Thursday, May 15, 2014

What does "EPUTL" mean?

I've been asked recently what does "EPUTL" mean?

I've been using it as a short, but hopefully meaningful comment on the various same sex success stories that seem to be popping up every day on social media.

I have many gay friends and that they slowly but absolutely surely seem to be attaining the "equal status" to enjoy the full rights and privileges that my wife and I do.

EPUTL simply stands for equal protection under the law. Its from the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Its doesn't qualify those words with anything regarding sexual preference. It does qualify it to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States."

Rather than make some wordy, long-wind statement about why I agree with this direction of same sex treatment under our various State laws, I will just (usually) post a respectful "EPUTL" and enjoy the steady stream of good news on this matter.



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A.B. Stoddard: Santorum has a shot | TheHill

This is worth a read...

"It’s clear Santorum will be running straight at establishment candidates in the 2016 presidential primaries. That’s you, Jeb and Chris. And having already earned his credentials with social conservatives, he would be the biggest threat to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. 

He is working hard on his rebrand, just like Texas Gov. Rick Perry. And he is likely to argue vigorously that Paul cannot win a general election. And unlike Paul and most of the other potential contenders — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Christie and Bush — Santorum has run for president before.
Don’t count him out.
Read the whole article by clicking through the link below:



A.B. Stoddard: Santorum has a shot | TheHill

Friday, May 9, 2014

Sean Hannity: Blood on his hands?

 Fox news and conservative talk radio giant Sean Hannity is taken to task by The Week's Elizabeth Stoker, who finds Hannity's uncomfortable defense of "stand your ground" shooters like George Zimmerman, Byron Smith, etc. ironic when juxtaposed with his views of the sanctity of life i.e. his views on abortion.

The victims in the Zimmerman, Smith shootings as well as the Markus Kaarma case in Montana where its been learned a 17 year old boy had essentially been lured toward Kaarma's garage with a purse left in plain sight in the rear of the of the open garage, according to his girlfriend, in statements to police.

Read her article here: Sean Hannity's Culture of Death...

Is Stoker treating Hannity fairly? I've written about Hannity before herehere, here and here. Its no secret I think he's a highly skilled money-machine in his industry, with scant evidence of anything approaching a soul.

Please read the Stoker article and weigh in...

Sources:

http://theweek.com/article/index/261184/sean-hannitys-culture-of-death

http://www.examiner.com/article/sean-hannity-defends-george-zimmerman-s-inconsistencies-with-a-bad-memory

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/05/01/hannity-defends-vigilante-killer/199112

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27243115

The Benghazi Bullshit Knows No End...

 Yesterday we saw the House of Representatives vote 232 - 186 in support of a Select Committee into the Benghazi matter. This is hardly a surprise. Nor is the fact that the Committee will be weighted in favor of the Republicans. House Minority Leader Nancy Pulosi can complain all she wants about the unfairness of the unbalance but that's how these things usually are set up, and the Democrats have done the same thing in the past.

Just how valuable another investigation is really going to be is anyone's guess. I suspect we already know the gist of what happened. Security was not what it should have been. Communication was not what it should have been. Military assistance was simply too far away to render any significant hep. A brave and well-intentioned Ambassador may have been a little too brave to the point of recklessness. Chris Stevens didn't want big security teams surrounding him as he tried to make inroads with the people of Libya and gain trust. It may have cost him his life. Not to mention the other dead Americans that night, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. It is a true tragedy.

I'm not sure what the point of this House Select Committee really is. While I'm quite certain there will be passionate and theatrical speeches and admonishments and fists banging on tables for the cameras and microphones, I have little expectation we're going to learn very much new substantive information from these proceedings. More likely, it is an opportunity to keep the themes of Benghazi, 4 dead Americans, Hillary Clinton and President Obama all intertwined for a few more weeks. During which time Conservatives will hope for new campaign ad fodder and lots of fund-raising dollars. 

Its not entirely unlike the fifty-plus votes the House has taken on Obamacare. Every time they've voted, I've seen a fundraising email show up in my inbox. Only a madman would seriously think those votes were serious attempts at legislating. Likewise, I don't think the GOP really thinks they'll be the ones to uncover all the really good dirt and proof of who knows what? Think of the House as a Muscular Dystrophy Telethon of sorts. The appeals for money are never-ending. The difference is one is for a good cause and the other pretends its fighting for a good cause.

This isn't justice being pursued, its politics. As dirty and nasty as ever. Anything the House can do to continue to afflict pain upon this President they will. Anything they can do to put some dents into the Clinton for President car, they will. I'd love to think the House was really driven to find out what went wrong and how to prevent it. They're not. This is a device to be used to improve political positioning, power and control. If the tables were turned, perhaps the Democrats might do the same thing, but history tells us otherwise. After the bombing in Lebanon during the Reagan Presidency, there wasn't this non-stop, full court press of investigation after investigation after investigation. Four people didn't die in Lebanon, two-hundred and forty-one did. Go figure. 

There are two articles I've seen in the last few days that I think are worth your time on this subject. The first, by Salon's Simon Maloy, titled, "GOP's New Benghazi Lunatic: Meet Trey Gowdey, its substance free committee chair."

The second, by the Daily Beast's Micheal Tomasky, is called, "The B is Back: The Benghazi Hearings Are Bullshit."


Sources:

http://www.salon.com/2014/05/06/gop%E2%80%99s_new_benghazi_dreamboat_meet_trey_gowdy_its_substance_free_committee_chair/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/07/the-b-is-back-the-benghazi-hearings-are-bullsh-t.html