Daniel Cody - “Left on the Lake”

As expected, the Republican controlled Wisconsin State Assembly passed the bill to ban same sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in Wisconsins constitution. It now will go to voters this November for final approval or rejection.

Like I’ve been saying, the fact that is passed today was no surprise. The vote tally was a little interesting to me though, 62-31. There are apparently a few Democrats who voted for the bill and deserve some recognition. If you happen to be represented in the Assembly by any of these people, please give them a call or drop an email expressing your extreme disatisfaction. (If in fact you aren’t here from redstate.org)

• Rep. Staskunas - West Allis
• Rep. Hubler - Rice Lake
• Rep. Krusick - Greenfield / Milwaukee(!)
• Rep. Van Akkeren - Sheboygan / Kohler
• Rep. Williams - North Milwaukee / Shorewood(!)
• Rep. Ziegelbauer - Manitowoc

Three of the six Democrats who voted in favor of writing a hate amendment into the constitution live within 10 miles of me, an area of this state I would consider to be on the progessive side of most issues.

I know there are people who read this weblog who live in areas like Shorewood, West Allis, Kohler, and Greenfield who don’t support this bill. Drop your elected official a line asking them why they voted the way they did.

While their votes wouldn’t have made a difference in the bill being passed - or defeated for that matter, which makes the vote all the more perplexing to people like me - it would have sent a concrete message that the Demoratic party is against this bill and the notion that a percentage of our population deserves to be treated like second class citizens.

Just a reminder that today your Republican controlled Wisconsin State Assembly will be voting on a constitutional amendment that would ban same sex marriage, outlaw civil unions, and destroy the rights of non-traditional straight couples.

Just like their counterparts in the State Senate passed the measure on a party line vote last December the vote today is expected to pass and will be on the November ballot where voters will decide if a discriminatory, bigoted, and hateful amendment will make it into our constitution.

Despite what many on the other side of this issue are saying about their narrow view of ‘morality’ and how gay marriage ‘hurts the family’, this is nothing more than an attempt to halt the civil rights of a segment of the population. It’s really that simple. The State Senate has given the thumbs up to state sponsored discrimination, and the Assembly looks poised to do it again today.

The primary hope for defeating this discrimination amendment is that people like me and groups like Action Wisconsin continue to educate people about why writing hate speech into the State constitution is against Wisconsin values.

Bush approval rating: 34%.
Bush approval rating on handling of Iraq: 30%

Wah wah.

Scratch what I said last week about bipartisan cooperation to kill the deal that would hand America’s biggest seaports to a county with a history of terrorism sponsorship. Karl Rove must have made a few calls to dissident Republicans in Congress and whipped them back into line because as of yesterday, the whole deal is just oky-doky with Congressional Republicans.

The announcement by Dubai Ports World, brokered by the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), appears to satisfy the demands of many members of Congress, who had threatened to force a security review if the administration would not conduct one. The deal also offered pledges to reassure the United States that the ports deal would not pose any threats to American safety and security. - Washington Post

What a difference a week makes! Next time I’ll hold off at least two news cycles before praising Republicans who show a spine.

Maybe a new logo for the GOP heading into this election cycle should be something like, “Today’s GOP… Undermining National Security so the President can save face.”

For the eight or so years I lived in South Dakota, there was always a sense within the state of frustration that they just couldn’t break out of the ‘old west’ mold that they’d been typecast into over the years. People in the state generally seemed interested in anything that would help look modern and on the cutting edge of technology.

Every ethenol plant that went up was heralded by South Dakotans eager to prove they were leading the way in experimental fuel technology. The state universities were continually trying to attract students and research grants by showcasing what they thought were exciting new technologies. Every six story building was a triumph over the flat as a frying pan landscape… well you get the idea.

South Dakotans almost seemed desperate to prove to the rest of the nation that they and their single electoral vote should be taken seriously.

So color me surprised when they go flat out ban abortions in the state. They’ve been scratching and clawing their way out of the well of perception that they’re behind the times for decades, and in a single act of their legislature, they wipe out all of the progress they’ve made trying to convince the rest of the nation that they’re a modern and relevant state.

Realize that the law they passed outlawing abortion is itself against the current laws and court rulings. Or, that despite the 23-12 vote in their Senate, South Dakotan citizens are divided on the issue. Under this proposed law abortion is illegal even in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother’s health is in danger!

Talk about taking a step back into the dark age of personal freedom and women’s rights. If South Dakotans are still serious about being seen as a progressive state, as they were when I lived there at least, then they have to start behaving like a progressive state. Not one that’s controlled by a group of fringe right wing radicals who think they own the property rights to the reproductive organs of every woman within their state lines.

South Dakota has a lot of great things to offer, but unfortunately you’ll never hear about them because of issues like this. At the end of the day it’s their choice if they want to be known as the state where women’s rights are oppressed. They’re the ones that have to live with it afterall.

Yikes.

“And so people don’t need to worry about security. This deal wouldn’t go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America.” - George W. Bush 02/2006

This from the administration who said ‘Trust us’ on Iraq, Medicare, capturing Osama, energy policy, warantless spying…

Anytime the President says “Trust me” anymore is when I really start to get nervous about whatever it is he want’s us to trust him on. How can you trust someone who has zero credibility?

We all saw what a terrible job administration cronies did when it came to disaster preparedness and relief here in the United States when Katrina hit last fall.

Now it turns out that even more cronyism is the reason the President is being so stubborn in his desire to turn over six of our largest and most vulnerable seaports to a foreign country with ties to terrorism.

The Dubai firm that was awarded the deal has close ties to Bush administration officials including Treasury Secretary John Snow.

The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan’s cruise ship terminal and Newark’s container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush’s cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World’s European and Latin American operations and was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. - NY Daily News

This administration claiming it’s tough on terrorism and national security is a joke as we learn more and more about deals like this one. They handed our domestic emergency programs off to cronies with predictable results, and now they’re trying to do the same with our homeland security.

Thankfully, everyone except the occupants of the White House seem dedicated to not letting the same scenario play out.

I touched on this a bit last week, but the issue of who’s in charge of our seaports is really making news today. Almost every Republican and every Democrat I’ve seen on the news today has expressed their extreme disapproval of the administrations position on this that everything is A-OK and we should just “Trust Them”.

Congressional leaders are crafting legislation to void the deal that the Bush administration approved and the President is now threatening to veto any such bill. All I can say to that is, ‘HUH?!’. Why on earth is the President trying to get around Congress on this deal (many Senators say today they were never informed of the deal by DHS) and who exactly is he trying to protect?

The fact that the President is willing to veto the first bill of his Presidency over this issue speaks volumes. American’s don’t seem to want our seaports in the hands of a county with terrorist ties. So why does the President?

So many possible captions, so little time…

“Let me guess: Transparent sunglasses? Amazing piece of technology folks. Keep up the great work.” - GWB

Anyone notice your late monring commute to work in Milwaukee today took a bit longer than normal? Yes indeed, the President is visiting Milwaukee today to talk up his energy policy by paying a visit to Johnson Controls, a local company that’s reasearching things like hybrid car batteries.

While we can expect to hear lots of pie in the sky talk today from the President on energy, I think it’s important to point out that the Governor is trying to get energy assistance passed for low income families in Wisconsin and has called a special session of the State legislature to get working on it. The problem is that State Republicans failed to show up for work last week to approve the measure.

While creating more fuel efficient cars is an important priority in this country, there are thousands and thousands of families in Wisconsin alone who are having trouble right now paying their energy bills because of sky high heating and fuel costs. The President and Wisconsin Republicans should put the same high priority on addressing the issues those citizens are facing as they are today on making a point about the President’s sudden obsession with talking a big game on energy technology.

This is a great example of where the Republican party places it’s priorities on an issue like energy. Lots of high level talk and tax breaks for big energy companies while they leave thousands of poor families - literally - out in the cold.

Does anyone else think it’s a bad idea that our nations biggest seaports - which are some of the widest holes in our national security screening process - are going to be run by the country that produced the terrorists who caused 9/11?