasn’t a prayer in a specific religion (one could argue that there comes a point where overweening patriotism takes on its own religious fervor, but that’s another post).
During arguments over Greece v Galloway, Justice Alito, snidely (does he ever make any utterances that aren’t snide?) asked one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, who suggested, as an alternative, some non-denominational prayer, to come up with one that would satisfy everyone, including, as Scalia noted, atheists.
And that’s the point. There isn’t one. So the default is that we stay with the Christian prayer invoking Jesus. Because we’ve always done it that way. But that brings us to the crux of the current battles over religion. It’s no surprise that “No compromise” has become the de rigueur battle cry of ‘baggers and wingnuts given that most of them have roots firmly planted in Christian fundamentalism. Just imagine if, instead of a Christian prayer, the Town of Greece decided to use a Jewish prayer, or Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, or Wiccan prayer. The bug-eyes would descend on the place with torches and pitchforks.
The battle lines have been drawn and for the Supremes to look the other way and sniff that “we’ve always done it that way, and who does it hurt?” ignores the what’s happening out in the country today where a former president will be keynote speaker for a group whose mission is to root out Jews and convert them to Christianity. No compromise. Not in politics, not in religion, not in anything.
This sort of thing could be a death knell for democratic institutions. At the very least it can infect the body politic badly. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small minority. Tiny microbes can make the body it inhabits very sick, to the point of death.
Ignoring the fact that religious fundamentalism is working night and day to insinuate its own views and make them the de facto law of the land opens the door to even more trouble and encourages the nuts and whackos to ever greater demands that we all kowtow to their god and their belief system.
Not for me, brothers and sisters. Not for me. These guys want to pray before a meeting? Fine. They can do it to themselves or go into an antechamber. Prayer in public settings these days carries with it the stench of fanaticism and revolution. Plus, remember what Gibbon cited as the primary reason for the fall of the Roman Empire: religion.
“We’ve always done it that way” is not an answer. Not anymore.
Akhilleus, let me add a piece to your very correct view of religion, not just in America but in the world. Look at Europe. They figured out that religion and democracy don't work well together. They did not get it from our founding fathers who were the first to figure it out. No, they lived with religion being a fundamental part of governance. The fact that their history is the history of religion made it clear that religion and democracy cannot be intertwined.
Not just Christianity but any religion. Religion believes that they are the only real truth for all of human existence. Nothing else matters. Finally take a look at Egypt.
No, it is more than just the prayer at the local meeting. Since a god is an excuse for disrespecting if not hating others, there can never be a religious democracy.
@Marie; Yea, I did play a little fast and loose with Rand's educational background. In my defense I'm employing the Right's right which clearly states if I can get someone to believe something; it's true, god's honest truth.
Here's a song from the great Tom Leher, who regaled my wife and me in our college days, just for Li'l Randy:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?autoplay=1&v=gWsjpt-p1pQ&desktop_uri=%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DgWsjpt-p1pQ%2526autoplay%253D1
For those who might be interested, there is a new wrinkle in the (still too close - fewer than 800 votes - to call) Virginia AG election between Cuccinelli clone Mark Obenshain and Democrat Mark Herring:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/possible-discrepancy-in-fairfax-absentee-votes-could-affect-count-in-ag-race/2013/11/07/65108ad0-4825-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html
Apparently there are a couple thousand absentee ballots "missing" in Dem-leaning Fairfax County. The Electoral Board folks are working to resolve this, but it is an interesting development ...
Need another Humor Break? Go to Charlie Pierce's "The Dolphin Meets The Turtle" - Peggy Noonan's interview with the grand old tortoise from Kentucky. Pierce's comments had me in laughter, tears, and outright guffaws! I.e.: " (During which he contemplates which of his testicles he will have to feed to the wolverines to walk the wrong answer back.)"
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/peggy-noonan-mitch-mcconnell-interview-110813
Cruz missile sticker shock.
Today's mailbag has brought the bill for Ted Cruz's recent exercise in nihilistic egotistical grandstanding.
According to the OMB, Cruz's government shut-down stunt, which, he admitted, glibly after it was all over, was all for nothing, cost somewhere between $2 and $6 billion dollars. Pony up, guys. Ted must be served. The wide variance is the result, apparently, of estimations coming from model based projections. And this number only reflects governmental costs,"...As a result, they may not fully account for the direct economic disruption that resulted from the shutdown of government services important to the functioning of the private economy."
The real costs are much, much higher.
Nice, huh?
A couple of other tidbits: federal employees were out a total of 6.6 million days for which they received $2 billion for work never done. 120,000 fewer jobs were created during the shutdown as well.
That Teddy. He's a great kidder, ain't he?
Wotta guy.
The GOP, party of fiscal responsibility.
Read it and weep:
I'm sorry, ma'am, Senator Cruz just left through the side door, but he sent the bill to your table. That will be $6 billion, please. We accept cash and all major credit cards.
Don't know if anyone else watched "The Newsroom", but I am unashamed of my admiration for Sorkin's use of language. Anyway, there was a story arc about the Newsroom crew doing an on air story disclosing that the US used sarin gas on civilians in the Middle East. It was false and there were several episodes about how the story evolved, even after extensive vetting of sources. The fallout to the individuals and the network was considerable.
Imagine my surprise when I read about the whole CBS - 60 minutes Benghazi story blowing up in a similar fashion. Unfortunately, no clever Sorkin-like dialogue seems forthcoming. So far it looks like the CBS vetting process comported with the lack of effort that informs current reporting expectations.
Rockygirl,
Shocking news! Missing ballots that could aid a Republican candidate. Who'd a thunk it?
Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Cooch still the AG in VA? Wonder how and when he'll shut down any investigation into wrongdoing if it appears that GOP shenanigans were involved? Too bad he can't find some faux legal loophole to overturn his own election loss.
Pretty sure the "academics" at Heritage are hard at work on that particular machination. It would be a handy way to jigger elections that look too far gone for wingnut candidates. Sometimes election rigging and vote stealing only get ya so far. Then ya gotta take matters into your own greasy hands.
Diane,
Hear, hear on the Sorkin Style.
I haven't been able to watch any Newsroom eps (don't have cable) but I was a West Wing addict, at least until NBC booted Sorkin. After that, you could tell the writers were trying to emulate his style, the walk and talks, the colloquys, the acerbic comebacks, the machine gun patter, but they never quite got it. They were never quite able to match Sorkin's combination of wit, meter, rhythm, and timing. His stuff flows. It swings.
Remember that episode where Sam went on a trip to some Dem committee out in CA and met this woman whose speechwriting he had been following? It was clear that Sorkin had been doing the same thing, reading good speeches and figuring out how and why they worked. I'm sure he was familiar with all the speechwriting tricks and tropes. Plus he loved wordplay (I don't know if he still does this, but he made a bit of an inside joke about characters referring to a "thing" as in, "remember, we got that thing later").
Anyway, like all good writers he knows how to create a good set-up and finish with a crackerjack payoff. Something later writers never seemed to master.
Style is more than numbers. It needs intellect and heart.
Something 60 Minutes producers could use.
Sad news.
Li'l Randy bagged again. Well burn my hairpiece and call me baldy.
Salon has uncovered still more examples of the Littlest Plagiarist's inability to think and write for himself and his concomitant disregard for stealing from others.
In one case Ayn Randy, promoter of standing on your own two hands, swiped stuff for a speech from a think tank run by John Bolton. Christ with a sawed off! Who steals from John Bolton? Mental defectives and sociopaths, that's who. The least he could have done would have been to wear a big ol' Fuller Brush mustache when he gave that speech. Fake hair, fake 'stache, fake senator.
This shit will be going on for months. It's like a game of Where's Waldo: Who'd Randy Steal from Now?
AK@ Last Thanksgiving my husband and I were guests at our daughter-in law's brother and his partner for Turkey Day. Other members of both families were present. When we were all seated at table I raised my glass and toasted the hosts as did everyone else. No sooner did the clinking of the wine glasses subside but the woman next to me said, "What! No prayer?" Her husband, took her hand, "Go ahead, honey, lead us in one, won't you?" Suddenly she grabbed my hand, everyone else followed suit, and she thanked Jesus for the food, for the love, for the land, for giving us strength, and I thought she'd never stop. This is an example of the Christian myopic attitude–––assuming all of us at that gathering believed in her belief. When I asked her to pass the yams I'm sure there was a tinge of resentment in my tone which I doubt she noticed.
And you bet your booty that just because "we've always done it that way" is no longer an excuse. Religious fervor has always been dangerous; we need to pay close attention to how it's impacting this country.
PD Pepe & Haley Simon; Thanks for your efforts yesterday. I was multi-tasking with the TV in the background and after several hours couldn't believe what I thought I had heard. Still can't.