I am deeply sadden by news of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few physicians to perform late-term abortion procedures. Dr. Tiller was shot and killed as he attended church.
Dr. Tiller has provided abortion services since the 1970s, has long been a target of anti-abortion violence. In 1993 he was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion fanatic, but recovered. Dr. Tiller has also come under legal attack, with the most recent being a citizen-initiated grand jury investigation. Dr. Tiller was acquitted in March of charges that he had performed late-term abortions in violation of state law.
This tragedy illustrates the extreme measures anti-abortion fanatics will take in their attempt to control women’s reproductive choices — and it must be treated as domestic terrorism. This is the first murder to take place since the Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002 and Yikes calls on them to investigate this. The person (or persons) responsible for this tragedy must be captured and brought to justice.
We have lost a brave and compassionate man who placed the well-being of his patients above his own personal safety. In memory of Dr. Tiller we must all rededicate ourselves to insuring women have access to safe and legal abortion.
My heart goes out to his family, friends, coworkers and patients.
I’m sure there are a lot of wonderful posts out there today, but I kind of got stuck at Shakesville. The stuff there was particularly good today. So please take a moment and absorb the following:
The California Supreme Court decision upholding Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment prohibiting marriage equality for same-sex couples, is truly outrageous. The 6-1 decision closes the door on marriage equality in the state.
While the decision is a set-back for LGBT residents in California, there is cause for hope among marriage equality supporters nationwide. Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine have granted marriage equality, and the District of Columbia recently voted to recognize same sex marriages.
The outrage we feel over this decision must be balanced by our resolve to do all that we can to secure justice and equality for lesbian and gay couples. You all know my mantra — Don’t Agonize, Organize!
President Obama announced his Supreme Court nominee this morning, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. MoveOn says: “Judge Sotomayor embodies the American dream. Born to Puerto Rican parents, she grew up in a South Bronx housing project and was raised from age nine by a single mother, excelling in school and working her way to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University and to become an editor of the Law Journal at Yale Law School.”
There is no question she has a compelling personal story, and her selection is historic. If confirmed, she will be the third woman and the first Hispanic to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
And, Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate for her current position, making it challenging for some Republicans to oppose her now.
Her confirmation is likely a done deal, but I do have a couple of concerns. Her record on reproductive justice and church-state separation is thin and somewhat troubling. I will reserve final judgment until the full story on her is revealed.
an asshole. Kyl announced he will attempt to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee who has the audacity to try and understand how decisions my impact some one’s life.
The Senate’s No. 2 Republican on Sunday refused to rule out a filibuster if President Barack Obama seeks a Supreme Court justice who decides cases based on “emotions or feelings or preconceived ideas.”
Sen. Jon Kyl made clear he would use the procedural delay if Obama follows through on his pledge to nominate someone who takes into account human suffering and employs empathy from the bench. The Arizona Republican acknowledged that his party likely does not have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, but he said nonetheless he would try to delay or derail the nomination if Obama ventures outside what Kyl called the mainstream.
“We will distinguish between a liberal judge on one side and one who doesn’t decide cases on the merits but, rather, on the basis of his or her preconceived ideas,” Kyl said.
The Democrats handed these jerks Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, and they dare to say they will filibuster someone who holds basically the same judicial philosophy as Justice Souter?
When you grow up in Indiana there are two things that are a must to like — basketball and the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The fanfare and traditions surrounding the start of the race are fun to watch. And for the past 30-plus years it’s also been fun to watch women enter what for decades was an all-male sport.
Janet Guthrie was the first woman to break the glass ceiling in Indy-car racing. Vastly underfunded compared to the men, she held her own for three seasons, with her best Indianapolis 500 finish being 9th place in 1978. Guthrie raced from 1977 to 1979.
Desire Wilson passed Indianapolis 500 driver’s test on May 11, 1982, but failed to qualify for the race.
Lyn St. James raced at Indy from 1992 to 1997, and again in 2000. Her best start was from the 6th position in 1994. And her best finish was 11th, in 1992.
Sarah Fisher was the next woman to qualify for Indy, and is a fan favorite today. Fisher raced in 2000 to 2004, and from 2007 to today. Like other women before her, Sarah has not had the same access to money so needed to be a real competitor at the Indy 500. Race cars and teams cost millions of dollars, and women have traditionally had a hard time getting sponsorship.
And in fairness to these pioneers, Indy hasn’t been all that kind to women who wanted to race. Janet Guthrie faced outright hostility from male drivers. And even the Hulman family didn’t seem to know what to do with the “lady” driver.
And then along came Danica Patrick.
Indy car racing was in a bit of a decline, and Danica is hot. Not only is she a great driver, but she possess the sex appeal that was sure to bring the fans — read men — back to the track.
Indy knew it, and so did Danica.
I must confess to mixed feelings about it all. Danica Patrick is a competitor, and the only way for her to have a chance at Indy was to have a sponsor with deep pockets. Advertisers could see right away that Danica would attract attention, so the courtship was on.
The big question to ask is would the sponsors stuck around had she not been such a good racer? But she is, having won an Indy-car race last year. Not the Indianapolis 500, but a competition in Japan.
Danica has milked her appeal for all it’s worth — often striking a pose that seems more fitting for Playboy than for a race car driver.
Even going after the lesbian fantisy crowd. So what do you think of Danica Patrick’s path to stardom?
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And I can’t post something about the 2009 Indianapolis 500 without mentioning my admiration for Alex Lloyd. Lloyd is driving a pink race car, with word “her” in large letters. Now THAT’s a guy secure in his masculinity!
A comment next to Lloyd’s photo on the official Indy 500 web site says: “Pink is the new black! Get use to it, all you macho Pink-o-phobes, PINK, PINK, is here to stay!!”
What Pink Lloyd DOESN’T know at the moment is that his wife, who is expecting a baby (due today) is having contractions. She told an ABC sports reporter the team has decided not to let him know until after the race is over.
It sounds like it! In the Washington Post today President Obama expands on his criteria for a justice.
President Obama said he is seeking a Supreme Court nominee who understands the “practical day-to-day” implications of rulings, as he pushed back in an interview airing yesterday against criticism of his emphasis on judicial “empathy.”
It is “important this is somebody who has common sense and somebody who has a sense of how American society works and how the American people live,” he told C-SPAN, in his most extensive public comments yet on his deliberations since Justice David H. Souter announced his retirement.
“What I want is not just ivory tower learning,” he added. “I want somebody who has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works.”
Republicans have zeroed in on Obama’s comments during the presidential campaign that he would “want people on the bench who have enough empathy, enough feeling, for what ordinary people are going through.” They have argued that this is code language for judges who would apply an “activist” agenda not necessarily bound by constitutional constraints.
Liberals really must not let Republicans get away with this “activist justice” bullshit. Their “activist president and vice president” nearly ruined this country. It could take a generation to fix the mess they left behind.
I like that President Obama cited Lilly Ledbetter’s story as an example of the kind of judicial temperament he’s looking for. Ledbetter was discriminated against at Goodyear Tire. For decades she was paid less than her male counterparts. Any justice with a brain would know that employees rarely know what their co-workers earn. In Ledbetter’s case, by the time she did find out it was past the legal deadline to file a discrimination claim.
She lost her Supreme Court case, but Congress has now fixed the problem so other women won’t face this same obstacle.
Obama stuck to the same language in the interview while seeking to expand its meaning: He wants a judge who can not only understand the lives of ordinary people, he said, but also grasp the practical consequences of rulings on businesses.
“I said earlier that I thought empathy was an important quality, and I continue to believe that. You have to have not only the intellect to be able to effectively apply the law to cases before you, but you have to be able to stand in somebody’s else shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living,” he said.
As an example, he cited the Lilly Ledbetter case, in which the court ruled in 2007 that a woman who had suffered pay discrimination, but discovered it after the window for filing suit had passed, could not sue her employer. “I think anybody who has ever worked in a job like that understands that they might not know that they were being discriminated against,” Obama said. “It doesn’t make sense for their rights to be foreclosed. That’s the kind of case where I want a judge not only to be applying the law in front of them but also to understand that as a practical matter.”
The nominee will likely be named next week. Let’s hope the president makes a good selection, and the Democrats have the spine to stand up to Republicans.
I am deeply sadden by news of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few physicians to perform late-term abortion procedures. Dr. Tiller was shot and killed as he attended church.
