Pedantic Political Ponderings: Olson

Showing posts with label Olson. Show all posts

14 May 2012

14 May 2012: Marriage News Watch

12 March 2012

FollowUp 16: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

Wisconsin Senate President Scott Fitzgerald has failed in his attempt to avoid a recall election by claiming that redistricting invalidated petition signatures. Reuters notes that all four of the Republican state senators facing recall drives will have to stand in recall elections.

The state agency that oversees elections agreed unanimously on Monday that enough valid signatures by voters were submitted to require all four senators to face recall votes.

The four lawmakers include Senate President Scott Fitzgerald, a chief architect of an anti-union law passed last year that sparked the recall movement.

Channel 3000 writes that the Senators, have not had time to challenge this decision. The other three state senators being recalled are Van Wanggaard, Terry Moulton, and Pam Galloway.

The board rejected broad arguments made by all four senators challenging thousands of signatures.

"I do think the board got it wrong today, but whether or not we'll pursue anything legally is a decision for my clients," said Joseph Olson, an attorney for the Republican senators. "I haven't had a chance to speak with them about that yet."

Pending approval of the courts, the recall elections will be on 8 May 2012 for a primary elections and 5 June 2012 for the general elections.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has determined the number of signatures for recalling the Lt. Governor and the Governor. In each case, 540,208 valid signatures are required for a recall election to be called. 842,860 signatures were turned in for the recall of Lt. Governor Kleefisch. About 29,125 of those have been struck. Approximately 930,000 signatures were turned in for the recall of Governor Walker. About 26,000 of those have been struck. So, it looks like six recall elections are imminent. Wisconsin progressives and Democrats couldn't be happier and Wisconsin conservatives and Republicans are a bit upset.

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.

16 March 2012, FollowUp 17.
30 March 2012, FollowUp 18.
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.

04 March 2012

Praise: "8", The Play

I stayed up past my bedtime to watch this performance stream live. The good folks at the American Foundation for Equal Rights saved the video and have made it available via YouTube. While the performance is not quite the same as seeing the sealed video of the court proceedings, it does provide an important perspective on the faces of hate. Two hours is long (I know how tired I am as I type this), but worth the time.

Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Martin Sheen. Lots more of my favorite actors.

28 February 2012

FollowUp 2: Sailors Embrace

This time it is not Sailors per se (the Marine Corps is a branch of the Navy, but members are called Marines) and it is not a first kiss before the rest of the crew, but a Marine coming home to his partner in Hawaii has gone viral. The handsome hunks embraced and are now all over the news. British news. Florida News. And interviewed on Hawaii News, where we learn that it was a first kiss of a different sort.

Think Progress has a video that includes a quote from Marine Corps Base Hawaii spokesperson Lt. Diann Olson, who said "It's your typical homecoming photo." This was not understated. Now that we are beyond DADT, it is simply normal. A wider shot would have undoubtedly included dozens of similar embraces. When returning from an overseas tour, this is what couples do.

Apparently, Sgt. Morgan and Mr. Wells are new heroes of OutServe, the Association of Actively Serving LGBT Military Personnel. They did what will soon be unremarkable. Just ordinary Americans, one a military hero and his partner.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

22 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

28 December 2011, FollowUp 1.

5 March 2012, FollowUp 3.

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