I would have loved to have heard Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in person when she spoke recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival, but I’ll have to content myself with reading excerpts from the conversation she had with Jeffrey Rosen. Justice Ginsburg, who was introduced by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, described herself as a “flaming feminist” and talked eloquently about the economic realities of abortion rights, among other subjects. (Quotes courtesy of these two articles on the event) ~On her husband Marty, who recently passed away after 56 years of marriage: He “was the first boy I...
Continue reading...United States
"Irrational Prejudice"
I’m on my way out of town right now, but a pretty huge development occurred yesterday that really needs mentioning before I go. In two decisions yesterday, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. HHS and Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro held section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed back in the ’90s in a cynical play against a weakened President Clinton when same-sex marriage was barely on the horizon, prohibits the federal government from recognizing either state-sanctioned or non-state-sanctioned same-sex marriages and...
Continue reading...Sharron Angle attacks Harry Reid for…saving jobs?
Sharron Angle may want to stop talking. In case you’re not sure who she is: Angle’s a tea party favorite running for Senate against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. She beat out prohibitive favorite Sue Lowden in the Republican primary, mostly due to Lowden saying some ridiculous things. However, she also tends to say ridiculous things and get in trouble for them. As a result, she doesn’t get out much. Earlier this week, she got riled up because the Reid campaign dug up her old website and, well, put it back online. I’m not an...
Continue reading...Ginni Thomas & Tea Parties
Ok, let’s start with a few facts about Virginia “Ginni” Thomas: 1) She is married to US SC Justice Clarence Thomas. 2) She founded and is president of a tea party-related “think tank and advocacy group called Liberty Central.” On the website for said organization, she posted an open letter that starts “Dear Liberty Central Patriots,” in which she assures readers that Believe me, we are not alone! I conducted market research that identified 57 million of us in this great nation who respect the principles of our founding, and that number is growing daily. Is that all? ...
Continue reading...Oh Noes! Traficant's comeback bid thwarted by one of the most ridiculous of roadblocks
Oh Mr. Traficant, maybe among my favorite of former disgraced congressman, I have to admit this news makes me terribly sad: Former U.S. Rep. and convicted felon James Traficant’s improbable bid to return to Congress appears to have ended before it began. The Ohio Democrat, who spent seven years in prison on a bribery and racketeering conviction, fell about 100 names short of the necessary number of signatures to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate in Ohio’s 17th congressional district, according to Trumbull County Board of Elections official Jodi Dibble. Traficant had submitted 4,000 signatures...
Continue reading...Doctor treats pregnant women with experimental drug to prevent lesbians (what)
Dan Savage quoting from a piece by Alice Dreger, Ellen K. Feder, Anne Tamar-Mattis (emphasis his): The majority of researchers and clinicians interested in the use of prenatal “dex” focus on preventing development of ambiguous genitalia in girls with CAH. CAH results in an excess of androgens prenatally, and this can lead to a “masculinizing” of a female fetus’s genitals. One group of researchers, however, seems to be suggesting that prenatal dex also might prevent affected girls from turning out to be homosexual or bisexual. Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida...
Continue reading...Finally, doing nothing might actually be a good idea
As has probably been made far more obvious lately, it’s far easier for the Senate to do nothing than anything. They haven’t even been able to pass an unemployment benefits extension for the past three weeks, depriving long-time victims of the shitty economy of at least a modicum of support. Ezra Klein points out that with President Bush’s hallmark tax cuts set to expire this year, it might be better, at least in the long-term, for the Senate to do nothing and let them expire: For the deficit hawks in Congress, the next few months are going...
Continue reading...Meet Pamela Gorman, Arizonan for Congress
Another smash commercial, but this time from a candidate to represent the Arizona 3. Her name is Pamela Gorman, and she does have quite a shot. Although they never do show her actually hitting a target (?). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqnjzONrPiA
Continue reading...Sharron Angle and "God's Plan"
No wonder she’s trying to avoid the news-folk. Sharron Angle may have spouted some radically conservative ideas and convictions since becoming a candidate for Senate, but this has to take the cake: In a segment that has gone unnoticed since it first aired, the Tea Party-backed candidate told the Bill Manders show — a favorable platform for Republican candidates — that she opposed abortion even in cases of rape and incest. A pregnancy under those circumstances, she said, was “God’s plan.” Okay, sure, her opponent Harry Reid is pro-life as well, so maybe it doesn’t seem like...
Continue reading...Kagan Changes Her Mind on Hearings
Back when Elena Kagan was first nominated for the Supreme Court, I mentioned her 1995 critique of confirmation hearings– she said they had become “a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis.” I was optimistic that Kagan would adhere to that viewpoint and approach her own hearing with more candor, but it doesn’t appear that that will be the case. In fact, during Kagan’s confirmation for Solicitor General last year, she took a step towards disavowing her earlier analysis: “I am . ....
Continue reading...
Recent Comments