Author: Trish

It’s official. A federal court enacted a temporary restraining order to allow gay pride pride flags to fly downtown in the nation’s oldest city. (See above.)

St. Augustine Record:

Local gay pride groups have the right to fly their flags on the Bridge of Lions starting today, a district court judge ruled Tuesday. The 49 rainbow gay pride flags will fly today through June 13th on the Bridge of Lions for St. Augustine Pride’s annual event this weekend.

After three years of the City Commission denying Gays the right to fly the rainbow gay pride flag on the bridge, St. Augustine Pride Committee and others filed a suit Monday against the city, the mayor and other administrators…

U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams of Jacksonville, granted the temporary restraining order on Tuesday afternoon…

The City Commission had denied the flying of the pride flag on the bridge because the majority of its members voted that it did not represent a “historical landmark or event in the city,” the criteria for approval.

In his ruling, the judge said the City Commission’s argument did not apply because the city has given permits in the past for groups to fly flags on the bridge that did not have “historical significance associated with the city.” He specifically cited Flagler College, which was founded in the 1960s.

He also said the Gay Pride group would “suffer irreparable harm and loss” if they were prohibited from flying its (sic) flag during the week of the annual gay pride celebration.

City Commissioner Errol Jones said he is concerned that the judge’s ruling will open a “Pandora’s Box.”

“Tomorrow, we could get an anti-gay group wanting to fly their flag,” Jones said. “I don’t want to be expressing everyone’s personal opinion” with flags flying on the bridge. “We could end up flying flags every week. That’s not appropriate for the city or the bridge.”

I am a little conflicted on this. I do not believe the mayor and fellow commissioners are acting from homophobia. I campaigned for the mayor, one of the last Democrats in public office in these parts. He is also my neighbor and our dogs play together at the dog park. That said, I’m glad the flags are flying.

On the other hand, Randall Terry, anti-abortion terrorist and possible candidate for state senate, lives in nearby Ponte Vedra. I would prefer not to have right-to-life or similar flags flying (especially for an obnoxious publicity stunt) but, as we used to say before Bush took office, I guess it’s a free country.

I doubt this will be the end of the story locally. I have a feeling before the day is out, some marriage-is-only-for-straight-people clam diggers will be holding a protest. Expect more coverage soon.

Did you see this AP blurb?

A maverick Republican congresswoman has gained a symbolic victory over the House leadership and the Bush administration on the issue of drug reimportation.

Lawmakers gave voice-vote approval to an amendment introduced by Rep. Anne Northup of Kentucky. It would prohibit the administration from negotiating future trade agreements that would thwart imports of lower-cost medicines.

Northup fears trade agreements could be used as a “back door” way of trying to stop Congress from passing a bill to legalize the reimportation of U.S.-produced drugs from other countries.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay predicted Northup’s amendment will be dropped “somehow.”

Can somebody tell me why Tom DeLay lives and breathes? Or why he does it in the frickin’ House of Representatives?

Anyway, looks like continuing evidence that Bush’s idiotic policies are losing their blind appeal among the Republican elected officials who have to do the heavy lifting for them.

A federal court in Jacksonville, Florida will decide today if the City of St. Augustine will be flying gay pride flags this weekend.

St. Augustine Record:

For three years in a row, the City Commission has denied the St. Augustine Pride Committee the right to fly the rainbow gay pride flag on the Bridge of Lions during their June celebration.

Monday, they filed a federal suit against the city, its mayor and other administrators.

The city requires that any flag flown on the bridge “relate directly to a not-for-profit event that is in direct correlation to a historical landmark or event in the City and has historical significance associated with the City.”

“Quite frankly, we’ve met their requirements,” said Rev. Ruth Jensen, SAPC co-chair. “We tried to compromise with the mayor, but he wouldn’t budge. He left us no alternative.”

SAPC decided to sue in conjunction with Equality Florida, and is represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Mayor George Gardner said his position is the same as it has been since the issue came up.

“The application is a social concept wrapped in a historical argument,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable representing on any public facility social causes of one kind or another. We’ll leave it in the hands of a judge now.”

Check out Pensito Review’s earlier coverage of this story.

Here we go again, performing hari-kari so all the Republicans have to do is step on our pointy little heads and put us out of our misery.

An A.P. story that ran all over the place, including USA Today is quoting Joe Biden and John Edwards (for whom I voted in 2004) as saying Doktor Howard Dean (hey, if it’s good enough for Condi, why not use it for a real M.D.?) went too far when he made the shocking observation that the GOP is the party of wealth and privilege.

Edwards responded that Dean “is not the spokesman for the party.”

Dean is “a voice. I don’t agree with it,” Edwards, a former senator and the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in 2004, said Saturday at a party fundraising dinner in Nashville.

Well, let’s see, Johnny. Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic Party. That makes him pretty much the guy who speaks for Democrats, aka, the Spokesman for the Party.

What really burns me is while we’re so busy throwing ourselves on the flames of penance for “going too far,” the Killer Whales of the Republican Party (great name for a rock band) are gloating and coming out smelling like roses.

Asked about Dean’s remark about Republicans and honest living, GOP chairman Ken Mehlman told NBC’s Meet the Press: “I’m not sure the best way to win support in the red states is to insult the folks who live there. I think that a better approach might be to talk about the issues you’re for.”

Hey Ken, would you like some sanctimony with that hypocrisy?

I can’t remember a single campaign since I’ve been able to vote (lo these many years) when the Republicans took pains to paint the opposition as anything but moronic, tax-and-spend, Ivy League, Commie, feminist/homosexual/anti-nukular family, bleeding heart liberals.

It’s our own fault that sleezebags like Ken Mehlman look noble and pure. We do this to ourselves. Joe, John, what do you think you gain by throwing Howie under the bus? Yes, he can’t be trusted with a microphone. Yes, he says stupid things. But he’s our idiot and we have to stand behind him. Did the Repugs get where they are today by saying W. needs to attend a Toastmasters meeting? Hell no! They watch his remote-controlled, microphone-humped backside. When are we going to wake up and start doing the same?

Why is Washington making sure Florida’s draft board is at capacity?

The Gainesville Sun:

What the federal government is looking for are at least 78 Floridians willing to serve on draft boards even though the nation has not had a draft for 25 years.

“These local folks would decide cases that involve individuals who may be claiming a hardship, or that they are a conscientious objector, or ministerial student, or member of the clergy, or have some other reason why they believe they should not be drafted,” said Dick Flahavan, associate director of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Selective Service System.

Hmmm. Doesn’t sound good. And, the government wants you to know, you’ll need to available for extra hours in the remote chance the draft is re-enacted. Remote. Right.

The time commitment is minimal during peacetime, Flahavan said…However, the time commitment could increase significantly during a draft.

Have no idea if the government is trying to make sure all draft boards are ship-shape but I’d be very interested to hear if the call is going out nationwide. Please make a comment if this is happening in your state.

Condeleeza Rice hit the nail on the head at the Organization of American States meeting in Fort Lauderdale this weekend. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel,

In a thinly veiled reference to oil-rich Venezuela, which is engaged in escalating tensions with the United States, Rice said the OAS “must insist that leaders who are elected democratically have a responsibility to govern democratically.”

Since our leader wasn’t elected democratically, he has no responsibility to act as if he was. This explains everything.

But really, aren’t people getting sick of this stuff? The United States wants oil so it tells the U.N. or OAS or NATO that the leader of a country that has it is a bad guy. Boom, now the U.S. can go in and take what it wants.

The OAS meeting comes at a time when left-of-center leaders are ascendant in Latin America, having campaigned against old ills–corruption, nepotism, economic inequality– that democracy has failed to cure.

The last time the United States hosted an OAS summit, in 1974, almost half the 23 member states were military dictatorships, whereas all but Cuba have democratic governments in place today. Yet the transition is perceived by many in the hemisphere as a futile experiment in combating poverty. One in three people in Latin America lives on less than $2 a day.

Our hypocrisy is nowhere more evident than in our dealings with Haiti, as Jean-Robert Lafortune, chairman of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition in Miami, pointed out.

He criticized the United States for denying protective immigration status to Haitians while their country combats chaos in the streets and storm damage.

“As Haiti continues to spiral into insecurity, the Department of Homeland Security continues to apprehend and deport, constantly, Haitian nationals to their homeland,” he said.

We are advocating gathering intelligence (an oxymoron if there ever was one) on our neighbors, just as we are on our own citizens.

The United States is proposing that the OAS…set off early warnings that would avert the kinds of crises that led to the ouster of presidents in Bolivia, Ecuador and Haiti in just three years.

Some Latin American groups, however, have said they’re not keen on a list that would embarrass individual countries. Nor is it clear how the OAS would implement new policies given limited funding and financial strains.

Same old stuff. I can hear Bush saying OAS is ineffective so it’s O.K. to ignore them, and then send John Bolton in to represent us. I cannot wait until 2008.

Hilarious and terrifying Borowitz Report today:

In an appearance on CNN’S “Larry King Live,” former President George H. W. Bush unveiled ambitious plans to extend the Bush dynasty in the White House, indicating that if all goes as planned the Bushes will rule the U.S. until 2090.

When asked if he hoped that his son, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, would run for president in 2008, the former president replied, “Yes, Larry, I think it’s the smart one’s turn.”

…Presidential historian Davis Logden of the University of Minnesota said he sees advantages in such an unprecedented White House dynasty: “It could provide useful continuity to have a Bush in the White House in 2090, because we will most likely still be in Iraq.”

Excellent coverage of Jeb’s delusions of grandeur and delusions in general at Florida Politics. Now that we’ve all had some time to look into the hysterical claims made during the Schiavo fiasco, it appears just barely possible Jeb was…bluffing? Exaggerating? Um…lying? Yes, that’s it — Jeb was lying.

Will the media ask “Jeb!” to explain whether he was lying about “new and compelling allegations of abuse” in advance of the aborted Schiavo snatch and grab mission? After all, “Jeb!” specifically,

“claimed there were new and compelling allegations of abuse or neglect that the state Department of Children and Families had to investigate.”

“…the only allegation in the batch not heard before: A March 7 complaint that accused a nursing assistant at Schiavo’s Pinellas Park hospice of using an “air freshener substance” in her bath water in July, which caused a rash. DCF investigators learned the substance was an aromatherapy oil that the assistant placed in a spray bottle, not in Schiavo’s bath.”

… “Jeb!” better have had something more than “air freshener” complaints when he claimed there was “new and compelling allegations of abuse” as justification for nearly causing a constitutional crisis; recall that, as a result of the need to “save” Schiavo, “‘There were two sets of law enforcement officers facing off, waiting for the other to blink,’ said one official with knowledge of Thursday morning’s activities.”

A note to folks outside Florida. Jeb’s campaign materials consist of red signage with “Jeb!” reversed out in white. That’s all, just “Jeb” with an exclamation point. Seeing this year after year, those of us who live here tend to think of him as “Jeb!” all the time.

Fabulous letter to the editor recently in Florida’s Gainesville Sun in defense of our Constitution and judicial review.

Who would be willing to allow the police to beat confessions out of us or allow us to be tried for crimes without the benefit of legal counsel? Who would vote to return to a day when people of different races could not intermarry, were forced to go to different schools, drink from different fountains and sit separately in public arenas?

The change in such practices has usually come from court decisions before the majority of our country fell in line. Times change and values change, or we would still have slavery.

Our Constitution was adopted to protect the minority because the majority has never needed protection. To the extent that the court system may be considered activist because it does not always vote with the majority of our population as represented by Congress or state legislatures, it is in fact carrying out its mandate from the spirit, if not the precise letter of the Constitution.

The letter was signed by George L. Barnett of Micanopy, which, everyone knows, is the town where the Michael J. Fox film “Doc Hollywood” was filmed. Good going, George!