Via a diary on Kos
Undersecretary of State, Karen Hughes, is empowering Islamic women. Just not in the direction she’s paid to.
Edward _
Don’t Throw Your Laptop, Open Thread
Are you trying to comment but keep getting a message saying you can’t? Well…??? Speak up!!! Oh, heh, nevermind… Just kidding. Some folks have reported a messsage saying they cannot comment, but they haven’t been banned. If that’s happening to you, please accept our apologies, we’re working on figuring out what’s causing that. If you … Read more
Ahh Love…We Value It in Foreigners
So I’ve been over at RedState having the same tired argument I’ve been having for years now about how insulting it is as a gay American to be told we’re not being treated like a second-class citizen with regards to the marriage issue because our right to marry is intact. We just have to marry someone of the opposite sex.
I understand that most folks who are on the fence tend to withdraw from the argument, back into a more conservative stance, if the rhetoric gets too heated (that’s natural, I realize), but I’ve got to get this out of my system once and for all.
Again, the argument forwarded by those opposed to gay marriage when the subject turns to rights is that the state is not denying gay Americans any rights, because we’re just as entitled to marry someone of the opposite sex as the next American is.
To support this claim, however, they must then explain why it is that intimacy is not a requirement for a marriage to be considered "valid" in this country. In other words, marriages of convenience are legal, and if a gay American wants the benefits of marriage, no one will stop them from getting married (even to a stranger, even someone they have no intention of consummating the relationship with, or even living with) in order to secure those benefits.
This implies that the state places no value on the emotional commitment of the couple to each other, at least not enough to legislate against loveless marriage between strangers. And since that is legal, so the arguments go, gays are not being discriminated against.
There’s a small problem with that, however, in that the state does in at least one instance make it crystal clear that loveless marriage between strangers is not equal to marriage between a committed couple. That instance is when one of the spouses is not a citizen. In those instances, the couple must prove to the government that theirs is a "real" marriage, that they entered into marriage in "good faith":
Serious about Porn
I’ve admitted this before, so I’m not embarassed to bring it up again in this context: I’ve watched it. In fact, every night at 11:00 we used to turn it on. Until, well, it was replaced with something even more scandalous. I’m talking, of course, about the re-runs of "Friends" that aired at 11:00 pm … Read more
To the Old Gray Whore: Anti-MSM Open Thread
There are few things I loathe more than people who seem to be altruistic but end up demonstrating that they were merely pretending in order to screw someone over down the road. I’ve been around…I know how the world works, but even crooks have integrity, so long as they admit they’re crooks. Here’s a letter … Read more
Once a Nazi, Always a Nazi?
by Edward Now I feel foolish. I had stood up to the folks, many of them liberals, who criticized the new Pope when he was installed. I openly insisted they not call him "Pope Rat" and asked them to appreciate that although he had been a member of the Nazi party as a youth that … Read more
WMAL Fires Michael Graham
by Edward via a post by krempasky on Red State Although I’m happy to see him gone, I wish he would have apologized like his radio station had asked him to instead. WMAL "comedian" commentator Michael Graham has been fired. I mentioned the statement he made that caused an uproar in this post. Essentially he … Read more
Bill…It’s Harvard. They Want Their Degree Back
by Edward Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, recently announced his support for teaching Intelligent Design along side evolution in public school science classes. In explaining his position he said: "I think today a pluralistic society should have access to a broad range of fact, of science, including faith," Frist … Read more
A Very Different Story
by Edward
After all the gigabytes folks consumed arguing that Jean Charles de Menezes, the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, who was shot eight times last month on the London Underground, deserved what he got for essentially looking suspicious, I hope an equal number of gigabytes of outrage will be forthcoming from the same folks now that it turns out the story the British Police offered seems to be very, very different from what actually happened that day:
A Brazilian shot to death a day after botched bombings in London had walked casually onto a train before being gunned down by undercover officers, according to leaked footage that appeared to contradict earlier police reports that said the man disobeyed police orders.
Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician, was shot eight times last month in front of terrified commuters on a subway train, after undercover police tailed him from a house under surveillance.
Police first said the shooting was related to the failed bombings on the London transit system July 21 — two weeks after four suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up in three Underground stations and aboard one double-decker bus.
Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, called the death regrettable, but said it appeared "the man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions."
Citing security footage, a British television station reported Tuesday that Menezes entered the Stockwell subway station at a normal walking pace, stopping to pick up a newspaper before boarding a train and taking a seat.
The ITV News broadcast, citing an investigation report into the shooting, also said Menezes was wearing a light denim jacket when he was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. Witness reports described a terrifying scene of the man — wearing a bulky jacket on a warm July day — running through the train station, being tackled by a group of undercover police officers, then being shot several times at close range.
Now here’s the thing. In the US we’re constantly pooh-poohed when we question the PATRIOT ACT and other measures that strengthen the law enforcement efforts to stop terrorism. "If you don’t do anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about from these laws," is the conventional wisdom. Of course, though, that only applies if you can implicitly trust the authorities.
If this report turns out to reveal what it looks like it reveals, I cannot imagine the London Police will be able to re-build their credibility for ages. At the very least, Ian Blair owes the public (not to mention Menezes’ family) one huge apology.
Fair Weather Patriots
By Edward Here’s a story making the rounds. Via Atrios: Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents. It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the … Read more