Saturday, March 24, 2012

Short Attention Span Musing: "What They Shouldn't Have Said" Edition

AKA "The Dumb, The Bad, and The Ugly"...

...First up: The Dumb -

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Evan Wyloge -

One of Andrei Cherny’s top campaign volunteers took to Twitter on Thursday to criticize the Democratic congressional hopeful’s opponents for running in a district where they don’t live.

From the Twitter feed of Dennis Kavanagh, a Cherny campaign co-chair -








The problem?  Kavanagh's candidate, Cherny, is like Parker, Sinema, and most of the major candidates in CD9.  With the exception of State Sen. David Schapira (D-Tempe), none of the major candidates, and few of the minor candidates, actually live in the district.

Oopsie.


...Still, that one is only "dumb".  Falling well into the "ugly" category is State Rep. Debbie Lesko's assertion that the religious values of people who own businesses carry more weight than the civil rights of people who don't.  It's not a direct quote, but it's the end result of her anti-contraception bill in the lege and her statements and efforts in support of it.

From AP, via the Arizona Republic, written Michelle L. Price -

A state representative who introduced legislation that would let more Arizona employers drop coverage for contraceptives defended her proposal at a rally Friday in Phoenix, responding to critics who say it intrudes on women's private lives.

Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko says her bill protects the religious rights of employers who do not wish to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives because it violates their religious or moral beliefs.

"I am proud to stand up and fight for the millions of Catholics and other faiths across this nation to protect our religious freedoms," Lesko said at the rally.

Lesko's bill, HB2625, would allow employers to refuse to pay for contraceptive medication/medical procedures that are intended to be contraceptive in effect.

It also requires employees to inform to inform their employers why the employee is receiving contraceptive-related medical treatment.  I'm not a lawyer, but I'm guessing that there's a HIPAA violation in there somewhere.

That's just a guess though. 

Of course, the cynic in me wonders if Lesko's game is less about protecting the religious freedom of a few and more about protecting the ability of those few to impose their personal religious beliefs on others.


...However, Fox News' Geraldo Rivera has claimed the Ugly category all for himself.

From Media Matters for America, written by Solange Uwimana -

Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera is standing by remarks he made today regarding the killing of 17-year-old black teen Trayvon Martin. On Fox & Friends this morning, Rivera claimed that "the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman."

An unarmed kid who wasn't threatening anybody is gunned down by a self-appointed vigilante, and all Rivera can do is blame the victim?  Rivera has always been more of a performer than a journalist, but he never seemed to be evil.

Apparently however, he's been drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid for too long.

However2, the effects of that Kool-Aid don't seem to be genetic - even his own son is "ashamed" of Rivera's remarks.

Still, I can almost understand Rivera's attitude.  There have been documented instances of some rather scary people wearing hoodies -














This pic is rather popular on the internet right now.  Not sure who originally had it, but it's a perfect illustration of the ludicrous nature of Rivera's attitude.

1 comment:

Michael Powers said...

Rivera would have his sons adapt to the evil in this world, rather than have the courage to change it. I'd be ashamed, too.

What a tool.