We can only hope

Tom Tommorow

MAGGIE WANTS INTO HEAVEN

More Same Seder Bull S**t Gay is Icky

My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain ...a letter from Michael Moore

My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain ...a letter from Michael Moore

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Friends,

I live in Michigan, in one of the 31 counties represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by none other than Mr. Bart Stupak, a Democrat. You've probably never heard of him. He's a pretty quiet guy, a former Michigan State Police trooper who boldly decided to run some 18 years ago as a Democrat in a rural part of Michigan that votes almost exclusively for Republicans (yes, I know -- what am I doing here? I'll save that story for a future letter).

His voting record is pretty conservative for a Democrat, but he's had a few shining moments. In the wake of the Columbine shootings, he voted for some gun control, a not-too-popular position to take here in northern Michigan. The NRA came after him with all they had in 2000.

But the good people of this area knew Bart's story and understood: He's been touched personally by gun violence. In a terrible tragedy, his teenage son, depressed and confused from the medication he'd been prescribed, killed himself with the family's .38 revolver. Despite the NRA's best efforts, Bart was returned to Congress by an overwhelming margin.

Yet, here we are, just days before a weak, simple-minded, but now ultimately necessary health care bill has a chance of making it through Congress -- and Bart Stupak is threatening to derail it because he wants to make sure that no woman WHO BUYS HER OWN INSURANCE with HER OWN MONEY is able to have a medically-insured abortion. We're not talkin' about federally-funded abortions -- those were stupidly outlawed long ago. Bart Stupak doesn't like that the Democrats' bill doesn't prohibit private insurance programs, set up for those whose employers don't provide it, from providing abortion coverage if they get any federal funding -- even to an individual woman paying without any government help. That's it.

A group representing most of America's 59,000 Catholic nuns has written to Congress and said that Obama's health care plan should be passed. Stupak, instead, has chosen to diss the nuns. Last night he went on TV and dug his heels in -- he said he intended to stop this health care bill and he didn't care what anyone had to say.

Now, it would be easy for some to just pass this attitude off on his Catholicism -- he believes what he believes and you have to respect him for that, even if you don't agree with him. But it's not that simple. It turns out that Stupak has been living in a subsidized room in the "C Street House," run by the infamous right-wing Christian cult "The Family." It was in this former convent that GOP Rep. Chip Pickering (according to his former wife) carried on the affair that ended his marriage. It's where South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford sought refuge as his marriage fell apart thanks to HIS affair. And then there's C Street roommate Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who cheated on his wife with the wife of one of his top staffers. (The Justice Department is currently investigating whether Ensign committed a felony while paying off his aide to keep him quiet.)

C Street is where power, money, sex and religion meet. So am I led to believe that Bart Stupak lives in a brothel and belongs to a cult? He says he was just renting a room there. But that just doesn't ring true. Something stinks to the high heavens here, and Stupak sees no irony in taking his holier-than-thou position while living in a house that should be dubbed "Hypocrites' Hideaway."

If Stupak were truly pro-life then he'd vote for this bill. Right now, a mother in the U.S. has a TEN times greater chance of dying in childbirth than a mother does in Ireland. If you really wanted to reduce abortions, you'd have to ask yourself this question: Why does godless France, where abortion is nearly free (it's covered by their universal health insurance), have 20% fewer abortions per capita than we do? What's even more amazing about that statistic is that you can't even get an abortion in America in 87% of our counties because there isn't one single doctor in those counties who will perform one! 87%!! The Right has scared them all to death -- literally -- out of performing an otherwise legal, safe procedure. So, you can say women have "choice" in this country, but the reality is the "choice" doesn't exist in the majority of the nation. "Right to Life" has essentially won this battle. (My personal position: I don't get to have a position -- I don't have a uterus. If a Senate that was 90% female told me I couldn't have a vasectomy or made it a crime to leave the toilet seat up, I guess I might object.)

What is "life"? An egg is life, a sperm is life. Those sperm aren't running on a battery pack. They are living creatures, as is a fertilized egg. But they're not "human beings." A human being is something that can exist outside the womb of a mother. If you think a fertilized egg is a human being, then I respectfully ask you to go down to the DMV today and have them change your birthday on your driver's license to 9 months older than what you've been telling everybody.

So back to my question. Why do we have an abortion rate 20% higher than France's (and more than twice as high as Germany's), especially considering most doctors here won't perform them? The answer is ANY country that has universal health care, where contraception is free, where child care is free or inexpensive, where there is less poverty because people don't become bankrupt over medical bills -- those societies are simply going to have fewer unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

And there the mask gets pulled off the Bart Stupaks and the "Christians." If the statistics show that countries with government-provided universal health care and nearly-free abortions are, in fact, the countries with the fewest abortions, then why on earth wouldn't the Right be the first in line to support universal health care?!!

Because it isn't about "universal health care." It's about controlling women, period. It's about sticking your nose in other people's business. It's about pushing your religious beliefs on everyone else because voices in your head tell you your Jesus is The One -- even though YOUR Jesus never said one single solitary word in any of the four gospels of the Bible about abortion or fertilized eggs being human. You've just gone and made it up about "life beginning at conception." Jesus NEVER said that. The little voice in your head said that, the same little voice that wants your grubby paws on women's uteruses. You need help. Please get some help and leave the rest of us alone, Mr. Stupak and friends.

After all, isn't it enough that women can't get an abortion in any of the 31 Michigan counties you represent in Congress? There is not one single abortion provider here in the north of the state, according to Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan. Hey, Bart -- you've already won! Women's rights have been stamped out in your entire Congressional district! Woo hoo!

So why don't you leave the rest of the country alone, step out of the way, and let them have the minimal health coverage this bill will give them? You wouldn't really crush the sick and infirm because of your own personal agenda, would you? What would Jesus do?

In the meantime, Bart, my neighbors and I are going to make sure a real Democrat runs against you in August's primary here. One of our religious beliefs in these parts is to never impose our religious beliefs on others.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Give Me a Break

This is what these "pastors" are requesting the right to continue doing.

A hate crime is a crime of violence that is motivated by hatred of the group to which the victim belongs. Usually, the perpetrator and the victim are strangers to each other. For example, gay bashing involves a violent homophobe physically attacking a victim from the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community. Typically, the goal is twofold:

	To express hatred against a random member of that community, and
	To terrorize the entire community of which the victim is a member.

Expressions of hatred and violence. These men think that should be able to continue to express their religious beliefs in this way. What happened to the example of Love and acceptance that was Jesus Christ?

A hate crime is not hate speech alone. Although, I would suggest that even hate speech is inappropriate from a man of God.

According to the FBI there were almost 1,300 hate crimes based on sexual orientation in 2007.

Among the 2007 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation:

	59% of the offenses victimized gay males;
	13% victimized lesbians
	25% were reported as anti-homosexual without identifying the sex of the victim.
	1.8% were anti-heterosexual
	1.6% were anti-bisexual.

Midland man, Bridgeport pastor among plaintiffs in civil rights suit challenging Hate Crimes Act
By LaNia Coleman | The Bay City Times
February 02, 2010, 10:46PM
Three mid-Michigan pastors and the Midland-based leader of an organization known for its opposition to gay rights are challenging a new federal hate crime law.

Gary Glenn, of Midland, is president of the American Family Association
The civil rights suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bay City by Midland resident Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan; and the Revs. Rene B. Ouellette, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Bridgeport Township; Jim Combs, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Waterford Township; and Levon R. Yuille, pastor of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti.
The suit names U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. as the defendant and targets a law that makes it a federal offense to assault someone because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
Glenn and the pastors claim the law makes it a crime for them to preach against homosexuality and it therefore infringes on their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, expressive association and free exercise of religion.
The suit also alleges the law creates an Orwellian society, setting up a special class of citizens who receive special protections.
The plaintiffs list as statements of fact, God’s word on homosexuality.
“According to the Bible, homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity that are intrinsically disordered ... (and) Homosexuality is an illicit lust forbidden by God,” the complaint reads.
As opponents of “homosexual activism, the homosexual lifestyle and the homosexual agenda,” the ministers and their churches could be subjected to unfair and increased scrutiny as well as federal investigations authorized under the language of the law, the plaintiffs claim.
The Times could not reach the plaintiffs for comment late Tuesday.

Thoughts on the end of the testimony in the Prop 8 Trial

The live blogger from Firedoglake gives his thoughts at the end of the testimony.

Now the testimony phase of the Prop 8 Trial has ended, the covers have been pulled back on the motives and operations of the proponents of Prop 8. While we had an entire Prop 8 political campaign in 2008, and since then a court case to the California Supreme Court, it is only in the federal trial that a spotlight has shined on the animus and motivations of the people who want to restrict the civil marriage rights of gays and lesbians.

Whenever someone asks me “how was it?” to sit through almost every minute of opening arguments and testimony, and cross examination, I flash on poor Mary Todd: “Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play?” Because while there were some spectacular moments from David Boies as he exposed the pitiful non-expertise of both the remaining witnesses the Defendant-Intervenors called, and some real humor from Judge Vaughn Walker — my most vivid memory from those twelve days will always be the realization that, for the proponents of Prop 8, gays and lesbians have quite enough power right now. We should be happy with what we have. And stop demanding more.

Because gays and lesbians have political allies (only a few of those named at trial actually support full marriage rights) and because we are featured in television shows (even though the Ellen and Will & Gracesitcoms are long gone) and because we have disposable income (we do?!) and because we are, at long last, federally protected from violent hate crimes, we should be content.

We should be content that politicians march in our festive Pride parades, and that some gays & lesbians get elected to office here and there, and that the President speaks to national meetings of our moneyed leadership. We should be content that the Congress might actually take up the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Defense of Marriage Act and the Don’t-Ask/Don’t-Tell discrimination against those actively serving in the military. Because, somehow, having our issues discussed and debated in public (whether legislation is actually passed or not) denotes just about enough power — power that gays & lesbians should be very happy to have.

We should be content that some states let us marry; we should be happy that some states let us adopt; we should be pleased that some states let us foster kids. And we should be ecstatic that some states even let us contract in some odd, cobbled together, frequently rewritten, specially designed but not at all clearly understood unit called Civil Unions or Domestic Partnerships. The fact that we are second-class citizens in the constitutions of more than twenty states should not matter, because, well, Barney Frank chairs the House Banking Committee!

Hurray!

After a while of this — and it was the primary argument of the Defendant-Intervenors — it was easier to turn off my brain and type what they said without actually processing any of it. As I go back and read some of the liveblogging, I am amazed that I really don’t recall a lot of it. It just went from my ears to my fingertips, without actually engaging my brain.

Because it was so toxic, so painful, so absurd — would be the alleged promiscuity of gay men somehow redefine marriage for all men? Would children essentially be snatched from loving opposite-marriage homes, to be placed with single gay or lesbian parents, or with same-sex couples? Would boys want to marry princes, or girls princesses? Would daughters want to have sex with other girls since they couldn’t get dates with boys, and gay marriage made same-sex relationships seem okay? And would the never-changed institution of marriage — the same exact institution through all of human history, apparently — withstand this new assault?

And who would teach the sons of lesbian parents how to change the car’s oil?

When we reached that absurdity, it was like a thunderbolt for me. I had already realized they wanted to repeal The Enlightenment, they had no basic understanding of the scientific method, and they did not grasp logic at its root. But when we were told, finally, that prohibiting same-sex marriage was really about learning how to change your car’s oil, I understood: no argument is too silly, no underpinnings are too fundamentalist, no religiosity is too cloying. These people will use any illogic they can grab hold of in an attempt to impose their values and morals and religious code on others.

Because their religious code is best for them, it must be best for you and me. That, in essence, is all they have: that they know best for all of us. And that we’d better pay attention and model American civil institutions on their religious beliefs.

That’s it. That’s what they want.

But in our pluralistic multicultural democracy, we simply cannot allow them to have that. It just won’t work. Unless we want America to become the Republic of Gilead, this movement of theirs must be stopped, right here and right now.

Thank you for the opportunity to “turn the lights on” during the past three weeks. (And yes, I know — the video has some factual inaccuracies about who exactly turned off the cameras. But it’s cute, huh?) I will be back at the federal courthouse in San Francisco for closing arguments (watch FDL for that announcement, expected in March or perhaps April) and of course for Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling following those closing arguments.

Please keep an eye on the FDL Prop 8 Hub for more news going forward. All our Prop 8 liveblogging is there, in case you missed any of it. Additionally, there is some great analysis by several of our thoughtful FDL writers, among them David Dayen, Marcy Wheeler, bmaz, Peterr, egregious, and Lisa Derrick.

And, finally, please support our efforts if you can. Every little bit helps.

{Video from Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s company HitRECord, via Towleroad and Julia Rosen at the Courage Campaign’s Prop 8 Trial Tracker}

Tom Tomorrow looks at Pat Robertson

Click to enlarge

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes

George W. Bush wasn't kidding when he said we were involved in a crusade. How is this different from the Taliban?

Pentagon Supplier for Rifle Sights Says It Has 'Always' Added New Testament References

By JOSEPH RHEE, TAHMAN BRADLEY and BRIAN ROSS

Jan. 18, 2010 —

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is "not Christian." The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

'It violates the Constitution'

The company's vision is described on its Web site: "Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom."

"We believe that America is great when its people are good," says the Web site. "This goodness has been based on Biblical standards throughout our history, and we will strive to follow those morals."

Spokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps both said their services were unaware of the biblical markings. They said officials were discussing what steps, if any, to take in the wake of the ABCNews.com report. It is not known how many Trijicon sights are currently in use by the U.S. military.

The biblical references appear in the same type font and size as the model numbers on the company's Advanced Combat Optical Guides, called the ACOG.

A photo on a Department of Defense Web site shows Iraqi soldiers being trained by U.S. troops with a rifle equipped with the bible-coded sights.

"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," said Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.

'Firearms of Jesus Christ'

"It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles," he said.

Weinstein, an attorney and former Air Force officer, said many members of his group who currently serve in the military have complained about the markings on the sights. He also claims they've told him that commanders have referred to weapons with the sights as "spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ."

He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of "those who are calling this a Crusade."

According to a government contracting watchdog group, fedspending.org, Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in fiscal year 2008. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in July, 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry Daily. The company's earnings from the U.S. military jumped significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.

"This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country," said Weinstein. "It's literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we're fighting. We're emboldening an enemy."

Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

Some toy drives check immigration status

Clearly this is what Christmas is all about.

They don't claim to know who's been naughty or nice, but some Houston charities are asking whether children are in the country legally before giving them toys.
In a year when more families than ever have asked for help, several programs providing Christmas gifts for needy children require at least one member of the household to be a U.S. citizen. Others ask for proof of income or rely on churches and schools to suggest recipients.
The Salvation Army and a charity affiliated with the Houston Fire Department are among those that consider immigration status, asking for birth certificates or Social Security cards for the children.
The point isn't to punish the children but to ensure that their parents are either citizens, legal immigrants or working to become legal residents, said Lorugene Young, whose Outreach Program Inc. is one of three groups that distribute toys collected by firefighters.
“It's not our desire to turn anyone down,” she said. “Those kids are not responsible if they are here illegally. It is the parents' responsibility.”
The idea of a charity turning away children because of decisions made by their parents unsettled some immigration activists.
“It is very disturbing to think a holiday like Christmas would be tainted with things like this,” said Cesar Espinoza, executive director of America for All, a Houston-based advocacy group. “Usually, people target the adults because the adults made the decision to migrate, where the children are just brought through no fault of their own.”
Other groups don't require specific documentation, relying instead on outside groups to recommend families.
“When you distribute toys to 10,000 to 12,000 kids, it's impossible to background (check) every child,” said Fred Joe Pyland, a Houston police officer who oversees the Blue Santa program. Blue Santa doesn't consider immigration status but collects names from police officers, schools and churches.
Those who do check immigration status or other qualifications say they are trying to ensure they make the best decisions about whom to help.
“We want to be good stewards, so the people that are donating to us trust we're going to do the right thing,” said Sonya Scott, manager of care ministries at West Houston Assistance Ministries. The group does not check immigration but requires identification, including birth certificates for children, and proof of income.
It has registered 686 children to provide with gifts this year, up from 613 last year.
At the Salvation Army, 30,000 children have registered for the Angel Tree program, which allows children to request the gifts they want most. That's up 20 percent from last year, spokesman Juan Alanis said.
Gifts for all children
Alanis and Young say they will serve families if the children are here legally, regardless of the parents' status. The Salvation Army provides gifts for all children in the family if one sibling is a citizen.
The Outreach Program requires parents to show photo identification and birth certificates or Social Security cards for the children. Young said she makes an exception if parents can show they have applied for legal status or that a child is enrolled in school.
Alicia White, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department, said it is up to each group distributing toys to decide how to do so. The other groups giving out toys collected by firefighters — Catholic Charities and the Hispanic Firefighters Caucus— do not ask about immigration status.
Participants in the Houston Chronicle's Goodfellows toy drive were selected by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, chosen from those with children between the ages of 2 and 10 who receive food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid. People who aren't legal residents don't qualify for those services, but others in their household may.
Pre-registration closed
Most local toy drives are no longer accepting applications, although the Outreach Program doesn't pre-register recipients, so families needing gifts for their children will line up Dec. 23 at 1305 Benson.
One of the season's first big toy distribution events will be Saturday at the George R. Brown Convention Center, when 2,520 children from 63 area elementary schools will be treated to gifts by Navidad En El Barrio.
Israel Gomez, a retired Houston police officer who runs the program, said the kids are asked to donate one can of food.
Navidad En El Barrio draws participants from schools with a high percentage of students who qualify for free lunches.
For programs that select recipients themselves, deciding what documentation to require can be tricky. Alanis said the Salvation Army traditionally has required photo identification and proof of income and legal residency to ensure help reaches those most in need and to prevent people from registering at multiple Salvation Army locations.
Catholic Charities doesn't ask for proof of income or immigration status. But it does require identification and birth certificates to ensure people actually have the number of children they claim, spokeswoman Julissa Guerrero Chappell said.

Patrick Please Join the Episcopal Church

The Roman Catholic Church has told Rep. Patrick Kennedy that he can not receive communion because of his position of abortion. They can practice their beliefs however they want but they should be consistent. Have they denied anyone communion for support of the death penalty or the war in Iraq? NO. The RC's are quickly becoming an one issue an anti abortion cult.

Here is Patrick's reaction.

The Republicans have a Rep for that

Supply Side Jesus the Gospel according to Regan

Hat tip to Scott Gun at http://www.sevenwholedays.org/

Anti-abortion group in Wichita says it’s out of money

Gotta say this doesn't break my heart. It is not the economy stupid. Its the hate and the murder.

TOPEKA The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue may need a little rescuing itself.

The Wichita-based organization, which dogged abortion provider George Tiller for years before his murder last spring, is “completely out of money,” according to a letter President Troy Newman sent to potential donors this week.

Newman blames the recession, which he said has supporters keeping a tight grip on their checkbooks. Giving is down 40 percent compared with previous years, he said.

“We ate right through our savings and we laid several people off and cut back on a lot of projects,” Newman said. “We’re one month away from closing our doors.”

The group lost its main opponent when Tiller was gunned down in Wichita on May 31. The group had focused its anti-abortion campaigns on Tiller for years, even relocating from California to Wichita in 2002 because it was home to Tiller’s late-term abortion clinic.

Newman vowed to continue Operation Rescue’s work, even on a downsized scale. He said Tiller’s death has nothing to do with his group’s current struggles.

But Nebraska abortion provider LeRoy Carhart said Operation Rescue may be crying wolf. The group has accused Carhart of breaking the law by performing illegal abortions, and members of Operation Rescue recently demonstrated outside his Bellevue, Neb., clinic.

Carhart, who worked with Tiller for years, said he may have become Operation Rescue’s new fund-raising ploy.

“Every time he runs low he says they’re going broke,” Carhart said. “Troy Newman is looking for money and the only way he can make money is by finding somebody to go after.”
Carhart is in talks to open a new abortion clinic in Wichita. He’s not sure whether he would perform late-term abortions or not.

The state’s other leading anti-abortion group, Kansans For Life, hasn’t seen a noticeable decrease in fundraising, according to director Mary Kay Culp.

On the other side of the debate, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri saw donations slip in the first half of the year, according to President and CEO Peter Brownlie.

Brownlie said the recession has hurt many organizations that depend on donations. But he said Operation Rescue may also be struggling to find a focus after Tiller’s death.

Police arrested and charged Scott Roeder, a Kansas City man, with Tiller’s death. Roeder, a staunch opponent of abortion, has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to begin next week.

A collection of pics from the 9/12 Rally

What has our country come to.

The 9/12 Rally these people have no idea

"Glen Beck is such a logical thinker."

Just one of the many outstandingly stupid things said by people at the 9/12 Rally. Mahablog calls this an example of reserve evolution. That seems to fit. These people are being stirred up by people whose primary motive is not the country but profit. And if they keep it up someone is going to get killed.

What is the matter with Texas?

History's first draft: Newt Gingrich but no liberals

Textbooks being written for Texas students appear to lean to the right

AUSTIN — Texas high school students would learn about such significant individuals and milestones of conservative politics as Newt Gingrich and the rise of the Moral Majority — but nothing about liberals — under the first draft of new standards for public school history textbooks.

And the side that got left out is very unhappy.

As it stands, students would get “one-sided, right wing ideology,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, chairman of the House Mexican American Caucus.

“We ought to be focusing on historical significance and historical figures. It's important that
whatever course they take, that it portray a complete view of our history and not a jaded view to suit one's partisan agenda or one's partisan philosophy,” he said.

The State Board of Education has appointed “review committees” made up largely of active and retired school teachers to draft new social studies curriculum standards as well as six “expert reviewers” to help shape the final document.

The standards, which the board will decide next spring, will influence new history, civics and geography textbooks.

The first draft for proposed standards in United States History Studies Since Reconstruction says students should be expected “to identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority.”

Gingrich helped lead House Republicans to their 1994 takeover of Congress and became House speaker. Schlafly founded the conservative Eagle Forum and became a leading opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment aimed at formalizing women's equality with men. The Moral Majority formed in the late 1970s as an evangelical Christian organization that influenced politics and public policy for decades.

Will it pass muster?

Whether students will also be exposed to liberal examples from the ebb and flow of American politics is hard to predict. Conservatives form the largest bloc on the 15-member State Board of Education, whose partisan makeup is 10 Republicans and five Democrats.

David Bradley, R-Beaumont, one of the conservative leaders, figures the current draft will pass a preliminary vote along party lines “once the napalm and smoke clear the room.”

But not all conservative board members share that view.

“It is hard to believe that a majority of the writing team would approve of such wording,” said Terri Leo, R-Spring. “It's not even a representative selection of the conservative movement, and it is inappropriate.”

Advocate for both sides

Another board conservative, Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, thinks students should study both sides to “see what the differences are and be able to define those differences.”

He would add James Dobson's Focus on the Family, conservative talk show host Sean Hannity and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to the list of conservatives. Others have proposed adding talk show host Rush Limbaugh and the National Rifle Association.

“I think, at the end of the day, we will want the young students to be able to identify what's conservative, what's their advocacy and who are the conservative groups, individuals and leaders. And what is liberal in contrast,” Mercer said.

Among liberals to include, Mercer would nominate the National Education Association, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood and the Texas Freedom Network — a group that says it promotes “religious freedom and individual liberties to counter the radical right.”

“We don't think it's appropriate to be listing groups and people in the standards just because they're conservatives or liberals,” said Kathy Miller, the group's president. “The state board should simply stop putting politics ahead of our kids' education and putting teachers in the position of indoctrinating students with political agendas.”

The debate will likely intensify in coming months. Two reviewers have recommended that César Chávez, the late farm workers union leader, be removed from history books because they deem him an unworthy role model.

Board members appoint the review committees and typically choose people who share their philosophies.

Fox Wildly Distorts ACLU Religious Liberty Case

Florida’s Santa Rosa County School District has a long and unrepentant history of unconstitutionally sponsoring prayers, proselytizing students, and generally promoting particular religious beliefs throughout district schools. In August 2008, no longer able to bear this infringement on their liberties, two students at Pace High School sued the district with the assistance of the ACLU. Many in the community reacted in an uproar: the student plaintiffs were vilified in the media and threatened with rape and death, among other efforts to intimidate them, and district officials vowed to fight back. Pace High Principal H. Frank Lay was perhaps the most vocal, declaring during a fiery sermon at an off-campus church service (MP3): "This country is founded on Judeo-Christian principles, there is no doubt about that. . . . I walk up and down the halls everyday and I see tons of kids that aren’t saved. They have hollow eyes. They are void of a spirit. They need Jesus."

But as the case proceeded and overwhelming evidence of a pervasive pattern of egregious constitutional violations continued to mount, it became clear that the district’s activities were indefensible. How could the defendants explain away the Pace High Teacher Handbook, which, on page four, requires school personnel to "embrace every opportunity to inculcate, by precept and example, the practice of every Christian virtue"? How could they justify school officials’ regularly leading or directing students in prayer at extracurricular and athletic events, arranging for prayer during graduation ceremonies, proselytizing students during and outside of class, and sponsoring religious baccalaureate services? How could they defend one teacher’s display of a waist-high white cross in her classroom? They could not, and to the school board’s credit, they (including Lay, a named defendant) admitted liability for their unlawful practices in December 2008, and agreed that the court should enter a preliminary injunction pending a final consent order to be worked out by the parties.

However, though every district employee received a copy of the court’s preliminary injunction ordering school officials to immediately cease their longstanding and pervasive practice of "[p]romoting, advancing, aiding, facilitating, endorsing, or causing religious prayers or devotionals during school-sponsored events," several decided to flout the court’s authority and directed that school-sponsored prayers take place regardless. After learning of these violations, the court ordered two of those employees — Lay and Pace High Athletic Director Robert Earl Freeman — to face criminal contempt proceedings next month.

During the September 17 hearing, Lay and Freeman will have to answer for their roles in promoting prayer during a school luncheon to dedicate a new field house. (Another school employee will face a separate civil contempt complaint tomorrow for similarly violating the same court order). If held in criminal contempt, the pair could be assessed a fine and/or or assigned up to six months in jail.

Fox News, not surprisingly, has had a field day with the field house prayer, devoting no fewer than five on-air segments to the contempt proceedings in the last week alone, all of which have focused exclusively on the fact that Lay and Freeman could be subject to prison time if found in criminal contempt of court. Consistent with Fox’s modus operandi,each new segment ratcheted up the hysteria with Bill O’Reilly declaring that the judge (who, O’Reilly neglects to mention, was appointed by former President George W. Bush) is "probably an atheist" and Mike Huckabee warning ominously on his show last weekend to "be careful when you pray, Big Brother is watching."

But as LiberalViewer so artfully points out in this YouTube video breaking down these Fox segments, when you take a closer look at the actual facts here (which Fox largely distorts or ignores), the upcoming contempt proceedings are wholly unremarkable:

Lay and Freeman openly violated a federal court order (something judges do not take kindly to) and now they must answer to the judge — facing the same consequences that may be imposed on any person subject to a criminal contempt proceeding in any case. There is nothing unusual about that. Indeed, even if they are found in contempt, it is unlikely that the court will order jail time here; no one — including the ACLU — has argued that prison would be an appropriate sanction in this particular proceeding. Undeterred by these facts, Fox News nevertheless seems more intent on sensationalizing the case than reporting the truth.

If the contempt proceedings against Lay and Freeman are noteworthy at all, it is for an entirely different reason than the controversy ginned up by Fox News and its ilk: in the irony of all ironies, Lay and Freeman’s September 17 court hearing is slated to take place on "Constitution and Citizenship Day," an annual commemoration of the signing of the Constitution, which federal law requires public schools to observe with relevant educational programming.

The confluence of these two events sets the stage for a perfect teachable moment for Santa Rosa students, as there are a number of valuable civics lessons that can be drawn from this case, including, among others, the necessity of respect for the rule of law and the authority of the judicial system; and the vital role that the Constitution plays in protecting those of minority faiths from governmental intrusion and coercion. Let’s just hope that Santa Rosa’s civics teachers, and indeed, teachers across the country, can see through the Fox News hype to recognize and impart these crucial lessons to their students, who, after all, will be our future lawmakers, attorneys, and judges. Otherwise, the Constitution doesn’t have a prayer.

Jimmy Carter gets it right again. The best Ex-President ever!!

The words of God do not justify cruelty to women

Discrimination and abuse wrongly backed by doctrine

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human
Rights)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
(Galatians 3:28)

I have been a practising Christian all my life and a
deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and
comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around
the world.

So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist
Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an
unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully
selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was
responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their
husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the
military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy
scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

This view that
women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief.
It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many
faiths.

Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the
church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably
attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the
deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. The male
interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and
reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent,
flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.

At their most
repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses
slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws
that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women
control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access
to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives.
They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why
girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and
unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs
are not met.

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their
movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of
education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a
woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the
crime.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing
gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in Britain and
the United States. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but
its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It
damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers
major benefits for everyone in society. An educated woman has healthier
children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests
what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any
community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge
these self-serving and out-dated attitudes and practices - as we are seeing in
Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about
stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and
sensitive area to challenge.

But my fellow Elders and I, who come from
many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or
avoiding controversy - and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice
wherever we see it.

The Elders have decided to draw particular attention
to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality
and human rights. We have recently published a statement that declares: "The
justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion
or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable."

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful
teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination
against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the
courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and
equality that all the world's major faiths share.

Although not having
training in religion or theology, I understand that the carefully selected
verses found in the holy scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more
to time and place - and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their
influence - than eternal truths. Similar Biblical excerpts could be found to
support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.

At the same time, I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same
scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years
of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops,
apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn't until the fourth century that
dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted holy scriptures to
perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

I
know, too, that Billy Graham, one of the most widely respected and revered
Christians during my lifetime, did not understand why women were prevented from
being priests and preachers. He said: "Women preach all over the world. It
doesn't bother me from my study of the scriptures."

The truth is that
male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy
teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish
ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.

Their continuing choice provides
the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse
of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ,
the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great
religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all
the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

• Jimmy Carter was US president from 1977-81. The Elders are an
independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela,
who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address
major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity.

What the Bible says about Marriage

A little racy but a pretty good summary.