Way back in 2005, the Congress passed (yes, I know the words "Congress passed" don't appear together very often) the Stolen Valor Act. Seriously, who names these bills? must be the same guy who names car paint colors and lipsticks. Apparently there were a considerable number of men claiming to have been awarded the Medal of Honor and other decorations that they had not earned. While lying on your resume is as time-honored a tradition as lying on your taxes, Congress felt that the misrepresenting of ones military achievements was something that required a legal remedy. In all likelihood, this bit of feel-good legislation would have been consigned to the same file that contains Congressional passage of National Prostate Exam Month, however such is not the case.
Enter one Xavier Alvarez. Senor Alvarez managed to get himself arrested in a nasty little fraud case in which he tried to secure health benefits for his wife while he was serving on the Pomona, California water board.Further investigation revealed that Mr. Alvarez claimed to be a 25 year Marine Corp vet and recipient of the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor. None of that was true.
Clearly the word reprehensible was coined to describe Mr. Alvarez. Anyone who has worn the country's uniform finds lying about combat awards tantamount to cowardice under fire. Given the opportunity, we would gladly sentence this turd to spend a few quality minutes with some real Marines in an alley near Camp Lejeune. At least he would earn that purple heart.
This however, is America. We don't do frontier justice. Mr. Alvarez's case has made it all the way to Washington where the Supremes, fresh from the Whitney Houston funeral, will decide his fate. Of the nine justices on the court, three have served in the military: Breyer and Alito in the reserves, Kennedy in the National Guard. None have seen combat (unless you count Sonia Sotomayer's growing up in the Bronx). The military service of the Court members is relevant. Anyone who has spent time in the military imagines a special place in hell for those who fabricate their wartime experience. Any Justice who wore green, even in an armory in New Jersey, will react badly to someone professing courage under fire when none was demonstrated.
Still, for as much as we wish Mr. Alvarez to be publicly humiliated (a beating with a sock full of manure in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial springs to mind) the issue before the Court is, when does lying become crime? Is fudging your resume the same as forgetting to tell your fiancee that you are already married? Should we prosecute Senator Richard Blumenthal for "misstating" his military record during the 2010 campaign? What about Hillary Clinton's assertion about arriving in Bosnia under fire? Or Marco Rubio's "confusion" about when his parents came to America? What about Michele Bachmann telling Iowans she was born in the same town as John Wayne? Should there be a "just plain stupid" exemption? And let's not forget the 4,000 dead military personnel who paid the price for George W. Bush's lies.
It's a safe bet that, disgraceful as Mr. Alvarez's conduct might have been, the Supreme Court isn't likely to send him to the stocks. The First Amendment allows for free speech and, because there appears to be no actual damage, like yelling fire in a theater or "Obama" at the CPAC convention, there is no criminality. It seems certain that the "Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire" statute will not survive a Constitutional challenge. Mr. Alvarez will be returned to California where he can attempt to convince everyone that he arm-wrestled the Court for the verdict. Actually, this creep couldn't beat Ruth Bader Ginsberg in a thumb war.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
...or do we all need to learn the Arab word for "enough already"?
Michael Corleone once famously said, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." I know exactly how he felt. Just when I thought I was through with religion for a week or two those frisky Muslims cause a ruckus in Afghanistan. Apparently several copies of the Quran, along with other religious materials, were burned at the Bagram Airfield. Call it housecleaning. The position of General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force is that this was a mistake and the burning was stopped as soon as it was discovered. OK, case closed. Well, not so much.
As we all know, Muslims view every slight, every presumed desecration, every affront to their faith as holy war. Whether the offense takes place in Indonesia or Turkmenistan or Iraq we can guarantee an out-of-proportion response. Hundreds, sometimes thousands take to the streets and howl at the perpetrators as great satans and defilers of ...whatever. When I first saw the demonstrations in Tahrir Sq. in Egypt last summer, I assumed someone had used the wrong type-face when printing the Quran.
What mystifies me is why the world allows these religious crazies to continue to terrorize the planet? We wouldn't tolerate this sort of behavior from Lutherans, or Buddhists or, God forbid, Jews. Yet we tolerate fatwahs and faith-based assassinations by Muslims as though they had the right to threaten or murder anyone merely as an expression of religious freedom. What is up with that?
The response from Gen. Allen in Afghanistan is obsequious to the point of embarrassment and we liberals don't embarrass easily. To listen to the general apologize you would think the soldiers at Bagram took a sledge hammer to a statue of the prophet. Oh wait. I forgot. If you create a statue of the prophet you are a blasphemer and subject to a fatwah. These disproportionate demonstrations of offense require a proclamation from the UN, to wit: Hey, Islam! Chill! No one in Mecca raised an eyebrow when ten Pakistani soldiers were found beheaded in a tribal region in Afghanistan but all Islam is in an uproar over U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of their enemies. Apparently Muslim on Muslim bloodshed is kosher but urine on Muslim action is verboten.
There used to be an old saying that your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. Likewise, your right to exercise your religion stops where the laws of civilized conduct begin. We are sorry your books got burned. It wasn't deliberate. Please allow us to make a contribution to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Camels. (OK, that was uncalled for.) The point is, you don't have to take to the streets every time some small incident takes place somewhere in the world that involves your people. If you keep this up, no one will take you seriously... like Jesse Jackson.
As we all know, Muslims view every slight, every presumed desecration, every affront to their faith as holy war. Whether the offense takes place in Indonesia or Turkmenistan or Iraq we can guarantee an out-of-proportion response. Hundreds, sometimes thousands take to the streets and howl at the perpetrators as great satans and defilers of ...whatever. When I first saw the demonstrations in Tahrir Sq. in Egypt last summer, I assumed someone had used the wrong type-face when printing the Quran.
What mystifies me is why the world allows these religious crazies to continue to terrorize the planet? We wouldn't tolerate this sort of behavior from Lutherans, or Buddhists or, God forbid, Jews. Yet we tolerate fatwahs and faith-based assassinations by Muslims as though they had the right to threaten or murder anyone merely as an expression of religious freedom. What is up with that?
The response from Gen. Allen in Afghanistan is obsequious to the point of embarrassment and we liberals don't embarrass easily. To listen to the general apologize you would think the soldiers at Bagram took a sledge hammer to a statue of the prophet. Oh wait. I forgot. If you create a statue of the prophet you are a blasphemer and subject to a fatwah. These disproportionate demonstrations of offense require a proclamation from the UN, to wit: Hey, Islam! Chill! No one in Mecca raised an eyebrow when ten Pakistani soldiers were found beheaded in a tribal region in Afghanistan but all Islam is in an uproar over U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of their enemies. Apparently Muslim on Muslim bloodshed is kosher but urine on Muslim action is verboten.
There used to be an old saying that your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. Likewise, your right to exercise your religion stops where the laws of civilized conduct begin. We are sorry your books got burned. It wasn't deliberate. Please allow us to make a contribution to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Camels. (OK, that was uncalled for.) The point is, you don't have to take to the streets every time some small incident takes place somewhere in the world that involves your people. If you keep this up, no one will take you seriously... like Jesse Jackson.
Monday, February 20, 2012
...or would our Founding Fathers, seeing how their names and policies are misused, have hopped the first boat for England?
Well, it's President's Day. With all respect to Abe Lincoln, this day always puts me in mind of those rich white men, you know, the 1%, who gathered in Philadelphia in 1776 and 1787 to write the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Their mistrust of the English crown, not to mention each other, made it possible to forge principles and laws that have endured for over 200 years. We are truly fortunate that these men were able to look across an ocean and craft a government diametrically opposite to that of the English monarchy. It's like having a leisure suit as the example of how not to dress. Unfortunately, current politicians, in a misguided attempt to appear patriotic and conservative have taken the names and writings of our Founders in vain.
This selective usurpation of the work of Jefferson, Adams, Madison et al, ignores the fact that these men were as different from each other as are the lawmakers of today. Jefferson and Hamilton hated each other. Federalists in 1787 had the same contempt for the views of Democratic Republicans that Liberals of today have for Conservatives. The term Founding Fathers, when applied to a single idea of how government should work, makes as much sense as using the term "Congress" to define a single legislative direction. The very nature of our form of government demands endless argument and endless compromise. When the Constitutional Convention finally produced a document no one liked, they sent it to the states for ratification.
Here are just a few facts to remember about our Founders:
-Patrick Henry refused to ratify the Constitution. He thought it too "federal". Pat was a big states-rights fan. He would have favored Ron Paul.
-Benjamin Franklin was in favor of inviting all immigrants to America, provided they were industrious. Ben must have needed a lot of lawn maintenance. Anyway, he would have opposed "building the damn fence".
-Thomas Paine, who was born in England, was a firm believer in government's responsibility for educating the population. "It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its subjects." Tom would have hated Texas...and Rick Santorum.
-Thomas Jefferson had an ego bigger than the dome on Monticello yet he said "Conquest is not in our principals. It is inconsistent with our government." George W. Bush must have been sick the day they taught Jefferson at Yale.
The bottom line is that these men, brilliant as they were, had about as much in common with each other as the visitors to the United Nations men's room. To exhume them en masse and parade them behind your candidacy like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, does an injustice to them and the audience you address. Imagine a small group of the "Signers" lined up behind Rick Santorum. As Santorum stormed about freedom of religion, John Adams might have opined in favor of state support of the clergy. Jefferson would have no part of that. He wanted no government-sponsored religious involvement. (Actually, Jefferson wanted no federally sponsored anything.) The conversation would quickly devolve into a shouting match over the powers of the federal government and no one would be able to hear Santorum. (Not an altogether undesirable outcome.)
The politics of the late 18th century was no game for children or poor marksmen. The duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton may have been the most famous dispute of the day but it was hardly unique. Mostly however the weapon of choice was newsprint. Hamilton and Jefferson had a famously fearful feud using newspaper surrogates. (Think Superpac in black and white.) Hamilton's paper continually hinted that Jefferson was none too particular about with whom he shared his bed. Jefferson responded that the same could be said of Hamilton's mother. (Actually they were both certifiable bastards but only Hamilton had the paperwork to prove it.) Politics in a democracy is always nasty, contentious and derisive. That's what happens when everyone has a say. In Russia or Saudi Arabia this problem seldom arises...more than once.
So please, on behalf of the Signers and the authors of the Constitution, on this President's Day, let the Founders rest. Their exhumation during this campaign is undignified. Let's leave God, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan to their respective places in the universe. Quoting the Bible makes you look sanctimonious; quoting Jefferson makes you look uneducated and quoting Reagan just makes you look silly. If you need a quote, consult Michele Bachmann. She has never allowed actual history to stand as impediment to Fox history.
This selective usurpation of the work of Jefferson, Adams, Madison et al, ignores the fact that these men were as different from each other as are the lawmakers of today. Jefferson and Hamilton hated each other. Federalists in 1787 had the same contempt for the views of Democratic Republicans that Liberals of today have for Conservatives. The term Founding Fathers, when applied to a single idea of how government should work, makes as much sense as using the term "Congress" to define a single legislative direction. The very nature of our form of government demands endless argument and endless compromise. When the Constitutional Convention finally produced a document no one liked, they sent it to the states for ratification.
Here are just a few facts to remember about our Founders:
-Patrick Henry refused to ratify the Constitution. He thought it too "federal". Pat was a big states-rights fan. He would have favored Ron Paul.
-Benjamin Franklin was in favor of inviting all immigrants to America, provided they were industrious. Ben must have needed a lot of lawn maintenance. Anyway, he would have opposed "building the damn fence".
-Thomas Paine, who was born in England, was a firm believer in government's responsibility for educating the population. "It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its subjects." Tom would have hated Texas...and Rick Santorum.
-Thomas Jefferson had an ego bigger than the dome on Monticello yet he said "Conquest is not in our principals. It is inconsistent with our government." George W. Bush must have been sick the day they taught Jefferson at Yale.
The bottom line is that these men, brilliant as they were, had about as much in common with each other as the visitors to the United Nations men's room. To exhume them en masse and parade them behind your candidacy like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, does an injustice to them and the audience you address. Imagine a small group of the "Signers" lined up behind Rick Santorum. As Santorum stormed about freedom of religion, John Adams might have opined in favor of state support of the clergy. Jefferson would have no part of that. He wanted no government-sponsored religious involvement. (Actually, Jefferson wanted no federally sponsored anything.) The conversation would quickly devolve into a shouting match over the powers of the federal government and no one would be able to hear Santorum. (Not an altogether undesirable outcome.)
The politics of the late 18th century was no game for children or poor marksmen. The duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton may have been the most famous dispute of the day but it was hardly unique. Mostly however the weapon of choice was newsprint. Hamilton and Jefferson had a famously fearful feud using newspaper surrogates. (Think Superpac in black and white.) Hamilton's paper continually hinted that Jefferson was none too particular about with whom he shared his bed. Jefferson responded that the same could be said of Hamilton's mother. (Actually they were both certifiable bastards but only Hamilton had the paperwork to prove it.) Politics in a democracy is always nasty, contentious and derisive. That's what happens when everyone has a say. In Russia or Saudi Arabia this problem seldom arises...more than once.
So please, on behalf of the Signers and the authors of the Constitution, on this President's Day, let the Founders rest. Their exhumation during this campaign is undignified. Let's leave God, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan to their respective places in the universe. Quoting the Bible makes you look sanctimonious; quoting Jefferson makes you look uneducated and quoting Reagan just makes you look silly. If you need a quote, consult Michele Bachmann. She has never allowed actual history to stand as impediment to Fox history.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
...or should the GOP debates confirm your worst nightmares and have everyone appear in their underwear?
Anything but politics:
Our friends in the Catholic Church have created 22 new Cardinals. Each was chosen by the current Vicar of Christ for his faith, his loyalty and, most of all, his ability to keep civil authorities from arresting his priests. Among the chosen is that chubby, jovial, smiling, wouldn't you love to share a Heineken with, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. Dolan laughed and charmed his way through a 60 Minutes profile and made all of New York forget the sewer that runs just below St. Patricks Cathedral.
In case you were counting, the current score is:
Number of cases of sexual abuse by priests worldwide----- 100,000+
Amount of Church money paid in claims------------------- $2.6 billion
Number of priest turned over to civilian authorities
by the Church or any of its Cardinals or Bishops.--------------- 0
In case you are having trouble understanding that last number, it's zero; none.
So for the record, any Catholic who drops five cents in a collection plate is paying for the continuation of this atrocity. Moving on...
__________________________________________________________________
Just when you think that all religion is a joke and genuinely righteous people are harder to find than a book in Sarah Palin's house, along comes the story of Dolores Hart. Maureen Dowd's column in today's NY Times highlights the fascinating tale of the woman who was presumed to be the next Grace Kelly back in 1959. Having given Elvis his first screen kiss in King Creole, Dolores starred in several popular boy/girl features like "Come Fly with Me" and "Where The Boys Are". A role in "Francis of Assisi" with Bradford Dillman must have had a profound effect. (Oddly enough, none of the animals talk. Paging Walt Disney.)
After a run in "The Pleasure of His Company" on Broadway, Ms. Hart visited a Benedictine Abby in Connecticut to rest. Three years later she returned to the Abby and has remained there for the last fifty years. A documentary about her remarkable life is scheduled for April on HBO and Ms. Hart has committed to attend this year's Academy Awards.
With the death of a deeply troubled Whitney Houston in the news all week, a story like this deserves more attention that it will get. It's nice to know that not all fame is corrosive. We all want to think that for every Judy Garland there's a Robert Downey, Jr; for every Russell Crowe a George Clooney. Being a star might be fun but being a nun in Connecticut is...well...OK maybe not as much fun but at least she never had to be in another Elvis movie.
___________________________________________________________________
Good news from Foxconn!
No, Foxconn is not Rupert Murdoch's latest on-line right-wing bullhorn. Foxconn is the Chinese factory complex that spits out millions of cell phones, tablets and laptops using workers for whom slavery would be a major step-up in pay grade. The factories employ over one million workers. The people who made your ipads and droids work twelve hour days, perform mind-numbing routine tasks and live in dormitories that would make migrant grape pickers in California strike for better conditions. Suicide was so pervasive that the government was forced to take decisive action. Counseling?...No. Longer weekends? Ridiculous. That action was to install giant nets around the dorms to catch the jumpers (and apparently dock their pay for taking an unauthorized break).
Bad publicity and a light nudge from the folks at Apple and HP have forced the Chinese to address the terrible conditions at Foxconn beyond upgrading the quality of toilet paper in the rest rooms. Salaries have been raised to about $400 a month (Lebron James makes approx. $6,000 per point). In addition, the benevolent folks in Beijing have promised to limit overtime (hey, it's not like the little buggers have anything else to do) and adhere more closely to Chinese labor laws. ("Chinese Labor Laws" being our newest oxymoron). Apple stock is soaring and the last thing they need in Cupertino is a worm. Visions of millions of hazmat-clad Asians chained to a work station in an Orwellian sized clean-room is enough to drive America to a newsstand or, God forbid, a library.
Still, if Americans want to know why unemployment is high and we hear cries of America doesn't make things anymore, consider the factory worker in China. Well, at least they get health care...a a first-rate team of firemen to free them from the nets and send them back to work.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Carnival Cruise Lines has offered the survivors of that little mishap off the coast of Italy a whopping 30% off their next cruise with Carnival. Really? 30%? That's about the same number of degrees that the Costa Concordia is currently listing to starboard. I'm sure that the 3,200 passengers who were abandoned by their captain and forced to leave their possessions and swim for their lives from a sinking ship are lining up to avail themselves of that 1/3 off sale.
Our friends in the Catholic Church have created 22 new Cardinals. Each was chosen by the current Vicar of Christ for his faith, his loyalty and, most of all, his ability to keep civil authorities from arresting his priests. Among the chosen is that chubby, jovial, smiling, wouldn't you love to share a Heineken with, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. Dolan laughed and charmed his way through a 60 Minutes profile and made all of New York forget the sewer that runs just below St. Patricks Cathedral.
In case you were counting, the current score is:
Number of cases of sexual abuse by priests worldwide----- 100,000+
Amount of Church money paid in claims------------------- $2.6 billion
Number of priest turned over to civilian authorities
by the Church or any of its Cardinals or Bishops.--------------- 0
In case you are having trouble understanding that last number, it's zero; none.
So for the record, any Catholic who drops five cents in a collection plate is paying for the continuation of this atrocity. Moving on...
__________________________________________________________________
Just when you think that all religion is a joke and genuinely righteous people are harder to find than a book in Sarah Palin's house, along comes the story of Dolores Hart. Maureen Dowd's column in today's NY Times highlights the fascinating tale of the woman who was presumed to be the next Grace Kelly back in 1959. Having given Elvis his first screen kiss in King Creole, Dolores starred in several popular boy/girl features like "Come Fly with Me" and "Where The Boys Are". A role in "Francis of Assisi" with Bradford Dillman must have had a profound effect. (Oddly enough, none of the animals talk. Paging Walt Disney.)
After a run in "The Pleasure of His Company" on Broadway, Ms. Hart visited a Benedictine Abby in Connecticut to rest. Three years later she returned to the Abby and has remained there for the last fifty years. A documentary about her remarkable life is scheduled for April on HBO and Ms. Hart has committed to attend this year's Academy Awards.
With the death of a deeply troubled Whitney Houston in the news all week, a story like this deserves more attention that it will get. It's nice to know that not all fame is corrosive. We all want to think that for every Judy Garland there's a Robert Downey, Jr; for every Russell Crowe a George Clooney. Being a star might be fun but being a nun in Connecticut is...well...OK maybe not as much fun but at least she never had to be in another Elvis movie.
___________________________________________________________________
Good news from Foxconn!
No, Foxconn is not Rupert Murdoch's latest on-line right-wing bullhorn. Foxconn is the Chinese factory complex that spits out millions of cell phones, tablets and laptops using workers for whom slavery would be a major step-up in pay grade. The factories employ over one million workers. The people who made your ipads and droids work twelve hour days, perform mind-numbing routine tasks and live in dormitories that would make migrant grape pickers in California strike for better conditions. Suicide was so pervasive that the government was forced to take decisive action. Counseling?...No. Longer weekends? Ridiculous. That action was to install giant nets around the dorms to catch the jumpers (and apparently dock their pay for taking an unauthorized break).
Bad publicity and a light nudge from the folks at Apple and HP have forced the Chinese to address the terrible conditions at Foxconn beyond upgrading the quality of toilet paper in the rest rooms. Salaries have been raised to about $400 a month (Lebron James makes approx. $6,000 per point). In addition, the benevolent folks in Beijing have promised to limit overtime (hey, it's not like the little buggers have anything else to do) and adhere more closely to Chinese labor laws. ("Chinese Labor Laws" being our newest oxymoron). Apple stock is soaring and the last thing they need in Cupertino is a worm. Visions of millions of hazmat-clad Asians chained to a work station in an Orwellian sized clean-room is enough to drive America to a newsstand or, God forbid, a library.
Still, if Americans want to know why unemployment is high and we hear cries of America doesn't make things anymore, consider the factory worker in China. Well, at least they get health care...a a first-rate team of firemen to free them from the nets and send them back to work.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Carnival Cruise Lines has offered the survivors of that little mishap off the coast of Italy a whopping 30% off their next cruise with Carnival. Really? 30%? That's about the same number of degrees that the Costa Concordia is currently listing to starboard. I'm sure that the 3,200 passengers who were abandoned by their captain and forced to leave their possessions and swim for their lives from a sinking ship are lining up to avail themselves of that 1/3 off sale.
Monday, February 13, 2012
...or does the Republican race look like four men in a tug of war with everyone holding the same side of the rope?
It was a quiet Thursday night. As I perused my well-worn copy of Blaise Pascal's "Lettres Provincieles" (my Camus was being rebound) I discovered a delicious quote. In 1658 Pascal wrote, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." It seems unlikely that Pascal was contemplating the 2012 GOP Presidential contest but old Blaise was right on the mark.
Just as good economic news was sucking all the air out of the conservative argument for American regime change, along comes the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS determined that part of the new healthcare laws to take effect in 2014 compels all employers of a certain size who currently provide healthcare to include coverage for birth control, including so-called morning after meds. Exceptions were made for churches whose doctrine forbids contraception but not for commercial enterprises, such as hospitals and universities run by those religious groups. HHS might have expected some pushback from a church here and there but since laws like this were already on the books in several states it probably wouldn't amount to much. (Note: Massachusetts has this provision as part of its comprehensive healthcare law, signed by Governor Mitt Romney. Governor Mike Huckabee, aka Rev. Mike Huckabee, signed a similar law in Arkansas. Arizona's law makes no exception for churches of any kind.)
However, this is the election year of 2012 and no good deed goes unnoticed or unpunished. The circular firing squad that is the GOP presidential contest descended on this as though the Obama administration had decreed a tax on church collections. "War on Religion" screamed Romney clearly forgetting what his pen hath wrought. "War on the Catholic Church" howled Gingrich who himself is a relative newcomer to Catholicism. (Newt either overlooked the CC's prohibition on divorce or he plans to be more faithful to this Church than he ever was to his first two wives.)
Rick Santorum, who plans to run for Pope if his Presidential bid collapses, used the opportunity to condemn birth control, abortion, sex and dancing too close. Santorum plans to propose legislation forbidding men to ride behind women on escalators. (Considering Rick's negative views on sex one wonders where the eight little Santorums sprang from. Maybe he prayed for them.)
As always, when the adults got involved, the problem was resolved. That process took about 20 seconds. The administration commanded the insurance companies to cover the cost of birth control...much to the chagrin of the insurance companies and the Republican candidates. Once the Catholic Church expressed satisfaction with the change, the candidates were SOL. Deprived of this red meat issue almost as soon as it arose, the law firm of Santorum, Romney, Gingirch and Paul were forced to return to rail against an improving economy. Romney was so lost he attacked the bailout that saved the state he is trying to win. That's like trying to become president of Germany by attacking the Marshall Plan.
In any event the Republicans will nominate Romney in August and he will get trounced by the current President. When reflecting on these events it is helpful to remember the words of Confucius who said "When competing in a race, your chances of success increase dramatically when you don't shoot yourself in the foot with the starter's gun." Confucius should have signed on as a consultant with the RNC.
Just as good economic news was sucking all the air out of the conservative argument for American regime change, along comes the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS determined that part of the new healthcare laws to take effect in 2014 compels all employers of a certain size who currently provide healthcare to include coverage for birth control, including so-called morning after meds. Exceptions were made for churches whose doctrine forbids contraception but not for commercial enterprises, such as hospitals and universities run by those religious groups. HHS might have expected some pushback from a church here and there but since laws like this were already on the books in several states it probably wouldn't amount to much. (Note: Massachusetts has this provision as part of its comprehensive healthcare law, signed by Governor Mitt Romney. Governor Mike Huckabee, aka Rev. Mike Huckabee, signed a similar law in Arkansas. Arizona's law makes no exception for churches of any kind.)
However, this is the election year of 2012 and no good deed goes unnoticed or unpunished. The circular firing squad that is the GOP presidential contest descended on this as though the Obama administration had decreed a tax on church collections. "War on Religion" screamed Romney clearly forgetting what his pen hath wrought. "War on the Catholic Church" howled Gingrich who himself is a relative newcomer to Catholicism. (Newt either overlooked the CC's prohibition on divorce or he plans to be more faithful to this Church than he ever was to his first two wives.)
Rick Santorum, who plans to run for Pope if his Presidential bid collapses, used the opportunity to condemn birth control, abortion, sex and dancing too close. Santorum plans to propose legislation forbidding men to ride behind women on escalators. (Considering Rick's negative views on sex one wonders where the eight little Santorums sprang from. Maybe he prayed for them.)
As always, when the adults got involved, the problem was resolved. That process took about 20 seconds. The administration commanded the insurance companies to cover the cost of birth control...much to the chagrin of the insurance companies and the Republican candidates. Once the Catholic Church expressed satisfaction with the change, the candidates were SOL. Deprived of this red meat issue almost as soon as it arose, the law firm of Santorum, Romney, Gingirch and Paul were forced to return to rail against an improving economy. Romney was so lost he attacked the bailout that saved the state he is trying to win. That's like trying to become president of Germany by attacking the Marshall Plan.
In any event the Republicans will nominate Romney in August and he will get trounced by the current President. When reflecting on these events it is helpful to remember the words of Confucius who said "When competing in a race, your chances of success increase dramatically when you don't shoot yourself in the foot with the starter's gun." Confucius should have signed on as a consultant with the RNC.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
...or is the issue of abortion like the zombie that won't die?
Every time I write about this subject I feel the need to begin with a disclaimer. Why should today be any different? To wit:
No one applauds abortion. No one thinks abortions are good. Most of us would prefer it if abortions were never performed. It's a sad decision that combines terror, remorse and in some cases permanent guilt. I'm sure that somewhere, someone had an abortion because having a child would have been inconvenient or because they feared stretch marks, but those cases are so rare as to be inconsequential. For most women the decision is difficult and traumatic. It is also personal.
There should be no authority-state, federal or local that has any right to decide for a woman how she should treat her own body. No one but the person involved can dictate what her course of treatment should be. The Supreme Court ruled correctly in 1973. The state should never be allowed to interfere in a woman's medical decisions.
But just as the Religious Right has difficulty understanding the concept of personal rights, they also missed the class on settled law. Every time the Republican Party gains a majority in a state house they interpret the election as a mandate to rewrite Roe v Wade. Courts have consistently trashed these statutes but that hasn't kept the holy of holies from trying. Hey, why not? If you come from a red district, they'll love you for it.
Recently the legislators of the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a law that sinks to an all-time low in this never-ending conflict. According to this legislative horror, before a woman can obtain an abortion she is required to have an ultrasound image taken and be offered the opportunity to see the image. The medical professionals involved will be required to record whether the patient saw the ultrasound. It should be noted that only seven of the Senate's 40 members are women but I'm sure that played no part in the decision. State Senator Janet Howell attached an amendment to the ultrasound bill requiring men to receive a rectal exam and a stress test before receiving a prescription for erectile dysfunction meds. She only lost it by two votes.
Florynce Kennedy, founder of the Feminist Party in the 70's is famous for suggesting that "if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament". Can anyone argue otherwise? Intellectually dishonest legislators from George W. Bush to Newt Gingrich have ridden this nag in elections all over America. (Actually GWB was so dishonest he never even stated his opposition to abortion for the record. He opted for individual state legislatures to decide.) The fastest way for a Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann to corral a few loose Teabaggers is to stand four-square for a Constitutional ban on abortion. It's a safe stance because it will never go anywhere...sort of like Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann.
And , of course, the subjects of abortion and birth control bring us to the dust-up between the Susan B. Komen For the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood. The attempted defunding of PP by the Komen board was politically motivated, ill-conceived (sorry!) and should have been reversed. Komen was in trouble the minute they hired Karen Handel as head of Public Policy. Handel, a failed candidate for Governor of Georgia and queen of the Teabaggers was instrumental in persuading the Komen board to deny grants to Planned Parenthood on the grounds that they are under investigation. The fact that the "investigation" is a witch hunt originated by an anti-abortion conservative was apparently never considered. Thankfully, the decision has been reversed and Ms. Handel is unemployed.
The real tragedy here is the damage to the Susan B. Komen organization. Having raised more than two billion dollars and, maybe more importantly, the awareness to the dangers of breast cancer among women, the Komen charity is one of the most important voices in the country. They are certainly entitled to a mulligan here but, it can also be a teaching moment. Beware of high-profile candidates who want to use your organization for political ends or to further their own agenda. Your profile is high enough. You don't need celebrity board members.
And finally, what conversation about birth control and abortion would be complete without a mention of the latest case making its way through the court of public opinion; namely Obama vs. the Catholic Church. Frankly, it's a tangle.
The administration's new healthcare plan requires that businesses, including Catholic hospitals and universities, provide healthcare insurance that includes coverage for birth control, IUD's and morning after pills. These forms of birth control along with all other forms of birth control are forbidden by the Church. The Catholic Church therefore objected to a requirement to participate in the distribution of devices and medications that violate its laws. The Department of Health and Human Services countered that the institutions in question are primarily businesses and therefore must provide the same medical coverage as any other business including, birth control. Therein lies the conflict.
Surprisingly, although almost all American Catholics practice some form of birth control, it seems their sentiments are in support of the Church. The argument appears to be taking shape around the idea of religious freedom. That confuses me. Jehovah's Witnesses prohibit blood transfusions but cover the procedure for their employees. No one is asking the Catholic Church to hand out condoms or put Planned Parenthood on the parish speed-dial. They are merely being required to provide insurance coverage for medical practices with which they take issue. The HHS isn't forcing anyone to use the services.
Naturally, when you want to discover where the source of all the trouble lies, all roads lead to Rome. In 1968 Pope Paul VI had a wonderful opportunity to separate birth control pills, which were becoming very popular, from other forms of contraception. (Actually it would have been a grand time to package the entire outmoded prohibition on all forms of birth control and drown it in holy water. He demurred.) The Pope empaneled not one but two commissions to determine if the Church teaching needed updating. Paul VI was advised that perhaps a change was warranted. For whatever reason, the Pope said nope. Catholics must continue to have all the children God will give them. Clearly no one in Rome was willing to take into account the cost of gym shoes or a college education. (Note: the final encyclical, called Humanae Vitae, was heavily influenced by the writings of one Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, later to become that bastion of progressive thought, Pope John Paul II.)
This being an election year, the President can hardly antagonize a group as large as Catholicus Americana. (Wow! Latin does carry gravitas.) Some compromise will surface which will allow both sides to save face. Maybe the name "birth control pills" could be changed to "menstrual cycle regulators". Condoms could be sold to hunters at Eddie Bauer to keep the rain out of their rifle muzzle. Anyway, when the smoke clears we can all go back to wondering why Catholics in America would side with the Church about birth control which they use, and side with the President on abortion which they oppose. Thus, my children, is the role of sex in politics.
No one applauds abortion. No one thinks abortions are good. Most of us would prefer it if abortions were never performed. It's a sad decision that combines terror, remorse and in some cases permanent guilt. I'm sure that somewhere, someone had an abortion because having a child would have been inconvenient or because they feared stretch marks, but those cases are so rare as to be inconsequential. For most women the decision is difficult and traumatic. It is also personal.
There should be no authority-state, federal or local that has any right to decide for a woman how she should treat her own body. No one but the person involved can dictate what her course of treatment should be. The Supreme Court ruled correctly in 1973. The state should never be allowed to interfere in a woman's medical decisions.
But just as the Religious Right has difficulty understanding the concept of personal rights, they also missed the class on settled law. Every time the Republican Party gains a majority in a state house they interpret the election as a mandate to rewrite Roe v Wade. Courts have consistently trashed these statutes but that hasn't kept the holy of holies from trying. Hey, why not? If you come from a red district, they'll love you for it.
Recently the legislators of the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a law that sinks to an all-time low in this never-ending conflict. According to this legislative horror, before a woman can obtain an abortion she is required to have an ultrasound image taken and be offered the opportunity to see the image. The medical professionals involved will be required to record whether the patient saw the ultrasound. It should be noted that only seven of the Senate's 40 members are women but I'm sure that played no part in the decision. State Senator Janet Howell attached an amendment to the ultrasound bill requiring men to receive a rectal exam and a stress test before receiving a prescription for erectile dysfunction meds. She only lost it by two votes.
Florynce Kennedy, founder of the Feminist Party in the 70's is famous for suggesting that "if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament". Can anyone argue otherwise? Intellectually dishonest legislators from George W. Bush to Newt Gingrich have ridden this nag in elections all over America. (Actually GWB was so dishonest he never even stated his opposition to abortion for the record. He opted for individual state legislatures to decide.) The fastest way for a Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann to corral a few loose Teabaggers is to stand four-square for a Constitutional ban on abortion. It's a safe stance because it will never go anywhere...sort of like Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann.
And , of course, the subjects of abortion and birth control bring us to the dust-up between the Susan B. Komen For the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood. The attempted defunding of PP by the Komen board was politically motivated, ill-conceived (sorry!) and should have been reversed. Komen was in trouble the minute they hired Karen Handel as head of Public Policy. Handel, a failed candidate for Governor of Georgia and queen of the Teabaggers was instrumental in persuading the Komen board to deny grants to Planned Parenthood on the grounds that they are under investigation. The fact that the "investigation" is a witch hunt originated by an anti-abortion conservative was apparently never considered. Thankfully, the decision has been reversed and Ms. Handel is unemployed.
The real tragedy here is the damage to the Susan B. Komen organization. Having raised more than two billion dollars and, maybe more importantly, the awareness to the dangers of breast cancer among women, the Komen charity is one of the most important voices in the country. They are certainly entitled to a mulligan here but, it can also be a teaching moment. Beware of high-profile candidates who want to use your organization for political ends or to further their own agenda. Your profile is high enough. You don't need celebrity board members.
And finally, what conversation about birth control and abortion would be complete without a mention of the latest case making its way through the court of public opinion; namely Obama vs. the Catholic Church. Frankly, it's a tangle.
The administration's new healthcare plan requires that businesses, including Catholic hospitals and universities, provide healthcare insurance that includes coverage for birth control, IUD's and morning after pills. These forms of birth control along with all other forms of birth control are forbidden by the Church. The Catholic Church therefore objected to a requirement to participate in the distribution of devices and medications that violate its laws. The Department of Health and Human Services countered that the institutions in question are primarily businesses and therefore must provide the same medical coverage as any other business including, birth control. Therein lies the conflict.
Surprisingly, although almost all American Catholics practice some form of birth control, it seems their sentiments are in support of the Church. The argument appears to be taking shape around the idea of religious freedom. That confuses me. Jehovah's Witnesses prohibit blood transfusions but cover the procedure for their employees. No one is asking the Catholic Church to hand out condoms or put Planned Parenthood on the parish speed-dial. They are merely being required to provide insurance coverage for medical practices with which they take issue. The HHS isn't forcing anyone to use the services.
Naturally, when you want to discover where the source of all the trouble lies, all roads lead to Rome. In 1968 Pope Paul VI had a wonderful opportunity to separate birth control pills, which were becoming very popular, from other forms of contraception. (Actually it would have been a grand time to package the entire outmoded prohibition on all forms of birth control and drown it in holy water. He demurred.) The Pope empaneled not one but two commissions to determine if the Church teaching needed updating. Paul VI was advised that perhaps a change was warranted. For whatever reason, the Pope said nope. Catholics must continue to have all the children God will give them. Clearly no one in Rome was willing to take into account the cost of gym shoes or a college education. (Note: the final encyclical, called Humanae Vitae, was heavily influenced by the writings of one Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, later to become that bastion of progressive thought, Pope John Paul II.)
This being an election year, the President can hardly antagonize a group as large as Catholicus Americana. (Wow! Latin does carry gravitas.) Some compromise will surface which will allow both sides to save face. Maybe the name "birth control pills" could be changed to "menstrual cycle regulators". Condoms could be sold to hunters at Eddie Bauer to keep the rain out of their rifle muzzle. Anyway, when the smoke clears we can all go back to wondering why Catholics in America would side with the Church about birth control which they use, and side with the President on abortion which they oppose. Thus, my children, is the role of sex in politics.
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