In Today's News

Joe.My.God. caught a couple of interesting newsbits today:

The Oklahoma House of Representatives - Sally Kern's home away from home, you know - has passed a joint resolution by 83 votes to 13:

"That the State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States. "The language of HJR 1003 further serves notice to the federal government "to cease and desist, effectively immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers." . . .

Eight other states have sovereignty bills pending, another twelve have bills on the way. Some legal sources call the bills merely symbolic, saying that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution renders such efforts moot. Others are calling the sovereignty movement the thin wedge of a coming secessionist effort largely driven by disagreements over social policy issues such as gay rights, immigration, and freedom of religion.

Oh dear, are we back to the whole States' Rights thing now? That is exactly the line the segregationists took, starting in the 1940's, to oppose the civil rights movement: Dixiecrats, interposition, nullification, standing in the schoolhouse door, and all such as that. The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

Joe also reprints part of lesbian blogger Keori's report from the legislative hearings in Hawaii on a proposed civil unions bill:

You know, it gets really tiresome to be called diseased and a pedophile and a rapist and an abomination and a threat to America three dozen times in one day. It infuriates me to hear that yes, heterosexuals have special rights (at least they admitted it finally!) and that is how it should be because The Big Book of Bronze Age Fairy Tales says so. To hear little old ladies screaming that they would rather see their grandchildren commit suicide than "be part of that disgusting, filthy, evil lifestyle", isn't even remotely amusing anymore.

Even better is to, due to the concussion headache beginning to blind me, forget to take off my little green and gold "equality" sticker on the way out of the building, and be followed to the bus stop by a bunch of red shirts with signs. Three 6'5", 200 pound Islander guys with signs saying "Gay marriage is wrong" and "John 3:16" followed the lone little white girl with her laptop case across the street, yelling at me, "Repent!", calling me a bitch and a whore, telling me, "You just need a real man to fuck you straight." Nothing I haven't heard before.

Then one of them said, "We know who you are now, and what you drive. We saw you last Thursday. You better watch yourself, fucking haole bitch." Not one of the 20 people standing around the bus stop said anything to them. I got on the first bus that came along, got off three stops down the street, and caught my right bus a few minutes later. I rode home all alone, with my headphones on, praying no one bothered me. I don't want to ever hear another fake apology from these people saying that they don't actually hate queers, they're just "protecting traditional marriage". It's just the latest lie in their christian hate grab bag.

Now fellas, you remember last fall, all those big strapping gay guys who swarmed the little old lady carrying a styrofoam cross at a Prop 8 rally? If we act nasty like that, we have no moral standing to complain when the other side treats our people that way, do we? It's wrong and it's ugly, no matter who does it; and what goes around, comes around.

And David Mixner summarizes several more examples of Republican asshattery in the last week, including these gems:

-Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) used a major forum in his home state of Alabama to question if President Obama is even a citizen of America!

-Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) used another speaking opportunity in Kentucky to proclaim loudly that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be dead in six months! In an attempt to quell the bad publicity generated, he issued a formal apology to the feisty Madame Justice, who returned to the bench this week.

-Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) wrote in a letter that Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were not real Catholics! Didn't know the senator was a papal representative. So much for his message on Stimulus!

-The newly elected Chair of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, was asked about the possibility of the Republican Party supporting civil unions down the road he responded, "No, no, no. What would we do that for? What are you, crazy?" So much for inclusiveness!

Plus this bizarre video of failed Republican candidate Alan Keyes:

What I say: Tell you what, guys. Let's be fair about this and give the wingnuts their very own state: Alaska. Hell, let's cut Alaska loose, and let them have it for their own Holy Nation. Then they can all sit up there and beat their Bibles and stare at Putin to their heart's content. Give 'em all a one-way ticket, plus moving expenses, hell we already got a deficit going, it won't cost that much more and everybody would be happy then. Right?

Palin-Jindal 2012. Yes, please God. Pass it around.