Hissyspit
Hissyspit's JournalObama Administration Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down DOMA
Source: Buzz Feed
Obama Administration Urges Supreme Court To Strike Down DOMA
“The Constitution … requires that Section 3 be invalidated,” Obama's Supreme Court lawyer argues.
posted on February 22, 2013 at 6:54pm EST
Chris Geidner
BuzzFeed Staff
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act's prohibition on recognition of same-sex couples' marriages in a Friday filing, arguing that laws that target gay people should face additional scrutiny by courts reviewing them.
Under such heightened scrutiny, as it is called, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli says that Section 3 of DOMA, which defines "spouse" and "marriage" under federal law as only those marriages between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional.
In summary, the administration argues:
Section 3 of DOMA violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples. Because this discrimination cannot be justified as substantially furthering any important governmental interest, Section 3 is unconstitutional.
Additionally, the administration addresses the question of what should happen to DOMA if the Supreme Court does not agree that such heightened scrutiny applies, writing, "If the Court ... applies rational-basis review, the government has previously defended Section 3 under rational-basis review, and does not challenge the constitutionality of Section 3 under that highly deferential standard." However, the administration adds that the court may consider what has been called a "more searching" form of this rational-basis review, with the lawyers writing:
To the extent sexual orientation may be considered to fall short in some dimension [to have heightened scrutiny applied], the history of discrimination and the absence of relation to one's capabilities associated with this particular classification would uniquely qualify it for scrutiny under an approach that calls for a measure of added focus to guard against giving effect to a desire to harm an "unpopular group."
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/obama-administration-urges-supreme-court-to-strike-down-doma
Bill Moyers: Little-Known Group Has Become The "Dark-Money ATM for Right"
http://billmoyers.com/2013/02/21/donors-trust-the-atm-for-climate-denialMONEY & POLITICS
Donors Trust: The ATM for Climate Denial
February 21, 2013
by Theresa Riley
According to Mother Jones and The Guardian newspaper, over the past decade, a little-known group called Donors Trust has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars from wealthy contributors to a host of right-wing organizations, advocacy groups and think tanks. MJ‘s Andy Kroll dubs it the “dark-money ATM of the right” because of all the conservative campaigns the group had bankrolled. He writes:
The group bankrolled attacks on unions, public schools, regulating Wall Street and the veracity of global warming. The Guardian‘s Suzanne Goldenberg reports that climate change denial was a particular focus of the fund. By 2010, the Trust had “distributed $118m to 102 thinktanks or action groups” on record denying human involvement with climate change or “opposing environmental regulations.”
MORE[p]
Scahill on Blackwater/DOJ: "If this is all that came of this case, wow. Just wow."
@jeremyscahill: DoJ just announced ex-Blackwater execs sentenced to "3 years probation, 4 months house arrest with stipulations, fined $5,000" #slaponwrist
@jeremyscahill: The former execs are Blackwater president Gary Jackson and former vice president William Matthews
@jeremyscahill: These dudes were indicted on major stuff: conspiracy, weapons, obstruction of justice. If this is all that came of this case, wow. Just wow.
@jeremyscahill: Background on this case: http://t.co/KqqzQoWQkM
U.S. Indicts 5 Blackwater Ex-Officials
By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: April 16, 2010
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors charged the former president of Blackwater Worldwide and four other former senior company officials on Friday with weapons violations and making false statements in the first criminal inquiry to reach into the top management ranks of the private security company.
- snip -
The charges stem in part from a 2008 raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of Blackwater’s Moyock, N.C., headquarters complex, where agents seized 22 weapons, including 17 AK-47s.
The former officials are charged with trying to hide the company’s purchases of the weapons by making it seem as if they had been bought by a North Carolina sheriff’s office. Blackwater sought to have the sheriff pose as the owner of the weapons because federal firearms law made it illegal for Blackwater to have so many of them, according to the indictment.
Other charges relate to the company’s large inventory of short-barrel rifles, deadly and especially useful in tight spots, which by law must be registered. Federal prosecutors charge that Blackwater shipped the weapons overseas with the barrels detached in an effort to avoid export regulations.
The executives are also charged with trying to hide gifts of expensive weapons to Jordanian officials who were visiting Blackwater at a time when the company was trying to win contracts from Jordan’s government.
Michael Moore Intervenes When Agents Threaten to Deport (Oscar-Nominated) Director at Airport
Source: Raw Story
Michael Moore intervenes when agents threaten to deport Palestinian director at airport
By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 12:12 am
An Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker was detained Tuesday and threatened with deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at Los Angeles International Airport, according to Oscar-winning director Michael Moore.
Moore tweeted early Wednesday morning that Emad Burnat, director of 5 Broken Cameras, a film critical of Israeli West Bank settlements, was put in a holding area with his 8-year-old son “and told they didn’t have the proper invitation to attend the Oscars.”
Moore added that Burnat was “threatened with being sent back to Palestine.”
- snip -
“I called Academy officials who called lawyers,” Moore explained. “I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times… After 1.5 hrs, they decided to release him & his family & told him he could stay in LA for the week & go to the Oscars. Welcome to America.”
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/20/michael-moore-intervenes-when-agents-threaten-to-deport-palestinian-director-at-airport
Chris Matthews: GOP Using ‘Cold War CIA Tactics’ to Bring Down U.S. Government
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/19/chris-matthews-gop-using-cold-war-cia-tactics-to-bring-down-u-s-governmentChris Matthews: GOP using ‘Cold War CIA tactics’ to bring down U.S. government
By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 19:17 EST
MSNBC host Chris Matthews tore into the Republican Party on his show Tuesday night, comparing their anti-government attitude to CIA-led coups during the Cold War.
“If they didn’t like a government somewhere — Guatemala, Iran, the Dominican Republic, Chile — they just brought it down,” he said. “Guess what, Republicans are now using the same tactic here at home. If they don’t like who we’ve elected president, they find some way to undermine the government, discredit its leaders, whatever it takes to destroy it.”
“We are using in this country the same old Cold War CIA tactics to destabilize our own country,” Matthews continued. “Look at the impact of the constant threats to shut down the government on public confidence. It’s all in the ratings. It’s making people forever nervous about the basic ability of America to even have a running government. Is that patriotic? I don’t think so.”
The liberal MSNBC host alleged that while President Barack Obama was attempting to keep the government running, Republicans were hoping to gain political points by refusing to compromise and crash the government.
VIDEO AT LINK
malaise's Previous Discussion: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022400436[p]
Hubris? Fuckers!
It was planned and it was deliberate.
War Crimes.
Sociopathy.
Torture.
Slaughter.
Lies.
After Lies.
Upon Lies.
No Accountability.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78606.html#ixzz20uB5Rnwy
[font size="8"]“Eight years was awesome and I was famous and I was powerful...”[/font]
Yes, this is a repost of a thread I did last year when that shit came out of Bush's mouth.
George W. Bush. Dick Cheney. Rice. Wolfowitz. Feith. Card. Fleischer. Libby. Rumsfeld. Rove. Miller. Matalin. Bolton. Powell. Perle. Kristol...
All the enablers.
All the criminals.
What they said about and did to those who tried to stop it at risk of their careers: Clarke. Wilson. Kwiatkowski. Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, Byrd, Moore, Kiesling...
Tell the story of what the fuckers did ten years after, and fifteen years after, and twenty...
Never forget any of them.
Ever.
[p]
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/bushiest-george-w-bush-quote-ever
Bonus: Marco Rubio - George W. Bush ‘Did a Fantastic Job as President’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014104189
Remember: Richard Clarke Was The Only
member of the Bush Administration who provided an apology to the family members of victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Family members at the hearing were moved.
"Clarke is the first person who's ever apologized," said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband was killed at the World Trade Center. "I felt like crying."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0324-11.htm
Some White House attempts to discredit Clarke were inconsistent, specifically, the day after Clarke's revelations Vice President Dick Cheney went on the Rush Limbaugh radio program to claim that Clarke's account of the events leading to the 9/11 attacks was not credible because Clarke "wasn't in the loop" on pre-9/11 counter-terrorism planning, while at the same time National Security Adviser Rice was telling reporters that Clarke was the center of all counter-terrorism efforts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke
Arkansas Senate Passes Bill to Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks
Source: Reuters
Arkansas Senate passes bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks
Mon Feb 18, 2013
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled Arkansas state Senate approved a measure on Monday to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in the case of rape, incest or to save the mother's life.
The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed the Senate, 25-7, with amendments that allowed for the exemptions in the case of rape or incest. An earlier version of the bill that passed the Republican-controlled House allowed exemptions only for pregnancies that threatened the mother's life.
The bill, which shortens the existing limit of 25 weeks, now returns to the House for consideration of the Senate amendment.
Democratic Governor Mike Beebe has not said whether he would sign the bill into law.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE91H0S220130218
Colorado House Passes Ban on Concealed Weapons on Campus, Slew of Other Gun Bills
Source: Denver Post
Colorado House passes ban on concealed weapons on campus, slew of other gun bills
POSTED: 02/18/2013 09:05:57 AM MST
UPDATED: 02/18/2013 02:10:38 PM MST
By Tim Hoover, Lynn Bartels and Kurtis Lee
The Denver Post
Concealed weapons on college campuses would be banned under a bill passed Monday in the Colorado House, legislation part of a Democratic gun control package that cleared the House the same day.
House Bill 1226, which bans concealed weapons on public college campuses, passed the House on a 34-31 vote, with three Democrats voting no.
Democrats argued guns and college students don't mix and that campuses are some of the safest places in America.
"There are a lot of students who simply are not ready to be in the presence of firearms," said Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, the sponsor of the bill. "It's a dangerous mix."
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22613895/colorado-house-debate-gun-bills-again-but-limited
Tom Tomorrow: The Tree of Liberty! (Try Not To Shoot Him)
Daily Kos Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/18/1187146/-The-tree-of-liberty
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