the [alternate] patriot

Sunday, February 29, 2004

More on gay marriage (USA)

Same-sex marriages ought to be allowed. There is no good reason not to allow them.

Even if it were viable to thwart the Constitution and apply a religious test to a civil issue -- which it's not, of course -- the position is indefensible.

To take a minor passage of the Old Testament over the entire thrust of the New Testament shows up anti-gay Christians for the homophobes they are.

The absurdity of their position is parodied at the God Hates Shrimp weblog.

Palema 2:22 PM

Saturday, February 28, 2004

Bush joke

President Bush said today he's troubled by all the gay marriages. ... He
said the only time two men should ever be in bed together is if one is a
lobbyist and one is a politician. (Jay Leno)

Palema 10:02 AM

Monday, February 23, 2004

On the civil rights front(s)

I read an excellent point-by-point rebuttal of various arguments against gay marriage: Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives. Ater reading, I left a comment to the effect that a lot of men's opposition to gays and gay marriage is based (in my opinion) on what they like to claim is natural and hardwired -- dominance over women. If some men express little desire to dominate women, then how can it be inborn?

Women are still fighting their battles against male domination despite having had had the right to vote since 1920 (Our centennial is coming up in 16 years! I personally didn't get too excited about the country's bicentennial, since I did not feel it included me.)

Speaking of women's rights, just as the City of San Francisco is out in front on gay marriages, so was the city of Rochester, NY out front in women voting. Forty women registered and 15 of them actually voted in 1871, nearly fifty years before the Constitution changed to allow it.
This from [- Rochester history, Susan B. Anthony bio

In her friendly town of Rochester, Susan B. Anthony with her friends Guelma Mc Lean and Hannah Mosher along with a dozen other women registered for the election of 1871. The following day forty other women followed in her footsteps. On election day fifteen of these women including Susan B. succeeded in voting. Susan B. was arrested and found guilty. She was ordered to pay a fine of one-hundred dollars and replied, "May it please your honor, I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty." The fine remains unpaid to this very day.

Funny she was fined and not the city official who allowed them to register.

Palema 7:20 PM

Sunday, February 22, 2004

What Bush's Guard File Reveals (nothing)

The Nation summarizes the contents of the sheaf of records thrown at reporters recently. You can bet that every time the issue arises during the campaign, Bush will say 'I answered all those questions already. We already gave the records showing his Guard duty.' Yep, yep, he answered. The answer is: AWOL.
What Bush's Guard File Reveals:

* In May 1972, Bush moved from Texas to Alabama to work on the Senate campaign of a family friend. He still had two years left on his Guard obligation. He requested permission to continue his Guard training in Alabama. But did he show up?

* Sometime after the November 1972 election, he returned to Houston. But his immediate supervisors at Ellington Air Base in Houston--his home base--noted in a May 2, 1973, annual performance review that Bush 'has not been observed at this unit' for the past year. After that report, he put in several intensive stints of duty. But had Bush ignored his Guard responsibilities for months once he was back in Houston?

* In September 1972, he was grounded for failing to take a flight physical. Why did he not go through this simple step to preserve his flying status?

The new records provide answers to none of this

Palema 6:28 PM

Saturday, February 21, 2004

Death Row Roll Call

Death Row Roll Call: "since 1993, an average of five inmates have been released annually.
Execution of the innocent is just one of many reasons to help end capital punishment in the US today."

It's hard to justify any kind of killing, if you believe killing is wrong. And why is it that so many of the opponents of same-sex marriages dwell on a minor section of Leviticus and feel free to ignore one of the Ten Commandments (Thou Shalt not Kill). It does NOT say "'Thou shalt not usually kill," or "Thou shalt not kill unless you're in the Army, or being attacked, or possibly going to be attacked, or really and justifiably upset at what someone did."

Go take a look at the Roll Call on the Nation website and see the names of who is being executed this month around the country.

Palema 7:42 AM

Not doing enough? Hah!

When conservative columnists complain American feminists aren't doing enough to protect womens' rights anywhere, you know that improving women's lives is not their agenda -- any more than William Buckley or George Will write about the better Democratic candidate in hopes of giving us a really good Democratic president.
Shall the fox write about improved ways to guard the henhouse?

Now Kristof is complaining that American women's groups such as NOW and Feminist Majority don't care about sexual slavery and the trafficking of women and children for commercial sex. In a series of columns, he describes his efforts to 'buy the freedom' of two Cambodian teenage prostitutes living in a sleazy brothel in Poipet and to get them home to their families. Evangelical Christians, he argues, care about girls like these; feminists are too busy 'saving Title IX and electing more women to the Senate,'he observed in a Times online forum. Right, why should American women care about equal opportunities and electing to office people who think contraception is as important as Viagra? Never mind that putting more feminists in the Senate--not more "women"--would mean more help for the very causes Kristof supports!
--Katha Pollitt writing in the Nation

Let me just add that the Christian Right would be better served by backing out of American politics and focusing on the hereafter, lest they miss the Boat when it comes by for them.

Palema 5:45 AM

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Clark falls prey to anti-Kerry rumor mill

"Bantering with them at length under supposedly off-the-record ground rules, Clark actually said he was still in the race because he thought Kerry's campaign was going to implode over what he inelegantly called an 'intern' scandal." - Boston Globe
[ Read more...
The story doesnt say where Clark got this idea. Did he get it from Republican backers? Was his candidacy backed by Republicans who wanted to stop Kerry?

Palema 7:12 AM

Sunday, February 15, 2004

Who is wonderful

1. "Don't let the fine manners fool you. The rich are behaving badly - again."
2. "Shameless behavior wrapped in aristocratic dresses."
The Forsyte Saga II, Exxon Mobil Masterpiece Theater. Tonight at 9
Advertisements in the NY Times. And I thought they were talking about the Bush administration. On the other hand, his manners aren't that great.

Palema 7:22 AM

Thursday, February 12, 2004

The reasons to oppose gay marriage

Butch Hancock knows why.

"Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." --Butch Hancock

Palema 7:10 AM

'Defense' of marriage

The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites the public odium and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments.
[---Henry Clay, 1834]

All the reasons I've see to oppose gay marriage have nothing to do with marriage. They have only to do with setting apart a portion of the population.
Letters to the editor in local newspapers assert, for example, that the divorce rate is too high and we must defend marriage. I'd guess a high divorce rate has to do with other changes in society so that marriage does not anwer the needs of many people as it once did. Logically, more people getting married does nothing to undermine the institution; if anything, it bolsters it.
I read a letter to the editor that asserted marriage must be between a man and a woman, because only they can produce and nurture a child. Yet there are two obvious problems with this: 1) childless heterosexual couples are not barred from marriage; and 2) gay couples may and do adopt and nurture children.

Palema 6:38 AM

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

As Maine goes...

In Belfast, people listen to him as if he were speaking aloud their thoughts. There is the same atmosphere in Rockland. The general buzz isn't bad in Portland as representatives for other Democratic candidates take their turns at the podium, but the unabashed cheers, grins, and chants of 'DENNIS! DENNIS! DENNIS!' as Kucinich walks down the center aisle shoot the mood to a new high. --Zoe Calder, Belfast Village Soup

Every new initiative advances Halliburton

'speculating about the real motives behind the Bush administration's sudden interest in space exploration' --Whiskey Bar: Science Archives Read more
Makes you wonder what Halliburton is doing in the education field. Do they write text books? Or is that some other Bush pal?

Palema 6:41 AM

Sunday, February 08, 2004

Letters: A Gift That Survives the Recipient

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/nyregion/thecity/08ctylett.html

Anonymous 3:54 PM

Friday, February 06, 2004

Political humor

A spokesman for the military said today they expect to catch Osama bin
Laden this year. I understand they're shooting for the first week November.
(Jay Leno)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday in favor of gay
marriage. Official reaction was mixed. John Kerry expressed his opposition,
but Ted Kennedy is forbidden by the laws of comedy from taking a position
on the sanctity of marriage. (Argus Hamilton)

Yes! We finally brought Martha Stewart to trial. You know, with all the
massive and almost completely unpunished fraud perpetrated on the public by
companies like Enron, Global Crossing, and Tyco we finally got the ring
leader. Maybe now we can lower the nation's terror alert to periwinkle.
(Jon Stewart)

They say Bush's popularity is falling so fast, his new secret service
codename is "Howard Dean." (Jay Leno)

Palema 11:41 PM

Thursday, February 05, 2004

Plutocrats And Populists (washingtonpost.com)

Joe Lieberman spoke for the populist-phobes when, campaigning last Sunday, he voiced his fear that "some of the other candidates . . . are drifting toward outdated class-warfare arguments."

It was Lieberman, of course, whose arguments Democratic voters judged to be outdated or worse, but the notion that populism is a hoary chestnut is still gospel at some centrist think tanks and editorial boards. Listen to them and you'd think the Democratic presidential candidates were echoing William Jennings Bryan's call for free silver.

But the Democrats' populism isn't a matter of genetics, of a nostalgic reversion to a century-old battle against the House of Morgan. It is, to the contrary, a specific response to immediate policies of the House of Bush

CNN.com - Kerry moves ahead, field narrows to six - Feb. 4, 2004

CNN.com - Kerry moves ahead, field narrows to six - Feb. 4, 2004: "The verdict was sweet for Kerry, and to a lesser extent for Edwards.

'We will take nothing for granted. We will compete everywhere. And in November, we will beat George W. Bush,' Kerry told supporters gathered in Seattle, Washington, where caucuses are scheduled Saturday."

Anonymous 11:27 AM

Sunday, February 01, 2004

Lessons for the young

I have three stories about people teaching politics to their kids.

I. Football
In the mall at Manchester, CT, I overheard this cheer-leading exchange between a passing Dad and his young son:
WE'RE GONNA WATCH THE SUPERBOWL!
Yeah!
WHO DO WE LIKE???
-The Patriots!!
That's right!! And WHO DO WE HATE??
- Saddam Hussein!!
No, no, the Panthers...

II. Unions
There was a household where the parents and grandparents had all fought union battles -- the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, minimum wage, even the right to organize and strike. Democrats, all.
Their son, also a very liberal Democrat, paid a visit with his little boy one day. As they came through the door, the child painfully stubbed his toe on the door sill.
F***ing Republicans! he exclaimed.

III. Activist
It's not only men. I heard about a woman activist who usually took her little son Josh with her to demontrations; and sometimes at home entertained herself by practicing chants with her child:
WHAT DO WE WANT?
Justice!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
Now!

One day at a rally for women's rights, the demonstrators had been out there all morning.
WHAT DO WE WANT? shouted the mother
Lunch? replied Josh

Palema 3:13 PM

Getting the last word

Her brief paid death notice, published Dec. 30 in The New York Times, said she was 'dedicated to family, friends, learning, teaching and social justice.' In the last line, it instructed: 'In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to any organization dedicated to the defeat of George W. Bush.'

...To some, using a death notice as a paid political advertisement seems to bring incivility to new heights. From his position as a Democratic political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf asserted that these notices were poor political propaganda and wouldn't cost the president one vote. What's more, he said: 'There's something over the top about that. It's not the nicest kind of behavior.'

But the families who placed the death notices say that politics was deeply personal to their loved ones, and that Mr. Bush's tenure, from the circumstances of his election to the loss of lives in Iraq and the so-far invisible weapons of mass destruction, inflamed their passion so much they wanted to send messages from the grave.
--Anemona Hartocollis, NY Times Coping: Partisan Words to Remember Them By

Well some may find it tacky, but I consider it splendid. I feel sure if I pass away during the current administration, my family will do the same thing for me, having now read about the idea.

To me this is no more tacky for a death notice than suggesting donations be made to the cancer society or any other charity, in fact rather less.

If anything is tacky, it is in the now conventional suggestion that anyone should give a memorial gift at all, not in the direction the donor is pointed.

Obviously the Bush gang is terrified by this movement, as the deceased's opinion carries rather more weight, being curiously similar to last wishes or a dying confession.

Palema 5:59 AM