Uuunnnnh... WHAT?!

Just when I think I've seen everything the stumbling leaders of the GOP could possibly do to put another bullet in their collective metatarsals, they come up with something that leaves my jaw on the floor.

I simply have no words. Courtesy of Think Progress (and be sure to watch the short video compilation):

The House is scheduled to vote today on the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The bill, also called the Matthew Shepard Act, would "permit greater federal involvement in investigating hate crimes and expand the federal definition of such crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability." Yesterday, President Obama urged Congress "to act on this important civil rights issue," and pass the bill. Indeed, in 2007, the most recent year for which statics are available, there were 7,621 single-bias hate crimes that involved 8,999 offenses, more than 50 percent of which were racially-motivated.

The right wing, unsurprisingly, is up in arms over extending protection to victims of anti-gay crimes. Led by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), House Republicans took to the floor last night to warn that the bill would impose "tyranny," create a "Big Brother" government, and end religious freedom:

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN): I feel that this hate crime legislation could be considered the very definition of tyranny.

REP. GRESHMAN BARRET (R-SC): This bill would inhibit religious freedom in our society -- a scary thought.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): You think a pregnant mother does not deserve the protection of a homosexual? You think a military member doesn't deserve the protection of a transvestite?

REP. STEVE KING (R-IA): I, Mr. Speaker, oppose and I defy the logic of the people that would advocate for such legislation the very idea we could divine what goes on in the heads of people when they commit crimes...

Debating the bill on the House floor today, REP. VIRGINIA FOXX (R-NC) called Matthew Shepherd's murder "a hoax" and denied that it was a hate crime.

You know, on second thought I do have a few words.

Not to be blunt, but there is simply no excuse for this level of ignorance and intolerance in those select few individuals who decide the fate of our nation in the halls of Congress. I'm not talking about one's right to genuine, private opinions about human sexuality, nor the Constitutional freedom to express those views in a peaceful, non-violent way.

However abhorrent I may personally find them.

No, I'm talking about willfully misrepresenting legislation, fearmongering, slandering, and outright lying by elected representatives. I'm talking about callously belittling the deliberate torture and murder of a young man on the floor of the House of Representatives with his mother seated in the Gallery.

And all in opposition to a long-overdue measure of basic humanity that no sane, enlightened, "real" American could justifiably oppose.

What's wrong with these people? And when are the rational, decent members of the Right going to rise up and denounce the sheer stupidity and dishonesty of dangerous individuals like Bachmann, Gohmert, et al? Are there none of you left out there who are willing to do something that demonstrates your good Christian "values?"

I'm disgusted and appalled. Matthew Shepherd's murder a hoax?! Maybe reeducation camps - for Foxx and her ilk - aren't such a bad idea after all.

- - -

(UPDATE: The House passed the bill today, 249 to 175. A mere 18 Republicans joined 231 Democrats to approve the bill.)

Still focused on the trees...

Norman Lear, writing about yesterday's Supreme Court decision to uphold the FCC ban on the use of "fleeting" expletives on broadcast TV, ruefully notes:

Maybe now those pesky kids in schoolyards across the country will cease their fleeting use of those appalling words. Or, since the kid likely never lived who used a filthy word just "fleetingly," perhaps the Supreme Court will consider issuing a second ban on the wall-to-wall use of s- and f-words in the schoolyard.

It could happen. I'd put nothing past the cultural wisdom of Justice Scalia whose prevailing brief included these stunning insights: "We doubt that small town broadcasters run a heightened risk of liability for indecent utterances... their down-home local guests probably employ vulgarity less than big city folks, and small town stations generally cannot afford or cannot attract foul-mouthed glitterati from Hollywood."

Look how he nails us all -- kids; small-town folk; big city creeps; trashy Hollywood types -- does this man know his Americans, or what?! Certainly better than silly Justice Stevens, who in his dissenting opinion, finds it ironic that "while the FCC patrols the airwaves for words that have a tenuous relationship with sex or excrement, commercials broadcast during prime time frequently ask viewers whether they are battling erectile dysfunction or having trouble going to the bathroom."

I'm so glad that the highest court in our land has taken the time to settle one of the genuinely pressing issues that confront us today - and to issue a majority opinion that reinforces just how depraved we urbanites are compared to real Americans. Sheesh!

As Mr. Lear does note correctly, one need only visit a typical schoolyard to get an earful of America's favorite expletives. So I sincerely doubt that a majority of our kids will be scarred by the randomly broadcast obscenity any more than they're damaged by years of watching iCarly! That doesn't mean, however, that I disagree with Scalia in principle - I do feel we should step up efforts to regain a semblance of class in this nation, and educate our children to speak elegantly, accurately, and always with respect.

Believe me, my teenage sons don't need any further encouragement to drop an F-bomb in casual conversation!

And yet, while (in a broad sense) I bemoan the coarsening of our "culture" - and therefore, surprisingly, oppose the encroachment of random "s&$t"s and "f#%k"s into our primetime viewing schedules - yesterday's decision is yet another example of our collective inability to discern the forest from the trees. There is something far more insidious that permeates the American airwaves than the occasional swear word or ED commercial.

The intentional dissemination of lies.

While Scalia and his prudish compatriots fret over essentially harmless outbursts of bad language, we are pummeled daily with a barrage of obfuscation, misdirection, and half-truths from our television "news" divisions, organizations that are more concerned with profits and ratings than factual, dispassionate reporting; more obsessed with Lindsay Lohan's latest relationship woes than the fact that Taliban forces are now just 60 miles outside of Islamabad; more focused on driving a particular political ideology than a patriotic and constructive commitment to simple truth.

Over three years ago, addressing the FCC's similar "oversight" of obscene radio content, I wrote:

Now it's one thing if the fabricated facts being fed to an empty-headed public by such influential radio figures have to do with Brad and Jen and Angelina. Those tall tales are regrettable, even repulsive, yet in the scheme of things they don't amount to much. But it's another thing entirely when those falsehoods concern matters of grave importance, and are being used to sway a significant percentage of the population toward unwarranted support of issues with real consequence.

Things like Iraq's "connection" to 9/11. The Social Security "crisis". The torture and indefinite detainment of suspected "enemy combatants". The tenor of the Alito confirmation hearings and the big "crying" scandal. The "imminent threat" of a nuclear Iran - or a non-military San Francisco. The "necessary" wiretapping of American citizens.

Unlike some fraudulent gossip about silly Hollywood celebrities, misinformation on these topics affects the nation in demonstrably harmful ways. Bad legislation is written into law. Civil rights are violated and/or eliminated. Potentially violent divisions in our citizenry are fostered and exacerbated.

Young men and women are needlessly sent to die.

Yet despite the seriousness of the consequences that result from this ongoing litany of misdirection, there seems to be no regulatory body charged with guaranteeing that the information dispersed to the American public is actually based on proven fact, or ensuring that misinformation presented as truth (because of the potential harm that can arise based on said deception) is subject to swift rebuke, prosecution, and punishment.

As long as "the sun sets in the East" is given the same prominence as "the sun sets in the West" (under the guise of "balanced reporting"), as long as politicians are empowered to rewrite history without being challenged, as long as obvious untruths are allowed to be sold as fact without any common-sense restrictions, it is our flailing Fourth Estate that poses the greatest danger on TV. It ensures a confused, divided, and cynical electorate, unable to discern fact from fiction.

You'll never hear me say it on TV, but THAT shit is truly fucked up!

The Audacity of "Nope"

Ah, pity our poor Republican brethren. Seems like even when they actually do something in the hallowed halls of government it ends up being the wrong thing. From reporter Jason Linkins in today's HuffPo:

Well, as it turns out, volcano monitoring wasn't the only worthwhile public safety program that was deemed extravagant in the stimulus package; funding for pandemic preparation was axed as well.

Now, I know the GOP couldn't actually foresee the current swine-flu scare when they were stripping $870 million in "pandemic preparedness" from the stimulus bill. But someone could - and did - recognize the good, common horse-sense in funding a program that just might keep us healthy and productive in the event of such a crisis.

And once again it wasn't someone with an "R" after his or her name.

Our national wellness is an integral, inter-connected part of our ability to sustain economic recovery. I would expect our elected officials, regardless of party stripe, to understand that as a matter of course. Sadly, it would seem that once again key conservative leaders just didn't get the memo.