Pedantic Political Ponderings

30 March 2012

FollowUp 18: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

It is now official. There will be a gubernatorial recall election in Wisconsin on 5 June 2012. The Democratic primary election will be 8 May 2012.

As we discussed previously here, there were many allegations of fraud in signing the petitions. It turns out that the petitions were almost pristine according to Channel 3000.

According to a GAB news release on Thursday, staff struck 26,114 signatures and found 4,001 duplicate signatures of the 931,053 originally submitted by recall organizers on the Walker petition.

Despite widespread accusations of fraud on petitions to recall Walker, elections officials said they found only five fakes names.

Of the more than 930,000 signatures submitted, the Government Accountability Board said Thursday that only 30,115 were struck. That is just over 3 percent.

Of those struck, there were 4,001 duplicates and just five fictitious names. Those were Adolf Hitler, Mick E. Mous, Donald L. Duck, Fungky Van Den Elzen, and I Love Scott Walker Thanks.

The big problem for the Wisconsin Democrats is getting a candidate. The Democrat most likely to beat Scott Walker on 5 June, former Senator Russ Feingold, says that he will not run. Madison.Com has a two minute clip on the problem (which I tried to embed, but can't seem to get right). Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Wisconsin Attorney General Doug LaFollette are both seeking to unseat Scott Walker. As the clip on that site indicates, voters aren't thrilled, but would prefer the Mayor of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is not in the race at this time, but is considered by many to be the best hope for ousting Governor Walker. It is time for the Democrats to get their act together and quickly. The 5th of June is coming up fast and the 8th of May even faster.

That Tom Barrett lost in 2010 to Scott Walker does not predetermine a rematch. However, if Wisconsinites believe the propaganda that Mr. Walker and the Koch brothers are spreading, then Mr. Walker can continue to lie to the people of Wisconsin from the Governor's office.

16 November 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
30 November 2011, FollowUp 1.
4 December 2011, FollowUp 2.
11 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
14 December 2011, FollowUp 4.
15 December 2011, FollowUp 5.
30 December 2011, FollowUp 6.
13 January 2012, FollowUp 7.
17 January 2012, FollowUp 8.
25 January 2012, FollowUp 9.
2 February 2012, FollowUp 10.
9 February 2012, FollowUp 11.
12 February 2012, FollowUp 12.
18 February 2012, FollowUp 13.
22 February 2012, FollowUp 14.
6 March 2012, FollowUp 15.
12 March 2012, FollowUp 16.
16 March 2012, FollowUp 17.

31 March 2012, FollowUp 19.
3 April 2012, FollowUp 20.
4 April 2012, FollowUp 21.
11 April 2012, FollowUp 22.
14 April 2012, FollowUp 23.
17 April 2012, FollowUp 24.
21 April 2012, FollowUp 25.
29 April 2012, FollowUp 26.
2 May 2012, FollowUp 27.
6 May 2012, FollowUp 28.
10 May 2012, FollowUp 29.
13 May 2012, FollowUp 30.
23 May 2012, FollowUp 31.
24 May 2012, FollowUp 32.
30 May 2012, FollowUp 33.
2 June 2012, FollowUp 34.
4 June 2012, FollowUp 35.
5 June 2012, FollowUp 36.

FollowUp 1: Bully, the Movie

As reported today at One News Now, the blog of the hate group the American Family Association, since Bully did not have its MPAA rating reduced from R, they are releasing it without a rating so that teens will be allowed to see it. Naturally, the Parents Television Council (PTC) is upset.

The movie, about the rising problem of bullying in America, received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) due to profanity. And despite protests calling for a downgrade to PG-13, the MPAA has held its ground. So the makers of the film will release the movie as "unrated" and are asking theaters to back down on a longstanding policy.

"They're doing an end-run essentially around the MPAA by encouraging theaters to show unrated movies. And I think they're setting a dangerous precedent that in the future, anytime a studio gets a rating on a movie that they don't like, they can just go ahead and release an unrated version," warns PTC's Melissa Henson. "They [will] have precedent for theaters now showing unrated films."

Harvey Weinstein and his company say they are defying the ratings board so more children can see the movie that deals with the "epidemic of teen bullying." But if that were the case, Henson says Weinstein could have simply removed the profanity. But he refused, claiming the content is staying "because it's real."

Bully is not yet released to most theaters. It will likely be important for students to see.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

23 March 2012: Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

29 March 2012

FollowUp 1: SPLC Challenges DOMA

The Southern Poverty Law Center has produced this new video featuring Sgt. Tracey Cooper-Harris and her fight for equal treatment as she battles multiple sclerosis. Mrs. Cooper-Harris does not have unlimited time to achieve equality. The clock is ticking loudly for her. The time for full equality is now.

2 February 2012: Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

28 March 2012

Praise: Pride Week at Norwich University

The last week of March is not when one usually thinks of Pride Week, usually a Summer event timed to be near the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots or a similar historic event. But the Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies Club is holding it this week. Let's phrase this another way, the oldest military academy in the United States, founded in 1819 as a military academy, is holding its first Pride Week.

The Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies Club held its first meeting the day of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). From their blurb on the Student Clubs page

The Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies club (NULGBTQA) was founded on the day of Don't Ask Don't Tell’s repeal, Sept. 20, 2011. The club specializes in providing a fun, engaging and safe environment for LGBTQ students and their allies to share ideas and information.

Each week the club meets in a open, glass-walled area within the Wise Campus Center to discuss current or historical issues of LGBTQ culture. The positive camaraderie of the atmosphere has been tremendously successful in creating an environment of personal growth and self-confidence.

It is the first of its kind in the nation, stemming from the oldest private military college in America. And from the day of its founding, its members have lived by their motto that states; “You Are Not Alone.“

Despite DADT, Norwich was not a school that explicitly discriminated according to the Washington Post.

As an institution, Norwich never banned open homosexuality in the corps of cadets, but because many of its students were destined for the military, which prior to the end of “don’t ask don’t tell” the law served to keep people quiet, said Norwich spokeswoman Daphne Larkin.

It is not surprising that some don't like the new club, but at Norwich they work together anyway.

Some members of Norwich’s Christian Fellowship have been uncomfortable with gay student club, but the two organizations have worked together, with members of each attending some of the other’s meetings, said biology emeritus professor Carlos Pinkham, the Christian group’s faculty adviser.

“We make it clear to them that we use the bible as our guide and that as a result we can’t condone the stuff they do,” Pinkham said. “But the Bible is also equally clear, in fact, even more clear. ... Being judgmental about the sin without extending love to the sinner is another form of sin.”

The week includes many activities (two activities each day, plus information tables and booths).

Monday: LGBTQ Bias/Harassment and bullying; Tie Dye T-Shirt.
Tuesday: Rapid HIV Testing; Condom Olympics.
Wednesday: Anatomy of Hate (Film); Dinner and Chat with local Veteran.
Thursday: Arts and Crafts; Ally Presentation.
Friday: HIV Prevention; Lord, save us from your followers (Film).
Saturday: Queer Prom; Free Love Dance.

Amazingly, the film on Friday, Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, is co-sponsored by the Christian Fellowship. I know that many have come a long way in the very short time since the repeal of DADT, but the students of Norwich University have traveled further than I imagined possible in less than a year. Kudos to all the students who are working together. Bravo!

27 March 2012

Repudiation: NOM the Divisive

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Breaking news this morning was the unsealing of court records in Maine that exposed the so-called National Organization for Marriage (long purveyors of hate and lies) campaign to create a division between the Black Community and the LGBTQ Community. There is more at ABC News, Slate Magazine, the Maddow Blog, perhaps originating at Buzzfeed.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

27 March 2012 Update: The story has been picked up this evening by The Washington Post.

27 March 2012 Update 2: The Washington Post article included a link to one of the important court documents. This document outlines much of the plans to set minority groups against one another and mentions, without identifying who, that there are three donors contributing a million dollars each to the "National Organization for Marriage". They have a twenty million dollar budget which is now including an international component.

26 March 2012: Marriage News Watch

25 March 2012

Praise: Rueben Lack on Gender Neutral Prom

Alpharetta High School is located in the suburbs North of Atlanta, part of the Fulton County School District. Students elected Reuben Lack to be their Student Body President, a position he held until early February of this year. As the video from Channel 11 indicates, Mr. Lack believes that he was removed from his position for advocating greater equality, specifically gender neutral titles for the positions traditionally known as the Prom King and Prom Queen, at school functions.

The school district is disputing Mr. Lack's account of what happened in a letter from Samantha Evans.

"We’ve taken a look at what the individual is alleging and it’s just not the case. The district is confident that as the details surface through the legal process they will support that. The principal and teachers at Alpharetta High were very careful to take great care and be fair to all students involved when making the leadership change for this student body position," Evans said in her statement for the school system.

Courthouse News offers a timeline and description of the events, according to the legal complaint Mr. Lack filed, that led to Mr. Lack's removal from student leadership.

"At the January 12, 2012, meeting of the student council, Lack introduced a resolution to modify AHS's 'Prom King and Queen' tradition to make it inclusive to gay and lesbian students. Lack suggested a number of options, including changing the tradition simply to 'Prom Court' so that a same-sex couple could be elected," the complaint states.

"Lack followed parliamentary procedure regarding the resolution, opening the floor to student debate about the issue. An extended debate about the issue occurred among the students. Werre, who was present as faculty advisor, interrupted the debate, and demanded that the topic be dropped. She instructed the students to cease discussing the topic, and dictated that the resolution would not be adopted, without any formal vote.

"At the following meeting of January 26, 2012, Lack again introduced the resolution to modify the 'Prom King and Queen' tradition to make it more inclusive to gay and lesbian students. Werre again expressed great dissatisfaction and attempted to require a formal vote on the measure without further debate. Lack moved to table the resolution in order to prevent a vote rejecting the measure without proper debate and discussion."

In the next week, Lack says, he exchanged private, off-campus emails with a fellow student, in which Lack says he "expressed frustration that [Alpharetta High School Principal] Kersey had 'shot down' a proposal made by Lack to organize a conference for leaders of various student organizations at AHS."

And that was it for him, Lack says.

"On February 8, 2012, Reiser and Werre called Lack into a meeting and informed him that he was immediately removed as student body president," the complaint states.

I have never known as student to be removed from a student leadership position for anything short of being caught cheating in school or convicted of a crime outside of school. The response from the school claims, in part, that Mr. Lack "underperformed or acted improperly in several areas, including, but not limited to, refusing to comply with the direct instructions of the teachers who served as faculty advisors on several occasions; issues with incivility; admittedly taking advantage of his position; presenting ideas and projects to administration and advisors and failing to follow up on the needed steps to implement these ideas and projects; misrepresenting his progress on projects; cancelling and rescheduling meetings that were inconvenient to him, sometimes with little notice; and not participating in all of the activities of student government."

Without being in the meetings, one cannot know what happened. But the response does not jibe with the complaint. The Courthouse News article indicates that Mr. Lack was serving as the Captain of the Debate Team and doing well in his classes. He presents himself well in the video. The Principal and School District are not talking with the media so we have a limited picture of what happened. My gut inclination is to distrust the school's response.

What I can do is cheer Mr. Lack's attempt to push for greater equality in his school. Alpharetta has a reputation of being a relatively liberal part of the Atlanta suburbs (relatively is a key word ... it is still quite conservative by Boston or San Francisco standards), so this is a significant effort on his part. I wish Mr. Lack the best in his future.

24 March 2012

Repudiation: Tax Dollars for Discrimination

Yesterday, 23 Marcy 2012, Rob Schwarzwalder of the Family Research Council (FRC) wrote an article, Another Obama Administration Attack on Marriage, Religious Liberty. The article complains that World Vision, a religious charity that is hired by the government to help overseas, is being coerced to hire homosexuals.

Now, World Vision and other international Christian ministries are once again being pressured to jettison a key biblical teaching – only this time, on marriage. According to Christianity Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development has issued “a new federal policy that ‘strongly encourages’ all contractors to develop anti-discrimination policies covering employees’ sexual orientation.”

According to World Vision Senior Vice-President Kent Hill, “all World Vision U.S.employees must sign a statement of faith and agree to a standard of conduct that limits sexuality to ‘a God-ordained covenant between a man and a woman’.”

The encouragement is from an executive policy for USAID, United States Agency for International Development, that contractors for USAID not discriminate. The language is specific: "contractors and recipients are not required to implement the same comprehensive nondiscrimination policies required by the Agency for its own employment practices." The Washington Blade has the full memo.

Mr. Schwarzwalder even quotes the Obama administration verifying that there is no attack on religious liberty.

The Obama Administration was quick to deny any potential discrimination: According to USAID spokesman Drew Bailey, “The LGBT anti-discrimination policy is not binding … Nothing in the policy precludes our continuing strong partnerships with religious organizations or otherwise affects contracting or grant decisions. We have strong, productive relationships with many faith-based organizations, and [they] will not be adversely affected by this policy.”

Of course, that does not stop Mr. Schwarzwalder from assuming that encouragement is about to become requirement.

Let us pray that this tacit attack on religious liberty will not impede the ability of Christian groups to partner with Washington in providing aid to those so in need. And let us act, by contacting the Obama Administration and our elected federal representatives to express to them that this potentially massive violation of our “first freedom” – freedom of religion – will be stopped.

The latest policy directive, released 12 March 2012, has nothing about sexual orientation or marriage equality. Twenty-four pages without a hint of requirement that World Vision and other religious contractors of USAID stop discriminating.

In a more just environment, my tax dollars would not be going to organizations that discriminate against the LGBTQ Community. If a religion to which I do not adhere or belong wants to discriminate with its own money, my objections should be dismissed as an outside annoyance. But this is about money that comes from the government, from all of us.

The United States government should stop paying any contractor that discriminates based on the same criteria as government employment.

23 March 2012

Praise: Bully, the Movie

On 30 March 2012, the movie Bully will be released in theaters. Stupidly, it is rated 'R', so it won't be shown in most of the schools where it is most needed. Ellen Degeneres interviewed the parents of Tyler Long, a bullied student who and Aspergers and who committed suicide in 2009. The video, below, is about fifteen minutes and is a tear-jerker. Then go see the movie when it is released.

22 March 2012

Praise: Ban Ki-Moon on Equality

Thanks to All Out for getting permission and composing this video of the Secretary General of the United Nations calling for Human Rights for everyone, including the LGBTQ Community. Many members of the United Nations Human Rights Council walked out of the meeting on 7 March 2012 in Geneva because the Secretary General called for respect for everyone, "the time has come."

21 March 2012

Praise: Starbucks Stands Up to Bigots

Sorry about the previous link. NOM has made their video private. Here is a YouTube link that should work.

At today's stockholder meeting of Starbucks, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) complained that Starbucks was among the corporations that stood up for marriage equality in Washington State. As seen on a NOM video, the reply from Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, was civil, respectful, and honoring the values of all of Starbucks shareholders and customers. Now wants to have a boycott of them. I think I'll have a Starbucks Blonde with my breakfast tomorrow morning.

20 March 2012

Repudiation: Republicans Against Republican Ideas

Lamar Smith of Texas

The Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith, wrote an opinion piece for Fox News today, The Truth about the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act has become a rallying cry for President Obama, members of his administration, and liberal Democrats everywhere. President Obama has vowed to “keep fighting for the DREAM Act,” which would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.

It’s true when listeners or those polled don’t know the facts that the DREAM Act has some appeal. After all, we are all naturally sympathetic when children are involved.

So, what is President Obama's DREAM Act?

The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001^[1] by Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch. ^[2] The act was most recently reintroduced to the senate on May 11, 2011.

This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four-year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six-year period. Within the six-year period, they may qualify if they have "acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or has completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor's degree or higher degree in the United States" or have "served in the armed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, has received an honorable discharge".^[3] Military enlistment contracts require an eight-year commitment, with active duty commitments typically between four and six years, but as low as two years.^[4]^[5] "Any alien whose permanent resident status is terminated... shall return to the immigration status the alien had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status under this Act."^[6] This bill would have included illegal immigrants as old as 35 years of age.

Let's slow down a minute. This isn't legislation that originated with President Barack Obama. Rather, it was bi-partisan legislation that was first sponsored by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. According to the Library of Congress, Dick Durbin was one of eighteen co-sponsors. Other co-sponsors included Republicans Sam Brownback, now Governor of Kansas, Larry Craig of Idaho, who had an airport bathroom scandal involving lewd behavior, Mike DeWine, now Attorney General of Ohio, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, retired, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Richard Lugar of Indiana.

To be fair, since Barack Obama was inaugurated President of the United States, Senator Hatch has done an about face on his own legislation. One can speculate as to why. The answer from Senator Hatch's spokeswoman, Antonia Ferrier, is not convincing: “He believes that we have to get tough on border security because the American people will have no faith in any immigration legislation until we do that,” she said in an email.

Back to Lamar Smith's opinion article. He complains that many students will be older, which is true. He then continues

DREAM Act proposals are also a magnet for fraud. Many illegal immigrants will fraudulently claim they came here as children or that they are under 30. And the federal government has no way to check whether their claims are true or not.

Such massive fraud occurred after the 1986 amnesty for illegal immigrants who claimed they were agricultural workers. Studies found two-thirds of all applications for the 1986 amnesty were fraudulent.

This is not the first time that Mr. Smith has made this allegation of studies finding massive amounts of fraud in 1986. He made the same claim a decade ago, although links from the article at the Center for Immigration Studies to the studies he cites are broken. More importantly, a study last year at American University refutes the allegation of fraud.

The rest of Mr. Smith's article is a complaint that President Obama is soft on illegal immigration. According to the Pew Research Center, illegal immigration peaked in 2007 under President George W. Bush and has declined since ... a reversal of an annual increase for almost a decade. This is likely due to the Great Recession followed by increasing border security under President Obama.

Since President Obama was elected, Republicans have done everything in their power to undermine his efficacy. This includes working against their own ideas. One can argue that we should simply deport all who are here illegally. One can argue that those who have the greatest potential to help the United States should be allowed a path to legal residency and perhaps citizenship. But arguing against one's own ideas only makes sense when the motive is no longer what is best for the country but what is best for the political party.

Is the visible animosity to President Obama purely partisan? My guess is that there is a racial element. While institutional racism has been illegal in the United States for half a century, it takes longer for old prejudices to be entirely eradicated. The evidence for racism are the claims that Barack Obama is not a United States citizen or not a Christian, easily belied by his long form birth certificate and the controversies over Jeremiah Wright.

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