EMILY's Lies

Is there a nominally progressive advocacy group more scurrilous than EMILY's list? It seems like I'm constantly seeing them engaging in bogus-to-outrageous attacks on progressive Democrats, in ways that do deep damage to the progressive movement while doing very little (if anything) to push Congress in a pro-choice direction. They were deeply involved in Nikki Tinker's racially and religious-tinged campaign to unseat sterling progressive Rep. Steve Cohen in the 2008 Democratic primary. And right now DKos Elections is on their case adopting GOP-style rhetoric attacking a Democrat for successfully raising taxes on millionaires.

Connecticut Joins the Vanguard of Civilization

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples have the right to marry, the third state after Massachusetts and California to do so. Connecticut did break one barrier though:

The 4-3 ruling is the first time that a state that had willingly offered an alternative to marriage was told by a court that civil unions aren't enough to protect the rights of gay couples. Connecticut was the first state to voluntarily pass laws to affirm civil unions.

Maryland could learn a lot from this tale.

Civil Rights Roundup: 07/21/08

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news

The Boston Globe has a report on Democratic efforts to find an "anti-Scalia." Could Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a former bigwig in the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department, be that guy?

A dissident Catholic group claims it has ordained three women as priests.

I missed this while I was in NY, but Connecticut is likely to file suit to mandate that the VA allow voter registration drives.

The Washington Post reveals how nannies organized themselves to get the first housekeeper protection law in the nation passed in Montgomery County.

The Post also has an op-ed about "career academies", which have demonstrated some success in improving the job prospects (though not the academic performance) of at-risk youth. Jonathan Kozol, as I recall, was skeptical about this programs, as they essentially track these youth away from any chance at joining the nation's elite, thus perpetuating class divides.

The Arizona Republic has an interview with By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) on the Arizona affirmative action fight.

Local religious leaders are rallying behind a Massachusetts synagogue which was again hit by vandals.

The Orlando Sentinel urges Florida to stop withholding civil rights for ex-felons just because they can't pay restitution to their victims. After all, no civil rights often means no jobs, which means the victims will never get paid.

South Dakota gives doctors a script to read when talking to women considering an abortion. The script says that abortion "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being," and "informs" the women that she possesses "an existing relationship" with the fetus that is protected by the U.S. Constitution, that "her existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated," and finally, (falsely) tells her that "abortion increases the risk of suicide ideation and suicide."

Lemons into lemonade: School districts around the country are looking for ways to integrate in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision last summer severely limiting voluntary desegregation plans.

New Orleans residents wonder if the air of police entitlement that allows them to violate citizens rights with impunity is the exception or the rule.

Finally, hip-hop star Usher is launching a voter registration drive in Georgia.

Proving the Point

Oppressive regimes are ruled by (to use an all too crude term) douchebags. One of the ways we know this is that if their charges dare call them such, they are punished and repressed for their temerity.

Right now, the 2nd Circuit is hearing a student speech case out of Connecticut, Doninger v. Niehoff. Mitchell Rubenstein summarizes the case as follows:

A Connecticut High School Student used vulgar slang on an Internet blog which was sent from her personal computer while at home. Specifically, she criticized the administration by saying "Jamfest is canceled due to douchebags in central office." The school, in turn, refused to allow plaintiff to run for re-election as class secretary. She then won with write in ballots, but was not allowed to serve.

This, of course, seems to validate the student's original assertion, but whatever. It's fantastically frightening to me that schools think they can assert this much influence over their student's private speech, in their own home. It's frankly authoritarian, and the message of disrespect it sends to the student body far exceeds what the student did in the first place.

Richter for Congress?

I'm a Devils fan, so I have reflexive residual animosity for Mike Richter, but I think I could look past it if he challenges Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) in 2008. This doesn't look like a vanity run--Richter has political experience, including time as an operative for Rep. John Hall, who upset former Rep. Sue Kelly in a hotly contested New York House seat.

Richter, a 40-year-old Democrat who lives in Guilford, said he expects to make a decision in the next few weeks about whether to run for the Fairfield County seat in 2008.

"I've considered entering public office in some form for a long time," Richter told The Associated Press. "I'm getting positive responses."

A series of concussions forced Richter into early retirement in 2003 after 15 seasons with the Rangers, the club he backstopped to the Stanley Cup title in 1994 after a 54-year drought. Richter was a three-time All-Star and the MVP of the 1996 World Cup, in which he led the United States to a gold medal.

In the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Richter criticized President Bush's comment that Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive."

"I think that was entirely inappropriate -- I think it was sickening actually," Richter told Newsday at the time. "This is no cowboy movie. This is not something to be glib about."

Richter worked last year for U.S. Rep. John Hall, a Democrat and former musician who upset six-term incumbent Republican Sue Kelly in upstate New York. Richter helped Hall, who opposed the Iraq war, win over police officers, fire fighters and other constituents who might not have otherwise voted for him, said Tom Staudter, Hall's spokesman.

"He was hugely popular," Staudter said, describing Richter as bright and friendly. "He'll be great."

In a sign of his status, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani named his dog "Goalie" after Richter.

Another intriguing factoid: Richter is currently enrolled at Yale University, majoring in ethics, politics and economics. So this ain't your typical dumb jock (an aside: it's entirely anecdotal, but I've noticed that hockey players seem to be, on average, smarter than athletes in other sports. Ivy league schools whose teams are jokes in other sports have some of the best college hockey teams in the nation. Probably just a bias on my part, but still).

Shays' 4th District is one of the wealthiest in the country, and I wonder if a bit of old-fashioned elitism might cut against Richter ("Only uneducated rabble would elect a sports star to Congress"). But certainly, an intriguing potential matchup.