Birmingham Blues

Sen. Hank Sanders and Rep. Alvin Holmes have been trying for a number of years now to get sexual orientation added to Alabama’s hate crime law. They have come close, but so far their bills haven’t passed. I can’t imagine why…

Susan over at Local Tint has an excellent take on this issue, wondering why the opponents of state hate crime laws haven’t spoken out against the Feds’ investigation of the recent spate of church fires as possible hate crimes. Go read it. Then (if you live in Alabama) call your representatives and ask them why they aren’t interested in protecting gays and lesbians from violent attacks. Be sure to mention Billy Jack Gaither, Rodderick George, Scottie Joe Weaver, Sammy Speigner, all of whom were murdered, and Billy Sanford, who remains in a coma after a beating. Mention anyone else you know of who has been attacked because of their sexual orientation, actual or perceived. Mention their families and friends, too; they not only live with the pain of losing a loved one but also with the fear of becoming targets of similar attacks.

Then ask them again why they don’t care.

The day after we found out that Dick Cheney shot a fellow hunter, Raw Story reports on the very serious damage done to our intelligence capabilities regarding Iran when Valerie Plame was outed. So, Dick, was it really worth it to endanger national security in order to punish Joe Wilson for criticizing the king — I mean president?

And can this country survive three more years of this administration?

PS: Go read The Green Knight’s take on blaming the victim.

…you haven’t been paying attention. This story (via Pam’s House Blend) may be the best example I’ve seen that proves the truth of the bumper sticker. A VA nurse is under investigation for sedition because she wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration and calling for W’s impeachment.

Here’s the primary definition of sedition: Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state. Our governing authority, the Constitution of the United States, calls for impeachment of the chief executive for high crimes and misdemeanors. Supporting impeachment of a President who repeatedly lies and breaks the law is not, by definition, rebellion against the authority of our state. No matter what W may think, he is not the state, he wasn’t ordained by God, and any citizen of this country who wants to criticize him is free to do so under the law.

What’s almost as scary as the story itself is that I only found one reference to it when I searched Google News. There should be nationwide outrage about it, but it seems we have another “ho-hum, nothing to see here” response from the news media. Fortunately, Sen. Jeff Bingaman is willing to speak up and defend his constituent’s civil rights.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson for a thorough inquiry of his agency’s investigation into whether a V.A. nurse’s letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration amounted to “sedition.”

Merely opposing government policies and expressing a desire to change course “does not provide reason to believe that a person is involved in illegal subversive activity,” he said. Bingaman said such investigations raise “a very real possibility of chilling legitimate political speech.”

Laura Berg, a clinical nurse specialist for 15 years, wrote a letter in September to a weekly Albuquerque newspaper criticizing how the administration handled Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq Wwr. She urged people to “act forcefully” by bringing criminal charges against top administration officials, including the president, to remove them from power because they played games of “vicious deceit.” She added: “This country needs to get out of Iraq now and return to our original vision and priorities of caring for land and people and resources rather than killing for oil….Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times.”

The agency seized her office computer and launched an investigation. Berg is not talking to the press, but reportedly fears losing her job.

Bingaman wrote: “In a democracy, expressing disagreement with the government’s actions does not amount to sedition or insurrection. It is, and must remain, protected speech. Although it may be permissible to implement restrictions regarding a government employee’s political activities during work hours or on government premises, such employees do not surrender their right to freedom of speech when they enlist in government service.”

He said he wants the matter investigated so V.A. officials will have guidance about handling similar situations in the future.

Unbelievable!

Conservative commentators have had their panties in a wad all week over the funeral of Coretta Scott King (ooh, Blue Gal, I said “panties” 8)). I think they need to get over it. So do Joseph Hughes at Democratic Underground and The Rev. Joseph Lowery (via Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog).

Fox 6 News here in Birmingham is reporting another church fire in Alabama, burning as I type. The Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Lamar County was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived. There is yet another report of an SUV nearby. Witnesses have seen a Nissan Pathfinder near the sites of several other church fires over the past two weeks.

I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s time to stop. It’s getting to the point where every rural Baptist church in the state needs to post security. I hope the police catch up with these creeps ASAP.

Okay, this is cool. One of my Chris Matthews slams made slate.com. The husband is getting ready to quit his day job, but I don’t think that’s a good idea :).

Stormie Janzen, scheduler for our very own highly esteemed (not!) Senator Jeff Sessions (R-moron), was busted for posting pictures of herself showing her thong panties on a personal blog. She’s been forced to take down the blog, but she’s keeping her job, even though she was apparently posting on government time.

Janzen, the scheduler for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), was forced to shut down her blog after the Senator’s chief of staff, Rick Dearborn, got onto her, as they say in the South. The Montgomery Advertiser reported Monday that Janzen had been blogging on her site as recently as Friday morning, during business hours.

Sessions spokesman Michael Brumas told HOH that the Senator was aware of the situation but wouldn’t comment further other than to say: “We have dealt with the situation.”

Ms. Janzen is a long-time aide to Sen. Sessions; she began working for him while he served as Alabama’s Attorney General. I’m sure she appreciates his loyalty.

Ah, those family-values Republicans…

I guess the Bushies didn’t give Brownie a big enough payoff. He’s happily testifying before Congress that the White House knew about the failing levees on the day that Katrina hit New Orleans. Bush, of course, couldn’t be bothered to come back from vacation for four days, and the White House has frequently used the excuse that no one knew how bad the situation really was.

Hmmm…that sounds familiar. I wonder where I’ve heard it before. Oh, yeah, it was after 9/11 — the White House said that no one could have conceived of terrorists flying planes into buildings.

Bush keeps pretending he doesn’t know Jack Abramoff. Abramoff doesn’t appreciate Bush’s memory lapses. And Scott McClellan doesn’t want to discuss it. Business as usual. Can you say “Kenny Boy” Lay? W can, but he doesn’t remember that either.

UPDATE: Oops — Del is correct. Thanks for setting me straight!

…or else he may end up in the Potomac with concrete blocks tied to his feet. He’s singing like a canary to the grand jury, telling them that his superiors authorized him to leak Valerie Plame’s identity parts of a secret National Intelligence Estimate in order to discredit her husband Joseph Wilson. Not that I’m surprised, but I figured Cheney et. al. would buy him off before he talked. Of course, the mainstream media and the general public are likely to ignore all of this, as it might interfere with their viewing of “Survivor” or “American Idol”.

Scott McClellan’s response to reporters’ questions:

White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to comment. “Our policy is that we are not going to discuss this when it’s an ongoing legal proceeding,” he said.

Of course not.