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December 29, 2005
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
TV ads on DeLay to run in three GOP districts. We usually don't like to run "Activism" items that ask for money. But since money is really the lifeblood of politics, from time to time there are causes that we think might warrant your donations. In particular, getting rid of Tom DeLay from the House would be a fantastic accomplishment, and we think that effort is worth your attention. No one knows what's going to happen with DeLay. Will the GOP turn on him? Will he be booted for ethics violations? Or will he run again? We don't know. But we do know that the longer we can keep the spotlight on this horrible person, the more likely we are to expose his lack or morality for all to see. So, go to the link, view the ads, and contribute what you can. If you can't, then at least write a letter to your local paper.
News
The Army You Have. We're not exactly sure this is what Rumsfeld had in mind when he told troops that they had to go to war "with the army you have, not the army you'd wish you have." Troops in Iraq have a new transport vehicle called "Stryker." The vehicle is so overweight that it requires daily maintenence to the tires. Extra armor that adorns the Stryker causes the vehicle to greatly lose speed in mud. The main weapons system does not work when the vehicle is in motion. The seat belts cannot be used when soldiers are armored up. Oh, and the vehicles armor is effective roughly 50% of the time. Yet we've spent $11 billion on these vehicles. You hear that, troops? No more complaining! You demanded armor, and you got it. You never specified that the armor had to be effective, though...
No, I'm Afraid You Cannot Have Fries With That. Pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills. These pharmacists maintain that dispensing the medication violates their personal moral or religious beliefs. Some even deliver stern lectures when they tell the patient that they will not fill the prescription. Can you imagine anything so ridiculous? It is one thing for a doctor to refuse to prescribe, say, birth control for a patient. But a pharmacist is not a doctor. The pharmacist is the middle man between you and the medication. The pharmacist cannot prescribe you something different, and has no right to interfere with the process. Imagine going to McDonalds, ordering a Big Mac, and being told by the person behind the counter that they won't serve it to you, as it violates their beliefs because they're a vegetarian. If the pharmacy, as a corporate entity, decides not to stock certain medications, that is one thing. But for a pharmacy to have the medication, and a pharmacist refuse to fill a prescription for it is beyond lunacy.
Props to GOP Judges. Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, refused to reconsider Terri Schiavo's case. Late last night, the Supreme Court also refused. While the latter may seem important, the former is far more telling. In Birch's statement, he wrote, "When the fervor of political passions moves the executive and legislative branches to act in ways inimical to basic constitutional principles, it is the duty of the judiciary to intervene. If sacrifices to the independence of the judiciary are permitted today, precedent is established for the constitutional transgressions of tomorrow." Here's the catch - Judge Birch is widely known as a conservative Republican. Last year, he wrote the ruling for a three-judge panel of the court unanimously upholding a Florida law that prohibits gay men and lesbians from adopting children. His personal politics aside, we commend Judge Birch for recognizing that Bush and the Congress have no jurisdiction to demand the case be re-opened, and for calling them on it.
Editorials
Schiavo: Case Closed. Well, Keith Olbermann thinks so. If you've been following this Schiavo saga (we know that news coverage has been a little slim), you've probably noticed that one of the right's favorite arguments is that Michael Schiavo (Terri's husband) was an abusive husband, and wants Terri's life ended to cover himself. Well, on Tuesday, Michael announced that he wanted to delay the cremation of his wife so that an autopsy may be performed. As Olbermann says, "If he, as some blood relatives of his wife now suggest after a decade of suggesting otherwise, somehow abused her, or he led to the heart stoppage that put her in her present state, it is not likely to be missed by the autopsy." So, if Michael had an ulterior motive for pulling the feeding tube, wouldn't it show up on an autopsy? This question should now be put to rest, but, of course, it won't be. If you want some additional satisfaction of seeing the right's distortions of this issue exposed, check out this video of Joe Scarborough getting verbally destroyed by a doctor.
The Marginalization Outrage. Our new favorite Republican (there's not a whole lot of competition), The Cunning Realist, weighs in with an important question that hasn't been asked in a while: Where is Osama bin Laden? If only mor Republicans were as cunning, and as "real". TCR asks because he read this article about Bush selling fighter jets to Pakistan. But isn't Pakistan one of those countries that suppresses democracy? Additionally, hasn't Musharraf been completely unhelpful in delivering bin Laden? TCR asks: "Can you imagine if---just a few months after 9/11---a President Gore said breezily that he 'truly was not that concerned' about the person who had organized and financed the murder of thousands of American civilians? How would Conservatives have reacted?" Good question, TCR. You're such a realist!
Log Cabin's Drug Money. You may have heard of the "Log Cabin Republicans", a group of gay, well, Republicans, obviously. Seems kind of strange, eh? We've all started to understand how certain groups can be convinced to vote against their own economic self-interest, but you have to wonder about people who support a party that supports policies that blatantly discriminate against them. Mike Signorile discusses how it looked like they might be waking up, as they refused to endorse Dubya in the 2004 election. Sadly, though, they've slowly been reverting to supporting Bush. They've been pushing for his Social Security plan (even when ads have been exploting gays), and they've also been stumping for the pharmaceutical industry as they try to stop generic AIDS drugs from being developed. It's a sad situation when, as Signorile says, the Log Cabin folks are "gay people who are so greedy and lacking in dignity that theyll help out in the [gay] bashing."
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December 29, 2005
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
TV ads on DeLay to run in three GOP districts. We usually don't like to run "Activism" items that ask for money. But since money is really the lifeblood of politics, from time to time there are causes that we think might warrant your donations. In particular, getting rid of Tom DeLay from the House would be a fantastic accomplishment, and we think that effort is worth your attention. No one knows what's going to happen with DeLay. Will the GOP turn on him? Will he be booted for ethics violations? Or will he run again? We don't know. But we do know that the longer we can keep the spotlight on this horrible person, the more likely we are to expose his lack or morality for all to see. So, go to the link, view the ads, and contribute what you can. If you can't, then at least write a letter to your local paper.
News
The Army You Have. We're not exactly sure this is what Rumsfeld had in mind when he told troops that they had to go to war "with the army you have, not the army you'd wish you have." Troops in Iraq have a new transport vehicle called "Stryker." The vehicle is so overweight that it requires daily maintenence to the tires. Extra armor that adorns the Stryker causes the vehicle to greatly lose speed in mud. The main weapons system does not work when the vehicle is in motion. The seat belts cannot be used when soldiers are armored up. Oh, and the vehicles armor is effective roughly 50% of the time. Yet we've spent $11 billion on these vehicles. You hear that, troops? No more complaining! You demanded armor, and you got it. You never specified that the armor had to be effective, though...
No, I'm Afraid You Cannot Have Fries With That. Pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills. These pharmacists maintain that dispensing the medication violates their personal moral or religious beliefs. Some even deliver stern lectures when they tell the patient that they will not fill the prescription. Can you imagine anything so ridiculous? It is one thing for a doctor to refuse to prescribe, say, birth control for a patient. But a pharmacist is not a doctor. The pharmacist is the middle man between you and the medication. The pharmacist cannot prescribe you something different, and has no right to interfere with the process. Imagine going to McDonalds, ordering a Big Mac, and being told by the person behind the counter that they won't serve it to you, as it violates their beliefs because they're a vegetarian. If the pharmacy, as a corporate entity, decides not to stock certain medications, that is one thing. But for a pharmacy to have the medication, and a pharmacist refuse to fill a prescription for it is beyond lunacy.
Props to GOP Judges. Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, refused to reconsider Terri Schiavo's case. Late last night, the Supreme Court also refused. While the latter may seem important, the former is far more telling. In Birch's statement, he wrote, "When the fervor of political passions moves the executive and legislative branches to act in ways inimical to basic constitutional principles, it is the duty of the judiciary to intervene. If sacrifices to the independence of the judiciary are permitted today, precedent is established for the constitutional transgressions of tomorrow." Here's the catch - Judge Birch is widely known as a conservative Republican. Last year, he wrote the ruling for a three-judge panel of the court unanimously upholding a Florida law that prohibits gay men and lesbians from adopting children. His personal politics aside, we commend Judge Birch for recognizing that Bush and the Congress have no jurisdiction to demand the case be re-opened, and for calling them on it.
Editorials
Schiavo: Case Closed. Well, Keith Olbermann thinks so. If you've been following this Schiavo saga (we know that news coverage has been a little slim), you've probably noticed that one of the right's favorite arguments is that Michael Schiavo (Terri's husband) was an abusive husband, and wants Terri's life ended to cover himself. Well, on Tuesday, Michael announced that he wanted to delay the cremation of his wife so that an autopsy may be performed. As Olbermann says, "If he, as some blood relatives of his wife now suggest after a decade of suggesting otherwise, somehow abused her, or he led to the heart stoppage that put her in her present state, it is not likely to be missed by the autopsy." So, if Michael had an ulterior motive for pulling the feeding tube, wouldn't it show up on an autopsy? This question should now be put to rest, but, of course, it won't be. If you want some additional satisfaction of seeing the right's distortions of this issue exposed, check out this video of Joe Scarborough getting verbally destroyed by a doctor.
The Marginalization Outrage. Our new favorite Republican (there's not a whole lot of competition), The Cunning Realist, weighs in with an important question that hasn't been asked in a while: Where is Osama bin Laden? If only mor Republicans were as cunning, and as "real". TCR asks because he read this article about Bush selling fighter jets to Pakistan. But isn't Pakistan one of those countries that suppresses democracy? Additionally, hasn't Musharraf been completely unhelpful in delivering bin Laden? TCR asks: "Can you imagine if---just a few months after 9/11---a President Gore said breezily that he 'truly was not that concerned' about the person who had organized and financed the murder of thousands of American civilians? How would Conservatives have reacted?" Good question, TCR. You're such a realist!
Log Cabin's Drug Money. You may have heard of the "Log Cabin Republicans", a group of gay, well, Republicans, obviously. Seems kind of strange, eh? We've all started to understand how certain groups can be convinced to vote against their own economic self-interest, but you have to wonder about people who support a party that supports policies that blatantly discriminate against them. Mike Signorile discusses how it looked like they might be waking up, as they refused to endorse Dubya in the 2004 election. Sadly, though, they've slowly been reverting to supporting Bush. They've been pushing for his Social Security plan (even when ads have been exploting gays), and they've also been stumping for the pharmaceutical industry as they try to stop generic AIDS drugs from being developed. It's a sad situation when, as Signorile says, the Log Cabin folks are "gay people who are so greedy and lacking in dignity that theyll help out in the [gay] bashing."
|
December 29, 2005
TV ads on DeLay to run in three GOP districts. We usually don't like to run "Activism" items that ask for money. But since money is really the lifeblood of politics, from time to time there are causes that we think might warrant your donations. In particular, getting rid of Tom DeLay from the House would be a fantastic accomplishment, and we think that effort is worth your attention. No one knows what's going to happen with DeLay. Will the GOP turn on him? Will he be booted for ethics violations? Or will he run again? We don't know. But we do know that the longer we can keep the spotlight on this horrible person, the more likely we are to expose his lack or morality for all to see. So, go to the link, view the ads, and contribute what you can. If you can't, then at least write a letter to your local paper.
News
The Army You Have. We're not exactly sure this is what Rumsfeld had in mind when he told troops that they had to go to war "with the army you have, not the army you'd wish you have." Troops in Iraq have a new transport vehicle called "Stryker." The vehicle is so overweight that it requires daily maintenence to the tires. Extra armor that adorns the Stryker causes the vehicle to greatly lose speed in mud. The main weapons system does not work when the vehicle is in motion. The seat belts cannot be used when soldiers are armored up. Oh, and the vehicles armor is effective roughly 50% of the time. Yet we've spent $11 billion on these vehicles. You hear that, troops? No more complaining! You demanded armor, and you got it. You never specified that the armor had to be effective, though...
No, I'm Afraid You Cannot Have Fries With That. Pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills. These pharmacists maintain that dispensing the medication violates their personal moral or religious beliefs. Some even deliver stern lectures when they tell the patient that they will not fill the prescription. Can you imagine anything so ridiculous? It is one thing for a doctor to refuse to prescribe, say, birth control for a patient. But a pharmacist is not a doctor. The pharmacist is the middle man between you and the medication. The pharmacist cannot prescribe you something different, and has no right to interfere with the process. Imagine going to McDonalds, ordering a Big Mac, and being told by the person behind the counter that they won't serve it to you, as it violates their beliefs because they're a vegetarian. If the pharmacy, as a corporate entity, decides not to stock certain medications, that is one thing. But for a pharmacy to have the medication, and a pharmacist refuse to fill a prescription for it is beyond lunacy.
Props to GOP Judges. Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, refused to reconsider Terri Schiavo's case. Late last night, the Supreme Court also refused. While the latter may seem important, the former is far more telling. In Birch's statement, he wrote, "When the fervor of political passions moves the executive and legislative branches to act in ways inimical to basic constitutional principles, it is the duty of the judiciary to intervene. If sacrifices to the independence of the judiciary are permitted today, precedent is established for the constitutional transgressions of tomorrow." Here's the catch - Judge Birch is widely known as a conservative Republican. Last year, he wrote the ruling for a three-judge panel of the court unanimously upholding a Florida law that prohibits gay men and lesbians from adopting children. His personal politics aside, we commend Judge Birch for recognizing that Bush and the Congress have no jurisdiction to demand the case be re-opened, and for calling them on it.
Editorials
Schiavo: Case Closed. Well, Keith Olbermann thinks so. If you've been following this Schiavo saga (we know that news coverage has been a little slim), you've probably noticed that one of the right's favorite arguments is that Michael Schiavo (Terri's husband) was an abusive husband, and wants Terri's life ended to cover himself. Well, on Tuesday, Michael announced that he wanted to delay the cremation of his wife so that an autopsy may be performed. As Olbermann says, "If he, as some blood relatives of his wife now suggest after a decade of suggesting otherwise, somehow abused her, or he led to the heart stoppage that put her in her present state, it is not likely to be missed by the autopsy." So, if Michael had an ulterior motive for pulling the feeding tube, wouldn't it show up on an autopsy? This question should now be put to rest, but, of course, it won't be. If you want some additional satisfaction of seeing the right's distortions of this issue exposed, check out this video of Joe Scarborough getting verbally destroyed by a doctor.
The Marginalization Outrage. Our new favorite Republican (there's not a whole lot of competition), The Cunning Realist, weighs in with an important question that hasn't been asked in a while: Where is Osama bin Laden? If only mor Republicans were as cunning, and as "real". TCR asks because he read this article about Bush selling fighter jets to Pakistan. But isn't Pakistan one of those countries that suppresses democracy? Additionally, hasn't Musharraf been completely unhelpful in delivering bin Laden? TCR asks: "Can you imagine if---just a few months after 9/11---a President Gore said breezily that he 'truly was not that concerned' about the person who had organized and financed the murder of thousands of American civilians? How would Conservatives have reacted?" Good question, TCR. You're such a realist!
Log Cabin's Drug Money. You may have heard of the "Log Cabin Republicans", a group of gay, well, Republicans, obviously. Seems kind of strange, eh? We've all started to understand how certain groups can be convinced to vote against their own economic self-interest, but you have to wonder about people who support a party that supports policies that blatantly discriminate against them. Mike Signorile discusses how it looked like they might be waking up, as they refused to endorse Dubya in the 2004 election. Sadly, though, they've slowly been reverting to supporting Bush. They've been pushing for his Social Security plan (even when ads have been exploting gays), and they've also been stumping for the pharmaceutical industry as they try to stop generic AIDS drugs from being developed. It's a sad situation when, as Signorile says, the Log Cabin folks are "gay people who are so greedy and lacking in dignity that theyll help out in the [gay] bashing."
