NY: No To Gay Marriage

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Sex/Morality/Family Values1 Comment

The New York State Senate just voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in a 34-28 vote.  It had previously passes the NY Assembly 88-51.

New York would have become the sixth state, and the most populous, to allow same-sex couples to get married. And it would have been the first to grant full marriage rights from a standing start, without having first granted interim rights such as civil unions.

Only one other state, New Hampshire, has approved gay marriage by action of the legislature. The others — Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and Iowa — have done so primarily by court action.

UPDATE —  Nice speech from NY Senator Diane Savino from Staten Island (give a chance):

Only one senator had the balls to explain why he was voting "no", saying that not only were all major religions against same sex marriage, but so were the vast majority of NY voters.  Except that as he was uttering those words, a Marist poll of NY voters on the subject was released.  And NY voters actually favor SSM.

The Power of Tiger

Ken AshfordSex ScandalsLeave a Comment

It says something about the fame of Tiger Woods when the number one search term for Google today is "transgressions" (a word used by Tiger in his press release this morning).

It also says something about the stupidity of people when the number four search term today is "transgression definition".

In fact, 7 of the ten top googled search terms involve the Tiger Woods scandal (including searches for pics of the women in question).

RELATED:  From the police photos, we can see what Tiger's reading:

Griponphysics

Spending vs. Tax Cuts

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

Yesterday, I mentioned the CBO report which showed that Obama's stumulus package saved or created up to 1.2 million jobs, keeping the unemployment rate from going as high as 11% or even 12%.

But Ezra Klein dug deep into the report and discovered something else.  The report broke down which kind of stimulus actually worked best:

20091201-de4knj8t9h6juy8my1gcisbad5.jpg

The table above comes from CBO's most recent report (pdf) on the stimulus, by way of Brad DeLong. What you're seeing — and click on it to see it larger — are estimates of the multipliers on various stimulus projects. Estimates, in other words, of how much stimulus the government gets for its dollars. Before we get into it, it's worth tossing this CFRB graph showing the composition of the stimulus package:

Leading the list of high-multiplier items is direct spending by the federal government, infrastructure aid to states and localities, other types of aid to states and localities, and transfer payments (think unemployment insurance and food stamps) to individuals. At the bottom of the list are corporate tax cuts, the new homeowner's tax credit and individual tax cuts.

So in the future, remember this: government spending worked better than tax cuts.  Republicans will keep on chanting the "tax cuts are good for stimulating the economy" mantra, but we now can see that they don't provide the bext bang for the buck.

Salvation Army Denying Toys To Immigrants

Ken AshfordGodstuff2 Comments

Here's the Salvation Army mission statement:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

"Without discrimination".

So why is the Salvation Army of El Paso checking the immigration status of children before giving them toys (read the bottome line)?  In fact, why are they checking residency requirements at all?  A toy is a toy; a needy child is a needy child.  Put another way, WWJD?

So much for that "international" movement.

Andrew Sullivan On Why He Left The Conservative Herd

Ken AshfordRepublicansLeave a Comment

Inspired by Charles Johnson, former Log Cabin Republican Andrew Sullivan takes time out to state the reasons why he has moved from right wing conservatism.  To be fair, he has never claimed allegiance to any party (he supported, in order, Reagan and Bush and Clinton and Dole and Bush and Kerry and Obama), but he's shown a clear movement leftward since 2003.  And today he states why:

I cannot support a movement that claims to believe in limited government but backed an unlimited domestic and foreign policy presidency that assumed illegal, extra-constitutional dictatorial powers until forced by the system to return to the rule of law.

I cannot support a movement that exploded spending and borrowing and blames its successor for the debt.

I cannot support a movement that so abandoned government's minimal and vital role to police markets and address natural disasters that it gave us Katrina and the financial meltdown of 2008.

I cannot support a movement that holds torture as a core value.

I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.

I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.

I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.

I cannot support a movement that sees permanent war as compatible with liberal democratic norms and limited government.

I cannot support a movement that criminalizes private behavior in the war on drugs.

I cannot support a movement that would back a vice-presidential candidate manifestly unqualified and duplicitous because of identity politics and electoral cynicism.

I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.

I cannot support a movement that does not accept evolution as a fact.

I cannot support a movement that sees climate change as a hoax and offers domestic oil exploration as the core plank of an energy policy.

I cannot support a movement that refuses ever to raise taxes, while proposing no meaningful reductions in government spending.

I cannot support a movement that refuses to distance itself from a demagogue like Rush Limbaugh or a nutjob like Glenn Beck.

I cannot support a movement that believes that the United States should be the sole global power, should sustain a permanent war machine to police the entire planet, and sees violence as the core tool for international relations.

Does this make me a "radical leftist" as Michelle Malkin would say? Emphatically not. But it sure disqualifies me from the current American right.

To paraphrase Reagan, I didn't leave the conservative movement. It left me.

And increasingly, I'm not alone.

Indeed.

Because Nothing Celebrates The Birth Of Christ Better Than Shopping at Capitalistic Business Ventures

Ken AshfordWar On ChristmasLeave a Comment

StandforChristmas.com is a new website venture brought to by (who else) Focus on The Family.  It allows users to rate how the "Christmas-friendliness" of various retailers, and by that I mean, whether or not they are sufficiently intolerant of Kwanza, Hannukah, and other Jesus-hating holidays.

Here's a typical comment — this one about Sears:

Comment Date: Nov 30 2009 8:57 PM
Rating: Christmas-Friendly
Comment: I noticed the slogan "More Values More Christmas" on nearly every 2-page spread in the November 29 Sunday flyer. Very nice.

"More Values More Christmas".  Yes, Jesus would love the fact that his birth is used as an occasion to provide discounts.

I think, however, they are getting spammed by people funning on the whole concept.  Check out this comment relating to the Gap:

Comment Date: Dec 1 2009 11:41 AM
Rating: Christmas-Offensive
Comment: First thing I notice is that they are only playing non-Christian Christmas songs (Jingle Bells, etc.). Unacceptable. I ask a clerk, "What is the reason for the season?" and I get back "What?". I buy a shirt and when they ask me what kind of wrapping paper, I reply that I want nativity paper or something showing the baby Jesus. They say they only have snowflakes and snowmen and green/red paper. What does green and red have to do with JESUS?

Or this relating to Borders:

Comment Date: Nov 28 2009 9:47 AM
Rating: Christmas-Offensive
Comment: I find it offensive that this store is so eager to have our money but neglects to honor the holiday. I won't shop here and as much as possible shop in Christian book stores. Borders has an agenda and it is nothing to do with Christian values.

Well, I certainly hope those are jokes.

Standxmas 

The Stimulus Worked

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit2 Comments

Yes, the unemployment situation is bad, and a lot of people are blaming the Obama stimulus package for not working and/or making things worse.

Of course, what some people don't see — or can't see — is what things would have been like had it not been for the stimulus package.

Fortunately, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just released a report… and its finding is unequivocal: were it not for the stimulus, we would be far worse off:

The data, released Monday, say the real inflation-adjusted gross domestic product was 1.2 percent to 3.2 percent higher than it would have been had the $787 billion stimulus package not passed in February. Also, the stimulus lowered the unemployment by between 0.3 and 0.9 percentage points, according to the report.

The new figures are slightly higher than CBO’s March estimates that between 600,000 and 1.5 million jobs were saved or created by the third quarter of this year, the report said.

Keep this is mind…

New Laws Which Take Effect Today In NC

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Crime, Local Interest1 Comment

Let's take a quick look at some of the new laws which take effect today in North Carolina.

The big one is, of course, no texting while driving.  Now, don't think you can be cute about this.  But no, it applies to emailing, too.  In fact it applies to any time you "manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person" while driving.  You can do it while parking, though.  Exceptions are carved out for GPS devices.  And you can still use voice activation.

Kids are being protected better, as of today.  There is a criminal law on the books, as of today, for cyberbullying a minor, or using a minor to cyberbully a parent.  School buses have better protection: a new law allows for cameras on school buses to get at drivers who don't stop — the penalty for failure to stop and killing a kid is increased as well.  Sex offenders cannot drive school buses anymore (this was a problem?).  And solicitation of a minor by computer now extends to mobile devices.

Other stuff:

  • New rules regarding preservation of DNA evidence that is used to convict criminals
  • It is illegal to "target picket" a single residence in a manner that would cause severe emotional stress to the occupant.
  • School board members are now held to the same standard as police, sheriffs, court clerks, etc. when it comes to failure to discharge their duties
  • Certain glass tubes which can serve as crack vials are now regulated.
  • Stonger penalities against deadbeat dads who defy court orders to pay child support.
  • Stronger penalities for removing or altering serial numbers on guns.
  • With some exceptions, it is now illegal to own a venomous snake, crocodile, or a boa constrictor (or other "restricting snakes").

And my personal favorite:

AN ACT to create the offense of LARCENY, DESTRUCTION, DEFACEMENT, OR VANDALISM OF PORTABLE TOILETS OR PUMPER TRUCKS.

SECTION 1.  Article 16 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

"§ 14‑86.2.  Larceny, destruction, defacement, or vandalism of portable toilets or pumper trucks.

Unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, if any person steals, takes from its temporary location or from any person having the lawful custody thereof, or willfully destroys, defaces, or vandalizes a chemical or portable toilet as defined in G.S. 130A‑290 or a pumper truck that is operated by a septage management firm that is permitted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under G.S. 130A‑291.1, the person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2009, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 21st day of May, 2009.

Charles Johnson Makes It Official

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

The New York Times is supposedly writing a story on this, and I too have touched on it before.  To wit, the slow transformation of Charles Johnson from prominent right-wing blogger into… well… something sane.

Yesterday, he made it official in a post on his blog, Little Green Footballs, entitled Why I Parted Ways With The Right:

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.)

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won’t be going over the cliff with them.

Ironically, Little Green Footballs was, for many years, the pre-eminent place for bigtory, hatred and not-so-subtle islamophobia. 

Basically, his blog has become a personal journey.  In 2001, when only a handful of people actually had blogs, LGF was mostly a technical computer geeky blog, with some middle-left politics sprinkled in.  Then 9/11 happened, and Johnson — in the words of another blogger back in 2002 — "lost his shit".  It became full of anti-Islam screeds and gained noteriety as the political blog of the right, long before most people even heard of the word "blog".  And now. it's settled down — still political, but much more reasonable.  Readership from the rabid right has dwindled to almost nothing (and now other right wing blogs, having rose under LGF's shadow, mock Charles Johnson).

The New York Times piece should be interesting.

The Afghanistan Decision

Ken AshfordAfghanistanLeave a Comment

Yesterday, Barack Obama had Michael Moore attacking his Afghanistan troop buildup from the left, in an open letter posted on his Web site ("If you go to West Point tomorrow night … and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, … you will do the worst possible thing you could do…"), and today, as he's about to announce that Afghanistan policy, he's being slammed from the right (on Afghanistan and other issues) in Dick Cheney's Politico interview ("Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions: Is the commander in chief really behind what they've been asked to do?").

So nobody at the extremes is happy.  (That said, Cheney is a dick.)

I'm willing to cut the President a little slack here.  Afghanistan was the war we should have been fighting after 9/11, not Iraq.  Had that been our primary focus from day one, then OBL wouldn't have slipped through our fingers (what say you to that, Cheney?).  Getting bin Laden isn't possible now (not in Afghanistan anyway), but knocking the Taliban out of power is an important goal, assuming it is not a fool's errand.  Still, I'll have to hear more.

FURTHER THOUGHT:  Hesaid he was going to do this during the campaign, by the way, so I don't quite understand why so many are surprised and/or disappointed.