Politics

I’m pretty strongly liberal — about as far left as one can go without falling into libertarianism. Posts collected under this tag will likely reflect that viewpoint.

Keith Olbermann to Bush

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I avoided saying much of anything yesterday, preferring to spend a quiet day wandering the local zoo with Prairie, rather than participating in either a maudlin celebration memorial of the 9/11 attacks or yet another caustic condemnation of the Bush regime and their conduct in the last five years. For us, it was the perfect way to spend the day: gorgeous weather that was neither too hot nor too cool, the animals were nice and active, and the zoo wasn’t very crowded at all.

Today I’ve been working on uploading the rest of the photos from the zoo, sending them up in small batches, and bouncing around the ‘net while photos upload. I checked out Apple‘s new announcements (the ‘Cover Flow‘ eyecandy in iTunes 7 is slick, and the newer, smaller iPod Shuffle is incredible), started a silly little group on Flickr called the Googly Eyes Project, and other random oddments.

While skimming over my LiveJournal Friends Page, sirriamnis led me to this ‘Special Comment’ by Keith Olbermann. It’s one of the few things I’ve found worth using YouTube‘s embed feature for — this is good. For the bandwidth challenged, the transcript is under the jump (courtesy of Crooks and Liars).

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Same-Sex Marriage Still Banned in Washington State

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Meh. Not a happy thing.

Reports on the decision:

  • Washington Courts: Press Release

    This morning, the Washington Supreme Court issued a decision in Andersen v. King County, a consolidated case regarding Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act.

    The Court’s lead opinion was authored by Justice Barbara Madsen, holding the Washington Defense of Marriage Act does not violate the Washington State Constitution. This decision overturns trial court decisions in King and Thurston Superior Courts in this case.

  • Seattle PI: State’s high court upholds ban on gay marriage

    The state Supreme Court today upheld Washington’s law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, rejecting the argument of 19 same-sex couples that they’ve been unfairly denied the right to wed.

    In a splintered decision, Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that the state’s marriage law was enacted to “promote procreation and to encourage stable families.”

    “The legislature was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers the State’s legitimate interests in procreation and the well-being of children.”

  • Seattle Times: State Supreme Court upholds gay marriage ban

    The decision came as a sobering defeat for gays and their advocates, who’d hoped the court would strike down the so-named Defense of Marriage Act — DOMA — which restricts marriage to one man and one woman.

    Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Barbara Madsen said DOMA is constitutional because in establishing DOMA “the legislation was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers procreation, essential to the survival of the human race and furthers the well-being of children by encouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by children’s biological parents.”

    As such, DOMA does not violate the state Constitution’s privileges and immunities clause, which requires that any benefit granted to one group must be granted equally to all. “Allowing same sex couples to marry does not, in the legislature’s view, further these purposes,” she wrote.

It’s all about the children. Meh. What a crappy argument. Admittedly, I haven’t read the official arguments yet (the court documents are linked to in both newspaper articles), so maybe there’s a bit more to it than that, but from what the papers boil it down to…meh.

So marriage is about procreation and the survival of the human race? What about married couples who either cannot or choose not to have children? Does this mean that according to our state Supreme Court, it’s better to be in an unhappy, unfulfilling, loveless relationship that’s pumping out another child every ten months than it is to be in a happy, committed, healthy, loving relationship that happens to be childless?

And if we’re “encouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by children’s biological parents,” then shouldn’t we be outlawing adoption? Sorry, you had the kid, it’s better for the kid if you raise it, even if you’re a teenager, unable to support yourself, on drugs, or any number of other reasons why you might not want to raise the child you just bore. Don’t even get us started on gay couples adopting children!

Sorry gays. We don’t care if you love each other. You don’t have children, and marriage is all about the children, so you can’t get married.

Meh. What a stupid, weak, cowardly cop-out. I expected better.

FBiPod?

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Who knew the government was this in tune with today’s marketplace?

The government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod.

— Pres. George W. Bush, during a speech at Tuskegee University

(via The Cult of Mac and Engadget)

Only in Alaska…

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Apparently, my hometown has been in the midst of a Mayoral campaign. Since I don’t live in Anchorage anymore, I didn’t know anything about this until today, when a short post on my Dad’s site listed the current vote tallies.

I have to admit, I’m a little bummed. It looks like current Mayor Mark Begich has won re-election, with 55% of the vote — and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

What disappoints me is that while the runner-up got a fairly respectable 41% of the vote, by not electing him, Anchorage, Alaska (the largest city in a state known primarily for the ice and snow of its winter months) has lost the opportunity to have Jack Frost as a mayor.

You know, you couldn’t introduce an Alaskan mayoral candidate with the name of Jack Frost in a fiction novel without your editor kicking the manuscript back to you with his name circled in bright red permanent mark and a “you’ve got to be kidding me” notation in the margin. And yet here we are, with the real thing.

Now I just have to figure out which Anchorage political race amuses me more: the 2006 Mayoral election with Jack Frost as a candidate, or the 2002 Republican primary for Turnagain district 26 which gave voters a choice between Strait and Gay.

I’m glad I don’t live there anymore — but as I often say, Anchorage really is a wonderful place to be from.

iTunes “There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)” by Eurythmics from the album Eurythmics Greatest Hits (1985, 5:22).

Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Aaron Kyle Huff's weaponry (photo (c)2006 Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times)

  • A semi-automatic assault rifle.
  • A pistol-grip shotgun.
  • An aluminum baseball bat.
  • A machete.
  • Over 300 rounds of ammunition.

All but the shotgun were recovered from Aaron Kyle Huff’s truck after the massacre on Capitol Hill; the shotgun is one similar to the one Huff used during the shooting. Not pictured is Huff’s semi-automatic handgun, also used in the attack.

All legal to own.

For God’s sake, why?!?

NRA members and “right to bear arms” wingnuts, feel free to brand me as a gun-control nut. I’m fine with that.

There is NO good reason why this sort of weaponry (specifically, the assault rifle and pistol-grip pump action shotgun…obviously, it’s a bit hard to get worked up over a baseball bat, and while I personally find a two foot machete pretty damn creepy, it’s nowhere near the same league as the guns) needs to be openly available to the general public. You want to hunt? Fine, hunt. Buy a hunting rifle and go slaughter as many deer as you want. But this kind of stuff?

Seattle Chief of Police Gil Kerlikowske has it right:

As many as 30 people were in the house when the man approached, draped in bandoliers of ammunition and armed with a handgun and a pistol-grip, 12-gauge shotgun — a weapon Kerlikowske pointedly said was “not for hunting purposes, but for hunting people.”

What actually happened was bad enough. It makes me ill to consider what could have happened if a police officer hadn’t been in the area and on the scene after only five minutes of shooting.

The President Supports Abortions

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Of course, it’s not President George W. Bush. Rather, it’s President Cecilia Fire Thunder of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Infuriated by South Dakota’s HB 1215, which banned abortions in all situations save a direct threat to the mothers life, President Fire Thunder has pledged to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on reservation land — where it will be under tribal jurisdiction, rather than that of the Government of South Dakota.

When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.”

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”

Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women.

LiveJournaler [kathrynt's info]kathrynt called the tribal offices, spoke to Ms. Fire Thunder, and got permission to post information on how to donate to the reservation to support this effort.

If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at:

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:

ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is not exactly dripping with disposeable [sic] income, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.

ETA: Make checks out to OST Planned Parenthood Cecelia Fire Thunder. This will ensure that the funds get routed properly.

For email contact, you can contact the president at:

firethunder_president AT NOSPAM yahoo DOT com
cc:vbush AT NOSPAM oglala DOT org

That is Ms. Fire Thunder’s personal email address; I have received permission to post it here. For the sake of record keeping, do cc: the listed address on all correspondence; that’s her official secretary.

She was frankly kind of surprised that a white girl from Seattle was calling to express support, and even more surprised that the news had spread so far so fast. She’s likely to get deluged with screaming hate mail soon, so get your support in fast. Send email with good thoughts if you can’t send money.

ETA: Yes, please, dear God, link it anywhere and everywhere!

This makes me wish I had more disposable income to donate. Hats off to President Fire Thunder, and I hope this goes forward.

(via MeFi)

iTunes “Victory (Nine Inch Nails)” by Puff Daddy and the Family from the album Victory (1997, 5:35).

Breaking News: Killers can destroy innocent life!

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It still boggles my mind that a man who comes up with gems like this got elected to the office of President of the United States. Twice.

But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life.

No shit, Sherlock.

The full exchange between Bush and Helen Thomas is even better…

Update: Crooks and Liars has video!

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George Clooney does not make statements. He answers questions.

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There appears to be a bit of a tussle going on between George Clooney and The Huffington Post, where his “I am a liberal” post (now removed from THP) was printed.

It’s George Clooney versus Arianna Huffington in a standoff worthy of “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

The newly minted Oscar winner says he did not write a blog posted Monday on commentator Huffington’s Web site, though he gave her permission to use a compilation of his critiques of the Iraq war from interviews with Larry King and London’s The Guardian.

“Miss Huffington’s blog is purposefully misleading and I have asked her to clarify the facts,” Clooney, 44, said in a statement issued Wednesday. “I stand by my statements but I did not write this blog.”

[…]

A rebuttal on [Huffington’s] Web site says she and her staff initially compiled a “sample blog” for Clooney from his interview answers because he wasn’t sure how a blog worked.

Huffington said that after she sent Clooney the sample, a film publicist e-mailed her and three days later approved it, without any changes.

“This was an honest misunderstanding,” she wrote. “But any misunderstanding that occurred, occurred between Clooney and the publicist. We based our decision to post on the unambiguous approval we received in writing.”

Clooney’s publicist Stan Rosenfield disagreed.

“It’s not a misunderstanding, it’s misrepresentation,” he said. “She knows what she was doing. She was saying to people that she had George Clooney’s blog and was printing it. George Clooney does not make statements. He answers questions.”

Arianna Huffington has since apologized and redefined some of THP’s editorial standards.

At the beginning of the week, I was so focused on making it crystal clear that we did indeed have permission to run the Clooney blog that I was blinded to another extremely important issue: that a blog, where the source of the material is not clear, diminishes the amazing work of bloggers who day in and day out put their hearts and souls into writing their blogs.

I can’t thank our commenters enough for, in different ways, driving this point home.

I now realize that I made a big mistake in posting a blog without clearly identifying that the material in it didn’t originate as a blog post but was pieced together from previous interviews.

Sounds like everything’s pretty much wrapped up by now.

To me, this is notable primarily for two things:

  1. The original post — whether or not it was penned by Clooney, said by Clooney, thought by Clooney, or created by painstakingly taping together shreds of paper from cut up and randomly shuffled cereal boxes and erotic novellas — which is still a worthy statement;

  2. Clooney’s publicist’s unfortunate and hilariously pretentious pronouncement that, “George Clooney does not make statements. He answers questions.” That gave me the best laugh I’ve had all morning.

iTunes “Chime (Hot Tracks)” by Orbital from the album Hot Tracks 15th Anniversary Collectors Edition (1997, 5:34).