Washington's Gay War

Welcome to gay Washington in the 21st century, where the gay Democrats are proud and out on the Hill and in the lobbying firms on K Street, while many gay Republicans still cower in the closet until they trip themselves up with off-color instant messages to teenage pages, or conduct unbecoming to a United States senator in an airport bathroom. Serving his 14th term in the House, Democrat Barney Frank is the dean of proudly gay government officials in the United States. Since the Democrats recaptured Congress last year, Frank has also been one of the most powerful people in Washington, serving as chairman of the House Financial Services committee.

Charles Kaiser of Out Magazine reports

Torturers in the White House

The biggest news of the last week went virtually uncovered by the mainstream, print media. ABC News first reported last Wednesday that top Bush Administration officials, including Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, John Ashcroft, and George Tenet, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld met to discuss which particular torture techniques should be used against Al Qaeda suspects in U.S. custody. On Friday, ABC added this blockbuster: Bush himself was aware of the meetings.

Ruth Coniff of The Progressive reports

For Obama, Unexpected Support

As strong and consistent abortion foes, Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. and former congressman Timothy J. Roemer are anomalies in a Democratic Party that has overwhelmingly advocated abortion rights. Yet both are backing Sen. Barack Obama, whom one conservative blogger dubbed "the most pro-abortion candidate ever."

The Washington Post reports

Iranian American Student Clashes with Homeland Security

Justin Mashouf, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Arizona, traveled to Iran this winter to film footage showing the positive side of Iran. He had no trouble with officialdom in Iran, but he hit a brick wall on returning home to the United States. On his return, Mashouf was stopped in the airport by homeland security officers.

The Iran Times reports

Did the Founders want us to be faithful to their faith?

The Founding Fathers had their own pack of tricks: they turned their backs on the past. If they had meekly inherited the faith of their fathers, they would have written a constitution establishing Christianity as the national religion. They did not.... At a time when all but two states required religious tests for office, the Constitution prohibited them. At a time when most states still had an official religion, the Bill of Rights forbade the federal government from establishing one.

Jill Lepore of The New Yorker explains

FBI provides flawed data for terrorism watch list

A Justice Department audit has concluded that the FBI provided the government-wide terrorism watch list with incomplete, inaccurate and outdated information about suspects for almost three years. The ACLU's Watch List Counter, now measuring over 930,000 names, points out that the 9/11 hijackers are on the list, even though they are dead.

ACLU Watch List Counter

Senate Republicans Reignite Immigration Fight

Republican Senators have introduced a wide range of enforcement-only immigration bills that would, for example, create stiff prison sentences for illegal immigrants caught entering the country across the southern border and for destroying border fencing. Others propose to cut off federal funding for states that issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Some will impose penalties on cities that bar local law enforcement from checking an individual's immigration status.

New America Media reports

Abortion Ban – For American Indians Only

Following scant debate, the Senate approved an amendment to an Indian health care bill that would permanently prohibit the use of federal dollars to fund abortions for Native Americans except in rare cases. The move has prompted an outcry from women’s health advocates—who point out that a similar ban has existed on a temporary basis for years—and from tribal groups, who are asking why Native American women should be subject to restrictions not applicable to other ethnic groups.

washingtonindependent.com reports

Teacher under fire for showing Gore film without rebuttal

When Mark Colley learned late last year that his daughter viewed "An Inconvenient Truth" during science class without advance parental notice, he was intrigued. When he learned his daughter's teacher allegedly presented no rebuttal to former Vice President Al Gore's popular documentary film warning about the perils of climate change, he was stunned.
"When you do that, you stop becoming a teacher and start becoming an advocate,' said Colley, who considers Gore's movie 'a political statement."

Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Affirmative Action Foes Push Ballot Initiatives

Sixteen months after voters in Michigan voted to kill affirmative action in the public sphere, Ward Connerly is leading efforts in five more states to ban the practice. Foes of affirmative action, which is meant to address current and historical inequities based on race and gender, delivered 128,744 signatures to Colorado authorities earlier this month. Similar organizations in Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska are circulating petitions as civil rights groups and educators are mobilizing to defeat the measures.


The Washington Post reports.