Deep Something

This is a CNN Video of Ted Olson discussing the ruling by Judge Walker today in the Constitutional Challenge to California’s Proposition 8. As you’ve probably now heard, Judge Walked declared Proposition 8 Unconstitutional, and basically said if failed on strict scrutiny and on a rational basis argument.

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OK, I admit I’d not given much thought to the Democratic Primary for 11th Congressional District. I’m not overly impressed with Cathy Castor, but she’s generally socially progressive, so I expected to vote for her. I frankly didn’t even know she had an opponent. That changed tonight, and Tim Curtis has earned my vote.

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Yes, that’s right folks. I knew it would be just a matter of time, but the tea bagger crazies are now claiming the oil spill in the Gulf was caused by God. So why would you say God would blow up an oil drilling platform off the Louisiana coast? Well, Katrina was because of those devil worshiping, gays down in New Orleans, so you might think this was because the people down there keep electing prostitution supporter, diaper wearing David Vitter, but you would be wrong. Turns out, it’s all Obama’s fault.

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Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-1st TX) speaking on the floor about the terrorists babies coming to destroy our way of life. He reports a conversation with an un-named “retired” FBI agent who claimed terrorists were gaming our system by sneaking in pregnant women to have their babies here, then taking them back (and they don’t even have to pay anything for the babies) and raising them in the “terrorist way of life,” so they can send them back in 20-30 years to destroy our way of life.

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This is a letter written to Republican House Member Todd Akin in response to remarks he made today in a floor speech concern the possible repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Funny thing, we owe our victory over the British to a Gay General, and Akin wants to invoke Washington and what he would think.

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D. C. Douglas lost his gig as the voice-over announcer for Geico commercials after leaving a rather nasty message on the voice mail for the Teabagger group known as FreedomWorks. This is a hilarious satirical video about their reaction to his message, and calls out the Teabagger for what it actually is…an astro-turf, Koch Industry’s funded front group which has managed to get people to vote against their own best interests in support of big corporations.

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As most of you know, the United States Senate has a cloture rule which requires at least 60 votes to end debate to then vote up or down on the bill itself. It is important to note that the Constitution says nothing about the rules of the Senate, and does not require such a super-majority. Should the rule be modified to require a lower threshold for cloture, or eliminated all together? Tell us what you think in our poll.

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Many obstacles and stumbling blocks remain in the way of health care reform. The House and Senate bills will have to be merged, and then the House and Senate both will vote on the final bill. But just for fun, let’s look at what conventional wisdom says will be in the final bill and see if there is anything in it that will be an immediate benefit to people with mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos-related disease.

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Below is a youtube of a segment from Meet The Press this past Sunday in which E. J. Dionne calls out Sen. Orrin Hatch for the Republican’s continuing bullshit about the use of reconciliation to pass things based on a simple majority vote in the Senate. We need to be discussing policy and health insurance reform (or elimination), but instead, all the Republicans can come up with to try to “win” is to run around like Chicken Little complaining that the sky will fall if some Senate procedure is “out-procedured.”

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The New York Times has a Reuters report that five AIG executives wrote letters on December 1 stating they may quit if their salary and bonuses are cut.The senior executives at American International Group told the insurer last week they may quit if their compensation was cut significantly by the U.S. pay czar, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. I think this would fall under the auspices of that grand old southern phrase, “Well bless their hearts.”

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Although defeated because of eight regressive Democrats in the New York State Senate, straight Senator Diane Savino gives one of the finest floor speeches I’ve ever heard, and does an outstanding job of making the case for the importance of equality for all. This is a must watch.

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Today’s stupid health insurance company tricks includes one lady’s experience of having her insurance company deny paying for the treatment of her broken wrist because it was a “pre-existing condition,” my experience with having denial codes that even the insurance company can’t explain, and the writings of some conservatives who say we can’t reform heath care insurance because it would make a more decent society and let us enjoy more leisure time.

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From time to time I have a discussion of politics with someone at work. He’s very much a conservative Republican. Yesterday our discussion went to how far off the cliff the most extreme elements of theright-wing have gone. He kept insisting there were extremists on the left as well. And now come forth the Psalmists. Apparently they are now printing the phrase, “Psalm 109,” on mouse pads, bumper stickers, and even teddy bears. The Biblical verse Psalm 109: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children become fatherless; and his wife become a widow.”

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We’ve got crazies coming out of the woodwork. In Tampa we have a guy calling 911 for phone sex, and another guy taking a tire iron to a Greek Orthodox Priest (because we all know how easy it is to mistake them for Arab Terrorists), and a “Christian” group wanting to try to incite people to gay bash so they can become martyrs charged under the revised hate crimes law. WWJW

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In the Maine same-sex-marriage campaign 87-year-old Philip Spooner, a World War II veteran spoke in favor of same sex marriage at public hearing at the Augusta Civic Center last spring. Spooner says he is a life-long Republican who believes gay and lesbians should have equal rights. He says it’s what he fought for in WWII, and says he didn’t raise four sons for three of them to have equal rights, and the gay son to be treated differently.

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Republicans sound like they’re conducting a giant experiment in saying whatever they can get away with, and I suspect they’re surprised as any of us by some of the results. That’s probably too harsh, though. What’s worse is that a good chunk of them might believe the stuff they say.

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Wired.com has a story out of Kansas about a copier salesman who is Suing his former employer for wrongful termination. His claim is that his boss sent out e-mail telling employees they would be fired for voting for Obama. I’m not convinced on this one. What do you think about bringing electoral politics into the workplace?

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As usual, Keith Olberman does a good job of explaining the need for healthcare reform, and explaining the public option. Olberman cites a comment by Winston Churchill: Churchill’s argument was this, “I have heard it said that the government had no mandate such a doctrine is wholly inadmissible. The responsibility for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate!”

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CIGNA took in $19.1 billion dollars in revenue last year, with a $292 million dollar income. That doesn’t include the salaries given to people like CEO Ed Hanway. He made a cool $12 million last year, and over the past five years he took in $120 million. Hanway has $28 million in unexcercised stock options.

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There’s no public option in Senator Max Baucus’ Healthcare bill. Instead, we are forced to buy private insurance. This is a major step backwards for the healthcare reform movement! Watch the video and call your senator at (202) 224-3121.

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