Last Call

How to beat the "War on Women" charge if you're a Republican nutjob at the state legislature level in a red state like Kansas?  Pass a "War on Muslims" bill and call it "protecting women's rights" of course.  Kansas lawmakers are moving forward with a ridiculous and unncessary "anti-sharia" bill disguised as a law to protect women from the ravages of "non-American" religious edicts.

Kansas’ proposed anti-Muslim law also similarly asserts it is about promoting “American law for American courts.” (Note: the Constitution already establishes this in its Supremacy Clause.) Kansas Republican state Sen. Chris Steineger noted, the measure was “presented” to him as a bill specifically targeting Muslims:

But Sen. Chris Steineger, R-Kansas City, said a marketing campaign by supporters of the bill inundated him with materials that “explain why sharia law is coming and Muslims are trying to take over America.”
“I thought that was quite ludicrous at the time, and I still do,” Steineger said. “I pointed this out, because this was not presented as protecting the Kansas Constitution. The proponents of this measure, clearly by the literature they gave me and by the video link they directed me to, they presented this as protecting us against sharia law. Despite the fact that this doesn’t mention sharia, that’s how this whole issue was presented.”

Indeed, Kansas was bombarded by anti-Sharia emails and letters from out-of-staters. The bill’s sponsors and advocates proclaimed that it was really about protecting “women’s rights.” The bill helps “women know the rights they have in America,” said sate Rep. Peggy Mast (R). “To me, this is a women’s rights issue,” said Sen. Susan Wagle (R). Nevermind that these same legislators have been engaged in a war against women’s health, Planned Parenthood, the right to choose, and so many other far more relevant “women’s rights” causes.

Or if you're the GOP, keep the state safe for white Christian men by pitting Muslims against women as natural enemies.  See, we're protecting our white Christian women from the evils of Islam!

What nonsense.  Split the coalition  and divide and conquer.  The GOP is uniting America, alright.

Against them.

Time To Cough It Up, Washington State

Whooping cough is back, and in one Washington State county, a perfect storm of public health care cuts and parents refusing to immunize their kids has created a full-blown epidemic.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, a highly infectious respiratory disease once considered doomed by science, has struck Washington State this spring with a severity that health officials say could surpass the toll of any year since the 1940s, before a vaccine went into wide use.

Although no deaths have been reported so far this year, the state has declared an epidemic and public health officials say the numbers are staggering: 1,284 cases through early May, the most in at least three decades and 10 times last year’s total at this time, 128. 

The response to the epidemic has been hampered by the recession, which has left state and local health departments on the front lines of defense weakened by years of sustained budget cuts. 

Here in Skagit County, about an hour’s drive north of Seattle — the hardest-hit corner of the state, based on pertussis cases per capita — the local Public Health Department has half the staff it did in 2008. Preventive care programs, intended to keep people healthy, are mostly gone. 

And the problem is two-fold:  cuts in less-expensive preventative care in order to afford much more expensive testing and treatment for whooping cough now only assures more cases will be coming to treat later, requiring more cuts.

But the tinfoil hat anti-vaccine crowd on both the far left and the far right are just as responsible for this outbreak.  You don't immunize your kids?  Surprise!  They get sick!

The pertussis vaccine is commonly given in childhood, and many states require it for children of school age. But Washington State, according to a federal study last year of kindergarten-age children, had the highest percentage of parents in the nation who voluntarily exempted their children from one or more vaccines, out of fear of side effects or for philosophical reasons. 

So-called underimmunization — in which children do not get the full series of vaccinations — could also be a factor in compounding the outbreak, said Mary Selecky, Washington State’s secretary of health. 

Last year, the Washington Legislature passed a law requiring parents to prove that they had consulted a physician before declining vaccinations for their children. 

“We had the easiest opt-out law in the nation until last year, so what we also had was the highest percent of parents opting out,” Ms. Selecky said. 

And now you have the highest incidence of whooping cough right now.  See how this works, folks?  Anti-vaccine silliness and preventative care cuts don't just affect one parent's kids, but all of them.  This is just stupid how this was allowed to happen.

This is where government needs to step in.  And it is, at a much more ridiculous cost than vaccines would have been.  This is why America's health care costs are so high and why health care reform laws, when they fully kick in two years from now, are necessary.

Tanning Mom #2: The Stupidity Sequel

     This time, instead of tanning her kids, a woman just left a six-year-old and a ten-month-old child unattended in a car while she went in and tanned.  A policeman found the children, and when asked the daughter pointed to a tanning salon to help him find her mother.

Thank God it was a cop who found the kids, and not one of the millions of perverts roaming the streets looking for prey.

Thank God the kids didn't die from heat, like we see every year.

What is amazing is that neighbors still call her a good mother after this.  This potentially deadly misjudgment could have easily led to the death of two children, and some are willing to dismiss it as a good mom having a lapse.  No.  A lapse is forgetting to brush their teeth, or failing to see a sharp corner that a toddler could hit.  Knowingly putting their safety at risk for a tan is far worse than a lapse.  It makes me think of when neighbors originally said George Zimmerman was a great neighbor and good man.  Turns out there are plenty of facts to show otherwise.

We don't know people as well as we think.  Facts speak louder than impressions.  Mothers who abandon their kids and leave the window cracked should not be in charge of children.

At least this story has a relatively happy ending.  With the numbers of kidnappings and sexual assaults against children, it very easily could have been worse.  I hope this woman grows up and realizes how lucky her kids are that they survived her and the world around them.

If You Ever Want To See Your Computer Again, You'll Do What I Say

A woman's computer repairs took so long that she filed a complaint with the Attorney General.  The business then offered to replace the computer they jacked her around on, only if she canceled her complaint.  Not surprisingly, some people have a problem with that.

Pam Stevens knew it wasn’t right, but she wanted her problem fixed, she said.

After months of repairs on her new computer at Fry’s Electronics, she said Fry’s wouldn’t tell her when she could get her computer back. She complained to the California Attorney General’s office.

She said that’s when Fry’s made her a deal: Tell the attorney her problem was fixed, and the company would give her a new computer.

When she said the company didn’t follow through, it was time to Call Kurtis.
“I find it very frustrating,” Stevens said, sitting next to the empty box for her $1249.99 computer. “It’s disgraceful, it’s a shame!”

It’s been repair after repair, for the better part of six months, Stevens said.

Finally fed up using her roommate’s computer, she got the state attorney general to look into it.

That’s when Fry’s offered her a newer, better computer — but only on one condition, she said.

“That I contact the state attorney general to let them know that this case has been resolved,” Stevens said.

The AG says just because she withdrew her complaint doesn't mean there will not be an investigation.  Still, it leaves one to wonder how often this happens, and ponder how wrong that stipulation is, because it allows the business to bully the customer. And in cases like this, not honor their word.

The Pain In Spain, Again

Tens of thousands protested this weekend against Spanish austerity measures as the anniversary of Spain's May 15th movement grows closer.

Chanting "they don't represent us," tens of thousands in Madrid railed early Sunday against Spain's government and austerity cuts -- venting their anger on the first anniversary of the so-called May 15 protest movement.

Many ignored a government deadline to disperse by Saturday night from the central Puerta del Sol plaza, prompting police to clear the square by 5 a.m. on Sunday (11 p.m. on Saturday ET), the interior ministry said.

About 30,000 attended the Madrid protest, and 18 were detained for resisting arrest or disorderly conduct, the ministry said.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, demonstrators were a loud and vibrant presence in the square -- as a large number of police, stationed at a nearby government building and along side streets, looked on and let them be.

Throngs of like-minded demonstrators also gathered over the weekend in Barcelona and about 80 other cities around Spain.

Barcelona saw about 22,000 protesters, while Valencia had 8,000 and Seville had 2,000, authorities said. All the demonstrations were cleared by Sunday morning, the interior ministry said.

The coordinated events marked the return of the "indignados" -- or the outraged, as the protesters became known -- who led Europe's first serious and significant grassroots movement against austerity and government budget cuts.

The indignados certainly made their voices heard and will continue to do so.  But with Spain's unemployment rate reaching 25% and and the austerity cuts only making that worse, it's just a matter of time before the bond market comes knocking, and Spain will become the latest eurozone country to need a bailout.

How will the eurozone react with France and Greece, too?  We're about to find out.  If there's one thing that could hand the United States over to the GOP, it's a European collapse that drops America back into recession territory.

We'll see.

Last Call

The response from our "liberal media" on the President's historic stance on marriage equality?  An AP Drudge bait piece on how Barack Obama has killed all the rainbow-farting ponycorns on the entire planet.

In Europe, where more than 200,000 people thronged a Berlin rally in 2008 to hear Barack Obama speak, there's disappointment that he hasn't kept his promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, and perceptions that he's shunting blame for the financial crisis across the Atlantic.

In Mogadishu, a former teacher wishes he had sent more economic assistance and fewer armed drones to fix Somalia's problems. And many in the Middle East wonder what became of Obama's vow, in a landmark 2009 speech at the University of Cairo, to forge a closer relationship with the Muslim world.

In a world weary of war and economic crises, and concerned about global climate change, the consensus is that Obama has not lived up to the lofty expectations that surrounded his 2008 election and Nobel Peace Prize a year later. Many in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America were also taken aback by his support for gay marriage, a taboo subject among religious conservatives.

Whee!  Firebagging is an international sport these days.  Why hasn't President Obama used BULLY PULPIT to make Congress fix Europe's economy and close Gitmo and end all the wars and dammit he's going to lose the vote in Rio and Dakar and Riyadh because he's handing Republicans there a wedge issue!

Of course, the next paragraph is the kicker.

But the Democrat still enjoys broad international support. In large part, it's because of unfavorable memories of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, and many people would still prefer Obama over his presumptive Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

That part of course is left out of the Drudge bait. 

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

Ladies and gents, my senator, Rand Paul.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) became the latest Republican to weigh in on President Obama’s decision to personally support same sex marriage Friday. From his speech before a Faith and Freedom Coalition meeting in Iowa, per the Des Moines Register:

At the Iowa Faith & Freedom event, Paul mocked President Obama’s remark that his view on marriage was evolving.  “Call me cynical, but I didn’t think his views on marriage could get any gayer,” he said.

The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a socially conservative group led by former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed. At the event, Paul’s speech focused on what he said are the connections between social conservatives and the more libertarian conservatives who support his father’s presidential bid.

 

And I didn't think Rand Paul could be any more of a complete douchecanoe, but there you are.

New Lows In Hypocrisy

If Republicans think people are spending too much time talking about issues other than jobs, then somebody should, you know, probably tell the Republicans.

After a week when gay marriage dominated headlines, House Republicans on Saturday tried to put the focus back on jobs and the economy, which they view as their strong suit heading into this fall's elections.

President Obama gave his personal endorsement of same-sex marriage on Wednesday, but GOP leaders have not pounced on Obama's announcement. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) used his Thursday press conference to talk about an economy which has shown lackluster growth.

On Saturday, Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) reiterated Boehner's economic arguments and appealed to women and to students, two demographic groups which supported Obama and which his reelection campaign has been working to keep.

“The challenges young people and women face in this economy need to be addressed, not exploited for political gain,” Noem said.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney spent the day at Liberty University exploiting young people and non-"jobs" issues for political gain.

Presumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Saturday reaffirmed his stance on same-sex marriage during his commencement address at Liberty University.

"Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman," he told students at the evangelical Christian College.

On Wednesday President Barack Obama announced for the first time that he supports same-sex marriage. On the same day, Romney reaffirmed his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, but believes states should have the ability to extend certain rights to gay couples, short of marriage.

On Thursday, Romney reiterated a stance, long held, that states should be able to decide whether or not same-sex couples can adopt children.

"I know many gay couples are able to adopt children," Romney said in an interview with Fox News. "That is fine. But my preference is we encourage the marriage of a man and a woman and we continue to define marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman."

Sure, sounds like he wants to focus on the economy.  Has Orange Julius's people even talked to Mitt's people?  I'm thinking not.

Bristol Palin Spouts Off Again

Bristol Palin is a chip off the old moose - she has no more a clue when to shut up than her mother.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Bristol Palin says children do better with a mother and father.

The daughter of 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made the comment on the religious website patheos.com. She was responding to President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage. 

This, from the single mother, who grew up in an affluent household, who had the world handed to her on a silver platter, who spouts hate rhetoric against gays and pretends to be sorry when it catches up with her.    She is another example of the stupidity in the country, proudly carrying on her mother's tradition of intolerance and righteous indignation at other people's freedom.

Shut your pie hole, sweetheart, you're drawing flies.

Adopting Quite An Attitude

The Avengers has impressed the vast majority of the people who went to see it.  Whenever people love something, it is like a challenge to some folks that simply must find something to complain about.

Disney’s “The Avengers” has earned almost universally positive reviews and made $200 million in its first weekend. Yet for some in the adoption community, a joke in the film goes too far.

The joke is at the expense of Loki, the film's villain and adopted son of the god, Odin. Loki's brother Thor defends him to fellow Avenger Black Widow, who then points out that Loki’s “killed 80 people in two days.” Thor then replies, “he’s adopted.”  

As noted in a petition created by Jamie Berke on Change.org, “According to your scriptwriter, the fact (Loki) was adopted is the reason he is a bad guy!...Being adopted is not something to use for the butt of jokes! Marvel, immediately cease using adoption as the butt of jokes AND issue a public apology to the adoption community!”

Oh, come on now.  I think that's a bit of an overreaction.  My sister is adopted, so I was raised in a family that was sensitive to the topic, as well as to how people will react without thinking.  I know the thoughtless things people can say.  The funny thing is, my sister resembled my parents more than I did, so when "one of them is adopted" came out they often thought it was me!

Still, this was a quick joke, it never implied that Loki was a bad guy because he was adopted.  In fact, despite the fact that he is a bad guy, his adopted brother still loves him and fights to save him every step of the way.  In my opinion, Marvel owes no apologies, nor do the actors or anyone associated with the picture.

Nobody promises life won't ruffle a feather here or there.  There is a chance that this light, offhand remark caused someone a pinch of pain for someone who is sensitive to being adopted.  Such is life.  I have never viewed adoption as a handicap of any sort, however.  I believe those who say it means the children weren't wanted are not seeing the other side of the coin, where that child was desperately wanted and loved.  Everyone is going to see this differently, filtered through the lens of their own experiences.  Regardless, this was a comment made without malice, and in context truly was a funny comeback.

Jamie Berke, get over yourself.

Doing The Right Thing

The President's stance on gay marriage is far from the catastrophe some are predicting politically.

A new national poll from Gallup shows that 60 percent of Americans say that President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage will make no difference in how they vote. Among those who it will, twice as many Americans said they were less likely to vote for him because of it (26 percent) versus those who would be more likely (13 percent). The poll comes as President Obama became the first sitting chief executive to endorse gay marraige.

Overall, 51 percent of Americans polled approved of President Obama’s new position the policy, while 45 percent were against it.

Might have even helped.  What about the breakdown?

Specifically, 23% of independents and 10% of Democrats say it makes them less likely to vote for Obama, while a smaller 11% of independents and 2% of Republicans say it makes them more likely to vote for Obama. Those figures suggest Obama’s gay marriage position is likely to cost him more independent and Democratic votes than he would gain in independent and Republican votes, clearly indicating that his new position is more of a net minus than a net plus for him. However, those figures also underscore that it is a relatively limited group of voters – about one in three independents and fewer than one in 10 Republicans or Democrats – whose votes may change as a result of Obama’s new stance on gay marriage.

And as everyone keeps saying, six months is an eternity in politics, yes?  Poll the President ending the war in Iraq among the same group of voters, see how that turns out.  It's not going to be the only issue in November but neither is his stance on gay marriage, either.

Even better, poll Mitt Romney's stance on a constitutional amendment to revoke same-sex marriage in the states where it's allowed now.  I'm betting those numbers are worse for him than these are for the President, especially among independents.

So no, not worried about this at all, and he did the right thing.  Shouldn't we be supporting him for doing so?

Big Dog Barks, But Ed Klein Bites

The "liberal media" is trying to divide the Dems and there's all kinds of fault lines.  The Clinton/Obama "fault line" more or less vanished after 2010's election nonsense, but fault lines run deep, and if you flood them with enough sewage they might slip.

Bill Clinton thought so little of President Obama — mocking him as an “amateur” — that he pressed his wife last summer to quit her job as secretary of state and challenge him in the primaries, a new book claims.

“The country needs you!” the former president told Hillary Clinton, urging her to run this year, according to accounts of the conversation included in Edward Klein’s new biography of Obama.

The title of Klein’s explosive, unauthorized bio of Obama, “The Amateur” (Regnery Publishing), was taken directly from Bill Clinton’s bombshell criticism of the president, the author said. 

“Barack Obama,” Bill Clinton said, according to book excerpts, “is an amateur.”

If Edward Klein's name sounds familiar in conjunction with the Clintons, there's a reason for that as Steve M. reminds us about Klein's last book about sinking Hillary Clinton's career in 2005.

 

Its most scurrilous charge was that Chelsea Clinton was conceived during a rape of Hillary by her husband, a charge Klein backed down from when he was challenged by -- of all people -- Sean Hannity.

So we're talking about a guy so sleazy even wingers give him a wide berth (or at least they did back in 2005). And now we have this in the New York Post -- and if we can't prove that Klein is peddling irresponsible nonsense, we can at least say with certainty that he writes some of the most implausible dialogue in the history of the English language.

It's a hit job and a nasty one on the President.  Of course, this isn't 2005, either and the monstrous GOP of today won't even skip a beat when it comes to pushing Klein's book on the air...and more than a few Democrats will bite too.

Obama Derangement Syndrome sells.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Claiming mandatory sentencing laws, a Florida judge has sentenced a woman to 20 years in prison for aggravated assault with a firearm for firing a warning shot to scare off her abusive husband.
• A new documentary shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker promised a billionaire donor he would "divide and conquer" the state's public unions in January of 2011.
• Lawmakers and regulators alike are scrambling for answers in the wake of JP Morgan Chase's $2 billion hedge losses in the last six weeks.
• Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is cashing in his dual-citizenship in the US in order to avoid a major tax bill as the company's IPO nears.
• Amnesty International faces tough questions as the firm's UK website was hacked in order to host a spy trojan that spread across the EU.

Last Call

Harry Reid bemoaned last night the missed opportunity of busting the Senate filibuster last year, considering the GOP invoked its use pretty much every second over the last five and a half years.  Ezra Klein recaps:

Reid’s comments came after Republicans filibustered his attempt to move a House-passed compromise reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. But the proximate cause of Reid’s ire hardly matters. The point is that he’s concluded he was wrong to oppose filibuster reform when Democrats had the chance.

Election wonks I know think that if President Obama wins re-election, Democrats have even odds -- and maybe even a bit better -- of retaining control of the Senate. Their margin will be slim. But a slim margin is all they’ll need for filibuster reform if they follow the Merkley/Udall plan, which uses a process called “the Constitutional option” to change the rules with 51 votes. More on that here.

Ahh, but there's a down side, as I've been saying.  That 53-47 current margin is 3 lost seats from being a tie, and 4 from being the end of the filibuster if the GOP keeps the House (which if they retake the Senate they certainly will).

Consider, though, what this means if Republicans retake the Senate. The leader of the Senate Democrats appears to have endorsed some version of filibuster reform. That doesn’t make filibuster reform an inevitability. But it does make it likelier. And wouldn’t Republicans prefer it happen on their watch than when the Democrats control the institution? Probably.

It's very likely if the GOP takes both chambers of Congress and 100% guaranteed if that happens and Romney wins.  Now that Reid has opened the gates, the Republicans will start making the argument that if they do take the whole ball of wax, the only way to get rid of all that "Obama socialism" is to axe the filibuster.

Of course, as voters, we ultimately determine that fate.  Get out there and register a friend to vote this week.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

Bring on the meteor. Thanks.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An unidentified entrepreneur admits he is trying to profit off Trayvon Martin's death by selling gun range targets featuring the teen who's death has sparked a nationwide controversy. Although Martin's face does not appear on the paper targets, they feature a hoodie with crosshairs aimed at the chest. A bag of Skittles is tucked in the pocket and a hand is holding a can resembling iced tea.

The wall of fire resulting from impact will be nifty.

"This is the highest level of disgust and the lowest level of civility," said Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara. O'Mara said he is worried about how Martin's parents will react to the image of their son on a target intended to be used for shooting practice. The attorney is also concerned the targets will further inflame the community. "It's this type of hatred -- that's what this is, it's hate-mongering -- that's going to make it more difficult to try this case," said O'Mara. Local 6 has been unable to determine the identity of the seller, who had also set up a website to sell the gun range targets. In an email exchange with reporter Mike DeForest, the seller wrote, "My main motivation was to make money off the controversy."

It can't come soon enough, I figure. Going to print this story off and place it in a bowl of delicious Purina Meteor Chow and see what comes 'round.