A Tangled Web

In the manner of Roger Daltrey, Kim Davis (video below) now can say "I'm free!" as

A Kentucky county clerk emerged from jail on Tuesday, six days after a federal judge put her behind bars for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, as her attorneys reasserted their argument that licenses issued in her absence are “not valid."

With tears in her eyes, and having taken to the stage to the tune of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, Kim Davis thanked a crowd for their support.

“I just want to give God the glory,” she said. “His people have rallied and you are a strong people. We serve a living God who knows exactly where each and every one of us is at. Just keep on pressing. Don’t let down. Because he is here; he is worthy; he’s worthy. I love you guys. Thank you so much.”

In an order issued Tuesday, US federal judge David Bunning, who remanded Davis to US marshals during a high-profile hearing last week, ordered the Rowan County clerk released from jail on the condition she doesn’t interfere with efforts by her deputies to issue marriage licenses.

“If Defendant Davis should interfere in any way with their issuance, that will be considered a violation of this Order and appropriate sanctions will be considered,” Bunning wrote in the two-page order.....

Davis, an Apostolic Christian who earns $80,000 annually as Rowan County’s elected clerk, has said that issuing a marriage license to a gay couple would violate her conscience.

As long as Ms. Davis states "I just want to give God the glory" and cites her religious faith as the basis of her actions, we ought to take a look at that religion.  On its website, the Apostolic Church lists twenty precepts, each accompanied by one or more scriptural citations claimed to validate the statement.

There are few beliefs which deviate from what most people would expect from an evangelical church outside of mainstream Christianity. Somewhat unusual, though,  is the practice in which "Sisters wear a veil or head covering during prayer and worship as a symbol of their submission according to God's order of Creation." It's a safe guess the church is not a supporter of reproductive freedom.  

Within Protestant Christianity, or at least within its evangelical branch, there is an ongoing debate about whether an individual can lose his or her salvation. It is inside baseball, barely arguable, and not fundamental to one's Christian faith.  For the Apostolic Christian Church, "it is possible for a believer of his own free will to forsake his faith, return to sin, and consequently forfeit eternal life with Christ."  

Referring to a "return to sin" is curious, given that biblical Christianity is clear that "all sin and fall short of the glory of God."  There is no "saints and sinners"; the state of being  a sinner is inevitable, however unfortunate. There are 76 things alone in Leviticus which are banned, hence sin, whether realistic or not.

Presumably, though, Ms. Davis is particularly obedient to #18 of the faith statement: "Marriage is a lifelong union ordained of God in which a man and a woman of like mind, faith, and fellowship are united in the Lord in Holy Matrimony."   She herself has had three divorces. However, she will tell you that she was lost, and now is found.    Make of that what you will. Under truth serum, former Senator Bob Dole would say "whatever."

But let's not skip over #17, inconveniently remarking "Governmental authority is respected and obeyed. Members serve in a non-combatant status in the military. Oaths are not taken, but truth is affirmed."   Davis may not have sworn, but she at least affirmed, that she would "well and truly discharge the duties of the office of Rowan County Circuit Court clerk... and will faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or partiality, so help me God."

That does not alone make of Kim Davis a threat to the Republic. She has, though, decided to pick and choose. She issues divorce decrees, but not marriage licenses. She accepts most of her church's ideas, but not all.  She accepts most of Scripture, but not Romans 13: 1-2, which warns people to "be subject to the governing authorities" for "whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment."

In defense, Davis attorney Matt Staver would cite Dred Scott, a dubious analogy at best. Still, it demonstrates that when invoking God, one must be very careful, for each of us lives in a glass house of her own making.

Update: September 11, 2015

There developed a question as to whether Kim Davis is a member of the Apostolic Christian Church or the Apostolic Pentecostal Church. As a second update to a post, on the afternoon of September 8, Think Progress reported "Although Think Progress is still unable to independently verify Davis' home church, other outlets have reported that she belongs to Solid Rock Apostolic Church, an Apostolic Pentecostal congregation."

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Confused About The English Language

In what Digby calls"a fine whine from Rush Limbaugh," Rush Limbaugh on Thursday claimed

This was even done to Reagan, folks. Reagan was running for president, he and the other candidates were asked if they knew the names of various obscure heads of state -- these questions are never ever asked of Democrats, by the way. Make note of this. 

The question that Trump got, Democrats will never get those questions in the normal ebb and flow of things. Hillary will never get them. Clinton will never get them, never did. 

It's just they are questions that are designed to further the narrative that Republicans are just not bright, they're just not hip, they're just, and when it works on one of them, then every other Republican is going to get the same treatment. 

The following day Hewitt, who referred to President Obama as "the most divisive leader of the modern era," stated that he did not ask Trump a "gotcha" question and asks probing questions of any candidate of either party he gets to interview.

Limbaugh, eager to keep peace within among his fellow right-wing Republicans, informed his audience that Hewitt "asked the same questions later of Carly Fiorina (and) she was able to ace them all."  "Democrats will never get those questions," Limbaugh complains, yet Hewitt is a "solid guy, nice guy." He has "no problem with Hugh Hewitt," who allegedly asks "questions that are designed to further the narrative that Republicans are just not bright...."

Hewitt claimed "Carly Fiorina handled them easily enough (both interviews were prerecorded and Fiorina has no idea what the question set was or how Donald Trump had answered them," which would suggest that such a question, asked by a Republican or a Democrat, can be practically meaningless (as well as practically a dictionary definition of a "gotcha question").

Such questions were handled well by an individual who otherwise had eliminated 30,000 jobs at Hewlett-Packard but who believes the minimum wage destroys jobs.   They were aced, Rush Limbaugh contends, by a candidate who days later contended the USA, which has accepted 1,000 Syrian refugees while Austria, by contrast, has taken in more than 12,000, has "done its fair share in terms of humanitarian aid."

But those simply are remarks which reflect the ideological bent of someone who couldn't get herself elected to the US Senate (or probably dogcatcher) and nearly ran a major company into the ground but who believes herself qualified to be President of the United States. If Fiorina exhibited some knowledge of foreign affairs, she at best knows only that area of policy or (notwithstanding Hewitt's protestation to the contrary) had an idea what was coming.  Elsewhere, a dearth of knowledge was exhibited (beginning at 0:47 of the video below) as

Republican presidential candidate and former technology executive Carly Fiorina said English is the official language of the United States during an interview with CNN's "New Day" on Thursday.

In case anyone forgot, there is no federal official language.

The topic of America's official language resurfaced because former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been using his fluent Spanish on the campaign trail in order to woo Hispanic voters.

"I admire the fact that Jeb Bush is multilingual. I admire the fact that so many people are multilingual, and I also think English is the official language of the United States," Fiorina told CNN.

Fiorina might have explained that many states have an "English official" (not "English only") law but probably unlike a vast majority of Americans, is unaware there is no official language in the USA.   That is a far more fundamental gap in knowledge than being unable to distinguish, as in Donald Trump's case, between Quds and Kurds.  It appears that Carly Fiorina knows as little about American culture as she does about how to run a company.

                                             HAPPY LABOR DAY

                                               


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Yanking Our Chain

Donald Trump, reportedly, was displeased about some of the questions posed to him Thursday in an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.  Questions about Middle East, including the Quds and the Kurds and General  Qassem Soleiman confused the candidate, who in two separate tweets later complained about "typical 'gotcha' questions" by "just a 3rd rate 'gotcha' guy!"

Hewitt producer Marlon Bateman responded, Digby noted, with a tweet noting she had received a note from Trump reading "Please tell Hugh Hewitt it was my great honor- loved the U.N. 'waste' question. See him soon.".  Bateman asked, accordingly, "Why would you tell me it was a 'great honor' to come on our 'third-rate' show?"

There is no indication the producer's question was rhetorical, but it might as well have been.

In his report entitled "Immigration Reform That Will Make America Great Again" issued on August 16, the candidate wrote "All criminal aliens must be returned to their home countries, a process which can be aided by canceling any visas to foreign countries [that] will not accept their own criminals, and making it a separate and additional crime to commit an offense while here illegally." That day on Meet the Press (video, below) he emphasized "We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go.”

Clear, unambiguous, and definitive- or maybe not. Javier Palomerez, president and CEO of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, appeared on Tuesday's All In With Chris Hayes.   When Palomerez stated "The Donald Trump that I met today and that I sat with today was very different from the Donald Trump that I saw in the media," Hayes asked "what do you mean by that?" and Palomerez responded

The Donald Trump I sat with today was hospitable, he was a gentleman. He listened much more than he spoke. He asked questions.

We continue to disagree, particularly on the wall. We agreed on this notion of mass deportation of 11 million people. And we continued to agree on the fact that we will not use Trump properties.

After Palomerez continued for a moment, Hayes asked about the DREAMers, those people who dream. But in what otherwise was a very good interview, he failed to ask "What do you mean Trump doesn't want to deport the 11 million illegal immigrants?"

Immigration is the issue around which the Trump campaign revolves.  He now has said (semi-privately) that illegal immigrants can stay. He repeatedly has maintained that the USA should build a wall on the Mexican border, for which the government of Mexico will pay. "There have been a lot of dumb ideas put out. The one that said the Mexicans will pay for the wall is probably the dumbest of dumb ideas," in a rare sensible remark by Rand  Paul.   And we learned this past week that in private, he believes that it is an "honor"  to chat it up with "a 3rd rate gotcha guy."

Give Trump enough time, and he'll tell someone- confidentially, of course- that Barack Obama was born in the USA, is a tough negotiator, and would beat him in golf.







 




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Christie Helping Friends And Family

In New Jersey, the Christie Administration is

advertising for a financial advisor to help three New Jersey transportation agencies track spending on capital projects. Actually, the administration must see a pretty rosy future for the cash-strapped TTF -- which runs out of spending money at the end of the coming fiscal year -- the RFP for the financial advisor job calls for a three-year contract. (Firms interested in filling the slot must respond by September 9).

By the end of the year

revenue from New Jersey’s 14.5-cent gas tax and other sources of cash for the trust fund will only cover its significant debt -- unless the tax is increased or some other funding option is agreed on.

But the request for proposals issued by Treasury makes no direct reference to the funding crunch, and agency spokesman Christopher Santarelli said yesterday the search for a financial advisor is unrelated to the current status of the trust fund.

According to Treasury’s request, the financial advisor will be asked to work over the next three years with the state Department of Transportation, New Jersey Transit, and the state Transportation Trust Fund Authority, which administers financing for road, bridge, and rail projects.

It is a crisis, as is typical in New Jersey, of the Governor's own making as he "has already confronted a similar transportation-funding predicament. He avoided raising New Jersey's gas tax in a five-year plan rolled out in 2011, instead relying heavily on new borrowing and funds from outside sources like the Port Authority and highway tolls."

Chris Christie doesn't break promise(s) only on pensions, not when he can squeeze transit riders in the most densely populated state in the nation. Consider

He also pledged in 2011 to increase the use of “pay-as-you-go” funding out of the state budget to ease the reliance on borrowing, but has not lived up to that promise in recent years. And to fill the gap, the state has instead had to use bond premiums and other sources of funding.

The plan for the current fiscal year calls for the use of $281 million in cash balances and the return of $241.5 million in funds borrowed by New Jersey Transit, an agency facing its own budget issues as it prepares to implement a 9 percent fare hike. Several Democratic lawmakers have called for increasing New Jersey's gas tax to renew the trust fund, but Christie has yet to take a firm position....

With his eyes set on the Republic nomination for President, Christie ended the millionaire's tax and refused to increase the gas tax in a state with gas prices perennially lower than most other states. Having bled the trust fund (nearly) dry, he advertises for a private sector firm, which he will choose, will be under his control, and be paid for by the public. Sweet deal being governor of New Jersey, especially for an authoritarian.

This is nothing new for this character.  The state pays (graph from New Jersey State Investment Council via International Business Times/Hanna Sender) more to financial firms to manage the pension system than does almost any state, and much of that goes to a firm employing Chris' wife as a managing director. Vetoing legislation which would have required the state to reveal fees paid to outside investment managers was an easy call for a governor who has raised pay-to-play to an art form.

The governor's interest in laying off business onto friends and relatives is one that can be adapted to almost any situation.  The governor recently suggested (video below) an innovative approach to immigration enforcement when

I'm going to have Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, come work for the government for three months. Just come for three months to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and show these people," the New Jersey governor said at a town hall event here.

Christie added that while FedEx can track boxes, the U.S. can't track undocumented immigrants.

"You go online and at any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is," he said. "Yet we let people come into this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them."

Christie added, "We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in and then when your time is up," he said. "However long your visa is, then we go get you and tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Excuse me, it's time to go.'"

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That's a bad enough idea on its own, made even worse because FedEx (unlike UPS) is largely non-union, Christie's kind of company.  But there is another reason Chris wants to invite FedEx to feed at the trough:

Smith is the father of Samantha Smith, a Christie spokeswoman.

There was a time when Chris Christie was the Great Moderate Hope, perceived by the media as the guy who would put aside all those extreme GOP views on God, guns, and gays and get down to the real business of governing for the 1%. Now he is becoming only another far-right also-ran, but still is what he always has been: not someone who governs for the benefit of consumers, workers, or even taxpayers, but just another political hack.






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Not Even By Her Own Reasoning

Rowan County (Ky.) Clerk Kim Davis has gotten herself into quite a legal pickle for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples- or to straight couples- since the Supreme Court ruling invalidating state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. She has issued a statement explaining

I have worked in the Rowan County Clerk’s office for 27 years as a Deputy Clerk and was honored to be elected as the Clerk in November 2014, and took office in January 2015. I love my job and the people of Rowan County. I have never lived any place other than Rowan County. Some people have said I should resign, but I have done my job well. This year we are on track to generate a surplus for the county of 1.5 million dollars.

In addition to my desire to serve the people of Rowan County, I owe my life to Jesus Christ who loves me and gave His life for me. Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish. There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.

I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. For me it is a decision of obedience. I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will. To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God’s Word. It is a matter of religious liberty, which is protected under the First Amendment, the Kentucky Constitution, and in the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Our history is filled with accommodations for people’s religious freedom and conscience. I want to continue to perform my duties, but I also am requesting what our Founders envisioned – that conscience and religious freedom would be protected. That is all I am asking. I never sought to be in this position, and I would much rather not have been placed in this position. I have received death threats from people who do not know me. I harbor nothing against them. I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.

She almost had me- in terms of sincerity and fealty to Scripture- at "There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God." However, as someone who is determined not to "violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage," she is probably more defying the word of God by refusing to carry out a duty she has sworn an oath to perform.

It is too easy to say that Jesus never mentioned same-sex marriage or sexual preference; no doubt neither much occupied his thoughts.   Better:  Charlie Peters has noted Ms. Davis took an oath that she would "faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or partiality" and notes that Davis has cast aside both Deuteronomy 23:21-23 and Numbers 30:2,  in which God forbids breaking an oath sworn to Him.

And it is not "a Heaven or Hell decision," even if gay marriage is- directly or by inference- prohibited by God, Jesus, the Bible, or any number of members of clergy.  It is not- by her own criterion, Scripture- a heaven or hell decision. Whether Davis is concerned with salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), justification (Galatians 2:16), or righteousness (Titus 3:5) (related, but not synonymous, concepts), her case is undermined by the Bible she cites as her rationale.

In her statement, Davis cited "conscience" four times and one presidential contender (video below) claims she is displaying "courage" and "conviction." But as Sean Illing of Salon wrote

Her “conscience” is irrelevant because she’s a public official with legal responsibilities that trump her personal beliefs. If she doesn’t want to do her job, the solution is simple: resign. No one has compelled her to serve as county clerk, after all. This isn’t a theocracy and her views on “Heaven and Hell” are immaterial. This is a legal or not legal decision, and she’s clearly breaking the law

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Or Maybe Guns

On a radio show last week, GOP Representative Chris Sessions of Texas, reports Scott Keyes of Think Progress,

was asked to weigh in on the horrific shooting on live TV of two journalists in Virginia. After acknowledging that widespread gun violence is a daily occurrence in the United States, Sessions zeroed in on what he viewed as the real cause.

“It has a lot to do with distrust of people. Chris, I have been in lots of societies, we could say like Japan, where they have a homogeneous society, where people are more alike,” Sessions said. He went on to discuss “this thought process that we have to have diversity in America.”

Although Sessions did acknowledge that “we should and we need to work for” a kind of mutual respect across diverse groups, the thrust of his remarks was that diversity breeds a kind of mistrust that sparks gun violence. “We have a group of people that are in our country that we’re afraid of, that have created chaos and confusion. And now our country is confused” he told Salcedo, without elaborating on precisely who that group of people is.

It's an interesting theory, one not original with Sessions, although to assume the approach  Republicans take on climate change: I am not a sociologist (only a Bachelor's Degree there).  It is, at least and probably only, a better explanation than mental health.

But if ethnic diversity per se increases crime at all, the good Senator might want to explain why Hawaii has the lowest rate of gun-related deaths (table from The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, below; also, here) in the nation. Another website, determining the most diverse state in the nation, concluded

At the top of the list, understandably, the state that lies farthest from the homeland: the volcanic island paradise of Hawaii. Ranking first for its non-white population (69.8% in 2009) and mixed-race population (18% in 2009), Hawaii is far above the national average for all three categories. (It ranks sixth in foreign-born population.)

And it's not as if  Hawaiians are prone to use their fists, knives, or some other weapon because firearms are relatively unavailable.  Its murder rate is second lowest in the nation. The first is Iowa, which has the tenth most restrictive gun laws.

If he chose to, Sessions could point to Alaska, though he wouldn't, because it is GOP-dominated and very conservative. Alaska has a very high rate of murder, especially by firearm, and it's a relatively diverse state. However, it has the least restrictive firearm laws in the country. Louisiana is the next most lax- and has the highest rate of gun-related deaths.

Mental disease, diversity, too few guns, Democratic mayors, whatever: Sessions and other Republicans with an A+ from the National Rifle Association must find some excuse for the firearm violence more common here than practically anywhere else in the western world.

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Explanation Requested

As with her husband who apologized ad infinitum for a consensual affair with a young woman, Hillary Clinton has apologized repeatedly. In her case, it was her support for Gulf War II, which sowed the seeds of the Islamic terrorism and civil war, death and destruction, which have gripped the region.

In her 2014 memoir Hard Choices, Clinton had admitted "I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple." More recently, in May, she explained "I made it very clear that I made a mistake, plain and simple. And I have written about it in my book, I have talked about it in the past."

Senator Biden also made the mistake of voting for the Iraq war resolution.  That was, however, an honest mistake, a case of bad judgement, which should be forgiven. However, well before  his unfortunate vote, as chairman of the Senate Judicial Committee, Biden acted reprehensibly and in a manner which has had serious repercussions for the nation. In an article written last year for The Huffington Post, The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism addressed Senate approval of an unqualified Clarence Thomas for the US Supreme Court:

Another witness was waiting to testify against Thomas, with information that could have helped corroborate Hill's allegations. But Angela Wright, then a North Carolina journalist who had been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and left waiting in a Washington hotel for three days, was never called to testify.

Wright heard Anita Hill and thought, "I believe her because he did it to me." Her testimony might have changed history. She was subpoenaed. Why wasn't she called to testify -- and what would she have said if she had been?

In 1994, Florence George Graves cleared up those mysteries in the Washington Post, revealing the intricate -- and bipartisan -- behind-the-scenes maneuvering by several Senate Judiciary Committee members to discourage Wright's testimony. The article, entitled "The Other Woman," uncovered a surprising agreement among top Republicans and Democrats not to call Wright, apparently because they feared either that her testimony would create even greater political chaos or that it would doom Thomas' nomination.

The article also revealed evidence suggesting that Thomas lied to the Committee. Several senators -- including then-Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), and several other key senators -- told Graves they believed that if Wright had testified, Thomas would not have been confirmed to the Supreme Court, where he has repeatedly voted to narrow the scope of sexual harassment law.

Further information, possibly leaked by Mrs. Clinton's campaign, has been brought to light. An e-mail sent October, 2010 by HRC confidante Sidney Blumenthal included a memorandum by David Brock which in turn, Politico reports, summarized interviews, appearing that week in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Washington's ABC television affiliate, with

Lillian McEwen, a former prosecutor, law professor and judge, who said she was romantically involved with Thomas during the time of the Anita Hill scandal.

McEwen was not subpoenaed to testify by Democrats or Republicans during the infamous October 1991 hearing, even after appealing to then-Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, for whom she had worked on the Judiciary Committee. According to Maureen Dowd's column cited from Oct. 23, 2010, Biden only allowed women who had professional relationships with Thomas to testify.

The memo, titled "Memo on Impeaching Clarence Thomas," cited the Times article in which McEwen called pornography for Thomas "just a part of his personality structure" and that he frequented a Washington store "that catered to his needs" and allegedly bled over into his personal relationships. The assertions stood in contrast with Thomas' sworn testimony in 1991 in which he denied having any sexual discussions with Hill.

The memo also detailed differences between McEwen's 2010 accounts and Thomas' testimony in terms of workplace behavior, including incidents in which Thomas remarked on the size of a woman's breasts or her bra size, as well as making the case for suppression of evidence and intimidating witnesses.

"A fourth woman with knowledge of Thomas's behavior, Kaye Savage, was first named in a 1994 book Strange Justice by Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer. Savage was a close colleague of Thomas's and Hill's in the Reagan Administration. Savage was interviewed by Judiciary Committee staff after she contacted the committee, and a staffer made notes, but she was never called to testify. Her story did not become public until Abramson and Mayer obtained the staff notes and interviewed Savage, who told the authors of visiting Thomas's apartment during the time Hill was working for Thomas and observing stacks of pornographic magazines and all of the walls of the apartment papered with centerfolds of large-breasted nude women," Brock wrote.

"You have the benefit of doubt, Judge," repeated chairperson Biden, a shocking statement from a lawyer, who presumably understands that benefit of the doubt applies specifically to criminal trial. If the Vice-President declares a presidential candidacy, he needs to be asked why he cleared a path for a lifetime job at the highest court in the land for a fellow who has voted against reproductive freedom, voting rights, campaign finance reform and the Affordable Care Act, and in favor of discrimination based on claimed religious belief.

Joe Biden must be asked repeatedly, until a clear and verifiable answer is given.  Senator Biden was not misled, unlike the occasion of the Iraq war vote.  He pampered and appeased Clarence Thomas, who reprehensibly accused the panel, engaged in its constitutional duty of advice and consent, of "a high-tech lynching"  (video, below). No objection was heard, and the race-mongering proved successful.  Although Biden ultimately voted against the nomination, the damage was done- Senators can count votes. Thomas now has stained the High Court for 24 years and without the help of the committee chairperson, he very likely would not have had that chance.











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