Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

We will not go back.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

It’s the corruption, stupid.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

I really should read my own blog.

You cannot shame the shameless.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Stem Cell Follow Up

Stem Cell Follow Up

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In the comments section of last night’s rant about stem cells, Krista posted a link to this Michael Kinsely piece outlining the false controversy that has been created regarding stem cell research. All in all, it was a great read, but it did contain this paragraph:

Even strong believers in abortion rights (I’m one) ought to acknowledge and respect the moral sincerity of many right-to-lifers. I cannot share—or even fathom—their conviction that a microscopic dot—as oblivious as a rock, more primitive than a worm—has the same human rights as anyone reading this article. I don’t have their problem with the question of when human life begins. (When did “human” life begin during evolution? Obviously, there is no magic point. But that doesn’t prevent us from claiming humanity for ourselves and denying it to the embryolike entities we evolved from.) Nevertheless, abortion opponents deserve respect for more than just their right to hold and express an opinion we disagree with. Excluding, of course, the small minority who believe that their righteousness puts them above the law, sincere right-to-lifers deserve respect as that rarity in modern American politics: a strong interest group defending the interest of someone other than themselves.

Evolution? What is that?

Seriously, when you are dealing with a group of people who think Adam and Eve rode to school uphill both ways on the backs of dinosaurs through the cold snows of the ice age, the evolution argument falls flat.

Reader Interactions

44Comments

  1. 1.

    Krista

    Adam and Eve rode to school uphill both ways on the backs of shoeless dinosaurs through the cold snows of the ice age, the evolution argument falls flat.

    Fixed.

    And in regards to respecting the right-to-lifers (or anti-choicers, if you prefer that), it’s a tough call. On one hand, some of these people really are sincere and are genuinely distressed at what they see to be the callous termination of babies. On the other hand, I have yet to see a pro-lifer publicly acknowledge respect or empathy for those of us who are pro-choice, and I have a difficult time mustering respect for those people who would make no exception for the life/health of the mother, or who would also outlaw contraception.

  2. 2.

    Santa Claus

    From the Onion:

    In a major coup for the growing field of creation science, the perfectly preserved remains of a 5,000-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex were delivered Monday to Tulsa’s Creationist Museum of Natural History.

    “The Good Lord has, in His benevolence, led us to an important breakthrough for scientific inquiry,” Creationist Museum of Natural History curator Dr. Elijah Gill said. “Our museum has many valuable and exciting exhibits that testify to Creation and shine light on the Lord’s divine plan. But none have been as exciting—or anywhere near as old—as this new T. Rex specimen named ‘Methuselah.’ This skeleton, which dates back to roughly 3,000 B.C., offers the most compelling proof yet that the Earth was made by God roughly 10,000 years ago.”

    Read the whole thing. It really confirms what these Creationists have been saying.

  3. 3.

    Nutcutter

    ‘End Times’ Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon
    ‘End times’ religious groups want apocalypse sooner than later, and they’re relying on high tech — and red heifers — to hasten its arrival.
    By Louis Sahagun
    Times Staff Writer

    June 22, 2006

    For thousands of years, prophets have predicted the end of the world. Today, various religious groups, using the latest technology, are trying to hasten it.

    Their endgame is to speed the promised arrival of a messiah.

    For some Christians this means laying the groundwork for Armageddon.

    With that goal in mind, mega-church pastors recently met in Inglewood to polish strategies for using global communications and aircraft to transport missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission: to make every person on Earth aware of Jesus’ message. Doing so, they believe, will bring about the end, perhaps within two decades.

    In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a far different vision. As mayor of Tehran in 2004, he spent millions on improvements to make the city more welcoming for the return of a Muslim messiah known as the Mahdi, according to a recent report by the American Foreign Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.

    To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi was the last of the prophet Muhammad’s true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful.

    Ahmadinejad hopes to welcome the Mahdi to Tehran within two years.

    Conversely, some Jewish groups in Jerusalem hope to clear the path for their own messiah by rebuilding a temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam’s holiest shrines.

    Artisans have re-created priestly robes of white linen, gem-studded breastplates, silver trumpets and solid-gold menorahs to be used in the Holy Temple — along with two 6½-ton marble cornerstones for the building’s foundation.

    Then there is Clyde Lott, a Mississippi revivalist preacher and cattle rancher. He is trying to raise a unique herd of red heifers to satisfy an obscure injunction in the Book of Numbers: the sacrifice of a blemish-free red heifer for purification rituals needed to pave the way for the messiah.

    So far, only one of his cows has been verified by rabbis as worthy, meaning they failed to turn up even three white or black hairs on the animal’s body.

    Linking these efforts is a belief that modern technologies and global communications have made it possible to induce completion of God’s plan within this generation.

    Though there are myriad interpretations of how it will play out, the basic Christian apocalyptic countdown — as described by the Book of Revelation in the New Testament — is as follows:

    Jews return to Israel after 2,000 years, the Holy Temple is rebuilt, billions of people perish during seven years of natural disasters and plagues, the antichrist arises and rules the world, the battle of Armageddon erupts in the vicinity of Israel, Jesus returns to defeat Satan’s armies and preside over Judgment Day.

    Generations of Christians have hoped for the Second Coming of Jesus, said UCLA historian Eugen Weber, author of the 1999 book “Apocalypses: Prophecies, Cults and Millennial Beliefs Through the Ages.”

    “And it’s always been an ultimately bloody hope, a slaughterhouse hope,” he added with a sigh. “What we have now in this global age is a vaster and bloodier-than-ever Wagnerian version. But, then, we are a very imaginative race.”

    Apocalyptic movements are nothing new; even Christopher Columbus hoped to assist in the Great Commission by evangelizing New World inhabitants.

    Some religious scholars saw apocalyptic fever rise as the year 2000 approached, and they expected it to subside after the millennium arrived without a hitch.

    It didn’t. According to various polls, an estimated 40% of Americans believe that a sequence of events presaging the end times is already underway. Among the believers are pastors of some of the largest evangelical churches in America, who converged at Faith Central Bible Church in Inglewood in February to finalize plans to start 5 million new churches worldwide in 10 years.

    “Jesus Christ commissioned his disciples to go to the ends of the Earth and tell everyone how they could achieve eternal life,” said James Davis, president of the Global Pastors Network’s “Billion Souls Initiative,” one of an estimated 2,000 initiatives worldwide designed to boost the Christian population.

    “As we advance around the world,” Davis said, “we’ll be shortening the time needed to fulfill that Great Commission. Then, the Bible says, the end will come.”

    Thanks to DKos for pointing me to this LAT article, and mentioning that “Vote Republican and Die” is not just a slogan, it’s a campaign promise.

    Look, I’m here because of Schiavo and the threads on that subject here a year and a half ago. The people I oppose are FUCKING CRAZY IDIOTS who live in a world of superstition and junk thought, and who are not just expecting, but PLANNING the destruction of the world, while lecturing the rest of us on how to protect America from terrorists.

    Stem cell limitations are but a drop in the vast ocean of insanity and stupidity of the people who oppose us, and who are now running this country.

    The must be opposed, and beaten, otherwise we are absolutely fucked and the American experiment is over.

  4. 4.

    Punchy

    Evolution? What is that?

    At first I thought he was asking the question about when humans actually came to believe they’re “humans”, and not just homo erectus or homo sapiens…perhaps development of consciousness. But then by using “embryolike entities” makes it sound like he’s confusing evolution with gestation.

    He’s not biochemist, that’s for sure.

  5. 5.

    fwiffo

    Speaking of the Onion…

    Barack Obama recently remarked that “more Americans believe in angels than believe in evolution,” almost approvingly, as if it was just some mundane observation about religiosity and its poltical implications. Imagine instead if the observation was “more Americans believe in leprechauns than believe in gravity.”

    Some folks might object that leprechauns aren’t in the bible, and therefore don’t qualify for the “not actually mythical because it’s part of Christian theology” exemption. For those folks, I offer the following:

    “More Americans believe in dragons than believe in germ theory.”

    “More Americans believe in demons, demonic possesion and exorcism than believe in heliocentrism.”

    “More Americans believe in talking donkeys than believe in continental drift.”

  6. 6.

    Jim Allen

    “More Americans believe in talking donkeys than believe in continental drift.”

    Well, I’ve seen all those old “Francis” movies. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a film of continental drift.

  7. 7.

    Tulkinghorn

    sincere right-to-lifers deserve respect as that rarity in modern American politics: a strong interest group defending the interest of someone other than themselves.

    Kinsley is giving way too much credit here.

    The conspicuous lack of commitment by pro-lfe groups toward the welfare of children after birth puts lie to this claim of some sort of virtue on the part of pro-lifers.

    A rough analogy for them would be certain abolitionists who were motivated by racism – people who did not want blacks to be free except so that they could be deported to Africa. Stowe, for example, loudly decried the deleterious effect of slavery on white people, and did not consider her novel finished until the escaped slaves were dead, in Canada, or sent to Liberia.

  8. 8.

    Nutcutter

    Barack Obama recently remarked that “more Americans believe in angels than believe in evolution,” almost approvingly, as if it was just some mundane observation about religiosity and its poltical implications.

    Obama has gone from being the appointed savior of the Democratic party, to a new, young, fresh version of Joe Lieberman …. who appears to be pandering to the same religious/superstitious base that John McCain and Joe Lieberman are trying to appeal to.

    These guys, in their zeal for power, are literally willing to make a deal with the devil … with these nutcases … to get power. They want us to think that they can earn the trust of the crazy people and then lead us all in Group Hug fashion to a better tomorrow.

    Uh, no. The entire point of the netroots movement on the left is to assert that making that bargain is not acceptable. If you want a classic example, look at George Bush. He thought he could tame the crazy people and still govern. Well, we are 5.5 years into that experiment …. how is it going?

  9. 9.

    Jimmmm

    Best way to get the GOP behind Stem Cell research? Tell them that fetal Stem Cells can cure homosexuality.

  10. 10.

    Tulkinghorn

    Nutcutter–

    FWIW, Obama is sincere. His main betrayal to the left was his vote on the BAnkrutpcy Reform Fiasco (BARF), which was not to be unexpected, as it is not nearly the law-from-hell it has been condemned as.

    Critically, Obama is a centrist, albeit one with some populist appeal. He is not making a deal with he devil for fame, fortune, etc., as appears to be the case with Hillary.

    In time there is hope he will grow into his position.

  11. 11.

    Nikki

    …BAnkrutpcy Reform Fiasco (BARF), which was not to be unexpected, as it is not nearly the law-from-hell it has been condemned as.

    I don’t understand this. Are you saying that those who have lost everything in Katrina and its aftermath aren’t pretty much screwed?

  12. 12.

    Nutcutter

    Critically, Obama is a centrist, albeit one with some populist appeal. He is not making a deal with he devil

    Six months ago I’d have said “I hope you are right.” Today I’d say “I wish I could say that you’re right.”

    And you may BE right. But the outward evidence is not building confidence in those of us who are focussed on saving the country from the crazies.

    It’s a fundamental difference I am expressing here. Seems to me there are two approaches to this problem: One, pander. That’s the tried and proven political solution. Witness McCain and Clinton and Lieberman. Two, lead. That’s what I’m looking for. Leadership.

    Right now Obama looks like he is practicing Suckupmanship. Show me the leadership.

  13. 13.

    Steve

    I think there is a big difference between trying to appeal to religious people in general, and pandering to the crazies.

    When Obama says, “You know what, it’s just not a huge deal if ‘under God’ is in the Pledge of Allegiance,” I think he speaks to a very large segment of society which agrees that, right or wrong, it’s just not a huge deal. It’s a far cry from saying we should have huge Ten Commandments monuments in every courthouse.

    It’s a tragedy that some people have been able to paint liberals as hostile to religion. I don’t see Obama as reinforcing those stereotypes, I see him as trying to mend the divisions. I don’t think he’s a Lieberman at all.

  14. 14.

    Tulkinghorn

    Katrina?

    If someone lost everything in katrina, yet maintains a high income, they are screwed compared to how they might have gotten a discharge before BARF.

    If they lost everything, and still have low income, there no difference, except for what, %30 increase in filing fees?

    The biggest difference I have seen is the number of high-income folks for whom it is no longer so easy to game the system.

  15. 15.

    Nutcutter

    I don’t think he’s a Lieberman at all.

    I sincerely hope you are right. But I haven’t been wowed lately by the goodness of politicians. I need to see the money, so to speak. Show me da money. I am not buying it because it is tempting to buy it.

  16. 16.

    Darrell

    Seriously, when you are dealing with a group of people who think Adam and Eve rode to school uphill both ways on the backs of dinosaurs through the cold snows of the ice age

    I think that’s such a fair and rational characterization of most everyone who disagrees with abortion. Makes it so easy to dismiss them when you put it like that.

  17. 17.

    SeesThroughIt

    I think there is a big difference between trying to appeal to religious people in general, and pandering to the crazies.

    When Obama says, “You know what, it’s just not a huge deal if ‘under God’ is in the Pledge of Allegiance,” I think he speaks to a very large segment of society which agrees that, right or wrong, it’s just not a huge deal. It’s a far cry from saying we should have huge Ten Commandments monuments in every courthouse.

    I think that is exactly it. The crazies are the crazies, and that’s not going to change. But it is important to differentiate between the crazies and the garden-variety religious folks. The latter group is basically everything the crazies are not–their only point of intersection is faith.

    And Steve’s second paragraph is right on as well. I’m pretty concerned about the radical-religious lurch the government has taken under Bush; I’m definitely concerned that fuckwits like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson actually hold some sway over the federal government. I strongly resist the attempted Christian Makeover in which America becomes a Christian Nation (capital C, capital N) founded by and for Christians, subject to Biblical law, yadda yadda yadda. But I don’t give a crap about “under God” being in the pledge and other such trivial things.

    But then again, I’m agnostic.

  18. 18.

    celcus

    Should stem cell research deliver, it will be rather interesting in ten, twenty years.

    I imagine there will be special hospices for fundamentalist Christians to die of Parkinson’s, Diabetes, and the host of other, then, treatable diseases who refuse the treatment that cost the lives of the ice chest-babies…

  19. 19.

    Nutcutter

    I think that’s such a fair and rational characterization

    Yeah, right, “fair and rational” is your first concern when you are dealing with delusional, crazy sociopathic motherfuckers who think the world is supposed to end and they are supposed to be on the fucking PLANNING COMMITTEE.

    What are you going to do today, Darrell? Spam us with your usual bullshit and pretend that this stuff isn’t real?

    GET OUT.

  20. 20.

    John S.

    I think that’s such a fair and rational characterization of most everyone who disagrees with abortion.

    Actually, I think in the quote you are bitching about John clearly refers to strict biblical interpretationists who don’t believe in evolution.

    But don’t let that stop you from misreading, mischaracterizing or just flat-out lying.

  21. 21.

    fwiffo

    The conspicuous lack of commitment by pro-lfe groups toward the welfare of children after birth puts lie to this claim of some sort of virtue on the part of pro-lifers.

    I don’t think that’s totally fair. While it’s true of many “pro-life” groups, there are a few that actually have some scruples. For example, I was inside a local “pregnancy help center” (summer job cleaning carpets). In addition to their creepy literature, they had various donated supplies for mothers who had a hard time affording them.

    I don’t see Obama as reinforcing those stereotypes, I see him as trying to mend the divisions.

    Because we all know the best way to mend divisions is to stereotype and demonize the godless.

  22. 22.

    RSA

    (When did “human” life begin during evolution? Obviously, there is no magic point. But that doesn’t prevent us from claiming humanity for ourselves and denying it to the embryolike entities we evolved from.)

    I thought this parenthetical comment was pretty silly even for evolution proponents (i.e., rational people). Obviously we didn’t evolve from “embryolike entities” except in a very tenuous figurative sense. And the whole idea that it’s about “human life” is a red herring. (An embryo is certainly human, and is certainly living; for that matter, a heart kept beating in the process of being transplanted, if that happens, is human and living.) It’s about personhood.

  24. 24.

    Tom in Texas

    Mainly for the Steves out there, a followup on yesterday’s odd airport story out of Houston. (refer to https://balloon-juice.com/?p=7135#comment-176496 — sry link doesn’t work).

    You’ll recall this:

    The report states that a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.

    A search of the man’s baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the man’s shoes and determined that the “entire soles of both shoes were gutted out.”

    No explosive material was detected, the report states. A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report.

    A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying “the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself,” the report says.

    Gene Green, one of Houston’s Representatives, is concerned about the incident as well, but the information I found interesting from the article:

    An attorney representing the police officer contradicted a TSA report that said the man had bomb parts, including his shoes and a computer and clock he was carrying.

    Chad Hoffman, a Houston Police Officers’ Union attorney representing Reece, said Reece checked the shoes and found that they had not been hollowed out, despite what the TSA screener reported.

    “They were just old shoes,” Hoffman said. “(Reece) did put the battery in the clock to make sure it worked as a clock, and it did.”

    Bataineh identified himself as a truck driver and said he was on his way to Atlanta to get his truck, Hoffman said.

    So either this guy had “all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself” or he just had a clock with no battery and a pair of old shoes. Oh and nobody’s really sure who’s supposed to arrest people at airports. How long ago was 9/11 again?

  25. 25.

    Faux News

    Well, I’ve seen all those old “Francis” movies. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a film of continental drift.

    Strong candidate for POTD award!

  26. 26.

    Steve

    Because we all know the best way to mend divisions is to stereotype and demonize the godless.

    Right, as if that’s what Obama did. A lot of people have this knee-jerk reaction as if he gave the typical speech about “Democrats being hostile to religion” when in fact, his point was quite reasonable and tempered.

    While it’s true of many “pro-life” groups, there are a few that actually have some scruples. For example, I was inside a local “pregnancy help center” (summer job cleaning carpets). In addition to their creepy literature, they had various donated supplies for mothers who had a hard time affording them.

    Yes, and then there are the ones who set up fake abortion clinics where they falsely tell girls they can’t have an abortion for some medical reason. But yeah, they all deserve respect for their morality and sincerity, they’re so much better than those of us in the party of death.

  27. 27.

    The Other Steve

    So either this guy had “all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself” or he just had a clock with no battery and a pair of old shoes. Oh and nobody’s really sure who’s supposed to arrest people at airports. How long ago was 9/11 again?

    Interesting. But see now I hear different details, and I don’t think there’s any there there.

    Taking the battery out of your clock? Why not? Why have the clock running when you’re not using it. Taping it to the side of the clock makes sense to me.

    And the shoes thing… not true.

    So this story means nothing, except for some TSA guy being overwhelmed by ridiculous fear.

  28. 28.

    Nutcutter

    It’s about personhood.

    Try arguing THAT with a rabid abortion opponent.

    Personhood … it’s right there in the Constitution.

    Isn’t it?

  29. 29.

    Tulkinghorn

    “personhood” is not defined in the constitution, but “person” is used throughout – for defining rights, the eligibility for office, and so on.

    Casting the abortion debate around the issue of personhood is entirely appropriate, but I am at a loss to see how that is helpful for the pro-life postions.

    When “person” is used, it is either an individual capable of taking political action (or at least being counted for representation purposes, as in the 3/5ths value for “all other persons”), or an individual subject to restraints by the state.

    Maybe the unborn should be counted in the census?

  30. 30.

    Nutcutter

    but “person” is used throughout – for defining rights, the eligibility for office, and so on.

    Hmm. And when is a person a person?

    At conception? The only reference to the emergence of rights for a person are at birth. That’s when citizenship is conferred, isn’t it?

    So, since citizenship as defined by the Consitution is conferred at birth, isn’t it unconstitutional to try to make laws that provide rights for persons not yet born?

  31. 31.

    nyrev

    I’ve got a philosophical question for the pro-lifers that may be lurking.

    You’re in a burning building and you have to make a choice. You can either save the crying two year old on one side of the room or the petri dish containing five blastocysts (snowflake babies) on the other side. Who do you save and why?

  32. 32.

    RSA

    And when is a person a person? At conception?

    I think that lots of pro-lifers believe this, but it’s inherently inconsistent: up to two weeks after conception, a split can result in identical twins. Individuality has to be one of the defining characteristics of personhood.

  33. 33.

    fwiffo

    Right, as if that’s what Obama did. A lot of people have this knee-jerk reaction as if he gave the typical speech about “Democrats being hostile to religion” when in fact, his point was quite reasonable and tempered.

    People keep saying this, but every time I read his speech I see the same old bullshit about morality being rooted in religiousity, Democrats suck at looking religious, etc. but in a prettier package. Sure, he didn’t demonize and stereotype me as much as I am used to, but he still helps to perpetuate the same bogus crap. Apparently I need to shut up and learn to like my corner of the closet.

    OK, so he’s “sincere” in his beliefs. That’s never reassuring when one’s beliefs are stupid.

  34. 34.

    Nutcutter

    fwiffo, you and I are on exactly the same page on this Obama thing. Exactly.

    I just don’t believe him or trust him until I have a good reason to. I am not going to make the mistake of reading my desired stuff into his material. If he wants to win me over, he needs to talk straight with me.

  35. 35.

    Punchy

    So this story means nothing, except for some TSA guy being overwhelmed by ridiculous fear.

    This would NEVER EVER have happened to a white guy. Screener sees clock, old shoes, and laptop belonging to a cracker and thinks “this guy walks a lot, sleeps like a log, and needs access to porn every few hours”. He’s sees Mr. Brown Guy with same equipment and suddenly sees timer, in-flight discombobulator machine, and hollowed-out shoes (WTF?), and bomb material.

    Wait–no bomb material found? Oh. Detain him anyways, because maybe he’s going to detonate his saliva.

  36. 36.

    Tom in Texas

    Screener sees clock, old shoes, and laptop belonging to a cracker and thinks “this guy walks a lot, sleeps like a log, and needs access to porn every few hours”. He’s sees Mr. Brown Guy with same equipment and suddenly sees timer, in-flight discombobulator machine, and hollowed-out shoes (WTF?), and bomb material.

    Punchster, you’ll be happy to know that the HPD officer who searched the man agreees with you. Sadly, he was reassigned for his efforts.

  37. 37.

    Steve

    In yesterday’s story, the FBI was involved. Today it was actually the local police department. I’m really confused about the state of the story at this point. And tragically, noted “journalist” Michelle Malkin hasn’t posted a followup!

  38. 38.

    Tom in Texas

    Steve:
    The FBI opened an investigation into why the man was not detained based on a complaint by the TSA officer on duty and found that, as the local officer asserted, the man caused no threat. Regardless, the officer was reassigned to desk duty. Malkin can link if she desires a succint wrapup.

  39. 39.

    Steve

    Ok, so if I’m following you:

    1. The TSA guy is a loony who sees a Koran and flips out imagining bombs that don’t exist, or maybe there wasn’t even a Koran in the first place.

    2. Local officer comes by and is like, this guy’s shoes aren’t hollowed out, there’s nothing fishy at all here, let him get on the plane.

    3. TSA guy complains to the FBI that the local officer just let this total loony get on a plane.

    4. FBI investigates and determines the local officer was right.

    5. Local officer gets reassigned to desk duty.

    I guess what I’m missing, assuming this summary is correct, is why step 5 occurs. Why punish the guy for getting it right – unless he considers desk duty a promotion so he doesn’t have to deal with the buffoons at the TSA any longer? I don’t get it.

  40. 40.

    Tom in Texas

    Hoffman said Reece doesn’t understand why he was transferred “when it seems clear from the onset of the investigation that he didn’t have probable cause to detain anybody and that his actions were consistent with the law and HPD policy.”

    I don’t think the officer considers it a promotion, and he seems to be fighting the transfer, considering he hired an attorney and all. Basically this seems like a territorial pissing match as to who is supposed to detain suspects, with the Strangelovian twist that both sides are insisting the other should’ve stopped the guy.

    Perhaps it is a coincidence, but there has been a fierce debate in Houston in recent weeks about whether or not police officers should enforce immigration laws. HPD insists it isn’t responsible fo renfocing federal law and that they cannot handle the influx at any rate. Maybe the feds are indirectly trying to reinforce who’s the boss in town.

  41. 41.

    Steve

    I do think it’s very strange that both sides would be claiming the other should have stopped the guy, when both sides also agree that the guy wasn’t doing anything wrong. But yeah, these state/federal pissing matches happen.

  43. 43.

    Christopher

    There’s a flavor of pro-lifers out there who wouldn’t ever have an abortion themselves, but are ambivalent about other people having abortions. These people I can easily respect (mostly because they’re pro-choice). The last time I nearly got into an abortion debate, however, the other person believed that God would not allow anything wrong to actually make it into the Bible, and then in her very next breath was criticizing the King James translation as being unduly misogynistic and failing to see any logical issues when I pointed it out. That debate promptly ended when she said that she could not, in good conscience, debate any aspect of the Bible with someone who was not a Christian. She gets no respect.

    Short version: Respect and religious zealotry are essentially in an inverse relationship, in my book. One goes up when the other goes down.

  44. 44.

    Steve

    There’s a flavor of pro-lifers out there who wouldn’t ever have an abortion themselves, but are ambivalent about other people having abortions.

    There’s also the opposite category.

    I’ve had several cases over the years in which the anti-abortion patient had rationalized in one way or another that her case was the only exception, but the one that really made an impression was the college senior who was the president of her campus Right-to-Life organization, meaning that she had worked very hard in that organization for several years. As I was completing her procedure, I asked what she planned to do about her high office in the RTL organization. Her response was a wide-eyed, ‘You’re not going to tell them, are you!?’ When assured that I was not, she breathed a sigh of relief, explaining how important that position was to her and how she wouldn’t want this to interfere with it.

    In 1990, in the Boston area, Operation Rescue and other groups were regularly blockading the clinics, and many of us went every Saturday morning for months to help women and staff get in. As a result, we knew many of the ‘antis’ by face. One morning, a woman who had been a regular ‘sidewalk counselor’ went into the clinic with a young woman who looked like she was 16-17, and obviously her daughter. When the mother came out about an hour later, I had to go up and ask her if her daughter’s situation had caused her to change her mind. ‘I don’t expect you to understand my daughter’s situation!’ she angrily replied. The following Saturday, she was back, pleading with women entering the clinic not to ‘murder their babies.’

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