I seem to be back on the mend and expect to be back to full time by the weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:57 (average 4:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: With two same-sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court, numerous commentators have latched on to remarks by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg critical of the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. It is not the judgment that was wrong, but “it moved too far, too fast,” she said at Columbia Law School last year, a view she has expressed in various speeches and law review articles. As one of the court’s moderate liberals and a champion of women’s rights, she is now being routinely cited to argue for a timid resolution on the issue of same-sex marriage that would strike down California’s ban on such marriages, but would leave prohibitions standing in about 40 other states.
How Justice Ginsburg will vote on same-sex marriage is unknown. But her comments misread the legal and political landscape at the time of the Roe decision and have been used to bolster the inaccurate notion that the court’s ruling on abortion rights somehow short-circuited a political process that was moving in the states to end criminalization of abortion. Some now argue that a toxic multidecade backlash against abortion rights could have been avoided if the court had given states more time to act — supposedly a cautionary lesson for marriage equality.
The real story, as explained by Linda Greenhouse, a former New York Times reporter who now teaches at Yale Law School, and Reva Siegel, a professor there, is that political conflict over abortion was escalating before the Roe decision, and that state progress on decriminalization had reached a standstill in the face of opposition from the Roman Catholic Church…
I seldom disagree with Justice Ginsburg, but in this case I do. In Roe v Wade, SCOTUS made a correct and timely decision, because church intrusion into state affairs was keeping from women a basic human and Constitutional right. In like manner, the Court should not condone religious intrusion into state affairs that is keeping from LGBT couples a basic human and Constitutional right. Moving "too far, too fast" in the right direction is NEVER the issue.
From Alternet: A Texas sheriff threw two Latino men into jail for 39 days "with no charges, no hearing, and no probable cause" and seized the $14,000 they had saved up to buy a new car, the men claim in Federal Court.
Roberto Moreno-Gutierrez and Jaime Moreno-Gutierrez sued Hill County, the Hill County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety, in Federal Court. Hill County, whose seat is Hillsboro, is between Waco and Dallas…
To understand the absurdity and bigotry of this injustice, you’ll need to click through for the rest of the article. Of course, the responsible official, Hill County Sheriff Michael Cox, is a Republican.
From Crooks and Liars: The city of Stockton, California officially went bankrupt yesterday. Instead of concern for what that might mean for its residents in terms of services and their quality of life, Fox predictably focused on one thing: public pensions. And, instead of doing any kind of real analysis of the pension issues, or delving into the pushy behavior of the Wall Street creditors, Stuart Varney suggested the whole problem is due to slacker public employees living high on the hog for decades after just a brief stint of work. He looked forward to pensioners taking the hit and expressed hope that the same would happen in other California cities, too…
…And how many of those pensioners have worked for decades educating and protecting the public based on the promise of a comfortable retirement? While retiring at 50 may seem young to the 60ish Varney, I’d like to see him start hauling firefighter equipment and running into burning buildings before he sneers about retirement ages again…
I stopped volunteering as a firefighter by 50, because I was becoming a drag on the youngsters, and unlike the pros, I didn’t even have to do it every day. Like the party that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda serves, Varny concerns himself only with taking away what working people have earned.
Cartoon:
13 Responses to “Open Thread–4/3/2013”
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3:46 Nothing fishy about that time, but with Patty or Lynn catch me?
4:32 Based on my time, some would guess that I sleep with the fishes.
4:04 I might be part cat, but I prefer chicken to fish, as do my 3 fur babes!
I'm surprised I wasn'r 4th.
NY Times ~ I am surprised at Justice Ginsberg's remarks. It does not help gay rights' advocates that she made them. I am sure she will still vote the right way on same-sex marriage.
Alternet ~ Do all the whackos livve in Waco? This was truly a case of racial profiling and discrimination. Let's not forget unlawful imprisonment either.
Crooks and Liars ~ Varney doesn't have to run into a burning building. His pants are already on fire. I would like to see him do at least one honest day's work though before he retires.
Cartoon ~ I honestly hope Elizabeth Colbert Busch, Stephen Colbert's sister, beats the pants off him.
Good article o CNN ~ http://us.cnn.com/2013/04/03/politics/sanford-next/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
Love this "family values" Republican/Teabagger. Well at least the fiancée is good looking.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this race because it could signal comming events in 2014, especial if Colbert Busch wins. What a thought to savour — the Republican/Teabaggers taking a major hit in 2014!
I agree, and I was too. That's why I included it.
They do need to change the pronunciation of Waco, don't they?
Too late. He has retired.
Me too! Good link! Thanks!
Puzzle — 4:04 I might be part cat, but I prefer chicken to fish, as do my 3 fur babes!
NY Times — So when has ensuring that all people have their constitutional and human rights moving "too far, too fast"?
I disagree. The US would still be back in 1973, if not earlier, had Roe vs Wade not happened. IMO, it is the growth of the evangelical right-wingnut pseudo Christian beliefs that have cast a pall over Roe vs Wade, and now over marriage equality. Constitutional and human rights seem to always lag society's position. It is society at large which pushes the change. One fanatical religious group in society cannot override the constitutional and human rights of all of society, no matter how vociferous they are.
Alternet — So is it true — they grow 'em big in Texas . . . assholes that is? Not sure why Clary wasn't included in the legal action, but this is totally wrong. The Gutierrez brothers must win this case but I suspect that the deck is stacked grossly against them.
Crooks and Liars — Makes me wonder why the city signed such generous pension agreements in the first place. Don't get me wrong, firefighters etc earn every penny! But what is this bit about working as little as 6 months and getting a full pension? I worked 24 years and received a $7K pension payout. My last job was 10 years and I get a $4K per year pension.
Cartoon — He should self-deport to Argentina!
Were it not for Critter Crunchuing, I would have been purrrfect.
My point exactly.
Indeed.
Is that accurate? After all the source is Faux Noise.
Amen!
I think that Sanford's primary win helps us on the path to putting Nancy Pelosi BACK in the Speaker's Chair.
I hope you're right.
I don't think it can hurt us. He keeps talking about a 'God of second-chances, and that's true. All are redeemable. However, while he was in office, he was instant in his condemnation of all but Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians. I doubt that will change.
Argentina to Washington = failing upwards.
Does anyone remember The Peter Principle?