Living proof that Michelle Bachmann is not getting saner. With a flair for the dramatic, Rep. Bachmann pleads with Congress to repeal Obamacare with the threat that it is going to kill women, children and senior citizens. Huh? Even those who don’t like it haven’t said they thought it would kill them. No explanation was provided as to HOW the ACA was supposed to kill anyone.
I thought that the anti-sodomy laws had been declared unconstitutional back in 2003 when Lawrence v. Texas was decided. It looks like I was wrong.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday invalidated Virginia’s law prohibiting anal and oral sex, citing the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that held Texas’ anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the state’s provision banning “crimes against nature,” which include “’carnal knowledge’ by one person of another by the anus or the mouth” “cannot be squared with Lawrence.” The 2003 high court decision held that “statutes criminalizing private acts of consensual sodomy between adults are inconsistent with the protections of liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause.
NOT 
Several decades ago, when Virginia adopted the slogan “Virginia is for Lovers” someone apparently hadn’t read the Code of Virginia. Nothing could be further from the truth. Virginia is for the nunnery!
For some proof, let’s see what Huffington Post has uncovered (blush).
Only one or two centuries late, Virginia lawmakers have decided it is none of their business if unmarried couples share a roof. So the legislators are now working diligently to repeal the state’s law against “lewd and lascivious cohabitation.” Huzzahs all ’round for that.
But do not unclutch thy bodice yet. Virginia law is riddled with antiquated provisions meant to govern the “morals and decency” of the fair people of the commonwealth. And while the law against shacking up apparently never gets enforced, others do.
The State of Virginia might just be well on its way to making honest men and women out of all of us. There is legislation, introduced by Sen. Adam Ebbin, to repeal the ban on unmarried couples living together. Sen. Ebbin is the only openly gay legislator in Virginia. I don’t believe, however, it is illegal for same sex couples to live together. If that is the case, a whole lot of colleges are breaking the antiquated Virginia law when assigning student housing. But I digress…..
RICHMOND — A Senate panel on Monday unanimously advanced a bill to repeal an old law that makes it illegal for unmarried couples to live together in Virginia.
It is a misdemeanor in the state, under a law dating to the late 19th century, for “any persons, not married to each other, [to] lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together.”
It appears that Sarah Palin’s rising star is crashing to earth. According to Thedailybeast.com:
Fox News offered Sarah Palin a new contract before she decided to part ways with the network where she has held forth as a commentator for the last three years.
However, it would be hard to describe it as a generous contract.
Palin was a hot property when Roger Ailes landed her in 2009, fresh off her colorful run for vice president, and paid her an annual salary of $1 million. Fox even built Palin a studio at her Wasilla home.
But relations cooled between the two sides, and Palin was appearing on Fox less often—complaining on Facebook one night during the Republican convention that the network had canceled her appearances.
NEW YORK (AP) — Saying the gay population has “suffered a history of discrimination,” a divided federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Thursday that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional, adding fuel to an issue expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seemed interested in adding its voice to several other rulings already at the high court’s doorstep by issuing its 2-to-1 decision only three weeks after hearing arguments on a lower court judge’s findings that the 1996 law was unconstitutional.
For 43 years Big Bird has been the symbol of Sesame Street, the beloved childrens show featured on PBS that really made PBS America’s classroom. Many a child learned his or her colors, letters, and how to count from friends like Cookie Monster, the Count, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo and Big Bird. These colorful characters also taught some life lessons like not picking on the kid who wore classes and how to go get a police man or woman if you were in trouble. Sesame Street founds itself on the chopping blog during last night’s debates, in front of 50 million Americans.
Once again the PBS has been targeted by conservatives and is being plucked and defeathered for the old defunding stew pot in the sky. In fact, Mitt Romney ironically told the moderator, Jim Lehrer, a long time PBS anchor, that he would defund PBS during the debate.
It will be up to the women of Virginia to decide if the Republicans are going to make deeply personal decision for them.
The people on the board were threatened by the governor and the attorney general.
From last week– too much else was going on.
At least one board member said members of the panel felt threatened by a memo from the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that warned board members could lose legal representation from the Attorney General’s Office if they ignored its advice.
In June, the board had voted 7-4 to exempt existing abortion clinics from the new construction standards, only to have Cuccinelli’s office refuse to certify the regulations.
From thinkprogress.org:
Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Rep. Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin (R-MO) and GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan both cosponsored the bill that introduced America to the despicable term “forcible rape.” As it turns out, this may only be the second most sweeping attack on reproductive freedom that both men partnered on. Ryan and Akin also cosponsored a federal personhood bill, the Sanctity of Human Life Act of 2009, which declares that a fertilized egg is entitled to the exact same legal rights as a human being:
(1) the Congress declares that–
(A) the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being, and is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person; and
(B) the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and
(2) the Congress affirms that the Congress, each State, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories have the authority to protect the lives of all human beings residing in its respective jurisdictions.
Lest there be any doubt, this bill is unconstitutional. Congress does not have the power to overrule Roe v. Wade by an ordinary statue, only a constitutional amendment could serve that purpose. Moreover, even if Roe were overruled by the Supreme Court, Ryan and Akin’s bill still attempts to redefine who “the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution” applies to. Again, changing the meaning of the Constitution can only be done through an amendment, not through an ordinary Act of Congress.
From Politico.com:
The FBI probed a late-night swim in the Sea of Galilee that involved drinking, numerous GOP freshmen lawmakers, top leadership staff – and one nude member of Congress, according to more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.
During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the sea, joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who were participants in the trip.
You know, why can’t members of Congress behave, especially when out of the country? Is this the same GOP who gets all prissy over behavior and wants ultrasounds for women seeking abortion? Is this the same GOP who wants us all to reliquish our reproductive rights? Is this the GOP who wants to tear down that wall of separation between church and state?
The Huffington Post:
Criticizing President Barack Obama’s health care reform law on Wednesday, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) likened the requirement that private insurance plans provide contraception coverage to two of the most devastating attacks on American soil.
“I know in your mind, you can think of the times America was attacked,” he said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. “One is Dec. 7, that’s Pearl Harbor Day. The other is Sept. 11, and that’s the day the terrorists attacked. I want you to remember Aug. 1, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”
Wednesday marked the first day private insurers must include birth control coverage in their plans without charging a co-pay, per requirements in the Affordable Care Act.
Coo Coo Nellie refuses to certify State Health Dept directives on abortion clinics
The office of Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II (R) on Monday refused to sign off on state Board of Health regulations that had exempted current abortion clinics from new, hospital-style construction standards.
In a surprise move a month ago, the board voted to exempt existing facilities from the new rules, which would have required extensive renovations.
In a four-sentence letter to the health department, senior assistant Attorney General Allyson K. Tysinger said that the the office would not certify the regulations.
“The Board does not have the statutory authority to adopt these Regulations,” it says. “[T]he Board has exceeded its authority. Thus, this Office cannot certify these Regulations.”
From the Washington Post:
For the first time in U.S. history, most of the nation’s babies are members of minority groups, according to new census figures that signal the dawn of an era in which whites no longer will be in the majority.
The latest estimates, which gauge changes since the last census, are a reflection of an immigration wave that began four decades ago. The transformation of the country’s racial and ethnic makeup has gathered steam as the white population grows collectively older, especially compared with Hispanics.
The census has forecast that non-Hispanic whites will be outnumbered in the United States by 2042, and social scientists consider that current status among infants a harbinger of the change.
“This is a watershed moment,” said Andrew Cherlin, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in family issues. “It shows us how multicultural we’ve become.”
Good grief. Now I have heard it all. The Girl Scouts are now a target of the Religious Right and in particular, the Catholic bishops inquiry.
Apparently the GSA who are non-sectarian, aren’t Christian enough for some folks and the Catholic bishops. For starters, girls are allowed to insert Allah or Buddha in as a substitute for God, in the Girl Scout promise which says: “On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country.” If that is who they worship, why not? Some troop took in a transgendered child. That caused an uproar. Good for the troop. Why exclude people?
According to the Washington Post:
NEW YORK — Long a lightning rod for conservative criticism, the Girl Scouts of the USA are now facing their highest-level challenge yet: An official inquiry by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
At issue are concerns about program materials that some Catholics find offensive, as well as assertions that the Scouts associate with other groups espousing stances that conflict with church teaching. The Scouts, who have numerous parish-sponsored troops, deny many of the claims and defend their alliances.
Ann Coulter got bleeped on Morning Joe Wednesday morning. The problem is, the bleeper wasn’t working right and the TV audience lost 13 seconds of what was coming out of her vile mouth. Coulter was on a rant about consistency and went on one of her hate crusades, apparently calling John McCain a douche-bag. Now Morning Joe tries to be a civil show. Mark Halperin got suspended last June for calling President Obama a dick. The suspension lasted a week or two.
According to Politico:
After the sound returned, Coulter paused, realized that something had happened, and then could be heard asking others on the show, “What did I say? Oh, douche bag.”
“Just blur it all out,” host Joe Scarborough responded, apparently talking to the control room.
“Okay, well they got the general drift of that,” Coulter said. “Consistency is not a great thing, and especially someone like John McCain who consistently annoyed conservatives, bragged about annoying conservatives, and would claim he was courageous by attacking conservatives and getting good press in the New York Times.”
The conversation on the show moved on quickly after that with the hosts and guests showing little reaction at that point.
Coulter was unrepentant and later tweeted, “I didn’t call McCain a douchebag. I said consistency is overrated because, for example, McCain was consistently a dickweed.”
