Daily Archives: December 20, 2010

December 20, 2010 · 8:24 PM

Gays in the Military: Still Illegal for Time Being

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The process of implementing the repeal of DADT will not be a swift one…

Politics Daily

What happens now that Congress has voted to repeal the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban on gays in the military? Nothing.

For the next few months and possibly for as long as a year, gays and lesbians in uniform will still be subject to investigation and discharge if they acknowledge their sexual orientation, Pentagon officials said. Despite action in Congress to repeal it, the controversial policy banning gays from serving openly remains in effect until, in essence, until the Defense Department is good and ready to wipe if off the books.

The Pentagon issued a directive Saturday from its personnel chief, Clifford Stanley, alerting troops worldwide to the Senate vote to join the U.S. House in approving legislation to repeal DADT. The directive was expected to emphasize that the law itself has not been immediately repealed, and that the current regulations banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military remain in place.

“Once this legislation is signed into the law by the president, the Department of Defense will immediately proceed with the planning necessary to carry out this change carefully and methodically, but purposefully,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday. Change is coming, Gates said, but the current policy stays in place during an implementation process.

The law itself will not be effectively pulled down until the Pentagon has had a chance to adjust regulations that relate to same-sex partners, including next-of-kin notification, family access to commissaries and military fitness centers, health insurance and other benefits.   More…

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· 6:26 PM

Haley Barbour Under Fire for Revisionist History

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Gov. Haley Barbour, the so-called power broker of the GOP is merely doing what every right-wing politician who has hidden his racial prejudices over the years has done because of political correctness…”come out of the racist closet”.  

In the last two years the politicians who hate that a Black man is in the White House  and who have spoken out en masse against Blacks, Muslims, Gays, Immigration and every other issue that involves race, religion or gender which they find contrary to their core beliefs.

So, it comes as no surprise that Haley Barbour, et al have finally exposed their bigotry fully, instead of the innuendos and coded language  that they usually offer.

The Daily Beast

Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi is drawing a chorus of boos in the blogosphere over his praise for an historically racist organization in an interview with the Weekly Standard. Reminiscing about his days growing up in Yazoo City, Barbour said that struggles over race weren’t as bad in his area as others thanks to the efforts of the Citizens Council:  

“You heard of the Citizens Councils? Up North they think it was like the KKK. Where I come from it was an organization of town leaders. In Yazoo City they passed a resolution that said anybody who started a chapter of the Klan would get their ass run out of town. If you had a job, you’d lose it. If you had a store, they’d see nobody shopped there. We didn’t have a problem with the Klan in Yazoo City.”  

But the trouble is historians don’t remember the group with quite the same fondness, generally regarding it as a less violent descendant of the Ku Klux Klan. I called up Charles Payne, a professor at the University of Chicago and co-author of Time Longer than Rope: A Century of African American Activism, 1850-1950 to get his reaction to Barbour’s recollection.   More…

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· 1:51 PM

Monday Afternoon Blog Round Up

Graham: I Was Forced To ‘Ignore’ START, Because Other ‘Major Iss..
Last night on the Senate floor, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) complained that it had..

Enrollment of Muslim students is growing at Catholic colleges in U.S.
The influx has astonished and sometimes befuddled administrators. Some Catholic campu..

Food Safety Bill passes Senate
Not a bad surprise after years of failure in Washington on the issue of food safety. ..

So Not Ready for Prime Time
Most folks familiar with the history of the last half century know the ‘White Citize..

McCain’s DADT Rant
Did you catch John McCain’s rant about DADT just before the weekend vote? Watch .

Fox News, misinformation, and the easiest job in the world
Last week a study conducted at the University of Maryland showed that: … regular v..

Sunday Show Guests Assail Republicans For Blocking The DREAM Act
Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked the DREAM Act from securing 60 votes to pass c..

Kyl Denies Health Care For 9/11 Rescue Workers Because He Doesn’t Want..
Committed to the obstruction of any Democratic priority , Senate Republicans success..

Right-wing Media Continue To Cheer For Government Shutdown
Right-wing media figures used bills currently under consideration in Congress to con..

Kay Hagan’s Office Vandalized (VIDEO)
Sen. Kay Hagan’s (D-N.C.) Greenville, North Carolina, office was targeted last week ..

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· 1:16 PM

Study: Supreme Court becoming a tool for corporate interests

There’s no surprise here.   Supreme Court Justices Thomas, Scalia and Roberts blatant association with right-wing business groups confirm that they have become tools for corporate interests.

Raw Story

Court now sides with Chamber of Commerce two-thirds of the time

Those who have been arguing that the Supreme Court is growing more friendly to corporate interests while becoming less friendly to everyone else will now have statistical ammunition for their arguments.

A study has found that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has undergone a fundamental shift in its outlook, ruling in favor of businesses much more often than previous courts.

According to the Northwestern University study, commissioned for the New York Times, the Roberts court has sided with business interests in 61 percent of relevant cases, compared to 46 percent in the last five years of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who passed away in 2005.

And the study notes the Rehnquist court itself was considerably more pro-business than earlier courts.

Meanwhile, a second study, from the Constitutional Accountability Center, has charted the growing influence of the US Chamber of Commerce on the courts. The chamber started filing amicus briefs with the top court three decades ago in an effort to prompt more business-friendly rulings.

According to the study, the Roberts Supreme Court has sided with the Chamber 68 percent of the time, up from 56 percent under the Rehnquist court, and noticeably higher than the 43 percent during the relevant part of Chief Justice Warren Burger’s court, which ended in 1986.   More…

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