Author: Trish

Who’s Burning Churches?

Trish

The fires at six churches in Alabama last night are pretty intriguing. Racism is not a factor in the suspected arsons, since the churches are organized by people of different races. CNN:

Is there really a war on Christianity? Have Satanist teens taken over Alabama?

The five Bibb County churches are “lined up very near U.S. 82 near Centreville,” about 45 miles southwest of Birmingham, said Ingram. Ashby Baptist Church, Pleasant Sabine Church and Rehobeth Baptist Church were destroyed, and Old Union Baptist Church and Antioch Baptist were damaged, he said.

Pleasant Sabine Church has a predominantly black congregation, and the other five are predominantly white, officials said.

The sixth “church” was actually a construction site in the next county, and the fire started in a storage building that held old clothes and other donated items. Investigators don’t think this fire is related to the others.

So who’s doing this? Who’s the target? Is there really a war on Christianity? Have Satanist teens taken over Alabama? I’ll be very curious to see who gets arrested for this, although three of the church fires in 1995 — the last time there was an epidemic of burnings — were never solved.

Lack of Support Not Stopping Florida’s Anti-Gay Marriage Proposal

Trish

Supporters are claiming that a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage in Florida — which is already banned by state law — is yet another victim of last year’s hurricanes. The amendment fell 155,000 signatures shy of the 611,000 needed to get on the ballot in 2006, despite a last-minute mobilization that included aircraft and a fleet of vehicles delivering petitions to the state capital.

The real purpose of the initiative was to turn out mouth-breathing voters of the type depicted in that scene from Young Frankenstein

Two other amendments were apparently unaffected by the storms, and will be up for a vote in the fall. One, opposed by Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican lawmakers, would create an independent panel to draw legislative districts. The other would ensure that money awarded to the state in lawsuits against cigarette makers is used to fund anti-smoking campaigns. Florida Times-Union:

“It just didn’t have the kind of financial support that these other ones do,” Bush said. “I think if it was on the ballot, it would pass by two- or three-to-one.”

The Republican Party of Florida put up $150,000 of the $193,000 raised for the anti-gay marriage ban, claiming it was needed to protect against those activist judges we hear so much about, who might take it upon themselves to overturn the law Florida already has. The real purpose of the initiative was to turn out mouth-breathing voters of the type depicted in that scene from Young Frankenstein, when the mob lofts torches and goes after the monster. Jeb is correct that they would likely vote “Hell Yes” in droves.

But lack of popular support isn’t stopping the Florida Catholic Conference, Florida Baptist Convention, and Florida4Marriage.Org, headed by a wingnut personal injury lawyer named John Stemberger in Orlando, from forging ahead. The signatures stay on file for four years, and Stemberger wants to use them to qualify for the 2008 election. He also wants to waste the state Supreme Court’s time reviewing an amendment that won’t even be on the ballot this year. Tallahassee Democrat

…the group still wants the Florida Supreme Court to hold the oral arguments, scheduled for Wednesday, on the language of the proposed amendment…But the court isn’t required to review them until the year they would actually appear on the ballot.

”We’re hopeful they’re going to hear the case and not cancel the hearing,” Stemberger said Thursday. ”If we’re going to get an adverse hearing, we’d rather get that sooner than later.”

Well I guess you would, John, since if they find problems with this idiotic, pandering, hateful enterprise you’ll have to start all over. And there are one or two problems with it.

The ACLU of Florida, along with other gay- and lesbian-rights groups, plan to argue that the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment is deceptive because it could also deny same-sex partners other domestic benefits.

Just Wait Until I Tell the President on You!

Trish

The hometown news has a little more colorful reporting about the U.S. Representative from Florida’s wife how got ousted from the State of Union address, along with Cindy Sheehan for wearing a t-shirt reminding people about the troops. St. Petersburg Times:

Beverly Young said, “Wait until the president finds out.”

Young said she was sitting in the gallery’s front row, about six seats from first lady Laura Bush, when she was approached by someone from the Capitol Police or sergeant-at-arms office who told her she needed to leave the gallery.

She reluctantly agreed but argued with several officers in the hallway outside the House chamber.

“They said I was protesting,” she said in a telephone interview late Tuesday. “I said, “Read my shirt, it is not a protest.’ They said, “We consider that a protest.’ I said, “Then you are an idiot.”‘

Well, not really, Bev. Protesting is a crime in Washington, and if you thought for one minute you were exercising your right to free speech, it’s time to wake up and smell the facism.

They told her she was being treated the same as Cindy Sheehan, an antiwar protester who was ejected before the speech Tuesday night for wearing a T-shirt with an antiwar slogan and refusing to cover it up…

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Police could not provide details about the incident but said, “She was not ejected from the gallery. She did leave on her own.”

No sense exaggerating, after all. It sounds like part of the problem is that Bev and her husband, The Honorable C.W. Bill, are used to ordering the hired help around since they have friends in high places.

Young’s husband, a Republican who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on defense, was unaware she was removed until after the speech. He said he was furious about the incident.

“I just called for the chief of police and asked him to get his little tail over here,” Rep. Young said late Tuesday. “This is not acceptable.”

Beverly Young said, “Wait until the president finds out.”

Oh no, you didn’t say that.

‘My Name is George W. Bush and I’m An Oilaholic’

Trish

Borowitz:

One day after claiming that “America is addicted to oil” in his State of the Union address, President Bush stunned the nation by confessing that he was personally battling a petroleum addiction and was entering rehab immediately.

’When you start invading other countries to get more oil, you know you’ve hit bottom’

In a nationally televised address from the Oval Office last night, a visibly agitated President Bush began his speech with the following simple statement: “My name is George W. Bush, and I am an oilaholic.”

The president, seeming to choke back tears, said that he had thought he was keeping his petroleum habit “under control,” but added, “When you start invading other countries to get more oil, you know you’ve hit bottom.”

…In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he hoped the United States would wean itself from its dependence on Middle Eastern oil and would gradually become dependent on Middle Eastern nuclear energy instead.

Money is No Object as Florida Republicans Race to Meet Ballot Deadline

Trish

If they’re going to whip up anti-gay hysteria, they better hurry. St. Petersburg Times:

…dozens of workers, a fleet of 55 vehicles and three aircraft would be pressed into service today to get enough signatures collected for Florida’s anti-gay marriage amendment

Groups seeking to place proposed constitutional amendments before Florida voters this fall have until 5 p.m. today to get enough signatures validated…

Volunteers who support a ban on same-sex marriage in Florida’s Constitution are among those racing against time. Orlando lawyer John Stemberger, chairman of Florida4marriage.org, said the effort was about 200,000 signatures short Tuesday, but he said dozens of workers, a fleet of 55 vehicles and three aircraft would be pressed into service today to get enough signatures collected.

Well. What they lack in popular support, they make up in sheer moolah. Works for me.

As alert PR readers know, Florida Republicans have shelled out $150,000 of the $193,000 raised to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that will outlaw gay marriage, which is already outlawed by the Legislature. The whole exercise is intended to fire up rightwing voters, and is likely taking place in a voting booth near you too.

Florida: Where There’s a Hate Group for Every Aversion

Trish

What a way for Florida to begin Black History Month. The state has the dubious distinction of being No. 2 nationwide in number of organized hate groups. Orlando Sentinel:

Like anybody needed another good reason not to visit DisneyWorld

The state famous for tourism and endless sunshine has a disturbing side. It is home to 43 so-called hate groups, second only to South Carolina, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Montgomery, Ala., organization that has tracked such groups for 25 years…

The center, the Anti-Defamation League and an FBI investigator who has monitored Florida extremist groups attribute the state’s prominence on the hate-group list to its booming population, shifting demographics and the vestiges of racism.

Today, about 19 percent of the state’s population is Hispanic, 15 percent is black and about 4 percent is Jewish. Extremists target all three groups. Florida has about 18 million people.

So I guess there are just more people to hate in Florida? In nearby Jacksonville, according to a graphic supplied with the article, there are two skinhead groups, one neo-Confederate, one neo-Nazi, and two groups classified as “other.” On the other hand, Jacksonville is home to the nation’s third largest Cambodian Buddhist temple as well as the newly launched Stetson Kennedy Foundation. Kennedy, who lives near my own St. Augustine, is the author of The Klan Unmasked, first published in the ‘50s to expose the Klan and a neo-Nazi hate group called the Columbians. Stetson didn’t do his undercover work in Florida but maybe he should have.

Though the total number is small, it’s unclear how many people join hate groups. Few organizations release membership numbers, and those that do likely inflate them.

Generally, experts say, local chapters include a handful to several dozen members. The National Socialist Movement reports about 50 members in Orlando.

“Central Florida,” said Bill White of the National Socialist Movement, “is our strongest growing area in the state.”

Like anybody needed another good reason not to visit DisneyWorld. Still, Tampa is no slouch.

Officials with the Tampa unit of the neo-Nazi National Vanguard would not discuss their activities, referring all questions to Vanguard headquarters in Virginia.

The Tampa group is one of the best organized in the state. It has produced compact discs, rented billboards and flown white-power banners over the Daytona 500. After Hurricane Katrina, members went to Mississippi to help “white families in need.”

Florida. Gotta love it.

It’s Over

Trish

Jan. 31, 2006 Final Senate Vote on Alito, according to C-Span:

Republicans Vote

  • Alexander (TN) Y
  • Allard (CO) Y
  • Allen (VA) Y
  • Bennett (UT) Y
  • Bond (MO) Y
  • Brownback (KS) Y
  • Bunning (KY) Y
  • Burns (MT) Y
  • Burr (NC) Y
  • Chafee (RI) N
  • Chambliss (GA) Y
  • Coburn (OK) Y
  • Cochran (MS) Y
  • Coleman (MN) Y
  • Collins (ME) Y
  • Cornyn (TX) Y
  • Craig (ID) Y
  • Crapo (ID) Y
  • DeMint (SC) Y
  • DeWine (OH) Y
  • Dole (NC) Y
  • Domenici (NM) Y
  • Ensign (NV) Y
  • Enzi (WY) Y
  • Frist (TN) Y
  • Graham (SC) Y
  • Grassley (IA) Y
  • Gregg (NH) Y
  • Hagel (NE) Y
  • Hatch (UT) Y
  • Hutchison (TX) Y
  • Inhofe (OK) Y
  • Isakson (GA) Y
  • Kyl (AZ) Y
  • Lott (MS) Y
  • Lugar (IN) Y
  • Martinez (FL) Y
  • McCain (AZ) Y
  • McConnell (KY) Y
  • Murkowski (AK) Y
  • Roberts (KS) Y
  • Santorum (PA) Y
  • Sessions (AL) Y
  • Shelby (AL) Y
  • Smith (OR) Y
  • Snowe (ME) Y
  • Specter (PA) Y
  • Stevens (AK) Y
  • Sununu (NH) Y
  • Talent (MO) Y
  • Thomas (WY) Y
  • Thune (SD) Y
  • Vitter (LA) Y
  • Voinovich (OH) Y
  • Warner (VA) Y
Democrats Vote

  • Akaka (HI) N
  • Baucus (MT) N
  • Bayh (IN) N
  • Biden (DE) N
  • Bingaman (NM) N
  • Boxer (CA) N
  • Byrd (WV) Y
  • Cantwell (WA) N
  • Carper (DE) N
  • Clinton (NY) N
  • Conrad (ND) Y
  • Dayton (MN) N
  • Dodd (CT) N
  • Dorgan (ND) N
  • Durbin (IL) N
  • Feingold (WI) N
  • Feinstein (CA) N
  • Harkin (IA) N
  • Inouye (HI) N
  • Johnson (SD) Y
  • Kennedy (MA) N
  • Kerry (MA) N
  • Kohl (WI) N
  • Landrieu (LA) N
  • Lautenberg (NJ) N
  • Leahy (VT) N
  • Levin (MI) N
  • Lieberman (CT) N
  • Lincoln (AR) N
  • Menendez (NJ) N
  • Mikulski (MD) N
  • Murray (WA) N
  • Nelson, Ben (NE) Y
  • Nelson, Bill (FL) N
  • Obama (IL) N
  • Pryor (AR) N
  • Reed, J. (RI) N
  • Reid, H. (NV) N
  • Rockefeller (WV) N
  • Salazar (CO) N
  • Sarbanes (MD) N
  • Schumer (NY) N
  • Stabenow (MI) N
  • Wyden (OR) N

Independent

  • Jeffords (VT) N

Wes Clark: Let Those Who Pay for Bush’s Mistakes Help Avoid Them

Trish

Check it out: General Wesley Clark (Ret.) is heading a PAC to elect veterans of the current conflicts who are running as Democrats in 2006. With the slogan, “Support the Troops, Send Them to Congress!” he has launched IAVA, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America PAC.

Of course the vast majority of the vets campaigning — nine out of ten — are Dems. Other criteria includes signing on to the PAC’s objectives, which include:

  • Demand from the administration a victory strategy for Iraq that includes hard success metrics which trigger American troop draw-downs so our forces can safely redeploy from theater.
  • Mandatory full funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • Thorough investigation of the failure to provide adequate armor for our soldiers, and that those responsible are held accountable.
  • Guaranteeing the exhaustion of diplomacy options by the President prior to approval for military conflict.
  • TRICARE (health care) for all members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families.
  • Lowering the retirement age for members of the National Guard and Reserve from 60 to 55.
  • An immediate 5% pay increase for our Armed Forces.

Clark points out a very good reason why these candidates should get our special consideration.

This is the start of a political movement to empower the people who pay the price for bad decisions in Washington: Our combat veterans.

God Considering Changing Parties

Trish

Columnist Tom Krattenmaker noted how far afield those who claimed they were God’s chosen have strayed.

The GOP was being cast as “God’s Official Party”

Just 17 months ago, President Bush and the Republican Party seemed to be riding a divine tide. At the GOP convention in the summer of 2004, religious rhetoric flew through the air like streamers and confetti.

The GOP was being cast as “God’s Official Party.” Typifying the spirit of the campaign season, one alternate convention delegate, Judith Manning, declared to the press, “President Bush supports God, and God supports President Bush, absolutely.”

As if God needed Bush’s support. Or that God could not accomplish His work without Bush. Puh-leaze.

Tellingly, the president and his political brethren aren’t invoking the divine as frequently or boldly these days…

The past year has been anything but triumphant for Bush. The president’s approval rating dipped below 40% this fall before rebounding somewhat. Criticism of the Iraq war is steady, along with doubts that the president has been completely honest with the American people both before and during the war. The Bush White House has found itself associated with cruel deeds such as torture and prisoner abuse…

The past year has brought a series of scandals involving prominent Republicans…

Along with these woes have come the president’s other debilitating domestic problems, chief among them his administration’s widely perceived failure to respond effectively and compassionately to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The picture of the Bush administration that emerged from Katrina — one of indifference to suffering by New Orleans’ poorest residents — seems not to square with Christian ideals of loving and caring for the least among us.

Oh God, why hast thou deserted us Repugs? Haven’t we helped sort out the wheat from the chafe? Haven’t we leaped to expose as evil so many things we know you abhor, like gay people, unwed teen mothers, and husbands who want to take their brain-dead wives off feeding tubes, so they can at last be with you? Why have you turned your back on us? Where did you take the wrong turn, God?

Last Chance for Democrats — and Democracy

Trish

I’m going to say something that will have my ancestors whirling in their graves, something I never thought I would say, something that even to me seems incomprehensible.

I’m willing to abandon the Democrats. There it is.

I’m tired of wondering if George Bush will have to roast babies in the Rose Garden before anyone who represents me will stand up.

Understand, I come from a line of Democrats so long it has no known end. My peeps have forever been Dems, in registration if not always in action. My Uncle Bill, who like me was Democrat at birth, once told a former Republican friend who changed to our side, “It’s O.K. buddy. Before I was a Democrat I wasn’t nothing either.”

But times change. And I’m tired of our team losing, mostly at its own hands. I’m not for one minute suggesting that I would go over to the Dark Side. I’m saying I’m willing to entertain the idea of a third party if it will do what mine isn’t — saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done.

If Samuel Alito gets on the Supreme Court, it won’t be entirely the fault of the conservative whack jobs of which he is one. It will because good Democrats were too busy listening to themselves talk, since talk is all we can do. Others are trying so hard to please everyone that they end up pleasing no one, least of all “the base.”

The problem is that this matters so much. George Bush wants to stand democracy on its head, to abandon the constitution, to literally do what terrorists can’t — kill America and replace it with a fundamentalist totalitarian regime. All he needs is a compliant Supreme Court to go along with his compliant Congress.

I’m tired of being in the sheep party. I’m tired of hoping the next election will be the one that turns it all around. I’m tired of wondering if George Bush will have to roast babies in the Rose Garden before anyone who represents me will stand up.

I have emailed Sen. Bill Nelson, who has always done the right thing before, and asked him to vote no on Alito. Wherever you are, please let your own Democratic elected officials hear from you on this. They need to know we will back them up if they will just make this one brave move. They also need to know we aren’t kidding anymore. We are looking for a better party, either our own or a new one.