My initial reaction to hearing about Bob Marshall's highly unusual actions to cause the rejection of Tracy Thorne-Begland's nomination to the General District Court was "petulant temper tantrum." The latest admission from Marshall shows just how accurate that first impression was:

"He holds himself out as being married," said Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who is running for U.S. Senate. He said Thorne-Begland’s "life is a contradiction to the requirement of submission to the constitution."

It's not good enough, you see, that Thorne-Begland's marriage is not recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Nor is it good enough that he and his husband can't even obtain recognition of a civil union, domestic partnership, or any other "legal status that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage" or obtain a status to which are assigned "the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."

No, that's not enough. Like Haman, little Bobby Marshall wants Tracy Thorne-Begland to bow down. Because Bobby Marshall was able to insert his tiny god of fear into the Virginia Constitution, he now believes he is entitled to demand "submission" to it. Those who fail to bow down to his little god must be punished. That is just how stark this is.

Republican activist and attorney Brian Schoeneman hits the nail on the head:

The argument that Marshall makes that questions Thorne-Begland’s integrity and claims he couldn’t take the oath to support the Virginia Constitution is, quite frankly, disgusting. Not only has Thorne-Begland already taken that oath as an attorney and in his official capacity as a deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, there is nothing in his background to indicate he has ever violated it. Advocacy against laws one disagrees with isn’t violating an oath – it’s something inherently American and something we Republicans have long valued.

And exposes the sheer hypocrisy, given that other nominees had engaged in outspoken advocacy on other matters, from the Second Amendment to labor rights:

The fact that Thorne-Begland was discharged from the Navy for being gay is irrelevant. He believed that his rights were being trampled upon and spoke up, going to court to defend them. There is nothing wrong with that. This is the exact same behavior we Republicans praised when Dick Heller and the other second amendment activists filed suit to overturn DC's unconstitutional gun laws. We praise activism in defense of rights, especially where someone gives up so much for the fight. In the Heller case, Dick Heller didn’t have to get arrested or lose his job – he simply had to apply for a permit and be denied.

These are actual conservative values, not the spiteful Thought Police mewlings of Marshall and his little band of sycophants, who are even now being pitifully defended with the argument "you can't prove they voted no because they agreed with Marshall."

Meanwhile, I have news for little Bobby: I'm married, too, to the love of my life. A lot of us are. There isn't a thing you can do about it. The harder you try, the more ridiculous and embarrassing and marginalized you and those like you will become.

We knew this a long time ago, and now you know it, too:

What Marshall, Gallagher, and other architects of current constitutional mischief are well aware of is that anti-gay bias will in the future become as socially unacceptable as racism. As Gallagher puts it, “..we don’t arrest people for being racists, but the law does intervene in powerful ways to punish and discourage racial discrimination, not only by government but also by private entities.”

They also are well aware that what will drive these shifts in public opinion is the ability of the public to observe for themselves the humanity of their GLBT neighbors and our families. That is, in a nutshell, the “gay agenda”: To be seen as who we are.

The carefully crafted language of the Marshall/Newman amendment is designed to discourage this visibility as much as possible, by making it too risky to be honest about our committed life partnerships. The very thing that demonstrates our humanity and family values is also the thing that demonstrates our “intent to approximate” the rights, obligations and significance of marriage: Making the statement before friends, family, the community, and the universe that this is my beloved, this is my family.

Thank you, Mr. Marshall, for openly admitting that your amendment is not really about marriage, but in fact is intended to discourage GLBT people from living lives of honesty and integrity. It’s actually very clever. It also ultimately will fail.

After last month's highly entertaining meeting of the Courthouse Grounds and Facilities Committee (reported here), in which the chairman admitted both to having consulted with "preeminent constitutional lawyer" Mike Farris and that the proposed inclusion of a menorah was only to provide "top cover" for the sole objective of a county-sponsored creche, this month's meeting featured ejecting a reporter and members of the public from the room. The reporter was told that although the committee has no authority to make policy, and is not facing litigation, they had to be in "closed session" because they were receiving legal advice.

This is, to be blunt, nonsense. I sat in on several School Board Legislative and Policy Committee meetings at which the LCPS attorney was dispensing legal advice regarding proposed changes to the Theatrical Presentations policy. And as the Times-Mirror reports:

A section of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act guide states “the mere potential for litigation or the mere presence of a lawyer at a meeting” do not meet the exemption for an open meeting.

No, the CGFC just doesn't want what is discussed at their meetings reported to the public. You can understand why that is: What they are, by necessity, openly discussing with each other is county endorsement of an exclusively Christian religious symbol (which they know full well is illegal), and what they must do in order to get away with it. Of course they don't want quotes like "if a menorah is allowed, where do you draw the line?" or "we have to be careful not to make the creche look too religious" to appear in print.

And here is perhaps the key detail that explains why they don't really care to have the public know what goes on in their meetings:

A rendering of the display is being created, committee Chairman Clint Good told supervisors during Monday’s finance committee meeting. Students at Patrick Henry College are working on the drawing.

This is a committee hand-picked by the Board of Supervisors on the basis of their shared belief that the county should be able to endorse Christian religious doctrine, under the banner of "tradition." No other viewpoint is represented on the committee, nor has any other viewpoint been considered. The members were not selected to represent the residents of Loudoun County, period. They are collaborating behind closed doors with their like-minded cronies at Patrick Henry College and probably a few other national special-rights organizations as well, planning and hoping to prevail in a precedent-setting, ideological lawsuit - Paid for. By. Us.

This has gone on long enough. We tried the "all" option, and some people didn't like it. Okay, fine. Since the "nothing" option would also make people unhappy, a simple county-sponsored Christmas tree, which is not a religious symbol, was proposed. The new board has had every opportunity to fix this mess. If they are foolish enough to adopt the proposal they directed their committee to come up with (ok, now I'm just being funny), it's time to take their toys away and go with "nothing." Personally, I think it's a great loss for the county.

You might have seen a video that went viral over the weekend - five minutes of some of the most bizarre claptrap about gay people you are ever likely to hear, delivered by a speaker at a city council public meeting. I say "some of" because much of it could easily have come from certain public figures, or from one or two speakers addressing local public boards here in Loudoun.

Well, it turns out that the speaker in the video is a "protected person," a resident of an assisted living facility and diagnosed with schizophrenia. She is a regular at these public meetings; the council members are familiar with her and listen to her politely. Her brother Patrick acts as her conservator:

He said he's disappointed the video garnered such attention and jokes without the whole story.

"To me, it shows how little society really cares about people with mental health issues," Patrick Svoboda said. "She does have a very tender heart ... but anything she says is certifiably schizophrenic ... she's not some crazy conservative."

He said her family has tried to get her help multiple times, but unless she harms herself or others, there's not much more they can do.

Ms. Svoboda apparently has spoken about a number of other topics that are not quite tethered to reality, things like "subliminals" coming through electronic devices. But in this case, she was misread as a legitimate spokesperson for anti-gay causes. Here is a statement from her speech, seemingly made in opposition to an anti-discrimination ordinance:

"A huge percent of gay men in school grounds molest boys, partly because they don't have AIDS yet," she said.

In a way, you can see why the mistake was made. The above quote cannot be distinguished, in either tone or absurdity, from statements made by the Sterling Supervisor/anti-gay charlatan in his fundraising letters, for example:

"Forcing the Boy Scouts to hire homosexuals is the same as being an accessory to the rape of hundreds of boys."

Or:

"You'll see two men hand in hand, skipping down to the adoption agency to 'pick out' a little boy for themselves."

More from Ms. Svoboda:

"Hillary Clinton's roommate four years in college was a gay woman. To avoid going gay like Clinton did, college students need single rooms and single gender dorms."

"P-E-N-I-S goes into the anus to rupture intestines," Svoboda notes. "The more a man does this, the more likely he'll be a fatality or a homicider."

The five minute speech was described by the Huffington Post as "a graphic homophobic rant" - which with equal accuracy describes the public utterances of anti-gay figures like Peter LaBarbera, Bryan Fischer and Ken Hutcherson (like Delgaudio, all leaders of SPLC identified anti-gay hate groups). Likewise, it resembles the speeches of local public commenter Paul Gozé. Gozé memorably had his mic cut off by then School Board Chair John Andrews, after repeatedly making graphic sexual comments and bizarre attacks on LGBT people and our allies, such as claiming that anyone in the room with an opposing view was a "homosexual activist" trying to "gain sexual access to children." As far as I am aware, none of the individuals named above have been diagnosed with a serious mental disorder.

Upon learning "the whole story" about Ms. Svoboda, some of those who had ridiculed her as a homophobe recanted. Jim Burroway removed the video from his website, saying he was ashamed to have not realized she was mentally ill. As one of many commenters pointed out in his defense, when the likes of Bryan Fischer, et al, are actually asked for comment by pundits, or flown in at taxpayer expense to testify in legislative hearings, "the line between mental illness and hate filled ignorance is often hard to distinguish."

My question is this: If we recognize that this woman isn't responsible for her hate speech because of delusions brought on by illness, and if people feel remorseful for having ridiculed her, then why would anyone treat comparable hate speech and delusions as if they are legitimate "beliefs" deserving of our respect? If an elected official makes remarks that are indistinguishable from the remarks made by a woman with schizophrenia who is legally incompetent and not responsible for her actions, why on earth would anyone take him seriously about anything, or try to justify voting for or donating to him?

How pathetic this is. I don't know whether the other activists I've mentioned are delusional or fraudulent, so I'll only ask Mr. Delgaudio's apologists. There are really only two explanations. Either you think the wacky statements of both Ms. Svoboda and Mr. Delgaudio make sense (God help you), OR you realize that Mr. Delgaudio doesn't really believe those wacky statements himself, that he's just a fraud preying on people like Ms. Svoboda, and that's fine with you as long as you get something you want (again, God help you). So, you proud Delgaudio supporters: which one do you admit to?

Before somebody starts yelling at me, let me just say that I'm not diminishing the significance of President Obama's historic endorsement. It matters. A lot. Go read Andrew Sullivan's cover essay in this week's Newsweek for a good summary. "To have the president of the United States affirm my humanity —and the humanity of all gay Americans — was, unexpectedly, a watershed. He shifted the mainstream in one interview."

But, as a measure of how far the mainstream has actually shifted, nothing beats this much less reported, but must-read document. As Sullivan points out, this is the GOP establishment addressing, bluntly, the GOP establishment. The warning from "highly respected Republican pollster" Jan van Lohuizen really couldn't be more factual and dispassionate about the situation they are now facing:

In view of this week’s news on the same sex marriage issue, here is a summary of recent survey findings on same sex marriage:

1. Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10% (for instance: NBC / WSJ poll in February / March: support 49%, oppose 40%).

And this is what that looks like graphically:

We often hear about how this shift in public opinion is a generational one, to which opponents of equality typically respond that as the young people who now support marriage equality age and start families, they will become more conservative and see the error of their ways. That may be a comforting thought to those who bear no responsibility for Republican strategy, but in fact:

2. The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among Republicans are increasing over time. The same is true of age: younger people support same sex marriage more often than older people, but the trends show that all age groups are rethinking their position [emphasis added].

The next item shows how out of touch the typical Republican elected official is with actual Republican public opinion, when you consider their legislative behavior (I'm talking about you, Virginia "Family" Foundation sycophants):

3. Polling conducted among Republicans show that majorities of Republicans and Republican leaning voters support extending basic legal protections to gays and lesbians. These include majority Republican support for:

a. Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
b. Protections against bullying and harassment
c. Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
d. Right to visit partners in hospitals
e. Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
f. Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership (only 29% of Republicans oppose legal recognition in any form).

These are not marginal majorities, either, but overwhelming ones. Another Republican pollster (Fabrizio) found in 2006 that nearly 80% of Virginia Republicans supported employment nondiscrimination measures, for example. Here van Lohuizen furnishes some talking points to get the GOP back on track:

Recommendation: A statement reflecting recent developments on this issue along the following lines:

“People who believe in equality under the law as a fundamental principle, as I do, will agree that this principle extends to gay and lesbian couples; gay and lesbian couples should not face discrimination and their relationship should be protected under the law. People who disagree on the fundamental nature of marriage can agree, at the same time, that gays and lesbians should receive essential rights and protections such as hospital visitation, adoption rights, and health and death benefits."

Other thoughts / Q&A: Follow up to questions about affirmative action:

“This is not about giving anyone extra protections or privileges, this is about making sure that everyone – regardless of sexual orientation – is provided the same protections against discrimination that you and I enjoy.”

So, equal rights are not "special rights" after all? No kidding.

Why public attitudes might be changing:

“As more people have become aware of friends and family members who are gay, attitudes have begun to shift at an accelerated pace. This is not about a generational shift in attitudes, this is about people changing their thinking as they recognize their friends and family members who are gay or lesbian.”

As we've been saying pretty much forever, LGBT people simply need to live our lives with honesty and integrity, and tell our stories. Reality wins.

Conservative fundamentals:

“As people who promote personal responsibility, family values, commitment and stability, and emphasize freedom and limited government we have to recognize that freedom means freedom for everyone. This includes the freedom to decide how you live and to enter into relationships of your choosing, the freedom to live without excessive interference of the regulatory force of government.

Exactly. And although he doesn't say it explicitly, marriage equality is also a fundamentally conservative position. If you want to encourage in people the opposite of personal responsibility, stability, commitment and sacrifice, make it difficult or impossible for them to marry and have a family. The fact that so many of us have gone ahead and done these things anyway, in spite of the obstacles created by alleged "conservatives," only underscores the fact that the need for family and intimacy is a powerful human drive. Again, reality wins.

Will GOP operatives listen? I'm not holding my breath. Infected by cartoonish figures like Dick Black and Mike Farris, and with its public policy agenda written by the Virginia "Family" Foundation on the basis of an equally cartoonish vision of Christianity, Virginia Republicans are racing full throttle in the opposite direction. At best, they can see the writing on the wall and respond by trying to obscure their pre-modern positions, as Dick Black did in his most recent campaign. This is only subterfuge, not a correction of past wrongs. And an explicit correction of those past wrongs is the only thing that will ensure a future for what is rapidly becoming known as the anti-reality party.

Lots of links on North Carolina, and on Romney's and Obama's very different attitudes towards LGBT folks.:

• Liss from Shakesville cuts right to the chase: Fuck, He Did It
• On Babble, my friend Magda from Ask Moxie put it really well: Thank you, it's about time.
• Also from Shakesville: On Archbishop Timothy Dolan's reaction to Obama's statement about marriage equality, http://www.shakesville.com/2012/05/well-that-didnt-take-long.html">Well, That Didn't Take Long

"His statement does, however, confirm that his mitre is actually a rectal chapeau"

Coffee. OUT MY NOSE. My keyboard will never be the same.

• The Log Cabin Republicans also weighed in: Obama Announcing Support For Marriage Equality Is ‘Offensive And Callous’, but apparently Romney's pledge to support a federal marriage amendment banning same-sex marriage nationwide isn't.
• From The Washington Post: While in prep school, Mitt Romney assaulted a gay student. The man who wants to have the most powerful job on the planet has a history of bullying, cruelty, and conscienceless greed. Combine this with a lack of imagination about the reality of other people's lives, and the GOP candidate looks somewhat like a sociopath with good business sense. Bleah.
• From BuzzFeed: Romney High School Classmate says that [Mitt Romney] Was Kind Of A Jerk
• From Huff Po: Romney bullied GLBT Youth Group as Governor.
• From Talking Points Memo: Matthew Shepard's Mom on Romney's bullying of a gay student in his high school
• From Bravo TV: How Tom Colicchio dealt with "a ridiculous, even cruel, act of juvenile intimidation" like Mitt's "haircut" on Top Chef  (via @digby)
• From Seriously Gay: My friend, Karen, hits it out of the park on Mitt Romney and Pastor Harris and bullying: "Straighten" the Gay
• From the New Civil Rights Movement: Pastor Who Advocated Gay Child Beating Is Having A Really Tough Day
• From Irish Central: Someone did exactly what Sean Harris wanted and now a child is dead
• From the News Observer: The marriage amendment, 1875 -  “...in this foundational matter, thou shalt never be equal.
• From the Political Carnival: this powerful video of a black minister speaking out against Amendment One. Watch the whole thing.

  Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

• ”From Daily Kos:  I am a straight white male, and this is how the push for "equal rights" has hurt people like me
• Another from Seriously Gay: Is this Democracy?
• From Left Out Loud: If you care about what happened in North Carolina yesterday, please retweet this photo.
• Mother Jones: Long-Term Trends Favor Gay Marriage

Reproductive rights (and War on Women generally):

• First, some good news: NY county passes law to *improve* safe access to abortion!. This is why we need pro-choice lawmakers at all levels of government!
• And from Daily Kos: House Republican wants to protect Planned Parenthood. Wait, what?
• And now back to our regularly scheduled ranting, from Think Progress: A study says there's no reason to restrict medication abortion services via Telemedicine, but why should that stop anti-choice legislatures?
• From NPR: When Religious Rules And Women's Health Collide
• From LA Weekly: Reporting that made me see red.
  

  An L.A. mom whipped out her booby and started breastfeeding at the L.A. County Museum of Art recently, inspiring a hapless "staffer" to tell her to cover up. [emphasis mine]

  LT Weekly, is your reporter twelve?

• Speaking of poor reporting, Cecily at Babble takes H&R Block to task: Yes, because all mom bloggers are white, blond, AND WEAR A FUCKING APRON.
• The New York Times has a reporting super fail.
• From Think Progress: Fox News Contributor and Sean Hannity Associate Says Giving Women The Right To Vote is Ruining America.
• From New Model Minority: What men mean when they talk about their “crazy” ex-girlfriend is often that she was someone who cried a lot...
• Jay Smooth says that Pro-Lifers have given him one more reason to be Pro-Choice.
• Liss at Shakesville does her usual awesome analysis:  Utah Now Has 72 Hour Waiting Period for Abortions.
• From RH Reality Check: General Public Still Just As Supportive Of Abortion Access As Always.
• From mySA: Abstinence can be taught along with contraception. The two are not mutually exclusive.
• From Boing Boing: New Kansas abortion bill lets doctors lie to patients, withhold cancer treatment
• Babble on Vogue: Hell hath frozen over! Vogue Magazine pledges to cease showcasing pin-thin models

Hunger/Food Safety:

• From Military.com: Food stamp use at Commissaries up sharply.
• From Bossip: Recession Is Real: Record Number Of Americans With Graduate And Doctorate Degrees Are On Food Stamps And Welfare
• From NPR: Recipe For Safer Drinking Water? Add Sun, Salt And Lime
• Also from NPR: Shopping Bags Can Carry Stomach Flu Virus (Yikes!! I'm never getting another plastic bag, and I'm gonna wash all my canvas ones in hot water and bleach)
• From Grist: We asked the FDA if they have any plans to halt antibiotics in animal feed: Don't hold your breath.

Politics:

• From the Nation: Evidently, foreign policy moderates have no place in today's GOP.
• From the Maddow Blog: Mourdock on 3 different networks: "Compromise" means Dems giving in to what GOP wants.

Health:

• From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal: Wisconsin sees widespread outbreaks of whooping cough cases. People, I had whooping cough as a kid, and I am here to tell you to get your kids vaccinated. Spread out the schedule if you must but get them the shots!
• From HuffPo: Asthma kills poor and minorities disproportionately, (yet another) study finds

Disability:

• From Gawker: Horrific Footage of Mentally Ill Homeless Man's Fatal Police Beating Surfaces Online [Video]
• This one could go under many different headings, but we'll leave it here: House Republicans Would Slash Billions In Benefits For Low-Income Disabled Kids.
• Chen Guangcheng, Activist Lawyer, is a Hero (Oh Yeah, and He's Also Blind) - Law Office of Lainey Feingold
• From A Smarter Planet: Deafness is no disability for master inventor & new White House "Champion of Change" Dimitri Kanevsky
• From the Atlantic: How the #Blind are Reinventing the iPhone
• From Science and Technology:  Power Prosthetics Propel Service Members to Better Lives

Virginia, oh Virginia:

• The Greene County Republican Committee. (Link is to my other site).
• Real Loudoun has more: Merely incompetent and corrupt
• Speaking of incompetent and corrupt, from the Loudoun Times Mirror: Locked doors, lack of notice for Court House Grounds Committee meeting.

And finally, on Maurice Sendak:

• From Blown Covers: A conversation between Maurice Sendak and Art Spiegelman.
• And from Phantom Scribbler, one of the people who started me blogging in the first place, a beautiful and true tribute.

Alas, last week's discussion of holiday displays by the new Courthouse Grounds and Facilities Committee (CGFC) took place at only 6:00 pm.

To briefly recap, the new board has abandoned the idea of a limited public forum. This is because - as I predicted - those like Eugene Delgaudio, who claimed to support freedom of expression for all, in reality did not like anyone's expression but their own and demanded that the displays end. The board is now pursuing the idea of a county-sponsored holiday display on the courthouse lawn, and the CGFC has been tasked with designing it. Further, the CGFC has been reconstituted and is now stacked with individuals who were active in writing letters and speaking to the last board in favor of allowing the display of religious symbols and messages, but prohibiting the display of other symbols and messages.

One of those individuals is John Mileo, who had a design proposal for the rest of the committee. But first, he had to explain his reasoning.

For some inexplicable reason, the Christmas holiday…has evolved into a season that many feel the need to be viewed as inclusionary to people of all faiths and cultures and beliefs.

Christmas is a federal holiday. Let me emphasize that: It's a federal holiday.

Of all the holidays…Christmas appears to be the only one where a call for inclusion occurs.

Um. Maybe that's because it's a federal holiday? We'll have to get back to that.

My recommendation for the December, 2012 courthouse displays is as follows: In order to [inaudible] that Christmas Day is the only holiday occurring in the month of December, or during the so-called holiday season, that has officially been established as a federal holiday, which is also celebrated by our state and county, I hereby propose that this committee recommend to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors…that the 2012 county-sponsored displays set up on the grounds of the Loudoun County courthouse be limited to only those that pay homage to Christmas. Taking this position the county should be able to defend itself against any [inaudible] or public outcry about it not entertaining displays that represent other holidays that occur during December, which are not recognized by the government. To do otherwise, in my opinion, would surely open the floodgates to inclusion of the type of offensive displays that have been displayed here in the past.

Got that? He goes on to specify that the county-sponsored display he proposes should have the following elements:

A crèche or nativity scene, inclusive of the Baby Jesus in a manger, the Virgin Mother and Father Joseph on either side, plus three farm animals, perhaps two sheep and an ox.

Six foot [inaudible, but I believe was a description of a Santa figure].

Ten to twelve foot Christmas tree adorned with secular ornaments.

Wreaths placed on wrought iron fence...approximately every ten feet.

And this howler, included as an "option":

A small sign placed adjacent to the crèche, asserting that this display in no way is to be construed as an endorsement of any particular religious belief.

There were two other similar proposals. The remainder of the meeting was a discussion of what elements other than a crèche are absolutely necessary in order to get away with displaying a crèche, and whether Mileo is correct in his view that it's not necessary, and could be dangerous, to include a menorah. "If a menorah is allowed," he warned during this discussion, "where do you draw the line?" The committee members broke into two distinct camps, pro- and anti-menorah, but at no point was the debate framed as anything but whether a menorah had to be included along with Santa and/or Frosty the Snowman to provide "top cover" (yes, one member actually used that term to describe what they were attempting to do).

In the course of trying to figure this all out there was some very detailed discussion of what would make the crèche seem "too religious." Apparently if the crèche is "really lit up" with the addition of angels and Latin inscriptions, it could be a problem (unlike those well known secular symbols, the Baby Jesus and Virgin Mary. But I digress).

Here's a prediction: Ken Reid will swoop in (remember how he named himself "the Jew who saved Christmas"?) to save the day by insisting that there be a menorah. That will comprise the board's "inclusion" pole. The current discussion may even have been planned in advance to set up that outcome.

There is so much more - for example, a lawsuit is a near certainty if religious content is sponsored, and will cost the county two million dollars (watch Rick Wingrove address the committee) - but that will have to wait for another day. For now, Mileo and others have concluded that because Christmas is a federal, state and county holiday, that means it's permissible for the county to sponsor a display that is exclusive to Christmas symbols and messages, including overtly religious ones. It seems to me that they should have come to the exact opposite conclusion.

1. Is Christmas recognized as a federal holiday? Yes.
2. Is the federal government constitutionally prohibited from endorsing or establishing as "official" any religious belief? Yes.
3. Does the recognition of Christmas as a federal holiday constitute a violation of 2) above? I don't think so, do you?

Then the only possible conclusion is that the elements of Christmas that government is endorsing by recognizing it as a federal holiday are, by definition, secular. This includes the element called "shallow consumerism" that is criticized by many people of faith and of no faith alike, but it also includes the shared experience of celebrating a holiday associated with family, community and good will toward all. That's why there would be very little objection to a county-sponsored holiday display that is truly secular. There are people on either side with extreme views: That there should be absolutely no displays at all, or that there must be overtly religious content included. I am not saying that these views are not valid, only that I think there needs to be compromise.

There is a third way that allows "people of all faiths and cultures and beliefs," if they so choose, to celebrate Christmas as an inclusive community. After all, it's a federal holiday.

Previous posts on holiday cheer:

Holiday display solution moves forward
Ken Reid decides to invite lawsuits
"A brave stand"
Occupy Chanukah and Christmas
Leesburg courthouse, December 2011 (photo album)
Does this look like hate speech to you?
How to ruin a 'positive statement of belief'
Ken Reid justifies mob rule
Once More, With Feeling
Eugene Delgaudio's pants are on fire, again
I hate to say I told you so, but...
Get the Popcorn
Needed in the boardroom: A little reason
Judges Offer Opinion
Debates, Distractions and Religious Freedom
'Tis the season for cheap political grandstanding
Solving the holiday display impasse

Reproductive rights (and War on Women generally):

• From Life Site News (a "pro-life" [sic] site): Surprise! Bowling for Abortion is a success and women who support reproductive rights have children and take them to pro-choice events! (via @robinmarty)
• From the Star Tribune: Minnesota Governor Dayton vetoes abortion clinic licensing bill.
  

  Dayton countered that if the issue was health, and not abortion politics, then Minnesota should license all 1,250 outpatient clinics, not just six.

  “If regulation of clinics were the concern, the bill should have required licensure of all clinics, not just a select few. If the Legislature wants to create a new regulatory scheme for health care clinics, then all clinics should be treated equally. No clinic or procedure should be the focus of special and unique regulatory requirements.”

• From Shakesville: Liss gives the National "Right to Life" [sic] the Quote of the Day.
• From RH Reality Check: An article on something I've known for over two years, Crisis Pregnancy Centers Use Federal Funds to Promote Religion, Lie to Patients, Discriminate In Hiring Practices. Non-Christians need not apply.
• Also from RH Reality Check: S.C. Senator: Fetuses Are "Victims," Women Who Have Been Sexually Assaulted, Not As Much.
• From NECN: In South Carolina, antichoice politicians vote to deny abortion coverage to rape survivors who rely on state health plan.
• From Knoxville News: Bill Authorizes Prosecution for Death of an Embryo. I can't see any unintended consequences arising from that.
• Or perhaps I can. From the Guardian: Outcry in America as women who lose their babies face criminal charges.
• From Babble: The flip side to forced-birth, a woman is being bullied by a Texas hospital into giving up on her troubled pregnancy. This is what happens when women are not seen as being fit to make decisions about our own bodies.
• From Panoptic Society: Hey Canada! Get out of my reproductive system! Apparently, the US is not the only country with governing bodies that are trying to govern bodies.
• Speaking of other countries governing bodies, from RH Reality Check: Forced Sterilization in Uzbekistan. This has got to stop.
• From Salon: A reminder that the Morning After Pill is not an abortion pill.
• From Women Are Watching: After Arizona defunds Planned Parenthood, Senator John McCain calls 'war on women' “ludicrous, partisan, and imaginary".
• Really? Senator McCain? Because from here, it looks pretty real.
• From Huff Po: Abortion laws proposed in some states expand access, bucking the national trend.
• Also from HuffPo: Women still can't get justice for sexual assaults and rape.
• Speaking of rape, from Mother Jones: Florida governor Rick Scott slashes rape counseling during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Agriculture (and food generally):

• From Mother Jones: We're still feeding cows to cows. And testing less than .1% for mad cow disease. This is terrifying.
• Speaking of beef, from Forbes: Food's Biggest Scam: The Great Kobe Beef Lie. (I knew it! Kobe beef is too special to be used in freaking hamburgers).
• From Grist: This pesticide is so nasty even conventional vegetable farmers are scared of it
• From Slate: Woman whose job it is to increase sales of baby formula writes book attacking breastfeeding
• From Just West of Crunchy: The Ugly Side of Milk Donation

Politics and Elections:

• From Think Progress: Two courts say that Wisconsin's Voter ID law that Walker signed won't be in effect for the June 5th Recall Election.
• Also from Think Progress: Mitt Romney's advice to students, "borrow from your parents".
• Speaking of Mitt, from Daily Kos: Looks like Romney and his team haven't updated their maps since the '80's.
• From Washington Post: This WaPo editorial confirms what has been saying for years, both sides are not "just as bad".
• Also from the Washington Post: Why the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote are suing Florida.
• From the Tax Policy Center: The GOP budget proposal would reduce tax as % of GDP to only 15% - lower than any 1st world country.  (via @DriveSwift)
• From Media Matters: According to Fox News, "Obama Lowered "The Status Of The Office" But Bush Appeared On Deal Or No Deal!
• From Politics USA: Ann Romney loves the fact that she doesn't have to work and you do.
• From Huff Po: Sarah Steelman, Missouri GOP Senate Candidate, 'Not Sure' What Violence Against Women Act Is.
• From NPR: Gov't files first criminal charges in BP Spill (not really politics or elections, but not sure where else to put it)

Parenting and School:

• From When the Flames Go Up: Stepping up without stepping on toes. Gracefully and graciously co-parenting after divorce.
• From Pink is for Boys: Sure, I'll wear a tiara. What weapons does it have?
• From Yahoo! News: Bullied 13-Year-Old Set on Fire Changes Thinking
• From Raising WEG: When did Attachment Parenting go mainstream and why was I not told?
• From Forbes: University of Florida cuts computer science. Boosts athletics.
• From Wisconson Voices: Teacher says kids aren't getting fed due to budget cuts.

Media (and books, but only slightly):

• From Mediaite: Rush Limbaugh on Hilary Clinton, "She has reached the pinnacle, and all she is is a secretary".
• From Babble: Forbes Asks, "Do Bloggers Really Make Money?" and Cecily responds.
• From Little Green Footballs: Fox Nation Fabricates Story to Blame Green Activists.
• From the Associate Press: Drug overdose antidote is put into addicts' hans. This article caught my eye because the antidote is mentioned in Trial Run, a mystery by Dick Francis (from 1978!)
• "Dear Dolby, before naming your new product you should GOOGLE DOCTOR WHO " (via @owillis)
• "I'm beginning to think Dick Morris is not what most people would call "ethical" (via @bendimiero)
• I'm ashamed to admit I only missed two of these: Huffington Post's Before They Were Stars Quiz: Guess The Style Icon

LGBT:

• First up, from Equality Loudoun: Virginia has done something really right for once. WOW!
• From Prop 8 Trial Tracker: Sponsor of NC's Anti-Gay Amendment 1 will vote against it.

Disability:

• From the Washington Post: Swiss scientists show partially paralyzed person can control robot using brain signals.
• From CBS DC: Family Misses Flight After TSA Gives Pat-Down To Girl With Cerebral Palsy.
• From Fair Lawn (New Jersey) Patch: Building Patient-Centered Medical Homes for the Developmentally Disabled.

Religion:

• From Shakesville: "We have nothing to fear from Love". Anglican Church is having internal disagreements over civil rights for LGBT people.
• Lizz Winstead asks, "Remember that time the LA Archdiocese paid their sex abuse scandal settlements by selling the nun's house?"
• From Think Progress: Notre Dame Professors Call For Bishop To Apologize or Resign From Notre Dame Board For Comparing Obama To Hitler.
• From The Daily Beast: "Newt gets to marry 3rd wife in church, but Vatican wants to prevent my having one civil marriage w/no church involved"
• From Foreign Policy: Why Do They Hate Us?

Race:

• From Ebony: Black Woman 'Stood Her Ground', Faces 20 Years in Prison.
• From the Political Carnival: Couple held at gunpoint by neighbors, arrested. Nobody believed they were the new owners.
• From Huffington Post: Waiter Racism Survey Shows 40 Percent Of Waiters Discriminate Against Black Customers.

Economy:

• From American Progress: Very cool idea: retrofitting foreclosed homes for greater energy efficiency & higher resale value (via @DrGrist)
• From Shakesville: The return of the Debtor's Prison.
• From Think Progress: Austerity Pushes The UK Back Into Recession — Will American Conservatives Learn The Lesson?

And Locally:

• And now more locally, from Ashburn Patch: An article on Discovery and Enterprise by Stevens Miller with pictures by Deb Keirce.
• From Leesburg Patch: Lots of people in Loudoun are going hungry. Won't you help?
• From me: My "reputation for conservative activism"
• And ABOUT me! SQUEE! @CecilyK wrote an article for Babble about Women Blogging After Age 40, and I'm in it!

And last but not least, I'm going to give a reverse shout out to Loudoun.gov. Their new website is atrocious. One would think clicking on Community Services on the menu would take one to the Loudoun Community Services Board page, but it doesn't. And there is no link that specifically says "Developmental Services". The CSB page header says, "Mental Health, Substance Abuse & Dev. Services". How is that helpful for people looking for services for their mentally challenged family members? Somebody in the Loudoun government, please fix that mess.

This is nothing short of a stunning accomplishment. We owe our thanks to the community members who did the hard, unglamorous, patient work of education. They are heroes. Education is really the only thing that can bring about a significant change in policy like this.

Virginia has adopted a simple, straightforward mechanism for correcting one's gender marker on a driver’s license, one that comports with the reality of legal gender transition:

As of April 25, 2012, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) implemented a new, and much simpler, policy for changing one’s gender marker on a VA driver’s license. Individuals can now use the Gender Change Request form, known as DL-17, which requires only a signature from a licensed provider, including a doctor, psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, social worker, or counselor attesting to the fact that the applicant is a patient of the provider and that the applicant's "gender identity" is either female or male and "can reasonably be expected to continue as such for the foreseeable future."

The previous policy made access to a corrected driver's license attainable only by those trans Virginians with the financial resources required for gender reassignment surgery. It required either a corrected birth certificate (unavailable under any circumstance in some states), or a court ordered "change" of gender, only obtainable with proof of surgery. This ridiculously high bar for obtaining a Virginia identification card that accurately reflected their gender put the safety of many trans people at risk.

Virginia, with its anti-civil rights history, is one of the last places we would have expected to adopt this reasonable, reality-based policy. Congratulations and kudos to those who made it happen.

With the new policy implemented only days after the historic EEOC ruling affirming that discrimination on the basis of gender is, well, discrimination on the basis of gender, we can say that that the past week has been a very good one for justice.

• Shakesville's "Primarily Endless" is HILARIOUS. I love this series of posts, I love the artwork Liss does.
• Three from Think Progress: 1) Bradlee Dean, Rachel Maddow and Conservative Entitlement 2)Cantor ‘Puzzled’ That Obama Would Threaten To Veto The Latest GOP Tax Cut For Millionaires. 3) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) advocates boycott of Coca-Cola to punish company for leaving ALEC
• Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota tweets a graphic about VAWA: The Violence Against Women Act has had bipartisan support over the years. Let’s work together to reauthorize it
• From HuffPo: Planned Parenthood Worried It's The Target Of New Undercover Sting
• Another from HuffPo: Facing the facts of high premarital sex and abortion rates, Evangelicals decide to really talk about sex
• From AlterNet: How Darrell Issa and the Right Are Planning to Kill the U.S. Post Office
• From Truth Wins Out: Pro-equality Catholics urged to stand with American nuns, oppose Vatican bullying
  

  "The Vatican also reprimanded Network, a Catholic social justice lobbying group founded by sisters. Both Network and the LCWR were cited for spending too much time caring for the poor and fighting economic injustice (topics that Jesus had quite a lot to say about, if my memory serves me) and not nearly enough time opposing — in fact, being “silent” on — women’s reproductive rights and LGBT equality (which, to my knowledge, Jesus never discussed at all)."

  Amen.

• From Mother Jones (warning, link is ad-heavy): Loudoun's own Dominionist anti-LGBT Prison Fellowship Ministries (bleah) in the news!
• From the NY Times: Lawyers Find Obstacles to the Disabled, Then Find Plaintiffs - whether or not you agree with the tactics, the truth is that enforcing the ADA is making NY City more accessible. As the population ages, the importance of this will come home to a lot more people.
• Why does this matter? Landlords in Sarasota County Discriminating Against Disabled and Minorities. It's hard to live your life if you can't find a place to live. Sarasota's powers-that-be are very clear that they don't have enough staff to enforce the fair housing laws.
• It's even harder to live your life if you can't make a living: Rising Unemployment Rate for People With Disabilities.
• Access, housing, jobs: it all comes down to perception. From This Ain't Living: Making Lives Valueless: People With Disabilities and Popular Perceptions
• While we're talking about accessibility, this comes from the University of Buffalo: Could Universal Design Be the Next Mainstream Movement in Architecture, Planning?
• From the Girl With the Cane: Attn: Editor of the New York Post, re: Americans with Disabilities Act editoral.
• From the Seattle Times: Designers add more personality to cutting-edge prosthetic limbs. Making prosthetics something to envy rather than pity.
• And from Dave Hingsburger: The Benefits of Inclusion #116 (discussing his attendance at a performance of a mixed-mobility dance troupe)
• From the National Partnership for Women and Families: Latest state to require cruel & medically unnecessary measures before an abortion: Louisiana.
• From Blue Virginia: Loudoun Republicans Revealed Themselves in the 2012 General Assembly Session. Despite all their big talk about how they were going to focus on jobs and traffic, the Loudoun Republican Caucus focused mainly on guns and limiting women's rights, and failed to bring home the transportation bacon.
• From Same Facts: The Romneys "struggled" in college, living off the sale of stock! (via @dailykos). Having a reliable source of funds is not struggling.
• From the Washington Post: McDonnell tries to Etch-a-Sketch his stance on abortion.
• Also from the Washington Post: Loudoun is on the fringe of making a historic error.  Please, BOS, vote Yes on Metro. We need it.
• The Principal at PS 321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn writes a letter to NY State Education Commissioner. (via @danielradosh)
• From Dances With Fat: For Fat Patients and Their Doctors.
• From Ms. Magazine: The UN has estimated that women do $11 trillion a year of unpaid work.
• From Jezebel: For the Millionth Time: The Morning After Pill Is Not the Abortion Pill.
• George Takei has a question for the Straight Folks.
• And finally, a reminder to please just bookmark Jim Rigby's blog.

• Two more from Jim Rigby: Bible Bullies and "But What About Romans?" These are follow-ups to his post, What Part of “Thou Shall Not Judge” Do You Not Understand?
• From Pandagon: Romney's Going to Speak at Liberty University.
• From The Infamous Brad: Sometimes, When "All the Facts are In," It's Worse: The UC-Davis Pepper-Spray Report. Can you count the number of errors the police made? The full text of the report can be found here. (via my friends Daniel Radosh and Kathy Withcats)
• From USA Today: Vatican orders crackdown on American nuns (via Martha Plimpton).
• Two from Think Progress: Undocumented Immigrants paid more in taxes in 2010 than General Electric and Cantor is actually suggesting raising taxes on the poor.
• From Price of Oil: It's Official: Fracking Causes Quakes according to a report commissioned by the British Government.
• From Huffington Post: Jennifer Tyrrell, Boy Scout Den Mother, Forced To Resign Because She Is A Lesbian. Just a coincidence that,
  

  "The revocation of my membership came shortly after I was elected treasurer of my pack and uncovered some inconsistencies in the pack's finances."

  This comes less than a year since a similar incident here in Loudoun.

• From The Girl With the Cane: Annie Clark Wins Penmanship Award by Writing with her Forearms. First she did better than anyone else in her school, all of whom have use of their hands.
• From When the Flames Go Up: For This Divorced Mom, Traveling For Work Is No Big Thing.
• From News of the Restless: Apparently, the Ukrainian abortion ban bill would also ban the missionary position and childlessness. (via @ClinicEscort)
• From Talking Points Memo: Obama To GOP: Abide By Debt Limit Deal Or Else Face A Govt Shutdown Right Before The Election.
• From CBS Baltimore: CPCs demand the right to mislead and manipulate women who want an abortion (via @NARALVirginia). Stevens tried to get a similar ordinance on the agenda here in Loudoun, but he couldn't get any of the other Dems to second it. I don't get why CPCs wouldn't want to let people know up front that they don't refer for abortions or birth control. Isn't that something they're proud of?
• From Hoydens About Town: It's about Health at Every Size!
• From Mother Jones: 4 Things Grosser Than Pink Slime. Now I really really really want to raise my own chickens.
• From Denver Biz Journal: Frontier Airlines fined over disabled-traveler incident (via Bill Shackleton)
• From The New York Times: When Catholic hospitals merge w public ones, women's health care takes a back seat to religion. (via @AisFor)
• From The Guardian: Disability rights protesters bring Trafalgar Square traffic to a standstill.
• From ABC News: The Romneys' Dancing Horse Competes Without Them. Which leads Kos to ask, "Are the Romneys now ashamed of their horses?".
• From UpWorthy: 3 Reasons Why These Country-Lovin' Pastors Are Pro-Gay Activists
• From Jezebel: The Ten Scariest Places in America to Have Ladyparts
• From Shakesville: Snapshots of a Week (or so) of Being a Woman Geek

Speaking of being a woman geek, I can't get enough of OK Go. It helps that I think that one of the members of the band bears an uncanny resemblance to The World's Best Campaign Manager, Bar None.