ALOHA HOMOPHOBIA

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HAWAII COACH TOTALLY F*GGED OUT:
FOOTBALL IDIOT INSULTS ALL GAYS

AND THE NAME OF HIS TEAM: THE RAINBOWS

Actually, It Was The "Rainbow Warriors," But They Changed It Because It Sounded "Too Gay"

*In reaction to this news story:

Here in Hawaii, we have a long history of coaches behaving badly. One took his HS team out for strippers & hookers in Vegas after a big win. All under age. Another one totaled his car on the freeway, completely whacked out, and never got a ticket. They're just that special.

Polynesians have a long history of acceptance of third & fourth-sexers, or males who choose to live as females and females who chose to live as males, way before reassignment surgery was a possibility. They're called mahu's, which is now a pejorative applied to all gays, though it used to be just another gender label. "Mahu's" themselves are very much a part of "Local" life today here in the Aloha State. Everybody has a "mahu" Auntie or cousin. The modern attitudes are a bit schizophrenic toward them, part tolerant traditional Polynesian and part Western "Christian" homophobic. It doesn't help that we have a whole political family demonizing gays in general. And they're closet-Hare Krishna's. You'd think they'd understand the need for tolerance, but they're at war against it. It's an interesting place, Hawaii. Sometimes.

The worst of it is, they were allowed to switch from Rep to Dem, despite all their homophobic BS. The local Dems really are schizy. They claimed to be pro-gay marriage, and then they stifled the new law with procedural horseshit.

I suspect it has to do with fund-raising. Like the pot issue, most people say, "Who cares? Legalize it." But the pol's seem to fear doing it anyway. It can only be money that causes that. Rich old families don't ever want anything to change. Why would they? And new money just enjoys the thrill of abusing power to f**k with the powerless. In terms of real nitty-gritty politics, gays are not well organized here. Simply being in the right isn't enough. You have to have leverage, like powerful supporters, which Hawaii gays evidently do not. Not enough, anyway.

*In response to this comment:

Filipinos in Hawaii probably have the most cross-dressing kids. I don't know what their status is, but unlike the comparatively homey & conservative Polynesian mahu's, the TV/TS/TG Filipina's cruise turista & military bars as females, livening up the local scene. Yet they live with their big extended families out in the 'burbs, exactly how I don't know.

As to religion, I think the small but mighty local Mormon church has a lot more to do with the strictures against gambling, gay marriage, pot, etc. The Filipino's really don't have anywhere near the clout in proportion to their numbers as the Mormons do here in Hawaii.

Until the dominant local Japanese are finally outnumbered by the Fil-Ams, they will be the ones calling the shots, and they are mostly not Catholic or Mormon, but Protestants and Buddhists. So, if you want to slice & dice local politics religiously, try a Ginzu knife.

*In reply to this comment:

As to The Next Generation, maybe it's just the kids who are out & about that one sees, but it seems there is a fair number of gay kids, in addition to the Local Honda-racers and the hoochie-mamma's. I think the gay kids own the local Starbucks franchise. No idea what their home lives or interactions with straight kids are like. The older generation, I'd have to agree that those who are "out" tend to be white and from the Mainland. But even they stick close to a pretty small area: A couple of bars in Waikiki. The scene is pretty anemic since they bulldozed Hamburger Mary's, once the center of local nightlife, along with Hernando's, Pink Cadillac & The Wave, all gone. Nightlife here has never been the same.

*In response to this personal anecdote:

Yeah. Ya gotta wonder...
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Where does a 10-yr-old kid even pick up words like "dyke"? His mom? My parents never used any sort of slurs, other than good old-fashioned Anglo-Saxonisms. I was always kind of shocked as a kid when I did hear them. I don't recall ever hearing any anti-gay slurs anywhere until maybe junior high school, when the word "queer" came into limited use. I don't think most of the kids knew what it meant.

Of course, now we have the Internets, and, even worse, "conservatives" screaming about oral and anal sex on the freakin' news and all their horrible talk-radio shows. I could almost side with Tipper Gore on this one: But leave the record labels (etc.) alone, just tell those bloody vulgar Repukelickin's that KIDS ARE LISTENING!!! They really don't need to hear all this sexual stuff at age six or eight.

On the other hand, they're amazingly knowledgeable and blase about stuff I didn't even hear about until I was an adult. We've gone from virginal bobby-soxers to the hook-up generation in half a lifetime without all that much of a fuss these days, after the initial upheavals for sexual freedom in the 50's, 60's & 70's.

You'd think that the kids coming up would be pretty gay-friendly by now, but there is all this "mildly" negative stuff in the entertainment media that sort of nets out to "gay is not quite kewl." In fact it seems to be a synonym for unkewl. I blame so-called liberal writers & producer/ directors going for the cheap laugh and trying to be hip, even openly gay creators. If there were more movies about real people who happened to be gay and acted like movie heroes, it might help.

It took years of Hollywood pounding away at positive Irish, Catholic, Jewish, Italian, black and Latino stereotypes to help make expressions of prejudice against those groups unkewl. I suppose it'll take longer for gays because even successful "out" writers present negative gay stereotypes in the movies & shows. It's kinda like a movie featuring "Jew jokes" or seriously Steppin Fetchit characters in this day & age. But the creative types don't seem to realize that.

And, of course, these phony-macho sports a-holes don't help. Now THERE'S a sick culture.



PAM's HOUSE BLEND
"Weekend This & That: Open Thread"
Totally WAC.

' University of Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin drew sharp criticism for using a gay slur repeatedly during a Western Athletic Conference media day Thursday in Salt Lake City. The WAC football coaches are in Utah for the football season preview. McMackin was referring to last season's Hawaii Bowl when he said Notre Dame University's team did a "little f-----t dance" for Hawaii. That was during the banquet the night before the game when UH Warriors performed their haka. '

**MORAL FAILINGS AND OTHER ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIORS
"On the word "dyke" and stupid mothers"
What's in a name? A fat lip?

' I had placed my order and was waiting for it when a mother with two children came in; the little girl looked around 4, the boy around 9. They were talking, laughing, doing what kids do when they are about to get Jamba. I saw the little girl point at me and heard her say, "Mommy, why is that lady wearing boy's shorts?" Her brother piped up with, "Cause she's a dyke." '

(cross-posted at CoffeeHouseStudio by cosanostradamus)


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COURT CUTS BABY IN HALF

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GRANOLA STATE SUPREMES CUT OFF GAY MARRIAGE



"SOLOMONIC" DECISION PLEASES NO ONE, ANGERS EVERYONE

Human Rights Still Unacceptable in California, Sorta, Kinda, Maybe, Who Knows?

In a boon for lawyers in the formerly Golden, now Plate State, the California State Supreme Court has opened the door to thousands of lawsuits over their latest muddled ruling on homosexual marriage. Same-sexers who have not yet married in Cali will never be able to do so now; those already married there may remain married, but never remarry; and the rest of the world does not have to recognize their marriages, nor will California recognize out-of-State gay marriages.

This is the same Court that just OK'ed gay marriage last year. This whale-sized flip-flop has astounded observers, as it appears to contradict everything the Court just said about marriage a year ago. Today, they've made it unimportant, but still denied it to gays. If it's so unimportant, why bother to deny it? If it is important, how can you deny it to one special class of people, legally? And what about tomorrow?

The SCOCA has also opened a Pandora's box of propositions. Ever since right-wing nuts began imposing their destructive preferences upon the rest of Cali by means of ill-attended and misunderstood ballot initiatives, the ideal of freedom and prosperity for everyone that the Bear Republic once represented to the world has gradually been lost. The State no longer offers the educational opportunities it once did. Public services and infrastructure are suffering from neglect. Good jobs have been flowing outward for years, while jobless people continue to flood inward. Property owners were told they simply didn't have to pay for all the wonderful things that made California golden. Now they can't even pay their bills. But the High Court says it's all good, State Constitutional Amendments aren't really "Amendments," in law. They're just, um, well, er, amendments with a small "a." So the basic law of the land there is now written on Silly-Putty, and can be twisted by wealthy out-of-State fanatics and special interests to mean whatever they want, whenever they want. Again, a lawyers wet-dream. Everyone and everything will end up in a court system that refuses to make decisions and stick to them. Venue-shopping? No need! Just try the same judge again next year. Everything will end up in Federal Court, eventually, and perpetually. So, what are your rights in Kolleefahneeya? I don't know, what day is it? Gotta check the paper. SoCal & NoCal folks might all be illegal aliens, today. Or not. Consult your attorney. If you can afford one.


SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"California Supreme Court upholds ban on gay marriage in 6-1 vote"
Fudge.

' Ending a six-month legal battle and instantly igniting the next political fight, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage, but left intact the unions of gay and lesbian couples who wed last year. In a definitive 6-1 decision that cheered opponents of gay marriage, the justices said they would be overstepping their authority if they were to overturn the constitutional ban voters enacted Nov. 4. In the same ruling, the court established a two-tiered system of marriage for same-sex couples that seemed bound to satisfy no one. Gay marriage advocates vowed Tuesday to take the fight to "win marriage back" to California voters in 2010. With same-sex marriage now legal in Iowa, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, supporters say they have momentum after a "sea change" of public opinion in recent months. '

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"Proposition 8 ruling: separate and unequal"
Legalistic horsesh*t from a bunch of cowardly lawyers guarantees chaos & discrimination in California.

' In reading the opinion, it was almost hard to imagine that it was produced by the same court that so eloquently affirmed the principle of marriage equality in May. Chief Justice Ronald George, then writing for the majority in a 4-3 ruling, had declared that all Californians should enjoy "a fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship." The latest ruling focused on more technical legal issues, namely whether Proposition 8 represented an "amendment" to the constitution (permissible through the initiative process) or a more substantial "revision" that could be put to voters only through a constitutional convention or a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. Curiously, the conclusion that Prop. 8 amounted to a mere "amendment" - and not a change in the basic nature of the constitution, as opponents had argued - required the justices to downplay the importance of marriage. This time, George suggested that domestic partnerships and anti-discrimination laws offer same-sex couples the "same substantive core benefits" as their heterosexual counterparts. The justices acknowledged that Prop. 8 does "diminish the rights of same-sex couples," but not so drastically that it would produce a "sweeping constitutional effect." It was up to Justice Carlos Moreno, the sole dissenting voice, to rise above the thicket of legalese and capture the essence of the issue. To allow a majority of voters to deprive one minority group of its rights is to put "at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities," he wrote '

SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK
"Local leaders on both sides of Prop 8 dispute react to ruling"
So, "inalienable" means "able to be withdrawn or restricted," in Lalaland, now.

' Garlow, however, anticipates legal challenges to the state’s existing same-sex marriages. In June, before voters passed Proposition 8, proponents of the ballot measure were denied a stay of the high court’s May 2008 ruling, which overturned Proposition 22, the state’s existing ban on gay marriage, and paved the way for same-sex couples to marry. Same-sex couples began marrying last summer, and were allowed to marry until 52 percent of voters approved the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on Nov. 4. Proposition 8 supporters fear the Supreme Court’s new ruling may create legal loopholes and additional challenges to law. “It creates a bizarre situation,” Garlow said. “How can the court legally justify affirming same-sex marriages that occurred during that four month window, when the law now reads only marriage between one man and one woman is valid and recognized in California?” The court’s majority rejected the challenge that Proposition 8 is a revision to the constitution - not an amendment - which would require a two-thirds vote by the state legislature to stand. The court also recognized voters’ rights to amend the Constitution through the initiative process, and said “inalienable” rights are not exempt from limitations or restrictions. '

LA TIMES
"California's gay marriage ruling signals next step for both sides"
The indecisive decision is a windfall for political consultants and advertising media.

' The next campaign in the gay-marriage fight has already begun. Less than 90 minutes after the California Supreme Court released its ruling on Proposition 8, both sides had already e-mailed supporters soliciting funds anticipating a new ballot measure on gay marriage that could reach voters in 2010. "We don't have time to mourn the failure of the state court to restore marriage equality to California," wrote Rick Jacobs, chairman of the Courage Campaign, in a 10:15 a.m. e-mail. He added that it was "time to go on offense" and asked supporters to send money for pro-gay-marriage advertising that could begin airing on television later this week. Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, waited until a little after 11 a.m. to hit up his supporters, writing: "We must turn our attention to protecting this victory . . . and must raise several million dollars to get our message out. . . . Please click here to make a contribution." In addition to buying advertising on TV, both sides are also hiring community organizers who will help supporters reach out to sway individual voters. '

THE SACRAMENTO BEE
"From San Francisco to midtown Sacramento, reaction is deep"
Citizens seem to understand the problems the Court has created better than the judges.

' "All this does is create two classes of citizens. I'm really saddened by this," said Kate Moore, who married her partner Tina Reynolds in an October ceremony at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento. Jorge Riley, a Proposition 8 supporter who traveled to San Francisco, representing fellow students at American River College in Sacramento, said he was pleased and relieved. "Justice has finally been served," he said. "This is the will of the people." Of the 18,000 couples in California who already hold marriage licenses, Riley said, "a lot of laws will have to accommodate those people, and it just doesn't make sense. I think those marriages will end up being invalidated." As he spoke outside the court building, a woman with the word "QUEER" painted on her forehead confronted him, repeatedly blowing a harmonica into his face before police led her away. '

THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"Locals vow new fight over gay marriage"
Marriage is now a revolving door, spun by hatred and ignorance.

' Both sides on the Kern County front of the same-sex marriage battle agreed Tuesday that their fight is not over. While the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, it left a door in the debate wide open: If voters have the right to make same-sex marriage illegal, they also have the right to legalize it again. Local gay rights activist Juan Cerda said the court ruling was disheartening and he plans to fight it through education — getting out into the community, knocking on doors and talking to people. “It's not just your vote, it's other people's marriage,” he said during a rally Tuesday evening in front of Outback Steakhouse on Stockdale Highway. “When do I get a chance to vote on your marriage?” Lisa Chidester, a stay-at-home Bakersfield mother who became a volunteer coordinator on the Yes on 8 campaign last year, said she is proud of the exhaustive work it took to pass the constitutional amendment in November. "I don't want my children to go to school and learn about gay marriage. That should stay at home," she said. "This is too important to let go." '

HEALTHVOTE.ORG
"Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government"
The problem with "Props" in a nutshell.

' When Progressives designed the direct democracy laws almost 100 years ago, they envisioned a process that would act as a safety valve, enabling citizens to supplement the work of the legislature when it failed to act. Today’s initiative process, however, has outstripped the authors’ vision. An emerging culture of democracy-by-initiative is transforming the electorate into a fourth and new branch of state government. Voters now exercise many of the legislative and executive powers traditionally reserved for the first and second branches of government. Some observers worry that ballot initiatives are undermining political party responsibility and the traditional forms of representative government in California. They say the initiative route discards checks and balances and its deliberateness in favor of ill-conceived, rash, and poorly drafted schemes. Initiatives, they fear, have shifted the policymaking burden to the voters, leaving them overwhelmed by the growing number of measures on the ballot. The problem, they maintain, is exacerbated by poor drafting, misleading campaigns, bewildering counter-initiatives, and by court rulings declaring initiatives unconstitutional or partially unconstitutional. '

BALLOTPEDIA.ORG
"California 2009 ballot propositions"
Low turn-outs for off-year Prop-only elections, with no candidates for high office running.

' Voter turnout predictions * In contrast to the 78% voter turnout in November 2008 in San Mateo County, elections manager David Tom says he expects a much lower turnout for the May 19 election, in the vicinity of 30-35%. * Ventura County Assistant Registrar of Voters Tracy Saucedo said on May 15 that about a third of voters who had been issued mail-in ballots had returned them, or about 13% of Ventura County's 422,342 registered voters. This rate of voting is about the same as the June 2008 ballot proposition election, in which a total of 29.5% of voters in the county ultimately voted. * Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar said, ""I just don't see any driving force that's going to bring out the voters." He predicts that turnout in the county will come to 25% of registered voters. It was 72% in November. '

BIBLOS.COM
"1 Kings 3:16-28"
No Solomons, these judges actually split the baby.

' 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. '

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SAVE TRADITIONAL OREOS

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THE INSTITUTION OF COOKIES IS THREATENED BY GAY OREOS

Gay Oreo Sex

A HINT OF MINT, THE VULGAR "DOUBLE-STUFF," AND GOD HELP US, EVEN CHOCOLATE OREOS!

Molester Oreo

Protect Our Children From These Lifestyle Choices: Even The Slightest Change Could Cause All Cookies To Crumble!

Fellow Christians and cookie worshippers, I have a sad tale to tell you. Perhaps you already know it: Our streets and our supermarkets have been overrun by purveyors of the homosexual snack agenda. That's right, brothers and sisters, the gays are in the aisles we once cherished, turning frozen pizza into panini, substituting arugula for iceberg, and warping our society's delicatessen values to conform to standards that can only be called "French" [shudder]. Where once there was good old American liverwurst, there is now only pâté . Instead of macaroni salad, sexually ambiguous "deli-istas" are purveying hummus. Could they BE any more obvious? Isn't "Hummus" just French for "homos"? Why else would they suddenly start wear prophylactic gloves just to serve up slaw and Swiss cheese? Can I get an "AMEN!!!," people?

B&D Oreos

Praise Jesus, the Republican Party is on top of this, brothers and sisters. The matter of the gay Oreos has been taken up by the Party Chairman himself, Michael Steele. Even though he is at least in part an Afro mulatto black mocha negro African-American colored person of some sort, Chairman Steele is personally offended by the gay Oreos and has pledged the full resources of the GOP, which means those of the entire global corporate world, to defending traditional Oreos. The Defend Intact Traditional Oreos Act is just baby steps away from becoming law, if the deeply perverted mint-Oreo sucking Demoqueers don't stop it. Throw your teabags out the window and shout, "I'm straight as Hell, and I'm not gonna take it up the wazoo!" [Open the window, first.] OUR CHILDREN WILL DIE GODLESS HOMOS IF YOU DON'T!!!!

S&M Oreos

What can you do? Well, it seems like these days a white Christian traditional-Oreo-loving conservative man or woman's vote just doesn't mean a thing. Thank God we managed to preserve the Second Amendment. We are recommending that every true American, by which we mean straight white Christians, download the attached Gun Stamps to purchase discounted firearms for the coming apocalypse, or, as we are rebranding it, Krystal Night, in honor of DITO spokesperson Krystal-Honey Von Nudenbacher, Miss Utah in the Miss Christian Hooters beauticians-college scholarship pageant, who was recently denied her Tenth Amendment right to secede from the union by gay homosexual bloggers only because she has accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior. She also needs a little help with the drug charges.

Gun Stamps

Fellow white Christian heterosexuals, we know you will do your part as a church-going member of the NRA. Contact your local militia leader in the bar at the VFW, and sign on to our heavily armed crusade to Defend Intact Traditional Oreos, or DITOS. If you can contribute one hundred thousand dollars or more, you will achieve instant Junior DITO-head status, and qualify for preferred seating at the Rapture. You and your loved ones will be guaranteed a place in an all white Christian heterosexual American section of Heaven, in a shining city high on a hill where you can see the Russians, the Democrats and the Homos in Hell.

But wait! There's MORE!! If you act now, you will receive absolutely free of charge a one year subsription to GOP Chairman Steele's personal newsletter, "Traditional Oreo Journal." Operators are standing by, somewhere in Bangladesh.
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LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

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HATE CRIMINALS HAVE CREATED A SPECIAL KIND OF CRIME

YOUTUBE: US CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY
"Pledge of Allegiance"
Some people get it. But they're not Republicans.


A SPECIAL LAW WAS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH THESE SPECIAL CRIMES

Conservatards Quake With Fear That They Might Be Caught Thinking Criminally.
We'd Like To See Them Thinking At All.

Ironically, it is the law & order types who dream of technology that can read people's minds and discover criminal intent. They love good old torture for the same reason: They think it exposes the inner thoughts and intent of criminals and terrorists. But the idea that the same logic might be applied to them has them pissing in their Depends, the old fools.

In America, we insist on the absolute freedom to think anything you want. We defend the right of free expression to the death, from avant garde art to rebellious polemics, from nude dancing to Ku Klux Klan rallies. There is no such thing as "hate speech" in the law here. Hate all you want in the good old USA. As long as you don't act or incite others to act criminally, it's all good. But once you do commit a criminal act, your intent becomes a matter of interest under the law. Under the new hate crimes legislation passed by the US House of Representatives, those who commit crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice against real or perceived groups will find judges and juries most attentive to the messages they were trying to send by committing their crimes. As well they should.

"Intent" is always considered in criminal cases. That's the difference between First and Second Degree Murder, and between Murder and Manslaughter, or Manslaughter and Accidental Death: Did the accused mean to kill? What was his or her state of mind? Was he or she drunk, high, crazy, terrified? Did they act "with malice aforethought"? Did they show any remorse, or did they try to cover up their crime? Do they show remorse now? Is it genuine?

These are the kinds of questions we ask judges and juries to decide. That's why they're there: To exercise their judgment, and try to understand the motivations of an accused person. Maybe they killed in self-defense, or by accident. Maybe they killed for money, or to cover up a crime. Motive matters.

The fact is, it's the perpetrators themselves who have created this special class of crime. The new law simply recognizes an old fact. In many cases, the perpetrators have no connection to their victims, don't even know them, had no reason to do anything to them, not even robbery. They chose to make a statement of their ideas, attitudes or feelings about another "kind" of person or perceived group of persons by committing what is, in any circumstances, a crime against them. They committed a crime against another person BECAUSE of that persons' actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Who and what the victim was provided the motivation for a criminal act. The perpetrator chose to break the law for the purpose of striking out against a whole group of people, an act of extraordinary anti-socialism. They chose to use crime to make a statement to all of society, to hurt and terrorize an entire class of human beings. They chose to move from thought to action, from thinking to doing, from abstract to concrete, from ideal to real. They forced this issue by moving beyond symbolism to actual crime. The new law does not criminalize thought, nor does it criminalize behavior that was not already criminal under the law: Assault, battery, rape, murder, arson, and other crimes of violence with intent to cause bodily injury: Crimes without a doubt, since time immemorial.

Under all of our laws, once a crime is proved, the punishment must always hinge on intent. We've already singled out for special punishment our convicted cop-killers, kiddie-porn producers, schoolyard drug-dealers, thieving traitors-for-money, etc. They are punished more severely because of the intent and the special circumstances behind the crime. Hate-criminals have chosen to commit crimes solely, initially or primarily out of hate. If this motivation is not recognized by the law, then how are police and prosecutors to collect evidence and prepare cases? How are judges and juries to proceed? What criteria are they supposed to use to determine the type and severity of the crime, and of the punishment? The logic of the law and the imperatives of justice cannot allow for ambiguity. Without a law like this, justice cannot be done in cases like these, either from a legal, philosophical, moral or emotional point of view. You would be leaving the police and prosecutors without legal guidelines, and judges and juries without a lawful standard by which to judge. In order for our system of justice to work, tools like this new law are required.

Determining intent is a vital part of what the law is all about, and it's why we have a criminal justice system, and trial by juries. We trust juries to make these determinations as they make every other determination in the thousands of criminal cases across the country every day. The system is not perfect, but it is the best we have. If the right-tards don't get that, they don't get America. "With Liberty and Justice for ALL," it says in the Pledge of Allegiance that they themselves insist schoolchildren recite every day. Don't they mean it?

The victims and the perpetrators of crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice deserve justice. Now they will get it. This new law is long overdue, and it reaffirms a simple fact: We are one nation indivisible, where all men and women are created equal, and we demand that people be treated as such. This not Serbia or Rwanda, Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia. The days of the Bund and the Klan are over. We are a great melting pot, and our diversity is our strength, always has been. Now we have a law to preserve, protect, ensure and defend that diversity. Let those who cannot abide it go somewhere else. Their hateful acts will no longer be tolerated, even though their hateful speech continues to be protected.

Rest easy, Republicans. We real Americans are not like you: We value, honor and uphold freedom & justice, in our deeds and not just in our words. Hate all you want, you sick bastards. But act on that hate, and we will bust you.


Thanks to Pam's House Blend for bringing this up.

OPEN CONGRESS
"HR 1913 Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009"
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act

' Sec. 249. Hate crime acts

`(a) In General-

`(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person--

`(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

`(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

`(i) death results from the offense; or

`(ii) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

`(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY-

`(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerouse weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person--

`(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

`(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

`(I) death results from the offense; or

`(II) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. '

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CAN A MOONBEAM SAVE A MARRIAGE?

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LINDA RONDSTADT'S EX-BF SINGS "YOU & I TRAVEL TO THE SOUND OF A DIFFERENT DRUM"

GOLDEN STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TAKES A POSITION IN FAVOR OF GAY RIGHTS



FORMER CALIFORNIA GOV. JERRY BROWN SAYS PROP 8 "UNCONSTITUTIONAL"

Former talk-show host and son of former Governor Pat Brown [ante Reagan], former Governor Jerry Brown [post Reagan], the former Mayor who "saved" Oakland, is working to save thousands of formerly lawful gay marriages in the Bear Republic. Silent until now on his intent in bringing the new law before the California State Supreme Court, Jerry has come down on the side of equal rights for homosexual couples. His last-minute reversal left anti-gays no time to respond. Intentional, Jer'? Slick!

Gay-haters were caught off-balance by the move, but slime-master Ken Starr, the $60 million Presidential BJ detector, is already moving to invalidate same-sex nuptials performed before the passing of Proposition Eight in the November 2008 California State ballot initiative. Moonbeam & Starr will square off in Sacramento, before the same Court that legalized queer weddings in the first place. Right-wingers, who normally argue to suppress election results, will be trying to present the hatred, fear and dis-information-inspired vote as inviolable. Popular hero Brown will be making the point that inviolable rights are not subject to popularity contests, especially not unfair and demeaning ones. Memo to Starr: Never argue with a Jesuit.

Cali's learned Justices will make the call, but the issue is not likely to be finally resolved there. After their stinging rebuke in the national election, right-wingers may be trying to reorganize their demoralized forces around an old source of anger, fear, hatred and spite. Though they chose not to scapegoat gays before the general public this election year, doubtless realizing it could backfire, no such constraints exist with regard to their homophobic base now. A litigious run at the U.S. Supreme Court may be their last stand, before Obama gets a chance to put some non-Nazi's on the bench.

Ultimately, SCOTUS will have to decide to put centuries of precedent aside and invalidate the "Full Faith & Credit" Clause of the U.S. Constitution (which requires recognition of each State's laws & contracts by every other State), and the Equal Protection Amendment (XIV), which guarantees the same rights to all; or else legalize gay marriage by upholding the Constitution. Their only other other option would be to fudge the issue, or refuse to consider it, leaving us with a patchwork of State laws making a couple legally married in one State, but not in another, leading to endless inter-State squabbling and legal chaos. The fact is, there is no choice here. According to Federal law, same-sexers have the same right to civil marriage as heterosexuals, and all States must recognize that, eventually, in the name of human rights and common sense. But when? That's up to Scalia & Co, or whomsoever Obama may put in their places. Stay tuned.

Oh, and both Star & Moonbeam may be gay. Damn. Buried the lede again.


SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"Brown: Invalidate Prop. 8"
JER-RY! JER-RY!! JER-RY!!!

' Saying Proposition 8 violates constitutionally protected liberties, Attorney General Jerry Brown on Friday asked the California Supreme Court to strike down the same-sex marriage ban, even as supporters filed a brief that would erase the legal recognition of couples married before Election Day. In a brief filed with the high court, the state top's lawyer argues for the first time that Proposition 8 should be invalidated, saying it is "inconsistent with the guarantees of individual liberty safeguarded" by the California Constitution. Brown had not taken a position on the measure until now. "There are certain rights that are not to be subject to popular votes, otherwise they are not fundamental rights," Brown said in an interview. "If every fundamental liberty can be stripped away by a majority vote, then it's not a fundamental liberty." Proposition 8 supporters on Friday further pumped up the wattage of the coming legal confrontation by naming Kenneth W. Starr, the former U.S. solicitor general and independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation against then-President Bill Clinton. Starr, dean of the law school at Pepperdine University, will argue the Yes on 8 case before the Supreme Court, in arguments that could begin as soon as March. '

FOX NEWS: KTUV2 OAKLAND, CA
"A.G. Brown Makes Legal U-Turn on Prop 8"
Making a U-turn is what you're supposed to do when you realize that you're going the wrong way, conservatives.

' Attorney General Jerry Brown made a legal u-turn on Friday on Proposition 8. He had been expected to defend the ban on same-sex marriage in front of the California Supreme Court. Friday was the deadline for supporters of the measure to respond to a lawsuit that argued Prop 8 is a revision of the constitution, not just an amendment.Instead the Attorney General's said when his office began looking at it they quickly decided it was an amendment. But they said they determined it was an unconstitutional one that violates a fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. The attorney general's office determined it should be stuck down. '

NBC NEWS: BAY AREA TV
"Prop 8 Sponsors Want to Nix 18,000 Gay Marriages"
Redefining "mean-spirited."

' A new war of words over gay marriage erupted on Friday as the sponsors of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court to nullify the marriages of the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters last month approved the ballot initiative that outlawed gay unions. The Yes on 8 campaign filed a brief Friday arguing that because the new law holds that only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized or valid in California, the state can no longer recognize the existing same-sex unions. '

WIKIPEDIA
"Jerry Brown"
Gay in Oakland? Wow, that takes balls!

' Brown also had a long friendship with Lorenzo Jacques Barzaghi, his aide-de-camp, whom he met in the early 1970s and put on his payroll. According to author Roger Rapaport, writing in California Dreaming 1982, "this combination clerk, chauffeur, fashion consultant, decorator and trusted friend had no discernible powers. Yet late at night, after everyone had gone home to their families and TV consoles, it was Jacques who lingered in the Secretary (of state's) office." Barzaghi lived with Brown in the warehouse in Jack London Square, and was brought into Oakland city government upon Brown's election as mayor in 1998, where Barzaghi first acted as the mayor's armed bodyguard. Brown later awarded Barzaghi with high paying city jobs, including "Arts Director." Brown dismissed Barzaghi in July 2004. '

WIKIPEDIA
"Kenneth Starr"
They might BOTH be gay! This should be interesting.

' Though his judicial reputation earned him some note for three and a half years after his appointment[citation needed], particularly after his aggressive emphasis on engaging political issues in Arkansas — culminating in the fraud prosecution of then-sitting Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker and Clinton real estate investment partners James and Susan McDougal — Starr was accused of doing the bidding of Richard Mellon Scaife, who had funded a position at Pepperdine University that Starr first accepted but later relinquished. In 2004, he became the Dean of Pepperdine Law School.[16] Rumors began spreading that members of Starr's staff were gay, and Doug Ireland alleged in The Nation that White House aide Sidney Blumenthal was spreading them. Susan McDougal, in the book and film documentary The Hunting of the President, alleges that Starr's office pressured her to lie under oath in order to back up its allegations against Clinton. '

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