Friday, August 8, 2014

Last Call For A Post Hobby Lobby America

Just a reminder that with Republican bigots blocking ENDA and the Supreme Court leaving a hole in religious freedoms big enough to drive a tank through, if you're LGBTQ in America, you still can be legally discriminated against in dozens of states, like Pennsylvania.

Two women who hoped to buy gowns to wear to their wedding were turned away from a bridal shop in Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, prompting a torrent of criticism for the store online and by word-of-mouth. 
According to PAHomepage.com, the brides-to-be were informed that the W. W. Bridal Boutique “does not service same-sex couples” because to do so would be a violation of their “religious beliefs.” 
One of the two women — who wish to remain anonymous — posted on Facebook that she called the store to schedule a fitting for herself and her partner. She was reportedly placed on hold for several minutes, then told, “Unfortunately she would not be able to schedule an appointment for us because they currently do not service same-sex couples — it’s just not something they do.”

The bridal shop’s Facebook page has been deluged with angry criticism from people who believe that businesses shouldn’t be allowed to pick and choose who they serve based on sexual orientation. 
“As a fellow Christian, I’m ashamed of people like you,” wrote one commenter. “We are taught to love our neighbor regardless. Did you skip that part?” 
Channel 7 Eyewitness News contacted a local civil rights attorney who confirmed, however, that the bridal store’s actions are legal. Pennsylvania currently has no laws against discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

And why do I care about this?  Because there's no moral difference in saying "We won't serve you because you're lesbians" and "We won't serve you because you're black."  There is however a legal difference:  one's patently illegal, the other is fine and dandy.

That must change, and it will in my lifetime.  I think it will happen in the next decade, actually.

Big Dog Loose In Coal Country

As I've been saying, Bill Clinton was always going to end up stumping for Alison Lundergan Grimes as her ace in the hole.  Her daddy Jerry and Big Dog go way back.  The former president's appearance Wednesday with Grimes in Perry County, the heart of Kentucky coal country, was there to remind everyone why the last Democrat to win a presidential election in the state was Clinton himself.

As former President Bill Clinton stepped to the podium following Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes' emphatic introduction, a coal miner whispered something to him. 
The miner's advice, the former president told the audience packed inside the Hal Rogers Center, was "don't forget to remind people she's much prettier than Mitch McConnell is." 
"You got that right!" a man in the audience shouted. 
That was one of many contrasts Clinton tried to draw between McConnell, the U.S. Senate minority leader, and Grimes, the Democrat hoping to unseat him, as he traveled to a part of the state that has seen coal jobs evaporate and laid much of the blame on President Barack Obama. 
"I am a Clinton Democrat," Grimes shouted to the approving audience. 
For Grimes to win in Eastern Kentucky, she'll need voters to believe that declaration and not that she is "Obama's Kentucky candidate," as McConnell and his allies have asserted repeatedly. 
Grimes has endeavored from the start of her campaign to prove herself as a pro-coal Democrat. 
On Wednesday, as Grimes and Clinton spoke, members of the United Mine Workers of America sat onstage behind them, serving as flesh-and-blood proof that Grimes had won the group's endorsement. 
"Let's get the record straight, senator: I am the pro-coal candidate in this race," Grimes said, arguing that McConnell "hasn't saved or created one coal job" in his 30 years in office.

You may not like Big Dog that much, and you may not like the fact that Grimes is running as a Clinton Democrat when Obama is president.  Tough titties, kids.  This is how Kentucky politics rolls, and King Coal still calls the shots.  That means Grimes is going to have to stump with Bill here and not Barack.  She's going to remind voters in the mountains that the last time things were good there is when Bill was in charge, and that since then Mitch the Turtle has given the store away from hard working miners to nasty energy companies who don't give a damn about safety and wages and the people who live here, because they don't.

So yeah, that means playing the Clinton card with gusto, and doing it several times between now and November.  Bill Clinton's still real big here, and you play to win.

GOP Minority Outreach, Brimful Of Assholes And A .45 Edition

Our latest edition of GOP Minority Outreach Theater goes like this: Yadda yadda, freedom of religion, something something Second Amendment remedies, blah blah blah You're The Real Racist(tm) and then we all threaten Muslims with large caliber handguns.

Gavin Ellzey, the vice chairman of the Kansas Republican 3rd Congressional District Committee, advised on Twitter in early July that “offending Muslims is the duty of any civilized person.” 
Ellzey added, “Especially with a .45.” 
In an interview with The Star, the Overland Park resident acknowledged writing the tweet in response to television news reports about Christians being “crucified” overseas. 
Sometimes you overreact,” Ellzey said.

Hey, at least he didn't shoot anyone.  Yet.

Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, said the state party has “no responsibility for or connection to the public statements of private citizens who perform volunteer work for the party.” 
He added that the “party in no way shares Ellzey’s sentiments on Muslims.”

The "party" doesn't.  The large majority of the people who compose the party, well, that's a different story.



Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article1160420.html#storylink=cpy



Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article1160420.html#storylink=cpy

StupidiNews!