Randy Ray Condemns Ann Coulter's Recent Comments

I'm announcing publicly that I support the Human Rights Campaign's condemnation of Ann Coulter's hate-filled commentary. Coulter's use of the word "faggot" to describe John Edwards in a public forum is reprehensible and characteristic of the type of venom she has been spreading for years. How can people honestly support a woman who thinks Joe McCarthy was right, that the Democratic Party is a vast terrorist sleeper cell, and that widows of the 9/11 attack have no right to speak out about the war in Iraq?

Below is a list of some of Ann Coulter's bizarre and hateful remarks over the years:

1. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.

Who could possibly think that a remark like that is remotely appropriate, funny, or even intelligent? It's just mean, stupid, and full of hate.

2. My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building.

So because she thinks that the New York Times is too liberal, the people working there all deserve to die at the hands of a terrorist? Surely no one can approve of that message.

3. I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo.

So because I have a different political belief from Ann Coulter, I should be sent to Guantanamo? And torture should be a televised sport? Does she live in the Middle Ages or something?

4. I don't know if [former U.S. President Bill Clinton is] gay. But [former U.S. Vice President] Al Gore - total fag.

This is obviously not a new trend for Coulter. She's been picking on liberal politicians for years now, and picking on gays too. As if that were the worst thing she could say about someone. If she used the "n-word" describe Jesse Jackson, would that generate some controversy?

5. If you don't hate Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country.

This is just beyond absurd and pointless. I have friends who are conservatives, but none of them would agree with or support this type of hate-filled, stupid pronouncement from a public figure. There is a certain amount of civility that should be expected from our political commentators. Ann Coulter should receive the same type of ostracism from the press that leaders of the KKK receive. It's all hate speech, and it's all wrong. She can believe what she wants, but she shouldn't be pouring her hatred into public discourse, and no one should support it, not even conservatives.

Patriotic Bumper Stickers From a Liberal Perspective

Posting an email that's been forwarded to you is one of the cheapest ways to make a blog post, but in this case, I can't resists. Thanks to my friend David for forwarding this to me. (Living in Texas, I see a lot of right wing, conservative bumper stickers, so the liberal perspectives below are a real treat for me.

These bumper stickers were compiled by Jerry Paull, a former Methodistminister in Lakeside, Ohio, who writes: "The following actual bumperstickers are now on cars. I didn't write any of them. I'm only themessenger."

• Blind faith in bad leadership is not patriotism.
• If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
• If you supported Bush, a yellow ribbon won't make up for it.
• Poverty, healthcare, and homelessness are moral issues.
• Of course it hurts. You're getting screwed by an elephant.
• Religious funamentalism: a threat abroad, a threat at home.
• God bless everyone. (No exceptions.)
• Bush spent your social security on his war.
• Pro America, Anti Bush.
• Who would Jesus bomb?
• I'd rather have a president who screwed his internet than one who screwed his country.
• Jesus was a social activist - that is, a liberal.
• My values? Free speech, equality, liberty, education, tolerance.
• Is it 2008 yet?
• Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. --Thomas Jefferson
• Don't blame me. I voted against Bush, twice.
• Annoy a conservative; think for yourself.
• Visualize impeachment.
• Hey Bush! Where's Bin Laden?
• Corporate media = mass mind control.
• Stop mad cowboy disease.
• George W. Bush - Making terrorists faster than he can kill them.
• Keep your theocracy off my democracy.
• Democrates are sexy. Whoever heard of a good piece of elephant?
• Corporate media - weapons of mass deception.
• Don't confuse dying for oil with fighting for freedom.
• Stem cell research is pro life.
• Hate, greed, ignorance - weapons of mass destruction.
• Honor our troops - demand the truth.
• Rebuild Iraq? Why not spend $87 billion on America?
• Fact - Bush Oil. 1999, $19/barrel. 2006, $70/barrel.
• The last time religion controlled politics, people were burned at the stake.

I agree with most of these, although I do think we have a responsibility to rebuild Iraq, since we're the ones who went in and toppled their government and put the country in such a disarray.

BTW, just a quick addition. My friend Cliff is launching a website about his opinions of politics and current events soon - be sure to be on the lookout for it.

Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse

Article worth reading at Wired:

Lawbreaker in Chief

The author points out how Bush's flagrant disregard for the law of the land (in this case, the Foreign Intelligence Survey Act), is more than just an example of his theory that he's above the law because he's trying to protect the country, it's an admission of guilt. Thought-provoking reading, and if it doesn't give more people reason to believe that we have little reason to trust this administration, I'd be much surprised.

Jimmy Carter on Bush and American Values

Jimmy Carter is breaking with the tradition of former Presidents not criticizing sitting Presidents. According to Carter, he just couldn't stay silent anymore. As far as I'm concerned, he and way too many other Americans have stayed silent for way too long. (I'm among them.) Anyway, worth a read: Jimmy Carter on George W. Bush and American Values

Also worth a look is Molly Ivins' latest column regarding the Senate vote last week about USA torture. Like Ivins, I'm more than a little heartsick over this. 9 out of 100 Senators voting against torture. What a sad day for this country.

George Bush Approval Rate - 36%

This Newsweek poll shows Bush's approval rate at an abysmal 36%.

68% of Americans think that the USA is heading in the wrong direction.

More than half of American now think that Bush is not 'honest and ethical'.

Cheney's situation is even worse. Only 29% of Americans think he is 'honest and ethical'. (We can hope and pray that the Republican Party finds it in the national interest to nominate this bozo for president in 2008 so the Democrats might have a chance at the Oval Office again. Assuming the Dem's can actually get a decent candidate this year. My God how I would have loved to see a Howard Dean/George W. Bush debate.)

Apparently some people have changed their minds since election day. I just hope they remember how they voted then.

Effects of Global Warming

I read an article from National Geographic on AOL today about the effects of global warming, and what we can expect in the next 20 years at our continued rate of global warming. I find the subject of global warming's effects (the Greenhouse effect, it's sometimes called) interesting and scary at the same time. I suppose that climate changes are part and parcel of history, but to think of the radical changes I could see in my lifetime:

• An average increase of 1 degree by 2030 doesn't sound like much, but look at the repercussions. (And it took a century for the last average climate change of 1 degree.)
• Global warming could increase the amount of CO2 in the air. Dramatically.
• Glaciers in Montana could disappear. Since 1910, they've already lost 120 of the 150 glaciers originally there in Montana's Glacier Park.
• The snows on Mount Kiliminjaro could be completely gone. They've already lost 80% of the snow on the mountain since 1910.
• Temperature increases are projected to be much higher (a 4 to 7 degree increase) in Arctic reaches. This can cause massive infrastructure problems for people living in those regions.
• Global polar bear populations could be reduced by 30%.
• Major ecosystem changes are in store. Animals can move with the climate, but vegetation can't. Since the two affect each other, the results could be dramatic. For example, if birds move to a cooler climate, the insects that feed on the trees there could wreak havoc. More dead wood means more fires.
• Global temperature increases would likely result in additional droughts, which would also lead to more fires.
• Florida and Louisiana could be underwater 100 years from now because of rising sea levels as the ice in Greenland melts.
• More than a million species of plants and animals could be extinct in the next 40 years. One species becoming extinct can have an effect on an environment. Biological diversity is essential to a functioning ecosystem. The idea that we could lose a million species is mind-boggline, and the potential fallout from this could be worse than anything else mentioned in this summary.

The original source for most of this summary came from the National Geographic. There were three articles in particular I read for info on the effects of global warming. I hoped that by publishing some data here, it might get into a larger audience, even if it's only slightly larger. I also tried to 'dumb it down' a little bit and just hit the highlights.

Aggressive Military Recruitment & The No Child Left Behind Act

A few weeks ago my wife told me about a new law that had passed that would force my local public school system to give our phone number to military recruiters. I was surfing online today, and found an article about this at the Utne Reader: Leave My Child Alone. According to the article, some recruiters are contacting children as young as 14 to begin recruitment efforts. Schools who refuse to comply with the turning over of this information risk losing federal funds.

This is one of the saddest and most angering things I've lived to see. No one under the age of 18 should be submitted to the hard-sell techniques of military recruitment. It's not fair, and it's not right. One of the fundamental tenets of law that I've always been taught is that people under the age of 18 or so do not have the mental or emotional capacity to make their own decisions about things like sex, or alchol, etc. Why would making a decision about something as drastic as joining the military be different?

Frankly, there's only one reason: it's in the government's military interest to do so. It's a sad day when the US government is so wrong about its foreign policy and its use of the military that it can't staff the military sufficiently without recruiting children.

One thing you can do is make sure that you send your school's superintendent a letter asking that your child's information NOT be released to military recruitment officials. It's an exception letter, and it's one of the things that's very high on my wife's and my to-do list this week. Our son is only ten years old, and if we can prevent him from being recruited by the military, then we will.

Another thing you can do is support the Sojourners' petition in favor of the Student Privacy Protection Act.

I have one final thing to say in this post, and I'm going to join the other outraged parents' voices when I say this. "Leave my child alone."