Liberty and Justice for All!

President Bush was on the news today and was discussing why he felt the response to Gustav so far has been good. He said that it was the communication between the Republican Governors that caused it to happen.

Perhaps it wasn’t the communication between Republican Governors that is the catalyst of the response. Perhaps it is the fact that during Katrina, Louisiana had a Democrat in the Governors office and President Bush was incapable of working with a Democrat.

Maybe, just maybe, had Bush been more competent, hired competent people, and actually gotten things like ice and water to New Orleans in time, Blanco wouldn’t have been so overwhelmed.

And maybe, just maybe, the states that Gustav threatened learned that they cannot rely on the idiot George W. Bush to get things done, learned from the mistakes of the past hurricane, and changed the way they dealt with things.

But no, to Bush, it is because the Republican Governors “communicated”. Pathetic.

George Bush makes me sick and I cannot wait for him to go away.

In showing how the Republican party does not quite understand the real world, not only did the Republicans affirm their quest to obtain a constitutional ban on abortion, they also removed the reductions of abortions from their party platform.

So let me get this straight. The party who claims to be pro-life and wants to protect embryos is only caring about criminalizing abortion and not worrying about reducing their numbers? How is that for not being genuine?

Republicans also affirmed their hatred of homosexuals by continuing their support to ban gay marriages. I am sure that marriage defenders David “who would Vitter do” Vitter and Larry “toe tapping” Craig will be leading the battle charge on this one. I’m shocked they are not calling for both a return to Jim Crow laws and a constitutional amendment to keep women in the kitchen and out of the voting booth. Could the Republican Party be any more archaic?

Cross posted at Barack Obama for President.

Bobby Jindal refused to continue the executive order signed by Blanco that would prevent workplace discrimination against homosexuals.  

This is really nothing new, Jindal whined about this very thing when Blanco signed it at the beginning of her term. At the time (in a post I unfortunately cannot find) I criticized Jindal for two reasons. First, he had promised to work together with the Governor and the first thing he does (before even being sworn in to his only full term as Congressman)  is criticize Blanco instead of talking to her first about his misguided fears about what this would do.

Bottcher said Jindal’s letter violates the “spirit of cooperation” expressed at a meeting last week between the governor and members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation. Jindal should have called Blanco if he wanted clarification about the executive order, Bottcher said.

“Certainly the governor believes that public officials ought to talk to each other directly and not write a letter, send it to the media and have the media call the office,” Bottcher said. “Her door has certainly always been and always will be open to any Louisiana congressman.”

Second, Jindal showed he had zero understanding of federal law on this issue. He should have educated himself before making this public criticism. Instead, he shot first and never bothered to ask questions later.  

But Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher said the directive will not restrict the ability of religious groups to pursue government contracts, noting that federal law already protects their right to use hiring practices that conform with their particular beliefs.

“The governor’s executive order does not have the power to change federal or state law or any court decision, and Gov. Blanco has said the order does not impact the hiring practices of faith-based organizations,” Bottcher said.

I am assuming that nothing changed in federal law that would make this claim invalid. So I guess in Jindal’s 3 years as a Congressman, he didn’t learn anything about federal law on this issue and still remains ignorant of the facts. The fact is that Blanco’s order would not have effected the hiring practices of religious organizations and Jindal’s “excuse” for not continuing the executive order does not hold water.

According to the Advocate:

Louisiana Family Forum is a group that seeks to “persuasively present biblical principles” in political and other issues. During the campaigns last year, the group’s leaders told Jindal and some legislators running for office, how disappointed they were in Blanco for signing the executive order, said Gene Mills of Baton Rouge, the group’s executive director.

“Gov. Jindal comes from a different mindset, understanding the damage that this potentially poses to children and to the economy. He decided not to re-up that executive order but to simply let it sunset,” Mills said.Jindal is refusing to continue the executive order that Governor Blanco issued that included sexual orientation as part of the protected class of groupings (like race and gender).

Gene Mills is an idiot if he thinks that government protecting people from discrimination is harmful to children and to the economy. Of course, being the head of the “Louisiana Family Forum” tends to not require a lot of logical reasoning skills. Just hate gay people and you are good to go.

And Bobby Jindal? Well, Jindal has proved that even when he was shown that the order would not effect religious groups, he closed his ears and like a child went “LALALALA, IM NOT LISTENING”. He instead listened to fear mongering gay hating groups and made it the official policy of the office of the Governor to not care about gay people and any struggles.

I am really not shocked that Jindal would promote a policy that allows for discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, for him to fall back on the same excuse that was proven wrong 4 years ago may serve to show that Jindal really is not as smart as his backers wants us to believe. Either that, or perhaps he is just choosing to remain willfully ignorant about the issue. Either way, it does not bode well for the people of Louisiana.

But don’t blame me, I never voted for Jindal.

Update:Someone suggested to me that perhaps he is neither dumb or ignorant. Perhaps he just believes that the voters are dumb and/or ignorant. It is possible that Jindal may be playing up to the masses because he feels that they are dumb. I mean, the majority of the voters bought his B.S. during the election. I guess he figures he has carte blanche to continue to spread his B.S.

That is an old quote from The Gipper himself, Ronald Reagan. And the Louisiana Republicans have dusted that old tired line out to try and convince current Democrats to turn over a new leaf (just like John N. Kennedy did).

Of course there is probably some truth Reagan’s statement. See, the Democratic Party stopped being the party that used the mantra of “states rights” in order to keep black people as second class citizens and started to become the party that fought for civil rights legislation, equality, and liberty.

Reagan, on the other hand, announced the official start to his campaign in Neshoba County Mississippi, the site where three black civil rights activists were murdered in 1964. Reagan campaigned on the “states rights” platform and utilized the “southern strategy” to attract the racists who also felt that the Democratic Party left them too. Since Reagan felt that the place where three black civil rights activists were murdered was the best way to start off his “states rights” campaign then sure, the Democratic Party left him behind … in the dust.
You can see the front and back of the flier (or should I say f-liar) my wife received in the mail today.

Not only does the f-liar have a picture of the Gipper, but it also has one of the Governor himself. It asks Democrats to “join Bobby Jindal in the Republican Party”.

Most noticeable are the prominent Democrats that are pictured on the f-liar. You have Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Kathleen Blanco and everyone’s favorite Bill Jefferson. Absent is Mary Landrieu (who is likely to win re-election), Mitch Landrieu (who got more votes that Jindal statewide) and other Louisiana Democrats who tend to be a tad bit more Conservative on the issues than those pictured (with the exception of pro-life Blanco whose only difference with Jindal on the pro-life stance is that she has a heart and would allow exceptions for rape and the life of the woman).

The f-liar says what “Democrats Believe In”.

The first lie is that we believe in no new oil exploration. Well, there are 10,000 oil leases that are not being drilled on yet. Seems to me that the Democrats would not have allowed those leases to be opened if they are opposed to new drilling.

The next lie is that Democrats support Amnesty for illegal aliens. The truth is that Democrats in Congress supported a plan that would require any person here illegally to get back in the line and pay a fine for their crime before ever getting a chance at citizenship. Forcing someone to pay a fine does not sound like amnesty to me. Of course, the Louisiana Republican Party and Florist Gump himself forgets that Republicans don’t want illegal immigration to go away because that would mean their corporate buddies would have to hire people at the minimum wage. I would also point out that the plan Democrats supported was called the ________ - Kennedy Fair Plan. Anyone? Anyone? The McCain – Kennedy Fair plan. So if this plan is so called “amnesty” then I guess anyone who supports McCain wants “amnesty” too!

The next lie is that Democrats support tax increases on the middle class. This is, again, untrue. Democrats support eliminating the bush tax cuts for people making $200,000 and above. In fact, here is Obama’s tax plan.You can plainly see that he wouldn’t increase taxes on the middle class.

In fact, when I campaigned for Congress in 2004 I proposed that we give a housing tax credit to everyone and not require it be itemized. Obama supports:

establishing a universal credit for the 10 million homeowners who do not itemize their deductions

Good to see someone else agrees with me. 

They tell the truth about Government run health care. Democrats do support that. Of course, if you want to look at failures in Government run healthcare you only need to look at the tenure of Bobby Jindal and his time as head of the Louisiana Department of Health. During his “leadership”, Louisiana’s health ranking dropped to dead last. But that is just typical of Republicans. They cry about how awful government is and then spend their entire political careers proving it

The f-liar asks “what do you have in common with these Democrats”? Well, if I had to make a flier of my own, it would probably look like this. (Well, actually I would spend a lot more time on it, not do it in paint, and not base it off the old one, but you get the point).

Anyway, it sure seems that the Republicans are scared that they won’t be able to get John “the liberal candidate in the 2004 Senate race” Kennedy to beat Landrieu. I am happy my wife got the f-liar. It was good for a laugh and it is good to see the Republicans wasting money on that garbage.

The California Supreme Court just struck down the gay marriage ban! Now there are two states where gay people are not treated as second class citizens.

Domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage, the justices ruled 4-3 in striking down the ban.

Absolutely right. Of course, the California GHEL plan on striking back.

A coalition of religious and social conservative groups is attempting to put a measure on the November ballot that would enshrine laws banning gay marriage in the state constitution.

I hope they fail. The tyranny of the majority should not get to treat people like second class citizens. PERIOD. If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t have one. It is really just that simple.

According to Bayou Buzz, LAGOP Executive Director Matt Parker (Jindal’s homeschooled homeboy’s  brother in law) stated this about Mary Landrieu and her failure to respond to Nagin’s endorsement of Barack Obama:

Today’s endorsement raises more questions than answers.  In a press release announcing today’s endorsement, Nagin cited ‘Obama’s advocacy for the people of

Louisianaand working men and women across the county’ and specifically his work to address the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.   Does Mary Landrieu disagree with Nagin?  Why won’t Landrieu stand up and let Louisianans know why she won’t endorse Obama?”

Say what?!?!?! Mabye Landrieu doesn’t want to take sides. Maybe Landrieu would be happy voting for either of the two Democrats against John 100 years in Iraq McCain. Maybe Landrieu figures that she can be silent in a race where the presumptive Republican nominee didn’t get the most votes in the Republican primary. Maybe Mary Landrieu didn’t feel that she needed to make an anouncement over an endorsement by someone else. Or maybe, just maybe, Mary Landrieu doesn’t feel the need to answer to the head of the party who is trying to unseat her. I would at least go with the last one, though others may be valid as well.

This is just a silly question raised by Matt Parker. Now, is he the voice of Cartman? Or is that Trey Stone? See, I got the names mixed up and even those are better questions than the brainchild of Homeschool’s brother in law.

The idea that Nagin’s endorsement raises more questions than it answers is absurd. I guess the Republicans set the bar low when they chose their executive director.

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.

John Labruzzo seeks to cut the cap medical malpractice claims in half for those who did not use  some form of insurance to pay for services. This would clearly be unconstitutional… at least until…

State Rep. Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans, has filed a bill to amend the Constitution and give the Legislature sole authority “to determine limitations on liability damages in medical or health care liability claims.”

The text of the bill can be read here. The bill makes me ask some questions.

A) The bill states:

“Proposed law reduces from $500,000 to $250,000 the limitation of the total amount recoverable if the patient has failed to pay for his health care services.”

So does that mean the patient has to have a portion paid for by insurance? Or does that mean that bills must be paid in their entirety? If it is the latter and someone failed to pay $5,000 in co-payments/deductibles but had insurance that covered the rest, would that mean they lose their ability to collect an additional $250,000? What sense does that make? B) I would ask Mr. Labruzzo why a patient being poor gives a doctor an excuse to give a lesser quality of care?C) As James Gill suggested, wouldn’t this law make it less likely for lawyers to take the case? Wouldn’t that make it less likely for poor people to recover any losses?All this law does is punish people for being poor. What’s next? Are they going to allow hospitals to reject people in emergency situations who cannot provide proof that they are able to pay?h/t to Elwood, who called in to the Jeff Crouere show about this disgusting bill.