Didn't I Say This Would Happen?

Anti-Muslim hysteria breeds anti-Muslim hatred, which begets anti-Muslim violence. I've said this before. So what's in the news tonight?

• Plan for Mosque in Tennessee Town Draws Criticism from Residents - June 18th
• Bloomberg, Palin Agree to Disagree on Ground Zero Mosque Plans - July 21st
• Poll shows more Americans think Obama is a Muslim - August 19th
• Residents cheer as Kentucky town rejects mosque - August 25th
• Student Arraigned in Anti-Muslim Stabbing of Cabdriver - August 25th

And finally, this classy guy:

• Drunk Man Arrested After Urinating In New York Mosque - August 26th

I've been saying for a long time now that the GOP is sowing the wind; now we're reap the whirlwind. What's it going to take before the Repugs stop lying and playing games--a presidential assassination? Or are they content knowing that they're sowing the seeds for a second American civil war?

I'm beyond disgusted with the constantly nay-saying Republican politicians opposing literally everything the Democrats propose because they have an insatiable lust for power, the Tea Party idiots who don't want health care reform but don't realize that their Medicare is a government-run health care program, the sectarian  fools who pick & choose which biblical verses to obey and which to ignore, while pointing out the flaws in the holy books of other faiths; the mindless loudmouths on the radio & TV who demand constitutional rights without knowing what they are, the loose and dangerous rhetoric we hear of from our modern-day demagogues, and the flag-waving cretins who demand smaller, less intrusive government while insisting that the Feds do a nationwide bed check to ensure that everyone else conforms to their idea of a permissible marriage contract.

I'm sick of the misplaced anger, I'm sick of the ignorant hatred. I'm sick of people who think that describing someone as "intelligent and college-educated" is an insult, and I'm sick of the sheer stupidity. So I'm not going away, I'm not giving up, and I'm certainly not going to stop shouting from my virtual rooftop here.

Nope, not going anywhere. In fact, I'm "reloading."

About That Mosque(?) at Ground Zero(?)...

I'm tired of hearing the wingnuts lie about this. I'm tired of hearing liars like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich express such concern about a town, New York City,  that they like even less than they like San Francisco. And I'm damn angry that the Republicans - once again - are willing to burn the Constitution that they pretend to love so much, for reasons of expediency, racism, and an undying lust for power. Haven't these jackasses ever read the First Amendment??

• It's not going to be just a mosque; it's going to be a community center. A "separately-run mosque" is part of it, but so is "a swimming pool, gym, basketball court, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant and a culinary school." It will also offer "a library, reading room and art studios, and childcare services." It'll even have a 9/11 memorial!
• It's not on Ground Zero; it's several blocks away:

• It's not going to be run by a radical imam, he's been a consultant to the FBI on counter-terrorism. 
• There are already two mosques, four and twelve blocks from Ground Zero, that have been there since 1970 & 1985.
• However, there is a strip club two blocks away. I guess that's okay with Caribou Barbie.

I am happy, though, that Keith Olbermann covered all this last night, much more succinctly than I can with the limited time & space that I have tonight. So, here he is:

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

California's Prop 8 Overturned By Federal Judge

YAYYYY!!!

TPM:

A federal judge in California has ruled that Prop 8 -- the voter initiative that banned gay marriage -- is unconstitutional.

Supporters of Prop 8 (that is, opponents of gay marriage) have already promised to file an appeal. The judge also approved a two-day stay on the ruling, asking lawyers to respond by Friday, when he will decide whether to suspend his ruling pending appeal.

So, for now, same-sex couples in California can't get their marriage licenses quite yet.

The case is expected to eventually get to the Supreme Court.

From Judge Vaughn Walker's decision:

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

More from Walker's decision:

In the absence of a rational basis, what remains of proponents' case is an inference, amply supported by evidence in the record, that Proposition 8 was premised on the belief that same-sex couples simply are not as good as opposite-sex couples. FF 78-80. Whether that belief is based on moral disapproval of homosexuality, animus towards gays and lesbians or simply a belief that a relationship between a man and a woman is inherently better than a relationship between two men or two women, this belief is not a proper basis on which to legislate.

And:

The arguments surrounding Proposition 8 raise a question similar to that addressed in Lawrence, when the Court asked whether a majority of citizens could use the power of the state to enforce "profound and deep convictions accepted as ethical and moral principles" through the criminal code. ... The question here is whether California voters can enforce those same principles through regulation of marriage licenses. They cannot. California's obligation is to treat its citizens equally, not to "mandate [its] own moral code."

"Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians," he wrote.
In his findings of fact, Walker pointed out that California "has never required that individuals entering a marriage be willing or able to procreate."

And here's the money quote:

"The states have always required the parties to give their free consent to a marriage. Because slaves were considered property of others at the time, they lacked the legal capacity to consent and were thus unable to marry. After emancipation, former slaves viewed their ability to marry as one of the most important new rights they had gained," he wrote.

Also (thanks to pico @ DailyKos):

Plaintiffs do not seek recognition of a new right.  To characterize plaintiffs’ objective as "the right to same-sex marriage" would suggest that plaintiffs seek something different from what opposite-sex couples across the state enjoy —— namely, marriage.  Rather, plaintiffs ask California to recognize their relationships for what they are: marriages.

 Finally, he comes to what - to me - is the crux of the matter:

Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital unions. Like opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples have happy, satisfying relationships and form deep emotional bonds and strong commitments to their partners. Standardized measures of relationship satisfaction, relationship adjustment and love do not differ depending on whether a couple is same-sex or opposite-sex.

Now, will Scalia, Thomas, or Alito please allow their evil to consume them, so we can straighten out SCOTUS?

Stephen Colbert Is A National Treasure

Conservatives are dumb. (Yeah, I know, that's self-evident.) Laura Ingraham was the latest wingnut to stupidly believe that Stephen Colbert is secretly one of them, another wingnut, and not too bright a one, seeing as how he's a comedian. Didn't any of these fools see what Colbert did th Bush at the White House Press Corps dinner in 2005? Can't they get the sarcasm and double entendre he uses every night on his show? Perhaps it's because conservative humor, as one commentator wrote on TalkingPointsMemo.com, "can be described as enjoying putting people down and hurting them."

Well, surprise, surprise, Colbert is no more a conservative than Keith Olbermann...at least, it was a surprise for stupid Laura Ingraham. Watch the follies, and enjoy:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Laura Ingraham
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Boycott Target!

I'm done with Target. My SO and I must spend a couple of hundred bucks there a month; the store is very near to us, and the prices are damn good. But after I read this, I'm through with that company:

Target earlier this month donated $150,000 to MN Forward, a pro-business group backing Rep. Tom Emmer, the conservative Republican-endorsed gubernatorial candidate.

That led to a week of bruising reaction from Target employees and gay-rights activists that included a nationwide e-mail campaign and petition claiming 15,000 signatures.

On Tuesday, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel defended the donation, saying it was driven by economic, not social, issues.

He highlighted the company's domestic partner benefits, sponsorship of Twin Cities Pride and support of the Out & Equal Workplace Summit.

"Let me be very clear," Steinhafel wrote in a note to employees at headquarters. "Target's support of the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company."

So Target supports a candidate who:

• wants to abolish the minimum wage for waitpersons, believing that "some servers make over $100,00 a year;"
• is anti-gay rights and a rabid homophobe;
• supports Arizona's racist immigration law;
• believes that the courts should go easy on drunk drivers, probably because Emmer himself has two DWIs on his record;
• was co-author "of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would, to borrow the words of Nigel Tufnel, turn the Tenth Amendment all the way up to 11, with Minnesota preemptively nullifying all federal laws unless a state supermajority consents to them;"
•  is just plain stupid;
• and who, just last fall, "proposed another state constitutional amendment that would prohibit any individual or employer mandate to carry health insurance in the state of Minnesota, if one were to eventually pass at the federal or state level (as it did eventually pass at the federal level)."

And oh, yeah: Target CEO Gregg W. Steinhafel personally donated $10,000 to Michelle Bachman's campaign! If that alone isn't reason enough to stop shopping at Target, the donation to MN Forward certainly is.

The Human Rights Campaign and MoveOn.org have both started a boycott against Target (and BestBuy), and I'm with them. I will not have my dollars go towards supporting such far-right, hypocritical, anti-middle-class, homophobic, odious, prejudiced, and just plain stupid candidates as Emmer and Bachman. Bye-bye, Target: too bad you lost your sense of community, fairness, and morality in the urge to increase your profits.

I hope Bullseye bites Steinhafel in the ass.