WASHINGTON STANDARDS

So, let me get this straight.....Rep.Christopher Lee (R-NY) sent a topless photo of himself to an adult woman as part of a flirty exchange in response to a 'woman seeking man' ad on Craigslist and has resigned over the ensuing scandal.  Granted, he said he was a divorced lobbyist instead of the truth, that he's a married congressman, and no doubt he has quite a few uncomfortable nights on the sofa in the future, but in the grand scheme, the whole "scandal" is pretty, well, meh.  Still, this guy is resigning not because he broke some laws and is under investigation, but because he simply doesn't want to be a "distraction".

And yet, on the other side of the aisle, we have Rep. Charlie Rangel, who has been investigated and found to be culpable for breaking tax laws - that he helped write - and was censured by his own party, and he's still a sitting member of congress.

Sure.  Why not. 

Michael Ramirez has a somewhat different take on Lee's escapades:

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WASHINGTON STANDARDS

HORROR IN PHILADELPHIA Updated

In West Philadelphia an abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell, has been arrested and held without bail for the murder of a 41 year old woman and seven live babies.  The more information that comes out about this man and his squalid back alley abortion clinic, the more appalling it becomes.  If you have the stomach for it, the full grand jury report is here.

Under his "care" (and I use the term very, very loosely), numerous patients suffered from perforated bowels, cervix and uterus. He was known to stitch up the problem and not mention it to the patient or their loved ones.  The grand jury report is chilling (via lifenews.com):

One woman, for example, was left lying in place for hours after Gosnell tore her cervix and colon while trying, unsuccessfully, to extract the fetus. Relatives who came to pick her up were refused entry into the building; they had to threaten to call the police. They eventually found her inside, bleeding and incoherent, and transported her to the hospital, where doctors had to remove almost half a foot of her intestines.


On another occasion, Gosnell simply sent a patient home, after keeping her mother waiting for hours, without telling either of them that she still had fetal parts inside her. Gosnell insisted she was fine, even after signs of serious infection set in over the next several days. By the time her mother got her to the emergency room, she was unconscious and near death.

A nineteen-year-old girl was held for several hours after Gosnell punctured her uterus. As a result of the delay, she fell into shock from blood loss, and had to undergo a hysterectomy.

One patient went into convulsions during an abortion, fell off the procedure table, and hit her head on the floor. Gosnell wouldn’t call an ambulance, and wouldn’t let the woman’s companion leave the building so that he could call an ambulance.

He performed late term (6,7,8 months) abortions regularly (often telling first-time mothers they were only 24 weeks along), and when the baby survived as a live birth, he would kill it by severing it's spinal cord with a pair of scissors.

What is most horrifying of all is that there are few records, which means there is just no telling how many times he did this.  The reason there are only seven counts of murdering live babies is because those are the only documented cases (via CBS Philly):

Gosnell is suspected of killing hundreds of living babies over the course of his 30-year practice. However, he is not charged because the records do not exist.

Among other complaints were his use of a 15 year old high school student to administer anesthesia.  He used unsterilized equipment and performed the procedures in rooms that often had animals and even litter boxes in them.  Eight members of his staff were also arrested, some of them for being unlicensed.  Gosnell himself wasn't even certified as an OB/GYN.

His abortion mill truly was a house of horrors.  There were bags and bottles containing aborted fetuses throughout the clinic, and there were jars of severed baby feet lining a shelf in his office. 
Gosnell was in the business for thirty years, and it seemed to be a very lucrative living for him:

DA Williams said Gosnell made approximately $1.8 million in one year alone performing the procedures.

So why was he never shut down?  According to reports, even with numerous complaints and 46 malpractice lawsuits against Gosnell, there had been no inspections of his facility since 1993.  There are allegations that politics were the reason for the lack of oversight.  The Pennsylvania Departments of Health and State provided no oversight whatsoever for reasons unknown, and so he was allowed to victimize a community of poor, minority women with impunity.  It seems they came to the decision that it is better to have a butcher slaughtering innocents performing abortions than close him down and not have an abortion clinic in that neighborhood (not that there isn't another clinic about a mile away).

This man should be thoroughly evaluated by a mental health professional.  It's one thing to have a dirty facility (although probably not to the level that has been alleged), but it's a whole other thing to save severed feet in jars on a shelf.  They're almost like...trophies. 

The "doctor", his wife, and eight staff members have been arrested.  No one from Health or State  has even been reprimanded.  Animal slaughterhouses have more oversight than this man's facility, and the methods are more humane than those undertaken by Gosnell. 

To top it all off, this week marked the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It's hard to believe that in 38 years we have managed to go from dirty, back alley abortions to...this. 

Of course certain factions on the left are using this as a rallying cry for federal funding of abortions, arguing that if it were allowed, Gosnell would never have been able to do what he did.  In actuality, if the Departments of Health and State had done their job with regular inspections - heck, just investigated the multitude of complaints against him - he most likely would have been shut down years ago.  Instead, no one checked it out, because abortion is a political hot button and no one wanted to deal with the possible repercussions of an investigation. 

In this case, it wasn't just the lives of the children that meant nothing, but the lives of the mothers, as well.  This man victimized a whole community, for decades, in the most debased, disgusting way imaginable, and it makes barely a blip on the national media scene. 

God only knows how many women died or were permanently damaged from complications due to his botched abortions, and God only knows how many live babies were slaughtered at his and his staff's hands.  That there has been very little media coverage of this outrage practically assures that it will happen again, in another city, with another doctor.  It probably has already.  With our bureaucrats too frightened of the political ramifications of dealing with abortion issues, the odds are good that another house of horrors will crop up somewhere.

According to CBS News, Gosnell is "confused" by the murder charges and the fact that he was refused bail.  This man destroyed records and lied to patients about how far along they were so that he could perform illegal abortions, because he knew late term abortions were illegal in Pennsylvania.  He routinely murdered viable babies that would have lived had they received medical care (and not had their spinal cords severed with scissors). He injured patients and never notified them or their caregivers of the injury. His actions go beyond mere negligence.  He even went so far as to segregate white women who came for his services in cleaner rooms, because he thought they would be more likely to complain.  He knew what he was doing.  But don't be surprised if his "confusion" could well be the beginnings of a mental competency plea.

When he does go to trial, if he is found guilty and gets a death sentence, I humbly suggest that he die via his spinal cord being severed with a pair of scissors.

UPDATE:  The Abbess has a great piece on how the media is not covering the Gosnell story, and makes quite a compelling argument for why they should.  She also reminds them of another story that also deserved (and got) lots of media attention which helped to root out the evil. 
In Pennsylvania, twenty-two abortion clinics have been investigated and fourteen have had issues - although nothing on par with Gosnell, thank God. 
Delaware AG Beau Biden is investigating a clinic Gosnell worked at one day a week for a number of years.  He would often start abortions in DE and send the patient up to his clinic in Philly to finish the job due to Delaware's abortion laws.  He is also being investigated for defrauding the Delaware Pro-Choice Medical Fund by giving some of his PA patients DE addresses.
The Delaware clinic is owned by the same people who own a clinic in Louisiana that is so bad that a group of lawyers has threatened to sue the state Dept. of Health if they don't shut it down.
We seem to have forgotten that Roe v. Wade didn't just provide for legal abortions, it provided for safe legal abortions.  It's bad enough we're killing the babies; do we really need to be maiming and killing the mothers, too?

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HORROR IN PHILADELPHIA Updated

MELTDOWN IN VANCOUVER CITY

Today's dose of bad government reality comes to us from Vancouver City, Washington.  Councilwoman Jeanne Harris is in definite need of a chill pill.

Ah, petty tyranny....such an unattractive thing:

Not only is Ms. Harris inexcusably obnoxious, but the rest of the council, with the sole exception of Jeanne Stewart, were a study in enabling.  The mayor's half-hearted gaveling of the second man was breathtaking in it's ineffective weakness.  He knew Harris was in the wrong, but did not speak up or even attempt to.  When Ms. Stewart finally called Harris on her incivility, Mayor Leavitt had a perfect opportunity to put Harris in her place. Instead he sat there like a spineless lump while Harris then dressed down her own colleague, to the point of making unsubstantiated allegations that the people who were speaking were supporters of Stewarts. 

In her quickly issued apology - two days after the incident - she states:

Two days after she told another Vancouver City Council member at a public meeting to “get out of here” and “shut up,” Councilor Jeanne Harris publicly apologized.
She said Wednesday in a statement that she had “behaved in a manner that is not normal for me,” and wished to apologize to the council, the mayor and the public.

Hmmmm....Considering the reactions of her colleagues - heads down, eyes averted, refusing to speak or engage - it is far more likely that she was behaving in a manner that is quite normal for her.  Those people have obviously had to deal with that behavior before.    They are taking the "don't attract her attention or you're next" posture.  That is something that comes after having to deal with certain behavior over a period of time.

Here's the kicker, though.  The next day, two of the councillors decided to man up and file a complaint about her treatment of Stewart (apparently it's okay to treat constituents like she did - but that's another post).  They sent a request to the mayor's office for an ethics investigation into her behavior.

Harris took offense to the fact that they filed a complaint without coming to her first.  Apparently she found out about it from a voicemail from a reporter:

“This is rash and uncalled for,” she wrote. “Especially to send out a press release without talking to me first and hearing my side of the story … I take this allegation as a very serious matter and yet no one had the courtesy to call me?”

Yeah, because she's all about courtesy.

Now she is demanding they drop the complaint and ...:

She also asked for an apology and said she won’t be at the Sept. 20 meeting, when the council is supposed to decide on whether to form an ethics committee to investigate the complaint. She said that she will be at a fellowship

Most likely working on her martyrdom.  By the way - the fellowship was a privately funded trip to Germany.  Her position?  "Goodwill Ambassador", of course.  No, really.

The newly minted goodwill ambassador had this to say in an email to her colleagues:

“Looks like I’ve lost two policies and we’ve received numerous rude phone calls that my 19 year old customer service rep has had to listen to. Apparently the gavel incident is now on utube (sic). Thanks for making my life hell.”

Yup, it's all their fault people are calling to protest her boorish behavior and have decided not to do business with her.  It's also their fault that the clip of her acting like a shrewish petty dictator got on youtube.  Who else's fault would it be?

Harris has mentioned a difficult divorce as a contributing factor to her outburst.  It might be feasible to blame a quick outburst on stress, but the prolonged haranguing, the attacks on her peers, and the continued aggression in emails speaks of deeper issues.  This does not seem to be her first outburst, it's just the first one caught on tape and posted on Youtube.

The citizens who were attempting to speak were residents who did not want the light rail to go where it was going.  They wanted to be heard - something Leavitt and Harris have apparently have not given them the opportunity to do. They have every right to be heard.  Which is why Councilwoman Stewart was right to try to call Harris out on her behavior. Which brings us to the question - is Councilwoman Harris drunk with power or cracking under pressure? 

Either way, she should not be in office.
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MELTDOWN IN VANCOUVER CITY

THE POLITICS OF T-SHIRTS

The Arizona immigration situation has been particularly stressful for some.  It is an understatement to say that tempers are running high.  Those who live on the front lines, in our border states, are especially on edge.  People are dying down there, and when the state of Arizona decided to take matters into their own hands because the federal government refused to enforce their own laws, tempers have flared on both sides. 

I personally support SB1070, and I think that Gov. Jan Brewer is doing a heckofa job holding the administration's feet to the fire.  The fact that the Arizona law holds law enforcement to a higher standard of reasonable cause than the federal law makes a mockery of the hysterical responses from the left.  But, then, they wouldn't know that it is a stricter law than the federal one, because they refuse to read it and educate themselves on the reality of the situation. 

The heated rhetoric of the controversy isn't restricted to just our political leaders and activists.  It has been trickling down into our school systems, as well.  The story of the high school kids who were suspended for wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo was a complete overreaction (it also impinged on the kids' first amendment rights), brought on by the passionate feelings some people in our education system have over the law.  The lines have been blurred between personal opinion and public responsibilities.  For some, political rhetoric is coloring every aspect of their lives and they find it impossible to maintain a professional, unbiased persona.

Unfortuantely, there have been objectionable reactions to this situation on both sides of the aisle.  We now have another overreaction, but this time on the right.  A twelve-year-old girl wore a t-shirt to her school in Big Bear, California a couple of weeks ago to support her favorite World Cup team.  She was excited to wear it, because her team was playing that day and she was going to be watching  the game in her performing arts class. 

One of her teachers, however, took offense to the shirt, and went overboard.  Coral Avilez was watching the game in class when her teacher saw the shirt and confronted her:

...her teacher saw her shirt emblazoned with the Mexican colors and, in front of the entire class, asked if she supported Mexico, according to Leroy Martinez, the vice president of the local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).


According to Martinez, Coral thought she was being asked a soccer question, and answered yes.

“Then what are you doing in my country?” the teacher asked, according to Martinez.

Stunned, the American-born student asked, “Why?”

“Because people like you make me pay higher taxes and make my insurance rate go up,” the teacher replied, according to Martinez.

Confused and hurt, Coral then ran out of the class crying.

I am getting so tired of our teachers politicizing the classroom.  It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on, leave the kids out of it.  Period.

But wait, there's more:

When Coral’s mother showed up to take the girl home, he said, she was told she would have to wait. Coral was being questioned about the incident by a group of school officials, including the teacher who allegedly made the remarks, and had to sign a paper before her mother could take her home.

It's hard to believe the school was "questioning" a twelve-year-old and not allowing her parents to be involved in the process.  It would also be interesting to know what paper she had to sign before she was allowed to go home.  Perhaps something to protect them from a lawsuit?  It's hard to believe that a paper signed by a twelve year old under duress will hold much weight in court.

When Coral returned to school the next Monday, she asked for permission to not go back to that class.  She was given two choices - either sit in the principal's office and read a book or pick up trash with the janitor.  She chose to pick up trash because she felt uncomfortable in the principal's office.  Can you blame her? 

The school board has launched an investigation:

Now the girl and her mother, supported by local civil rights groups, are asking that the teacher’s conduct be investigated for possible disciplinary action. The teacher later apologized to the class, according to local newspapers.


“The school has agreed, and we will meet with the superintendent this week to make sure that the investigation doesn’t drag on,” Martinez said. He said that there had been similar incidents in the area but this was the first time someone had come forward to complain. He said kids were usually intimidated by the teachers and afraid of repercussions if they asked for help.

This level of fear and intimidation in the classroom simply must stop.  It is bad enough that our children have to deal with bullies in their own peer group - they shouldn't have to deal with it from their teachers. 

This teacher was clearly in the wrong, and should be disciplined.  This is a California school, though, so who knows what will happen.  They have a notoriously difficult time keeping rogue teachers in check, and firing teachers in the state is almost impossible.  Although, considering his or her right-leaning ideology, the possiblity of a firing might just happen this one time...  But should the teacher be fired?  At best, they should be taken out of the classroom and put into a support position, perhaps in the front office.  It's pretty obvious he/she is having difficulty interacting with children in a responsible way - a main requirement to be a teacher.

The problem isn't with a teacher having political opinions - this is a free country, after all.  The problem is when these teachers bring their politics into the classroom and foist them on their students.  This happened to my own child this year, and it was most definitely not appreciated.  Children are not political pawns, and most of them, with a very few exceptions, never consider the potential political implications of their actions.  Namely because they're kids. 

This little girl is of Mexican descent (she is a natural-born US citizen), and was excited to support her favorite sports team.  Back in the late Seventies and early Eighties, I was in middle school.  During that time, the Irish Republican Army was wreaking havok with their war on the English government.  As a child of Irish descent, if I had worn a t-shirt with the Irish flag on it to support their team during the World Cup, would I have suffered the same treatment?  Most likely not, because back then, politics and the classroom (especially at the elementary and middle school level) were mutually exclusive. 

It's time to get back to that mindset.  Children are not  political pawns, no matter what side of the aisle you find yourself on.  Once they are 18 and can participate in the political process, all bets are off.  Until then, leave the kids alone.  And if they want to wear a t-shirt that represents this country or another, so what? 

Have we really become so petty and rigid in our ideologies that our children have to consider the political implications of a t-shirt?

Enough already.

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THE POLITICS OF T-SHIRTS