Flotsam and Jetsom

D.C.'s gay marriage law that passed the City Council faces pushback from Rep. Leo Chaffetz, Republican from Utah, who wants the question put to a referendum. The only problem is that lawyers believe that Congress, even though it oversees D.C., can't impose a direct vote on DC because of its status. Interesting.

In reference to my previous posts on the Prop 8 trial, I receive about a dozen e-mails a week decrying the appointment by President Obama of some gay or another. But the charges are curiously the same. All the accused encourage gay sex with underage children. When I look into these, it always turns out that the alleged incident has to do with people,almost always men, who are of consenting age. The appointees are usually accused of either explaining kinky sexual practices at seminars or recommending sexual relations with older males.

In every case, it's like six degrees of separation. The speaker at a seminar at Tufts University on gay sexuality happens to be there as pamphlets on safe sex practices are available to the audience. The speaker has absolutely no connection with their production or the organization that produced them. Yet somehow the connection is made that the speaker, since he was there, condones everything in these pamphlets, which may offend someone who is homophobic. The same applied with the young man--of consenting age who was thinking about having a relationship with an older man. The Obama appointee--many years ago--tried to convince the younger male to be careful. Hardly, the advice of someone urging such a relationship. And it goes on. But it all fits with Dr. Tam's ,Mr. Prop 8, position that a vote for gay marriage is a vote for legalizing sex with children. The meme is there--gay men are pedophiles. This is the line of reasoning that the anti-gay lawyers in California are trying to sneak into the court arguments but the expert witnesses are shutting them down.

Pentagon lawyers are saying that now is not the time to repeal DADT, which Obama has promised. I haven't made up my mind on this but I want to relay that Bill Clinton changed his mind on DADT. At last year's Netroots conference, he basically said that Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "blackmailed" him with this and that DADT was a compromise. But Clinton said he changed his mind after he found out that the troops who led the obliteration of the Republican Guard in Iraq were primarily gay. He later found out that the top commanders knew this, let them inflict their punishing victory on the Iraqis, and then promptly fired them all. Most recently, we have seen that at a time when we urging needed Arabic translators the military discharged the top translators because they were gay. As Dr. Chauncy testified at the Prop.8 trial that enforcing DADT has cost the US Government roughly $90 million--of course, a drop in the bucket when you have a trillion budget, but is it worth it? Senator Levin promises hearing on DADT rather soon and we will see what the compelling arguments are for keeping it.

It sure didn't take long. President Obama is now being criticized for his..drumroll--slowness to respond to the Haiti earthquake. He could only have been quicker if he had been telepathic. His response with the display of all the appropriate cabinet members and Vice President Biden today--all of whom cancelled all prior commitments--is a model for humanitarian disasters. He pledged an immediate $100 million to the effort and spoke eloquently about less fortunate among us. Yes, planes with aid are having a tough time landing in Haiti, since there is a bottleneck that is caused by the collapse of the total infrastructure of the country. And, as predicted, there is an outbreak of malaria and stomach viruses. But, common on, folks. Always remember only one American city was destroyed under George W. Bush. But let's keep that instant gratification going!

The Republicans believe they will take back the House in 2010. They are going to run the election as a referendum on the national Democrats. Presumably, they will spell out their exciting ideas about creating jobs and securing the Homeland through torture. I have no idea what the appeal will be except to run against incumbents. I would like to see Republicans finally fess up to destroying the economy and plunging the country into almost insurmontable debt.

The CBO doesn't believe we will get back to 8% unemployment until 2012. I think we are facing a generation of 6-8% unemployment. When I was young, I was taught that 5% unemployment was the absolute limit when the economy is running at maximum efficiency. With the collapse of our mmanufacturing base and the export of so many jobs abroad, I don't see things turning around in a strong direction until the basis of our economy is transformed. President Obama has laid the groundwork for this but I doubt whether he will be President to see it pay off.

The Health Reform Bill keeps getting tweaked. Labor has won a big concession that their insurance plans will not be taxed and I think that is just because their health benefits were won through their concessions on pay. They already paid for them. As anyone who paid attention to President Obama through the campaign and listened closely to his ideas about exchanges, it seems the bill will contain health insurance exchanges like those available to federal employees. The House claims a bill will be finalized and sent to the CBO on Saturday. Republicans vowed to run on repealing the health reform bill. On Social Security, Medicare and Health Reform, they will be voting 0 for 3.

The Teabaggers are holding their first national conference with keynote speaker Sarah Palin. The only media allowed are Fox News, Breibart, World Net Daily, and the National Review. The CPAC conference will end with Glenn Beck. This year;s conservative gathering will be cohosted by the John Birch Society. A fun time is guaranteed by all.