Month: April 2015

Do you want right wing politicians in your doctor’s office?

by digby

I didn’t think so. I wrote a piece for Salon today about a number of different ways they’re trying to do that:

Almost exactly 10 years ago today, Terry Schiavo became a household name when the entire right wing of the Republican Party decided to virtually elbow their way into her hospital room and demand that her advance directive, as relayed by her husband, to not use extraordinary measures to keep her alive was inoperative and irrelevant. God might perform a miracle, after all, so it’s nobody’s place to interfere, not even the individual herself. Ultimately, Schiavo’s rights were upheld but the nation got a good hard look at the right wing stepping into the personal relationship between doctor, patient and family when the entire congress was called back to Washington to vote on this one issue and the president, on one of his lengthy Crawford vacations, made the unprecedented decision to fly back to the capitol in the middle of the night to sign it. The sight of these powerful people dictating the details of the doctor-patient relationship from a distance was off-putting to many Americans. These were, after all, the very politicians who made a fetish out of “keeping the government out of our lives.”

This was no revelation to people who work in the area of reproductive rights, of course. The whole issue of abortion is about the state interfering in the most personal, intimate interaction between doctor and patient and family. But, there was no sex involved in the Schiavo incident, no “irresponsibility”, no smiling babies or patriarchal assumptions to distract from the reality of this ugly scene as there always in when it comes to abortion rights. Both men and women could put themselves into this situation equally, they could see themselves having to deal with aging parents and their own kids having to deal with them. It hit home.

But it quickly retreated from sight and the right continued on with its crusade to micro-manage the relationship between doctor and patient in keeping with their particular religious values. All over the country, Republican legislatures are putting laws into place to force doctors to read a set script to patients seeking abortions and require them to perform unnecessary ultrasound tests to try and make women feel guilty for their decision.

Just this week, the state of Arizona passed a new law requiring doctor’s to not only lie to their patients but potentially put them in medical danger: read on

What Munich means

by digby

If a deal with Iran is struck, we will inevitably start to hear shrieking from the right wing about “Munich.” Paul Waldman does a great job of unpacking what that’s all about for those who might not be perfectly aware of the sub-text:

Many of us roll our eyes and poke fun at endless Hitler analogies, but in this case their use is extremely revealing. If you believe that the negotiations with Iran are the equivalent of those in Munich in 1938, what you’re basically saying is that war with Iran is inevitable, so we might as well get started on it right away. After all, it isn’t as though, had Chamberlain left Munich without an agreement, Hitler would have retired and gone back to painting. The whole point of the “appeasement” argument is that the enemy cannot be appeased from his expansionist aims, and the only choice is to wage war.

That’s what Iran hawks are arguing: We shouldn’t pussyfoot around trying to find a diplomatic solution to this problem when there’s going to be a war no matter what.

Let’s be clear here though. They also want there to be a war no matter what. Iran has been a thorn in the hawks’ sides since 1979. Also too: oil, Israel, all the rest. If you could sit down with a bunch of these guys over bourbon and cigars the end game would likely be occupation for the entire middle east. (After all, John McCain said outright that he’d be happy if we stayed in Iraq for a hundred years.)

The misplaced WWII analogies all stem from the notion that America single-handedly won the war (not true) and that our occupation after the war, which continues in some respects even today with military bases stationed all over Europe, is something that can and should be replicated in other areas where it’s our job to keep a lid on bad things happening. (In other words, the entire world.) Despite all the lessons of the post war world they have have questioned the desirability of a world in which all this is our responsibility. Even worse, they’ve never grappled with the clear fact that we are not capable of doing this. WWII did not prove the American military to be populated with comic book heroes with supernatural powers who swept in and mowed down the enemy. That’s Hollywood it’s not reality. And in any case, it should be the very last thing on earth anyone should ever want to repeat. It was a horror of epic proportions.

But the dreams of All American omnipotence and glory are hardwired into the right and very strong in the culture at large. And it’s dangerous as hell. Everyone should want to negotiate peace as the default position. If there’s anything on earth that should be avoided unless there is absolutely no other choice, it’s war. You’d think that would be common sense but this rather silly belief in America’s godlike military power is leading a whole lot of people to take us into some very dangerous territory.

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Instilling Jazz Emotions: Homes for Unwed Mothers

by Gaius Publius

In a recent comment on a terrific music video, I wrote this, apropos hippies and their gifts:

Consider how many hippie-bashing conservatives (and “liberals”), for example, love that they can live guilt-free with their sexual partners. That was a hippie gift, and there are dozens like them. Consider the complete disappearance of “homes for unwed mothers,” where parents with means could hide their shamed daughters away till they’re safely unpregnant again. Or comfortable clothing — thank a hippie the next time you wear jeans to work.

Reader Martin saw that and kindly sent the following, from Film Daily of February 7, 1926:

Quoting Martin: “So bad on so many levels.” Thanks to those hippies, this is the world we escaped.

GP

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The 6-percenters
by Tom Sullivan

Hearing yesterday morning that the snowpack in the Sierras is six percent of average nearly drew a gasp. Records have been shattered:

The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which typically supplies nearly a third of California’s water, is showing the lowest water content on record: 6 percent of the long-term average for April 1. That doesn’t just set a new record, it shatters the old low-water mark of 25 percent, which happens to have been last year’s reading (tied with 1977).

Things are so bad that Governor Jerry Brown decided to slog into the field for the manual snow survey on Wednesday morning. He didn’t need snowshoes but he did bring along a first-ever executive order mandating statewide water reductions.

“We’re in a historic drought and that demands unprecedented action,” he told reporters who made it to the Sierra survey site off of Highway 50.

In the Central Valley, farmers would drill wells if they could stand the two-year wait, the half-million dollar cost, and if there was any point. California celebrates its gold rush history in the appellation, the 49ers. I’m wondering if the 6-Percenters might have a future in California lore.

We don’t have experience with drought at this scale in the east, but it’s not unheard of. In 2007, things got so bad in the Southeast that one small town, Orme, Tennessee, restricted residents to water use a few hours a day. Each night, the mayor himself opened the valve that fed water to the small community.

Water-hungry Atlanta’s thirst drove Georgia lawmakers to uncover what they call a 200 year-old surveying discrepancy that if “corrected” would move a piece of the border a few hundred yards north, giving Georgia (and particularly Atlanta) access to the waters of the Tennessee River.

Atlanta keeps growing like a weed, apparently heedless of nature’s limits.

In 1998, I put in a wastewater neutralization system for a client in an office park in Alfaretta, north of Atlanta. I asked what the small, metal out-building was at the edge of the parking lot. The Culligan Water rep told me it was a well house (in an upscale office park).

He knew clients (including hospitals) drilling wells all over Atlanta because the Metropolitan Sewer District wouldn’t let people use all the water they wanted (both because of the MSD infrastructure capacity and water source limits, I think). So they were drilling their own wells to get unmetered water, as if the supply was limitless.

The Flint River Aquifer has been under strain for decades as Atlanta keeps growing, the developers keep developing, and the water table keeps dropping.

For far too long, we have treated water as a birthright. The American West has fought over water for years, but the complex infrastructure relies on having supplies to manage. Now that water is becoming more scarce, the vultures circling overhead are wearing business suits. Scarcity means profit potential. Whether it is Nestle or the fracking industry, water has become the new gold rush for whomever succeeds in controling it. At least until it runs out.

Another intolerant leftist

by digby

They’re so meeeeaaaan:

The girlfriend of Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Doolittle is being praised for her response to a forthcoming LGBT Pride Night that will be hosted by her boyfriend’s team.

Eireann Dolan, who was raised by two moms, said she was “disheartened” to see responses to the June 17 event from “people who, for whatever reason, do not support this night of inclusion and community” who were vowing to sell their tickets on social media, the San Jose Mercury News first reported.

“Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs and as long as nobody is getting hurt, I’m happy. I also can’t stop you from selling your tickets,” she wrote on her blog. “I won’t tell you that you are wrong or that you are not allowed to think or act that way.”

She continued, “So, A’s fans; if attending a baseball game on LGBT Pride Night makes you at all uncomfortable, it is probably a good idea to sell your tickets. And I have the perfect buyer. ME!”

Dolan has offered to buy tickets from fans who felt uncomfortable attending the event and donate them to the Bay Area Youth Center’s Our Space community for LGBTQI youth. She also launched an online fundraising campaign in order to buy more seats for the group, and Doolittle followed up by agreeing to match his girlfriend’s donations up to $3,000.

It’s sad to think that anyone would actually take her up on the offer (as opposed to donating their tickets to the youth center.) And maybe nobody has had the nerve to actually do it. But this approach strikes me as another tool in the anti-discrimination arsenal.

Oh, and to all those who say that the left is becoming a bunch of intolerant scolds who won’t brook any differences of opinion, I invite you to attend a baseball game and fail to stand for what seems like hours long tributes to the military and the war machine:

Seconds before “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” are played, police officers, security guards and ushers turn their backs to the American flag in center field, stare at fans moving through the stands and ask them to stop. Across the stadium’s lower section, ushers stand every 20 feet to block the main aisle with chains.

As the songs are played or sung, the crowd appears motionless.

The national anthem has long been a pregame staple at sporting events. But after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Major League Baseball directed teams to play “God Bless America” before the bottom of the seventh inning at every game. Baseball scaled back the next season, telling teams they needed to play the song only on Sundays and holidays, which is still the case.

Only the Yankees continue to play “God Bless America” at every home game. They are also the only ones to use chains to prevent fans from moving during both songs, which concerns some civil liberties advocates.

Howard J. Rubenstein, the spokesman for the Yankees’ principal owner, George Steinbrenner, said the policy was an expression of patriotism.

“Mr. Steinbrenner wanted to do all games to remind the fans about how important it is to honor our nation, our service members, those that died on Sept. 11 and those fighting for our nation,” Rubenstein said in a telephone interview.

In the month after the attacks, baseball and patriotism seemed to be intertwined, and the idea to restrict the movement of fans was born. Lonn A. Trost, the team’s chief operating officer, said fans sent the Yankees’ front office hundreds of e-mail messages and letters and made phone calls to complain about how other fans were not paying respect.

“The fans were telling us it was a disgrace that when the song was being sung people were not observing it with a moment of silence,” Trost said.

Trost said Steinbrenner was presented with the fan complaints and agreed to a plan to restrict movement. By mid-October 2001, he said, the Yankees’ implemented a system using off-duty uniformed police officers, ushers, stadium security personnel and the aisle chains to restrict movement. The Yankees pay the city to use police officers as part of the security detail.

Here’s some of that tolerance on display:

“I attempted to get up to use the restroom, rather urgently, during the 7th inning stretch as God Bless America was beginning. As I attempted to walk down the aisle and exit my section into the tunnel, I was stopped by a police officer. He informed me that I had to wait until the song was over. I responded that I had to use the restroom and that I did not care about God Bless America.

“As soon as the latter came out of my mouth, my right arm was twisted violently behind my back and I was informed that I was being escorted out of the stadium. A second officer then joined in and twisted my left arm, also in an excessively forceful manner, behind my back. I informed them they were violating my First Amendment rights and that I had done nothing wrong, with no response from them.

“I was sitting in the Tier Level, and of course this is the highest level of the stadium and I was escorted in this painful manner down the entire length of the stadium. About halfway down, I informed them that they were hurting me, repeated that I had done nothing wrong, and that I was not resisting nor talking back to them. One of them said something to the effect that if I continued to speak, he would find a way to hurt me more.

“When we reached the exit of the stadium, they confiscated my ticket and the first officer shoved me through the turnstiles, saying ‘Get the hell out of my country if you don’t like it.’

I think we all know what happened to those Dixie Chicks when they dared say they were ashamed of the president.

So really, all this whining about liberal intolerance and Stalinist authoritarianism because a couple of cretinous bigots want to be able to refuse to serve gays is just a teensy bit over the top considering the furious reaction one gets for saying anything the right doesn’t like about guns, God or the flag around these people.

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How can we miss Michele Bachmann when she won’t go away?

by digby

Sadly, this is not an April Fool’s joke:

Fatuous argument ‘o the week: Governor Steve Beshear

by digby

In a brief for [Democratic!]Gov. Steve Beshear, Kentucky attorneys argue the state’s ban on same-sex marriage isn’t discriminatory, because it’s a ban on same-sex marriage — not gay marriage:

Kentucky’s marriage laws treat homosexuals and heterosexuals the same and are facially neutral. Men and women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, are free to marry persons of the opposite sex under Kentucky law, and men and women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, cannot marry persons of the same sex under Kentucky law.

Right. There are a ton of heterosexuals wanting to marry one another and they will suffer equally under this ban.

This brings to mind that famous quote from Anatole France:

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

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Oh Joe …

by digby

And then there’s Joe Scarborough:

“I’m sure I’m going to get in trouble for this, but I’m sorry, everybody is marching lock-step. I wouldn’t do it, but at the same time, if somebody believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, I just wonder, where do their rights stop? I mean, can you no longer go into business as a florist in America if you believe that a man marrying a man or a woman marrying a woman is a sin? And I’m just asking a question.”

First of all, can we take a moment to celebrate the fact that manly men like Joe Scarborough no longer naturally assume that all florists are gay? Progress, people, progress…

But Joe should relax. It’s a rare self-respecting gay person who would want to hire straight fundamentalist Christian florists for their wedding. Not that they shouldn’t be allowed to, of course. Indiana’s law is outrageous. But I have to admit that if I were planning a wedding I probably would not end up hiring straight people. Not that I disapprove of their “lifestyle”, of course. I’m straight myself. But I’d want florists, caterers and bakers with a stylish aesthetic and I’m afraid that straight people generally just aren’t up to par by comparison. A stereotype I know. There are probably some extremely creative straight Christian cake bakers in America. They all deserve a chance to compete for my business without the state enabling discrimination. But still, if I have a choice I’m going with the people who have taste and style and that’s highly likely to be the gay person rather than the fundamentalist Christian straights. Sorry, just how it is.

But don’t tell anyone. It’s probably only a matter of time before some Federalist Society fellow cleverly brings suit on behalf of straight florists complaining that people are discriminating against them because of their sexual orientation.

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Cruz’s cunning plan

by digby

Like everyone else, I wondered why in the world Ted Cruz, of all people, would purchase health care through Obamacare when he could easily just go out and buy it on the open market. The law only requires that you have health insurance, not that you buy it through the exchange. It’s not as if he can qualify for subsidies or anything.

Brian Beutler at TNR sees the method to his madness:

The threat to subsidies in Texas doesn’t affect Cruz directly. His family isn’t eligible for them. But if the Court rules for the King challengers in June, it won’t simply eliminate other people’s subsidies. It’ll push hundreds of thousands of Texans off of their plans, and eviscerate the law’s coverage requirement, ruining the individual and small group markets in Texas, where the Cruzes’ insurance will be based. Plans will disappear and costs will spike for almost everyone—even those who weren’t previously eligible for subsidies.
[…]
Perhaps Cruz is disclosing in the most roundabout possible way that he no longer believes the Court will or should eliminate ACA subsidies in Texas and elsewhere. More likely he thinks he can turn his family’s own travails with Obamacare to his advantage on the campaign trail this summer. If his plan gets canceled or his premiums mushroom after a bad Court ruling in June, he can play up his own Obamacare horror story to frothing Republican primary voters, while omitting the fact that he quite literally asked for it.

I would imagine he’s going to make sure he has “travails” whether the Court strikes down the subsidies or not. It’s not as if a GOP primary requires a strict adherence to the facts.

This makes perfect sense to me. There’s no other good reason why Cruz would do this. He’s basically adopting the James O’Keefe method. He’s going on the “inside” to “report” back how evil and corrupt the system is. (He’s also quite wealthy so he has a nice backstop …)

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“Sorry Babe, You’re a Feminist”

by Gaius Publius

I couldn’t pass up a chance to let you enjoy this, from the terrific writer and comedian Katie Goodman. Enjoy:

I hope you watched to the end. Much of this song is acted, especially the last third, and acted very well. I found this song courtesy of this Matt Filopowicz interview — for the Goodman segment, start at 39:45 in the program.

Yes, that’s me in the first part, but this is about Katie.

(And yes, I’ve had her thoughts as well in another context — how a generation of women and men who fought and suffered for rights now taken for granted, are disrespected by those who are nevertheless glad to exercise them. Consider how many hippie-bashing conservatives (and “liberals”), for example, love that they can live guilt-free with their sexual partners. That was a hippie gift, and there are dozens like them. Consider the complete disappearance of “homes for unwed mothers,” where parents with means could hide their shamed daughters away till they’re safely unpregnant again. Or comfortable clothing — thank a hippie the next time you wear jeans to work.)

GP

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