Today's Must Read

Very interesting article at The New Civil Rights Movement by Claude Summers on Justice Anthony Kennedy's "jurisprudence of dignity."

Justice Kennedy is author of four historic gay rights rulings from the Supreme Court, Romer v. Evans (1996), Lawrence v. Texas (2003), U.S. v. Windsor (2013), and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). These decisions, each building upon the other, are marked by a deep concern for human dignity. More precisely, they address forthrightly the ways in which discrimination against lgbt individuals is an affront to personal dignity. Indeed, his rulings on gay rights may be said to constitute a jurisprudence of human dignity, one that has expanded and given heft to the principle of equal protection under the law.

There's more, including historical background on Kennedy and these four crucial cases, and several videos. The CBS Special Report on the decision on Obergefell especially is worth watching -- it gives a good sense of the excitement of the day. In fact, here it is:

Today in Persecuted Minorities

I'm speaking of "Christians," of course. This story's been making the rounds, but here's tengrain's version from Mock, Paper, Scissors:

In an email sent to the the county human relations director Peggy Rowe on Thursday, [Commissioner Stacy] White said he received an anonymous complaint from a county employee that the presence of the flag was “nearly unbearable” for her to pass on her way to work and created a “hostile work environment.”

Oh? Was this anonymous Christian employee by any chance named, um, “Whacy Stite”? Just asking. Anyway, White continues and tips his hand (emphasis mine):

I wish to state for the record that, even if there is deemed to be zero liability from an HR perspective, it is still – in my view – unconscionable that the county administrator didn’t express to the board that this divisive symbol might create an uncomfortable workplace environment for many of his employees.

So, a symbol that symbolizes inclusion and equality (which, after all, are things this country purports to stand for) is now a "divisive symbol"?

I happen to agree with tengrain on the possible identity of this "anonymous" employee, and I have a couple of comments about the whole fracas:

What kind of "Christian" is offended by a commemoration of the victims of the worst mass murder in American history?

And, for the offended party: Grow up and get over yourself. Most of the rest of us figured out we were not the center of the universe by the time we were two.

Saturday Science: Earth, a Biography: And There Was Life

As we discovered last week, Earth itself was formed about 4.5 billion years ago from the aggregation of all sorts of things circling the sun: rocks, dust, molecules, chunks of ice, and so forth. The early Earth was one big explosion -- or actually, a whole series of smaller explosions, as debris collided with the forming planet. It was hot, very active, and prone to sudden impacts. After about a few hundred million years, things had calmed down enough for the new planet to start to resemble, however remotely, the Earth we all know and love.

There were some significant differences: it was extremely active seismically and it was bombarded by heavy, lethal radiation from the sun because there was no free oxygen. All the oxygen was tied up in carbon dioxide, water, and other oxides, so the atmosphere was not only not breathable, there was no ozone layer to shield the Earth from the sun's radiation.

Hadean Earth

This eon is known as the Hadean, for obvious reasons: Earth was a sort of hellish place at that point, but very soon it rained. And rained. And rained. And thus we had oceans, and then things started cooking. So to speak.

OK -- so how on Earth, then, did life happen?

Modern stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia; photo UC Berkeley

The first evidence we have of living organisms are fossils dating to about 3.5 billion years ago, from microfossils -- which are just what it sounds like, fossils to small to be seen without a microscope, and structures known as stromatolites, which are produced by colonies of microorganisms that trap sediments and build up structures like those pictured at the left. The show-stopper is that these microorganisms were mostly cyanobacteria, which had already developed the ability to photosynthesize -- using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water to simple sugars and oxygen. So already, we have life and free oxygen in the atmosphere.

To be honest, no one is quite sure how living organisms happened. There are several schools of thought on this; you can get an overview of several of them here, but I'm going to stick to the two or three that seem to have the most current support. (Well, mostly support from me.)

One theory that's very popular is that life came from outer space on the meteorites that had been, and continued to bombard the planet, in the form of organic molecules. It doesn't really answer the question of how, but assumes that life already existed. This is proposed as an alternative to the idea that organic molecules were formed through the action of lightning on what has been called the "primordial soup" -- a mix of methane, ammonia, water, carbon dioxide and other hydride molecules that made up most of the early atmosphere. (Based on the Miller-Urey experiment of 1952.) Another alternative is that these molecules originated around deep sea vents (remember, the earth was practically one big volcano at this point), which even today support ecosystems that are based on sulfides dissolved in superheated water jetting from vents in the crust.

I personally, although I favor the stuck-by-lightning and deep sea vents theories, don't see why it has to be an either/or situation. Molecules are molecules, no matter where they come from, and living organisms aren't very choosy about origins as long as whatever it is isn't lethal.

At any rate, we've got organic molecules, but we're still nowhere near actual organisms. However, scientists from the University of North Carolina think they've solved at least part of the problem:

Their answer tackles the 'RNA world' theory. In today's world, RNA—DNA's chemical cousin—is crucial to the production of proteins in the cell. The 'RNA world' theory claims that RNA arose from the chemical soup, and created an RNA world before any proteins or single cells existed. These RNA strands then created the first short proteins, which manifested themselves into single cells.

However, the scientists have another suggestion: They argue that it is equally likely that little proteins were the catalysts for RNA formation, which is the opposite suggestion of the 'RNA world' theory. In fact, amino acids and other molecules swimming around in the simple soup could have co-created proteins and RNA at the same time. This new finding makes our origin story much more complicated and exciting. . . .

To test their theory, the pair examined twenty different amino acids and observed how they joined together to form useful proteins. Then they put the amino acids through their paces by testing how effectively they form useful proteins at a range of temperatures. Before life started on Earth, the atmosphere is predicted to have been extremely hot so proteins had to be able to form under these conditions.

The research found that even when the heat was cranked up, they could still link together to form proteins that were useful for the building blocks of life. "Our experiments show how the polarities of amino acids change consistently across a wide range of temperatures in ways that would not disrupt the basic relationships between genetic coding and protein folding," said Richard Wolfenden. This research brings up the question of whether an 'RNA world' ever existed or whether it was instead a 'protein world'.

Proteins will bond together under different conditions. It wasn't a big leap from there for them to start replicating themselves. One interesting filip on this is that metabolism predated the origin of organisms, so you have the basic process of life already in existence. All you need is a mutation here and there -- say, one that creates a barrier between this group of self-replicating, metabolizing proteins and the rest of the universe -- a membrane -- and you have the first organisms.

There's still a way to go before we get to life as we know it, but we have life.

Today in Disgusting People

There's quite a field in the aftermath of Orlando. I'll let you take your pick.

Let's start off with Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA -- no surprises there), who thinks it's appropriate to read Bible verses at meetings of GOP legislators:

The freshman Republican opened the House GOP weekly meeting by telling his colleagues who had voted the night before for an LGBT protections bill that they were "going to hell," then read from the Christian Bible's Books of Romans and Revelations passages that attack LGBT people as sinners in devastating detail.

"Yes. I read a scripture from Romans and that’s what I did," Allen told Roll Call. “I just simply shared that, in what’s supposed to be a private setting with fellow members of my conference, just like I would in a Bible study.”

Something tells me he just doesn't get it.

Pastor Kevin Swanson (and that's "Pastor" with a capital "P" and don't you forget it) is always a prime candidate for this slot:

Yesterday, Colorado-based pastor Kevin Swanson addressed the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando by arguing that homosexuality and Islam are both inherently violent because God gives gay people and Muslims up to their dishonorable ways and other sins like murder.

“Why do homosexuals murder homosexuals?” he asked. Because, according to Romans 1, “God gave them up to vile passions.” “Violence” and “murder,” he said, are deeply tied to homosexuality.

“What’s the bottom line as we view what’s happening in Orlando today?” he said. “I think it is, again, the Romans 1 scenario, it is that God gives them up.”

The Orlando massacre, Swanson added, shows what happens when God’s “restraints have been lifted entirely and when God doesn’t restrain, people go nuts in their sins.”

Swanson has a history:

Swanson on homosexuality:

Boycotts Girl Scout cookies because they “promote lesbianism” and “I don’t want my little girl turning into a lesbian.”

Discussed whether the Rose Bowl should include a float where a gay person is stoned to death.

Lamented that these days country singer Kacey Musgraves wasn’t lynched for her “promotion of homosexuality” through song.

Urged people to hold up signs telling gay couples to die on their wedding day.

Defended a Ugandan measure to make homosexuality a criminal offense punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, saying he was glad the country was “standing strong” by adopting extreme anti-gay laws.

Agreed that gay marriage is like the Sandy Hook school massacre.

Wanted America to have anti-gay laws “much like what the Pilgrims had” (the Pilgrims believed that homosexuality should be punishable by death, banishment and whippings) and enforce biblical law “that says that homosexuals should be put to death.”

There's more at the link. The man hates everyone.

You may have heard of Pastor Roger Jiminez, who celebrated the massacre in a sermon. He's not backing down:

Police were still identifying and removing bodies from the Pulse gay night club in Orlando when Sacramento pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church posted a sermon on YouTube equating gay people with pedophiles and wishing that more people were dead. “If we lived in a righteous government, they should round them all up and put them up against a firing wall, and blow their brains out,” he said. “The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is — I’m kind of upset that he didn’t finish the job!”

The video was removed by YouTube for violating its standards on hate speech. But Jimenez was unrepentant on Tuesday, telling the Sacramento Bee:

All I’m saying is that when people die who deserve to die, it’s not a tragedy,” he added. Jimenez spoke these words in a kind monotone befitting a loan officer discussing interest rates at a local bank branch. …Though he didn’t talk long, he wanted people to know he wasn’t backing down from his words. “There are many people who agree with us,” he said. “In America, you are no longer allowed to have an opinion that goes against mainstream society.”

Actually, in America you are allowed to have an opinion that goes against mainstream society. And you'll be criticized for it. Sorry, but it takes a thick skin to survive in a free society.

And last, but certainly not least, Pastor Steven Anderson (and have you noticed how many of these creeps are pastors?):

“The good news is there’s fifty less pedophiles in the world. You know, these homosexuals are a bunch of disgusting perverts and pedophiles. That’s who was a victim here, are a bunch of just disgusting homosexual at a gay bar, okay?”

There's more at the link, if you can stomach it. I'm not going to bother with the fact that his whole screed is counter-factual: for people like this, ignorance, especially if it hurts someone, is their stock in trade.

Gah. I have to go wash my brain out with bleach.

Politico Nails It

I'm sure you've heard about the Senate Democrats finally growing a pair and filibustering all activity in the Senate until gun control amendments were brought to a vote. Well, the Turtle caved, and they're getting their vote. For what it's worth. Here's the headline from Politico:

 

Via Box Turtle Bulletin, where Jim Burroway thinks it's worthy of The Onion.

Two Rays of Hope

Both, via Box Turtle Bulletin.

First, from the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Utah, Spencer Cox:

I grew up in a small town. I went to a small rural high school. There were some kids in my class that were different than me. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize. Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you. It has changed because I have gotten to know many of you. You have been very patient with me as I went through this change.

There's a lot more, and it's pretty potent. There's a transcript of his full speech at the link.

And from evangelical pastor Joel Hunter:

When they asked me to pray for the LGBTQ community, at first I was honored and thrilled, and then I was convicted. I‘m not sure how to do that. I‘ve never been a part of a vulnerable community. I‘ve been a part of powerful communities all my life and never been a part of a persecuted community.

Considering the usual cries of "persecution" coming from "Christians" who don't get their way, that's a surprising admission.

And more, via Christianity Today:

Speaking in the aftermath of the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Hunter told RNS that he had “to go back and examine my own heart, starting tonight in services.

“I’ve got to confess to my congregation that if there’s anything I’ve said that could have ever led to anything — the dismissal or denigration of any other population — God, I am so sorry for that.”

He admitted that “many of us, especially those in the conservative evangelical branch of the faith, don’t normally think of the vulnerability of many of the communities around us…but this has put it on the agenda.

This is such a contrast to those "Christian leaders" who are elbowing their way to front and center to mouth empty platitudes without ever admitting their part in the Orlando atrocity and the persecution (I hate to use that word, but it's the only one that fits) of gays. Maybe Christians are redeemable.

Baby steps.

Culture Break: Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings

As performed by the Kronos Quartet, which is the best version I've ever heard. Since the piece was originally the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11, this seems appropriate.

In memory of Orlando.

Compare and Contrast

From Right Wing Watch:

Today on “The 700 Club,” televangelist Pat Robertson reacted to the massacre at an Orlando gay club by making the absurd claim that liberal LGBT rights advocates have aligned themselves with radical Islamists and are now reaping what they have sowed.

Robertson said that liberals are facing a “dilemma” because they love both LGBT equality and Islamic extremism, and that it is better for conservatives like himself not to get involved but to instead just watch the two groups kill each other.

“The left is having a dilemma of major proportions and I think for those of us who disagree with some of their policies, the best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves,” he said.

I used to make excuses for Pat Robertson on the grounds of senility. I can't any more -- the man has really become nothing more than distilled poison that comes out every time he opens his mouth. And, like all "Christians," facts have no bearing. There's more at the link, if you can stand it.

Oh, and this is rich:

Ri-i-i-ght.

The antidote:

Like you, I am sickened by the news that a terrorist killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in Orlando. in the most deadly shooting in American history. Naturally, we each ask ourselves, what can you possibly say in the face of horror? But then sadly you realize you know what to say because it’s been said too many times before.

You have a pretty good idea what most people are going to say. You know a president, whoever it is, will be saying. You know what both sides of the political aisle will say. You know what gun manufacturers will say. Even me, with a silly show like this, you have some idea of what I will say. Because even I have talked about this when it’s happened before.

It’s as if there is a national script that we have learned. And I think by accepting the script we tacitly accept that the script will end the same way every time, with nothing changing. Except for the loved ones of the families and the victims for whom nothing will ever be the same.

It’s easy, it’s almost tempting to be paralyzed by such a monstrously hateful act, to despair and say, well, that’s the way the world is now.

Well I don’t know what to do, but I do know that despair is a victory for hate. Hate wants us to be too weak to change anything.

Now these people in Orlando were apparently targeted because of who they love. And there have been outpourings of love throughout the country and around the world. Love in response to hate.

Love does not despair. Love makes us strong. Love gives us the courage to act. Love gives us hope that change is possible. Love allows us to change the script.

So love your country, love your family, love the families of the victims and the people of Orlando, but let’s remember that love is a verb, and to love means to do something.

(Via Box Turtle Bulletin)

Thinking back, I'm reminded of many times that I've heard some of the most dogged anti-gay "Christian" activists insist that their slanders, their distortions, their calls to change something that can't be changed, their insistence that we don't really exist are all born of love. It occurs to me that when your idea of love starts with judgment and ends with condemnation, you've missed the point.

Colbert gets it.

A Point

And one I've been making for a while, even before the Orlando shooting. From Hank Plante, in the Desert Sun:

Every anti-gay politician, every bigoted preacher, every self-hating bully has blood on his hands. Make no mistake about it, the shooting in Orlando which targeted the LGBT community was the end result of decades of anti-gay hate speech and gay bashings.

Every time a politician or community leader has advocated second-class citizenship for gay Americans, it has given permission to the haters to strike out – in this case in a mass slaughter. . . .

The fact is, gays and lesbians are no strangers to violence. My friend David Mixner, a gay rights pioneer, reminded his Sunday readers on the site Towleroad of the 32 gay bar patrons who died in 1973 when someone fire-bombed the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans. Mixner is right when he says, “Every one of us knows someone who has been gay bashed.”

So imagine the message that anti-gay hate speech sends to someone who is mentally unstable, let alone such a person who has an assault weapon.

Harte makes a point: they don't even get it. They either don't understand or won't admit that they have created this environment.

You'll notice the number of right-wing figures who have been very quick to point the finger at Islam (when they're not blaming Obama -- and some of them manage both), when it's they themselves who have in some cases devoted their careers to creating the environment in which something like Orlando is not only conceivable, but inevitable. (And a special shout out to Wayne LaPierre of the NRA: you have lots of blood on your hands.)

There's history here.

I mean, come on -- this is a no-brainer: remember Mama Grizzly with her map showing certain congressional districts with targets on them? And Gabby Giffords got shot. But it wasn't Palin's fault, no, not at all.

These people really need to be called out, and our ball-less media isn't going to do it.

Orlando: Compare and Contrast

From Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national Executive Director, in reaction to Orlando:

We offer condolences to the families and we pray for recovery of the survivors. This is a hate crime, plain and simple. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It violates our principles as Americans and as Muslims. Let me be perfectly clear. We have no tolerance for extremism of any kind. We must not tolerate hateful rhetoric that incites violence against minorities. Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our beliefs as Muslims and as Americans. Today, we must stand united.

For many years, members of the LGBT community have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim community against any act of hate crimes, Islamophobia, marginalization and discrimination. Today, we stand with them shoulder to shoulder. The liberation of the American Muslim community is profoundly linked to the liberation of other minority groups: blacks, Latinos, gay, Jewish, trans and every other community that has faced discrimination and operation in this country.

There are statements from local and state chapters of CAIR at the link.

And from the Archbishop of St. Petersburg (Via Box Turtle Bulletin):

Second, sadly it is religion, including our own, that targets, mostly verbally, and often breeds contempt for gays, lesbians and transgender people. Attacks today on LGBT men and women often plant the seed of contempt, then hatred, which can ultimately lead to violence.

Those women and men who were mowed down Sunday were all made in the image and likeness of God. We teach that. We should believe that. We must stand for that.

Even before I knew who perpetrated the mass murders at Pulse, I knew that somewhere in the story there would be a search for religion as motivation. While deranged people do senseless things, all of us observe and judge and act from some kind of religious background. Singling out people for victimization because of their religion, their sexual orientation, their nationality must be offensive to God’s ears. It has to stop, too.

From the Anti-Defamation League:

We must remember that Americans should not blame all Muslims for the actions of one individual. Whether citizens like the individual suspected of committing this act or war-torn refugees seeking safety, we must remember that we do not define people by their faith. We are deeply concerned that this attack could lead to a backlash against American Muslims. We urge all Americans to not fight hatred with hatred, but rather to come together around our common values of decency and respect.

At this time of sadness and tragedy, we express our full solidarity with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. During this time of year when we celebrate Pride, they should know that they are not alone. As we mourn the victims and extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those lost, we will redouble our resolve to fight against the forces of hatred and extremism that led to this barbaric act of hatred.

And then there are the "Christians". Pastor Steven Anderson, another of the "kill the gays" contingent:

The good news is that there’s 50 less pedophiles in this world, because, you know, these homosexuals are a bunch of disgusting perverts and pedophiles. That’s who was a victim here, are a bunch of, just, disgusting homosexuals at a gay bar, okay? Obviously, it’s not right for somebody to just, you know, shoot up the place, because that’s not going through the proper channels. But these people all should have been killed, anyway, but they should have been killed through the proper channels, as in they should have been executed by a righteous government that would have tried them, convicted them, and saw them executed.

There's more. It's even worse.

And I'm noticing a thundering silence from most of the anti-gay leaders, give or take the Republican politicians who have made statements without naming names. Surprisingly, the AFA has issued a statement, but no telling which community was targeted from their press release:

“This is a time when a nation must come together, reminding that God loves all people, and all are His creation, made in His own image,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “All lives are precious, and because the American Family Association is known for its commitment to family values, we deeply mourn when lives are lost due to senseless violence. We know there are millions praying for the families and friends of the victims, and we ask all to join together with them and for those who are wounded, that a healing of both the body and the community will be reality.”

Ah. Thanks to Joe.My.God., Perkins speaks. It's his usual exercise in turning reality on its head, but this is absolutely astonishing, even for him:

What a stark contrast to Christianity, which believes that everyone is made in the image of God and has intrinsic value, regardless of the choices they make. And yet Christianity is the faith Obama won’t tolerate — a religion that teaches people not to confront sin with violence but to love people into the kingdom by speaking truth.

One wonders when Perkins is actually going to start practicing the Christianity he describes. And do note, it's all Obama's fault. Perkins and his fellow travelers had nothing to do with creating the climate that makes something like the Orlando shooting not only conceivable, but inevitable.

Can I Tell You How Much

I hate Google right now?

I made the mistake of enabling two-step verification when signing in to my Google accounts. So this morning I entered my gmail address, my password, and waited, and waited, and waited for the call to give me the verification code. I tried again. Ten minutes after the first try, I finally got the call, entered the code, and signed in. And now Google's robot has called me five times with verification codes.

I disabled two-step verification once I got signed in, since Google has ignored the box I checked that said "Don't ask again on this computer."

Feh.

The Only Thing I Can Think Of

Arvo Pärt, Kyrie:

Orlando: Reactions

President Obama:

Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder — a horrific massacre — of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. And as Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people.

I just finished a meeting with FBI Director Comey and my homeland security and national security advisors. The FBI is on the scene and leading the investigation, in partnership with local law enforcement. I’ve directed that the full resources of the federal government be made available for this investigation.

We are still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation. We’ve reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism. And I’ve directed that we must spare no effort to determine what — if any — inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days, we’ll uncover why and how this happened, and we will go wherever the facts lead us.

This morning I spoke with my good friend, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and I conveyed the condolences of the entire American people. This could have been any one of our communities. So I told Mayor Dyer that whatever help he and the people of Orlando need — they are going to get it. As a country, we will be there for the people of Orlando today, tomorrow and for all the days to come.

We also express our profound gratitude to all the police and first responders who rushed into harm’s way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives, and kept the carnage from being even worse. It’s the kind of sacrifice that our law enforcement professionals make every single day for all of us, and we can never thank them enough.

This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends — our fellow Americans — who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.

So this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American — regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.

Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history. The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub. And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well.

In the coming hours and days, we’ll learn about the victims of this tragedy. Their names. Their faces. Who they were. The joy that they brought to families and to friends, and the difference that they made in this world. Say a prayer for them and say a prayer for their families — that God give them the strength to bear the unbearable. And that He give us all the strength to be there for them, and the strength and courage to change. We need to demonstrate that we are defined more — as a country — by the way they lived their lives than by the hate of the man who took them from us.

As we go together, we will draw inspiration from heroic and selfless acts — friends who helped friends, took care of each other and saved lives. In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other. Instead, we will stand united, as Americans, to protect our people, and defend our nation, and to take action against those who threaten us.

May God bless the Americans we lost this morning. May He comfort their families. May God continue to watch over this country that we love. Thank you.

Via Box Turtle Bulletin, as is the following:

We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence.

— Rasha Mubarak, the Orlando regional coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

That one's important, because of this (via Joe.My.God.):

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility Sunday for a deadly nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 50 dead and 53 injured.

"The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter," ISIS said in a statement.

The organization offered no proof for the attacks.

There is a report that the shooter called 911 and claimed allegiance to ISIS before the attack, but I'm not buying any coordinated effort here until the FBI has gone over it thoroughly.

From Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, National Center for Transgender Equality head Mara Keisling, and NAACP president Cornell Brooks:

Surveying all the coverage on the "national" sites, I noticed one glaring omission: my home town, which is one of the most gay-friendly places in the country. Well, Google is your friend. Some highlights, courtesy of CBS News:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel:

“Last night’s horrifying act of terrorism in Orlando was an attack on our most fundamental values as Americans. On behalf of the City of Chicago, Amy and I send our deepest condolences to the friends and family members of those who were lost. June is a time when all Chicagoans and all Americans proudly celebrate the contributions of our LGBT community. This horrendous violence will only deepen our resolve to continue building a society that values everyone, regardless of who they love. The thoughts and prayers of Chicago will remain with the victims of this attack as they seek comfort and courage in the days ahead.”

Archbishop Blase Cupich:

“Our prayers and hearts are with the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, their families and our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

“We are grateful to the first responders and civilians who heroically put themselves in harm’s way, providing an enduring reminder of what compassion and bravery look like–even in the face of such horror and danger.

“In response to hatred, we are called to sow love. In response to violence, peace. And, in response to intolerance, tolerance.

“The people of the Archdiocese of Chicago stand with the victims and their loved ones, and reaffirm our commitment, with Pope Francis, to address the causes of such tragedy, including easy access to deadly weapons. We can no longer stand by and do nothing.”

Even our sports teams and athletes reacted.

There are statements from major political figures and others at the link. One thing they all have in common is the admission that this was directed at the gay community (even our Republican governor's statement makes the inference). But, if you look at some of the responses from major anti-gay politicians, you'll notice what's missing. (Aravosis labels them all "homophobes," but I won't go that far; I'll just note that these people are not known as friends of our community.) This one sent my irony meter to the repair shop:

 

You mean, like the Republican party platform?

That's about all I can handle right now. I'm really just numb about this. All I can think is "Where will it stop?"

Oh, and of course The Hairpiece reacted. I'm not going to post any of his belchings. The man's an ass.

Orlando

The death toll is up to 50. This is now the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Joe.My.God. has a series of posts this morning with updates. Ditto Towleroad. Ditto Box Turtle Bulletin.

There's no point in my making any comments right now.

However, a note on how times have changed: RawStory, which is really more mainstream in terms of gay issues, has extensive coverage of the shooting, and a few articles on some of the other "mainstream" reactions.

Bullies

The Catholic hierarchy, this time in Pennsylvania:

Advocates for clergy sex abuse victims in Pennsylvania are claiming that lobbying and intimidation tactics by the Roman Catholic Church will result in lawmakers either diluting or defeating a bill that would let victims sue for crimes that occurred decades ago, Philly.com reports Saturday.

They've gotten heavy-handed about it, too.

“A lot of the members would tell you responses have been nothing short of threats to claims of betraying their faith,” Rep. Nick Miccarelli, a Republican and Catholic, told the publication. . . .

Rep. Martina White, a first-term Republican, supported the bill in the House — and the Church retaliated. She was told she would no longer be welcome at some events in her district.

“When you think of the Catholic Church, you think of acceptance and forgiveness and a community that’s available to you,” White, who attended Catholic school as a child, told Philly.com while choking back tears. “Being disinvited, you feel cut off.”

I really can't think of words to describe my reaction to this. Given, that the Church hierarchy is, on the whole, tremendously self-centered, and given that the first priority of any institution is to protect its prerogatives, this goes beyond blatant. We've seen its like before --in Boston, when Massachusetts legalized recognition of same-sex marriage, and in Illinois, when suddenly Catholic Charities, which was originally structured to allow it to accept state money without violating the First Amendment, became a "religious organization."

This is choice:

Philly.com reports that while victims and advocates support the measure, the Catholic Church has been vocally opposed. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput called it “unfair” and financially destructive to dioceses and harmful to church members who played to role in the abuse cases.

Maybe if the Church hadn't spent so much money opposing same-sex marriage, and equal civil rights for gays and lesbians in general, it wouldn't be feeling the crunch.

Today's Must-Read

Rachel Maddow interviews Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Digby has a transcript here. Key point, about a Trump presidency:

I look at those things and I think about what’s at stake. It’s literally people’s lives. It’s our economy. It is the very fabric of our democracy. For me, that’s the heart of what the Democratic Party stands for. That is what we fight for. That’s why we’re in this fight. That’s why we’ve got to win.

And there's video:

And again from Digby, more on Trump. This says it all, I think:

In three interviews with The Times since late April, Mr. Trump acknowledged in general terms that high debt and lagging revenues had plagued his casinos. He did not recall details about some issues, but did not question The Times’s findings. He repeatedly emphasized that what really mattered about his time in Atlantic City was that he had made a lot of money there.

(Emphasis added.)

We've seen it again and again, but this is it: It's all about him. Screw everyone else.

Today In Disgusting People

This is a United States Senator:

“In his role as President, I think we should pray for Barack Obama. But I think we need to be very specific about how we pray,” Perdue told the audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. “We should pray like Psalm 109:8 says, that says, ‘let his days be few.’”

After waiting a beat, Perdue said, “And let another have his office,’” drawing laughter from the audience.

I guess that's the sort of thing "Christians" find funny.

However, when you look at the rest of that verse:

As observers on Twitter quickly pointed out, the full Biblical passage is significantly more ominous.

“May his days be few; may another take his office,” the cited section reads.

“May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!” the next section continues.

Do I really need to say anything?

Oh, there's this:

Perdue spokeswoman Caroline Vanvick said in a statement to Bloomberg that the Georgia senator "in no way wishes harm towards our president."

Bull.

Saturday Science: Earth: A Biography: In the Beginning. . . .

This is a series that I've been thinking about for a while. I'm not sure why. It's really meant to be a survey of life on earth, how it originated and how it developed, but I felt like I should start at the beginning.

The most widely accepted theory of the origins of the universe at this point is the Big Bang Theory: there was a point of very high density and very high temperature which developed an instability and exploded, creating the universe, about 13.8 billion years ago. It wasn't really the universe as we know it at that point, because it was very, very hot, but eventually it cooled enough to allow the formation of things like subatomic particles. Then gravity and the other major forces took over, and we have, first, atoms, then stars. Our sun was one of those stars. Here's what seems to be a pretty accurate exposition of the theory, at Wikipedia. And as you can see from this video, it wasn't really all that straightforward.

If you want more detail, here's a series from Space.com.

By the way, the Big Bang Theory has not gone unchallenged:

In Einstein's formulation, the laws of physics actually break before the singularity is reached. But scientists extrapolate backward as if the physics equations still hold, said Robert Brandenberger, a theoretical cosmologist at McGill University in Montreal, who was not involved in the study.

"So when we say that the universe begins with a big bang, we really have no right to say that," Brandenberger told Live Science.

There are other problems brewing in physics — namely, that the two most dominant theories, quantum mechanics and general relativity, can't be reconciled.

Quantum mechanics says that the behavior of tiny subatomic particles is fundamentally uncertain. This is at odds with Einstein's general relativity, which is deterministic, meaning that once all the natural laws are known, the future is completely predetermined by the past, Das said.

And neither theory explains what dark matter, an invisible form of matter that exerts a gravitational pull on ordinary matter but cannot be detected by most telescopes, is made of.

I sort of like this idea -- considering that most of the world's religious traditions assume that the earth and the universe are cyclic, with no beginning and no end . . . well, food for thought, at the very least.

At any rate, starting about 13.5 billion years ago, we have stars. The sun was one of those stars, formed about 4.5-5 billion years ago in a cloud of molecules -- mostly hydrogen, with a little helium and some heavier elements thrown in for fun. Some of those molecules began to attract each other -- gravity again -- and as the group got bigger, the pull became stronger, pulling in more molecules until, finally, we had ignition. At the core of the sun the pressure and temperature are so intense that we have, in effect, a really, really big fusion reactor.

Now, there was still a lot of dust and gas around the sun, mostly forming a big disc, which contained not only hydrogen and helium, but also heavier elements -- remember, other fusion reactors -- stars -- had been burning merrily along for 8 or 9 billion years, and some had exploded after converting the lighter elements into heavier elements -- carbon, oxygen, iron, nickel, all the way up to uranium: the building blocks of planets.

The creation of the earth was undoubtedly a lot more spectacular than the creation of the sun -- lots of crashing and explosions as actual rocks collided and stuck together.

Here's Neil deGrasse Tyson with a description of the process:

Pretty neat, huh?

So, now we have a sun and a planet -- a whole solar system, actually (well, OK, a whole universe, but for this we're keeping it local) -- so where do we go from here? Well, life, of course. After all, that's what we're most interested in. But we need to wait about a billion years, for things to calm down a little bit, so that's for next time.

Today's Must-Read

Digby has a transcript of Elizabeth Warren's speech to the American Constitution Society -- the one where she ripped Donald Trump a new one. Here's the beginning:

Four simple words are engraved above the doors to the Supreme Court: Equal Justice Under Law. That’s supposed to be the basic promise of our legal system: that our laws are just, and that everyone — everyone — will be held equally accountable if they break those laws.

We haven’t always fulfilled that promise — but it is the absolute standard to which we hold ourselves even when we fall short.

A vital part of that struggle is the fight for a truly professional, independent, and impartial judiciary. A place governed not by politics, not by money, not by power — but by those four simple words: equal justice under law.

Three years ago, I came to the American Constitution Society to deliver a warning about how that promise is under threat.

I talked pretty bluntly about how we are losing the fight over whether our courts will remain a neutral forum, faithfully interpreting the law and dispensing fair and impartial justice, or whether rich and powerful interests will completely capture our judicial branch.

I talked about how year after year, for more than thirty years, powerful interests have worked to rewrite the law and tilt the courts to favor billionaires and giant corporations. Cases that protected giant businesses from accountability. Cases that made it harder for individuals to get into court. Cases that gutted longstanding laws protecting consumers from being cheated. And cases like Citizens United, which unleashed an avalanche of billionaire SuperPAC dollars and secret corporate money in a mad dash to tilt the rest of the government in favor of the wealthy.

Today, I’m here to update that warning. Because what we’ve seen over the past three years — accelerating over the past three months, and even the past three weeks — is alarming. Powerful interests are now launching a full-scale assault on the integrity of the federal judiciary and its judges.

And there's video:

I've said before that the radical right hates the idea of an independent judiciary. They've called for terms limits and retention ballots for federal judges, and I'm sure that's just the beginning. As Warren quite rightly notes farther on in her remarks, the Republicans' refusal to expedite judicial nominations is more than just Obama hate: they don't really want the courts to be functional. At least, not until they can stack them with more Antonin Scalias, or worse. (Yes, there are worse, believe it or not. How about Roy Moore?)

As for calls for Hillary Clinton to select Warren as her running mate, I think that would be a big mistake. Digby pretty much has it:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren should stay right where she is in the Senate. She would have less of a platform as the Vice President. Yes, VP candidates are often given the attack-dog roll, but Warren needs no loftier position for doing that. Warren's speech to the American Constitution Society’s national convention takes your breath away.

And in the Senate, Warren can actually do something besides make speeches.

This Is an Ad for Something

Title borrowed from Joe.My.God., with thanks

The description at YouTube begins:

Süße Katzen kaufen im Netto Marken-Discount ein. Netto präsentiert ein absolut süßes Katzen-Video.

Roughly, "Cute kitties shopping at Netto Marken-Discount. Netto presents an absolutely adorable cat video."

And I didn't even need to haul out my dictionary. (Pats self on back.)

"Historic"

This post by Digby sort of crystallized something that's been in the back of my head for a while:

The pundits and the reporters all seemed to notice at the same time that Hillary Clinton had won the Democratic nomination. And it seemed to dawn on them that it was an important moment worth noting. After all, it had never happened before. Ever.

It's been all over the blogosphere, and I'm getting real sick of seeing "HISTORIC!!1!" all over the place.

And a small correction to Digby: It's never happened before here. Just off the top of my head, and in no particular order, I can think of a number of countries that have had female heads of state or heads of government: Iceland, the UK, Ireland, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia. . . .

I'm sure there are more.

Is this American exceptionalism in overdrive? Or just blinkered vision?

This Sounds Familiar

It's called "ruling," not "governing":

Speaker Ryan on Wednesday behind closed doors told Republican House members he will restrict the amendment process, effectively thwarting one of the few avenues Democrats have to advance their legislation, given the vast majority of the House is Republican, and bipartisanship is rare in today's toxic environment.

Ryan "is cracking down on Democrats' ability to win floor votes on hotly contested issues such as LGBT rights," the Associated Press reports late Wednesday morning. "The move means Ryan is reneging on a promise to protect the rights of lawmakers to take on a wide range of issue when the House debates annual spending bills."

"Hotly contested issues" -- read, "Issues on which the GOP is completely out of step with the rest of the country."

This, of course, is directly opposed to the promise he made when assuming the gavel to protect members' right to submit and advance bills. I guess he didn't think any Democrats would exercise that right.

This, I think, says it all:

Politico adds that an unnamed House aide "said Ryan is hearing that members 'want the Rules Committee to make sure we can govern as a majority and not allow Democrats to use the amendment process to take down the bills and derail the House’s work. . . ."

"Govern as a majority" -- don't they call that "one-party rule"? And isn't that the way it used to work in places like the U.S.S.R.?

More on this from TPM -- it looks like no one is happy:

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) told the Hill newspaper that Ryan's hand was forced.

“I think it was something he probably preferred not to do, but he felt like he had to do,” Cole said. “That’s his responsibility as Speaker. You have to make some tough decisions.

Not everyone was convinced.

“Our leadership is using this as an excuse to close down the process,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told the Hill.

Democrats took their own shot at Ryan for the decision.

“It has long been clear that regular order is not as important to Republicans as protecting their special interest agenda. Republicans are clearly afraid of the will of the House when it comes to protecting LGBT Americans or standing up for hard-working families," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Well, back to gridlock.

Culture Break: Toru Takemitsu: November Steps

One of my favorite pieces by Takemitsu. Conducted by no less than Seiji Ozawa.

(And of course, the comments on YouTube are almost all in Japanese, for some reason.)

In A Nutshell

The problem with the press these days:




Via Digby.

Today's Must-Read

If you're wondering where The Hairpiece's slurs against the judge in the Trump U case could lead, read this. This part deals with a similar stunt by Larry Klayman, whom Ed Brayton calls "the dumbest lawyer in America not named Mat Staver":

Eventually, Chin dismissed Klayman’s client’s case with a few choice words for the way counsel had conducted it. Not long after, the judge got a letter from Klayman and his co-counsel, Paul Orfanedes, asking a few “questions” about the judge’s Asian American background and mentioning another case they had brought against the Clinton administration. They then filed a brief questioning the judge’s impartiality:

Mr. Klayman and Mr. Orfanedes became concerned that because the Court was a recent appointee of President Clinton … and Mr. Klayman had been prominently mentioned in the media for his role in the Commerce Department case, which focused in part on the White House, the Democratic National Committee, John Huang, Melinda Yee, and other persons in the Asian and Asian–American communities, and because the lawsuit had elicited such angry responses from the White House, Democrats and the Asian–American community, that the Court might be angry at them and unable to be fair and impartial ...

In a written response, Chin noted that he hadn’t been aware of Klayman’s other lawsuit. As for the questions about his race, he said, “This sentiment is absurd and demeans me individually and the Court as a whole.”

He then lowered the boom. Klayman and Orfanedes were required to withdraw as counsel from the case and would not be permitted to appear in Chin’s court on any matter ever again. They would be required to show his opinion to any other judge in the district in any future case. The court clerk would also report the sanctions to every court where they held bar membership.

It's not real smart to screw around with a federal judge.

Tuesday Blahs

Can I tell you how heartily sick I am of Donald Trump?

It wouldn't be so bad if the press weren't drooling over him. I mean, come on -- the man's a walking, talking basket case, and the media act as though he actually had something to offer this country -- besides extinction, I mean.

In that vein, read this.

And then think about what election coverage was like when we actually had a press that practiced journalism.

Via Digby.

Add to that this -- let's call it "Today's Must-Read," also from Digby, which strikes me as a good analysis of the situation as it stands. I found this telling:

The press meanwhile was stuck in a different kind of spin cycle. They mostly just gawked at the spectacle like they were reporting on a 200 car pile-up on the interstate. They didn’t dig very deeply because, like the Republicans, they simply could not fathom that he would actually become the nominee. And frankly, they never really devote a ton of resources to each primary candidate. They do some perfunctory digging and check out oppo from the various rivals but they never go very deeply into the candidates until they get the nomination. But once the nomination is in hand, it’s no hold barred and the press is going to delve into the nominee’s business, personal life and history in every way. Apparently, Trump didn’t know this.

Good point, and you can see it happening, but as far as I'm concerned, the press is one reason Trump managed to get as far as he has.

Thought for the Day

I've been trying to bring myself up to speed on the Clinton e-mail witch-hunt (because you know that's what it is). It occurs to me that if there's anyone the right-wing hates worse than Obama, it's the Clintons.

This, from a patently slanted story dated May 8 at The Hill:

Over the next two months, at least six current or former aides to Clinton will be asked to give depositions as part of those cases, which are being led by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. Clinton herself could be asked to testify as well, a federal judge has ruled.

“Out litigation’s going to continue,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton told The Hill in a recent interview.

“It doesn’t really matter what the FBI does, what the Justice Department does, in the sense that we have an independent right to get some accountability and to have the FOIA law vindicated.”

(Emphasis added.)

However, a May 6 article from Mediaite has this:

For all those Hillary Clinton opponents who have been hoping against hope that the likely Democratic presidential nominee will be indicted as a result of the FBI review of Hillary’s email server, CNN has some bad news. According to CNN correspondent Pamela Brown, the FBI is close to wrapping up the “investigation,” and thus far have found “no criminal wrongdoing”:

The interviews, we’re told, are focused on whether classified information was mishandled, and the security of the server. So far officials tell us, no, there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing at this point in the investigation, but, again, the investigation is not over.

It sounds like they’re really just waiting for Hillary Clinton to be interviewed so they can wrap things up, but if Republicans and Bernie Sanders and the media are counting on Hillary Clinton to suddenly crack under questioning, they haven’t been paying attention.

The bottom line is that the Republicans are going to keep harping on this, and on Benghazi!!1! (even though we now know that whole "investigation" was nothing more than a politically motivated witch hunt), and even Vince Foster, right through the conventions and the remaining campaign.

And the media will help.

And if you don't believe that last statement, read this, from Eric Alterman (via Digby):

On March 15, Donald Trump won Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, and Illinois, dispatching Marco Rubio’s campaign to the ash heap of history and giving every impression that he had become the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee. Hillary Clinton also did extremely well that day, taking Illinois, Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina. The New York Times gave its prime spot—the top-right corner of the paper’s front page—to a story headlined “2 Front-Runners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Find Their Words Can Be Weapons.” Readers quickly learned, if they had missed it previously, that Trump frequently used words like “bimbo,” “dog,” and “fat pig” to refer to some of the women he didn’t like, and this had led to disapproval ratings among women that reached historic proportions. And what “weapons” did Clinton give her adversaries? During a recent speech in coal country, she had suggested that her support for sustainable, clean-energy jobs would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”

Surely, you get the symmetry: Trump employs sexist school-yard taunts to denigrate roughly half the people on the planet. Clinton bravely tells her audience something they might not want to hear in support of a policy with short-term costs for some but long-term benefits for all. Same thing, right? Just ask, as the Times reporters did, a spokesman for the “anti-Clinton super PAC” America Rising, who opined that Clinton demonstrated a “brazen disregard for the men and women who help power America.” So you see, “dogs,” “pigs,” and “bimbos” versus clean energy. Both sides do it.

Read the whole thing -- you'll find all your contempt for the contemporary "news" media fully justified.

The Elect Have Spoken

I hardly know how to react to this: one the one hand, it's funny as all hell, in a sick sort of way; on the other, it's just another example of the arrogance of the "Christian" right. From Tony Perkins (who else?):

This week, the president is back at it, using his Bible of convenience to justify his outrageous decree on public school bathrooms and showers. To the disgust of most Christians, Obama insisted that “my reading of Scripture tells me that [the] Golden Rule is pretty high up there in terms of my Christian belief.” Let me make a suggestion to the president: before quoting the Good Book, he should try reading what it actually says.

Perkins then proceeds to quote from the letters of Paul, who, as one commenter points out, never met Jesus and spent his life trying to proclaim himself as the one who really, really knew what God wanted. (Hmm -- sounds like a certain hate-group leader, doesn't it? Actually, it sounds like all the hate-group leaders.)

And there you have it, once again, in one noisome package: arrogance, self-absorption, and mendacity. I guess we all have to check with the FRC before we quote scripture now.

Today's Must-Read

From Digby again, and it's pretty scary:

Yesterday, People for the American Way released a report showing that rather than leaving worldly politics behind in reaction to the rise of the boorish and profane Donald Trump, as many people have been predicting, the religious right is gathering their forces for more assaults on the state houses around the country in pursuit of what they have duplicitously labeled "religious liberty" (when it is, in fact, a form of religious oppression.) Whatever disappointments they may be experiencing in national politics, their zeal to force people who have different (or no) religious beliefs to conform to theirs continues apace.

These people do not appear to have gotten the memo that once marriage equality was affirmed by the Supreme Court the issue was settled. In fact, that ruling sparked a coordinated effort among conservative religious organizations to  roll back gay rights wherever they can. The report says that in 2016 over 100 anti- LGBT equality bills have already been introduced in statehouses around the country. And there is every indication that these activities are picking up speed.

I've been saying since, oh, forever, that the religious right is not going to give up. They're still chipping away at Roe v. Wade two generations later, and although they've failed to make an equivalence between abortion and gay rights, they're not going to change their strategy -- and it's a long-term strategy. They are, after all, the beneficiaries of Eternal Truth™ as revealed by The One True God™ -- or the latest interpreters thereof.

Read the whole thing -- and pay attention to who's running for your state legislature.

Idiot du Jour

via Digby, this moron:

Trump Voter: We are young, urban, and have a happy future planned. We seem molded to be perfect young Hillary supporters. But we're not. Both of us voted Libertarian in 2012, and ideologically we remain so. But in 2016? We're both going for Trump.

For me personally, it's resistance against what San Francisco has been, and what I see the country becoming, in the form of ultra-PC culture. That’s where it's almost impossible to have polite or constructive political discussion. Disagreement gets you labeled fascist, racist, bigoted, etc. It can provoke a reaction so intense that you’re suddenly an unperson to an acquaintance or friend. There is no saying “Hey, I disagree with you,” it's just instant shunning. Say things online, and they'll try to find out who you are and potentially even get you fired for it. Being anti-PC is not about saying “I want you to agree with me on these issues.” It's about saying, “Hey, I want to have a discussion and not get shouted down because I don't agree with what is considered to be politically correct.”

Let's start with the most obvious, not to dismiss what may be this person's own experience (there are idiots on the left, as well): Having tried to have rational discussions with right-wingers, the shouting down and name-calling seems to originate with those who can't support their positions any other way. What I'm getting from this is more regurgitated right-wing propaganda about the "fascist left" -- on the same order as the religious extremists who are screaming about being "persecuted" when they're not allowed to pick and choose which laws to observe. The fact that he voted Libertarian should tell you a lot.

And I can't help but wonder how many times this person has just tuned out when someone disagrees with him. I've run into a couple of commenters at blogs who don't seem to be able to respond to what I actually wrote -- they just repeat the same flat statements, without substantiation, as though that were some sort of argument.

It goes on, and gets more and more bizarre. Digby summed it up nicely:

It's all about him having to defend the fact that he's a raving asshole. Yep. I can see why he loves Trump so much. Having to show good manners in public is just too much.

Image of the Week

From my friend Bernice, since I've stated seeing butterflies already:

I Begin To Wonder

as the election season progresses, whether we might just be able to do without a president for four years. After all, we haven't had a Congress for six years, and the world hasn't ended.

What sparks this comment is this post from John Aravosis and the attendant discussion in the comment thread. The post itself is about the Sanders campaign's repeated attacks on Peter Staley:

American AIDS activist Peter Staley.

For the second time in a week, the Sanders campaign has launched an oddly personal attack on Peter Staley, one of America’s top AIDS activists. . . .

The attack came once again from Sanders’ senior policy adviser Warren Gunnels, who falsely accused Staley, who has committed his life to HIV activism, of selling out people with AIDS to the pharmaceutical industry.

The Sanders campaign became enraged with Staley and other AIDS activists, including many who are (or were) Bernie Sanders supporters, after the activists called Sanders out for lying about his meeting with the activists last week. In that meeting, the activists raised their concerns about a drug initiative taking place in California, and sponsored by an anti-PrEP organization. When the meeting finished, Sanders issued a press release claiming the activists had joined the Vermont Senator in supporting the initiative.

To be perfectly honest, Sanders lost me a while ago. I was prepared to vote for him in the primary because I'm generally sympathetic to his positions, and then vote for Clinton in the general, since I assumed she would be the nominee.

I've come to the conclusion that Sanders is an idiot. My real concern with him as president was whether he could actually do anything, and it starts to look more and more that my concern was justified. It seems as though he can't even manage a campaign, much less a country.

What's even more interesting than the post, however, is the discussion in the comments thread. Lots of information, a fair amount of vitriol and finger-pointing (but that's normal for blog comments -- at least there is a marked scarcity of trolls) -- one thing about AmericaBlog's commenters is that they're generally well-informed -- and some interesting insights.

It's worth checking out.

Meanwhile, In the Civilized World

First up, Massachusetts just passed a trans rights bill, which the Republican governor has said he'll sign:

Freedom for All USA ‎@freedom4allusa
 

By a vote of 116-36, #Massachusetts House passes FULL #transgender protections in public spaces! http://bit.ly/25yJMPh  #TransBillMA

4:59 PM - 1 Jun 2016

Note the vote total.

Footnote: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is backing away from the T. rex of bathroom bills has fast as he can, using the McCrory defense:

Burr, for his part, says the city of Charlotte needs to take responsibility for the role he believes it played in provoking Republicans to act.

“I think the legislature should go back and look at what they did, talk with Charlotte and figure out, as it relates to bathroom issue, there can be resolution. There didn’t seem to be a problem before. Charlotte created the problem and the General Assembly further created a problem,” he told WTVD.

"Shame on you for making me hit you!"

And north of the Border:

The Pride flag flew on Parliament Hill on Wednesday in a historic all-party show of support to mark the start of the month celebrating Canada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the honour of raising the distinctive rainbow banner on the Hill for the first time at a celebration attended by MPs from all federal parties, as well as dozens of onlookers.

Can you imagine if Obama had done that? I mean, look at the reaction from painting a rainbow on the White House with lights.

And, because a little eyecandy never hurts, here's Justin Trudeau:

Meanwhile, back in the good ol' US of A:

On Tuesday afternoon President Barack Obama issued his eighth and final proclamation declaring June LGBT Pride Month. By Tuesday evening some conservatives were outraged, taking to social media and voicing their anger on right wing websites that falsely claimed the President had "ordered" Americans to celebrate LGBT Pride.

These assholes have always been with us, hiding under rocks, but now they have Twitter. One wonders, though, if the outrage comes from the declaration, or because Obama did it. Six of one. . . .

The Last Stand

I'm beginning to think that's how the "Christian" right sees the whole trans rights battle: they've lost on gay rights, they've lost on marriage, abortion is still up for grabs, so trans rights are their last chance to enforce their anti-reality biblical sexual agenda on the rest of us. Take, for example, James Dobson:

“Have we gone absolutely mad?” Dobson asked. “Did it upset you when the president of the United States ordered every public school in America to open all its bathroom facilities including those that are in use by a member of the opposite sex? The president’s order made me furious, and then sick to my stomach. How dare this man do something so audacious and unthinkable!”

Accusing Obama of “warping our children” and “wielding dictatorial powers never envisioned in the law,” Dobson accused the president of being a “tyrant” who is “is determined to change Western civilization forever.”

Dobson then predicted that transgender women or men dressed as women will stare at women in restrooms, an act that Dobson said would get them shot, just like back in the good ol’ days: “Would you remain passive after knowing that a strange-looking man, dressed like a woman, has been peering over toilet cubicles to watch your wife in a private moment? What should be done to the pervert who was using mirrors to watch women and girls in their stalls? If you are a dad, I pray you will protect your little girls from men who walk in unannounced, unzip their pants and urinate in front of them. If this had happened 100 years ago, someone might have been shot. Where is today’s manhood? God help us!”

This is the "child psychologist" who recommended that parents beat their children. So now he's recommending that trans folk be shot when they use the bathroom? He's really kicked it up a couple orders of magnitude. Note this, from RawStory:

It is not clear if Dobson is aware that he is using the language of protecting a woman’s honor by killing those who might violate it, but his language is reminiscent of the ways that mobs were whipped up to hang black men and boys for perceived slights to white women. His argument connects his beliefs that Obama is a tyrant with his beliefs that any confusion about gender identity “must be seen as damaging not only to our sons and daughters but also to the long-term stability of society itself.”

Offhand, I'd say Dobson regards his use of inflammatory language as a plus. And of course, can't miss a chance to bash Obama. (Scratch a right-wing evangelical and you'll find a racist.)

It's not surprising that Dobson would reiterate all the bullshit being pushed by the bathroom conservatives. That's what he does. But can't you just see the spittle flying from his mouth?

Quote du Jour

They just keep coming. This from Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), the latest congresscritter to endorse The Hairpiece:

Donald is Donald. And he wears it on the sleeve, calls it out for what it is. People love him for speaking directly.

Hmm -- calls it for what he heard someone say it is.

"Speaking directly"? Have you listened to him? Every other sentence is "I don't know."

Culture Break: Oysterband: We Could Leave Right Now

This is hands down my favorite song by Oysterband. None of the videos available are perfect, but this has all the important stuff.

Today's Must-Watch

Frank Schaeffer, in case you didn't know (I didn't), is the man who, with his family, created the "pro-life" movement as a political force. Here's a portion of an interview with Samantha Bee. It's very revealing. (It's also fairly profane, so be warned.)

I realize that I've gotten pretty cynical about the religious right and their motives, but Shaeffer offers this bit of validation: he admits he was in it for the money.

Via Gaius Publius at Hullabaloo.