The Commentariat -- Sept. 3, 2015
Defunct video removed.
Afternoon Update:
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "A federal judge [in Ashland, Ky.,] on Thursday ordered a Kentucky clerk jailed for contempt of court because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The clerk, Kim Davis of Rowan County, was ordered incarcerated after a hearing here before Judge David L. Bunning of Federal District Court." ...
... Mike Wynn & Chris Kenning of the Louisville Courier-Journal: "The court is expected to reconvene at 1:45 p.m. [CT], when Davis' deputies will tell the judge whether they will comply with the order or risk jail."
AP: "The white man accused of killing nine black churchgoers during a Bible study will face the death penalty, according to court documents filed Thursday. The documents said prosecutors would pursue the death penalty against Dylann Roof, 21, because more than two people were killed, and that others' lives were put at risk."
Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump will sign a pledge Thursday to support the GOP nominee in next year's general election, effectively ruling out a third-party or independent run, according to two Republicans familiar with the move." ...
... Paul Waldman: "Since the pledge would be happily violated by the only candidate who it was designed to constrain in the first place, it has little practical significance. But it does make the Republican Party look pathetic. They're so scared of the guy leading their primary race (as well they should be) that they have to beg him to pinkie-swear that he won't turn around and screw them over in the general election...."
Deflategate Punctured. Ken Belson of the New York Times: "In a major setback for the , New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady prevailed in his battle to have his four-game suspension overturned on Thursday, as a federal judge reversed a ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell to bench one of the league's biggest stars in a dispute over underinflated balls he used in a January championship game. Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan did not rule on whether Brady tampered with the footballs in a bid for competitive advantage. Instead, he focused on the narrower question of whether the collective bargaining agreement between the N.F.L. and the players union gave Goodell the authority to carry out the suspension, and whether Brady was treated fairly during his attempt to have his suspension overturned."
*****
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland on Wednesday came out in support of President Obama's Iran nuclear accord, the 34th Democrat in favor. Her decision gave Mr. Obama the votes needed to assure the deal will survive a congressional challenge.... With momentum on their side, the White House and Senate Democrats hope to find seven more votes next week to filibuster the Republican resolution of disapproval. That would ensure the resolution would never leave the Senate, and Mr. Obama would not be forced to use a veto." ...
... Carl Hulse & David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "One after another, lawmakers pointed to the warnings from foreign leaders that their own sanctions against Iran would be lifted regardless of what the United States did. But the president's potentially legacy-defining victory -- a highly partisan one in the end -- was also the result of an aggressive, cooperative strategy between the White House and congressional Democrats to forcefully push back against Republican critics, whose allies had begun a determined, $20 million-plus campaign to kill the deal." ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "With President Obama securing the votes Wednesday needed to assure the Iran nuclear accord will survive congressional challenge, Republicans are considering legislative options to counter the deal, including the possible reimposition of sanctions the agreement is supposed to lift."
... Julie Davis of the New York Times: In Northwest Alaska, "climate change is not a political talking point or a theoretical scientific phenomenon but a punishing everyday reality. Some communities are sinking into the water, as erosion and melting permafrost wash away their foundations. It was here that President Obama arrived on Wednesday to deliver his alarm-sounding message about the warming of the planet -- a phenomenon occurring twice as quickly in Alaska as in the rest of the United States -- bringing with him promises of new aid for Arctic communities whose shorelines and infrastructure are crumbling because of rising temperatures. In a history-making stop -- the first presidential visit to Arctic Alaska -- Mr. Obama delivered a speech laying out new federal efforts to help these communities cope with coastal erosion and high energy costs and, in some extreme cases, relocate altogether." ...
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Army announced Wednesday that it is opening its legendary Ranger School to women on a full-time basis, following the historic graduation last month of two female soldiers. The school, with headquarters at Fort Benning, Ga., has been a centerpiece of the military's ongoing research on integrating women into more jobs in combat units."
Я Kidz Я Dum. Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "Scores on the SAT have sunk to the lowest level since the college admission test was overhauled in 2005, adding to worries about student performance in the nation's high schools."
E. J. Dionne on violence & racism: "... politicians and, yes, even political commentators have an obligation: to try to make things better, not worse. There is always a choice between the politics of resentment and the politics of remedy." So Ted Cruz -- who is also a big fat liar -- & Bill O'Reilly should STFU or change their tactics.
Welcome, Plaintiffs! Linda Greenhouse: Conservative judges find creative ways to establish "standing" in order to allow plaintiffs to bring suits against the Obama administration "modern regulatory state."
A 180-Foot Pope. Emily Rueb of the New York Times: The Diocese of Brooklyn has commissioned "possibly the largest hand-painted mural of [Pope] Francis ever done" at 494 Eighth Avenue. The billboard "towers over Madison Square Garden, where Francis will celebrate a Mass on Sept. 25...." CW: It's no 900-foot Jesus but still pretty cool.
Anemona Hartocollis, et al., of the New York Times: "Desperate migrants poured into the Keleti train station in Budapest on Thursday morning but were prevented from traveling to Germany as Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, said that the migration crisis was a 'German problem' and that Europe had a moral duty to tell migrants not to come. The comments by Mr. Orban, and the scenes of chaos at Keleti, which has emerged as a potent symbol of Europe's struggle to come to terms with the migration crisis, highlighted Europe's lack of preparedness to cope with an influx of refugees from Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere." ...
... Rick Lyman & Dan Bilefsky of the New York Times: "A ragged metropolis of thousands of weary and bedraggled migrants continued to rise [in Budapest, Hungary,] on Wednesday in the labyrinth of underground passageways outside Keleti train station. The Hungarian authorities, saying they were merely obeying European migration regulations, continued to keep migrants out of the station, despite having allowed thousands onto westbound trains on Monday. At the same time, the desperate migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan -- most of them hoping to reach Germany -- continued to pour over the Hungarian border from Serbia. The construction of a razor-wire fence seems to have barely slowed them down." ...
... Ishan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "Twelve migrants thought to be Syrian refugees were feared to have drowned off the coast of the Greek island of Kos on Wednesday after the boats carrying them sank. A number of bodies washed ashore on a beach in the Turkish resort town of Bodrum, probably connected to the disaster. The images of the dead, captured by Dogan News Agency, soon circulated on social media. They included, most hideously, photographs of children.... The scale of the Syrian refugee crisis is hard to grasp: About 11 million people (half of Syria's population) have either died or fled their homes since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. About 4 million of that number have been forced out of the country."
Edward Wong, et al., of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping of China announced on Thursday that he would reduce the country's military personnel by 300,000, using a parade marking 70 years since the end of World War II to present the People's Liberation Army as a force for peace and regional stability. The Chinese military has more than two million members, and Mr. Xi has embarked on an accelerated modernization of the armed forces, which would shift spending from the traditional land forces to more advanced sea and air forces, which require fewer but better trained personnel."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Par for the Course. CW: Ben Terris, the Washington Post reporter most famous for accidentally ending Rep. Aaron Schock's career by marvelling at Schock's taxpayer-funded "Downton Abbey" office decor, now has a piece on Donald Trump's golf game, citing different sources who claim he cheats (or doesn't cheat). I wasn't going to link the story till I read digby, who cites this graf from Terris's report:
Trump has shown that his candidacy is immune to the types of attacks that can bring down normal Republican candidates. He's on record mocking a war hero and praising Nancy Pelosi, he's advocated for higher taxes, donated to Democrats and called for single-payer health care. None of that has mattered. But does his golf history provide opponents with the opening they need? ...
... digby: "They have totally accepted the fact that calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, proposing to deport millions of people (including American children), talking about women like dirt, starting trade wars and real wars isn't something that would bring down 'normal' Republican candidates. That's just par for the course these days. Praising nancy Pelosi, however, would 'normally' bring down any candidate."
Presidential Race
I am not a populist. But Bernie Sanders, he's doing a helluva job. -- Joe Biden, at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser in Miami
... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday declined to say whether she and Vice President Joe Biden discussed a potential joint 2016 ticket during a meeting late last month. 'It was a long conversation,' she said after pausing briefly when asked during an event at Suffolk University in Boston whether the subject was brought up even jokingly."
Thanks, GOP! Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... as she seeks the Democratic presidential nomination, [Hillary] Clinton is struggling with declining poll numbers, questions about her honesty and doubts about her ultimate electability. And once again her Republican rivals are allowing her to turn their own words against them in ways that could help win over some of her skeptics. Branding Mexicans as rapists, calling the children of immigrants 'anchor babies,' decrying abortions for rape and incest victims, threatening to shut down the government over federal aid to Planned Parenthood -- Republicans are giving Mrs. Clinton a political advantage as she tries to divert attention from her woes and bounce back from a politically challenging summer." ...
... Carol Leonnig & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post:Bryan Pagliano, "a former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Rodham Clinton's private e-mail server tried this week to fend off a subpoena to testify before Congress, saying he would assert his constitutional right not to answer questions to avoid incriminating himself." The letter to the House Benghaaazi! committee from Pagliano's attorney "quoted a Supreme Court ruling in which justices described the Fifth Amendment as protecting 'innocent men ... "who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances."'.... The committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), complained yesterday that [chairman Trey] Gowdy [RTP-S.C.] unilaterally issued the subpoena. He said the subpoena of a low-level aide is one of several signs that Gowdy is using the committee for the political purpose of trying to smear a Democratic presidential candidate."
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders is on the verge of signing a joint fund-raising agreement with the Democratic National Committee, his aides said, a week after Hillary Rodham Clinton entered such an arrangement with the party."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a Washington Post op-ed, contrasts Donald Trump's & Bernie Sanders' responses to uncomfortable public challenges: "Two roads diverged in a political wood, and one man took the road of assaulting the Constitution and soon will be lost forever. The other will be a viable candidate who, regardless of whether he wins the nomination, will elevate the political process into something our Founding Fathers would be proud of." ...
... Donald Trump's response to Abdul-Jabbar, handwritten on a copy of the essay: "Dear Kareem, Now I know why the press always treated you so badly -- they couldn't stand you. The fact is that you don't have a clue about life and what has to be done to make America great again! Best wishes, Donald Trump." Includes photo of Trump's note. ...
... Abdul-Jabbar: "Trump's response to my piece is the best, though inelegant, support for my claims. Here again, he attacks a journalist who disagrees with him, not by disputing the points made but by hurling schoolyard insults such as 'nobody likes you.' Look behind the nasty invective and you find an assault on the Constitution in the effort to silence the press through intimidation."
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Responding to growing pressure from party donors and officials to dissuade Donald J. Trump from mounting an independent campaign for president, the Republican National Committee on Wednesday asked each of the party's presidential candidates to sign a statement vowing not to run as a third-party candidate. With little warning, committee officials called and emailed campaign representatives requesting that they put in writing what every candidate, except for Mr. Trump, has already pledged to do." ...
... The Politico story, by Alex Isenstadt, is here.
I like Jeb. He's a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States. -- Donald Trump
Because speaking to people in their first language is so rude, even if it helps win elections. -- Constant Weader
Donald Trump is trying to insult his way to the presidency.... To say you can only speak English is kind of ridiculous, if you think about it.... This is a diverse country. We should celebrate that diversity and embrace a set of shared values. Mr. Trump doesn't believe in those shared values. He wants to tear us down. He doesn't believe in tolerance. He doesn't believe in the things that have created the greatness of this country. -- Jeb!, Thursday
... Turns out Jeb! isn't feuding only with the Donald. He is also heavily into a smackdown contest with Stephen Colbert. In English!
Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he backs a 'reasonable' federal minimum wage increase Tuesday, becoming one of the few GOP presidential candidates to do so.... He declined to get into the specifics of a proposed increase, noting Ohio's 'gradual' minimum wage that moves with the consumer price index."
Peter Suderman of the libertarian Reason: Scott "Walker is running a pandering, cringe-worthy campaign marked by a consistent inability to clearly articulate, and stick to, his own positions.... This is the Walker campaign playbook: Say something awkward or ill-advised, watch as the media swarms to cover it, then insist that there was never anything to see.... This sort of flip-flopping, what might generously be called policy confusion, has dogged Walker's campaign essentially from the moment it began." CW: And that's what a would-be supporter thinks.
Ed Kilgore: Ben Carson's soothing bedside manner masks the crazy.
Danica Coto of the AP: "Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico this week, his staff said Tuesday.... Rubio's one-day visit will coincide with that of Democrat Hillary Clinton." CW: Oh noes! I hope they don't set & bad example & speak Spanish there!
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said on Wednesday that the government should respect the beliefs of the Kentucky county clerk who has denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying society needs to accommodate public officials who object to carrying out duties they say violate their religious beliefs." CW: Yo, Marco, there already is a way to respect her beliefs: just like any conscientious objector, she can refuse to serve & quit her job. Do you think the military paid conscientious-objector draftees when they refused to serve? Pandering is so often blatantly stupid.
As a public official, comply with the law or resign.... The rule of law is the rule of law.... I appreciate her conviction, I support traditional marriage, but she has accepted a job where she has to apply the law to everyone.... -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, on the right-wing Hugh Hewitt radio show (no link), thus inadvertently demonstrating that Marco hasn't met the minimum qualifications to be president
Gubernatorial Race
Philip Bailey of the Louisville Courier-Journal: "Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin said during a national conference call Tuesday he fully supports Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' right to refuse gay couples seeking marriage licenses. 'I absolutely support her willingness to stand on her First Amendment rights,' he said. 'Without any question I support her.'The strong defense of Davis' actions underscores how the GOP nominee hopes to make the fight over gay marriage a centerpiece of the 2015 governor's race, which polling shows is a tight race between him and Democratic nominee Jack Conway." ...
... Ed Kilgore: "Bevin does, however, have a broader vision: like his junior senator, Rand Paul, he's talking about getting government out of the marriage business altogether.... It may take Bevin a while to explain to regular Kentuckians that they should no longer be in state-sanctioned marriages because some county clerk wants to get paid to do some but not all of her job.
Beyond the Beltway
Ryan Felton of the Guardian: Kim Davis is "not the only defecting clerk in Kentucky. Two other clerks, Casey Davis of Casey County and Kay Schwartz of Whitley County, are also still refusing to perform same-sex marriages." CW: Yo, Ryan, Kentucky clerks don't perform marriages; they issue marriage licenses. That's a difference with a distinction. According to Kentucky law (which still has a specific prohibition against same-sex marriage).
Marriages shall be solemnized only by clergy, justices and judges of the Court of Justice; retired justices and judges of the Court of Justice, except those removed for cause or convicted of a felony; county judge/executives; such justices of the peace and fiscal court commissioners as the Governor or the county judge/executive authorizes, and certain religious societies.
... Scott Lemieux in LG&M: "It may seem like cheap shot to bring up her serial marriages, but I don't think it is. The tendency to be more rigorous about enforcing biblical principles when they impose burdens on others than when they impose burdens on you is one of the many reasons we don't want state officials selectively applying the law according to their own 'principles.'" ...
... CW: Exactly right. There are plenty of people, no doubt some of them license-issuing clerks, who genuinely believe divorce is a sin & remarriage to another person is a worser sin, as some major churches like the Roman Catholic one hold. But those clerks, however deep their religious convictions, cannot deny a license to someone like Kimmy there who applied to marry her second husband after divorcing her first husband while pregnant with the children of her third husband.
She's not being asked to perform a sacrament, she is tasked with ascertaining that the people in front of her, the couple in front of her, have a legal right to get married and to provide them with that license. She is not a minister. She actually thinks she works for God there in the county courthouse, when she actually works for Caesar -- and someone needs to acquaint her with that fact. -- Dan Savage, on Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis
CW: Finally (I wish), here's another problem for Kim of God, & it might be the biggest, baddest one there is: her oath of office:
I ... do swear that I will well and truly discharge the duties of the office of .............. County Circuit Court clerk..., and that I will not knowingly or willingly commit any malfeasance of office, and will faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or partiality, so help me God.
... As Dan Savage might put it, she swore to God she would carry out Caesar's law. In the Gospel of Mark 12, Jesus makes the clear distinction. Paul, in Romans 13, is even more direct:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.... For the one in authority is God's servant for your good.... But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
... The authors of these rules wrote them specifically to inoculate believers like Kim from fear of following secular (Caesar's) laws that did not comport with their own Christian views. Since she doesn't seem to read the New Testament much (& I have a feeling she doesn't check in here), somebody should tell Kim.
Lynh Bui & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "Six officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray will have separate trials, a judge decided Wednesday, one of three rulings issued during the first Circuit Court hearing in the closely watched case. Judge Barry G. Williams also denied defense motions to dismiss charges against the officers or force Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby and her staff to recuse themselves from the case."
More in Responsible Gun Ownership. Reuters: "A 19-year-old Texas man who was posing with a gun for a social media selfie photo accidentally shot himself and died from the wounds, Houston police said on Wednesday."
News Ledes
AFP: "Embattled Guatemalan President Otto Perez announced his resignation Thursday, after a warrant was issued for his arrest for allegedly masterminding a huge fraud scheme."
New York Times: "Five Chinese Navy ships were sailing in international waters of the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, in what Pentagon officials said was the first such foray by Beijing. The move came on the last day of President Obama's three-day visit to Alaska.... The White House said that the intent of the Chinese operation was unclear, but that the Pentagon had not detected any threatening activities."
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Reader Comments (24)
"I like Jeb. He’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States. -- Donald Trump". Man, this guy doesn't know anything about the tapestry of a culture! If that guy gets elected, it's not the end of greatness of the US, but the end would be visible at the podium.
Thanks so much for posting the Dan Savage piece. So many years ago in the "The Stranger" in Seattle you knew he had "IT". Kim Davis is eviscerated by him, much like "Santorum".
There is a typo in the name of the great basketball star. It is Kareem, not Kareen. He's worthy of a correction to his name, I think.
I love your blog, have never commented, but greatly admire the community here.
Respectfully,
jw
@Jerry Wechsler: Thanks for the catch. Typo corrected. I have always thought of Abdul-Jabbar as a very nice guy. When he was still Lew Alcindor, we were staying in the same hotel (an NBA favorite, it had seven-foot beds). My three-year-old son had never seen anybody that tall & looked up at Alcindor in wonder. Lew smiled, bent down & gave my little boy a pat on the head.
I'm sure that even then, Alcindor already had long been the subject of many stares, & that could have hardened him, but he accepted one little boy's awe with remarkable grace.
Marie
Kareem has been a long time supporter and patron of the arts: http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/mr-basketball-and-much-more-kareem-abdul-jabbar. Jerry, Cheers. As an aside, I saw Bill Russell sitting in the Spokane airport waiting for a plane. If anyone could make a sitting, silent mockery of airport chairs, it would be him in that moment. I left him peace, undisturbed, in a plastic airport chair where his knees approached his chin.
I have to add another Kareem Abdul Jabbar story:
He has written children's stories which he says were originally for his own children. One is called, "Sasquatch and the Paint," where the young protagonist grows 5" one summer. I gave it to the young basketball player in our family who had grown 4" the summer before. He loved the book; and his basketball improved a lot.
The darling has just been told by his doctor that he is going to grow at least another 5", probably this year. Thank you, Kareem, for paving the way. It's not easy being tall.
It's late and I know I'm not thinking clearly, but the extreme partisan nature of our foreign policy (I don't think there's one Republican Senator willing to go out on a partisan limb and endorse the Iran nuclear deal) combined with Republican's oft-repeated desire to shrink the government by getting rid of all those (I can't remember the third one) cabinet departments, it seems logical to my befogged mind that the R's introduce a bill in the Senate to eliminate the State Department entirely and contract directly with Israel, thereby eliminating the middleman and saving bucko bucks.
@Ken Winkes-
Does that mean we would no longer be obligated to give 1.5 billion to Israel every year? (I think that is a low figure, but can't find it at present.) If so, yours is a dandy idea! And I think our President would like it as well.
Kate,
Wondered the same thing last night but didn't care enough at the time to chase the numbers; went to bed, instead.
But this morning, if not exactly refreshed, I did look up the State Department (and related foreign operations) budget for 2015, which it turns out runs to about 50 billion per year.
Our contributions to Israel since 1948, which by the way has been mostly in the form of military aid, total a little less than 150 billion, which would average around 2 billion a year since Israel's inception, right in your estimate's ballpark.
Much of the aid other than military has recently been in the form of U.S. backed loan guarantees, but a quick search didn't reveal how much Israel has actually borrowed in our name. I did see some language that suggests that Israel borrows only as a last resort, so the non-military aid numbers may be distorted.
So....it seems the difference between 50 and 2 billion per year is great enough to allow some real negotiation. Even if we had to up the ante a little beyond 2 billion for a full range of diplomatic services, we could still save some real money.
Another win-win for savvy Republicans, who understand the real value of a buck. Who would not be pleased?
Sherrod Brown was on Hayes last night talking about the Iran deal which, of course, he is for and disputed the talk that Obama didn't spend the time with senators nor was he persuasive in bringing democrats along on this. Brown said Obama spent endless hours on one to one, in meetings, and in his estimation Obama was very persuasive. He also castigated Tom Cotton: "The fact that Tom Cotton wrote a letter to Iran's diplomats (along with something like 46 House signatures) saying essentially don't trust our president I find despicable!"
Interesting that journalists are starting to write about Ben Carson. The fact that someone is a renowned surgeon presupposes the assumption that that person has all their nuts and bolts in place. It's a common belief–-we do it all the time and then are shocked when we discover the loose screws. Carson's soft spoken rhetoric reeks of an underlying craziness ––especially his apparent hatred of Obama and all things Obama has implemented–––what's that all about, I wonder?
Andy Parker, the father of the slain T.V. journalist, is on a rampage in order to do whatever he can to change the gun laws in this country. He says he is not giving up and if need be will march into those congressional halls and demand attention be paid. This time, he says, will be different because he will not give up.
I wish him luck.
Republicans this morning are breathing a huge sigh of relief. Now that the Iran deal is assured, they can ratchet up the rhetoric without the slightest possibility that anything for which they can be held responsible will happen.
This is akin to the dozens of meaningless votes to repeal the ACA, with no chance they can be blamed for anyone losing their coverage. Or endless pointless hearings on Benghazi, producing no evidence and having no possible consequences for them.
Another free ride for the GOP Game Plan: Smear and Sneer, Slander and Pander, Bluster, Blather and Bullshit. (SSSPBBB It's an acronym, you can pronounce it. Sounds like a juicy fart so its also onomatopoeia. A twofer.)
Confederates love to see themselves as victims, as the objects of attack up to and including murder (one of the KY clerks declining to obey the law, fulfill his oath, and do his job has been running around screaming that liberals and gays are plotting to kill him).
If they were so oppressed, especially those always willing and ready to throw down the Jesus card, then why so much pussy footing around with this clerk, Kim Davis? She's been told by the governor to do her job. She's been told by lower courts to do it. She's been told by the Supreme Court to do her fucking job and now religious nuts in the Kentucky senate are demanding that she not be punished and not be fired until they can go back into session in January(!) and pass a special law exempting her from having to carry out any of her duties if she feels they in the least cross the line into that place where her personal religious beliefs trump her responsibility to all other residents of her county.
Seriously???
Here we have a legislative body stopping the presses and making the passage of a law to exempt a public official in a secular (for now) society from having to do her job and serve all residents, their number one priority. It's like a nightmare.
If that were any of us demanding to be let out of doing our job (as elected officials) because of a personal belief, we'd either be in jail, out of work, and paying a hefty fine out of pocket. No presidential candidates would be calling us to say "Fuck the rules. JESUS!!" We wouldn't get two, three, four chances with officials begging us to please just do your job, pretty please with sugar on top.
I am personally outraged that this scofflaw is being treated so kindly just because of a professed religious belief. Her rationale has been soundly whipped because of a variety of hypocrisies on her part and still she is walking around free, still the clerk of the county, still getting paid and still discriminating in the most unlawful manner.
Religion controls far too much of our society. Far too much. It's time the rest of us tell these people to sit down and shut up. Believe what you want but leave the rest of us be.
So here's what's going to happen.
She won't do her job. She'll give the finger to everyone. The governor, the judges, the Supremes, everyone. She'll talk about how people are out to kill her or some other bullshit. Then she'll be made into a martyr, have a book published, do a publicity tour, and make a bundle on the church and chicken dinner circuit.
But just imagine if she was declining to issue licenses for firearms (in the few places that still require such silliness) or hunting licenses because of some personal religious belief in the immorality of killing. Those presidential candidates would be calling for her immediate imprisonment.
And they'd get it.
What a country. Victims running the show.
For Ken and Kate from Business Insider:" Here's how much America REALLY spends on Israel's defense."
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-america-really-spends-on-israels-defense-2012-9
Marie,
(Setting aside the ranting for a moment...)
Lovely story about your son and Kareem. As a longtime basketball fan, I've always admired his skills on the court and off. He was never the kind of player you could work up an unhealthy dislike for (unlike so many others) if he was playing against your team. He played hard but he was always able to laugh at himself. Remember this hysterical scene from "Airplane"? All the knocks about him not playing much defense must have irked Kareem, but he was still able to have a good laugh at his own expense. (By the way, the players Kareem mentions to the kid, Bill Walton and Bob Lanier, were ferociously good players, superstars in their own right.)
And, as Citizen and Victoria mentioned, he has always been an intelligent, cultured man. I saw him once on celebrity Jeopardy, and even though they sometimes dumb down the questions for the not so smart celebs, he did a great job. The kind of guy you'd like to have as a friend.
And that's one of the best things you can say about anyone.
@Akhilleus: Exactly. The pathetic thing about this is that all the hoohah is about defending bigotry. Bigotry! What kind of a cause is that?
This isn't about religious beliefs. It's about in inability to see the world outside one's own narrow prism. It's about a lack of imagination. Do you think Kim Davis ever asked herself, "I wonder how I would feel if my partner & I waited years to get married & when the law finally guaranteed us that right, some rogue clerk refused to issue us a marriage license"? Well, no. Do you think she ever thought, "I can see where it's possible to fall in love with someone of the same sex"? Nope.
Kim Davis & her ilk are all id; like a neonate, she is unable to comprehend otherness. (And like a neonate, she sees things upside-down.) To the extent that you are not just like Kim Davis, you are not an actual person. I might come across to her as half a person. Maybe you're a third or two-thirds of a person. Anyway, there's something really inhuman about us, because we're not just like Kim Davis.
As for the state legislature, those ole boys & girls are going to have a tough time coming up with a constitutional law that excuses Kim from doing the parts of her job she finds icky. A reasonable legislature would just impeach her for violating her oath of office & would fire the clerks who work under her. But, it's Kentucky. And it's Tea Party time.
In the meantime, in the interest of preserving the rights of the residents of Rowan County, the governor should remove Davis from office & hold her salary in escrow until the matter is settled. He should fire the non-elected clerks forthwith & replace them all with personnel who are willing to do the damned job they were selected to do.
Marie
Marie,
A paucity of imagination. Very good. She's also bereft of other things as well, but Confederates don't need things like attention to duty or an ability to see others as anything other than alien creatures who may or may not be human and can be dealt with as they wish.
The other day Ken suggested that these people see themselves as above the law, unrestricted by rules, and able to bend or break them as they see fit. Rules and laws, however, are still firmly in place for The Other (all the rest of us). I think there's a lot to that. Oh, there's a law that won't let me discriminate? Shit, well, I'll get my buddies to just change that law. No problem. We do what we like. My employees want to use contraceptive devices and want insurance to pay for it? No way. We'll get our buddies on the Supreme Court to fix that. (And don't let a couple of victories for rationality fool you; the Confederates on the Court are ready to come back with a vengeance next year.)
But as with so much of their law breaking and contempt for law and legal precedence, they don't pay the slightest attention to unintended consequences. Say the Kentucky legislature does bend over backwards to uphold Kim Davis' right to inject bigotry into her job because of religion. What do they say to the next group who shows up demanding that no one be allowed to drive their cars or operate electrical equipment on certain days because of their religious beliefs.
Oh, wait. That would never happen because the only religion that matters is Christianity. And then, only a warped, pinched version of Christianity. If they had any integrity, they'd simply come out and admit that, as far as they're concerned, they're the only ones who matter. But since they won't, it's lucky that actions speak volumes, because that, in fact, is exactly how they feel.
And now they have a bunch of presidential candidates who feel the same way.
Let their be joy in the streets and adultery in the bedrooms!
Okay, just a moment of silliness.
About those off-brand looking Trump hats. WTF. I thought this guy was a multi-billionaire. How come he's wearing (and hawking, at $25 a pop, no less) hats that look like they came off the reduced rack at the Dollar Store? I suppose he thinks that cruise ship braid on the brim gives it class.
My real question is are these cheesy chapeaus (trumpeaus?) touting the idea of making America great again actually made in America? Or does Trump have them made in those other countries, China and Mexico (countries he says we're always losing to), where he had his clothing lines manufactured?
I suppose shipping millions of dollars of business to those countries never contributed to them "beating" us, right?
Hey, IOKIYAR.
I suppose the real rationale for the hat is to make sure that Trumpy looks like this rather than this.
And another thing, why does he so often appear glassy eyed and dazed? Has he been road testing some medical marijuana? Sometimes I see pictures of him and he looks like he's trying, in vain, to remember where he parked his car after a weekend bender.
@PDPepe-I think Ben Carson is much scarier than Donald Trump. His soothing bedside manner masks really crazy! He is "silent but deadly" and seemingly soulless. If he were "out there" as Trump is, people would be horrified at what he is saying. Oh well.....if he stays at #2, the media will have at him. It will be interesting to see if he remains at the top of the heap. Bottom line: he is not unlike Clarence Thomas. Excellent example of a self-loathing Black man. So completely in contrast to Barack Obama.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-secret-to-ben-carsons-success-calm-bedside-manner
If you want to become REALLY depressed, read the posts in Hullaballoo about the connection between climate change and the refugee crisis. Yet our congress critters refuse to do anything about it. I guess if you could bomb climate change, they would.
"In the meantime, in the interest of preserving the rights of the residents of Rowan County, the governor should remove Davis from office & hold her salary in escrow until the matter is settled. " -CW
My bet is that her and her (third?) "hill-billy" hubby are praying to $$$ Jeezus $$$ they do just that.
Who wants to bet she gets "pushed out" of her position, not "fired" because we don't want to stir up the crazies, and then days (minutes?) later sets up a GoFundMe site crying about Jeezus and gays and a few dollars to send her way to regain her sense in "humanity"?
With the national press she's getting she'd be a millionaire in a matter of days thanks to her fellow Confederate pubes sending their money to donate to a good "cause". The precedent has been set with the bigoted bakers and pizza makers and whoever else. Grifters would turn this into an industry if they had the chance.
A little racism and bigotry sprinkled here and there, some media attention started by some libruls then picked up by Fox and Foes, and voilà: Piña coladas and beach time in Cancun in a gated hotel with private security where the only people of color are working for you, and everyone only speaks 'Merican, obviously. And of course unlimited hot dogs and chicken nuggets on the all-you-can-eat buffet.
Evil, Jesus Hating Government Judge Sentences Pure Virginal Kim Davis to Hard Time (no TV, no chicken nuggets).
Famous homophobe and bigot,Kim Davis, has been hauled off to the hoosegow, along with Jesus and freeedom.
Let the Blood of the Martyrs flow freely!
Oh man, this will be a big scene when some Confederate Bible beater shoots the "Kim Davis Story". Scores of screaming, hateful liberals and evil gay types will surround poor Kim. They'll make her carry a cross and put a crown of thorns on her head. If she's lucky, they'll put nails in her hands and feet and crucify her on the courthouse lawn. After that, she'll be taken up to heaven and, upon approaching 30,000 ft, will pass out (love that line).
But she'll soon return for mountains of cash and fame as a heroine to the bigots and theocrats. Her hillbilly husband (no. 4) will be thrilled to be able to buy a wall full of shotguns just across from their wall of Bibles.
All she needs now is a colosseum,some lions and Fox "News".
@Akhilleus: We have gone from our jailed martyrs being Martin Luther King, Jr. -- "Letters from Birmingham Jail" -- to Kim Davis -- "Send My Paycheck to the Ashland Jail." Turns out the arc of history bends toward stupid.
Marie
Marie,
Excellent point.
In this case though, it's more like the Mobius strip of history. It's truly amazing how much reverse traction Confederates have been able to realize.
A few nights ago, I watched an American Masters installment on Billie Jean King. The documentary covered the days when women's tennis stars were lucky to pick up one tenth of what the men's stars were pulling in. When she was outed by an unhappy lover, she related how horrible were the letters and reprimands she received from sponsors whom she had represented and for whom she had made a lot of money. She was called terrible names for the crime of being attracted to another human being who wasn't of the sex preferred by the social judges.
One of the commentators on the show (HRC, interestingly enough), mentioned that King had notched benchmarks for women as well as gays. And she certainly did. I remember watching the King-Riggs match with my college roommates. None of us was pulling for Riggs as he came across as a blowhard male chauvinist pig compared with King, a full fledged, highly competitive, but entirely honorable champion.
But to this day, haters still contend that Riggs (who was 25 years her senior) threw the match. It would be like saying that there would be no way Serena Williams could beat John McEnroe today. How is it that forty years later, so many are still contending that there is no way a WOMAN (broad, bitch, fill in your own stupid epithet) could beat a MAN, even one a generation older?
So as I watched, I thought, not of the ground King made up for women, both straight and otherwise, but of how far we've been dragged back by Confederate haters and their eager allies in the media.
According to them, women still need permission of men to practically exist and if they happen to be gay, well shit, they're going straight to hell.
Far-right Christian fundamentalism and Confederate ideology are two of the worst influences on American life since the Civil War.
Oh, wait. They were pretty fucking bad then too.
No wonder their modern "martyrs" are no better than they were 150 years ago. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a martyr for the cause? I guess that fits right in with Kim Davis being a martyr as well.
These people are the absolute antithesis to progress.
Of any kind.
Okay, just one tiny little thing more, but a very revealing little thing.
A USA Today article has the following interaction between a woman who is surprised by the hatred directed at supporters of rationality and those who claim to be good Christians but support bigotry:
Ashley Hogue, a secretary from Ashland, held a sign outside the courthouse that read, "Kim Davis does not speak for my religious beliefs."
"'This is so ugly,' she said, wiping away tears. 'I was unprepared for all the hate.'
Demonstrator Charles Ramey, a retired steelworker, downplayed the vitrol.
'We don't hate these people,' he said. 'We wouldn't tell them how to get saved if we hated them.'"
Did you see it? Here it is again:
"'We don't hate these people,' he said. 'We wouldn't tell them how to get saved if we hated them.'"
My understanding of Christianity, and I was brought up Catholic (fundies in my state dispute that Catholics are Christians however), is that it doesn't matter whether you hate people or not. Your job is to try to save them no matter what.
This guy is clearly stating that according to his fundamentalist beliefs, if he hated someone, they could just go straight to fucking hell.
These people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. Hypocrisy and ignorance reek from every syllable they utter.
Losers.
Remember when Mike Huckabee went all Holocaust on the Iran deal?
That was pretty disgraceful.
This is worse. And I'm signing off now before I blow a gasket.
Kim (Fuck doing my job, where's my check?) Davis' lawyer, Matt Staver, is saying that Davis going to jail is exactly the same as Jews being gassed and thrown in ovens.
These people have no shame.
By the way, Davis makes $80K a year. Not bad for a bigoted hater. And I still haven't heard that she won't be able to collect her $1,538 weekly paycheck for doing nothing.
Alright, I'm done. Can't take anymore.