This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should be watching.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement with it or an endorsement of its contents.
At Bleeding Heartland of Iowa, desmoinesdem writes—Fewer Iowa Senate Republicans eager to ban same-sex marriage:
Ever since I saw how few Iowa House Republicans are still co-sponsoring a state constitutional amendment on marriage, I've been watching and waiting for Republicans in the state Senate to introduce their version of the same legislation. Any effort to overturn marriage equality will be a dead letter in the Iowa Senate as long as Democrats maintain their majority. Nevertheless, I was curious to see how many (or few) Republican senators are still willing to stand up and be counted on this issue.
Late last week, State Senator Dennis Guth, one of the leading social conservatives in the chamber, finally introduced Senate Joint Resolution 6, "specifying marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union that is valid or recognized in the state." Just eleven of the 24 Republicans are co-sponsoring this amendment. That's a significant drop from two years ago, when three-quarters of the Iowa Senate GOP caucus co-sponsored the marriage amendment.
Looking more closely at who is and is not "loud and proud" about taking rights away from LGBT couples, some patterns emerge.
You'll find more excerpts from progressive state blogs below the fold.
At Delaware Liberal, Delaware Dem writes—Lavelle Will Not Run for Governor in 2016:
Breaking news from Jonathan Starkey at the News Journal:
Republican Sen. Greg Lavelle will not seek the governor’s office next year, according to a letter the lawmaker sent to political supporters. [...] Lavelle told supporters this week he “had given a lot of thought” to a run for governor, but said personal commitments prevented him from launching a campaign.
“I have decided that now is not the time for me to take on this challenge,” Lavelle wrote. “At this time, the personal bandwidth just doesn’t exist to create and sustain the time needed to run for Governor, while maintaining and addressing my current and varied responsibilities.”
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That leaves Lacey Lafferty and Colin Bonini the only two announced and possible GOP candidates. I suppose it is possible that Charlie Copeland could get in, but I doubt it. More likely is that Senator Gerald Hocker will try to make a run. Starkey notes that Treasurer Ken Simpler has already ruled out running for Governor.
At
Blog for Arizona,
Donna Gratehouse writes—
Riddle me this, gun fetishists, why do you need silencers?
Okay, so I suppose a sawed-off shotgun might have some personal security utility that a non-altered shotgun doesn’t. And there’s the possibility of having some serious fun at the firing range with one. And as for nunchaku well, you do you with them!
But the silencer? What’s up with that? Who besides Tony Soprano (or his real-life counterpart) needs one? Assuming that the average gun enthusiast who was enthusiastic enough to approach Sen. Ward to ask her to include silencers in her amendment isn’t planning on a gangland murder spree, then what do they want silencers for? I can’t see why silencers would enhance a shooting range experience, since (having shot at ranges many times myself) the loud noise of the gun going off is part of the enjoyment.
Thus, I’m forced to conclude that gun fetishists who think it’s super important to have silencers available to them must have concocted some hilariously elaborate fantasies involving themselves as patriots somehow bringing down President Obama’s communist takeover by silently plugging his jackbooted agents of tyranny full of lead. (Not likely, as they have tanks and drones.) Or maybe they imagine themselves as Liam Neesons avenging, stealthily, the constant abductions of their loved ones by swarthy villains. (Either scenario practically requires the hero to do the Unnecessary Combat Roll.)
At
Calitics,
Rachel Johnson writes—
Art Pulaski: Workers are Left in the Dark with Fast Track:
There's trouble brewing in Washington D.C. for American workers. In the coming weeks, our congress will decide whether or not to pass Fast Track legislation that will allow trade deals to be made behind closed doors and without any oversight from the people most impacted: American workers.
In a recent opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee Art Pulaski, Executive-Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, cautioned against turning a blind eye to Fast Track [...]
Fast Track legislation will allow trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be negotiated by a select few, without any attempt to represent the people who may lose their livelihoods as a result. If we've learned anything from history, similar deals have created more harm than good for generations of American workers. Pulaski emphasizes:
The job-loss numbers directly related to seriously flawed trade deals are staggering. Between 2000 and 2014, American manufacturing employment dropped by 4 million jobs. And these were family-supporting jobs that strengthened communities. Since Congress approved permanent normal trade relations with China, the growth in the U.S. trade deficit with China has resulted in the net loss of more than 3.2 million jobs, including nearly 600,000 in California, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
That's 3.2 million hardworking Americans who, through no fault of their own, found themselves ripped from the middle class and forced into low-wage jobs or, even worse, long-term joblessness.
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At
HorsesAss of Washington,
Goldy writes—
Poll: 57 Percent of Republicans Hate America:
Jesus Fucking Christ…
A majority of Republicans nationally support establishing Christianity as the national religion, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday.
The poll by the Democratic-leaning firm found that 57 percent of Republicans “support establishing Christianity as the national religion” while 30 percent are opposed. Another 13 percent said they were not sure.
It almost goes without saying that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution prohibits establishing of a national religion.
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Think about that for a moment: only 30 percent of Republicans are sure that they oppose establishing Christianity as the national religion, a notion about as fundamentally antithetical to the American tradition as one could get. Of course, I suppose they could always get around the first ten words of the Bill of the Rights via a constitutional amendment repealing it, but then the rest of us would have no choice but to wage a bloody civil war in which to win our nation back. So there’s that.
At
West Virginia Blue,
wvblueguy writes—
Copycat WV Legislature ... Seeks to prohibit local non-discrimination laws:
ALEC and friends are on the West Virginia Legislative agenda again with sponsors on both sides of the aisle to pass H.B. 2881 cobbled together from an act passed in Arkansas and awaiting passage in Texas (as dictated by ALEC). The Bill presumes to make West Virginia more business friendly in their mind by prohibiting cities and counties from enacting ordinances that protect any class of citizens not aready protected by state law. It woud also nullify any previous ordinances that don't comply with their Bill. The Bill is aimed directly at the LGBT community.
"Such uniform laws will benefit the businesses, organizations and employers seeking to do business in our state and will attract new ones to our state," the bill claims, despite the fact that businesses successfully navigate variations in local ordinances without issue.
"HB 2881 not only prohibits the rights of communities to govern themselves but it also interferes with democracy in its purest form: city and town councils," Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of Fairness West Virginia said in an email. 'When a nondiscrimination ordinance or resolution is considered or passed, each community has the opportunity to speak out against it, vote the city or town leadership out of office, or repeal the ordinance. There’s no need for interference by the state legislature.'"
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At
Juanita Jean's of Texas, writes—
Not To Be Outdone By Debbie Riddle:
Texas State Representative Donna Campbell is living testimony that Debbie Riddle is not hogging all the lame butt ignorance in the Texas Lege.
The Alamo has been nominated to be included in the United Nation’s list of World Heritage Sites. There are currently 22 such sites in the United States, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, Monticello, and the Great Smokey Mountains. So, it’s kinda an honor to be included.
Unless you’re Donna Campbell, who sees a plot behind including the Alamo. But, Donna got a pen and wrote a bill to stop this foolishness.
“The intent of this bill, Senate Bill 191, is to prevent vesting any ownership, control, or management of the Alamo to a foreign company or any entity formed under the laws of another country,” Campbell said.
Yep – there will [be] Sharia Law at the Alamo if those United Nations folks notice that the Alamo exists.
At
OxRoadSouth of Virginia,
Chap writes—
“Tebow Bill” Goes to Governor …:
A week ago, the Senate passed the Tebow bill on a vote of 22-13. It essentially allows home school students to play scholastic sports, at least in those counties which choose that option. I voted “no.”
I have several friends that home school their children. I also believe that local School Boards can set policy for extracurricular activities. However, there are two things that I can’t seem to get past.
First, the Virginia High School League, or “VHSL”, is a non-profit organization which administers high school sports. In general, the Assembly should not be telling it how to run its business, as long as it’s following the law. To date, it has refused to permit athletes to play unless they are enrolled students.
Second, there are consequences in life, when you make decisions. If you choose not to attend the local high school, there is a consequence — you don’t get to play for its team. That only makes sense; especially when you consider that high school athletes have class attendance and grade requirements.
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Green Mountain Daily of Vermont,
Sue Prent writes—
RCMP: "We always get our activist":
We like to think of Canada as our dull but infinitely more responsible continental sibling. Largely overlooked by its flamboyant southern neighbor, that characterization has quietly slipped since Conservative Steven Harper seized the helm.
The current Prime Minister is an approximation of George Bush in his worldview, and a big friend to tar sands oil. As a longtime MP from Alberta, his political fortunes have always been linked to the material ones of the fossil fuel industry.
With Harper in charge for a decade and much Canadian wealth tied up in burnable resources, it now appears that the RCMP has been appropriated to serve those interests.
An internal RCMP memo has recently emerged that paints a sinister picture, wholly inconsistent with the organization's "Duddly Do-Right" reputation. [...]
Judging by the language in the memo, it would seem that, girded for a climate clash, they have settled on 'terrorist' as a fair identifier for activists who would limit Canada's contribution to carbon emissions.
Bucking the international trend toward arresting climate change, Harper and his henchmen appear to be preparing to arrest the other side.
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Blue Cheddar of Wisconsin,
blue cheddar writes—
Scott Walker can see Russia from his porch (in Fitzwalkerstan):
Shit’s hitting the fan in Wisconsin about things that threaten to have a devastating effect on the people who live in Wisconsin.
Like Walker’s latest slash and burn public education budget, the ballooning state debt, and the unveiling of a Right To Mooch bill.
(I keep separate the rejection of a Kenosha casino despite the big political splash. That goes in the “whatever Iowa and Sheldon wants, Iowa and Sheldon get” file.)
But the nation has it’s widening innocent eyes on Scott Walker not as “Destroyer Of Quality of Life and Accumulator of DEBT For Generations” but as “Presidential Candidate”.
It is much easier to report on what he says than what he DOES.
Lately the “Walker says” they’re reacting to is either his
“I do not know if Obama is a Christian”
or his assertion that “toughness” against unions will put fear into everybody from Isis to Putin.
At
R.I. Future.org,
Steve Ahlquist writes—
How the community can take control of the police:
“Any movement that seeks to establish community control of the police must begin by challenging the legitimacy of the police,” said Glen Ford, journalist and executive editor of the Black Agenda Report and former member of the Black Panthers, “With Ferguson we saw a burgeoning movement that challenged the legitimacy of the system itself.”
Ford was speaking at New Urban Arts in Providence as part of a panel sponsored by End Police Brutality PVD entitled The Struggle for Community Control Past and Present: From the Black Panther Party to Providence Today. Also on the panel were Monay McNeil, a student at Rhode Island College, Steve Roberts and Servio G., protesters awaiting trial for allegedly blocking the highway during a Black Lives Matter protest last November, Suzette Cook, whose son was allegedly assaulted by members of the Providence Police Department in 2013, Justice, founder of the “Original Men” and Ashanti Alston, black anarchist and former Black Panther.
Over 100 community members were in attendance. My only quibble with the excellent discussion was that the number of panelists meant that some speakers were not afforded the time needed to fully expand upon their ideas. Still, this was a fascinating discussion in which the new movement is seeking to learn from civil rights movements of the past.
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Blue in the Bluegrass of Kentucky,
Yellow Dog writes—
This Stupidity Is What You Get When Puritanism Meets Sex Hysteria:
Americans can't get sex right. We deny facts about sex to teens, thus guaranteeing that they will fumble in ignorance into sexually-transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.
And when we find out that they have been doing what human teenagers have been doing for a million years, we freak out and throw them into the criminal justice system. [...]
Kentucky's highest court considered (two weeks ago) whether teen-age couples should be treated as criminals when they have sex and send nude photos to each other. If so, a third of America's teenagers could be exposed to felony sex-offense charges, the 15-year-old boy's lawyer said.
In this case, the legal fallout was one-sided after a mother spotted nude pictures on her seventh-grade daughter's phone, and discovered that she was having sex with her eighth-grade boyfriend at her house.
Both teen-agers could have been charged with the same offenses, but the full weight of Kentucky's law landed on the boy, who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for having sex and exchanging the photos. Then, despite his plea, a judge designated him a sex offender, removed him from his home and sent him to a juvenile detention center.
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