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Virginia is for Lovers: Chief Justice John Roberts holds the fate of marriage equality in Virginia in his hands

August 18, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

An update from Equality on Trial. Supreme Court to decide whether to stay same-sex marriages in Virginia:

The Supreme Court will decide this week whether to halt same-sex marriage in Virginia. Couples will be able to marry on Thursday unless the Court stays the mandate, or formal judgment, in the Fourth Circuit case, Bostic v. Schaefer.

The request for a stay has been filed with Chief Justice John Roberts in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Chief Justice Roberts has called for responses by 5 PM Monday. Responses are expected from the Bostic plaintiffs, Virginia’s attorney general, and Lambda Legal and the ACLU on behalf of the Harris intervenors.

UPDATE: All three responses have now been filed. Chief Justice Roberts could rule on the request at any time, or he could refer the matter to the full Court to decide whether to grant the stay. Notably, all three responses ask the Court to treat the application for a stay as a petition for certiorari. Clerk McQuigg has noted that she intends to file a cert petition requesting that the Court review the Fourth Circuit decision on the merits, but she hasn’t filed one yet.

The Arizona Daily Star publishes propaganda, abuses its readers

August 18, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

Back in September 2011, I posted this piece, Please, just stop the ridiculous point/counterpoint opinions in the Star:

In recent weeks the Arizona Daily Star has taken to publishing a point/counterpoint series of opinions on Monday from McClatchy News. These opinions are invariably written by think tanks or politicians with
an agenda and a partisan axe to grind. There is very little factual content and even less credible analysis. This is supposed to inform readers how exactly?

* * *

Please, just stop the ridiculous point/counterpoint opinions. They are as useless and uninformative as the old 60 Minutes point/counterpoint segment back in the 1970s with James Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander spewing partisan invectives at one another. The media villagers find this entertaining, but it is not informative.

Almost three years later, the lazy editors of the Arizona Daily Star are still running the ridiculous point/counterpoint opinions from McClatchy on Monday. The editors are doing a great disservice to readers when they publish propaganda, misinformation and disinformation from partisan think tanks masquerading as “opinion” on its editorial page.

Today’s outrageous example comes from Grace-Marie Turner, founder and president of a Scaifie Foundation “think tank,” the Galen institute, which is funded in part by the pharmaceutical and medical industries. See Unfashionable Sentiments: Who is Grace-Marie Turner? In 2003, Galen established the Center for Consumer Driven Health Care.

This propagandist from the Galen Institute, who is not a lawyer and possesses no expertise in constitutional law or statutory interpretation, argues in favor of the “textual literalism” of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the recent case of Halbig v. Sebelius. Health law clearly states position on subsidies.

Virginia is for Lovers: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals will not stay its same-sex marriage ruling

August 13, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a stay order Wednesday in Virginia’s same-sex marriage appeal. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay order (as it has done for the state of Utah), same-sex couples could begin getting marriage licenses to wed as early as next Wednesday. Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog.com reports, No delay on Virginia same-sex marriage ruling (UPDATED):

The Fourth Circuit’s three-judge panel denied the stay, in a two-to-one decision. The decision itself was similarly divided.

* * *

The Fourth Circuit late last month struck down the Virginia ban on same-sex marriages, and the state has now appealed that to the Supreme Court (Rainey v. Bostic), even though state officials support the decision. A county clerk who has been defending the Virginia ban is also expected to file a petition for review of that decision, and both are likely to be considered by the Court early in the new Term starting this fall.

Anti-Obama hatred is hurting . . . the GOP

August 13, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

The Arizona Republic has a report today about how Tea-Publicans have convinced themselves that running against “that Black man in the White House” is their best ticket to success in 2014. GOP rivals use Obama as weapon in primary:

Invoking Obama’s name and likeness has become a favorite tool to attack opponents in Republican primaries. Even when they are races for offices that have no contact with the highest office in the land.

Campaigns competing in races for the Legislature, the Corporation Commission and governor — and the independent expenditures supporting them — are all employing the tactic in mailers, campaign signs, TV commercials and endless debate rhetoric.

The rationale behind the strategy is clear: With Obama’s approval ratings hovering in the low 40 percent range, linking your opponent — no matter how tenuously — to an unpopular president might make you look better by contrast.

“It’s classic negative campaigning with often not even a shred of truth, and the anti-Obama fever is so strong in some circles that it’s poison,” state Sen. Bob Worsley said.

Better Know a Candidate: Mark ‘I’d like to buy a vowel’ Brnovich

August 12, 2014August 12, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

There is at least an even chance that Democratic candidate for Attorney General Felecia Rotellini will not get the title fight rematch to which she is entitled against Tom “banned for life by the SEC” Horne.

The GOP establishment, believing that Tommy Boy will drag down their entire ticket, has lined up behind Mark “I’d like to buy a vowel” Brnovich.

There is a report in the Arizona Republic today which posits AG candidate Brnovich’s pitch: I’m not Horne. If he means that he has not been caught canoodling with a mistress, and is not currently under four separate investigations for campaign finance law violations, then yes, Brnovich is not Tommy Boy.

But on the issues and how each man would politicize the AG’s office to pursue a right-wing ideological agenda (not part of the job description for the attorney general’s office by the way), there is not one iota of difference between the two candidates.