Bush Bigger Villain than Satan?

"I'm #1"


... read for yourself at Crooks and Liars.

Hussein Hanged

Unable to escape prison by flapping his arms,
Saddam Hussein is hanged.

Dictator Who Ruled Iraq With Violence Is Hanged for Crimes Against Humanity

By MARC SANTORA, JAMES GLANZ and SABRINA TAVERNISE
The New York Times :: December 30, 2006

BAGHDAD, Saturday, Dec. 30 — Saddam Hussein, the dictator who led Iraq through three decades of brutality, war and bombast before American forces chased him from his capital city and captured him in a filthy pit near his hometown, was hanged just before dawn Saturday during the morning call to prayer. (full story)

Final thoughts as 2006 comes to an end

First Freedom First

As we begin another year, I would like to urge my five loyal readers to help spread the word about First Freedom First. You may have seen the "floating head guy" on the left, it's a link to the First Freedom First web site.

So why do I care about First Freedom First? Because it's about safeguarding separation of church and state, and protecting religious liberty.

I became a full time activists almost 17 years ago because of my concern about reproductive rights. The irony of this is that I knew I would never face the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy or the need to take birth control. My concern was for women in a broader sense. How could we compete in the workforce if the majority of women could not plan the timing of their families.

As someone who has always known I would be my sole support, it's important to me that women have the same opportunities for advancement as men.

Anyone who has ever defended a clinic entrance knows that the protesters do not wave medical journals, or shout that the doctors inside are practicing bad medicine. They wave Bibles and tell the women walking past them they are committing a sin.

Your religious belief is not a valid reason for taking away my rights.

Religious Right activists are also working to prevent same sex couples from having the right to legally marry. Why should it matter to them if two women who have spent more than 50 years in a loving relationship want to have that relationship legally recognized?

Marriage equality isn't a threat to "traditional" marriage -- the eradication of the middle class is a much greater threat. If Religious Right activists are truly interested in saving "marriage" they would work to increase the minimum wage, end corporate welfare, and insure that women earn the same dollar for their efforts as men. Money -- specifically the lack of it -- is a much greater threat to marriage. Loving same sex couples are not.

Your religious belief is not a valid reason for taking away my rights.

I am increasingly concerned about the influence the Religious Right has over science. There is no valid reason to restrict embryonic stem cell research. The majority of American's support it, and yet we are held hostage to the disproportionate influence of the Religious Right over our elected officials. Hopefully this will change with the new Congress.

The bottom line is this: Your religious belief is not a valid reason for taking away my right to the benefits afforded by having the best medical research possible. Your religious belief does not give you the right to define my family. And your religious belief is not justification for restricting reproductive rights.

First Freedom First provides a way for like-minded individuals to petition our government on the importance to safeguarding separation of church and state, and protecting religious liberty.

If you have not yet signed the petition, please do so today. If you have not yet invited your friends and family to sign, do so as quickly as possible. Every elected official -- from school board members to the President of the United States -- needs to know that a majority of Americans support separation of church and state. Send them a clear message by signing the petition today.

In Memoriam - Gerald R. Ford

Former President Gerald Ford -- the only president I've ever had the opportunity to meet -- is dead at the age of 93. The announcement of his death came in a statement released by his wife Betty.

I had the pleasure of meeting President Ford in 1976 when he was campaigning for the Oval Office. I was 22 years old and working at a television station in Indianapolis. Ford came to the station for an interview, and staff were invited to meet with him following the broadcast. I think I was the first person through the door.

I had a great appreciation for him, given the circumstances that brought him to the office. He was such a breath of fresh air following the Watergate scandal. And I adored his wife Betty -- a champion of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Upon taking office Ford said:

"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule."

The New York Times reports:

[Ford] revived the debate over Watergate a month later by granting Nixon a pardon for all crimes he committed as president. That single act, it was widely believed, cost Ford election to a term of his own in 1976, but it won praise in later years as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on.

Ford's standing in the polls dropped dramatically when he pardoned Nixon unconditionally. But an ABC News poll taken in 2002 in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in found that six in 10 said the pardon was the right thing to do.

The late Democrat Clark Clifford spoke for many when he wrote in his memoirs, ''The nation would not have benefited from having a former chief executive in the dock for years after his departure from office. His disgrace was enough.''

The decision to pardon Nixon won Ford a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2001, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, acknowledging he had criticized Ford at the time, called the pardon ''an extraordinary act of courage that historians recognize was truly in the national interest.''

My thoughts are with his loving wife Betty and the Ford children.

____________________

On the net:

Gerald Ford presidential library site: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/

From Wikipedia - Gerald Ford: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford

‘Godfather of Soul’ gone

James Brown, the singer, songwriter, bandleader and dancer who
indelibly transformed 20th-century music, died early yesterday in Atlanta.

Charlie Brown Christmas

Winter Wonderland

All I Want for Christmas is You

Another Glass Ceiling is Breaking

Captain Margaret D. Klein is the U.S. Naval Academy's first female commandant. The Washington Post reports the new number two person at the Academy will focus on forging new leaders.

As she assumes the academy's No. 2 slot, Klein said she hopes to set an example not just for the women there but for male midshipmen as well.

"I can honestly say I never felt like a trailblazer," Klein said in an interview yesterday with reporters, adding: "If the female midshipmen relate to that, I think it's an excellent byproduct."

Naval Academy history

A quick Wikipedia search reveals the institution was founded as the Naval School in 1845 by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. The campus was established at Annapolis on the grounds of the former U.S. Army post Fort Severn.

The Naval Academy first accepted women as Midshipmen in 1976, when Congress authorized the admission of women to all of the service academies. Klein graduated from the academy in 1981 with the second class to include women. Women compose about 19 percent of entering plebes, but it has not been a smooth process.

Controversy at the Adacemy

Following the 2003 US Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal and due to concern with sexual assault in the U.S. military the Department of Defense was required to establish a task force to investigate sexual harassment and assault at the United States military academies in the law funding the military for fiscal 2004. The report, issued August 25, 2005 showed that during 2004 50% of the women at Annapolis reported instances of sexual harassment while 99 incidents of sexual assault were reported. There had been an earlier incident in 1990 which involved male midshipmen chaining a female midshipman to a urinal after she threw a snowball after them and then taking pictures of her.

Hope for change

Klein was appointed by the academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, who came to the academy with a reputation as a leader in advancing the role of women in the military. As more women move into positions of leadership there is hope the culture at the Academy will change.

Sen. Hillary Clinton on The View

PART 1


PART 2

What others are saying ...

From AMERICAblog.com - Civil Unions law signed in NJ

Governor Corzine signed the law today. Civil unions will be the law of the land in the Garden State starting February 19, 2007. That is, civil unions will be the law of the land til full marriage rights are established.

Civil unions are a step in the right direction. But, check out Blue Jersey's Think Equal campaign and you'll understand why it isn't enough.


From Blue Gal - First Freedom First: Democracy, not Theocracy

I'm blogging this week on the battleground issues of First Freedom First, an umbrella organization supporting specific issues related to the separation of church and state. - BG


From TheCarpetbaggerReport.com - Thursday’s Mini-Report

* One more argument against Rep. Virgil Goode’s (R-Va.) ridiculous anti-Ellison, anti-Muslim thesis: Ellison traces his American ancestors back to 1742 and isn’t an immigrant.

* Kudos to Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) for getting behind a plan for publicly-financed campaigns. May other governors follow her example.

* And, even in defeat, Rick Santorum is as bitter and bizarre as ever: “I have always said that if World War II was covered like this war, I really, very seriously, doubt that we would have ever won that war. … The bottom line is, the media — and I am not saying that they are intending to do this — but simply by what they are doing, without question, it is aiding the terrorists and their objective.”


From Howling Latina - Moratorium NOW!

In huge news for people who oppose the death penalty, Maryland's highest court halted executions by lethal injection; and with the recent election of Martin O'Malley as governor, the political weather in the Old Line State is calling for clear skies for opponents. ...

The Washington Post reported yesterday that O'Malley has asked "Ehrlich to leave the issue for the incoming administration."


From Mock, Paper, Scissors - ‘Grain sez…

While Dubya takes his own sweet time to reach a decision, will the New Way Forward (Now Lemon Scented!) actually make a difference? This whole story line feels like a rerun of a show you didn’t much like the first time, where you already know the punch-lines before they happen, and the only thing keeping you involved is that the effort to reach for the remote is greater than your boredom. ...

Tony Snow gives us a strangely clear view into the process to come to the New Way Forward:

Q: “Is he going to talk with people who differ considerably from his view? Like people who absolutely want to get out of Iraq?”

SNOW: “No, because that does not, in fact, achieve your goal.”

Nope, I think the New Way Forward is the Old Way Backwards.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

SNL - enter at your own risk!

How can this be called justice?

Genarlow Wilson is young man who had good grades, a promising future, and no criminal history -- so how did he end up being sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole and a lifetime registration as a sexual offender?

At 17 years old he had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Wilson, now 20, has been in jail now for two years. The New York Times reports:

Mr. Wilson, who is black, is trapped in a legal vise intended to ensure severe penalties for child molesters and other sex offenders, navigating a maze of legal technicalities that for him seems to hold nothing but dead ends. Some critics of the sentence also say Mr. Wilson is caught in a system that metes out disproportionately harsh sentences to black defendants.

The Georgia Legislature, disturbed by Wilson's conviction, has changed laws regarding sex between teenagers. Most sex acts between teens will now be treated as a misdemeanor. What they didn't do was to make the law retroactive.

"While I am very sympathetic to Wilson's argument regarding the injustice of sentencing this promising young man with good grades and no criminal history to 10 years in prison without parole and a lifetime registration as a sexual offender," wrote Justice Carol W. Hunstein, "this court is bound by the Legislature's determination that young persons in Wilson's situation are not entitled to the misdemeanor treatment."

What makes this case even more outrageous is that when it took place there was already a "Romeo and Juliet" exception in the law for sexual intercourse between teenagers.

"Had Genarlow had intercourse with this girl, had he gotten her pregnant, he could only have been charged with a misdemeanor and punished up to 12 months," said Brenda Joy Bernstein, Mr. Wilson's lawyer.

Wilson has been offered a plea deal, but he refuses -- and who could blame him!

"Even after serving time in prison, I would have to register as a sex offender wherever I lived and if I applied for a job for the rest of my life, all for participating in a consensual sex act with a girl just two years younger than me," he told a reporter for Atlanta magazine last year, adding that he would not even be able to move back in with his mother because he has an 8-year-old sister. "It's a lifelong sentence in itself. I am not a child molester."

Genarlow Wilson has served his time ... now it's time to set him free!

Bush Holiday Gift to Troops - More Time in Iraq

As the president relaxes for the holiday word is out about plans

to send thousands of more soldiers into harms way.

ABC news reports: ... the top generals in the region warn that such a dramatic escalation would not only risk more American lives, it might discourage Iraqis from taking charge of their own security.

Late this week, the Army chief of staff told Congress his soldiers already are stretched too thin.

"As it currently stands," Gen. Peter Schoomaker said Thursday, "the Army is incapable of generating and sustaining the required forces to wage the global war on terror."

Still, President Bush has asked his military planners to figure out how to get the extra forces he wants. Among the ideas being considered are extending tours of duty from 12 to 15 months in the Army and seven to nine months in the Marines.

Happy Holiday from the Commander in Chief!

Humor is good for the soul

Thank you Blue Gal for pointing the way to Mock, Paper, Scissors! I was literally laughing out loud. Here's a not-so-good rendition of just one of the posts that had me in stitches.

Censured PBS Bunny Returns

How does a popular PBS children's program find itself in the cross-hairs of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and the Religious Right? By daring to tell children the truth.

"Postcards From Buster," a popular PBS children's program, found itself on the Education Secretaries radar screen in January 2005, when it dared to schedule a program about maple sugaring, called "Sugartime!," that featured children in a Vermont family with two moms.

Dennis Gaffney, in The New York Times, writes:

What happens to a children's public television show after it has been attacked by the secretary of education, pilloried by conservatives, then abandoned by its underwriters? In the case of "Postcards From Buster," it manages to return, belatedly but unbowed, for a second season.

While children love the program, Spellings and the American Family Association clearly don't.

Spellings attacked the "Sugartime!" episode in a letter to Pat Mitchell, the former PBS president, (dated Jan. 25, 2005) saying:

"many parents would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode."

AFA then orchestrated a campaign that generated more than 150,000 e-mail messages and letters to Ms. Spellings supporting her position.

"Postcards From Buster," produced by WGBH (the Boston PBS station), manages to approach even intensely political topics, like the war in Iraq and the aftereffects of Katrina, in an apolitical manner. Pierre Valette, one of the executive producers of "Postcards," says Buster does this by looking at the world through a child's eyes.

Brigid Sullivan, vice president for children's programming at WGBH, said:

"We were proud of "Postcards From Buster," and we are proud of "Postcards From Buster." ... "It's a children's show dealing with diversity by showing real kids in real-life situations. That's not being done by anyone else."

The New York Times reports:

The Education Department's Ready-to-Learn program, which had largely financed the first season of "Postcards" with $5 million through PBS, rewrote its grant to eliminate the call for cultural diversity, and PBS did not pursue that grant for Season 2. Neither the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is controlled by Congress and provided funds for Season 1, nor the traditional corporate sponsors of PBS children"s programming would underwrite the show.

Instead of the 40 episodes produced for the first season, "Postcards From Buster" will have only 10 new episodes for season 2.

If you would like to support "Postcards From Buster" visit WGBH's website, and make a contribution today!

Or contact your local PBS station and make sure they air "Postcards From Buster."

Sunday Funnies

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Barney?

Saturday Night Surfing ...

from Tennessee Guerilla Women

White House Forbids Criticism, Again

The leader of the free world is blocking the publication of a New York Times Op-ed authored by Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett. Mr. Leverett served under Bush on the National Security Council.

The censored column criticizes the Decider's refusal to talk to Iran.

No word yet on what Mr. Leverett's wife does for a living.

Revolting Episcopalians

Seems there is trouble brewing in the Episcopal Church. Some of the conservatives are up in arms. The Washington Post reports:

Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would not ordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishes that denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route to salvation, and theologians who disagreed.

It seems the big tent theory isn't working for them, particularly in Virginia.

As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected to announce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with the Episcopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to the Washington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, which could result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.

The Virginia groups appear ready to align themselves with the archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola:

... an outspoken opponent of homosexuality who supports legislation in his country that would make it illegal for gay men and lesbians to form organizations, read gay literature or eat together in a restaurant.

Yikes!

Much of the current conflict can be traced to the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire.

In the last three years, since the Episcopal Church consecrated V. Gene Robinson, a gay man who lives with his partner, as bishop of New Hampshire, about three dozen American churches have voted to secede and affiliate with provinces overseas, according to The Episcopal News Service.

Bishop Robinson is a wonderful, thoughtful person. How tragic it is that others can't accept him.

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in an e-mail response to a request for an interview that such splits reflect a polarized society, as well as the “anxiety” and “discomfort” that many people feel when they are asked to live with diversity.

“The quick fix embraced in drawing lines or in departing is not going to be an ultimate solution for our discomfort,” she said.

Gee, I wonder how Jesus would vote?

Only 10 Shopping Days Left ...

As you search Toys 'r Us and Target for 'just the right gift' don't forget the little elf's that made your shopping possible! Enjoy Elf’s Lament by Barenaked Ladies.

White House Declares War On Christmas – Again!

You would think that Falwell and his ilk would be concerned that for the second year in a row the Bushes have declared 'War on Christmas.'

Americans United for Separation of Church and State writes:

In our continuing effort to keep readers informed about developments in the “War on Christmas,” we’d like to note the emergence of some new combatants: President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

Amazing how Falwell targets retail outlets that simply want to sell merchandise to consumers of all faith traditions and those who do not believe in the supernatural.

Where is his outrage against those naughty Bushes?

Who would Jesus kill?

Those wacky evangelicals are at it again. It seems a new Christian video game, "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," is creating quite a stir. The game is based on the widely popular "Left Behind" Christian book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

It is being marketed as a "family" game, but critics describe it as:

"a violent video game in which born-again Christians aim to convert or kill those who don't adhere to their extreme ideology."

"After you kill somebody you need to recharge your soul points and to do that you need to bend down in prayer. ... I think the message is extremely clear," said Clark Stevens, co-director of Campaign to Defend the Constitution.

The game is flying off the shelves at retailers like Wal-Mart.

As might be expected the games maker dismisses the criticism, but his comments suggest quite the opposite.

"The reality is that our game perpetuates prayer and worship and that there is no killing in the name of God.

"There is killing of course, it is a video game. But the basis of the game is spiritual welfare," said Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games Inc.

All of this begs the question: "Who would Jesus kill?"

Sunday Funnies

OK GO - A Million Ways To Be Cool

ATMs for Jesus

In doing a little blog surfing I came across this on life's journey:

take a quick peek at this- atms for jesus! guess passing the offering plate wasn't cutting it with the credit card crew. i'm thinking that these churches should just set up direct deposit so that they can suck money from the parishioners and have it instantly.

It got me thinking ... life everlasting AND frequent flyer miles! It seems appropriate for a Sunday.

According to Family Research Institute I'll be dead soon

According to Dr. Paul Cameron, chairman of the Family Research Institute, I will be dead soon. In a press release titled "Mary Cheney Cruel to Children", Cameron claims:

"The median age of death for lesbians is around the late 50's."

Yikes! I'm 53, soon to be 54, so I'd better get with it -- there is still a lot I'd like to do before the end comes!

I'm not sure where Cameron gets his information on mortality, but he is clearly not happy with the fact that Mary Cheney is pregnant.

He does make a couple of interesting points:

"The child will disproportionately associate with homosexuals . . . The child will have a much higher probability of learning homosexual tastes. . ."

Could this be code for if Cheney has a girl she will likely play for the WNBA, and if she has a boy he will be an excellent interior decorator? That doesn't seem so bad to me.

Take Action: Stop Misleading Abortion Bill

Lame duck House will vote Wednesday on another abortion roadblock: this deceptive bill will put women's health at risk and add one more barrier to abortion access.

The House of Representatives will be voting this Wednesday under "suspension of the rules" on a deceptive measure that the authors have misnamed the "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" H.R. 6099. In fact, it is an attempt to intimidate women into request expensive and unnecessary fetal anesthesia, which could then place the procedure financially outside their reach. We must act quickly to soundly DEFEAT this legislation – which needs a two-thirds vote of the 435-member House to prevail!

Take Action NOW!
The legislation would force physicians to provide misleading and manipulative information to women seeking abortions at 20 weeks or more after fertilization. The bill calls for doctors to give patients a brochure with language scripted by anti-abortion legislators, not physicians.

Despite the inability to support such a claim medically, the text of this brochure tells each woman that her "unborn child" will experience pain while "being killed in an abortion." The doctor would then be required to offer the woman anesthesia or another "pain reducing drug" to be administered directly to the fetus.

Beyond the direct impact on women seeking abortions and the requirements placed on doctors, the legislation would ultimately reduce women's access to abortion: How many doctors have the resources, training and insurance coverage to administer anesthesia to a fetus in their office or clinic? How much extra will the anesthesia cost? And how can patients say no when the pressure is so emotionally intense? Many women seeking an abortion are already in economic straits and will be unable to afford the additional cost of hard-sell fetal anesthesia.

Please take action today by calling or emailing your representative. On such short notice, phone calls are often a better way to reach your representative's office to leave a message (be sure to tell them that you live in the district and give your address to prove it!) We've provided a suggested script for your call; get the script and your representative's phone number. Or send an email to your representative.

Get more information on this legislation
Take Action NOW!

Keroack selection = ideology over science

Once again the president has shown his complete disregard for science with the selection of Eric Keroack to oversee HHS's $283 million reproductive-health program. The appointment of an anti-birth control advocate to a key health post shows complete disregard for the health and safety of underserved communities, says Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

In a statement issued by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, she says:

"The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation's family planning program is striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation's priorities. Keroack was the medical director of five so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," whose policy was not "to distribute or encourage the use of contraception." This politically motivated appointment is certainly not in the health interest of women and families.

"Last week Americans overwhelmingly rejected an extremist agenda, and sent a clear message by choosing candidates who make women's health care a priority. For three decades, Title X has fostered healthy families by helping millions of American women plan and space their children through access to birth control services."

Keroack is clearly a poor choice to lead HHS's Office of Population Affairs, which funds birth control, pregnancy tests, counseling and screenings for sexually transmitted disease and HIV. The Washington Post reports that fourteen Democratic senators sent a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, urging him to withdraw Keroack's appointment. The job doesn't require Senate confirmation.

"Unfortunately, this appointment is another example of the administration allowing ideology to trump science, and it could jeopardize vital services on which large numbers of women and families depend," the letter said. Signers included incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who will be chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson is sending mixed messages about just how "qualified" Keroack is for the job. Pearson recently acknowledged that Keroack is not currently certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist. That is not a requirement for the job, but HHS officials had cited Keroack's expertise in defending his selection.

The Washington Post, 11/21/2006:

An HHS spokeswoman said Keroack is a skilled doctor and a nationally recognized expert on preventing teenage pregnancy. "We have confidence that he'll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law," HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson said by e-mail.

The Washington Post, 11/17/2006:

John O. Agwunobi, assistant secretary for health, said Keroack "is highly qualified and a well-respected physician . . . working primarily with women and girls in crisis."

Bush clearly intends to continue to reek havoc for women. Hurry up 2008 -- the end of an error!