Election With A Consequence

Blue Virginia links to a story in WaPo, saying our new AG, Mark Herring, will not just blow off defending Virginia's ban on gay marriage, but actually join the suit brought by 2 gay couples to overturn it.

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down, according to an official close to the attorney general with knowledge about the decision.

The action will mark a stunning reversal in the state’s legal position on same-sex marriage and is a result of November elections in which Democrats swept the state’s top offices. Herring’s predecessor, Republican Ken Cuccinelli II, adamantly opposes gay marriage and had vowed to defend Virginia’s constitutional amendment banning such unions, which was passed in 2006 with the support of 57 percent of voters.

Prob'ly shouldn't get too het up about it, but this has to be a pretty good sign that the Christianists are losing a big one.

It also points up the importance of getting everybody out to vote.  Herring won his election by less than a thousand.  

Sauce For the Gander

Don't know much about Ms Miller, but it sounds like she'd have been a good one to talk to about a lot things.

And just to be clear - I don't think I can be a "feminist" any more than a woman can be a "masculinist", but all of us could at least try to see things from a perspective other than our own once in a while.

hat tip = Tennessee Guerilla Women

Defending Amina

Proof once again that ya gotta be careful with the whole Rights Thing - if some folks get the rights they're entitled to, before ya know it they're all gonna want 'em.

So anyway, in the last several months, we've seen the story about a kid in Afghanistan speaking up in favor of education for women and being nearly shot to pieces for her trouble; then we got the one a few weeks ago about the Islamo-Fundies coming down on a young woman who dared go against her father's choice of a suitable husband or some such nonsense; and now there's this about a young woman somewhere in Tunisia who really just wants the Theocrats to leave her the fuck alone already.

19 year old Tunisian Amina who posted a topless photo of herself bearing the slogan “my body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour” has been threatened with death.

Islamist cleric Adel Almi, president of Al-Jamia Al-Li-Wassatia Tawia Wal-Islah, has called for Amina’s flogging and stoning to death saying Amina’s actions will bring misfortune by causing “epidemics and disasters” and “could be contagious and give ideas to other women…”

We, the undersigned, unequivocally defend Amina, and demand that her life and liberty be protected and that those who have threatened her be immediately prosecuted.

On 4 April 2013, we call for an International Day to Defend Amina.

As a well-conditioned American consumer, I readily admit to hearing a bell whenever  somebody runs a little T & A at me; and to being kinda transfixed by the the visual prospects of an actually-naked real-life non-PhotoShopped female human.  So on that one (very important) level I'm like 'Yeah - OK - throw me some jiggle, and I'll follow you anywhere'.

But this isn't about the usual crapola of small-head-thinking or forbidden fruit or any of the standard moralistic bullshit.  It's also not about American First World Feminism bitching about self-loathing and self-objectification; and it's not about showering pity on some poor soul - "oh look at how she has to degrade herself just to make a point; isn't that awful?"  It's not about anything but having the guts to stand up for yourself.

It's about "by any means necessary".

People will be free; they'll do it for themselves when they're ready; and it's best for all of us if we try a little harder just to stay the fuck outa their way.

Emotional Terrorists

I kinda get the feeling that in spite of the differences, all women seem to have a thing or two in common.

Today's Quote

LBJ On Voting Rights:

"It's outrageous that all people do not have the dignity to which they are entitled.  But we can't legislate human dignity -- we can legislate to give a man a vote and a voice in his own government. Then with his vote and his voice he is equipped with a very potent weapon to guarantee his own dignity."

--Lyndon Johnson, 1960; speaking about 1957 Civil Rights Legislation

Urinalysis

This one makes the rounds every so often.

I was thinking that if one of you "conservative" geniuses ever once tho't of challenging the Pee Test in the courts on 4th and 5th Amendment grounds (eg), maybe you'd feel a bit less inclined to shit on poor people all the fuckin' time.  Cuz that's really it, right?  You need to be absolutely sure that you never have to admit that the guys you're always voting for are bending you over the table and fucking you with your pants on; you can't stand thinking that everything they've told you over the last 30 years is total bunk; and how they're using you to do their dirty work on everybody else.

So it just can't be that you're allowing yourselves to get fucked over.  It's really all about how you need that shit to roll on down the hill, so you can feel a little better about the whole filthy mess - that you helped create - that you help perpetuate every time you buy into this cynical manipulation.

Would this be a bad time to start talking to you about accepting responsibility for your part in turning this country into the giant FUBAR that you're always pissin' and moanin' about?

The Snatchel Project

From a spectacularly inspiring website:

Dear Men in Congress: If we knit you a uterus, will you stay out of ours?

(hat tip = Balloon Juice)

And There It Is

The exposure parade continues.  Sec'y Sebelius tries to explain to US Rep Tim Murphy (R-Brainfart) how contra-ception works, but he can't hear what she's saying because God is stomping around in his head, making too much awesomely righteous noise up there or some-damn-thing.

(hat tip ThinkProgress)

SEBELIUS: There also is no abortifacient drug that is part of the FDA approved contraception. What the rule for preventive care…

MURPHY: Ma’m that is not true…Is the morning after pill or something like that an abortifacient drug?

SEBELIUS: It is a contraceptive drug, not an abortifacient… It does not interfere with a pregnancy. If the morning pill were taken, and a female were pregnant, the pregnancy is not interrupted. That’s the definition of abortifation.

MURPHY: Ma’m that is your interpretation, and I appreciate that’s your interpretation.

SEBELIUS: That’s what the scientists and doctors…

MURPHY: We’re not talking about scientists. Ma’m we’re not talking about scientists here, we’re talking about religious belief. Ma’m, I’m asking you about a religious belief. In a religious belief, that is a violation of a religious belief.

And there it is.  Science doesn't matter.  Fact doesn't matter.  Reality doesn't matter.  If truth goes against my religion-fueled ideology, then truth must be dismissed and ignored and condemned.

One last thing: according to Ayn Rand, (approx - The Fountainhead) "...evil is when a man sees the truth - recognizes it for what it is - and denies it."

Some Local Shit

I'm trying to bring my political involvement a little closer to home, so my blogging will include a bit more concentration on issues at the State and County levels - here in Albemarle County, Virginia.

The GOP, having abandoned reason almost altogether; and having lost the issues of Recession and Unemployment; and being in the process of losing on The Role Of Government - the Repubs are reverting to form by whipping the 4 Dead Horses of the Non-Apocalypse: God, Guns, Gays and Gestation, plus 1, GOTV.

Here's the gist of Virginia's Voter Registration setup vs Gun Sales per PolitiFact Virginia via Richmond TImes Dispatch:

Identification
To register to vote, you must present a document that shows your name and address. It can be a valid photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document.

To cast a ballot, you must show identification or sign a statement -- subject to felony conviction for false information -- that you are the registered voter you represent yourself to be. This requirement is being altered by the General Assembly this year, a point we’ll address later.

To buy a gun from a licensed dealer in Virginia, you must show primary and secondary forms of identification. The primary document must be a state-issued photo ID. The secondary identification just needs to contain your current address and can be a utility bill, voter registration card, bank check or hunting or fishing license.

But in the case of private guns sales -- if you buy a firearm from an individual who is not a licensed dealer -- the identification requirements go away.

Application
To register to vote, you must fill out and submit an application 22 days before a general or primary election. The form can be submitted at variety of locations or by mail.

To buy a gun from a licensed dealer, you have to submit to a computerized background check run by the state police. It’s usually completed in a matter of minutes, but can take as long as four days. The background check does not apply to private gun sales, and such transactions can occur instantly.

Disqualification
You can’t vote if you are a felon and have not had your rights restored, or if you have been judged mentally incapacitated.

Many things could turn up on a background check that would bar someone from buying a gun from a licensed dealer. They include conviction or indictment on felony charges, an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor or felony, outstanding protective or restraining orders, use of illegal drugs, mental incompetency judgement, orders for mental health treatment, dishonorable discharge from military, and conviction on domestic violence charges.

In private sales, it is a felony to knowingly sell a gun to a person who would be disqualified under the instant background check. But there is no onus on a private seller to inquire about a buyer’s background, and no requirement that a purchaser disclose whether he or she is legally qualified to buy a firearm in Virginia.

Interesting little mash-up between Gun Rights and Voting Rights, with Repubs being far more concerned that too many of "the wrong kinda people" get to vote than they are with those gettin' to buy a gun.  Classic.

It Gets Better

Wouldn't it be nice if every LGBT kid knew he could call a cop who actually gets it - and knew that cop was ready to kick ass to stand up for him if it turned out that's what was needed?
(hat tip = Balloon Juice)

Attack On The SPLC

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a definitive source of information regarding organizations whose names and mission statements often sound innocuous or even righteous, but are actually intent on causing real harm to real people, usually in the name of some greater purity or higher calling.

SPLC recently added Family Research Council to their list of hate groups, citing FRC's slander against LGBT's and the language of violence. (see article)

FCR is trying to strike back.  One avenue is this ad posted at Politico:

Here's a quick tho't for somebody like Tony Perkins:  If you could stop being a bigoted asshole, people could stop calling you a bigoted asshole.

Asking The Right Question

Makes Me Wanna Holler

District Judge Virginia Phillips in San Diego has issued a ruling that says the US military has to shit-can the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

I suppose now we can all look forward to the Repubs and TheoCons making lots of noise about "activist judges legislating from the bench", and we can prob'ly expect the Dems to run and hide.

Here's a tho't on what Obama and Reid and Pelosi might try:  "Judge Phillips has done exactly what a good judge is supposed to do, and she did it exactly the way the Founders envisioned it: The Judiciary is there to balance the powers of the other 2 branches.  She struck down an unjust law.  She told Government that you don't treat people that way.  She got the Government off of people's backs".

Is it really that hard?