Motley Moose – Archive

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

According to the World Bank, almost forty percent of humanity lives on a daily income of less than two dollars per day. Another 1.1 billion scrape by on less than one dollar per day.

How can anyone possibly survive or raise a family with such a meager income? In New York City, two dollars per day won’t even cover my daily Brooklyn/Manhattan round-trip subway commute. Yet billions of low skilled people put food on the table, educate their children, grapple with unexpected emergencies and even save money.

It’s an easily made observation that adults often have some idea or other about how their dads failed them, in this way or that way.  He wasn’t home enough, and when he was home he was distant, ‘not there.’ He didn’t manage at home very well, he let the mom take over and he was a passive perhaps pussy-whipped appendage.  Or he was domineering and controlling and nothing was ever good enough for him.  He was maybe like another one of the kids, like an older bully brother who took out his frustrations with verbal, emotional, and/or physical abuse on his weaker ‘siblings.’  

It’s also easily observed that some adults (mainly girl adults) idealize their dads, can see no mistakes, only the goodest, kindest, bestest, and nicest of men whose only failing, if you can even call it that, was marrying the wrong girl, or not being firm enough with her nutty demands.  

I’m not posting her picture. I’ve seen her image and the footage of her death enough already to have it cemented in my head, and I suspect that many of you have already as well. If you haven’t, and still want to chase it down, I trust that folks are skillful enough, and that search engines will guide you.

I choose a different graphic. It isn’t out of respect for delicate sympathies, it isn’t out of denigration for her sacrifice. It is chosen because there are a multitude of images that can be taken and used as symbol for this moment. I choose to commemorate this moment with its potential blossom, and its hope.  

There has been some lively debate about this young woman. The crass way that CNN has robbed her death of dignity, even validity with their coverage and the ambiguity that they have hidden behind without their official stamp of “if it ain’t been seen by a journalism grad and vetted by an editor, it ain’t happened” is one arena for argument.

There is likewise a question of her being a hero to a revolution that has yet to be named, or even truly declared. There is not much question of the tragedy of her death, the reason for it, and certainly the drive to turn this young woman into a something far greater than the tragedy of a young woman cut down.  

It is Sunday morning in Iran now.  Dawn has crept across the land and is chasing away the shadows that hide the truth.

Here’s hoping that our friends in Iran made it through the night OK and that the day brings them peace and freedom.

I have had the extreme misfortune of lacking internet access over the past few weeks. MSNB has done a fair job reporting events in Iran, at least this past week, but CNN has been dreadful. So I am moderately pleased to see a great deal of coverage today on CNN of the revolution in Persia.

I normally dread the weekends, as they are almost completely news free. I rarely dip into cnn, and cannot stomach fox. Today has been a positive change as cnn has done almost wall to wall coverage. Kudos to them.

You can’t forget the eyes.

For all the horror of the blood, and consternation and panic in the crowd at the gruesome murder of this young woman, what draws us are those beautiful big eyes, dimmed and then extinguished, forever.

You can’t forget the eyes.

For all the horror of the blood, and consternation and panic in the crowd at the gruesome murder of this young woman, what draws us are those beautiful big eyes, dimmed and then extinguished, forever.

The other day, Rush Limbaugh seized upon Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s membership in a professional women’s association called the Belizean Grove:

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“Today, my friends, we turn our attention to the latest revelation from Judge Sonia Sotomayor. It appears that Ms. Sotomayor, the model of diversity and inclusion, has some explaining to do regarding her membership in a club.

“Safe to say, any conservative in this situation would find their nomination dead in the water. Clubbed — like a baby seal. No question about it. I think I’m going to send Sotomayor, and her club, a bunch of vacuum cleaners to help them clean up after their meetings.”

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Let’s put aside the backhanded swipes about vacuum cleaners and about understanding why men would never want to apply for membership in the Belizean Grove.

Let’s also assume, for the sake of discussion, that membership in an organization that restricts membership on the basis of gender or religion raises a question of compliance with the Code of Judicial Conduct.

It appears that Rush has not done very much fact-checking before spouting off.  (I am shocked, shocked….)  It also appears that Associate Justice Samuel Alito has a problem.

Specifically, according to the web site of the California Chapter of the Roman Catholic fraternal organization known as the “Knights of Columbus,” Associate Justice Alito is a member of that organization. See “Famous Knights” at “About Us,” http://www.kofc-ca.org/?t=t_ab…

To qualify for induction into the Knights of Columbus, a would-be member must be, “… a practical Catholic gentleman, who is 18 years of age or older.”  “A practical Catholic is one who is in union with the Holy See and who practices the precepts of the Catholic Church.”

http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/a…

So, the Knights of Columbus is an organization that restricts membership on the basis of both gender and religion.

The Knights themselves have been active in the political sphere, in connection with such issues as same-sex marriage and the availability of abortion.

https://www.kofc.org/news/rele…

https://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/…

http://www.californiansagainst…

The Knights have filed amicus curiae briefs in cases before the Supreme Court dealing with such issues as:

— partial-birth abortion,

http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/a… and

— the constitutionality of the phrase, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance,

http://is.gd/17yik.

The Knights have also filed amicus briefs at the state-appeals-court level in same-sex marriage cases in Maryland,

http://www.kofc.org/cmf/resour…

and California

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/co…

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In 2005, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal fined a local chapter of the Knights of Columbus $2000 for refusing to rent its meeting hall to a same-sex couple.

http://www.bchrt.bc.ca/decisio…

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At least one other Justice has had dealings with the Knights of Columbus.  Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, while apparently not a member, has spoken before at least one gathering of the Knights of Columbus.  This resulted in Justice Scalia recusing himself from deliberations in the Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow case.

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/s…

http://www.firstamendmentcente…

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I am not aware of similar judicial or political activism by the Belizean Grove.

I also do not recall membership in the Knights of Columbus ever being an issue when then-Circuit Judge Alito was being considered for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Last night, Circuit Judge Sotomayor announced that she had resigned her membership in the Belizean Grove.  She resigned in an attempt to prevent her membership from becoming a source of distraction during the upcoming confirmation hearings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06…

In light of the apparent lack of controversy concerning then-Circuit Judge Alito’s membership in the Knights of Columbus, it would seem that Circuit Judge Sotomayor is the victim of a double standard.

A shameless plug, fellow moose friends…I hope you won’t mind:

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave a speech today.  The content boils down to: “I’m worried.  I’m not sure what to do.  Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”