Sadgirlseven Live

Karen from sadgirlseven.net reports that she will be performing this Saturday the 27th at Pleasant Perk in Pleasant Ridge.

Grasping at Straws

Rob Bernard links to a Washington Times Article that claims to list bin Laden as a "collaborator." I guess if I were to find a CIA memo stating Mao was an American Spy that would be proof of something too. It is just amazing to lengths that right wing news outlets will go to try and buttress their deal leader. Well, in this case Dear Leader is not the one needing support, it is Number Two that needs the help.

BushCo: Slime Bags

In the aftermath of the Richard Clarke book and interview BushCo has done nothing but point fingers at Clinton, at Clarke, and everyone they can, as long as it is not in the mirror. How can anyone say this is the way a "straight shooting" administration out to set a new tone in Washington. Kevin Drum calls it Panic, and I agree, but I don't see this behavior as anything new: See O'Neil and Wilson.

With the VP doing what I call lying about Clarke and NSA Rice doing her best to diss Clarke. More from Drum and TPM.

Failing of Journalists

Here is another news story about Gay Marriage, this time here in Ohio. The story does a good job of setting up a gay couple who are out to sue the local government. The motives of the Gay couple are discussed: getting turned down for a license will be the grounds for the lawsuit. The also story gets the opposite opinion from a minister and councilman from the Cleveland area who opposes Gay Marriage. Why do we not see printed motives for WHY this man opposes homosexual marriage? Why not at least stated that he opposes it because of his religion, which is what I would guess he would say. There may be other reasons he would try to state, but we don't read about those at all.

In most stories on Gay Marriage, we don't get details as to why people oppose Gay Marriage. We sometimes get generalities, but no details as to WHY they think Gay Marriage is bad. I blame this on the journalists and their editors. Either journalists are not asking the questions and not pressing for detailed answers or the editors are gutless to print them. Why would they be gutless? Well, in my opinion the only reasons to think Gay Marriage will harm anyone are mythical beliefs based on bigoted views about homosexuality. That conflict is not something newspapers want to address directly in news stories. The Peter Bronsons can address it, without giving details either, but reporters can't print it. Why the failing of the public interest?

Have You No Shame?

The White House's Condy Rice was on CNN this morning and made sure everyone knew Clarke was terrorism Czar when the USS Cole was bombed and the African Embassies were bombed. She said that at least twice during the interview. What a way to BLAME someone for terrorism. If Ms. Rice is going to remind people that Dick Clarke was terrorism Czar when the USS Cole was bombed, I think people should remember she was the NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR when the WTC was destroyed. It was shameful to hear her play the game of shifting the blame to Clarke. I am sure BushCo's surrogates will be out in force on this, but this is shameful.

Calm Before the Storm?

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer has a story on Cincinnati's Citizen Complaint Authority and brings up the test it faces, along with the city government overall, to what will happen in the aftermath of the Nathaniel Jones case. Most opinion after the event concluded, correctly, that the police handled themselves within their procedures. No one will likely face charges from Prosecutor Mike Allen.

What is left open is who from the Fire Department will be disciplined. What is also open is the reaction Allen's announcement will make in the black community. I think the activists expect to hear what they don't want to here, but I think in this case the overall community understands that this man was high on drugs and died tragically, but not the result of criminal negligence.

StormTrooper

Hamilton County's Darth Vader has issued a fatwa against Gay Marriage. It appears that Homosexual Marriage would get more of a response than a real crime like Theft:

San Francisco has Rice-A-Roni, the Golden Gate and gay weddings. Cincinnati has cheese coneys, the Big Mac and Sheriff Si Leis - who will make sure cable cars will climb Carew Tower before there are gay weddings on the steps at City Hall.

"I would make an arrest," Leis said. "By law, you can't have a male marry a male or a female marry a female." He said same-sex marriage is a misdemeanor, with a $500 fine and six months in jail.

"It's an outrage. It destroys the very fiber of our country. I don't understand why they're afraid to do something about it" in San Francisco.

As with his theocratic crusade against porn, Leis seems to poised to allow real crimes with real victims to go unpunished. Si Leis is responsible for police protection in this area of Hamilton County: Anderson Township, Colerain Township, Columbia Township, Crosby Township, Green Township, Harrison Township, Miami Township, SycamoreTownship, Symmes Township, Whitewater Township, and the Village of North Bend. According to his department's own website those areas represent over 200,000 residents. How many crimes are still open in those areas? Has Leis's deputies solved every single theft? How about ever Assault, Rape or even Domestic Violence cases? Until he solves those, maybe he cannot worry about wasting his deputies valuable patrol time by worrying about laws that matter to him more than other laws. Based on his own stats, he has not done that, but has the time to be interviewed on Gay Marriage and politics.

It amazed me that Bronson would write such a column. I mean I know Bronson sees Leis as an "Angel doing 'God's' will" and all (note the hyperbole), but wouldn't he want to tout Leis's ability to protect people from real crimes that actually hurt someone? I mean of all "crimes" to use as Leis' crowning achievement, why use enforcement of the anti-homosexual DOMA, when one could use scarce resources to enforce crimes that will actually impact people's lives? Well, it is an election year and we know Peter Bronson has to froth up the mouths of the good old boys at his bible club. Getting out the paleo-con vote is a very messy business.

What makes me nervous is Leis and Bronson's call for a "Metro" government, which really means making the entire county into one municipality. The motivation for this is the assumption that the GOP and fascists like Leis could then rule the City with an iron fist. Leis could drive out the "liberals" who dare not push his theocratic stances, like those down in Tennessee. Now, what I don't understand is how Leis really thinks merging the city together with the inner suburbs will really change government? At this point the GOP has been abandoning the city, and Bronson regularly bashes downtown and the city every chance he gets.

Wes Flinn also comments on this column and mentions a key point, Simon Leis basically threatened to arrest the Mayor. Now, by law, he would have the right to in the case of marrying a same sex couple, but should it not be examined as a totally uncalled for public comment? Leis sounds like a warlord when he declares that he is the law and he will be the one who judges the guilty. Again, some hyperbole, but his tone is just so warlike. He sounds like he is trying to be Rameses to Luken?s Moses. I would call him Nottingham to Luken?s Robin Hood, if Luken had the courage to defy the ?law.?

For the Record, if Leis is Darth Vader, I want to be Han Solo. Han gets more "chicks."