Arguing With the Devil, Naked Yet
Tough choice. The best part of the feud between now-newly-resigned Rep. Eric Massa and Rahm Emanuel, two guys who seem to deserve each other, is a. the story of the naked encounter at the gym, or b. Masa's parting quote.
"Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn. He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."
The "Fundamental Principles" of Smothering, Mechanical Restraints and Tying Kids to Chairs
In the wake of a report finding hundreds of cases of alleged abuse of kids, mostly special needs students, the House has passed the Keeping All Students Safe Act. No beating up kids? No problem, you'd think. Alas, the stalwart GOP mostly opposed the first bill to protect kids against abuse as a government plot to take over schools, and right-wing groups charge it constitutes "meddling" in Catholic schools, where we all know nothing like that has ever happened.
"Americans do not pay their hard-earned money to private schools in order to subject them to burdensome and subjective regulations written by unelected federal and state bureaucrats." – Andresen Blom of American Principles in Action.
I'm with Stupid
If you worry the Taliban might catch on and use the sashes to their advantage, don't worry. The report assures us that, "Officers count them out and count them back in at the end of each day." Phew. Good thing no one outside the Pentagon can create a yellow belt with a bike reflector on it.
What Would Jesus Do?
Protesters showed up this weekend after the unsacred decision
by a Catholic school in Boulder, Colo. not to let a pre-schooler into
kindergarten next year because the kid has – gasp – lesbian parents.
The Archdiocese
even had the chutzpah to blame the parents for straying from
"goodness and truth," which isn't quite consigning them to the fires of
Hell but comes close.
"Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment... Glossing over differences on essential matters is not tolerance. It is relativism, meaning that nothing is important anymore and everyone can have their own interpretation of what is goodness and truth."
Change or More of the Same?
Apparently as fed up with President Obama as many others, the ACLU has placed an ad urging him not to back down on the decision to prosecute 9/11 suspects in civilian, not military courts. The dismaying transformation suggested here makes our collective hearts sink.
"It's critical that Americans know what is at stake here: nothing less than America's commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law...If President Obama reverses his attorney general's principled decision under political pressure, it will strike a devastating blow to American values."
"It's Safe to Assume We Execute Innocent People"
A judge in Texas, which has long led the country in executions, has ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional. The ruling by state District Judge Kevin Fine, a tattooed recovering drug addict, infuriated prosecutors and set a precedent that observers say is likely to be overtuned.
"Based on the moratorium (on the death penalty) in Illinois, the Innocence Project and more than 200 people being exonerated nationwide, it can only be concluded that innocent people have been executed," said Fine.
Out of the Corporation, Into the Wing-Nuttery
With Socialists running D.C. these days, more right-wingers in Indiana and elsewhere are declaring themselves "sovereign citizens." That means their homes are embassies, they don't have to pay taxes, and when the police stop them they can flash a cool badge saying they're "diplomats." They draw their beliefs from the Constitution and the Bible, though it's unclear where it says in there that people don't have to use state-issued license plates. More from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"We are people who love our organic United States of America, the way it was found and meant to be," said Brad Henry, who sure sounds like he's talking about not wanting any of those pesky blacks or Jews or immigrants or gay people around, doesn't he?
One Big Lie
A nice bit of righteous indignation from E.J. Dionne Jr. on the "astonishing exercise in hypocrisy" that is the GOP's rabid opposition to and distortion of reconciliation to pass amendments on health care. Just when you think they can't go any lower...
"The underlying 'principle' here seems to be that it's fine to pass tax cuts for the wealthy on narrow votes but an outrage to use reconciliation to help middle-income and poor people get health insurance."
