Andrew Shirvell has been fired as assistant Michigan Attorney General for stalking University of Michigan student Chris Armstrong.
Armstrong was the first openly gay president of the Michigan Student Assembly, and this sent the already right-wing Shirvell into a delusional hissy fit.
As a private citizen, it would be creepy, but as a supporter and confidant of Michigan’s right wing Attorney General, it took on some rather disturbing overtones.
Background here.
They have made their temporary injunction against the judge’s ruling permanent, so DADT, and separations from the military, continue until probably at least next June:
With one judge dissenting, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the injunction of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy issued by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, pending the outcome of the government’s appeal of Log Cabin Republicans v. United States.
The immediate impact of the ruling, which was not unexpected by legal observers, means that — absent congressional or executive action — DADT will remain in effect through at least Spring 2011. The practical timeline for the appeal, however, means it actually would remain law much longer.
Damn.
A 3 judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just stayed the injunction against the enforcement of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Thankfully, this is only a short term stay, basically it’s a stay until the panel has a hearing on the stay next week:
A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily stalled the landmark court decision allowing openly gay recruits to be accepted into the military.
In response to an emergency request from the government, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, issued a one-page order late in the day allowing the Pentagon to continue enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which bars openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.
The decision, which returns the law to the status quo before a Federal District Court judge in California declared it unconstitutional, will be in effect while the appeals court considers whether to issue a longer stay, until February, when the Ninth Circuit will hear the full appeal. A decision about the longer stay could occur as early as next week; the parties have been told to prepare briefs on the issues by Monday.
So the witch hunts continue.
This stance is both morally wrong, it’s bigotry, creates security problems, because people forced into in the closet are subject to blackmail, and politically stupid, because it demoralizes a large portion of the base less than 2 weeks before the election.
As I have said before, when you are doing something that is so transparently wrong and stupid on so many levels, it isn’t because you are interested in process, it’s because you really do oppose gay rights.
This is not the actions of someone who wants to, “repeal the law that denies gay and lesbian Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It’s the right thing to do.” This is the actions of someone who does not believes that gays should serve openly in the military.
In response to the government’s request that she stay her injunction against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Federal Judge Virginia Phillips has refused a stay:
A federal judge formally refused on Tuesday to let the Pentagon reinstate its ban on openly gay men and women in the U.S. military while it appeals her decision declaring its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy unconstitutional.
A day after tentatively siding against the Obama administration, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips issued a written decision denying a government request to lift her own injunction barring further Pentagon enforcement of the ban.
Needless to say the Obama Administration will attempt to have the injunction stayed on appeal, taking it first to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then to the Supreme Court, and they will do so on an expedited basis.
Because the Obama administration is desparate for the witch hunts in the military to proceed without pause.
Even if they feel that they have a constitutional duty to fight the case, this injunction will not, according to Barack Obama’s own words, he does not believe will do any damage to the military.
The only reasons to pursue this are cowardice and bigotry, and at this point, I am inclined to favor the latter as an explanation, because at this point, with two weeks to go in the election, the all the gay baiting that is going to be done has been done.
Realistically, when you look at administrations inaction on these matters, combined with Obamas public statements opposing gay marriage, I think that we have to believe that this is motivated by bigotry.
There’s a shocker. They want to continue the witch hunts and persecutions while they are appealing:
The Obama administration on Thursday asked a judge to allow the Pentagon to keep its ban against openly gay men and women in the military while it appeals her decision that ruled the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was unconstitutional.
President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military leaders have backed ending the policy, but have urged that it be done by the U.S. Congress and military so that there is no disruption to military operations, morale or recruiting.
At a town hall meeting with young voters, a woman pressed Obama on why he wasn’t ending the policy immediately.
“This is not a situation where with a stroke of a pen I can end the policy,” he said and noted that he cannot ignore laws on the books. “This policy will end and it will end on my watch.”
This is a lie. Obama, with a stroke of a pen, could end the separations, and if Congress passes something (ha!) then it is his pen that will sign the bill.
When we look at Obama, one has to wonder whether he, or those people closest to him, like Valerie “gay is a lifestyle choice” Jarrett say about gays when they are having their private moments.
I’m beginning to think that the policy here is to find a path to do the least possible without fatally alienating the party.
If Obama were a Republican, we would be talking about his homophobia right now.
A month ago, Judge Virginia Phillips ruled Don’t Ask Don’t Tell unconstitutional, and today, she issued a permanent injunction against the policy, forbidding the military from conducting investigations or proceeding with separations:
A federal judge in California issued a permanent ban Tuesday on the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians in the military, ordering the Defense Department to immediately halt any efforts to remove personnel because of their sexual orientation.
The government has 60 days to appeal the ruling, which gives the administration until after the midterm election next month to make a decision. But it also presents a problem for President Obama as he tries to rally his Democratic base.
As a presidential candidate, Obama said he would work to do away with the policy. But should the Justice Department appeal the ruling, it could anger many of the president’s liberal supporters, something Obama and congressional Democrats can ill afford.
In a separate case that posed a similar problem, the administration decided Tuesday to appeal two court rulings in Massachusetts that found unconstitutional the federal definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
The administration filed a notice of appeal to protect the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which bars gay marriages, although Obama opposes the law. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the administration was obligated to defend federal laws when challenged in court.
So we know where this is going. On November 3, when there is no immediate electoral consequence, the DoJ will file an appeal, because, to paraphrase Kanye West, Barack Obama doesn’t care about gay people,
If Congress wants to change the law, there will be no support from the White House, and we know this because there has been no support from the White House, but rest assured he’ll probably sign a repeal if it hits his desk, because it’s the easy thing to do.
An Assistant Attorney General for the state of Michigan, one Andrew Shirvell, has engaged in what can only be described as a relentless campaign of stalking, both Cyber and Real, against the Chris Armstrong, the gay president of the student assembly. (See the embedded vid)
Shirvell has now been placed on leave and is facing a disciplinary hearing, despite the fact that Michigan AG, and Christofascist right-winger, Mike Cox, has defended the right to stalk someone for being gay, no doubt because this is how Cox defines his base.
The crux of the batsh%$ insane jihad seems to be Armstrong’s push for LGBT friendly housing on campus, which has led the Assistant AG to make blog posts with swastikas, and to allegedly hang around and photograph Armstrong’s house in the early hours of the meeting, which has led him to file for a restraining order against Shirvell.
In the scheme of things, this incident will work itself out in the near term, the restraining order will likely be granted, and I’m pretty sure that Shirvell will eventually be fired, despite his being a long time supporter, and campaign worker, for Cox, because this has simply gotten too politically toxic.
This would all be silly and funny, but I figure than in the next 10-15 years, as Shirvell realizes what he is, and the video makes it clear that he is deeply in the closet, we are likely to hear a story about him in which the lede is, “Killed his wife and children, and then shot himself.”
*The bon mot is not mine, it’s from Bladesmith at the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS.
We are being run by assholes:
So says Jon Stewart, so say we all.
So the Republicans successfully filibustered the Defense authorization bill.
It’s not surprising given the full court press that we didn’t hear coming from the White House.
When one considers the fact that the Obama Department of Justice submitted a legal brief equating homosexuality with incest, his administration defied a judges order to provide health benefits for a same sex spouse, and his campaign had an anti gay bigot front a campaign concert, one begins to wonder whether is inaction on DADT is more than cowardice, or whether he actually has a problem with “th ghay”.
To paraphrase Kanye West, I’m beginning to wonder if “Barack Obama doesn’t care about gay people,” because it’s clear that the Obama administration antipathy to being seen as pro-LGBT at this point is both bad politics, it loses votes, and bad policy.
One of the interesting things here is that the judge, Virginia Phillips, has ruled that, the policy has a, ” ‘direct and deleterious effect’ on the armed services, which will make the overturn at the appellate level more difficult, since appeals are typically based on matters of law, and this is a determination of fact, but note that I’m an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit!*
The judge will be issuing an injunction against separations, but will be giving the government time to appeal before doing so, so I expect another round of accelerated witch hunts in the Pentagon over the next few weeks.
This is an acid test of the Obama administration’s dedication to gay rights. If they go for a stay, i.e. keep expelling gays from the military, during appeals, they are not merely doing their duty to defend existing laws, as they have previously argued, they are actively and aggressively anti-gay rights.
My money is on Obama making the wrong decision both morally and politically, and going full bore against this decision, because I think that, much like Bill Clinton, there is a level of political, if not personal revulsion, against “te ghay” that drives them to do truly stupid and hateful things.
*I LOVE IT when I get to go all Doctor McCoy!!!
Former Bush (Jr.) Campaign manager and RNC chairman Ken Mehlman has come out of the closet, admitting that he was gay.
While his coming out might be a bit of a surprise, his sexuality has been a matter of discussion for years.
I would note that while he was head of the RNC, they ramped up appeals to homophobic bigotry, and he has not spoken to that.
Not surprising, though on the brighter side, it’s going to be an accelerated appeal, which, by the peculiar math of federal courts, means that there will be a hearing on December 6.
The stay is not surprising, and neither is the accelerated schedule, so I am not in a position to read any tea leaves.
He has now officially lifted his stay of his ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional, but has made effective on August 18, giving the bigots an opportunity to get a stay from the appellate court.
So effective August 18, gays can get married in California.
Rachel Maddow lets him have it over his cowardice on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
I may be too hard on Barack Obama about this. It might not be cowardice. Maybe he just hates gays, and that’s why he won’t even issue a stop loss order to end the witch hunts.
Obama, Rahm, and the Democratic establishment had better be praying that the Republicans get even crazier over the next 2½ months, because the f%$#ing couch is feeling pretty f^%$ing good under a lot of people’s asses right now.
Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled that California’s anti-gay marriage initiative is unconstitutional:
A federal judge in San Francisco struck down California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing a temporary victory to gay rights advocates in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court.
Wednesday’s decision is just the latest chapter of what is expected to be a long legal battle over the ban — Proposition 8, which was passed in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote — and proponents were already promising to appeal, confidently predicting that higher courts would be less accommodating to the other side than Vaughn R. Walker, the judge who issued the ruling.
You can be sure of that last bit.
While I cannot speak to the proclivities of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, I know that they are a rather liberal circuit, but that is it, but I am aware of the proclivities of the Supreme Court, and I cannot see this ruling surviving there.
My assesment of the court:
What worries me is that if Roberts has the votes, he will cast the broadest net possible, as he did in the Citizens United and Heller, and so do his level best reinstitute the criminalization of homosexuality, and probably take a big hack at Roe v. Wade.
It’s a good decision, and I support it, but I think that the ratf%$#ers on the Supreme Court will do whatever they can to turn this to evil.
What needs to be done now is to put Scalia on his back heel. He has prejudged the case, and has admitted it in public, so he must recuse himself.
Of course, he won’t, not unless the pressure placed on him forces him to.
We need to go after him the way Scientology went after judges they targeted, though obviously no one should drown his pet dog.
I am saying that it is clear that on numerous occasions, in numerous public events, Antonin Scalia has stated that his mind is made up on gay marriage.
As such any rudimentary understanding of legal ethics mandates that he recuse himself, and that Antonin Scalia does not posses even a rudimentary level of legal ethics, so unless there is a constant drum beat pointing out this fact, he will sit on the case with no intention of reviewing either the facts of the law fairly.
*Proposition 8=H8=Hate, OK?
The areas of the lawsuit were rather specific, and pertained only to couples legally married in Massachusetts, but the the fact that the judge, Joseph Tauro, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, the Mass AG and GLAD brought separate suits, is good news.
I’m an engineer, and not a lawyer, dammit, but I think that part of the decision, where the judge found a 10th amendment violation, because, “federal restrictions on funding for states that recognize same-sex marriage violates the 10th Amendment,which, “declares that rights not explicitly granted to the federal government, or denied to the states, belong to the states,” is likely to be overturned.
Basically the 10th amendment has not been a big part of jurisprudence since some time in the 1930s, and runs in the face of precedent.
The second decision, in GLAD’s case, is based on the 5th amendment equal protection claims, which I think will go a lot further.
Still, I think that it’s heading to the Supreme Court, and that the decision will be overturned by a 5-4 majority.
If I were an attorney for the plaintiffs, I would be starting to suggest that some of the justices who have already made statements that pre-judge the outcome, most notably Scalia, whose public endorsements of bigotry have been longstanding, recuse themselves.
If you don’t start making a stink about these now, then they will be sitting on the bench with their minds already made up later.
Tony Perkins Christo-Fascist Family Research Council lobbied Congress in support of Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.
Insert Godwin’s Law comment here.
Anyone here surprised?
Joe.My.God is right when he says, “It’s time for the Southern Poverty Law Center to reclassify the Family Research Council as an official hate group.”
I have to invoke this when discussing the travails of anyone named “Kirk”.And by “Straight Man,” I don’t mean someone who sets up a joke.
Mark Kirk, the Republican running for Barack Obama’s seat in Illinois, has already been outed for exaggerating his military record, and now it appears that he has been just plain outed.
Michael Rogers recounts how when Kirk, who was generally pretty mild on the “hate te ghey” stuff, decided to run for Senate, he went hard right, and he got phone calls:
Until now, Mark Kirk elected not to play the typical Washington game. Instead of supporting his party’s dismal record on gay rights, Kirk received Human Rights Campaign ratings of 67% in 2002, 88% in 2004, 76% in 2006 and 85% in 2008. That’s more impressive than a lot of Democrats. I even let Kirk slide by when he didn’t co-sponsor earlier legislation relating to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. My thoughts then were that he wasn’t THAT bad on gay stuff and that the bill was going nowhere anyway.
………
Within hours of the DADT repeal vote I was contacted by two people who knew Kirk from his college days.
He then goes on to relate how two of his sources gave details on, “described personal details about the House, um, er, ‘member,’ ” and further notes that he (Rogers) was at a party where Kirk essentially admitted that he was gay:
It was at that party that I met Mark Kirk. I was introduced to him by the person I came with and at the time did not realize he was a member of the House. As my friend walked away, Kirk asked me if the man who introduced us was “single or attached.” When I said that he had a partner, Kirk replied disappointingly, “oh, well.” At the end of that interaction I walked away and didn’t think much of it at the time.
I really don’t care who a politician f%$#s, unless it’s the American public, but Kirk has gone Teabagger on this issue simply for political gain, and that means that, as is the case with his vote on DADT, he is screwing the American public out of craven hypocricy.
Furthermore, I think that the closet, whether it’s over sexuality or anything else, is a bad place for anyone who holds power to be, it twists values and world view, and opens them up to blackmail and other forms of coercion.
Needless to say, this makes the row to hoe easier for Friend-of-Barack State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is tied up in the failure of his family’s bank, which includes allegations of fraud, but I still think that this race is Kirk’s to lose.
H/t Crooks and Liars.
The Defense appropriations bill that recently passed the Senate has a (sort of) repeal of the discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law.
It also has funding for the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which the White House opposes, so now the Pentagon staff is throwing around a veto threat on this issue:
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program: The Administration strongly objects to provisions of the bill which could limit the procurement of the 42 aircraft requested in the President’s FY 2011 Budget. The onerous restrictions impose unacceptable schedule and budget risks on the JSF program. While the Department believes the restructured development schedule is achievable, failure to achieve any one of the criteria would affect the procurement decision with significant impact on unit cost, production ramp, and TACAIR force structure. The Department’s F-35 procurement request is in line with independent manufacturing studies, risk review recommendations, and the FY11 request reflects an optimized production. If the final bill presented to the President contains provisions that would seriously disrupt the F-35 program, the President’s senior advisors would recommend a veto.
(emphasis original)
If Obama is looking for an excuse to kill DADT because of cowardice, this would be it.
If Obama really wants to repeal DADT this year, than he has a decision to make.
So, which is it, the lady or the tiger?
I don’t care who Elena Kagan f%$#s, just so long as it is not the American public.
And Andrew Sullivan, whom I declare wanker of the day, can go Cheney himself.