Homophobic Freakazoid Clerk Does Right Thing: Resigns

if your religion prevents you from doing your job, you resign or get your ass fired.

TPM:

A county clerk in Arkansas plans to resign on Tuesday due to a moral objection to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, ArkansasOnline reported on Monday.

Dana Guffey, who served as a clerk in Cleburne County for 24 years, said that her decision to leave the post was not made out of hate, according to ArkansasOnline.

Of course not. If she were motivated by hate, she would stay in the position, collecting her salary and thumbing her nose at the gay and atheist taxpayers who pay it.

Like the asshole County Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky.  Two years ago, the county seat of Rowan County - Morehead - passed a city-wide fairness ordinance to ban discrimination against LGBT people.  Although the county courthouse in which the County Clerk works is located in the heart of beautiful downtown Morehead, the County Clerk thinks she can defy city and federal law.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis told WKYT, "It is my deep conviction and belief that God ordained marriage between a man and a woman. I can't be a part of this."

WKYT is reporting that dozens of demonstrators showed up to the Rowan County Courthouse Tuesday to protest Kim Davis' decision.

Kim Davis, in the name of the tens of thousands of secular, gay-loving taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I declare that You. Are. Fired.
 

SCOTUS Still Not Liberal, But DAMN

Or maybe it's a trap, to lure women's advocates into a case that would let the court's conservatards kill Roe once and for all.

TPM:

The Supreme Court refused on Monday to allow Texas to enforce restrictions that would force 10 abortion clinics to close.

The justices voted 5-4 to grant an emergency appeal from the clinics after a federal appeals court upheld new regulations, refusing to keep them on hold while the clinics appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court order will remain in effect at least until the court decides whether to hear the clinics' appeal of the lower court ruling, not before the fall.

The court's decision to block the regulations is a strong indication that the justices will hear the full appeal, which could be the biggest abortion case at the Supreme Court in nearly 25 years.

Choose, Kentucky: Repug Austerity or Liberal Growth

Matt Bevin wants to make Kentucky another Kansas, starving schools and roads to make billionaires richer.

Jack Conway could offer a different road, the one that taxes the rich and invests in public goods.

Via Undercover Blue at Hullabaloo:

Meanwhile in Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton's Democratic leadership led the state to the top of CNBC's list of best states for business in 2015. 

Indeed, the birthplace of Spam, Scotch Tape and the supercomputer marks a new first this year. Never since we began rating the states in 2007 has a high-tax, high-wage, union-friendly state made it to the top of our rankings. But Minnesota does so well in so many other areas—like education and quality of life—that its cost disadvantages fade away. 

 But Jackie Boy is too busy sucking Big Coal's rotting cock.

Shoulda Listened to Sherman

The General Sherman of "Burn everything from Atlanta to the sea."  That Sherman.

Wonkette commenters, regarding the threat of modern secession:

Angry_Cop

Easy with one enormous no-so-easy caveat - they cannot be allowed to have any federal military assets and that most especially includes nukes.

Read Sherman's autobiography this weekend, interesting. He literally could not imagine any future, under any circumstances, where the Southern states got their rights back. No local legislatures, no Congressional representation, no right to vote, no military bases and assets. That last concerned him enough that he wrote about it at some length. His vision was that they would remain military-governed territories, for eternity.

• Blank Ron replied:
  
  
  

  Somewhere in the afterlife he's shaking his fist down at us and yelling, 'I TOLD YOU SO, BY THUNDER!'

  Sherman knew what kind of motherfuckers we would still be dealing with 150 years later.

Some People Know How to Do Their Jobs

Despite their sincere religious beliefs.

TPM:

Over the weekend, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested that local clerks with religious objections could opt-out of granting marriage licenses to gay couples in light of the Supreme Court's decision legalizing same-sex marriage. But at least one Texas clerk who opposes gay marriage on religious grounds doesn't see a need for the exemption.

“Personally, same-sex marriage is a contradiction to my faith and belief that marriage is between one man and one woman,” Denton County Clerk Juli Luke said in a statement Sunday, according to the the Denton Record-Chronicle. “However, first and foremost, I took an oath on my family Bible to uphold the law, and as an elected public official, my personal belief cannot prevent me from issuing the licenses as required.”

Her clerk's office oversaw its first gay marriage Monday morning, the Denton Record-Chronicle. The couple, Sara Bollinger and Whitney Hennen, received their license a little after 8 a.m.

Criminal Clerks: Freakazoid Freedom Law and Beshear's Pandering Enables Clerks to Refuse Licenses

Resign your positions, motherfuckers.  As for you, Kentucky "Democratic" Party:  Start finding out whether your candidates agree to FOLLOW THE FUCKING LAW before you let them run as Democratic candidates.

 

This was completely predictable.  First came the state's "Freakazoids Don't Have to Obey Any Laws" bill, then Dr. Jekyll Beshear told the clerks "no one can tell you what to believe," and they've take him at his word to refuse to extend human rights to human beings.

John Cheves at the Herald:

Defying the instructions of Gov. Steve Beshear, several county clerks around Kentucky said they won't issue marriage licenses anymore because of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-to-4 ruling Friday in favor of a nationwide right to same-sex marriage.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis said Monday that her Christian beliefs won't allow her to give marriage licenses to gay men or lesbians seeking to marry a member of the same sex. Rather than face claims of discrimination, her office in Morehead is refusing marriage licenses to all couples until further notice, Davis said.

"We've not had any applicants yet, but we've had several calls," said Davis, 49, a Democrat who took office in January.

"It's hard; I will tell you that," Davis said. "What has happened is that five lawyers have imposed their personal view of what the definition of marriage should be on the rest of us. And I, as a Christian, have strong views, too. And I know I don't stand alone."

Chris Jobe, president of the Kentucky County Clerks Association, said he has heard from several clerks who have religious objections to same-sex marriage, so they won't issue marriage licenses anymore.

Several more clerks are consulting with their county attorneys to determine whether they must obey the letter Beshear sent them Friday instructing them to comply with the Supreme Court's decision, Jobe said. Beshear's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on the governor's next move.

Lawrence County, where Jobe is clerk, likewise has gotten out of the marriage- license business, at least for now.

"We're exploring our options," Jobe said, citing the suddenness of the change. "We're still trying to sort it out."

Clerks in Kentucky's major cities, including Lexington and Louisville, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples within hours of the court decision Friday.

Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown, who had publicly supported the state's same-sex marriage ban, did not issue any marriage licenses Friday while he "digested" the decision. But Monday, his office was issuing licenses to all applicants, deputy clerk Amanda Oberer said.

Beshear sent a letter to all 120 county clerks Friday that read, in part, "Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe. But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act."

In Kentucky, marriage licenses must be obtained from and later filed with a county clerk.

Kentucky law includes a number of criminal penalties for people who violate the state's marriage laws, such as knowingly issuing a marriage license to two immediate family members or to a polygamous trio. But it does not appear to include any penalties for clerks who refuse to issue a marriage license.

But refusing to do the job for which you accept taxpayer dollars is criminal misfeasance.

Throw the motherfuckers in prison. Do it now.

Proudly Liberal

Americans have always supported "liberal" policies and programs, ranging from huge majorities for Social Security and Medicare through strong majorities for infrastructure spending to bare majorities for taxing the fuck out of the rich.

We've just been reluctant, for the past 40 years, to call ourselves liberal in the face of massive anti-hippie hate, lies and shaming.

But that's over.

Digby:

Forty-seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now identify as both socially liberal and economically moderate or liberal.

This is compared with 39% in these categories in 2008, when there was last an open seat for their party's nomination, and 30% in 2001.

I don't think the political establishment knows what to do with this. Ever since the late 1960s it has been an article of faith that the country is conservative and that liberal is a dirty word.

*These things are fluid, of course, and what people mean when they identify as liberal or conservative may be very individual. But there is something significant in the fact that Democrats are no longer afraid of the liberal label.

Fly the Flag of Treason in Defense of Slavery All You Want

On your private property.

Like the asshole displaying his racism all over Shelbyville yesterday, racing his pickup truck through parking lots with the two large confederate battle flags waving from the back.

Good for you, moron.  You're proud of being a scum-sucking racist, and we sincerely thank for you for letting the world know what you really are.

This is the best part of the take-the-flag-down movement:  racists can no longer hid their racism behind the display of the confederate battle flag and statues by governments on public property.

You want that symbol of hate, fear and stupidity displayed, you're going to have to do it on your own land, vehicle or body.  So the world can see what you really are.

Herald Editorial:

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, rid Kentucky's Capitol of Confederate President Jefferson Davis' statue.

But don't forget that some of the Republicans calling for Davis' ouster have also fanned racially tinged hostility toward our first black president for their political ends.

Or that GOP gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin cast his 2004 presidential vote for Constitution Party candidate Mike Peroutka, who is described by a human-rights group as an "active white supremacist."

"I have a 'Peroutka for President' T-shirt from 2004 in my drawer," Bevin told The National Review in 2013.

Despite all that, we applaud Bevin, who has four adopted black children and a black running mate, and the other Republicans for wanting to cleanse the Capitol of pro-slavery symbols.

The racist massacre in a Charleston, S.C. church was the latest in a series of shocks that has awakened many white Americans to the brutality and hatred heaped on black citizens every day.

The killer in Charleston studied white supremacist web sites and proudly flaunted the symbols of racist regimes in South Africa, Rhodesia and the American Confederacy, which was led by Davis, who insisted God wanted Africans to be abducted and enslaved.

While we haven't seen a rush toward gun control in response to the Charleston bloodshed, Republican office holders across the South are hastening to remove Confederate flags from Capitol grounds and state license plates.

Symbols matter; they convey powerful messages. But actions speak louder than symbols.

That's why, if Senate President Robert Stivers, one of the Republicans calling for removing the Davis statue, is sincere, he will remove the Kentucky Senate as an obstacle to voting rights for all Kentuckians.

The disproportionate imprisonment and disenfranchisement of blacks are the living, breathing, crippling legacy of slavery and white supremacy.

More than 180,000 Kentuckians who have completed their felony sentences are still stripped of their vote. More whites than blacks fall into this category. But denying the vote to so many black Kentuckians weakens the voice of the minority community in government and renders it powerless — just what the white supremacists want.

The League of Women Voters issued a report in 2006 that said Kentucky has the country's highest rate of disenfranchising black citizens with nearly one in four black Kentuckians ineligible to vote. This was nearly triple the national black disenfranchisement rate.

Kentucky makes it harder than all but two or three states to regain the vote.

Nine times the House has approved a constitutional amendment restoring the vote to non-violent felons who have paid their debts to society.

Nine times the Senate, under Republican control, has blocked or gutted the measure.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and state House Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover, to their credit, have supported voting rights restoration. But the Republican Senate has not budged.

By all means, give the school-bus loads of children who tour the Capitol a new symbol of justice and equality in place of the old secessionist.

But a new statue will be a symbol of cynicism as long as the Republican Senate denies the vote to so many black Kentuckians.

When I said "Don't pray. Fight." This is what I meant.

Yeah, the flag went right back up and the racist motherfuckers arrested her for her act of civil disobedience.

That's how it always starts.  And now she's all over the innertubes.

Digby:

She has been arrested, as you can see in the video. Color of Change has a petition going to have the charges dropped. 

If you're a tweeter, here's the hashtag:

She's awesome.

 Of course there's video.

UPDATE:  Excellent post by Erik Loomis on the power of a single activist doing direct action.

The Clever Concept

Divine Irony:



confrontingbabble-on:

Every con-man…fraudster…and religious proponent, says…just trust me, blindly…

Tell KY Commission What They Can Do With a Traitor's Statue

My suggestion:  Move it outside, someplace where people can easily get to it to spray-paint graffiti on it.  Seriously.

Jack Brammer at the Herald:

A state panel decided Thursday to collect public comments through July 29 on whether a statue of Jefferson Davis should remain in the Capitol Rotunda or be moved to a museum.

The manager of the Jefferson Davis Historic Site in Todd County, who is black, said Thursday that it "would be fine with me" to move the marble likeness of Davis, the president of the Confederate states during the Civil War, to Davis' birthplace.

SNIP

A special section of the commission's website, www.historicproperties.ky.gov, will be set up within a few days to collect public comment, Collins said. Meanwhile, comments can be submitted now to state curator David Buchta at David.Buchta@ky.gov.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/06/25/3917978/kentucky-panel-collecting-comments.html?sp=/99/164/#storylink=cpy

"The Affordable Care Act is Here to Stay"

Don't just take a victory lap, Mr. President.  Rub their fucking noses in it.  You won, they lost, and that's what the history books are going to say forever.



Full transcript here.

Sky Still Overhead After Gay Couples Marry in Kentucky

The best part of this story for me:

Shive and Roland, who have been together for 16 years and have a daughter, Piper, were married at 2 p.m. by Fayette Circuit Judge Ernesto Scorsone, who also is gay.

Scorsone endured years of disrespect and abuse in the Kentucky State Senate from his homophobic asshole "colleagues."

I hope they are reading this story this morning and choking to death on their biscuits.

In Louisville, they had champagne delivered by the Mayor.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/06/26/3919693/first-same-sex-couples-marry-in.html?sp=/99/164/#storylink=cpy

"sophomoric threats in a transparent attempt to try to intimidate and bully"

Michael Aldridge, the executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky - who was at the County Clerk's Office in Louisville today when the first same-sex couple received their marriage license - penned the perfect response to the police declaration of war on the citizens they are sworn to protect.

Consider this an open letter to Louisville FOP Lodge 614 President Dave Mutchler, who chose to send an incendiary letter to Louisville Metro residents shortly after the staggering tragedy in Charleston, S.C., a time of national grief and mourning.

Know this: The ACLU of Kentucky, our coalition partners and allies, community activists, and citizens of this community will not stand on the sidelines while you resort to sophomoric threats in a transparent attempt to try to intimidate and bully those who you view as your political opponents.

If you didn’t know already, rest assured that through our litigation and public policy advocacy, the ACLU will continue to work for meaningful, long-lasting, and systemic reforms of the Louisville Metro Police Department, alongside, and by supporting, communities directly harmed by racial profiling and excessive force.

The ACLU will continue to work to help build community-police partnerships with the shared goals of equality, fairness, dignity, and public safety to prevent future tragedies from happening again.

The ACLU is committed to encouraging de-escalation practices in all instances of community/police interaction.

Armed with the Constitution, the ACLU will protect the First Amendment rights of Louisville activists to question government policy and speak their minds without fear of prosecution.

If people hadn’t spoken up and questioned authority, we would still be living under monarchs, without the freedoms and civil liberties that we prize.

It is obvious to nearly everyone who read your letter that you sought to attack the very citizens you are sworn to serve and protect instead of taking steps to address the real issues — the long-standing and troubling problems of racial profiling, over-criminalization of communities of color, and incidents of excessive force that drive a wedge between community members and police officers here and across the country. And if, as you claim, your letter has received “overwhelming” support from your fellow officers, then the divide between law enforcement and this community is very troubling indeed.

You want our attention? Well you have it. As a starting point, we challenge you to review the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct (page 5 of the Standard Operating Procedures handbook for the Louisville Metro Police Department). You may find the following excerpts particularly helpful:

As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.

I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others.

Mr. Mutchler, we need an end to the prevailing Us vs. Them policing paradigm. We hope you will join us in the goal of developing successful police/community partnerships.

Beshear Being Asshole on Gay Marriage, Too.

No, Dr. Jekyll, you do not get to claim credit for a decision you wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to prevent. 

The letter to county clerks is in a PDF and locked against copying,  no doubt because Dr. Jekyll panders so shamelessly to the freakazoids in it. So you'll have to read it here.

Gov. Beshear’s Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 26, 2015) – “The fractured laws across the country concerning same-sex marriage had created an unsustainable and unbalanced legal environment, wherein citizens were treated differently depending on the state in which they resided.  That situation was unfair, no matter which side of the debate you may support.

Kentuckians, and indeed all Americans, deserved a final determination of what the law in this country would be, and that is the reason we pursued an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Today’s opinion finally provides that clarity.

All Cabinets of the executive branch have been directed to immediately alter any policies necessary to implement the decision from the Supreme Court.  

Effective today, Kentucky will recognize as valid all same-sex marriages performed in other states and in Kentucky. I have instructed the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to provide revised marriage license forms to our county clerks for immediate use, beginning today.  We will report additional expected policy changes in the coming days.” – Governor Steve Beshear.

Linda Blackford's piece in the Herald includes this:

So far, Beshear's administration has spent $195,400 defending Kentucky's ban in court. He is represented by the Ashland law firm of VanAntwerp Attorneys LP.

Those bills could get higher. With the Supreme Court decision, Kentucky could be ordered, under the rules of civil rights law, to pay the plaintiffs' legal bills.

Last year, Heyburn awarded the plaintiffs' lawyers $70,778 in attorney fees and court costs. On his own initiative, Heyburn gave those lawyers a $10,000 bonus, saying the lawyers "undertook a difficult, unpopular case and achieved remarkable success."

That award is on hold pending the appeals.

As of this afternoon, same-sex couples had gotten marriage licenses in Louisville and Lexington with no trouble.

And yes, Jack Conway is a loser who is going to lose to Matt Bevin in November, but Conway did perform an act of bravery that exceeded even Beshear's embrace of Obamacare kynect when Conway refused to commit the Attorney General's Office to a no-win appeal of the court decision striking down Kentucky's ban on gay marriage.

It's a goddamn shame that that decision - and the video showing him choking up while announcing it - is going to sink him this fall.

Steve Beshear Still Pretending kynect is Not Obamacare

Grrrrr.  Dr. Jekyll thinks his idiot son still has a chance to win the attorney general's race, and that admitting 600,000 Kentuckians have health care thanks to that ni**er in the White House would make Andy's soon-to-be-humiliating loss even worse.

Check out the italicized graf: it's a masterpiece of lying by misdirection. 

Gov. Beshear’s statement on Supreme Court ACA ruling

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 25, 2015) – “Making healthcare coverage accessible and affordable to all citizens is the cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act. To conclude that the law’s intent was only to offer subsidies to those who purchased healthcare coverage through their state’s health benefit exchange when many states declined to establish one would have penalized the very individuals the law was designed to help. I am pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court wisely ruled in favor of those 6.4 million people in the nation who could have lost their access to affordable health insurance.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell has no impact on Kentuckians who qualified for discounts through kynect, as their subsidies were never in question. However, it reaffirms that, from the very start, we did the right thing for the more than 500,000 Kentuckians who have qualified for healthcare coverage through kynect since January 1, 2014.” – Governor Steve Beshear

No, the Supreme Court Hasn't Turned Liberal

It's just that Roberts and Kennedy don't really give a shit since finishing their real work in 2013.

Pema Levy at Mother Jones:

The decision was a welcome surprise to civil rights advocates who had feared that the conservative-leaning court under Chief Justice John Roberts—the same court that struck down part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act two years ago—was set to undo another major civil rights law.

But they should not have been surprised.  Gutting the Voting Rights Act was the first, last and only victory repugs and conservatards needed.  Who the fuck cares what the "law" says if only repugs are making the laws?  Not to mention judicial appointments.

The U.S. has always been a liberal country - nationally.  But red states have always outnumbered blue states, despite having far smaller populations.  With voting rights gone, those red states can pass all the voter suppression laws they want.  Fuck, I bet if Texas passed a law barring anyone who ever registered Democratic from voting, no court would overturn it.

Repugs will own the red states, thus own the U.S. Senate, thus own the Supreme Court.

American Democracy died the day John Roberts butchered the Voting Rights Act.

Kansas, Here We Come

Yep, repugs are poised to take over Kentucky state government and turn us into the hellhole Sam Brownback created in Kansas.

Kevin Wheatley at cn2:

In the first independent poll of the 2015 campaign cycle, Republican candidates for constitutional office hold single-digit leads on their Democratic opponents, with GOP gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin ahead of Attorney General Jack Conway by 3 points.

Public Policy Polling released the results of its survey of 1,108 Kentucky voters Tuesday, describing the race for governor as “pretty up for grabs” with Bevin leading Conway 38 percent to 35 percent, with independent candidate Drew Curtis netting 6 percent support and undecided voters totaling 21 percent.

When Gov. Bevin shuts down the schools and restricts health care to only the rich, be sure to blame the geniuses in the Kentucky "Democratic" Party who thought Jack "Such a Loser He Lost to Rand Paul" Conway was the perfect candidate.

Proud Southerner

You betcha the Confederate Battle Flag represents Heritage.  The Heritage of Slavery and Treason.

I say that as a child of the South whose ancestors fought on both sides in the War of Southern Treason.

I say that as the descendant of a Confederate war hero.

I say that as a proud Kentuckian whose every sight of the statue of Jefferson Davis in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort makes me want to puke.

You claim to be a Proud Southerner? Then tell the motherfucking confederates to stop defending Treason and Slavery. Doing so keeps the South poor and stupid, and all the oil in Texas never has changed and never will change that.

KY Wants Your Opinion on Fracking

The comments at this meeting will influence future legislation on fracking in Kentucky.  You can be sure that the motherfrackers will be there in force; don't let them get away unchallenged.

Please appear at the public hearings if you can, testify if you feel so moved, and if you can't be there, send a message to them.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 22, 2015) – The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) and its agencies have set the dates and locations for three public meetings to allow interested parties to submit comments concerning oil and gas development in the Commonwealth. The locations will be in Madisonville, Somerset and Hazard.

“It is important that the public, including environmental groups, the oil and gas industry and landowners be given the chance to express their opinions on how Kentucky moves forward with the regulation of this industry,” said EEC Secretary Len Peters. “We understand this is a very high-profile issue and hearing all sides presented will be beneficial to everyone involved.”

The listening sessions will be held on the following dates and times. All times are local:

·         July 7:  Madisonville Community College’s North Campus, 2000 College Drive, Madisonville. The meeting will be held in the Quad Room in the Brown Badgett Sr. Energy and Advanced Technology Center.  Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. local time.

·         July 23: The Center for Rural Development, 2292 South Highway 27, Somerset. The meeting will be held in the auditorium. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. local time.

·         July 30: Hazard Community & Technical College, One Community College Drive, Hazard.  The meeting will be held in Room 208 of the Jolly Center, located in the JCC Building. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. local time.

“These are not designed as debates, but rather as listening sessions that will allow for brief spoken comments, as well as the submittal of written comments,” said Secretary Peters. 

The remarks made at the meetings will be captured on video and used in a report to be given to the oil and gas workgroup, made up of environmental interests, industry representatives and regulators. The workgroup began meeting in 2014 to update and modernize Kentucky’s statutes and regulations regarding all areas of oil and gas exploration, including fracking. The report will also be made available to members of the Kentucky General Assembly and the Governor’s Office for possible further action.

The report will help further the work of the oil and gas workgroup, according to Department for Natural Resources Commissioner Steve Hohmann, who chairs the workgroup. “The input from the general public is extremely valuable as this group moves forward. We want to be certain future legislation addressing oil and gas development, especially fracking, takes into account all points of view,” Hohmann said.

Anyone who cannot attend the meetings in person, but wishes to submit written comments may do so by July 31. Those written comments can be emailed to OilandGasComments@ky.gov between July 7 and July 31.

AynRandy's Cowardice on the Flag of Treason

Wonkette has graded the responses to what Charlie Pierce calls the Home Office of Sedition refusing to remove the confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds* by the repug candidates for president, and Rand Paul comes in next-to-dead-laste

Rand Paul:

A spokesman for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he had no comment.

Let's not forget what the Tribble-Toupeed One is refused to comment on.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money:

What makes the Confederate a white supremacist symbol is that the Confederacy was explicitly founded to protect slavery, and the Confederate flag was then revived as a symbol supporting private and state violence to maintain white supremacy in the South during the Civil Rights era. It’s pretty hard to argue that someone engaging in white supremacist violence is “hijacking” or “perverting” the “main symbol of the Confederacy” when white supremacist violence is what the Confederacy and its main symbol are all about.

White South Carolina native Jack Jenkins:

While the Confederate flag is certainly about heritage, it is and always has been about hate. By being part of Roof’s constellation of negative influences, the symbol of the Confederacy — and the history behind it — is once again associated with the pointless murder of people of color. A flag didn’t create Roof’s apparent hostility towards black people, but the state’s obsession with it fomented his hatred with misguided pride. A flag didn’t guide his hand as he loaded his gun on Wednesday, but it gave him a banner under which to justify his actions. And a flag didn’t force Roof to open fire on a group of unarmed African American worshippers during a church Bible study, but it was waving all the same — in license plate form — as he drove away from the slaughter.

* Way too fucking little, way too fucking late, Nikki. Burn them. Burn them all.

Louisville Cops Declare War Against the Public

On your KNEES, peasants!  Obey instantaneously and keep your filthy mouths shut about what nazis we are, or we will HUNT YOU DOWN.

No, that's not hyperbole.


Digby:

This statement was released by Fraternal Order of Police in Louisville Kentucky:

Consider this an open letter to the public we serve, the criminal element in our city, and the self appointed spokespersons who choose to remain blind to reason, who use misinformation and who sensationalize tragedy at every opportunity to forward their political agendas.

Know this: The members of River City FOP Lodge 614, who serve and protect Louisville every day, will no longer stand on the sidelines while anyone continues to assault and demonize us.

To those of you that support us while we serve and protect you — Thank You. Although you are not chosen for media interviews, we know that you understand we are here for you and your families. We know that the vast majority of you see that ninety-nine percent of police officers serve with integrity and courage. Although we know in our hearts that you are the silent majority, sadly, that may not be enough. Soon, we may have to ask for you to rise with us against the small, but very vocal group of people in our city who resist everything we all strive to attain — freedom, safety and the ability to live our lives happily and without fear.

To the criminal element in our community-we do not fear you. We are not your punching bag and we will not simply stand by and accept your verbal or physical assaults. No matter what craziness occurs, we will always protect our citizens and ourselves. No matter how weak our criminal justice system, we will hunt you down again and again until they put you away or you go away. No matter how weak our policies we will find a way to make you understand that Louisville isn't where you want to live. Most importantly, though, take note of the following: If you actively resist or assault us, we will use every option available to take you into custody. If you use deadly force against us or use or attempt to use a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon against us, we will use deadly force against you and we WILL stop the threat to us, our fellow officers or the citizens we serve.

To the sensationalists, liars and race-baiters —we are done with you. At first it was good enough just to sit back and watch your ridiculous spectacle. No more. Now your rhetoric, lies and hate puts all of us, police officers and citizens alike, in danger. From now on we will call you out each and every time you tell a lie, twist the truth or otherwise engage in vile behavior meant to push your selfish agendas. If your behavior or untruths causes harm to us or the public, we will make every attempt to have you investigated, charged and prosecuted at the local, state or federal level. Your idiocy and lies are what caused the destruction in Ferguson and other cities around our country and we won't be tolerating that here. We watched in shock most recently as some of you flat out lied to the media after a critical incident here in Louisville. Many in the media are self serving too, and we watched as they stood on the sidelines and fanned the flames for financial gain.

It is obvious to nearly everyone that you are attacking and lashing out at the police instead of attacking the real problem — those who commit crimes in our city and those who enable the criminal element. Are you not paying attention to what is happening around the country? As police are disempowered the predominately minority areas of cities, including Louisville, are suffering at the hands of killers and violent felons. Yet you continue to attack law enforcement. Your attacks can't stop the truth from shining through. The truth is that every day there are millions of encounters during which police officers interact peacefully with all kinds of people, even during very difficult circumstances.

Your flawed logic and lack of reason regarding events that occur in our society makes you appear stunningly inept. Let me help you. All citizens in Louisville, regardless of race, creed, color, gender or national origin have the SAME rights and responsibilities. No one gets a separate set of rules. Politicians may fear you and your tactics-we do not. You and those you enable must abide by the law and comply with law enforcement like everyone else. If you refuse to comply or even worse, attack a law enforcement officer, expect to be met with force.

Your ridiculous demands and anti-law enforcement attitude has reached a level that is unacceptable. You want our attention? Well you have it. Consider yourselves on notice. We challenge you to have the same integrity and dedication to serving the community that you say you seek in the police. We already have it. You need to get it.

On behalf of the members of RCFOP Lodge 614,

Dave Mutchler

President

River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614

There's nothing authoritarian about threatening to hunt down critics of the police. Nothing at all.

This is exactly the type of person you want to be entrusted to ensure public safety, amirite? Level-headed, mature and full of common sense and good judgment. It's hard to imagine that such a person isn't respected by everyone in the community.

 Stay the fuck out of Louisville.  Especially you tourists and conventioneers planning to spend money there.  Call Mayor Fischer and tell him why.

Here's a Practical Idea

From the Rude Pundit:

Once a year, every April 12, on the steps of the capitol buildings in all the states* that seceded from the United States, the Confederate flag should be burned. The ceremony should be attended by all the legislators, all the state's Supreme Court justices, and the governor. Then, when the embers are dying, a black man or woman, chosen by lottery, should be brought up to piss on the ashes. Every year. Just to remind anyone who supports it what the value of the garbage flag is. 

* Plus Kentucky, which never seceded but has done its damnedest ever since to join the Confederacy.

As he headlines this post: Your Support of the Confederate Flag Makes You A Traitor

Doughnut Persecution

Divine Irony:

Reblogged from Hemant Mehta.

Religion is a Phase

Divine Irony:

How Repug Fear Infantalizes Us

I am continually stunned by how people who lived through World War II and the Cold War - genuine existential threats to our democracy let alone existence - can with a straight face demand hysterical overreaction to a bunch of antediluvian goat-fuckers in the desert.

Digby:

"Nothing matter is we aren't safe..." There you go. That excuses any breach of human decency, law and norm. Because I hate to break the news to people, you will never be perfectly safe. We used to be a mature enough society to understand that. But now that we have the Daddy Party infantilizing us, a whole lot of Americans are so easily frightened they just want to suck their thumbs and hear a nice bedtime story about what good girls and boys they are.

Charlie Pierce:

The fact is that a lot of things "matter" even if we're not "safe." Climate change matters. Income inequality matters. Poverty matters. They "mattered" before September 11, 2001 and they "mattered" afterwards and they "matter" now. (They "mattered" before and after the Oklahoma City bombing, for all that. And Lincoln expanded higher education and built the intercontinental railroad with the goddamn Army Of Northern Virginia a few days' march down the road from Washington. They "mattered," too. So did the war. America used to be like that.) If "nothing matters if we aren't safe," then everything is up for grabs if and when some lunatic decides to demonstrate that we're not. Marco Rubio wants to lead a fearful nation. Fine. Let him go find one.

Please Stop Pretending TPP Will Create Good American Jobs, Mr. President. You Know That's a Lie

It's not disappointing and disillusioning any more, Mr. President. It's downright dangerous. Back away from TPP before it destroys not just your legacy, but the nation.

Dylann Roof's Accessories

Repug denial of the true cause of the massacre in Charleston has reach the level of not just enablers, but accessories. Before, during and after the fact.

Tom Sullivan at Hullabaloo:

Yesterday, conservative politicians again went out of their way to assure us that the perpetrators of such atrocities are lunatics, even as the would-be leaders tiptoed carefully and visibly in the press so as not to upset the very confederacy of lunatics they have found so politically useful, have carefully cultivated as their political base, and now themselves fear to confront.

If we cannot talk about race hatred and violence in this country, maybe we can talk about that.

Aurin Square takes accepts that challenge:

But the Charleston church shooting that left nine African-Americans dead while they prayed is not an inexplicable tragedy. It simply took white rage and racism and conservative political race-baiting to their logical conclusions. It echoes a disturbing trend in right-wing media inflaming fringe factions, encouraging maximum armament, and then turning around after a tragedy and saying “we had no idea this would happen.”

On Wednesday night, South Carolina’s governor Nikki Haley trotted out a boilerplate statement, calling the shooting a “senseless tragedy.” One could excuse this choice of words as a rushed assumption issued in real time, but as more and more details about Dylann Roof surfaced, conservatives refused to face the music. One by one, politicians and pundits acted like this terrorist act was one of life’s great unsolvable mysteries.

“We don't know the motivation of the person who did it," Rudy Guiliani said yesterday. "Maybe he hates Christian churches. Maybe he hates black churches or he's gonna go find another one. Who knows." Donald Trump, in a tweet yesterday, said the crime was “incomprehensible.”

Last night, a Wall Street Journal columnist wrote: "What causes young men such as Dylann Roof to erupt in homicidal rage, whatever their motivation, is a problem that defies explanation beyond the reality that evil still stalks humanity. It is no small solace that in committing such an act today, he stands alone."

At this point, Roof’s bigotry has become clear in myriad ways. Yet as late as this afternoon, when cornered by a reporter and asked if the shooting was racially motivated, presidential candidate Jeb Bush said “I don’t know.” This means Bush is either incapable of basic logic, or he has willfully decided to blind and deafen himself to one of the nation’s biggest problems.

SNIP

Given the history of the South, along the rise of both active shooters and gun access, we can't call what happened Wednesday night a “senseless tragedy.” In fact, the Charleston church shooting is full of savage sense. Thanks to complicity at best, and outright racist at worst, the “inconceivable” is still feasible. The fear tactics that were once localized in the dark backwoods of our political landscape now reach every phone and laptop. Today, xenophobia and bigotry are the daily platforms from which many conservatives speak to their shrinking base. The Charleston shooting is not a random act of violence, but part of a long litany of history culminating in a painful present.

Bottomless Meanness

I actually think it's not about taxes any more.  It's about punishing everyone who is not rich, white, straight, male and conservative.

Kevin Drum:

A harsh streak of just plain meanness has taken over the GOP in recent years, and I haven't seen any sign that it's fading away. Maybe this is just partisan bitterness on my part. I sure hope so. But as near as I can tell, they'd actively enjoy making the lives of the poor ever more harsh in order to save the rich from paying a few taxes. I sure hope we don't get to find out.

"The Secret History of Juneteenth"

It's not what you think, although if you think "fucking Texas," you're right.

Just read it.

The Latest Smear-Snowden Lie Is Another Lie

In case it's not obvious, which it should have been from the first sentence of the London Sunday Times piece.

Digby:

It's entirely possible that some kind of breach happened that revealed the names of some British agents. As Greenwald says, there's been a whole lot of hacking going on. And I suppose its predictable that they would blame any breaches on Snowden but the fact that they got important facts wrong is a sign that they're just throwing this out there and the press isn't bothering to check the facts they have at hand. One would have at least thought they'd question why the Russians waited for two years before checking Snowden's invisible laptop. But that's just how they roll.

The British have turned into monsters when it comes to this surveillance and spying stuff. It brings into sharp focus why the Americans decided to write down a Bill of Rights when their revolution succeeded. They knew better than to leave anything to "trust". Even themselves.

"Once again, somebody who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting a gun."

If the goal of the gun nuts is to draw Angry Ni**er out of him at last, they're almost there.



Martin Luther King Jr. didn't say it, but I will:  Stop Praying and Start Fighting. Get. The. Fuck. Off. Your. Knees.

And this, from Wonkette commenter cousinitt:

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

• 

The Real Planks of AynRandy's Platform

The Tribble-Toupeed One is trying to have it both ways again.  No one should doubt his sincere embrace of freakazoid conservative rejection of human rights for women and gays, but someone needs to ask him about the exact planks of his libertarianism. Because they are far worse than he lets on.

D.R. Tucker at Political Animal:

In the libertarian world, the only citizen who has any actual rights is the wealthiest citizen. That citizen can pollute for free, pay people slave wages, put unsafe products on the shelves, and ignore common-sense work safety standards. Local, state and federal governments would, in essence, stand down as the tycoon abuses the population for profit.

This is the sick, dark vision of people like Charles and David Koch—a vision in which money equals freedom and government equals evil. It’s a vision in which being poor and sick means being dead and buried. It’s a vision in which severe economic inequality is considered the natural and logical order, the way things ought to be. It’s an amoral, abhorrent vision.

It was the vision that guided David Koch’s 1980 vice-presidential bid, as Vermont Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders noted in April 2014:

In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.

Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.

Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:

“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”

“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”

“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”

“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”

“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”

“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”

“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”

“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”

“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”

“We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”

“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”

“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”

“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”

“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”

“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”

“We demand the return of America’s railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”

“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called ‘self-protection’ equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”

“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”

“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”

“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”

“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”

“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country. 

Libertarian ideology is nothing less than an existential threat to America’s security, cohesion, safety and health. It seeks to undo the social bonds that tie us together. It wishes to turn rich against poor and powerful against weak. It recognizes no moral code except for that established by the self-serving billionaire.

All of us—progressives, centrists, moderates, even the handful of rational conservatives left—have a moral obligation to fight the cancer of libertarianism and keep it from growing within the body of our democracy; if we don’t fight it, our democracy will soon wind up in hospice care. We must condemn libertarianism as a radical ideology that’s every bit as pernicious as the radical ideologies of the past. We must educate our young people to understand that the end result of Ayn Rand is a social and economic wasteland. We must challenge libertarian ideologues and denounce them for their efforts to destroy the policies that have kept our nation strong since the New Deal. We must, in essence, declare war on libertarian ideology, for it is at war with America’s best values.

Since libertarianism is an assault on our country’s protections and principles, one cannot be both a libertarian and a patriot.

The Kochs have chosen sides.

Which side are you on?