Milhous or Millstone?

Let us lefty types praise Congressional Republicans, at last for their current stupidity. That is, their reanimation of the odious GOP disgrace Tricky Dick Nixon.

They seem to be oblivious to the low comedy nature of the likes of "I know you are, but what am I." When the Pee-wee Herman character responded that way to an insult, it was more evidence of his puerile foolishness. Now Congressional GOP type and their not so foxy media touts chant an unending Greek chorus of "Nixonian."

The knowledgeable and analytic know first that the evils of the lawless, ruthless Nixon are not at all like the events Obama haters are failing to turn into scandals. Moreover, winger media as well as Republicans push and push the comparisons with Nixon, first the same as and then even worse than Nixon.

I accept as so many pundit types of all political stripes have said or written, that Republicans won't rest, vindicated until they force a Democratic President from office. Nixon, of course, slithered away ahead of impeachment, indictment and jail and under a pardon from his replacement.

Alas, the unrelenting efforts to drive Bill Clinton from office surely were driven by the Nixon stain. The GOP did get him impeached for lying about and inducing others to lie about his being fellated by an intern. He did not leave office and if anything his personal and political stock climbed. (It's worth noting that several of those leading that impeachment effort were at the time involved in long-term adulterous relationships, and lying about those.)

Regardless, this full chorus singing for Obama's impeachment serves two purposes:

1. Highlighting governmental problems, while even in the short term having hearings that show the President to be innocent of the allegations.
2. Reminding all voters that Republicans have decades of nefarious association with the sleaziest of all Presidents. 

Yes, the GOP loves to claim being the Party of Lincoln. Really though, they have revivified that awful zombie to make us aware they are the Party of Nixon.

Younger voters who had only a vague historical reference to Nixon are learning more and more about his sordid administration. They now know that this is the Republican way. The GOP would have been far wiser to leave hid corpse undisturbed.

Boomers and older voters hear this dreadful belch from the past. We too re-associate Republicans with the sneaky, lawbreaking, Constitution abusing Nixon.

When Watergate became his Waterloo, Nixon tried to defend his criminal leadership and simultaneously shift the focus from this abuse of office to whether he had profited financially from his misdeeds. Among his remarks at the time were, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

Well, he seemed incapable of honesty, but truth be told, he was a crook, on many levels.

So, thanks GOP'ers. You have successfully and repeatedly reminded us how the Party of Nixon acts and speaks.

Consalvo Powers On

The myriad Boston mayoral candidates have four months to stand out from the other 23 running. Last evening, Rob Consalvo did a very credible job at that.

In his kickoff rally, his opening acts of supporters wound up the crowd of four or five hundred filling the Cedars of Lebanon hall in JP. Then his wife, Michelle, humanized him with personal and family vignettes. He kept the energy with a rousing stump speech.

One-on-one, Rob is a serious, sincere pol. I wondered whether he could put the hammer to the anvil. No problem last night.

He hit on the high points, what used to be called the vision thing, following the list items on his scant website. He'll surely get more detailed heading to the September preliminary. Meanwhile the skillfully skirted the border of specificity that would give his many opponents targets. Being out early brings big risks.

His skeletal platform hits constituent passions:

• High quality education, a tier-one school in every neighborhood. (Promises longer school days and year, with more funding, and somehow getting teachers, unions and parents working together.)
• Strong fiscal foundation for the city. (That seems to mean growing businesses, fostering high-tech and other innovation, and not from austerity.)
• Improved public safety...in every neighborhood. (Some technology like ore ShotSpotter installs, but mostly funding police, fire, youth groups, neighborhood watch and more.)
• Finding and eliciting ideas and innovations from citizens, businesses, academicians, and government in MA and beyond. 

The emcee, MA Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, three constituents and his wife heaped on his credentials to advance that he can deliver.

He works absurd hours, apparently without fatigue. He solves constituent problems, like ensuring vacant land became a neighborhood's green space. He innovates as in pressing for John's Law to prevent drunk drivers from getting right back in their cars happened in MA; he takes credit for helping it spread nationwide. Maybe even more effective and memorable was Michelle's tale of how he stopped when they were on the way to a hospital for her to deliver their youngest  but he noticed graffiti on the Grew Elementary and hod to call it in before heading to delivery.

She claims it didn't surprise or upset her.She is what Rob called his best asset in the race and Petruccelli said was his "greatest campaign prop."

He's been at it for 11 years on City Council, representing District 5 with parts of Hyde Park, Mattapan and Roslindale. That was Mayor Tom Menino's district.

Disclaimer: Rob is my district councilor. I know him and he has been a guest on Left Ahead a couple times.

During his tenure, Rob has been known for his constant innovations and sticking his neck out on what he decides are good ideas. He comes up with some of those on his own, gets some from constituents and makes no bones about eagerly accepting or adapting others from Councilors, other politicians and elsewhere. He has been one of the few on Council with the reputation for proposing projects, regulations and what they like to call legislation on the fifth floor of city hall.

Missing last evening were politicians likely to support and endorse early. With two dozen declared candidates — maybe 10 to 12 likely to get enough signatures for ballot slots — pols are necessarily very cautious about such displays. I had to think of 2010 when Matt O'Malley ran in a special to replace Councilor John Tobin and had a monster, politically starry kickoff. No one can beat that kind of display for this race.

So far, no one in the race has advanced either a brilliant slogan or a revolutionary platform. Rob's catchphrase Making Boston Better is more than adequate. He simply has to convince enough voters that he can pull that off, that he can harden up his kind of spongy goals and achieve each one. Last evening was promising.

Marriage Tipping Points

Back a decade ago (ooooo) Hawaii said, "Why not?" to marriage equality — to be quickly legislatively stifled — Vermont passed civil unions (now known as same-sex marriage LITE), and then MA's high court rules that constitutional equal rights are just that in Goodridge. As those transpired, regressive legislators state by state, both WWII sorts and boomers alike, over-reacted with panic.

The tipping point then and in all those places was sent the big, honking message to all those queers and queer loving liberal sorts. Laws defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, often backed up by a voter-approved constitutional amendment forbidding hoe-moe-sexual marriage (oops, "marriage" always in quotes of disdain), flourished like garlic mustard poisoning the lawns of liberty. It was a trend amplifying Prez Bill Clinton's Defense of Marriage Act.

The anti-gay, anti-marriage equality forces loved to chant how 30 or 40 states forbade gay marriage, implying that was permanent. Not so fast, nasties.

We have 11 states, D.C., and a few Native American nations who have legalized SSM. Plus, CA did and will almost surely return next month when the SCOTUS stops futzing around.

Today, Minnesota's House approved SSM. The governor is ready to sign as soon as its Senate does it's proforma consent Monday.

By the bye, Illinois is likely to join the equality party this month.

The tipping point is tipped.

When Illinois and California jump in, suddenly we don't have a freak nation of a few areas approving SSM. Rather, a huge chunk of the population — both coasts and in the middle — say they actually believe in and support equality.

If, as expected, the SCOTUS, hedges on full equality nationwide, only letting CA revert to its legislatively passed SSM, we are left with a modern and primitive America. Texas and South Carolina won't want to give homosexuals American rights, dagnabbit.  Short of a Supreme Court mandate, they'll fester with their regressive stupidity as they did with race laws for a bit longer.

The point is that I was wrong. I thought getting this far would take another decade or two. Once I saw that my boomer generation was little better than our parents on gay rights, I feared for the nation until most of us from both groups had died. I, fortunately, was wrong. America is tired of the irrational and emotional crap and its distractions.

Tip that.

Mega-Sota and Marriage

Watching and hearing several hours of the Minnesota House debate marriage equality, I was moved again, as I was in hearing the New Hampshire and Maine legislatures. The rhetoric was similar, as was the result.

The body today approved same-sex marriage by 75 to 59. The Senate had already approved it and will vote Monday in a pro forma confirmation. The governor is eager to sign the bill into law. Full marriage will start August 1st.

The heartland arguments differed little from the coastal ones. Most reps, regardless of gender, orientation, age or other factors, were intellectually and emotionally and patriotically on the side of liberty and equality for all.

The scattered naysayers tried tired clichés about (discredited) studies saying a mom/dad was the only OK family for kids or that marriage existed just for procreation or such tripe.

The pro side was often at once rational and passionate. They spoke of fairness, American ideals, and even of the relatives, friends, neighbors, coworkers and fellow legislators who were gay and denied fundamental rights and inclusion.

Yes, it was time in Minnesota.

Yes, Delaware

Not to be outdone by the other tiny state, Delaware joined the Eastern Seaboard trend toward marriage equality a few minutes ago. Last week, Rhode island finally, finally made same-sex marriage real after years of rubbing up against it.

This follows last year's Delaware half-hearted civil-unions effort. Today, it went for the real thing, to begin July 1.

Of course, the new law has the unnecessary legally but crucially emotionally for a subset of citizens proviso that clergy and churches can continue to scream, "Do not darken my door, you queens!" in refusing to perform same-sex rituals. That has long been the US Constitution as well as per-state law, but for the anti-gay putting in writing yet again remains a thing of consequence.

 Blessed be.

Boston Corpse Shaming

OK, boys and girls, in the how-provincial-can-you-get contest Boston remains a major competitor. When it comes to dishonoring the dead, we're down there with the worst.

Consider alleged and highly photographed Marathon terrorism suspect Tamelan Tsarnaev. Cops and his brother produced his corpse in Watertown, but the nasty remains went off to Dyer-Lake Funeral Home and Cremation Services, North Attleboro. They shipped it off to the gutsier Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester. They are not afraid of preparing and plugging controversial bodies, including gang members.

As owner Peter Stephan told the Telegraph, "“Our job is to bury the dead. Can we pick and choose the circumstances surrounding the person – be it their death or what they did? Everyone deserves a respectful burial.”"

Meanwhile of course Boston Herald writers and others are swarming like dung beetles and squatting like carrion birds. "Oh, they got welfare money!" "Lawdy, they are proof all immigrants should be turned back!" "God, condemn their souls forever and let us drag their bodies around the city behind garbage trucks!"

Forget the de mortuis nil nisi bonum crappolo, it's lynch mob time on the Charles. Any respect for the dead, for due process or other constitutional rights be damned.

This is not our first go at this either. A little less than a century ago, the most egregious parallel was Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco. These admitted anarchists were convicted — almost certainly falsely — of murder and put to death. For their families, that didn't end the anguish.

No funeral home would cremate the corpses and no Catholic cemetery would accept the remains. Finally, the WASPy haven, Forest Hills Cemetery agreed to burn the bodies and ship the ashes to the parents in Italy. On the way from the Langone funeral home in the North End, protesters were abetted by the Boston police in rioting, disrupting the transit and shaming the mourners. It was as disgraceful a day as the BPD has had before or sense.

Forest Hills staff had a similar attitude to the Worcester folk. Corpses have a sacred patina that deserves respect and expedience. The politics and self-righteousness of nasties are not relevant. Bless them.

On the Rhode Island to Hell

Tossing back some champers and worst of all wishing the newlyweds happiness may send you to hell, says Providence Bishop T.J. Tobin. Like donkeys braying in the back field, that's the scattered nastiness from the few angry that Rhode Island legalized marriage equality yesterday.

(Art note: A section of Rodin's gates of hell bronze at Stanford U.)

The usual clowns, like NOM, joined him in handwringing and in fear mongering about pious business owners surely, surely being forced to accommodate gay folk.

Tobin had the instant classic though, including:

Catholics should examine their consciences very carefully before deciding whether or not to endorse same-sex relationships or attend same-sex ceremonies, realizing that to do so might harm their relationship with God and cause significant scandal to others.

Non-Catholics may not be aware of his insider code there. Scandal does have the ordinary meaning, as in scandals of bishops protecting child abusing clerics and all the related disgrace. His churchy use means an action or word that would ruin another person's soul. Such scandal is evil in itself and puts one on the express train to hell.

The bishop might do well with less politics and more Bible study. Consider the number of places particularly in the New Testament that judgment is God's not man's. I'm pretty sure Tobin falls in the latter group.

My late mother used to say, "We're all adults here," with the implications of maturity and rationality. Were that the case in RI, the bishop and other anti-gay types might have said, "We fought long and strong against fairness and equality but finally got out butts handed to us."

New England is solidly for marriage equality now. When California returns to the same rights, almost certainly after the June SCOTUS rulings, a big chunk of the population will be too. DOMA is on its way out. It's all happening much quicker than I predicted.

OK Rhody

Finally, for Christ's sake, Rhode Island passes the two necessary bills to formalize marriage equality. Gov. Chafee promises 5:45 PM signing. The House backs up the Senate by 56 to 15. When he signs, it's a done, regional deal. Ten states for fairness and love.

Let's not do the what-took-you-so-long thing! RI has danced around same-sex marriage for years, accepting  Massachusetts marriages, offering benefits, yadda yadda. We await only te

Now New England is a jolly family of fairness.

RI same-sex marriages begin August. 1.

Herd of Stallions

Da Mare, a.k.a. Boston Mayor Thomas Michael Menino, made a massive (22) herd of all male would-be replacements appear. Simply by announcing he would not run for a sixth four-year term, he gave the ambitious, the vain, and the delusional permission to run for the open spot in the September preliminary.

Today's Boston Globe has the full list of the 19 who have pulled papers and three others who have already said they're in the hunt. Candidates have until May 13th at 5 PM to apply and May 21 at 5 to hand in the required 3,000 registered Boston voter signatures.

In reality, they likely each need 4,500 or 5,000 signatures to have enough legit ones. Moreover, pundits and consultants figure candidates will need one million dollars to run a competitive race.

The current herd includes:

• City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo
• John F. Barros
• Lee Buckley
• Robert Cappucci
• Charles L. Clemons Jr.
• Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley
• City Councilor John R. Connolly
• City Councilor Rob Consalvo
• Miniard Culpepper
• William J. Dorcena
• Althea Garrison
• John G.C. Laing Jr.
• Divo Rodrigues Monteiro
• David S. Portnoy
• City Councilor Michael P. Ross
• Gareth R. Saunders
• Bill Walczak
• State Representative Martin J. Walsh
• Hassan A. Williams
• Christopher G. Womack
• David James Wyatt
• City Councilor Charles C. Yancey

Some seem to be vanity candidates, like Charles Clemons and John Laing, co-founders of 106.1 TOUCH (pirate) radio, and likely Barstool Sports head David Portnoy. Plus there are I'll-run-for-anything perennial candidates like Althea Garrison. Several community activists jumped in with yet-to-be-determined levels of seriousness.

Likewise, five of the 13 City Councilors are in. Apparently four are willing to vacate their seats and show the confidence of running only for the top job. One, longest-serving Councilor Charles Yancey filed for his district seat as well. In theory, if he won both, he could choose one office to take. If he loses the preliminary on September 14th, he'd still be up for his district seat.

Others are apparently still mulling. Many progressive sorts were sorry to see that Councilor Ayanna Pressley would not run for Mayor. We have yet to hear from Council President Steve Murphy. He's in his 50s and this could be his one shot at the office, but that's a hell of a big, rough herd to run with.

It makes me dizzy for this blog and the weekly Left Ahead podcast. It's tempting to be as cowardly as the local dailies, not covering individuals until some drop out and most lose in the prelim. Over at the podcast though, we have pretty recently spoken with Connolly, Dorcena and Consalvo. That was Dorcena as the first to announce, a year ago, and the other two because they had worthwhile political and policy commentary.

This could be fascinating or tedious before September. Certainly if any forum group tires to put 22 on the stage at a time, each would get 15 to 30 seconds a go and resolve absolute nothing. I'm still looking forward to the show.

France Joins Marriage-Equality List

Love expands legally in France. The National Assembly passed same-sex marriage 331 to 225 today in a bill identical to the Senate one already approved.

The plug nasties have a last-gasp effort to beg the Constitutional Council to overturn, "censor" the bill. Those judges have up to a month to decide. There seem virtually no chance of reversal happening.

Homosexual couples can start marrying nationwide by the middle of June.

Le Monde has the story (in French, mais oui).

Straight to Crazy After Boston Bombings

Well now, there's crazy like a fox and crazy like FOXnews. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell most definitely remains in the latter class of stupids.

Following Monday's Boston Marathon bombings, with their death, dismemberment and massive injuries, he took the mic on the Senate floor to make absurd political claims. Those centered on counter-terrorism following the 9/11 attacks. His punchline was, "With the passage of time, however, and the vigilant efforts of our military, intelligence and law enforcement professionals, I think it’s safe to say that for many, the complacency that prevailed prior to September 11th has actually returned."

Think Progress has the full quotes and clip.

Know you will hear more of such baseless claims. From what should be a leadership position, McConnell instead points the way to the unprovable, untenable, and impotent. As a nation, both government and individuals, we are more aware of dangers than ever, have numerous agencies and procedures at work constantly, and have thwarted many terrorism attempts. The ones that happen are God awful but very rare.

As usual, his implication is that somehow, someone (read President Obama) coulda, shoulda done something unspecified that woulda prevented the Boston bombings.So far for the first day and one half, most winger commentators have managed to stifle such base words. Here's betting McConnell's were just the first.

The larger and underlying issue continues to be that Congressional Republicans and GOP leaders neither like nor truly understand the post-WWII America. Let us recall that over 400,000 Americans were among those who died in WWII. To a one, they would say then and later that it was about keeping the United States and larger world free. Likewise those who fought in Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East almost all echoed that.

The trend we have seen in recent years though, particularly after 9/11, has been expanding government powers to limit liberties. Among the most pervasive are TSA airport procedures. Unlike say Israel, we don't use savvy airport agents and sensible observation. We go for mindless rules about a couple of ounces of liquid and resort to frisking and even to strip searches.

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Safety Fantasies

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The wingers at the state level instead reserve their version of freedom to actual murder threats. That would be stand-your-ground laws that literally permit individuals to decide when they can execute someone. That would be permits to carry loaded sidearms into drinking sessions at bars. That would be the right to own and walk around with semiautomatic rifles with 30 or 100 shot clips attached.

Let us constantly be aware that international and domestic terrorists want to cripple Americans. They want us to be afraid all the time. They want our country more like autocratic ones, where big, intrusive government rules and citizens must obey.

The crazy-like-FOX crew seem to be all for that anti-freedom movement. They're fine with every bigger, ever more intrusive government spying on us, our calls, emails, travels and more. Likewise, they are fine with employers deciding what health care their workers can get (think contraception). At the state level, many seem delighted to restrict the most fundamental American right, that of voting.

McConnell and his ilk clearly don't like the America that grew, evolved and matured around them. They want a much more confined America. They lie about wanting less government while they ever expand agencies to control us.

I call them out.

The Boston bombings brought many tragedies — a word I never use lightly. Personal ones include the murder of 8-year-old Martin Richard.

There is no need for or utility in political lies about complacency. Likewise, being in denial about susceptibility to terrorist acts right here in the United States is simply delusional. We're not in a war zone. Then again at the most basic level, we, and the whole world, are. Fantasizing that big-daddy government can keep us safe every hour everywhere from every monster goes straight to crazy.

Melissa Crosses the Nasties

Apparently MSNBC is new to the parents-rights mini-movement. This week, they've been wringing hands and trying valiantly to be amused by winger bloggers and Fox talking heads slamming Melissa Harris Perry.

At the bottom is a segment in which Chris Hayes and she seemed surprised and even stunned. The Fox-ies had spent much of the week literally ranting and feigning high-pitched outrage. She had only called for larger community involvement in ensuring the safety and successful development of children.

The winger drama centered on her saying that a family's children are not the sole responsibility of the parents, that the community can help and should help. Of course that is a simple, generally religiously based concept going way back to Old Testament days and before. The idea that if there are problems, you're on you own, is a more recent, destruction and cold one.

Yet, winger media are always eager to pounce. They have been outdoing each other depicting these old fashioned values as collectivism, communism and other such drivel.

Hayes and Harris Perry were generally confused about where all this overreaction originated. Welcome to the world of parents rights.

That subgroup of wingers claims legal and moral ownership of their children, be it in how they are educated or whether parents can beat them freely and on any whim.

I did a series here (search for parents rights). One post links to several others by their emphasis. MSNBC folk can be sure if they again dare call for community involvement in helping kids, and particularly if they use the expression that "our children are not our own" as the metaphor for people helping each other, these vipers will pop out of their holes.

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