Virginia Blues

For as long as I've lived in the DC area my friends who live in Virginia have been working their tails off to "turn Virginia blue." Well it finally happened, and look at how inauguration day planners are responding:

Never mind that Virginia was the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. Or that it was here that representative democracy took its first fledgling steps in the New World. When Virginians learned that the U.S. Secret Service and other top officials had decided to bar personal vehicles from every bridge from the commonwealth into the District on Inauguration Day, many felt the underlying message to them was this: Drop dead.

Or: Stay home.

Or: If you're going to try to come and see the first African American sworn in as president of the United States, well, good luck.

"First was the hysteria of announcing over 4 million people might be flooding the Mall. Later, they amend that number by half. Then they announce there will be no parking, few toilets and that everyone will be standing and waiting for hours. Then they tell people not to bring children and, finally, they close all the bridges," fumed Virginian Holly Kenney. "Do they think we're dense? Clearly, the public is no longer welcome."

But to some business and political leaders in the region, the plan represents more than a snub. They are concerned that the unprecedented closings and restrictions will turn away visitors, hurt businesses and employees, and tip the balance too far toward security over access.

The plan unveiled by the Secret Service and area transportation officials Wednesday closes all Virginia bridges across the Potomac and interstates 395 and 66 inside the Beltway to personal vehicles. It also cordons off a large section of downtown Washington to help manage the unprecedented crowds expected. Maryland, in contrast, has no planned road closures.

That's because we're special!

"The Secret Service, they're insane," said U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-Alexandria). "This is security on steroids. They are imposing major obstacles on people who have a right to be there for the inauguration."

But even Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) signed off on the plan.

"I think it's a good idea," Kaine said yesterday in a meeting with Washington Post editors and reporters. "Closing 66 and 395 . . . was the right thing to do for the logistics to make the inauguration work."

Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said 58 agencies were involved in crafting the security plan, including representatives from 15 agencies in Maryland, Virginia and the District who participated in the transportation and traffic subcommittee.

"Never, in putting together the plan, was a thought given to keep people from coming. It is that they be safe," Wiley said. "We are not restricting anyone from coming. . . . The only thing we restricted is personal vehicles."

But some Virginians were taking it personally.

As it should. This really does seem excessive. I can see closing the 14th Street bridge, and even the Key bridge, but to not allow any of them to be open certainly sends a bad message to the people in the state who worked very hard to make this day happen.

Let's hope Secret Service officials reconsider -- but having observed them over the past 19 years ... I seriously doubt it.

Roberts Court right move, wrong for progressives

Women, progressive men, anyone who cares about social justice ought to take a deep breath and prepare for a very long haul.

The Roberts Court has clearly moved to the right -- and this can only spell disaster for women and our reproductive health, for anyone who cares about the separation of church and state, LGBT rights, and a plethora of other social justice issues.

The Washington Post reports:

The Supreme Court's decision signaling a significant reversal in the way it views government restrictions on abortion may also offer a glimpse of how the court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will proceed on other controversial issues this term and in the future.

The five justices in the majority came up with an opinion that delighted abortion opponents and outraged abortion rights activists -- and yet, in the view of the court, did not overturn a single precedent or seemingly contradictory ruling.

I disagree. This ruling was contradictory to any other ruling on abortion, because for the first time the Court has said there are no health exceptions for the woman. And what does THAT sound like.

Knowing that we can no longer count on the Court to protect us, we must turn a keen eye to politics. If you have never worked for a candidate, find one you like and volunteer on their campaign. If you have never registered to vote because you thought it didn't matter ... well, it does. If you are registered, but had too much to do to make it to the polls last time, plan to take the day off and go vote.

Everything is political.

Roberts Court shows its contempt for women

There ought to be a law that says even Supreme Court Justices can’t practice medicine without a license. The Roberts Court clearly demonstrated its contempt for women and women’s health with today’s decision in Gonzales v. Carhart.

For the first time since Roe, this ban has no exception for the health of the woman. For the first time since Roe a physician can face criminal charges for performing a medical procedure that would be in the best interest of safeguarding the patient’s health.

In a 5-4 decision the Justices basically said we don’t care if continuing a pregnancy would threaten your life, or possibly cause complications that could prevent you from conceiving a child in the future. We don’t care if the best procedure for your circumstances is the procedure now banned. If you doctor does what is in your best interest, he or she would face penalties of up to two years in prison.

In their alert today, the Feminist Majority said:

Today's devastating 5-4 decision by the Bush-stacked Supreme Court is a historical decision on abortion and women's rights and is a direct assault on Roe v. Wade. This decision greatly increases the challenges and work of the feminist movement, as it fundamentally undermines women's health protection and makes politicians -- not doctors -- the decision-makers and arbitrators of women's health and access to abortion and family planning services.

This is an open invitation for state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to further restrict abortion and to interfere with women's health decisions.

FM’s recommendations are that:

• We must make this an election issue.
• We must stop the stacking of the Supreme Court by President Bush.
• We must increase the pro-choice votes in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and state legislatures.
• And we must work to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which will codify Roe so that it cannot be further assaulted.

A statement released by FM President Eleanor Smeal said:

In upholding the Bush Administration's abortion ban in Gonzales v. Carhart, the Bush-stacked majority of the U.S. Supreme Court showed its true colors: that it does not care about the health, well-being, and safety of American women. In this first decision on abortion of the newly constituted majority, without Sandra Day O'Connor, Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito did what they were put on the Court to do—strike a blow against women's fundamental right to choose abortion.

This propels women's right to abortion and birth control to the center of the 2008 presidential election. Elections matter: this ban is a direct consequence of a Republican, ideologically driven president and Congress, which ignored the science-based opinions of such leading medical authorities as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in passing this ban and signing it into law.

Already, the decision in Gonzales v. Carhart will mean that women with troubled pregnancies will be forced into more dangerous situations, putting their future ability to have safe and healthy pregnancies at risk. Older women will be especially affected, as amniocentesis results are released later in the pregnancy. The health and safety of adolescents and pre-teens will also be more at risk, as they are often forced to delay their decisions about whether to abort because of lack of control over their own lives or inadequate funds.

This case must serve as a wake-up call to American women that their right to a safe, legal abortion is not only being chipped away, but frontally assaulted. Principled supporters of women's health and safety in the Senate must stand up against any future Bush appointments to the Supreme Court who will not uphold Roe v. Wade and preserve women's fundamental rights, because women's lives are on the line.

I agree with everything Ellie said, with the possible exception of this being a “wake-up call” for American women. We got our wake-up call the day George W. Bush first took the oath of office, and the snooze alarm went off twice with the confirmations of Roberts and Alito.

Now that we know we cannot count on the Court to protect us, this is a political fight. From this moment on we must ONLY support candidates who support FULL reproductive health care for women.

From this moment on, anyone running for President, Congress, governor, state legislator, mayor, city or county commissioner, school board or dog catcher must ALL support the full spectrum of reproductive health care available to women -- including safe and legal abortion.

We’ve got to vote as if our lives depend on it … because they do.

MLK remembered

"The arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice."

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968

Friday Night Funnies

Why you can't trust "the media"

from Crooks and Liars ... you've got to watch this one

On Monday's Hardball, Andrea Mitchell said this about how the Bush administration may handle any forthcoming subpoenas in the wake of the the Libby verdict:

"They're going to try to really tamp this down and appeal to the polling which indicates that most people think, in fact, that he should be pardoned. Scooter Libby should be pardoned."

In "fact," huh? Theres one slight problem; only a whopping 18% of Americans support a Libby Pardon. (CNN Poll .pdf)

Sunday Funnies

Sunday Funnies