Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)
Ed Brayton is a participant in the Center for Independent Media New Journalism Program. However, all of the statements, opinions, policies, and views expressed on this site are solely Ed Brayton's. This web site is not a production of the Center, and the Center does not support or endorse any of the contents on this site.
Any and all emails that I receive may be reprinted, in part or in full, on this blog with attribution. If this is not acceptable to you, do not send me e-mail - especially if you're going to end up being embarrassed when it's printed publicly for all to see.
So after the reader meetup on Saturday, I and two of my readers, Barry and Eric, wandered over to Capitol Hill to see the anti-health care protests. The protest was on the West lawn, so we had to walk all the way around the building before we got to it. And before Fox News tries to tell you that there were 50,000 people there, the number was a few hundred tops (we got there just as the last speech was ending and there were maybe 200 people there at the most).
I was hoping to get pictures of some really crazy signs, but they were sadly missing. No pics of Obama with a Hitler mustache or posters of concentration camp victims. There were a lot of "Don't tread on me" flags and there was one yellow sign that a lot of people were holding - mostly because a guy was walking around asking people if they wanted to hold one of the signs. I politely declined.
The House of Representatives passed the health care reform bill Saturday night, but not before passing an amendment to prohibit funding of abortions:
Earlier, the House passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the insurance "exchange" the bill would create.
"An interview with Oprah Winfrey is already scheduled, and I'm also hoping to have the opportunity to talk with Bill O'Reilly, Barbara Walters, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Tammy Bruce, and others, including local Alaska personalities Bob & Mark and Eddie Burke. (Variety is the spice of life!)."
That's variety? Two celebrity interviewers who can help her book sell millions of copies and the full list of Fox News pundits with radio shows? There seems to be one variety missing: Real journalists asking questions that Palin might not be able to B.S. her way through.
Variety: "We got both kinds here, country and western."
Bill Donohue, the perpetually outraged head of the Catholic League, has a new book out. And on his website, he cites a blurb from Stephen Colbert:
"Wake up, America! The secular minority has cut the brake cables on America's In-God-We-Trust-Mobile™! Not even all 43 of our Christian presidents can save us now."
Do you think Donohue knows Colbert is making fun of him?
The LA Times notes that the provision in the Senate health care reform bill that supports payment for Christian Science faith healing as a legitimate form of medical treatment was supported by prominent members of both parties:
Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
From Dan Froomkin, former Washington Post columnist:
Journalists should strive for accuracy, and fairness. Objectivity is impossible, and is too often confused with balance. And the problem with balance is that we are not living in a balanced time. For instance, is it patently obvious that at this point in our history, the leading luminaries on one side of the American political spectrum are considerably less tethered to reality than those on the other side. Madly trying to split the difference, as so many of my mainstream-media colleagues feel impelled to do, does a disservice to the concept of the truth.
Bingo. But the key is that a real journalist should call out either side on an issue when they become untethered to reality. It is reality that journalism should always strive to represent, regardless of which side of a political dispute benefits from that work.
You hear a lot from Republicans crowing about President Obama's approval ratings dropping, and those of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid being very low. But the truth is that the public's perceptions of both parties has crashed over the last few months. Here's the yearlong trend from the Daily Kos polls:
Yet another blow to the religious right's latest fake hero/martyr. CNN reports that Carrie Prejean was forced to settle her lawsuit against the Miss California pageant because a sex tape surfaced starring her - and apparently her alone.
Sen. Charles Grassley was asked by a reporter about his amendment that would prohibit a proposed commission to recommend ways to reform the criminal justice system from even discussing the possibility of decriminalizing any drugs currently considered illegal. He proceeded to defend his amendment. Kinda. In fact, he babbled incoherently. The only barely discernible argument among this word salad is "because we can." Here's his nonsensical answer:
Michelle Goldberg has a thought provoking article at The American Prospect about an Afghani women's group calling for an increase in American troops in that country to protect women against the barbaric reach of fundamentalist Islamic leaders who would likely be left in control over most of the country, if not the entire country, if we were to withdraw. If there is a compelling argument to be made for an aggressive American foreign policy of intervening in other nations, this is surely it:
Terry Krepel has an interesting article at the Huffington Post about the Worldnutdaily's relentless pimping of Orly Taitz and the birther nonsense. He chronicles how the Worldnutdaily consistently distorts their coverage of Taitz, leaving out relevant information and focusing instead on highly contrived emotionalism (just as Taitz herself does constantly in the courtroom, provoking the ire of many a judge in the process). And then he sums up why this matters:
As Balko points out, when police accused of misconduct are suspended it is almost always with pay. But here's a situation where a police officer was suspended without pay. Because he wrote a ticket - legitimately - to the son of the mayor:
Rowell is a new member of the five-man Stockton police force. So, last Tuesday he didn't think twice about pulling over a driver in a small white car for avoiding a DUI stop.
"He didn't have a driver's license, so I issued him a citation for that," Rowell explained.
He didn't think twice, that is, until he handed the ticket to the court clerk.
"She looked at it and said, 'Hey, you know you just gave the mayor's son a ticket?' And I said, 'Oh, crap,'" Rowell said.
Okay, let's go ahead and schedule this even if only a few people show up. And as is tradition, let's meet up at an Irish pub, The Dubliner. High noon is the time. If you're going to make it, please leave a comment here or send me an email. Thanks.
I am flying out on Friday to Washington DC for the annual Americans United for Separation of Church and State conference and blogger meetup. If anyone is interested in a meetup, leave a comment here and send me an email, perhaps we can arrange one on short notice. I don't know if PZ is planning to go this year or not. Last year we had a joint reader meet and greet that turned out really well. If he is going, perhaps we'll do the same thing again. Saturday lunchtime is probably the best time for such a meetup, at least in my schedule. I'll be staying in the Capitol Hill area. I'm also open to suggestions from locals on a good location for such a meetup (think casual atmosphere and good food).
A Louisiana justice of the peace who drew criticism for refusing to marry an interracial couple has resigned, the secretary of state's office said Tuesday.
Keith Bardwell resigned in person at the Louisiana secretary of state's office, said spokesman Jacques Berry. The state Supreme Court will appoint an interim justice of the peace to fill Bardwell's position, Berry said, and a special election will be held next year to fill the position permanently.
While the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has so far shown a reluctance to acquiesce to the government's arguments regarding the state secrets privilege and governmental immunity to suits against executive branch wrongdoing in the war on terror -- which really just means the 9th Circuit is actually doing its job -- the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has behaved like little more than a lapdog in similar cases.
The most recent and appalling example is Arar v Ashcroft, a case brought by a Canadian citizen who was seized by our government at JFK airport and sent to Syria, where he was tortured for nearly a year. Despite the fact that everyone agrees that the man was and is innocent, the 2nd Circuit just dismissed his lawsuit (see ruling here in PDF format). Glenn Greenwald reacts.
From Larry Stickney, campaign manager of Protect Marriage Washington, speaking of an attempt to make the signers of a petition seeking to deny marriage equality for gays and lesbians made public:
"This is no different than the Klan standing outside of voter booths in Alabama when blacks would dare to go vote."
Riiiiight. Because the landscape is littered with the bodies of anti-gay bigots who were lynched by gangs of violent pro-gay extremists.
Dave Welch has a column at the Worldnutdaily chock full of ridiculous statements about the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and gays serving in the military.
I am wearing three hats simultaneously this week in declaring war on the appalling plan by President Obama to morally undermine the stability and effectiveness of our nation's military. As a combination patriotic American citizen-Marine father-pastoral leader I am compelled to oppose this man's latest assault on a vital national institution.
The latest version of health care reform in the House, HR 3962, does not contain a provision mandating coverage for Christian Science practitioners or other forms of faith healing and pseudo-medicine. The previous bill, HR 3200, did include such coverage.
Shirley Paulson, a Chicago area Christian Science practitioner, said people should have the freedom to choose whatever works.
"To me it's just another option," she said. "If we're all going to help each other in this it would be better for everybody to have more options ... The medical people would be the first to say they don't solve everything ... So many people came into Christian Science because the medical world didn't help them."
Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
