Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Supports Equality

Once again, the Republican Party is showing itself to be little more than the party of NO. This time they are opposing the removal of the terribly unfair "Don't Ask - Don't Tell" policy of the United States Military. Leading the opposition to equality is Senator John McCain (R-Arizona).

In the past, McCain had said he would consider changing the policy if the military leaders advocated making the change, but he seems to have changed his mind on that -- probably because he has to run for re-election this year and has a fundamentalist teabagger opponent in the Republican primary. He's busy now trying to appeal to that right-wing party base.

McCain told Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael G. Mullen, and Defense Secretary, Robert Gates (both of whom were Bush appointees) that they were trying to force through a change in the law. He said, "I'm happy to say that we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell', despite your efforts to repeal it in many respects by fiat."

But it looks like McCain and his Republican cohorts are fighting a losing battle on this issue. A clear majority of the American people want to see the policy dumped and replaced with a policy that celebrates equality for all. And I believe a majority of the Congress feels the same way. It's possible that a few moderate Republicans will even back the change in law.

But the final nail in the coffin of "Don't Ask - Don't Tell" was hammered in by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen. Mullen (pictured) told Congress yesterday, "Speaking for my self and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."

He went on to say, "No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

Well said, Admiral Mullen. Well said.

In The Elephant's Den

Political Cartoon is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.

Letter From A Medical Marijuana User

It has never made sense to me why marijuana is illegal in the United States. It has no toxic effect (it cannot cause a death, even with excessive usage), and is much less dangerous than legal drugs or prescription drugs. But I think it's downright criminal to deny this gentle herb to those who are seriously ill.

The law that allows many heavy drugs (with many side effects) to be prescribed for the sick, and yet will not allow them to smoke a joint that instantly relieves their pain and suffering (without side effects) has got to be one of the stupidest laws on the books. The law is not based on the dangers posed by marijuana (for it poses none), but on the many years of propaganda by the government.

It is high time (pun intended) that we show a little compassion for the sick and change that law. Toward that end, I present this letter from a user of medical marijuana (pictured):

Hi there. My name is Teresa Skipper, and I use marijuana to stay alive.

When I found out in 1995 that I had HIV, my doctors gave me many different medications, and I'm grateful for them because they have kept me alive!

But the side effects are awful. One of my meds comes with a warning that it's sometimes fatal. My stomach feels like a raw egg most days, which is strange, because I can't eat most foods. I have no appetite and it's hard to keep my weight up.

But I've been lucky enough to find something that makes me feel better, restores my appetite, and is the reason I still have good days. That something is marijuana.

Unfortunately, my marijuana also makes me a criminal. That's why Im telling you my story and asking you, from the bottom of my heart, to help MPP fight marijuana prohibition, because marijuana use should not make criminals of sick people.

Just like many other marijuana users, I have a husband, two children, and one beautiful grandson. I have a bachelor's degree in financial management. I just want to go to work and have a normal life.

But my marijuana use makes me a criminal, and who wants to hire a criminal? If I give up using marijuana, my health deteriorates to the point that I can't work anyway.

MPP is fighting to change marijuana laws so that sick people wont become criminals when they use marijuana to get relief from pain and suffering.

Thank you for letting me tell you my story.

Best wishes,

Teresa Skipper

P.S. $7.7 billion — that's how much the U.S. government spends on marijuana prohibition every year. If you'd rather have your tax money spent on something useful, like stopping violent crimes, please donate now to help MPP change marijuana laws.

The Guru Speaks

Political Cartoon is by David Horsey in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Bad Cop, Good Cop (God Style)

From the hilarious blog of Atheist Cartoons.

Not Even Christians Can Ignore The Law

Sometimes christians get a little carried away with their religion and they idea that what they are doing is good and is approved of by god -- and that idea allows them to think it's OK for them to ignore some laws that everyone else are expected to obey. After all they think, shouldn't god trump human laws?

Take for example, the ten missionaries arrested in Haiti. The odds are better than average that they went to Haiti to try and help out in the tragedy, but somewhere along the line their religious zeal overcame their common sense and they broke the law. They gathered up 33 Haitian children they believed to be orphans (although not all of them were) and tried to smuggle them out of that country.

They claim they were just taking them to a new orphanage being set up in the Dominican Republic, but who knows what would have happened to the children once they got there. Would the children have been "trafficked" out from there as the Haitian government thinks was possible? We don't know, because I doubt these American christians would have hung around to see what happened to them.

The Haitian prime minister says they "kidnapped" the children. He went on to say, "It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents. And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong." The christians arrested denied that, saying they did not know they were doing anything wrong. The PM's statement has more of a ring of truth to me.

How could these people not know they were breaking the law? They gathered up the children and then tried to take them out of the country without any kind of permission from the Haitian government. It's not that they were denied permission -- they never even asked for it. They'd have to be incredibly stupid to not know they were breaking the law.

There is no country in the world that allows people to smuggle their children out of the country without first asking for and receiving government permission. They would never have tried to do this with American children, so what made them think it would be OK to do it in Haiti. Were they trying to take advantage of Haiti's tragedy to put some children in the christian adoption pipeline?

Those arrested are now afraid that the Haitian (and maybe American) government is going to try and make an example out of them. That's exactly what should happen. Taking children illegally and without permission is indeed "kidnapping" -- and that's what they did.

NOTE -- The picture is of Jim Allen from Amarillo, one of the 10 arrested.

Updated

Political Cartoon is by Mike Luckovich in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Profits Drop for Poor Exxon Mobil

I'm absolutely devastated at the terrible news released by the Exxon Mobil Corporation. It seems that after posting record profits in 2008, the company's profits fell by more than 50% for 2009. The company had earned $45.2 billion in 2008, but their net profit was only a measly $19.3 billion for 2009. They must be crying in their champagne!

Just think, the poor company's profits were only $1.61 billion a month, $371.2 million a week, $53.02 million a day, $2.2 million an hour, $36,821 a minute or $614 a second for 365 days a year. That's pure profit after all expenses have been deducted. How on earth is Exxon Mobil going to survive? They probably had to cut their company bonuses down to just a couple of billion.

But this brave company is maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of this economic disaster. Vice president of investor relations David Rosenthal said, "We don't see a need right now for any significant restructurings at this time. But we'll see how things go." The $19.3 billion in profits still represented the largest profit of any of the Fortune 500 companies, but I'm sure the Exxon executives are far too embarrassed by their poor performance to take any solace in that.

Aren't you as horrified as I am by Exxon Mobil's poor 2009 showing?

The Look

Political Cartoon is by Mike Luckovich in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Tax Rate History

Found at the great blog of Yellowdog Granny.

Is The Tebow Super Bowl Ad A Lie ?

As you may already know, James Dobson's old group of ultra-right-wing fundamentalists, Focus on the Family, has spent millions of dollars to show two advertisements during the Super Bowl. The ads will show Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother, and will relate how she chose to go ahead and have him even though it supposedly endangered her life.

According to the story told by the Tebows, Mrs. Tebow and her husband were missionaries in the Philippines when she became pregnant with the future Florida quarterback. They say the pregnancy caused medical problems for Mrs. Tebow, and a Philippines doctor recommended she have an abortion. She refused, and everything turned out all right.

It's bad enough that these fundamentalist christians seem to be urging women who need a medically necessary abortion to save their lives, to ignore the advice of their doctors and put their lives at risk. Indeed this religious and political advice could (and probably will) actually cause the death of some misguided young women. These fundamentalists don't seem to mind killing off a few thousand women as long as they can force their religious viewpoint on millions of others.

But now we find that the story told by the "christian" Tebows may not even be true. The fact is that abortion has been illegal in the Philippines since 1930. There are no exceptions to this law -- not even to save the life of the mother. Any doctor caught performing an abortion would have received at least a six-year prison sentence (and six years in a Philippine prison can seem like a lifetime). It is extremely doubtful that any doctor in that country would have recommended an abortion, let alone performed one.

I don't doubt the right of Focus on the Family to buy TV ads to further their reprehensible point of view, but I think CBS needs to investigate and see whether the ad they will be airing is truthful or just a big lie. If it is a lie, then it should not be aired at all. Famous attorney Gloria Allred says she will lodge complaints with the FCC and the FTC "if this ad airs and fails to disclose that abortions were illegal at the time Mrs. Tebow made her choice."

Like everyone else, the fundamentalists have the right to forward their point of view thanks to our secular free speech rights. But they don't have the right to make up their own facts and tell lies to do it.

Bloc Or Blockhead ?

Political Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

Do Texas Dems Have Racist County Chair ?

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I always thought it was improper for party officials to publicly support or disparage any legal candidate running in the party's primary. It is my opinion that party officials should remain impartial (although they may vote as they wish) and let the party's voters study the candidates and make their own choice on primary day.

But evidently that view is not shared by Democrats in Anderson County, Texas (located about 100 miles southeast of Dallas) -- at least it is not shared by the Democratic County Chairman of that county. It seems that county chair has made his preference very clear, and sadly, it smacks of more than a tinge of ethnic bigotry.

It seems that Democratic candidate for governor in the upcoming primary, Farouk Shami, sent a mailing to many of the state's Democrats touting his job creation proposals. Anderson County Chair J. Larry Davis took it upon himself to e-mail the Shami campaign with some unsolicited and rather racist advice.

Davis told the campaign, "You are wasting your time and your money in this absurd run for governor. In today's paranoid political climate, nobody is going to vote for anybody named Farouk for any elected office. That is just a fact of post 9/11 life." When questioned about his improper e-mail, Davis tried to cover by saying, "That was just the benefit of my expertise as a political observer out here in East Texas."

He then jammed his foot even further down his throat by saying East Texas voters are "not going to vote for a black, Hispanic or anybody with an Arab name. That's their bias." Davis obviously has a very low opinion of his fellow Anderson County Democrats. I think Davis would do good to keep his mouth shut and let his fellow Democrats vote without being pigeon-holed -- he might be surprised at who they would support.

Meanwhile Shami's campaign director, Vince Leibowitz, said, "We find it hurtful that our party -- the party of inclusion -- would find its own leadership making statements like this. It makes me wonder how much of the party establishment shares these racist views."

State Party Chair Boyd Richie also signaled his disappointment with Davis' statement by saying, "Texans of all backgrounds contribute to our great state and to the Texas Democratic Party. We trust that Texas Democrats and all Texans will judge our candidates on the issues and their qualifications -- not their names. Chairman Davis speaks for himself, not for the Texas Democratic Party."

Although I usually vote in the Democratic primary, it is precisely attitudes like Davis' that make me hesitate to identify myself as a Democrat. Although there are many good progressives in the party, sadly there are many others who still live in our state's racist past.

2010: A Space Odyssey

Political Cartoon is by Cameron (Cam) Cardow in The Ottawa Citizen.