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Category: Society Page 62 of 69

Bush (Re)Discovers the Western Hemisphere!

By

On March 8, 2007

In Policy, Society

You know, in those pre-9/11 days, one of the few hopes I held out for a Bush Administration was that we’d see some serious efforts at integrating the economies of North, Central, and South America.  Vicente Fox was obviously a Bush kind of guy, and folks like me (or, admittedly, perhaps just me) hadn’t entirely written off NAFTA as something that could actually bring some good to everyone.  But then comes 9/11, and that agenda disappears completely.  US policy towards Central/South America from 2001-present consists largely of shipping buckets of money to Columbia and getting into pissing matches with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez (and the mess that is CAFTA).

So, Bush is heading down to Central and South America to say, “Oh, sorry we ignored you for the past six years.”  As usual, we can count on our media to do a bang-up job of covering the issues.  Here, the WaPo reporter heading along with him promises all the juicy details – starting with how *hard* it is to have to wait for your flight at Andrews Air Force Base.  I suspect we’ll get better news in the comments than the reports.

Faggot

By

On March 6, 2007

In Politics, Society

Andrew Sullivan says all that needs to be said.  Now let’s make sure we never give her another ounce of attention.

Sgt. Eric Alva: Still Fighting

By

On February 28, 2007

In Policy, Politics, Society

Sgt. Eric Alva finished his career with the Marines (and a life with two legs) when he stepped on a land mine on March 21, 2003, the first day of “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”  As the Washington Post notes, he was widely honored as the first American casualty of the war, with personal visits from Rumsfeld and Bush.  I wonder if they’ll be seen with him now that he’s come out:

[I] can almost hear it now — “Oh, yeah, he’s that gay Marine.” I’m okay with that. The truth is, something’s wrong with this ban. I have to say something. I mean, you’re asking men and women to lie about their orientation, to keep their personal lives private, so they can defend the rights and freedoms of others in this country, and be told, “Well, oh, yeah, if you ever decide to really meet someone of the same sex and you want the same rights, sorry, buddy, you don’t have the right.”

Fighting over here, so we can fight over there.  Or something like that.   Thank you, Sgt. Alva.

~

Today, Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) introduced – with 109 cosponsors – a bill to finally get rid of the abomination that is the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.  It’s not a matter over which reasonable people can disagree – it’s long past time to end it.

I love George Takei

By

On February 20, 2007

In Personal, Society

This is just brilliant.

Attention K-Mart Shoppers: Ted Haggard No Longer Gay!

By

On February 6, 2007

In Society

But he still has to get the hell out of Colorado, anyway.

(I’m pretty sure we’ve reached the point where it’s impossible to parody these people . . .)

Jesus Camp

By

On February 5, 2007

In Personal, Society

Heartbreaking.

Is it absurd enough, yet?

By

On January 31, 2007

In Policy, Society

So, Boston’s mistaking a cartoon promotion for a terrorist threat gives us two choices:

1) we can realize how utterly ridiculous it is to treat everything under the sun as a “security threat” or

2) we can sharpen our pitchforks, light our torches, and start looking for witches. Any bets on which way it’ll go?

Sigh.

(For those who haven’t seen them yet, these are the “suspicious devices” that shut down one of our busiest (and generally very smart) cities.)

Update: shocker.

The “First Americans”?

By

On January 24, 2007

In Society, Virginia

This magazine cover caught my eye, today.  It’s a story on the 400 year anniversary of Jamestown that is curiously titled “The First Americans.”  Is U.S. News & World Report telling us that there was no one living in North America before 1607?

It’s a very strange choice of title, indeed.

Del. Frank Hargrove, another VA GOP Shining Star

By

On January 16, 2007

In Society, Virginia

While debating a proposed resolution apologizing for Virginia’s role in slavery, we encounter another of the Virginia GOP’s best and brightest:

“I personally think that our black citizens should get over it,” [Del. Frank] Hargrove said of slavery, which existed in Virginia from 1619 until the Civil War. “By golly, we’re living in 2007.”

But wait, it gets better!

“Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?” Hargrove wondered. “Nobody living today had anything to do with it.”

Must be seeking the GOP nomination for the Senate, or something . . .

Updated to add:  Really, to hear so many objections from a conservative population that otherwise fetishizes empty gestures (One nation under God, In God We Trust) should be surprising. But, of course, it isn’t. Because if there’s anything more predictable about many of today’s “conservatives” than pointless public proclamations of faith, it’s their steadfast devotion to racism.

Celebrating the un-American

By

On January 13, 2007

In Law, Society

Jim Hoeft, at Bearing Drift, ably takes on official Virginia’s celebration of Lee-Jackson Day. I find Lee-Jackson Day even more offensive than I did the Confederate Memorial holiday that always surprised me with a day off when I lived in Georgia . . .

~

And speaking of celebrating un-American values, why is this man still working at the Defense Department? Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (for detainee affairs) Cully Stimson, is a former federal attorney and Navy lawyer. And yet he had the . . . I don’t even know what to call it . . to say this on Federal News Radio:

“It’s shocking. The major law firms in this country . . . are out there representing detainees.”

[ . . . ]

”I think quite honestly when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists that hit their bottom line in 2001,” he said, “those CEOs are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms.”

When I heard that on the radio this morning, my jaw dropped.  It’s a subject for a much longer post, but if there is one thing I can point to that gives me hope for the profession as a whole, it’s the willingness of such firms to step in and do exactly what they’re doing – devoting enormous amounts of resources to very unpopular causes and clients, pro bono.  Karen Mathis, president of the ABA, put it well:

‘Lawyers represent people in criminal cases to fulfill a core American value: the treatment of all people equally before the law.  To impugn those who are doing this critical work — and doing it on a volunteer basis — is deeply offensive to members of the legal profession, and we hope to all Americans.”

More on Stimson’s appalling contribution to the public conversation here.

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