Still On The Wrong Side Of History

Reaction to New York's same-sex marriage law has been slowly coming in from the 2012 Clown Car Candidates, and on the Sunday shows today the differing reactions of two of those hopefuls are notable.  First, GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey vowed once again that any measure similar to New York's would immediately meet his veto pen.

"In our state we're going to continue to pursue civil unions. I am not a fan of same sex marriage. It's not something that I support. I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman. That's my view. And-- and that'll be the view of our state because I wouldn't sign a bill like the one that was in New York."

On the other hand, Michele Bachmann seems to have the opposite reaction...on the surface.

BACHMANN: In New York state, they have passed the law at the state legislative level and, under the 10th amendment, the states have the right to set the laws that they want to set.

WALLACE: So even though you oppose it, then its ok from — your point of view — for New York to say that same-sex marriage is legal.

BACHMANN: That is up to the people of New York. I think that it’s best to allow the people to decide on this issue. I think it’s best if there is an amendment that goes on the ballot, where people can weigh in. [...]

WALLACE: But you would agree, if its passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor then that’s the state’s position.

BACHMANN: It’s state law. And the 10th amendment reserves to the states that right.

 Now that's interesting, but before we start in with the "ZOMG Bachmann is better on gay rights than Obama!" idiocy, let's note she's punting here, and she freely admits here that she would much rather see A) a US Constitutional amendment that outlaws gay marriage for the entire country, and B) State constitutional amendments that ban it by popular vote.

All she is saying here is that she respects New York's state same-sex marriage law...right up until the second it's overridden by a federal constitutional amendment.  Clever move on her part, but completely transparent.  Let's not kid ourselves here:  Republicans still want to eliminate gay marriage and other gay rights, and no amount of tenther punting will cover that up.

She's still homophobic as Chris Christie and the rest of the GOP crazies, period.

PS, LA Times has a very interesting piece on an old story that, now that Bachmann is in the race, the Villagers are starting to pay attention to:  our "fiscal conservative" Tea Party Michele sure loves her federal farm subsidies, to the tune of a cool quarter of a million dollars.

Judge Prosser Needs A Check-Up From The Neck Up

A rather disturbing story out of Wisconsin this weekend:  State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, who won this year's special election and recount under very dubious circumstances and then was the key vote in allowing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill to become law, is now being accused of trying to choke a female justice on the court after a heated argument.

New details are emerging in this weekend's story that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser -- a member of the court's 4-3 conservative majority who was just re-elected to a ten-year term in a heated race that involved a recount and vote-tabulating controversies -- allegedly attacked liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during an argument over the court's recent decision regarding the upholding of Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. Now, Bradley is speaking up, and saying publicly that she was assaulted by Prosser.

"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, an unnamed source who is on Prosser's side of the argument accused Bradley of initiating the violence. "She charged him with fists raised," the source told the paper, saying that Prosser "put his hands in a defensive posture" to block her, and made contact with her neck. Bradley is then said to have immediately complained of being choked, while another, unnamed Justice responded, "You were not choked."

In response, Bradley told the paper: "You can try to spin those facts and try to make it sound like I ran up to him and threw my neck into his hands, but that's only spin.

"Matters of abusive behavior in the workplace aren't resolved by competing press releases. I'm confident the appropriate authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of this incident involving abusive behavior in the workplace."

Assault like this is no laughing matter if it's true, and whatever investigation into this affair needs to be completely transparent and above board.  If it turns out Prosser did assault another judge on the court, I would have to imagine he'd face impeachment hearings at the very minimum.

Where this will go I have no idea, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this case.

Supreme Stupidity

The Supreme Court put the brakes on a massive job discrimination lawsuit against mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., saying sweeping class-action status that could potentially involve hundreds of thousands of current and former female workers was simply too large.

The ruling Monday was a big victory for the nation's largest private employer, and the business community at large.

The high-profile case– perhaps the most closely watched of the high court's term– is among the most important dealing with corporate versus worker rights that the justices have ever heard, and could eventually impact nearly every private employer, large and small.

So, their concern isn't that thousands upon thousands are being treated improperly under the law.  Discrimination?  Don't worry about it.  The fact that it's so bit it might make a difference is what is holding back the Supreme Freaking Court.  I am afraid I have to call bullshit, big time.  That is what the Supreme Court is for, and they should take a look at this and do their job.  


Right now, workers need protection more than ever.  With so many out of work and considered "working poor" businesses can exploit this. 

Gisel Ruiz, Executive Vice President for Wal-Mart U.S., said in a statement the company was "pleased" with the court's ruling.

"Walmart has had strong policies against discrimination for many years. The Court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs’ claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy," the statement said. "By reversing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, the majority effectively ends this class action lawsuit.

He's wrong.  Wal-Mart wasn't found innocent, the victims were found too plentiful.  As a woman who has gone through this many times, I share their frustration.  More than once I have worked longer hours, produced more results, and made measurable improvements only to be paid less than my male coworkers and promoted more slowly.  I'm not saying Wal-Mart is guilty, that hasn't been proven.  But this is plain cowardly and stupid, a chance to investigate and help has been turned down knowingly.  I'm disgusted.

It's About Darned Time

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) – Governor Andrew Cuomo made same-sex marriages legal in New York on Friday, a key victory for gay rights ahead of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

New York will become the sixth and most populous U.S. state to allow gay marriage. State senators voted 33-29 on Friday evening to approve marriage equality legislation and Cuomo, a Democrat who had introduced the measure, signed it into law.

I have lost some respect for Obama lately over his handling of a few issues, and this is one of them.  However, despite a lack of support, we finally have movement.  The "deeply troubled" bishops can start minding their own business, and take their concerns and apply it towards the divorce rate, drug addiction, the homeless, or something that is actually, you know... wrong.

GOP Lies In Arizona Spreads Like Wildfire

And the source of this big lie is the "reasonable Senator Emeritus" of the GOP, one John McCain, who said last week that undocumented immigrants were responsible for setting the wildfires that are ravaging eastern Arizona and western New Mexico right now.  Now everyone's getting in on the two-minute hate.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the infamously tough "Sheriff Joe," released a statement about the arrests, which occurred near the border where the wildfires blazed.

“It’s a long shot I know,” Arpaio said. “But since we already gather information from them about their U.S. entry points and traveling routes and methods, this is simply one more area of intelligence to explore that may help us to determine the origins of these fires.“

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been criticized for the last week because he blamed undocumented immigrants as the cause of the fires.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” he said at a press conference last Saturday. “They have set fires because the want to signal others. They have set fires to keep warm and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them.”

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Az) backed him, up, saying "he is correct."

Only one problem with this.  It's a total and complete load of crap.

U.S. Forest Service officials have directly discredited McCain and Kyl's claims.

Tom Berglund, the Forest Service official in charge of the Wallow blaze, told ABC News that it has been classified as an "escaped campfire." Asked if there was substantial evidence linking illegal immigrants and the fire, Berglund said, "Absolutely not, at this level."

"There's no evidence that I'm aware, no evidence that's been public, indicating such a thing," he said.

No evidence, no facts that support this wild conspiracy theory, no proof that undocumented immigrants had anything to do with this.  But that won't stop the GOP's crusade in Arizona to blame them for everything that goes wrong there.  If you fill the citizens' mind with hate, it's so much easier to demonize them, to dehumanize them, and demand that the state take violent action against them.

But remember, Republicans like John McCain and Jon Kyl are reasonable, moderate lawmakers.  John McCain was almost President, after all.  Can you imagine what President McCain would be doing right now in Arizona?

I sure as hell can.

Yelling At Gay Clouds

Via Balloon Juice, the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher is vowing that the New York Republicans who allowed same-sex marriage to pass will pay "a grave price."

This is a woman who is promising that since some Republicans didn't hate gays enough, weren't bigoted enough, weren't hateful enough to their fellow New Yorkers, that they will be made to pay a price for doing so.  This is how the GOP operates in 2011, if you don't have enough hate in your heart, you're useless to them.

And I have to laugh, because the only people getting consigned to the dustbin of history are people like Maggie Gallagher.

A Real Attention Moose

Sarah Palin's egotism and narcissism just can't help themselves, whenever anybody in the 2012 clown-car lineup threatens to become the new GOP rising star, Sarah Palin absolutely has to step in and wrench the spotlight away by whatever means possible.

When the Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” makes its premiere in Iowa next week, the film’s star will be on hand for the big debut.


The production company behind the film announced Saturday that Palin and her husband Todd would be in Pella, Iowa, for the showing on Tuesday.

“We are very excited to visit historic Pella and its opera house and look forward to seeing the finished film for the first time with fellow Americans from the heartland,” Palin said in a statement.

Iowa, which holds the first contest in the presidential caucus and primary calendar, is key for any politician thinking of running for the White House. Palin has said she is contemplating running for the Republican presidential nomination.

Sarah Palin pushing her own hagiographical feature film in Iowa of course has the Right buzzing that she's going to surprise us and use the occasion to launch her presidential campaign.  That won't happen of course, but it won't stop the big news in the GOP next week from being all about Sarah Palin for several news cycles.

Remember when Obama was called a messianic delusional narcissist with a dangerous cult of personality for just having a book?  The same people of course think Sarah Palin is completely normal for having a book, her own reality show, her daughter on her own reality show, her daughter with a book, Sarah's job as a FOX commentator and now her own freakin' movie.  But she's a real down to earth Real American, she is.  Not at all like that arrogant, uppity Obama with his book.

Your Political Cartoon Of The Moment

R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Diabetes Turnaround Possible

An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study.

Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal.

Seven out of 11 people studied were free of diabetes three months later, say findings published in the journal.

More research is needed to see whether the reversal is permanent, say experts.

This is a good sign, but backs up what has always been suspected.  It takes enormous discipline to stick to the diet and make the changes required, but it has the potential to either reverse or dramatically reduce the effects of the disease.

They Want To Be A Part Of It, New York, New York, Part 2

So with New York approving gay marriage last night, time to wade into the Right Wing Noise Machine's reaction to it.

Law professor Ann Althouse seems mostly okay with it from a legal perspective, echoing Andrew Sullivan, the deal exempting religious organizations from having to perform same-sex marriages was important to establish marriage as a legal contract and not a purely religious contract:

It's a BFD because it also insists on maximal religious liberty for those who conscientiously oppose marriage equality. A gay rights movement that seeks to restrict any religious freedom is not worthy of the name. And it makes me glad that we largely avoided anything that looks like that strategy, and that last-minute negotiations were flexible enough to strengthen the protections for religious groups, churches, mosques, synagogues and the like. The gay rights movement is about expanding the boundaries of human freedom - and that must include religious freedom if it is to mean anything....

Which is actually a very fair argument that the law does respect the religious freedom of New York's churches, synagogues and mosques while respecting the right of the state to sanction same-sex marriages.

The opposite response came from the folks at Weasel Zippers who quipped "Sanity takes it in the rear" and that the commenters are predicting NY just made itself an even larger target for Islamic terrorists. Nice.

The Volokh Conspiracy commenters are arguing that the states that have outlawed gay marriage have done so by overwhelming vote margins and that the will of the people cannot possibly be served here, but to their credit over there that argument is being shouted down.

And the at HotAir, Allahpundit was at least pretty neutral about it, but his comments section went pretty batshit fast, proclaiming teh gayz real agenda is to sue religious organizations that don't support gay marriage out of existence, and that the gay mafia is after your free speech rights to hate gays (so liberals are the real bigots.)

It's noise, mostly.  But that's what you expect from the Noise Machine.

US federal regulators are preparing to issue court orders to Google and other companies as part of a probe into practices in Google's search engine business, US media report.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to open a formal inquiry within the next several days, the Wall Street Journal said.

The FTC is looking at whether Google manipulates its search results to steer users to its own sites and services.

Google has not commented on the matter.

Google's competitors argue that the search giant, which handles roughly two out of every three internet searches in the US, has used its dominant standing in search to improperly promote its other products, like mapping, shopping and travel websites.

Lord knows Google is not known for its respect for privacy, but they have stomped the competition soundly over the years.  However, when you have become so huge that you are one of the first names on the Internet that comes to mind, it's going to be hard to prove a bias. And then there's this: as long as the other avenues are represented, at what level does it qualify as antitrust?

But The GOP Cares About Women, Part 3

In a big victory for choice in Indiana, a federal judge has agreed to stay the Indiana anti-choice bill that defunds Planned Parenthood in that state.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Friday night means Planned Parenthood, which stopped serving its 9,300 Medicaid patients last week after running out of donated funds, can again see those patients.

The judge also enjoined a part of the law that would have taken effect July 1, requiring doctors to tell patients seeking abortions that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks or less.

Both were part of an anti-abortion bill that passed the Republican dominated legislature with significant support and was signed into law by Mitch Daniels.

Pratt’s injunction means the two provisions cannot be enforced while she is hearing a lawsuit, brought by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that those parts of the law should be struck down.

 That's excellent news.  It means 9,000+ women in the state can get health care again.  It means compassion and logic have won out over Republican fanaticism.

But for how long?  Remember, the goal of these laws is to put a case on the docket of the Supreme Court in order to get them to overturn Roe v. Wade, or to limit it to the point where abortions are de facto outlawed by all the red tape and hoops.  Eventually one of these GOP abortion laws will reach the high court.

Oh, but it's all about jobs, you know.  Republicans are focused on jobs.

Zandar's Thought Of The Day

GOP Presidential candidates are focused like a laser on jobs jobs jobs the culture wars.

In a presidential race thus far centered on the economy, nearly half of the 2012 GOP field took a break Friday to turn the election's spotlight on abortion.


Five candidates appeared–in person or via Skype–at the National Right to Life convention in Jacksonville, Fla., where they tapped into a social conservative base that's largely been sidelined since the tea party movement shifted the GOP's focus to fiscal issues.

All the candidates agreed life begins at conception and punctuated their point by citing the Declaration of Independence, which states all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 

For Republicans, life begins at conception.  Once you're born however, you're on your own, you little tax-dollar eating parasite, with your "education" and your "vaccinations" and your "public safety" and your "infrastructure" and when are you going to get a job, you lazy little squirt?

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Record flooding along the Souris River in Minot, North Dakota has deluged thousands of homes in the city as National Guard troops try to keep the main bridge over the swollen river open.
• Texas lawmakers hope to have the Lone Star State become the tenth in the nation to feature Confederate flag license plates.
• Speculation continues to swirl around the mystery illness that has kept Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez out of the spotlight, bringing up succession questions.
• Japanese retirees from the engineering and science community are pitching in to help with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
• Counterfeit Chinese microchips have the Defense Department rethinking how and where it gets its electronics, and how to secure them from hackers and back doors.

Last Call

And the New York Senate has passed gay marriage tonight, 33-29.

New York will become the sixth and most populous U.S. state to allow gay marriage after senators voted 33-29 on Friday night to approve the move.

After Governor Andrew Cuomo signs the bill into law, same-sex weddings can begin in 30 days, though religious institutions and nonprofit groups with religious affiliations will not be compelled to officiate at such ceremonies.

The New York state Assembly passed the amended bill earlier on Friday by a vote of 82-47.

August is going to be a busy month at Tiffany's.  All I'm sayin'.

[UPDATE]  Gov. Cuomo will immediately sign the bill (as in tonight) and the measure will go into effect in 30 days.

[UPDATE 2]  Where we go from here: