Couldn’t Have Said it Better

From Margaret and Helen, one of the best posts I’ve seen in awhile:

Honestly, if I could , I would put the entire Republic party over my knee and give them a good spanking. What does it say about our country if the biggest debate of the decade is no longer about the two wars we are fighting but rather about preventing children and families from having access to affordable healthcare? I’ll tell you what it says to me. It says the Christian Right never really was and Value Voters aren’t very valuable.

[snip]

Michele Bachman thinks healthcare reform is unconstitutional. I think Michelle Bachmann is as nutty as a fruit cake. Or as we say down here in Texas – Michele is one taco short of a combo plate. She is a few fries short of a happy meal. Her elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor. Her cord is too short to reach the outlet. The wheel might be spinning but the hamster is dead.

That woman just isn’t right in the head. I mean it. Really.

I love these ladies. I wish they were my family.

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Take That, Right-Wing Nut Jobs

When I first heard that Mark Begich would be holding a town hall meeting at Bartlett High School tonight, I figured I’d better stay as far away from that crazy as possible. Even though I want to support Senator Begich in the fight for health care, I knew that there would be a good turn-out of firearms from those either trying to make a point or those trying to intimidate.

A joint press release was just issued from the Anchorage Police Department and the Anchorage School District regarding the use of weapons in a school facility. The entire press release is reprinted below:

***Special Press Release***
Subject – Firearms on ASD School Grounds

Anchorage Police Department has received unconfirmed reports that some individuals have encouraged persons attending the Town Hall meeting scheduled for Sept. 25, 2009 at Bartlett High School to carry firearms in support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. This is in violation of both Alaska Statutes and the United States Code whether or not school is in session. Neither Anchorage School District nor its Chief Administrative Officer (Superintendent) has granted permission for deadly or defensive weapons to be possessed on ASD grounds. Persons violating this law will be subject to immediate arrest. Please see the following statutes:

Alaska Statute 11.61.210. Misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree.
(a) A person commits the crime of misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree if the person
(7) other than a preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school student, knowingly possesses a deadly weapon or a defensive weapon, without the permission of the chief administrative officer of the school or district or the designee of the chief administrative officer, within the buildings of, on the grounds of, or on the school parking lot of a public or private preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school, on a school bus while being transported to or from school or a school-sponsored event, or while participating in a school-sponsored event, except that a person 21 years of age or older may possess
(A) a deadly weapon, other than a loaded firearm, in the trunk of a motor vehicle or encased in a closed container in a motor vehicle;
(B) a defensive weapon;
(d) Misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor.

US Code Title 18 Part 1 chapter 44 § 930 (q) (2)
(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a firearm—
(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license;
(iii) that is—
(I) not loaded; and
(II) in a locked container, or a locked firearms rack that is on a motor vehicle;
(iv) by an individual for use in a program approved by a school in the school zone;
(v) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered into between a school in the school zone and the individual or an employer of the individual;
(vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity; or
(vii) that is unloaded and is possessed by an individual while traversing school premises for the purpose of gaining access to public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry on school premises is authorized by school authorities.

So take that, Mr. Joe Nut-Bag-Right-Wing-Freak-Show. Superintendent Comeau is comin’ ta getcha, so you best leave your gunz at home.

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Kindergarten Wisdom

From Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten:

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.
ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do
and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not
at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the
sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life – learn some and think some
and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands, and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody
really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even
the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die.
So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books
and the first word you learned – the biggest
word of all – LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any of those items and extrapolate it into
sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your
family life or your work or your government or
your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
Think what a better world it would be if
all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about
three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with
our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments
had a basic policy to always put thing back where
they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you
are – when you go out into the world, it is best
to hold hands and stick together.

This week Gryphen over at The Immoral Minority was sent an email from Sarah Palin’s lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, threatening to serve libel papers at the Kindergarten class where he works (even though school is not in session). Mr. Van Flein didn’t say, “at your place of work” or “at the school where you work.” He said, “please let me know if you want to be served with the summons and complaint at the kindergarten where you assist or at your residence.” This is the same as saying, “I know where you work and I have no problem coming over there.” If that isn’t a threat, I don’t know what is.

This led me to think about common sense and decency. I don’t think Sarah Palin or Mr. Van Flein have much of either. As I was reading the list, these are the ones I think they need to study:

• Play fair.
• Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
• Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

I think I’ll send a copy of this book to both Sarah and Mr. Van Flein. They would do well to read up a bit on these items and do some soul-searching.

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Look Out, She’s Loaded

I keep hearing Republicans say over and over, “They’re just afraid of her.”

They’re right. I am afraid of her. I have hundreds of reasons to be afraid of her (see previous post).

She’s like a chimp with a handgun.

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Motivate This, Ms. Davis UPDATED

According to Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis, hunger is a motivator. She is against subsidizing summer lunch programs for low-income children in her state, even though 1 out of every 5 kids in Missouri goes hungry.

As I’m sure that Representative Davis’ SEVEN children are at the top of their classes, I’m wondering if she used this type of “motivation” to help them in their studies.

I work with low-income children and I can tell you, hunger is NOT a motivator. Hunger is a basic need that all children (and adults) must satisfy before any learning can take place. I wonder exactly what kind of motivation Ms. Davis is referring to. Perhaps it’s the motivation to fall asleep in class or perhaps throw chairs across the room. These are the only things I’ve seen hunger motivate children to do.

Representative Davis needs to get her act together here. Perhaps she should visit some low-income children over the summer and tell them that they won’t be fed this summer because they need to “get motivated.” Yeah, that ought to do the trick. I bet they’ll even thank her.

UPDATE: After reading the original text of her comments linked above, I have given her responses some thought. Here’s the passage in its entirety:

Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals?

Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.

I’ve come to the conclusion that she is advocating here for one of two things:

1. Lowering the legal age of an adult to 16. By her reasoning, anyone who is old enough to work is old enough to be an adult. They no longer qualify as a child and therefore shouldn’t receive government “handouts” designed for children. If we play out this scenario, 16-year-olds would be legally allowed to smoke and are old enough to join the military. I wonder if she would also want to lower the legal drinking age to 18?

2. Denying children food because they are legally allowed to work. In this scenario, Ms. Davis’ logic is that even though they are still considered children, they are on their own. Their 15-year-old brother may qualify for lunch, but because they turned 16, they shouldn’t be given food. I suppose it never crossed her mind that the unemployment rate in this country is at a 26-year-high and that 16-year-olds probably aren’t at the head of the line of unemployed adults. Nor do they have training or experience that those adults have. Just sayin’.

I’d like to know which of these she is supporting. I bet her constituents would like to know, too.

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