68% of white evangelical Christians say Bush and Congress should BUTT OUT of Schiavo dispute

CBS poll:

There are no partisan political differences on this issue: majorities of Democrats (89 percent), Republicans (72 percent), liberals (84 percent) and conservatives (76 percent) are in agreement that the government should not be involved. 68 percent of white evangelicals think that Congress and the President should stay out of the Schiavo case.

So, in fact, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, the Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association COMBINED represent less than 1/3 of all white evangelicals. Not only do these guys not speak for most Christians, they don't even speak for most evangelicals.

Honey, I shrunk the bigots. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Watching the Daily Show...and it's almost the weekend. Read the rest of this post...

Damn Inactivist Judges!

The Supreme Court has yet again followed the law and refused to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. The far-right can thank Reagan-appointee Justice Kennedy for that.

"The judges are running this country," Ms. Schiavo's father said outside the hospice Thursday afternoon, according to the New York Times. "All the judges have banded together to support Judge Greer."

HIs comments are rather mild compared to what so many others are saying. Actually, the judges aren't getting involved enough, are they? First they intervene, too much and now the damn (in)activist judges aren't intervening enough? I wish they'd make up their minds instead of following the rule of law and interpreting the facts in front of them as they fit each particular case.

And Gov. Bush! The far right is now threatening him with hell to pay if he "fails" to save Terri. Bush has literally explored every legal means of action, but Pat Robertson was on CNN this evening saying a "piddling little judge" shouldn't be bossing around the Governor of Florida. They are virtually demanding Jeb Bush ignore the law and basically stage a coup by sending in the National Guard and abducting Terri.

With 80% (and more) of the country strongly believing that Congress, the President and the Governor of Florida have gone way too far and overstepped their bounds, with people who celebrate a culture of life also threatening the lives of judges and Terri's husband, with Senator Frist offering a medical prognosis via years-old videotape, with evangelicals demanding Gov. Bush IGNORE the Constitution and simply use soldiers to force his will, isn't it about time people started talking about the republicans and the far right being drunk with power and out of control and -- seriously -- a danger to democracy. How long can they continue to attack our form of government and the three branches formed under the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, how long can they mock and belittle and undermine an independent judiciary until we start to call them what they are: un-American? Read the rest of this post...

More on Ken Mehlman's host, the married man who allegedly sexually assaulted a young man in need

Just read it.

The driver was a middle-aged white man. Dark hair, well dressed. He asked the kid how he was doing; the kid said OK, then offered a few dollars for gas. The man said not to worry.

The kid told him to take a right at Main Street. But the man didn't. I'll get you home, don't worry about it, the kid remembers him saying. Then the man started rubbing his thigh. Are you gay? he asked. Are you bi? No? Are you sure?

The kid was trying not to freak out. He saw a red light ahead and clicked open his seatbelt, bracing himself for the jump out. But the light flicked to green....

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Blah Read the rest of this post...

Ken Mehlman has gone back "in" again, local gay repubs "out" him anew as gay, and Mehlman's male host allegedly sexually assaulted a young man

As you may know, Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who also was the head of Bush's presidential campaign last year, was recently outed by a Bush campaign official in GQ magazine as a heterosexual. Well, it appears that out-heterosexual Mehlman may be back "in" again. While at the same time, some loyal gay Republicans just outed him as gay. And Mehlman's host at the event is allegedly a closeted gay man, married to a woman, who has a police report accusing him of sexually assaulting a young guy.

According to the big gay paper in Ohio, Gay People's Chronicle, Mehlman is back to refusing to answer questions about his sexual orientation, and what's more, he's now giving really really really odd answers for an "out" heterosexual. Says the Chronicle:

“[You] have asked a question people shouldn’t have to answer,” said Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman to a reporter asking if he is gay....

Mehlman added that his sexual orientation, whatever it is, “changes nothing” as to how the party will operate under his leadership.

Excuse me?

Then we get this little zinger at the end of the article, after reading a few paragraphs of self-loathing from gay Republicans:

Four members of the Cleveland Log Cabin Republican group attended the dinner to hear Mehlman....

Fred Bachhuber [one of the members] said he expected not to hear a GLBT welcome from Mehlman.

“He just can’t do it yet,” said Bachhuber, “but as long as he’s sleeping with men behind the scenes, that’s all I care about.”

First of all, thanks for outing him, Fred. Second of all, as a politically active gay man, all you care about is that Mehlman is that you think Ken is having sex with other men. That's what cinches your support for the Republican party, that you think he's a closet case doing guys, regardless of him embracing anti-gay position? Lovely.

Speaking of anti-gay, Mehlman told the gathering that the anti-gay constitutional amendment isn't anti-gay. Uh huh. If you're a gay man, you now just earned another reason for being outed.

But there's more. Check out the host for Mehlman's appearance - the local GOP party chair who is a man married to a woman and who allegedly sexually assaulted a 21 year old male college student in need.

The dinner’s sponsor, the Summit County Republican Party, is headed by Alex R. Arshinkoff, who was outed by the Cleveland weekly Scene in June, 2003.

The paper reported accounts of Arshinkoff’s presence at Cleveland area gay bars, including the Leather Stallion and the Grid.

Arshinkoff’s vanity license plate ARA?1 has been seen in Akron gay bar parking lots and cruising areas for years.

According to a December 27, 2002 Akron police report, Arshinkoff picked up a 21-year-old male Kent State student who was stranded and needed to get home.

The report says Arshinkoff asked the student if he was gay or bi, then began rubbing his thigh and grabbing his crotch, asking the young man if he wanted to make some money.

An officer saw the student jump out of the car, but let Arshinkoff go and police never investigated further.

A second incident concerned a sexual harassment complaint reported to a deputy clerk of the Summit County Board of Elections by a former Municipal Court employee, also male. No charges were filed.

Arshinkoff, in addition to recruiting and promoting anti-gay candidates, some of them also believed to be closeted gays, authorized a letter to be sent on behalf of the Summit County Republican Party thanking voters who signed petitions to put Issue 1 on the ballot.

“We need voters like you,” the letter said.

Jim King, the owner of Angel Falls, a mostly gay coffee shop in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood, said he sent a letter to Arshinkoff, who used to come in the store twice a day, asking if it was true that the party paid for that letter.

“I just wanted to know the truth,” said King, “and I never heard from him again.”

Arshnikoff, who is married, has never publicly come out.

Did Ken know that his host is apparently an anti-gay gay - and one with a police report on him? And how does the religious right, yet again, put up with all of these flamers having these leadership positions in the party? Not to mention, the guy isn't just reported to be gay - there's a police report accusing him of assaulting young college students in need. And Ken was there to give the guy even more credibility.

Man, I love Republicans. You can be a GOP party leader AND not have to explain allegations that you sexually assaulted a 21 year old guy. Is this a great country or what? Read the rest of this post...

Senator Frist, raving hypocrite

Interesting that with Christopher Reeve Frist wasn't nearly as hopeful as he is now with Terri Schiavo, who is missing an entire portion of her brain that has turned to liquid. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Ok,I'm outta here - well, out of Rockefeller Center. More later. I'm having CNN's Aaron Brown on the show tomorrow. I really like him - want to talk to him about the media, but also the overall level of discourse in politics. Read the rest of this post...

It's Official: OH Gay Marriage Amendment not just about Gays

Well Ohioans, you've been hoodwinked. You thought you were stopping gays from getting married last November when you voted for that amendment. Apparently, you were all too damn lazy to read the language or listen to the debate. Bottom line: it affects more than gays according to an Ohio Court.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a judge struck down part of the state's domestic violence law today based on the "gay marriage" amendment:

Ohio voters who approved a constitutional amendment last fall that denied legal recognition of unmarried and gay couples probably didn't envision the measure being successfully used as a defense in domestic violence cases.

But that became a reality Wednesday when Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman ruled that the amendment, approved by voters as Issue 1, made part of the state's domestic violence law unconstitutional.

Friedman said that because Ohio's domestic violence law recognizes the relationship between an unmarried offender and victim as one "approximating the significance or effect of marriage," it represents a direct conflict with the amendment's prohibition against such recognition and is thus unenforceable.

It's a matter of time before other Ohio laws are challenged based on this amendment.

The ironic thing here is that gays didn't really lose anything under the amendment. See, gays can't get married anyway. It's those straight Ohioans who voted against their own interests....again. Who knew they'd be supporting domestic violence? Who knows if they also voted to end divorce? We'll see. Read the rest of this post...

Greetings from On the Air

We've got a 5 minute break. Interviewing a rather interesting religious right guy (well, a conservative Christian) next hour. I really like this guy, though his opinions will probably drive you nuts. You can call in the show at 866-305-6887, and you can listen online live (after a free 3 day trial registration) at http://www.Siriusoutq.com

Feel free to chat about the show here, if you like - or open thread away :-) Read the rest of this post...

DailyKos: NO Military Service for Gannon/Guckert

A lot of comments remind us not to forget about the Jeff/James Gannon/Guckert scandal. Believe me, we haven't...even though the MSM seems to have.

DailyKos has another new development involving Jeff/James. Looks like our boy may have made up the whole military record thing too. We don't know yet, but here's what Kos is reporting:

Fake name. Fake reporter. Fake news agency. And now this ...

Fake Marine.

First, we went to the Military Personnel Records of the National Personnel Records Center at St. Louis, Missouri, the supposed repository of all military records. No record showed, but the official letter hemmed and hawed and scraped its military-booted feet so much, kinda sorta explaining that they're often ... well ... ummm ... screwed up ... and that we should check directly with the United States Marine Corps at Quantico. You know, just to ... ummm ... make sure.

Love the Kossacks.

We still need to know a lot more about the Gannon/Guckert story. A lot. Read the rest of this post...

Why do Republican judges want Terri Schiavo to die?

Newsflash people. As I suspected, it's, once again, the GOP judges who are staking out the position that Terri Schiavo should be permitted to finally die with dignity. Not only is the Florida judge a big ole Republican, but of the 3 appellated court judges deciding on this yesterday, the dissenter (i.e., agreed with the religious right) was a Clinton appointee, and the two judges who said it's time to let Terri go were a Bush and a Clinton apppointee.

But oh, it gets even better. When an emergency appeal is filed with the US Supreme Court, it's filed with one justice who gets to decide if they'll take up the case. Well, last time the appeal was made to conservative Justice Kennedy, A REAGAN APPOINTEE, and rather than simply accept the appeal like a good Republican clone, he instead referred it to the entire court for THEM to decide. The entire court, the majority of which is republican appointees, voted it down.

Let me reiterate that. A Reagan judge declined to take the appeal - i.e., declined to save Terri - then the majority Republican appointed US Supreme Court declined as well.

So now the religious right and congressional republicans think even Reagan appointed judges are too activist and too liberal. Then who IS proper to be a judge if even a Reagan appointee is too liberal? Or, is the problem simply that the religious right and the GOP won't accept ANY judge that doesn't rubber stamp any and all of their extreme views? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Doing my research for today's show - you literally have to do about an hour's preparation for each hour you're on the air. I'm open to suggestions for issues to talk about, articles, anti-gop horror stories, good stuff from other blogs, etc. Suggest away. Read the rest of this post...

Once again, I love Maureen Dowd

(And I love her more than John does....)

Her column today captures all the creepy and craven elements of the Schiavo situation. You know it's good when the first line is: Oh my God, we really are in a theocracy.

Deservedly, no one is left unscathed in this column: W. Bush, Frist, Jeb Bush, DeLay and the Democrats. It's worth a read to put this whole sad tale in to context.

On W:

The president, who couldn't be dragged outdoors to talk about the more than a hundred thousand people who died in the horrific tsunami, was willing to be dragged out of bed to sign a bill about one woman his base had fixated on.

She notes how Frist and Bush have used this in their campaign for President in 2008:

Dr. Frist thinks he can ace out Jeb Bush to be 44, even though he has become a laughingstock by trying to rediagnose Ms. Schiavo's condition by video.

As one disgusted Times reader suggested in an e-mail: "Americans ought to send Bill Frist their requests: 'Dear Dr. Frist: Please watch the enclosed video and tell us if that mole on my mother's cheek is cancer. Does she need surgery?'"

Jeb, keeping up with the '08 competition, vainly tried to get Florida to declare Ms. Schiavo a ward of the state.

And then, she skewers DeLay:

Mr. DeLay moved yesterday to file a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court asking that Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube be restored while the federal court is deciding what to do. But as he exploits this one sad case, Mr. DeLay has voted to slash Medicaid by $15 billion, denying money to care for poor people in nursing homes, some on feeding tubes.

Mr. DeLay made his personal stake clear at a conference last Friday organized by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. He said that God had brought Terri Schiavo's struggle to the forefront "to help elevate the visibility of what's going on in America." He defined that as "attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others."

So it's not about her crisis at all. It's about his crisis.

Ms. Dowd also notes the total lack of spine from Democrats who let this whole thing play out with barely a peep. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

I need coffee...chat away... Read the rest of this post...

GOP plan backfire?

If this poll is correct, the GOP really laid an egg on this latest debacle. A new CBS poll says more than two thirds of evangelicals disapprove of Congressional intervention in the Shiavo case.

In case you missed it yesterday, there was an interesting online discussion with a former special guardian for Terri Schiavo. He was assigned to the role by Jeb Bush in 2003 and offered the most level headed analysis of the situation that I have read so far. After reading it yesterday, I have to wonder about why the MSM is showing photos that are so out of date. It seems as though they are about as cynical as the GOP on this. Read the rest of this post...

Another Kick in the Pants for Dems on Schiavo

In the Washington Post, columnist Richard Cohen blasts the Democrats for failing to stand on its principles in the Terri Schiavo case.

"But for me the real loser was the Democratic Party. It showed that it's almost totally without leadership. If there is a national figure (other than [Barney] Frank) who stood up and took on the GOP in this matter, his -- or her -- name does not come to mind. In the Senate, oddly enough, it was Virginia's John Warner who pointed out that he opposed the bill -- and he's a Republican, for goodness' sake. The Democrats were nowhere," says Cohen in the Washington Post.

Yes, the Dems stole defeat out of the jaws of victory. Again. The majority of Americans stand with the Dems on major issues. Unfortunately, the Dems are afraid to stand with the majority of Americans. Think anyone will apologize? Think anyone will get the message? Neither do I. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Meet Kafka. Kafka Meet Bush.

Kafka came to Guantanamo Bay this year, once military proceedings started to review the cases of the prisoners being held and determine whether any of them should be released. Some lovely highlights: prisoners were refused the right to hear many of the charges against them or what evidence was used to buttress those charges (it's classified; stop whining) and the lawyers and others prosecuting them covered up their name-tags.

"So far, 64 detainees have had hearings scheduled before administrative review boards, and 39 have declined to attend. Captain Kaniut said one reason was that many were skeptical about the fairness of the proceedings. Another reason, he said, may be that the cases against them are so strong that a hearing would be futile," says the New York Times.

And there are other reasons. Recent articles in the New York Times and elsewhere described serious and upsetting charges by court appointed lawyers. (If anything can be said to be "upsetting" that is less than the rape, torture and killing of prisoners we KNOW have no useful information.) Among the claims: guards at Guantanamo Bay pretend to be lawyers and meet with prisoners to get info; then, when the real lawyers show up, the prisoners don't trust them and refuse to cooperate in their own defense. Other prisoners meeting with lawyers have felt the wrath of guards after those lawyers leave and then don't want to see the lawyers when they return.

This is all making a sad mockery of what the United States stands for: fair trials, the rule of law, decency, respect and all those other qualities in short supply at Guantanamo and the numerous secret locations around the world we don't even know about. The sad truth is that some of the prisoners being detained actually are bad guys, but we don't need to treat them like beasts or demean our principles even for them.

And the rest -- people sold to the military by warlords to collect on bounty, innocent fools in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even the true believer combatants who signed up when Afghanistan or Iraq was invaded by another country (hgowever benevolent) but don't have any knowledge of terrorism etc -- god help us for how we've treated them and debased, more than anyone else, ourselves. Read the rest of this post...

"Saving" Social Security? Not That Hard

Here's another point about the annual report on Social Security and Medicare, the one that said Medicare is in much worse shape (ignore that, says Bush) and that some of the warning dates for SS have moved up a year (meaningless when you're projecting decades ahead, say most experts).

One item in the New York Times:

"To pay all scheduled benefits over the next 75 years, the government would have to raise an additional $4 trillion in today's dollars, $300 billion higher than the figure projected last year."

You mean, if we simply chose not to make permanent those tax cuts for the super rich -- the ones Bush enacted because he insisted we would have such a massive surplus in our budget it would be downright dangerous -- that this ALONE would provide enough money to shore up SS for the next 75 years without ANY other changes? With money to spare? Gee, choosing between an unnecessary windfall for people making $300,000 a year and more versus ensuring that old people don't go hungry is a really tough choice.

I guess when Greenspan said fixing SS really wasn't that hard, he knew what he was talking about. Mind you, I don't think spiking those windfalls for the super rich is all that should be done -- modest changes in SS are perfectly reasonable adjustments to make (such as raising the retirement age when full benefits kick in two years since people live so much longer).

And of course some of that money is needed for Medicare. But let's pick our priorities. Very recent windfalls for the super-rich of focusing on the health and minimal needs of the elderly? Gee, what would Jesus do? Read the rest of this post...