Luken: State of the City

The Enquirer has the full text of his speech. The Repeal Article XII section reads:

There is something else hanging over our heads in Cincinnati.

It's called Article XII. It was passed by Cincinnati voters in 1994.

In my view, it singles out one category of citizens for unfair and discriminatory treatment, and it should be repealed in 2004!

Article XII has cost the city millions of dollars, of that there can be no denial. The repeal of Article XII is about more than money, though.

It stands as a symbol that Cincinnati is willing to tolerate discrimination for one class of our citizens.

Article XII was passed after an expensive and slick campaign that, I think, misled voters about what was at issue. What is at issue now, as then, is discrimination, pure and simple.

I do not believe that Cincinnatians want to discriminate against any citizen, and that includes our gay and lesbian citizens.

I ask you, and every Cincinnatian to join me today and sign your self up for the campaign that is coming in November - to repeal Article XII!

Korte also has an article on Luken's stance.

I have to laugh at the NON-CITY RESIDENT Phil Burress bitching about the movement to keep bigots like him from discriminated against homosexuals:

"No one's entitled to special rights based on private sexual behavior," said Phil Burress, chairman of the Equal Rights, Not Special Rights coalition that drafted the amendment.

Phil, you are an ignorant boob. You are protected under the law with your sexual behavior, why not anyone? But, that is not even the real point. Sexual behavior is not the issue. Sexual behavior is Phil obsession and his biggest fear. The real issue is sexual orientation, and the fact that it is a natural occurrence. If Phil wants to remove all discrimination protections, then his argument might be one based on bigotry.

What was really perplexing was the statement in the article

Burress said current civil rights laws protect homosexuals against discrimination.

This is not a direct quote of Burress, but I have to ask, what civil rights laws protect homosexuals against discrimination for being homosexual???? If that was true Phil, Article XII would be trumped by either State or Federal law. Gay rights are not something homosexuals possess, they still are fighting for equal treatment. The bigotry of many in public office has been opposing those rights and people like Burress are egging on the bigotry.

Yes, I said bigotry a lot. Is there a better word for why DOMA was passed or why sexual orientation discrimination was allowed to continue, but not religion, race, or nationality?

UPDATE: A bit of a shock, the Cincinnati Enquirer's editoral reads, "Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken was right to raise the issue of repealing Article XII in his State of the City speech Monday," that is a surprise. I would have guessed they would have not pushed that issue.

Old School

Peter Bronson quipped in his column:

I guess I am hopelessly old school. As I watched I began to wonder if those Islamic mullahs have a good point about American decadence.

Hmmm. Well, If by old school you mean a reactionary who wishes to live like it is 1702, where woman knew their place, kids were seen and not heard, and where a man could kill another man without out fear of worrying about the pesky courts, as long as he was killing a man corrupted by the "devil." If that is what you mean Peter, then yes, you are "old school." Peter who hates government, seems to want government out there to keep the adult world away from kids. I seem to remember someone who normally protects kids. Now, who lives with kids who could possibly be there to keep kids out of harm? Hmmm, well could the kid's parents maybe be responsible for protecting them? Could it be up to parents, Peter? Could parents just turn off the TV? Could prudes like you Peter not make this a big deal? You are giving Janet Jackson what she wanted, attention.

Also, what is with the crack calling Kid Rock stupid? I thought Conservatives were above name-calling? I guess Peter is just like the rest of us.

As a side note, I think I see why CBS did not want to air the moveon.org commercial: competition. If you are planning a media controversy, what would you let another controversy get in your way?

Locally Sadgirlseven comments on the FCC's over-reaction to this. Sledge comments as well.

Hate Mail?

Ok, Jack Klinger gets a puff piece in the Enquirer and gets some "hate" emails and he is pissed? Why? He lists these comments as examples of "hateful" comments:

"You are EVIL!"

"You are a racist, sexist, nationalist bigot!"

"May the sweet Baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind!"

If Jack thinks this is hateful, he might want to read the emails Margaret Cho got after an incomplete transcript of her appearance at a moveon.org was published online by Matt Druge. One more mild example

Shut your disgusting face, you loser. You have some nerve coming to America, denouncing us, and making your fortune.

Go home you freakin Asian scum.

Now, that is hate email, and that was by far not the worst she got. Cho by the way was born in the USA.

Now, Jack said he got a lot worse than what he printed, which is unfortunate that anyone had to put up with uneducated idiots, but the examples he listed were not bad at all. Also, it is really not far to use those as an excuse to try and tar and feather all liberals. I make some general examples on sections of conservatives who hold specific beliefs I find wrong or offensive, but I don't try and tie personal demeanor to political ideology. That linkage is without merit.

CT's Barry Gee Speaks Out

Barry has an article at Queen City Forum outlining what Cincinnati Tomorrow is and what our goals are.

Bush Gets a Another Pass

I guess it is not just Dennis Miller, but locally Steve Fritsch of Queen City Forum is letting President Bush off the hook on WMD and lack there of in Iraq.

Let's looks at Steve's "facts":

The CIA, the United Nations, UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, British, French, and German intelligence all thought Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

They all believed based only on a lack of accounting from 1991 and 1998 inspections. They had no other firm "proof" Iraq had any additional weapons. All they were doing was making an accounting assumption.

In the past year Democrats such as Bill Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, and Joe Lieberman thought Saddam had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Yes, based on the same reasons as above, but one small problems, none of these guys order a full scale invasion of Iraq based on an accounting assumption. Red herrings are not going to wash. Bush made the choice to go to war. Clinton did not choose it, nor did anyone else. If Bush can't take the

Members of Saddam's elite Republican Guard believed Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

This is based on what evidence? I assume you mean the radio traffic Powel presented to the UN? This is enough to go to war over?

Saddam believed he had more weapons of mass destruction then he really had. Iraqi scientists went to Saddam with "fanciful plans" for weapons programs, received large amounts of money, then used it in corrupt money-raising schemes.

This is not a fact. This is speculation. It makes logical sense, but calling it a fact is incorrect. It is one reason why there were no WMD found. How does this justify going to war? Just because we might have thought Saddam thought he had WMD was reason to think he was a threat to the USA?

"The regime was no longer in control; it was like a death spiral. Saddam was self-directing projects that were not vetted by anyone else. The scientists were able to fake programs."- Kay

So Saddam would have fallen soon and continuing the UN inspections would have quelled the threat.

Due to Saddam's failure to provide any reasonable control over his regime, Iraq was potentially even more dangerous then originally suspected.

If there were no WMD, they was no additional danger. The only threat was a civil war. Do we seek to stop all civil wars around the world?

"We know that terrorists were passing through Iraq. And now we know that there was little control over Iraq's weapons capabilities. I think it shows that Iraq was a very dangerous place. The country had the technology, the ability to produce, and there were terrorist groups passing through the country - and no central control." - Kay

What terrorists are these? Iranian terrorists helping the Palestinians? They are not Al Queda. Linking all Muslim terrorists into one big group is not only a political ploy, it is rather unjust to blame Arafat for 9/11.

Iraq did make an effort to restart its nuclear weapons programs in 2000 and 2001.

What evidence is there for this? Niger? That was false. This has been refuted. The IAOC refuted this. There have been no significant WMD programs operating since the mid-1990s.

Kevin Durm at Calpundit pointed out the big blame the CIA talking point getting high play in GOP circles. That is just not going to wash. The DOD's Office of Special Plans is where Bush supports need to be looking if they want to learn who misled or "sexed up" the WMD intelligence. Bush is not clean on this. He wanted to hit Iraq, and was lead there by people like Doug Feith who ran the OSP.

'Boondocks' Joins Cincinnati Post

The Post has announced today that 'Boondocks' is joining their comics page. Locally the Enquirer took a bunch of flack for dropping the comic strip from their pages.

UPDATE: Here's the link from the Post.

Luken to Support Repeal of Article XII

The Enquirer is reporting that in today's State of the City Address Mayor Charlie Luken will urge voters to repeal Article XII of the city charter which forbids any laws providing homosexual rights. How much support will the rest of council give it? How many bigots are left in the city to oppose this? The Citizens to Restore Fairness are reportedly set to start their campaign to get the issue repealed.

It will be interesting to see who opposes the measure. I will assume the usual suspects will be out there. 11 years later, has anti-homosexual beliefs changed enough for this to pass? I hope it has.

UPDATE: The Cincinnati Post has more.

Foolish What Ifs

From the Enquirer's letters to the editor:

Rewind to 1936, and think 'what if'

If George W. Bush had been president in 1936 and done the same thing to Hitler as he did to Saddam Hussein, would we have averted World War II? Maybe so.

William Holiday,Crestview Hills

Ok William Holiday, what if George Bush was president in October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis? What would have happened? Well, with his plan of shoot first and worry about what's next later, we all would be dead or in my case never existed after nuclear war wiped our country from map. I think Mr. Holiday needs to find a better analogy. Going to Hitler is an example is as intellectually viable as going to Scooby-Doo.

Remembering the Space Shuttle Columbia

One year ago all seven astronauts were lost on re-entry. The Space shuttle was named for the Columbia, the first U.S. made ship to circumnavigate the world. One of sources of the song "Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean" is that same ship.

Here is a repost from last year:

Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean
O, Columbia! the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine if each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble
When Liberty's form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble

When borne by the Red, White and Blue!
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!
Thy banners make tyranny tremble
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!

The wine cup, the wine cup bring hither,
And fill you it true to the brim!
May the wreaths they have won never wither,
Nor the star of their glory grow dim!
May the service united ne'er sever,
But they to their colors prove true!
The Army and Navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue,
The Army and Navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

If you can sing along with it and not tear up, you are stone cold and emotion free.

Peter Bronson: Trend Setter

Well, I see that Peter Bronson is ahead of the curve once again. He amused us today with a column where he was making fun of Howard Dean's famous "I have a scream speech." I think Cincinnati is rubbing off on Peter way to much. This joke is almost 2 weeks old now and about a week ago everyone in the media realized they went way over board with their coverage of it. I guess Peter missed that, which is odd because he is so in touch with current events and all. I mean we usually get freshly salted Bill Clinton references in his columns, so hitting on Howard Dean two weeks later is really cutting edge. I expect to get the John Kerry jokes by October. That will be enough time for Peter to look up the jokes made about Kerry's hair. It Bronson has any courage he will try and belittle the military career of John Kerry. That would really be a hoot.

Peter, for the record, I think most of us new you were "mad" years ago. We just don't have time to call the padded wagon for you.

Cincinnati Tomorrow is Today

CT is the headline story on the Enquirer's website today. Maggie Downs has a great story giving the history and future of the organization which is in it second year of activity. As a CT regular I am very happy to take part in the group's functions and am glad they are continuing to expand their reach into the community. I really get a lot from this group. I have made great friends, met influential people, and it has helped plug me into the creative and intellectual scene in Cincinnati.

I am disappointed, but not surprised by Mayor Charlie Luken's comments on the group

"I consider myself part of the creative class," Luken explains. "They're all 20-somethings, but I'll take the 30-, 40-, 50- and 60-somethings, too. People my age are moving back downtown, too."

Charlie would be surprised. We do tend to be younger. At 32 I usually am above the average age, but we have many people in their 30's as regulars, and several in their 40's. Charlie should understand that this group's events tend to appeal towards singles or couples without children. We are open to everyone, however, and if Charlie wants to represent the 50 somethings, I suggest he come out next Thursday and find out what our walks are like. We braved the snow last Thursday and had a great time. I think Chaz could stand mingling with a few 20-30 somethings, we don't bite after all.

Consistency

Ok, the BBC is reporting that North Korea has tested chemical weapons on women and children, and they are experimenting by gassing political prisoners. When do we invade? Iraq gassed their own people, now the BBC says North Korea has as well. What is Bush waiting for? Hasn't Bush’s standard for War been met? Add this with their claim to have nuclear weapons and it should be enough for Bush to be running head first into a War right now. The threat appears to be far more imminent than Iraq ever was, or likely ever would have been if left to UN to handle. I guess North Korea lacks resources worth the loss of American lives.

Pettus-Brown Makes the BBC

The BBC has the story on it's front page. It is great advertising for Google, does nothing much for Cincinnati's image, but makes Pettus-Brown look like a fool. If you are a criminal, nothing is worse than being caught because you do something stupid.

Ohioan's For Fingerhut

Jesse Taylor of Pandagon is behind Eric Fingerhut for George Voinovich's Senate seat. Ah, I will likely vote for him too, and I hope he wins, but who else would Jesse have endorsed?

Local Tie to Bush in 30 Seconds Contest

I missed this article from a few weeks back on the local ties to the MoveOn.org contest to create a 30 second commercial on President Bush. 2 people from Cincinnati were among the finalists who produced commercials for the contest.

The MoveOn.org contest grew added attention recently when CBS refused to air their commercial during the Superbowl this weekend. The reason given was that the "spot violated the network's policy against running issue advocacy advertising." This seems odd because CBS is airing an anti-drug commercial funded by the Bush Administration which if is the same one that aired on FOX in 2002 links drug use to support for terrorism, a highly dubious and discredited claim.

UPDATE: Rick Bird reports the controversy in his media column.

'Liberal' Hawks

Eric Alterman in a Nation column hits hard on the big media journalists/analysts who are professed or perceived to be liberals, but were supporters of the Iraq war, in general principle. I like the last line of the column:

America is truly Groundhog Day Nation: insisting on our right to ignore our own history and forever condemned to repeat it.

I would pose an additional question: what makes a liberal hawk into a Bush supporter? There are many bloggers out there who are not conservatives in the least, and have in the past been liberals or a "liberal-libertarian" or neo-liberal, who side with the Democrats most of the time, or at least feel most comfortable with Democratic leadership. They still will mock leadership, but mocking leaders is something that I hope everyone does from time to time, just to keep them from growing iron feet.

This group I think includes Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis, Dennis Miller, and others. Increasingly I read or listen to what they are saying and it is becoming a personal attack on "liberalism" or Democrats or it becomes homage to Bush on an issue, mostly 'War on Terrorism' or the Iraq War related. Is this division an anomaly or a trend? On the conservative side there is a growing split against Bush as well, on the War and on his domestic spending plans. Is this a period of political realignment or of conception of a four party political system?

One note: the term ?liberal hawk? traditionally would include me. I am not a peacenik in any sense of the word. I supported the Afghanistan War, the Kosovo War, and Gulf War I. I think in this case the term is meant specifically on the Iraq War which initially I was open to using force, but not in a pre-emptive non-UN sanctioned manner.

Are You Threatening Me?

BushCo pushed the "Threat Meme" to a constant stream of propaganda. The Center for American Progress has a list of many of big public mentions that Iraq was a "threat" to America. No WMD, No threat. Who in the administration read the intelligence and let all of this dogma go on? It couldn't be a specially created group in the Defense Department, could it? Who did the "Office of Special Plans" report to, and where they the filter of the intelligence that spun the level of "threat" of Iraq?

Former Campaign Treasurer for John Boehner Sentenced

Republican Rep. John Boehner's former campaign treasurer, Russell E. Roberts, was sentenced to two years for stealing $617,562 in contributions. Roberts reportedly took to the money to feed a gambling habit. He has been ordered to pay for restitution. If you hire a dishonest person, does that mean your judgment is lacking, and maybe you are not the best person for public office?

Mike Allen on the Stand

A Federal judge has ruled that Mike Allen, Hamilton County Prosecutor, can be required to testify in a lawsuit filed by families of individuals involved in the incidents surrounding Cincinnati photographer Thomas Condon's action in the county morgue. Allen, and others can be questioned "a possible cover-up of an investigation into the county morgue that resulted in serving a prison sentence."

The judge went out of his way to say that his actions do not mean he thinks there was a cover-up, but that questions may be asked in a civil suit. What is at stake here is that no senior county morgue officials, especially the coroner, have yet been prosecuted for allowing Condon to photo graph corpses in the morgue, and that theories have been floated that the Prosecutor's office did not pursue or knowingly quashed an investigation into anyone other than one low level morgue employee.

97X Owner's Speak Out

Sledge has direct comments from Linda Balogh, who along with her husband Doug own WOXY. Sledge also has some additional detail on what will happen with the staff of the website.