Archive for Politics

Victory in the VA Pentacle battle

April 23, 2007 / / 6 comments

This is huge.

The Bush administration has conceded that Wiccans are entitled to have the pentacle, the symbol of their faith, inscribed on government-issued memorial markers for deceased veterans, Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced today.

This settlement happened because of the persistence of Roberta Stewart, widow of slain Iraqi war veteran Patrick Stewart, and of Selena Fox, Circle Sanctuary, and of thousands of Pagans who wrote letters, signed petitions, blogged, and more. They all deserve enormous praise. I hope Ms. Stewart rests easier tonight.

Sadly, the lawsuit was settled because Americans United for Separation of Church and State was able to discover a specific pattern of discrimination against Wicca in the handling of the Pentacle petition.

Even some Pagans have kind of sneered at this case, and suggested that it was ridiculous to think it was discrimination when it was probably nothing more than beaurocracy or some failure to follow a particular rule or something equally “innocent.” The Libertarian set was quick to bitch about our litigious society and impugn the motives of those who carried this fight forward. But Americans United proved that discrimination was at the root of the problem, forcing the government to settle.

A Wiccan group first petitioned the VA for approval of the pentacle years ago. Officials at the agency dragged their feet on the request but in the interim approved the symbols of six other religions and belief systems. Among them was a Sikh emblem, which the VA approved in just a few weeks.

This is a huge and sorely needed victory for religious freedom. We see so little of the good stuff. Yay!

Carnival of Feminists #36

April 20, 2007 / / Comments Off on Carnival of Feminists #36

…is now up at Fetch My Axe. My post on Feminism and Goddess Worshp is included (w00t!)

What the “Partial-Birth” Abortion Ban Means

April 19, 2007 / / Comments Off on What the “Partial-Birth” Abortion Ban Means

I am a bit too heart-sick to write about it, but I don’t need to, because Bitch, Ph.D. said everything I would have said, but better.

Less-than-fun Language: Post-X World

April 19, 2007 / / Comments Off on Less-than-fun Language: Post-X World

So yesterday, I posted about the phrase, “In a post-Imus world,” and I think I was misunderstood. Perhaps it seemed like the post was about Imus, but I didn’t really mean that.

The Bush White House is inordinately fond of the phrase “in a post-September 11 world.” We are meant to believe that “everything is different now.” Our response to a national tragedy was manipulated to put us into an unjust and unrelated war, and to strip away our civil liberties.

The phrase is irritating not just because it’s manipulative, but because it’s short-sighted. The phrase implies that the whole world is changed. The whole world. It says we don’t need context, we don’t need history, we don’t need anything except to understand that there’s a Before, and there’s an After, and whatever standards, morals, goals, ethics, you are adhering to are Before so forget ’em.

If this creeps into our language as a snowclone, I will lose my frickin mind. Does the radio host who said “in a post-Imus world” truly believe that the very world he lives in is altered by Imus’s firing? Because fuck, I didn’t know worlds changed so easily. Or is it just incredibly lazy speech that is so annoying I almost ripped the radio out of my dashboard? I vote for the latter.

My only comment about Imus

April 18, 2007 / / 3 comments

In the car earlier, I heard Brian Lehrer use the phrase “In a post-Imus world.”

Dear Gods, I beg you: NO.

Feminism and Goddess Worship

April 17, 2007 / / 7 comments

There are two things you hear about feminism and goddess worship.

The first is that goddess worship distracts from the serious work of feminism. This is the sort of complaint that I’d like to dismiss out of hand, ’cause it’s stupid. There are hardcore atheists that will say that any religious life is problematic for political activists, but the argument holds no water. Religious people have been in the forefront of political action since forever. Mahatma Gandhi anyone?

Spirituality, like sex, is a basic human need. Most (but not all) people have it, and shutting people down for expressing it will go nowhere and accomplish nothing, except to drive people away. People do their best work when their needs are met. Period.

The second thing is that goddess worship is inherently feminist, or at least inherently good for women. I thought Marina Walker demolished that theory pretty effectively by looking at Mary worship, and demonstrating that Mary is worshiped most fervently in the most patriarchal enclaves of Catholic culture. But you can also look at India, home of Shakti worship and Kali worship and Lakshmi worship; it is also a hotbed of sexism and misogyny. How anyone can look at goddess worship as it exists in the world today and assume that worshiping goddesses makes you all warm and cuddly towards real-world women is beyond me.

So that leaves me and my relationship with goddess worship. And feminism. » Read more..

Gonzo Doth Protest Too Much

April 15, 2007 / / One comment

I logged on this morning to find Mustang Bobby’s pithy condensation of Alberto Gonzales’s Washington Post op-ed. Mustang Bobby’s analysis:

“I did nothing wrong, and if I did, it was someone else’s fault. Oh, look at the kitty!”

If Bobby will forgive me, I have some additional thoughts.

First, I’ll echo Bobby in noting that the title of the piece, “Nothing Improper,” just reeks of protesting too much. It’s a real OMFG moment when you realize that’s the best he can come up with. A latter-day “I am not a crook.” Hey, Gonzo? “Yes you are.”

I am very struck by this phrase:

I know that I did not — and would not — ask for the resignation of any U.S. attorney for an improper reason.

He “knows” that he didn’t and wouldn’t. Why the extra layer? Why not just “I didn’t”? It’s like the evidence is so flimsy (non-existent would be more accurate), that he has to instead talk about his gut instinct. “Okay, it looks like I did it. But I didn’t! I know I didn’t!” It’s like a film noir; “Don’t you know me? Can’t you tell I’m innocent? I am, I tell you, I am!” Maybe the pod people are to blame.

While I have never sought to deceive Congress or the American people, I also know that I created confusion with some of my recent statements about my role in this matter.

By lying.

Now here’s a fun one:

I directed my then-deputy chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, to initiate this process; fully knew that it was occurring; and approved the final recommendations. Sampson periodically updated me on the review. As I recall, his updates were brief, relatively few in number and focused primarily on the review process.

During those conversations, to my knowledge, I did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign.

“To my knowledge.” Holy shit, that’s just wrong. You either did or you didn’t. Or you can slither and slime your way through not recalling. But it is not possible to order resignations (or “make decisions about” ordering resignations) without knowing. Not. Possible.

I’m mad at Gov. Corzine

April 14, 2007 / / 5 comments

I’m still a fan and all, and still wish him a speedy and total recovery, but I am pissed that he wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

Look, wearing a seat belt is an easy law to follow, and a law that saves lives. For the governor of a state to be a scofflaw in that regard is just…it’s childish.

There’s no good reason not to wear one except being whiny. Corzine is a tall guy, so he doesn’t experience the discomfort with seat belts that short folks have (they cut us across the neck). And, it’s the law. He’s the governor. Criminey, it’s just stupid and irritating and maybe if he’d been wearing it, he’d be much less injured. Hell of a dumbass way to learn your lesson.

Good thoughts for Gov. Corzine

April 13, 2007 / / 10 comments

New Jersey Governor (and former Senator) John Corzine is in critical condition following a car accident.

Gov. Jon Corzine remains in intensive care this morning with a breathing tube in his throat and a doctor declaring him lucky to be alive.

The 60-year-old governor underwent about two hours of surgery last night to repair multiple broken bones, including 12 ribs and a femur that protruded through the skin of his thigh, following a car accident on the Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township.

Corzine is a staunch liberal, was an excellent Senator (I know less about how he’s doing as Governor) and is, by most accounts, a good and likeable guy. I think my sister and my mother both have crushes on him.

So here’s my candle for his full and speedy recovery.

flicker

In the universe of weird search terms

April 4, 2007 / / 5 comments

Today, someone found my blog by typing “nancy pelosi has her menstrual period.”

Okay, not only is that freaky, but hello? Speaker Pelosi turned 67 last week. Ain’t no way that search term has been true lately.

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