Month: May 2012

Fascinating that the wife of the main advocate for North Carolina's Amendment One to triple-double-plus ban marriage for gays also seems to think it has something to do with sustaining "Caucasian" culture. That was what a freelance journalist, Chad Nance, heard from someone who had just spoken to the wife of Sen. Peter Brunstetter, chief advocate for the amendment. Nance asked Brunstetter if that was true. Money quote:

Nance: Did you say anything about Caucasians? 

Mrs Brunstetter: If I did it wasn't anything race related.

Sounds like Colbert. We should have the video soon [Update: it's here]. The argument, apparently, is that gay marriage would reduce the number of white gay men reproducing with white straight wives, thus endangering white supremacy. Or something like that. Meanwhile, we have a pastor in the same state urging his congregation to beat their gay kids into submission:

"So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.

Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”

You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?” Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."

The pastor now says it was a joke. It clearly wasn't. Listen to him. It's eliminationist rhetoric, shouted from the pulpit. It's hatred and violence directed against children in the name of Jesus. It is evil.

(Image: An ad from an anti-Amendment One group, via Copyranter. More images here.)

Yes, it's a tradition. Thank God.

Ackerman decodes the new agreement:

The deal Obama and Karzai inked isn’t a withdrawal accord. It’s a drawdown agreement that turns over combat responsibilities to the Afghan security forces by the end of 2014 — although the top Obama aides emphasized that much of that transition will actually occur next year. After 2014, the U.S. will guarantee Afghanistan’s security and financial stability for at least another decade. Most U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014. But the U.S. will retain a residual force of as-yet-unknown size to train Afghan troops through at least 2016; special operations forces will continue to raid Afghan villages for suspected insurgents; and big Afghan airbases will continue to be launching pads for the drone war over Pakistan — the war that targets bin Laden’s remaining allies.

Whittier, Alaska   12:30pm

They were egregious, misogynistic at times, scorched earth swipes, you name it. And no doubt they were used by his enemies as ammunition. And it's worth noting that Grenell was a pitbull like Bolton: abrasive, uncompromising, fanatical, divisive. But that, in a way, is the point. He behaved as today's young Republican Turks do. He was one of the crowd in that way as in so many others. And I'm not defending those tweets or the style or the culture that Grenell relished. All I'm saying is that those tweets would have been trivia if he had not been openly gay. And Romney's silence is more eloquent than his words could ever be.

Readers sound off on the scandal:

I sense that Ric Grenell's self-deportation will be viewed as a turning point in the election. From here on, Romney cannot separate himself from his bigoted base. He will will be seen by independent and Republican moderates to be a fully-owned and powerless subsidiary (to use terms he would understand) of the intolerant right-wing evangelicals and their political agenda. He has conceded that he is their humble servant (to use a term the evangelical base understands).

Another writes:

I just read your post and decided that was the last straw.  I am a gay Republican supporting Mitt until today. 

I just sent his campaign an email requesting they remove my name from their call list because of Ric Grenell's resignation.  I will not contribute nor will I vote for a candidate that allows this type of witch hunt to happen in his campaign.  This was a moment when a good person stands up and says enough but Mitt decided he could not be that person. 

Up until this point, I have not really bought into your Christianist rhetoric and the take over of the Republican party… forgive me, I am late to the game.  But because I live in North Carolina and because my partner is about to have our first child, I face my own moment.

Another:

IMO, this whole thing was set up as part of Romney's "Etch-a-Sketch" strategy. He gets to appeal to "moderates" because he volunteered a "gay guy" for an important role; the right-wing bigots get a "victory", proving that they can exercise control over their nominee; and Romney sits pretty with his hands clean, because it's "not his fault that the guy resigned" and he "wouldn't want him to stay where he's uncomfortable". It's not like even a campaign as poorly-run as Romney's couldn't have predicted what would transpire after Romney put Grenell forward.

Another:

What kind of President would he be if he allows this to happen after he, God forbid, gets in the White House? Romney knew Mr. Grenell was gay and he hired him. If you hire someone you stand up for them. If they screw up you fire them. But if they do the job you hired them for you stand up for them.

How do the gays in the military feel right about now? Pretty nervous I would think. Romney is a coward who does not deserve to be Command in Chief.

Much more commentary here, here and here.

From Eric A. Posner’s favorable review of Jim Manzi’s new book, Uncontrolled: The Surprising Payoff of Trial-and-Error for Business, Politics, and Society:

The book is less interested in [testing methods] than in the limits of empirical knowledge. Given these limits, what attitude should we take toward government? As Manzi explains, our grasp of the universe is shaky even where, as in the case of physics, “hard science” plays the dominant role. The scientific method cannot establish truths; it can only falsify hypotheses. The hypotheses come from our daily experience, so even when science prunes away intuitions that fail the experimental method, we can never be sure that the theories that remain standing reflect the truth or just haven’t been subject to the right experiment.

Manzi’s book a fresh, dense and fascinating exploration of what the policy implications of a true “conservatism of doubt” would mean. I hope it can jumpstart a conservative intellectual renaissance.

Michelle Cottle marks a "new, more complicated era" for parents of children with special needs:

That era is coming in part because many of the medical and social advances that have improved the lives of special-needs individuals have also increased the burden of caring for them. For instance, people with Down syndrome were once lucky to survive to age 30; today, the average lifespan is 55. This presents parents (and society more broadly) with the challenge of somehow providing for an adult child decades after their own deaths, a situation complicated by the fact that the Down population develops Alzheimer’s at a rate of 100 percent, typically in their 40s or 50s.

Then there is the 800-pound gorilla in the room: autism.

In late March, the Centers for Disease Control issued an estimate that 1 in 88 children now fall on the autism spectrum. While debate rages over the roots of the "epidemic," this swelling population is placing increasing strains on our health-care, education, and social-services systems. A study released last month put the annual cost of autism in the U.S. at $126 billion, more than triple what it was in 2006. The bulk of those expenses are for adult care. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, calls the situation "a public-health emergency."

A parent of autism writes:

I have been fan of your writing for over ten years. I actually wrote to you a long time about my daughter and how I refused much of the prenatal testing offered at the time because I wanted to be her mother no matter what. You congratulated me on becoming a mother. And although I am sure you don't remember as you must get thousands of emails a year, it meant a great deal to me at the time. Like you I was raised Catholic and still have great faith in Christ, although finding my way has been difficult at times.

Life takes many curious turns, and ten years down the road, I am now the mother of two amazing and beautiful daughters, both on the autism spectrum. I read all the articles you included in the series on late-term abortion, and while I would never tell another woman what to do, I am thankful everyday for my girls, and I would not change them for the world. I am a teacher by profession (high school English) and I spend much of time trying to teach empathy through the stories of Atticus and Scout, Lennie and George, and poor sad Holden Caulfield. In addtion to advocating for students with special needs, I am an ally for our gay students, and I fully support gay marriage as a civil right. I have raised my girls without prejudice, and one of the sweetest things about autism is the way they accept people just as they are.

I have written a book about my girls which was published in March, and I was hoping to send it to you. Central to the book is rights of of people with "disabilities"(I hate that word) and the inherent sacredness and worth of every human life. In this scary age of genetic engineering, designer children and euthanasia/assisted suicide, the very existence of people seen as not living "complete" or "normal" lives is increasingly threatened. As the genes for certain things are discovered, there exists the potential to screen out all the blessed and beautiful variation in human expression: Asperger's, autism, Down's etc. There was an excellent piece in the London Times I used for my book that talks about screening out autism and potentially losing geniuses.

The book is called Parenting Girls on the Autism Spectrum: Overcoming the Challenges and Celebrating the Gifts. It was by Jessica Kingsley Publisher, a well-respected English publisher with a long history of offering books on autism by folks like Dr. Tony Attwood. In fact Dr. Attwood and developmental pediatrician, James Coplan, offered generous quotes for the back cover. And while I used my experiences with my girls as a starting point, the book is a solidly researched-based, resource book rather than just a personal narrative. Part of the book focuses specifically on the ways girls with autism deal with the stresses and stereotypes involved with being girls. And a good part of it focuses on the wonderful and refreshing way girls on the spectrum are true to themselves in a world that too often demolishes all that is wonderfully quirky in girls.

My two daughters are proof that people the world sees as disabled can do amazing things. Lizzie, my beautiful 15 year-old, was initially was diagnosed with PDD, but now would best be described as having Asperger's Syndrome. She is a musical fan and participates in her school's theatrical productions. My younger daughter Caroline is 12, and she has high-functioning autism. She has come so far through behavioral therapy, inclusive programming in school, lots of great experiences, and tons of love. Although Caroline still has autism, she is a fantastic speller, does long division, and plays the trumpet in her school band. I know that Caroline enriches the life of everyone who spends time with her.

This book is not about curing autism, but helping girls on the spectrum reach their full potential through education, patience, opportunity, and unconditional love. My book is not anti-vaccine, nor is it about biomedical interventions. It is about helping our children through education, love, and acceptance of who they are. Both of my girls are marvelous human beings, full of kindness, talents, and joy. I have learned much about life, love, and being fully alive from my daughters. I have never viewed them as deficient or ill, just wonderfully and uniquely themselves.

Buzz Bissinger's reflection on his special needs son here.

Here's a quote from the past worth savoring:

"The Democrats didn't have any pro-life speakers. They stopped them from talking. We had everyone, from far-right to pro-choice. It's ludicrous to say the Republicans were intolerant, were filled with hate."

That's a quote from a 1995 Washington Post profile of young, Gingrich Republicans in Washington. (Alas, not online) It came from Ric Grenell, the scalp just garnered by the Christianist right. Here's a scene featuring Grenell watching the epic 1994 Republican take-over of the House:

"Everyone around me had chills," he explains. "It was such a validation of 'It's great to be a Republican.' " Young Republicans on the Hill today say this: Never before in their lives had they worked as hard as they did during the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. It seems possible they never will again. But they wear their exhaustion as a badge of honor.

"All the ideas we'd been talking about we had to act on now," says Grenell. When he talks about "we," he means hard-core, "in your face" Republicans. "I didn't know if they would end up working, but I felt everyone wanted to do the right thing."

And he walked the walk:

Grenell says Republicanism is no good if people subscribe to only half of the equation. The flip side to fiscal conservatism is private generosity. The Thousand Points of Light that President Bush called for is no small matter to him. He is a firm believer in Arianna Huffington's Center for Effective Compassion, a nascent group that hopes to point volunteers in the direction of charities it believes really work.

"Democrats believe government programs are the answer. Taxes get people off the hook and make them believe they've already made their contribution. A check won't solve the problems of a welfare mother," says Grenell. To that end he has helped two neighbors get jobs, one as a courier and the other at the YMCA. He has hired a neighborhood boy to walk his dog, Foster.

His background is almost a classic of Republican stereotypes:

Ric Grenell is the youngest of four children, three boys and a girl, who grew up in a Christian home. His parents worked as missionaries for the Church of God … Grenell comes from the blue-eyed, blond-haired, hard-working, all-American family. Picture perfect…

He dislikes those who can't handle the hard questions — cuts in the budget, abortion. If you won't toe the line, Grenell has a handy label for you. "Squish," he says of Christine Todd Whitman, the pro-choice Republican governor of New Jersey. This is not a compliment. To that end he is a partisan. A true believer.

What do Republicans call an openly gay man who has worked ferociously for their party for two decades, who called non-Gingrichites "squishes", who was a spokesman for John Bolton, whose school was a Christian college in Missouri, whose parents were Christian missionaries, and is and was, by all accounts, a true believer in conservative principles (which, in a sane GOP, would include marriage rights for gays)?

A faggot.

(Photo: Richard Grenell, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, briefs the media prior to a UN Security Council Consultation on the situation in Lebanon on August 4, 2006. John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, did not attend the consultation. By Stephen Hilger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)