WaPo’s Ruth Marcus gets it right:

Respect Is a Two-Way Street

A few more thoughts about Sarah Palin and her daughter’s pregnancy. “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby,” Todd and Sarah Palin said in their statement Monday. But of course, in the world according to Palin, Bristol would have had no “decision” to make: The choice of whether to continue with the pregnancy would not be hers to make.

Same with the governor’s decision, after learning that her own baby had Down syndrome, not to have an abortion. That’s a judgment I certainly respect, but it is not one that should be forced on any woman in that difficult circumstance. I had my children at ages 37 and 39, old enough that the risk of Down syndrome was elevated, as it was for Palin, and my doctor recommended amniocentesis. Had the results indicated any abnormality, I have little doubt that I would have made a different decision than did Palin. I have no doubt that such an agonizing choice should have been up to my husband and me, not to the government.

Which is where, of course, Palin would leave it. She opposes abortion in all circumstances, except to save the life of the mother. In other words, no exceptions for rape, for incest, for genetic abnormalities or in circumstances where the woman’s health is seriously endangered. I respect the Palins’ choices. I only wish they would show as much respect for others to exercise their own, free of government imposing it on them.

Sarah Palin, and people of her ilk, have no business being in American politics. Maybe governing in Iran or some such other place where ‘rights’ and ‘choice’ are terms unheard of. But not in a country built and shaped around those very words.

Say “NO!” to McCain/Palin this November. Say “No!”, and spare this great country one huge leap back into the stone age.

Are you all familiar with Associated Press 2.0 - Biased Edition? If not, let me bring you up to speed, via The Politico:

Is Fournier saving or destroying the AP?

In the stories the new boss is encouraging, first-person writing and emotive language are okay.

So is scrapping the stonefaced approach to journalism that accepts politicians’ statements at face value and offers equal treatment to all sides of an argument. Instead, reporters are encouraged to throw away the weasel words and call it like they see it when they think public officials have revealed themselves as phonies or flip-floppers.

As has already occurred:

Even absent his byline, his influence has been evident, as it is in the lead to reporter Liz Sidoti’s June 19 news analysis on the Democratic nominee’s decision to reverse course on public financing: “Barack Obama chose winning over his word.”

Note that no AP writer has written a story yet on any of the many McCain flip-flops and outright lies. I think we can see which way the new AP will lean. (It’s also important to note that Fournier and Karl Rove have a history too.)

I bring all this up because of an AP story I just read that I find quite a bit disturbing:

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An opinion piece in the Philadelphia Daily News:

AS THE FLAGS are readied and the ceremonies rehearsed, no one is talking much anymore about how our soldiers have died in a “noble cause” in Iraq.

As the sixth Memorial Day of the Iraq War approaches, at least 4,070 American men and women have lost their lives in the fighting. Hundreds more have been killed in accidents, illnesses - and, yes, suicides.

All were poorly served by the nation to which they gave the last full measure of devotion: They were sent into battle under false pretenses, without proper planning or equipment, their sacrifice treated as a low-risk business opportunity for war profiteers, their flag-draped coffins hidden from public view.

So, as we approach this sad milestone, it is insane that the same people who were so disastrously wrong before miring us in Iraq are again beating the drums for an another unnecessary military action, this time against Iran.

They’re even using the same tactics - inflating Iran’s danger to the United States, comparing its leaders to Hitler, and referring vaguely to “evidence” of Iranian complicity in attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Something else has a too-familiar ring: often-uncritical news-media coverage and attacks on the patriotism of those who would try to avoid more unnecessary deaths.

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As QuestionGirl posted here, the California Supreme Court ruling that will allow gays to marry was welcomed news for Ellen DeGeneres:

DeGeneres, de Rossi plan to marry, AP is told

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action - she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

DeGeneres was taping the episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday, the day the state’s high court struck down California laws against gay marriage, and it was to air Friday, a person close to the production said.

Gay glee may be short-lived though. Hate-filled hearts all over California and elsewhere vow to turn the clock back on California to the days of rampant bigotry, hate and and unbridled prejudice.

Gay marriage opponents vow to fight Calif. ruling

[...] A conservative group said it would ask California’s Supreme Court to postpone putting its Thursday decision legalizing gay marriage into effect until after the fall election. That’s when voters will likely have a chance to weigh in on a proposed amendment to California’s constitution that would bar same’sex couples from getting married. [...]

Gay marriage opponents, meanwhile, derided the ruling as an example of judicial overreaching in which the opinions of a few justices trumped the will of Californians.

“The remedy is a constitutional amendment,” said Glen Lavy, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is pushing for the stay.

Nothing says democracy like a bunch of white, straight people keeping fellow Americans down. If all it takes is for a large group of people to come together to be able to vote other people’s rights and livelihoods away, what say we start up an anti-bigot coalition? These bastards have had complete rule for way too long, and now it’s time to put them on defense! Our first order of business should be to push for a constitutional amendment for separation of church and state. Oh, wait…

While doing some research for my previous post, I ran upon this little gem by TIME writer, Jay Newton-Small:

I know you all are already familiar with the Obama / flag lapel pin hype. My question is, how the hell could someone who writes for such a prestigious magazine be so stupid? It could be that Jay isn’t stupid. Maybe she thinks we’re stupid. Either way, it sure draws TIME’s credibility into question.

I wonder what Jay’s answer would be if I could ask her tomorrow how often she wears a flag pin? I wonder what Jay’s reaction would be if I were to label her an unpatriotic and unfit American? Lastly, I wonder what Jay’s reaction would be if I were to tell her many of our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, including president Bush, often brave the public streets without their flag lapel pin?

It appears Jay Newton-Small could put a little more thought into her articles. And maybe it’s time for TIME to do a little bit of soul’searching too.

WashingtonPost columnist, Dana Milbank, parallels the Hillary Clinton death watch to an old Monty Python skit:

Customer: “Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.” Pet’shop owner: “No, no he’s not dead, he’s — he’s resting! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue, isn’t it, aye? Beautiful plumage!” – From “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”

11:45 a.m., Melrose Hotel, Foggy Bottom: It’s Day 7 of the Clinton Campaign Death Watch — a full week since the official arbiter of the Democratic primary, Tim Russert, declared the campaign over and Barack Obama the nominee. Hillary Clinton’s advisers continue to insist that the candidate’s prospects are very much alive, but the press isn’t buying it. Exhibit A: There are two press buses waiting at the hotel here for Clinton’s trip to her victory rally in West Virginia, but the entire press contingent doesn’t quite fill one. It isn’t until the entourage arrives at Dulles Airport that Clinton aides learn that the second bus is still idling, empty, at the hotel.

John Cole, of Balloon-Juice, posts about how people may be wising up to our “gimmicky” government.

We certainly could use a more sane and intelligent populace!

They disfranchised voters in Florida in 2000, and now they’re doing it in Indiana. I am so fed up with the fucking republican party.

Are you fucks so hard up for control that you will lie, cheat and steal your way to the top? You have no qualms about stepping on other people to get what you want, do you? And you fucks claim some moral high ground. You keep fellow Americans from voting and you call yourselves Americans. You fucks are NOT Americans. You have no clue what being American is.

Not one good reason to call for voter ID’s except to knock people out of voting. You republican fucks don’t deserve the air you breathe..

About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn’t have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary’s Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.

The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn’t get one but came to the precinct anyway.

“One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, ‘I don’t want to go do that,’” Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.

They weren’t given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back in the 10-day time frame allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. “You have to remember that some of these ladies don’t walk well. They’re in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts.”

This rant might possibly hurt a few republican feelings. Or maybe not. After all, you fucks did get what you wanted, didn’t you?

Great piece by New York Times op-ed columnist, Thomas Friedman, “Who Will Tell the People?”

Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he-ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don-t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I-m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV - at 8 p.m. - from the White House East Room.

Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.

I don-t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn-t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”

Mr. Friedman is more optimistic than I am. I believe our country would have to suffer a total and complete “tear down” to ever regain any amount of glory. Greed and religious hate/bigotry have too tight of hold on us to ever recover from.

Instead of appending/updating an older post, I opted to give the following it’s own deserving spot.

Washington Monthly commenter, Sparko, has a few things to say about the recent Supreme Court photo ID decision:

Could not have said it better myself!