In case you needed further proof that Dick “Dick” Cheney is a massive, gaping asshole, turns out the military plane he flew on his trip this week is called “The Spirit of Strom Thurmond.”
As my friend Wes, to whom the Blast Off! tip o’ the cap goes for this one, would say, “Jesus H. Smack-Flappity Tap Dancing Christ.”
I think Jon Stewart’s assessment of Fat Tony Scalia fits for Cheney, too.
The mission of the City of Largo (west of Tampa, north of St. Petersburg) is: To provide superior services that enhance the quality of life and community pride.
I’m not sure what pride they can take in discriminatory employment practices:
The City Commission voted to begin the process of firing a top official less than a week after he announced plans to pursue a sex-change operation.
The 5-to-2 vote Tuesday started a three-step process to remove City Manager Steve Stanton from the job he’s held for 14 years.
Stanton, 48, confirmed last week that he is a transsexual. With a solid reputation as a forceful and energetic leader, he had hoped to keep his $140,000-a-year job as he underwent the gender reassignment process.
“It’s just painful to know seven days ago I was a good guy and now … I have no integrity,” Stanton told the commission. “My challenge here has always been that someday I was going to leave this organization. So I am going to do it with a smile on my face.”
Stanton can appeal the decision, though his contract says he can be fired without cause at any time.
He will be placed on paid leave while the city begins the legal process to end his contract. The council must vote again to formally fire him.
I didn’t practice in the area of employment law, but I have a hard time believing that the Commission’s rationale, at least as stated by one commissioner, can withstand judicial challenge:
Commissioner Mary Gray Black said Stanton’s surprise announcement last week “caused stress, turmoil, distraction and work disruption” among other city employees.
“I do not feel he has the integrity, nor the trust, nor the respect, nor the confidence to continue as the city manager of the city of Largo,” said Black, who introduced a resolution to fire Stanton on Monday.
About 500 people attended the meeting. Dozens signed up to speak, some praising Stanton and others saying the exposure of his secret life undermined his ability to lead the city.
City officials say they have received hundreds of e-mails about Stanton’s announcement, most calling for his removal.
I used to live not far from Largo. I still travel there and nearby fairly regularly. And I’m surprised to hear that it’s as intolerant a place as it appears to be.
The “stress, turmoil, distraction and work disruption” argument reminds me of a story from my student teaching days, back in 1989. The middle school where I was posted (thankfully, for only five weeks) had an African-American boy who cut his hair so that it was hair on top, shaved in the middle (all the way around), and a “puff” on the bottom. The school’s dress code prohibited “designs” in the hair as well as “more than one part.” The administration put this kid in in-school suspension for a week and conducted three faculty meetings to discuss whether the student’s new haircut was an impermissible design or just one big part.
Point is, the distraction lasts a day or two at most. The adverse effects on the livelihood of the city manager — not to mention the loss of goodwill for the city, the business cost of removing a successful manager and having to search for and train a new one, and the dissension caused within the city — will have much more far-reaching impact.
In short, this is a colossally stupid decision by Largo, and quite possibly illegal to boot. Please join me in registering your displeasure by calling the Commission’s offices at (727) 587-6702 or by e-mailing them.
The issue of gays in the military is very important to me, as someone who is, to put it colloquially, “straight but not narrow.” In fact, in law school, I was published in my law review on the subject of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and whether it could be rescinded by executive order (I concluded that it could, but of course President Clinton chose not to do so, a disappointing result from my perspective).
Now there is a legislative effort to repeal the ban on gays in the military, led by Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.). The move actually has some bipartisan support:
Meehan said he expects the House Armed Services panel to hold hearings on the issue.
“I have worked in Congress to fight this policy because I believe that for more than a decade now it has undermined our national security interests,” Meehan said.
He filed a similar measure that failed in the previous Congress, which was controlled by Republicans. That bill had more than 120 co-sponsors, including six Republicans. The new measure has 109 co-sponsors.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who appeared with Meehan at a Capitol Hill news conference, branded the military’s policy on gays and lesbians “foolish and cruel.”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is an anachronistic and misguided policy that has a detrimental effect on our military by reducing morale and, quite likely, preventing many people who otherwise would want to serve in the military from signing up. If the military is serious about wanting to increase enlistment numbers, lifting the ban might be one way to accomplish that goal.
Besides, there’s already been a significant gay presence in Iraq:
Also attending [the news conference] was retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who lost his leg after stepping on a land mine early in the Iraq war. He was awarded a Purple Heart.
“Who would have ever guessed that the first American wounded was a gay Marine,” Alva said.
Of course, time will tell regarding the prospects of rescinding the ban. I’d prefer that reporters not editorialize, though, as with the conclusion of the article:
The prospects for Meehan’s bill are unclear. While many Democrats have criticized the policy as discriminatory, many Republicans have supported it. Congress may be reluctant to revisit such a divisive issue amid contentious debate over the Iraq war.
At any rate, I’m glad to see there seems to be some movement on the issue. I truly believe American society has come a long way since 1993 (Tim Hardaway and his ilk notwithstanding), and I hope this will lead to more dialogue and greater understanding of the need for real equality in this country.
Try this scenario on for size:
Al Gore, right?
Nope.
Try Richard Nixon, who lost in 1960 to JFK but came back to win the presidency in ‘68.
Now, granted, I wouldn’t want a Gore presidency to end up like the Nixon presidency, but there are certain eerie parallels between the 1960s and the 2000s. And there certainly are many compelling reasons for Gore to run — and win — in 2008.
Wes at Walk In Brain says it far more eloquently and effectively than I could. Please check out his superb and thought-provoking essay on why Gore should run.
If Al Gore still has any interest whatsoever in being president, the country needs him now more than ever. I’ll echo Wes: “Please, Mr. Gore. Run for President.”
As President Bush smiled and waved from the stands and Mickey Mantle looked on from the dugout, Derek Jeter swung his bat. Talk about pressure.The game never happened, though. It was just someone’s idea of a visual gag — pulled off in a recent Topps baseball card through digital manipulation.
“Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company — and we won’t name names — thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle,” said Clay Luraschi, a spokesman for Topps in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily News.
Hmmm. Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?
Mantle: Hall of Fame (1974 inductee), 3 American League MVP awards, 536 lifetime home runs, 16 All-Star Game appearances, lifetime batting average of .298, seven World Series rings.
Jeter: 1996 AL Rookie of the Year, MVP of both the All-Star Game and the World Series in 2000, 3 Gold Gloves, lifetime batting average of .317, lifetime postseason batting average of .314, seven All-Star Game appearances, four World Series rings.
Drunky McStagger: failed businessman, AWOL from military service, failed owner of the Texas Rangers, traded Sammy Sosa, failed governor, failed president.
One of these things is not like the others …
I’m so tired of the meme that our broadcast media have a liberal bias. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Take, for example, the latest Democratic hit piece from the AP this morning, about how congressional Dems are “split” on Iraq:
Democrats’ ambitious plans to limit President Bush’s war authority and force a change of course in Iraq are faltering amid party divisions over how quickly and aggressively they should act.
A group of senior Senate Democrats is pushing to repeal the 2002 measure authorizing the war and write a new resolution restricting the mission and ordering troop withdrawals to begin by this summer. In the House, a respected veteran wants to use Congress’ spending power to essentially force Bush to scale back U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Both plans appear to lack the support they would need to prevail, however, as Democratic leaders struggle to form a party consensus on how to move forward.
Look at the action words used to describe Democrats: faltering … divisions … struggle … And what did they say about Republicans when they were “split,” say, on the non-binding resolution two weeks ago? The group of GOP supporters was “smaller-than-expected” … an emotional plea from Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) received “thunderous bipartisan applause” … well, you get the idea.
It’s no wonder, with big corporate money driving most media outlets today, and with that same money controlled by, and supporting, Republicans, the media lean decidedly right. But they want you to think they’re “fair and balanced.” Here’s a clue: they’re not. This “liberal media” theme is a farce, and if it ever was true, it hasn’t been true for decades.
Frankly, the real liberal bias is in the truth.
Another chapter in the ongoing saga of Florida voting goes the Republic Party’s way:
Neither voting equipment nor election software caused more than 18,000 votes to disappear in a disputed congressional race to replace former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, according to two audits released Friday by the Florida Secretary of State.
But what went wrong Nov. 7 in the Sarasota County District 13 election is still a mystery, the audits found.
[...]
“The team’s unanimous opinion is that the iVotronic firmware, including faults that we identified, did not cause or contribute to the CD13 undervote,” reads a report authored by a team of eight computer scientists based at Florida State University who conducted the audit.
But the report goes on: “There is no dispute that this undervote is abnormal and unexpected and that it cannot be explained solely by intentional undervoting.”
Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning issued a statement Friday saying the audit confirmed that “there is no evidence that suggests the official results are in error.”
It should be noted that the lead computer scientist on FSU’s audit was associate professor Dr. Alec Yasinsac, whose political activities include contributions to the campaigns of Katherine Harris and GOP congressional candidate Frank Schwerin. Just sayin’.
Anyway, we still don’t know why there were 18,000 undervotes in Sarasota County, and I wonder if we ever will:
[Democratic candidate Christine] Jennings and voter advocacy groups, including People for the American Way, mounted a legal battle to gain access to ES&S’ source code for the machines.
That lawsuit is awaiting a decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal after a circuit judge ruled Jennings’ arguments about the possibility of lost votes were “conjecture” and did not warrant disclosing the trade secrets of the voting machine company.
Some experts testified that poor ballot design contributed to the anomaly and that the race was difficult to locate on the touch screens.
Earlier this month, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., launched an inquiry into the election, asking Congress’ Government Accountability Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to perform a “top-to-bottom” investigation into the 18,000 undervotes.
Stay tuned …
I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank in high school … how Anne and her family hid in the attic of a Dutch home her father’s business in Amsterdam (there you go, Soprano) to avoid detection (and detention) by the Nazis.
I don’t mean to draw too much of a parallel between deportation and extermination, but I imagine there’s more than a few people worried every day whether it will be the day the INS comes knocking on their door.
Far from the dusty Mexican border and Florida’s coastal waters, federal authorities have stepped up the battle to control immigration, and, in many cases, the new front is just down the block.
A fast-growing network of fugitive squads is tracking and arresting undocumented immigrants inside the United States, in living rooms and on front doorsteps.
Though the squads’ principal targets are terrorism suspects and convicted criminals, more than half of the people they snare are immigrants who lost legal bids for asylum or other relief, and then remained here illegally. Many have paid taxes, sent their U.S.-born children to public schools — and quietly ignored a judge’s order to leave the United States.
They’re called “absconders,” and increasingly they are the targets of federal fugitive squads.
Yes, I understand that there are immigration laws, so please don’t give me that bullshit about how the law has to be enforced. What troubles me is the growing intensity of these squads, made worse by the draconian anti-terrorism hysteria of the Bush maladministration:
“People need to be identified. Post 9-11 taught us this,” said Mike Rozos, field director of Detentions and Removals in Florida, and one of the creators of the Fugitive Operations Program. Rozos said his forces go after criminals and noncriminals alike.
“We have 12 million illegal aliens in the country,” he said. “Who are they? Are they your domestic, doing the house cleaning chores, or are they here to do something else?”
Yes, it’s factually true that they are going after both criminals and non-criminals, but check out the trends:
Certainly no one reasonably would argue that criminals illegally in this country ought not be deported. But if people who have been contributing in a positive way to society have their lives destroyed on a whim merely because they have failed to legalize their immigration status, or if they have to be separated from their American-born children abruptly, there is something seriously wrong with the system.
Instead of expending valuable resources on going all “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on non-criminal illegal aliens, doesn’t it make more sense to direct those resources first toward apprehending those whose presence in the U.S. is harmful, i.e., criminals? Moreover, there are administrative and judicial processes for immigration violations that are being circumvented or ignored by these vigilante gangs. The procedures exist for a reason; if deportation or some other sanction is necessary, the government should go through the proper channels, not hunt these people down with these federally-supported gangs of enforcers.
In the first-ever posthumous presentation of the Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude, late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-19th Century) (right — literally and figuratively) is in the headlines again. Seems his family tree may have a few interesting branches:
The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator.
“I can’t find out anything more shocking than I’ve already learned,” Sharpton told the Daily News, which on Sunday reported the link based on genealogists’ findings.
[...]
Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton’s great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond’s great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.
“Based on the paper trail, it seems pretty evident that the connection is there,” said Mike Ward, a genealogist with Ancestry.com, who called the link “amazing.”
Ancestry.com’s chief family genealogist, Megan Smolenyak, said Sharpton would need to match his DNA with a present-day descendant to see if they are biologically related.
“I think the odds are slim he would match,” Smolenyak told the News. “There is no particular evidence to suggest that there is a direct relationship between the two (black and white) Sharpton families to suggest they share a common ancestry. But, given the legacy of plantation society, you can’t rule it out.“
Oh, this is rich. I mean, we already know that Sen. Thurmond fathered a biracial child (Essie Mae Washington, right, with Dan Rather). Of course, the mere fact would be irrelevant … if Thurmond were not a virulent segregationist who ran for president as a Dixiecrat (read: segregation forever) in 1948. It’s even more fun for me personally, because I had the opportunity to meet Sen. Thurmond back in 1988 when he was just a kid of 85. Profoundly feeble even then (although, remarkably, he lived another 15 years), he spent half an hour calling me “Jim,” even though I wore a large nametag bearing my first name … which is not “Jim.”
I’ve always found that hypocrisy produces the best schadenfreude, and today is no exception. So, from this life to the next, congratulations go out (or down?) to Strom Thurmond — today’s Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!
My son had his first baseball game today … it was opening day at his Little League.
I can’t begin to describe how proud I am of him. Even though he didn’t get a hit, and even though a thrown ball hit him in the head during warm-ups, he’s a star in my book. And he’s so thrilled to be playing. I’m just so excited to see him in uniform … especially since he’s not that much younger than when his old man started playing, way back in 1974.
I’ve always said that no matter what my kids wanted to do in life (in terms of activities, careers, etc.), I’d support them. But for this old Little Leaguer, there’s something very special and, truth be told, profoundly moving, about seeing my son playing baseball.
Politics will always be there, and Republicans will always be morons. But my son only has his first baseball game once …
