I Speak of Dreams

Community Service = Re-Education Camps? No, Just Right-Wing Demagogery

First I started at Bryan Vartabedian's Parenting Solved, where he ruminated on Twitter as a Human Filter. 

Well, I think I use my RSS feed as a Human Filter, too.  Ed Brayton strained out this gem: Bachmann's Latest Lunatic Ravings.

He's talking about Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who prior to entering public office in 2000 was a federal tax litigation attorney.

• Michele Bachmann on Barack Obama, October 17 2008 liberals = anti-American)
• January 14, 2009,Michele Bachmann on being a conservative in the House of Representatives:  "I would say there are probably 30 keepers of the flame over here, and I fully believe you don't need to even have a majority but you need to have a critical mass. I don't know if we're quite a critical mass, but if you have enough like minded people, the main thing we can do right now is be foreign correspondents reporting to you from enemy lines. That's really what we're doing right now because I think the American people would have their breath taken away if they saw the amount of freedom and money that will be taken away from them in the next few months,
• March 5, 2009: Michele Bachmann: (1) To Gordon Liddy:  the Obama administration’s economic policies amount to “a great leap forward toward finalizing a place of socialism in American economic life,” (2)  to William Bennett’s:  “But what I think we’re seeing is an implementation of all of the radical ideas that Bill Ayers and Ward Churchill — the radical ideas that we’ve seen on some college campuses, they’re now being implemented in our government, and they’re taking a nefarious route when it looks at the economic recovery.”
• March 23, 2009, Michele Bachmann "I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.”
• April 5, 2009: To Sue Jeffers  I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.

Best summary:

The looks of Mary Tyler Moore, the mouth of Joe McCarthy and the mind of Ted Haggard all packaged into one effective little instrument of demagoguery.

This fierce opponent of socialism has spent most of her working life in government jobs. Her current job carries a salary of $174,000 per year and includes the government funded health care and retirement benefits package that she works zealously to make sure the rest of us don’t get.

Marriage Equality: Analysis of the No on 8 Campaign

There were racist, blame-flinging statements from disappointed gay folks.  Shameful.  Shanikka sets the numbers out (Daily Kos, My Left Wing).  Kathryn Kolbert  wrote: "Blaming Black Voters for the Passage of Prop 8 is Wrong and Destructive."  Wayne Besen wrote: "Truth Wins Out Condemns Racial Intolerance Within the LGBT Community Following Passage of Proposition 8"

Paul Hogarth pointed out that

We need to face the fact that Prop 8 passed because a lot of liberal people voted for it—swing voters who should have known better, if only they had the right message.

He thinks that the No on 8 Campaign failed to follow  a couple of rules:

1. Be proactive,  frame the agenda
2. Anticipate what strategies the opposition will come up with to lure voters, and to preempt them with your own overtures

He also faulted the campaign -- at least the campaign in his area -- with being shortsighted and non-strategic.

Proposition 8's Passage: Who Spent What?

This page takes you to the committees formed in support of, and in opposition to, Proposition 8.  From there you can follow the links to, for example, funders for Protectmarriage.com.   (Note, be patient, pages are enormous and very slow to load). 

Hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions,  came from out-of-state--$200,000 from Galaxy Enterprises, of Alpine Utah, for example.  $100,000 from Roger Byron of Salt Lake City, Utah.  $100,000 from Josephine Templeton of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. $100,000 from Michael Murray's Crystal Springs Foundation.

Marriage Equality: What Next? danah boyd says, "Education"

I'm heartsick that Prop. 8 passed.  But now what?  How do we go forward?  I like what danah boyd has to say:

I think that we need to spend the next year convincing those around us that this is discrimination. I think that everyone - gay and straight - needs to start conversations about what it means to be in a same-sex loving relationship. I'm not interested in trying to convince people that their churches should accept same-sex marriage. I'm interested in helping people understand that church marriages are not the same as state marriages. And that when it comes to the state, it's of utmost importance that there's no discrimination. The Catholic Church is more than welcome to discriminate wrt marriage. They already do. You can't get married in a Catholic church if you're not Catholic. But the state should not be discriminatory, especially when so many rights and freedoms and economic benefits are afforded to married couples.

Update:  Shouldn't marriage equality be a very top issue for Americans United for Separation of Church and State?  Blog posts there:

May 2008:  " Many Californians, religious and non-religious, have an opposite understanding. They see the referendum as a battle for church-state separation. They have families too, and they don’t want them to live in a theocracy."

October 2008: "Look out, California, the Religious Right is bringing out the big guns!"

October 2008: "Here’s the bottom line: When it comes to religion and government, let no church group join together, what the Constitution hath put asunder."

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Robert F Kennedy jr for Head of EPA? NO! He is Unqualified

updated without further comment

Mark Landy says Kennedy is unqualified.

Marc Landy, a Boston College political science professor who wrote a book on the EPA, said Robert Kennedy would be an “inappropriate” pick for the EPA post, which he described as “one of the hardest” public management jobs in government.

“It’s not a good place to make a kind of symbolic appointment,” Landy said yesterday. “You need a pro.”

The professor said Kennedy was an “estimable environmentalist” and consciousness raiser about the issue but he’s not a public manager. “It’s innappropriate. It’s wrong,” Landy said. “Government is not all about symbol and impulse, it’s an awful lot of grinding, managerial work.”

My letter to the transition team (with links added)

It has been widely reported that Robert F. Kennedy jr. will be offered a position in the Obama administration, probably heading the EPA.  I urge you NOT to make this appointment.  Kennedy is an anti-science ideologue.  We've just suffered through 8 years of such, we don't need another four.

Kennedy's anti-science is most noticeable in his position that vaccines cause autism, and a government cover-up is preventing the truth from being known.

Many scientists  have debunked his anti-science position in the past, most notably the physician and science blogger  Orac, at  Respectful Insolence July 17, 2005.

The current opposition to Kennedy's  serving in government comprises scientists, lawyers and lay people

1. Orac at Respectful Insolence lays out the evidence that Kennedy is an anti-science crank
2. Revere (a public health scientist) at Effect Measure:  RFKjr is an ideologue and will not rely on scientific evidence.
3. Steven Novella (a neuroscientist): Environmental change is all about the science, and RFKjr is anti-science.
4. Blake Stacey: Kennedy a terrible EPA choice.
5. Coturnix: Kennedy is an anti-science crank and should not be in the administration in any capacity.
6. Mike the Mad Biologist: Kennedy, as an anti-science crank, is unfit to serve.
7. Mike Dunford: Kennedy's willingness to politicize science makes him unfit for an Administration post.
8. Josh Rosenau: Kennedy's gullibility on science makes him unfit for the EPA, but there are several other good places for him in the administration.
9. Chad Orzel: Kennedy's conspiracy-theory spreading should disqualify him for the EPA
10. ScienceWoman: The change we need is competent appointees.  Kennedy is scientifically incompetent.
11. Pal, MD: Kennedy is a name, not a qualification.
12. ERV: Kennedy is completely anti-science.
13. Science Avenger: Kennedy's appointment would signal that Obama's administration is anti-science.
14. PZ Myers, biologist, at Pharyngula: No to Robert F. Kennedy, jr.

Non Scientists

1. Arthur Allen: Please Not Kennedy
2. Bradford Plumer at the New Republic: Robert F. Kennedy doesn't have the managerial skills to lead the EPA.
3. Brandon Kelm, Wired Magazine:  Kennedy is the weakest candidate, as he is anti-science.
4. Michael C. Moynihan: Kennedy is in favor of nationalizing the oil industry.
5. Politico: List of Kennedy's liabilities as a candidate
6. Logipundit: Kennedy's appointment would be a disaster
7. Seeking Aponia: Robert F. Kennedy jr. = Bad Science
8. Kristina Chew at Autism Vox: Robert F. Kennedy at EPA isn't supported by this autism mother.
9. Understanding Government: Robert F. Kennedy jr's anti-vaccination stance should prevent his appointment.
10. Matthew: Robert F. Kennedy is a promoter of pseudoscience.  No more of that in government, please.
11. RedState: Robert F. Kennedy jr is unfit to serve.
12. Flying Debris: Robert F. Kennedy is a seriously deranged crank.
13. Timothy Noah at Slate: Do not hire Robert Kennedy Jr. He's too partisan and kind of a nut when it comes to policy.
14. Ryan Sager: Robert F. Kennedy jr. would be a very bad appointment.
15. Darksyde at Daily Kos (with 835 comments) "A nascent administration adverse to drama, focused on creating unity, and committed to restoring scientific credibility, would be well advised to choose the most credible, qualified person they can find."  Kennedy isn't creditable or qualified.

OK, It's Over, She's Back on the Plane to Alaska, But This IS Funny

From Professor Kim

Estatic, Sad, Worried

I was too emotional last night to post.   Oh, my.  President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

The sad part?  It looks like Proposition 8 has passed.  We're in for a legal fight, of course.  But it is a blow.  The yes position was un-American -- reducing rights, discriminating against a class of Americans.

And Proposition 4 is still too close to call.

No on Prop 4 from The Curvature

More Ballot Updates: No on Prop 4 : The Curvature.

Kathy Kneer from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California explained concisely in an email to me the huge flaws in the initiative’s so-called “bypass procedure”:

    It’s deceptive to call this “family notification.” Right now a teen can go notify another adult, but Prop 4 would close off that option. Under Prop 4 before a teen could notify another family member, she must first accuse a parent of mistreatment and sign written statement saying she fears physical, sexual, or severe emotional abuse - no matter what her circumstances really are. This would trigger a family investigation by authorities. This so-called notification is nothing more than a form letter sent to another person who may not even live in the same state. There is no requirement for counseling and no requirement that the substitute adult help her when she is in crisis.

    Alternatively, a teen could avoid parental notification by appearing before a judge. However, this is unrealistic. If a teen is pregnant, unable to go to her parents, and already desperate, she isn’t going to navigate court bureaucracy to reveal the most intimate details of her life to an unfamiliar judge in an impersonal courthouse. She doesn’t need a judge; she needs a caring counselor and safe, quality medical care without delay. Proposition 4 provides none of this.

At least 37 newspapers have rightfully come out in opposition to Prop 4. But No on Prop 4 still desperately  needs your help.  A new poll shows that there is currently a statistical tie among voters — with 46% saying they’ll vote Yes, and 44% saying they’ll vote NO.

Obama Halts Campaign For Important Duty: Trick or Treating with His Daughters

There's a man who has his priorities in order.  Sasha looks a little intimidated in some of the photos. 

That's what Jumper Girl used to announce, circa 1992.

Given Mrs. Palin's latest atrocity upon the meaning of the Constitution, let us require all candidates for high elected office to pass the INS Citizenship Exam.  Or perhaps this one from American Civic Literacy.

See more at Glen Greenwald.

I Have Idea!

That's what Jumper Girl used to announce, circa 1992.

Given Mrs. Palin's latest atrocity upon the meaning of the Constitution, let us require all candidates for high elected office to pass the INS Citizenship Exam.  Or perhaps this one from American Civic Literacy.

See more at Glen Greenwald.