Liberty and Justice for All!

Even though they claim to that they didn even reach first base, a fan cried foul when two lesbians kissed in public (cue dramatic music) and the couple was ejected from the stadium. The stadium has a “kiss cam” where couples are encouraged to kiss, but I guess this fan (who didn’t want her son exposed to homosexuality) couldn’t just treat this woman like anyone else. Instead of teaching her son the lesson that we need to treat people equally, this fan decided to teach her child to hate. That is sad. And it is sad that we live in a society that treats gay people so poorly.

I plan on going to a Baltimore Orioles game soon with my wife. I will let you know if our kissing causes us to get the boot as well. I bet that we will be fine.

A treaty banning the use of cluster-bombs was passed by 111 nations. Guess a nation that wasn’t part of the ban? That’s right, the good ole U S of A. The reason?

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States remained committed to United Nations-sponsored talks that seek voluntary codes of “best practice” among leading makers of cluster bombs.

Yeah, because I am supposed to trust this administration to voluntarily do the right thing? I think not!

We have many ways to kill people in America. I find it hard to believe that our signing onto a treaty that bans one form would hurt us in anyway. And by not using cluster bombs, we would prevent things from happening like small children picking up unexploded shells from the cluster-bomb and blowing off their arms. I guess when you are war profiteering, you want to make sure that you can cause as much death as possible to prove you give more bang for your buck.

Damages were awarded in the Slidell lawsuit over the portrait of Jesus. In case you don’t remember…

The ACLU filed the lawsuit after court officials refused the organization’s request to remove the portrait and lettering underneath that says, “To know peace, obey these laws.” A week before Lemelle heard arguments in the case in September, court officials expanded the display to include other “notable law-givers,” replacing the Jesus portrait with a copy of the Constitution in the center position and moving the portrait to the end of the wall.

Lemelle said at the time that he likely would have granted a request by the ACLU to remove the portrait, as it clearly demonstrated a religious purpose and intent, violating the establishment clause of the Constitution and running afoul of Supreme Court rulings.

The Jeff Crouere show this morning had your typical conservatives that are an example of what is wrong with america. I only got a minute to respond there so I will continue here.

Some callers called in and tried to tie this with communism, arguing that the left wants to turn this into a communist country (some actually believe we are already there… go figure). Here is a newsflash for them. As a liberal I will say that Communism is a horrible form of government. COMMUNE-ism only works in a… wait for it… COMMUNE! There are many communes in Israel (Kibbutzim) and they work very well. They also work within a capitalistic society, selling their goods in the free market and sharing those goods with fellow members of the Kibbutz.

Other callers tried to claim that the laws of our land are based on the 10 commandments (one caller even claimed that all of the commandments are in our laws). This is completely false. Only 3 laws (of the thousands on the books) are found in the 10 commandments (don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness). Those 3 laws are also part of many codes of laws over the years. I could easily say that our legal system is based on the code of Hammurabi because that code also contains those 3 laws.

Jeff even pushed the idea that these laws are an attack on our “Judeau-Christian” heritage. There was nothing “Judeau” about this portrait. I just love how some Christians try and use the term ”Judeau-Christian” in defending their pushing Christianity on others to try and “hide” what they are actually doing.

Which brings me to the point that I was trying to make on the radio. People argue that this is a violation of first amendment rights, which is false. The first amendment does not protect your ability to use government to promote your religious beliefs. In fact, the spirit of the establishment clause contradicts the claims of people who wrongly use the first amendment to justify their actions. And current enforcement of Constitutional law, and the 14th amendment, requires the states  and local governments to be under the same prohibitions as the federal government is when it comes to establishing religion.

And the 1st amendment also does not apply at work. I don’t have the right to say what I want or do what I want at work. If I have religious obligations that I must follow at work, I need to tell my boss before they hire me as to what those requirements are. So, since the first amendment does not apply to the workplace, it cannot be argued that the ruling is a violation of the 1st amendment rights of anybody. The bottom line is this, not only do you not have the right to use government as a tool to push your religious beliefs on others, you should be legally restricted from doing so. Thankfully the Constitution does restrict you from doing so, no matter how much these extremists want to bury their heads in the sand and tell you otherwise.

What is even worse is that the people who do these things, like erecting pictures of Jesus in government buildings, are not just using government to promote their religion. What they are really doing is using their God and their religion to promote themselves in their political careers. Using your religion to propel yourself in politics only works to tarnish your religion.

Finally, a person who entered that courtroom who was not a Christian and would see “To know peace, obey these laws” under a picture of Jesus might have a problem believing that he/she would get a fair trial because they are not following the laws of Jesus by being a member of another religion (or no religion at all).

So good for the ACLU. And to those people who believe that the ACLU only supports “liberals” and is “anti-Christian”, read this.

Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of a lone protester who was denied his free expression rights by the City of Natchitoches. Edwin Crayton, a devout Christian, sought to stand in front of Wal-Mart in Natchitoches with a sign protesting Wal-Mart’s alleged position on gay marriage…

“The right to be heard on matters of religious and political significance is at the core of our constitutional system,” said Katie Schwartzmann, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Louisiana. “The City of Natchitoches has effectively silenced Mr. Crayton on what for him is an important religious issue, and this type of government censorship cannot stand unchallenged.”  

So the ACLU stood up for the civil rights of an extremist right wing Christian to express his anti-gay message.

Ben Nevers, a Democrat, has proposed SB 561 , a bill that opens the door wide open for teaching creationism in the classroom and destroying the scientific process. Here are the words that will cause the problem.

Much has been said about Obama’s former pastor and his comments about America and white people. Those comments should not be excused (and Obama denounced them). However, if Wright was white, and he spoke badly about gay people in his church, how much outrage would there be? How many hateful things are said by clergy in white, extremist, evangelical churches about homosexuals? How many of those offended by the words of Wright will agree with (or even cheer for) the anti-gay statements made in their own church? Isn’t it hypocritical of someone to be offended at the same thing they are guilty of supporting?

Just sayin

In what seems to be an ongoing struggle between those who feel government should be used as an arm to promote religion and those who stand up for those people who are not part of the “majority”, the ACLU is again pressing a lawsuit against the Tangipahoa School Board for another violation of the establishment clause.

See, it seems that Tangipahoa School Board does not care about those people who are not Christian. They have apparently only invited certain religious leaders to lead the prayer before meetings. Their lack of caring for non-Christians and (and what really seems like disdain for them) could be clearly seen in the WWL TV newscast at 6 where they had an interview with the attorney representing the school board. He was smug and arrogant to the point where you could clearly see the sentiment of those who support a twisting and bending of laws.

Here is a suggestion to Tangipahoa. Instead of trying to bend and twist your policies to try and get around the laws…. JUST FOLLOW THE LAWS! Have some respect for people of ALL FAITHS and not just your own. I think it is SAD and PATHETIC that people who are in charge of educating our children would set this horrid example of how to act like a human being and a responsible member of society.

You can see the video and watch the smug “thats the kind of churches we have in Tangipahoa Parish” comment.

… and that is the end of the civil rights movement.  

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio during lunch and this shining example of what is wrong with America calls in. He asks Rush if it would be worth it to elect Barack Obama to be our next President so that would shut up all the civil rights activists.

After the break, Rush answers this pillar of society with an answer that I amazingly agreed with. He said no, that the civil rights movement won’t end with an Obama Presidency. The shock of my agreement with Limbaugh quickly disappeared as Limbaugh’s reasoning was far different than mine.

See, Rush stated that the civil rights movement will continue as long as Democrats need 90% of the black vote to win. He also said other things that I am just far to disgusted to remember. Rush’s small pill popping brain could not quite understand the fact that the civil rights movement will continue until society treats black people and Hispanic people and gay people and all other people as… (wait for it)……. PEOPLE! Imagine that!

And perhaps if Rush hadn’t been using his formerly nicotine stained fingers to pop Oxycontin in his mouth, he would realize that perhaps the reason that 90% of black people vote for Democrats is because of Repubicans pundits hold ignorant and racist ideas such as his. I’m just sayin…

The Jeff. Parish school board voted to finally follow federal law requiring for the redistricting of schools. This was something that was required of them and had they not taken action, it is likely that a court would have made its own redistricting plan sometime later.

A woman was shown on the news complaining that her 11th grade daughter, if moved, would have to make new friends in a new setting and it was unfair to her. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? First and foremost, in the age of the Internet, instant messaging, emailing, text messaging, and other forms of instant communication, there is no reason why she would have lost contact with her friends at her former school.

Secondly, I would hope that her daughter is going to college. When she goes to college she will likely be placed in a situation where she would have to make new friends. A 17 year old should be able to handle meeting new people and making friends. IF she had to move schools, she could just consider it practice for her college career.

Finally, what the board passed grandfathered 10th and 11th grade students in. So she really had nothing to complain about.

But let’s all be honest and realize what this is all about: Racism.

There are several parents who don’t want to change districts so their kids would then be going to school with “those people”. Just look at some of the comments made on nola.com.

“Don’t worrie now they are all going to fail the proof is in the pudding look at New Orleans it is just a matter of time before Jefferson will be all getto “

Then there is this gem, referencing the great white flight:

I see a Northshore realty boom coming.

I guess this person believes in the concept of “separate but equal”:

SEPERATE the good from the bad. That is the only way.

Actually, it seems like the poster proves why “separate but equal” doesn’t work, since he/she considers those who go to non-public schools to be better.

And of course there was this lovely post:

GOD NO, PLEASE DO NOT ENCOURAGE ANYONE ELSE TO COME TO THE NORTHSHORE- WE ARE TRYING TO KEEP THE TRASH OUT!!!!

THE NEXT THING THAT YOU KNOW- THE BLACKS WILL SCREW UP THE JEFFERSON PARISH SCHOOLS LIKE THEY DID IN NEW ORLEANS AND DEMAND TO ATTEND ST TAMMANY SCHOOLS.

The whole thing just disgusts me. It is a shame that the education some of these parents are giving their kids is that it is OK to judge someone based on their skin color alone. They teach their kids that it is OK to be ignorant racists. These people are just idiots and what is ironic is that if they move because of  this, well, their leaving will make Jefferson Parish a better place.

Here is a news flash, if you are worried about your kid going to school with black people… the problem is not the black people, the problem is you.

Jennifer Sneed proposed the ordinance that bans hotels from charging hourly rates. Now, I would be less shocked if John Young had proposed the ordinance since he is running for Congress and that sort of “feel good” conservative legislation is just what the conservative voters would want to see out of their next Congressman.

But is this really going to do anybody any good? As someone pointed out in the comments on nola.com, all a hooker will most likely have to do is raise her rates so the room is purchased for the day. And there is also the issue of truck drivers who may want to take a shower but don’t need a room for the entire night.

Unfortunately, this sort of “feel good but do nothing” legislation is all to common in politics. I guess it is just too hard to focus on silly little things like murders, rapes, and burglaries when prostitution is going on. Give me a break.

Back when I ran for Congress I had a sort of “theme” that I would use to discuss important issues. I said “There are a lot of people that want to push policies that are based on certain “ideals”. I have no problem with reaching for the ideal but I firmly believe that we have to do so with our feet firmly planted in reality.”

Today the House agreed to an economic stimulus packagethat consisted several compromises. One of them that Republicans made was allowing some people who do not pay taxes to get some funds as well. I am sure that many Republicans swallowed what would be a bitter pill to them when agreeing to that. One that the Democrats made was to not include an increase of funding for unemployment compensation and food stamps.

In response, Charlie Rangel said:

“I do not understand, and cannot accept, the resistance of President Bush and Republican leaders to including an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are without work through no fault of their own,”

And I absolutely agree with him. I don’t understand President Bush and Republicans on this and many other issues. However, what concerns me is the plan by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont). He stated that he intends to draft a different economic stimulus package in the Senate. This makes absolutely no sense! If the Senate bill differs from the House bill, then there will need to be a conference committee on the issue. Debate will go on and on about which bill to send out of committee. And then, if the Republican Senators disagree with the compromise, it could be filibustered in the Senate. This would make the bill take far to long to pass and the point of this bill is to help the economy ASAP.

So why on earth would the Senator from Montana want to make his own version of bill that would delay the process? Why not work to get this bill passed as quickly as possible and then, perhaps, he could bring forward another bill that would deal with the increase of funds to those on unemployment and food stamps without risking the funds to everyone else. If THAT bill doesn’t pass with a veto-proof majority, you could then use the issue against the Republicans in the 2008 campaigns.