Dennis Metzcher: Blog.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Signs Legislation Permitting Employers to Interrogate Female Employees About Contraception Use

Arizona’s really working hard to win the “Craziest State in the Union” award. Congrats to Jan Brewer for helping Democrats illustrate what happens when Relpublicans have enough control of government to turn their ideas into law. Someone explain to me how this creates American jobs? Isn’t that what Republican lawmakers claim to be all about these days? To me, it seems like they are using their power to push a far-right social agenda.

If I were Obama, I’d call a press conference tomorrow afternoon and define this bill exactly as the title of the article defines it. Then, I’d have the DNC start running ads in swing states, asking women if they think that they should have to justify their contraception use to their bosses. Finally, I’d direct the Justice Department to look into legal options, since Arizona’s bill violates the President’s mandate that all women are to have easy access to birth control.

View Link: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Signs Legislation Permitting Employers to Interrogate Female Employees About Contraception Use

The Obama Campaign Received One Million Dollars in Donations in 90 Minutes After the President Announced Support for Same-Sex Marriage

President Barack Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage carries a political cost, but it also means floods of cash from wealthy gay donors and disillusioned young people eager to be inspired by him again.

… in the first 90 minutes after the news broke Wednesday, the campaign received $1 million in spontaneous contributions …

Obama’s announcement will excite younger voters, a generation for whom gay rights are an emotionally powerful issue. The surge of $1 million came without an explicit request for cash …

I donated a few minutes ago.

View Link: The Obama Campaign Received One Million Dollars in Donations in 90 Minutes After the President Announced Support for Same-Sex Marriage

President Obama Publicly Backs Same-Sex Marriage

Finally!

“At a certain point,” Mr. Obama said in an interview in the Cabinet Room at the White House with ABC’s Robin Roberts, “I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

The comments end years of public equivocating over the divisive social issue for the president, who has previously said he opposed gay marriage but repeatedly said he was “evolving” on the issue because of contact with friends and others who are gay.

… according to the transcript posted by ABC News, Mr. Obama stressed that his was a personal position and that he still supports the idea of states deciding the issue on their own.

First, I want to point out that this took a great deal of courage on the part of President Obama. He is already ahead of Mitt Romney in the polls and the election is his to lose right now. He didn’t have to come out in support of same-sex marriage. He could have continued to avoid that until (at least) after the election in November. He could have taken the safe route. I’m proud of him for choosing the more politically difficult path.

I’m sure that we’ll hear many pundits saying that Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan forced the President to make his statement by recently making their own similar statements. I don’t believe this is true. The cynic in me says that this was all planned, and that Binden spoke first to soften the media (Duncan’s comments certainly weren’t planned — he just happened to give an interview after Biden spoke), but I’m not positive that that’s true, either (and we may never know). Biden and Duncan certainly deserve a lot of credit for being honest and unwilling to deny their support of civil rights, despite a political environment that makes it difficult to speak with such honesty, but to say that they forced the President to also declare support is ignoring reality. As I said above, President Obama could have continued to avoid this issue for a few more months and saved his reelection campaign whatever pain it will bring.

Update 9:00 PM EDT: I’ve heard a couple of journalists on MSNBC saying that President Obama was planning to make a statement in support of same-sex marriage at some point between now and the Democratic convention the summer, and that Biden likely knew this and felt more comfortable making the statement that he made on Sunday. At that point, they say, the President decided that there was no point in waiting any longer.

Also, note that, while this is a big step forward for the President and the gay rights movement, no one should expect the President to strongly and vocally oppose (at least, not yet) the anti-gay marriage amendments that have been passed in many states (see the third paragraph of the quoted text above). We know that he doesn’t support them, but coming out against a state’s perceived right (not an actual right, mind you) to limit the civil rights of a minority group is too risky for his reelection campaign, especially in Virginia and North Carolina.

I think the President is trying to bring those in this country who do not support same-sex marriage along with him on a journey. At the end of this journey, I think his hope is that many of those on the fence will find themselves more accepting of something that makes them uncomfortable right now. He’ll tell them that he, too, was once on the fence, but that his personal relationships with people directly affected by this issue have brought him around to their side. He’s done this slowly, but lasting progress often takes time.

We’ve always known that President Obama wasn’t being honest when he said that he didn’t personally support same-sex marriage. He all but admitted that in the interview, saying, “[He] was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs.” In other words, he was never personally against same-sex marriage. This was the dance that he thought he had to do at the time.

There are others who, like me, are worried that this will be used against the President with success by the Romney campaign and its surrogates, especially in crucial states like Virginia and North Carolina (NC’s voters just passed an anti-gay marriage amendment to their constitution last night). They may strongly support same-sex marriage, but they are willing to have the President delay throwing his support behind it, because winning an election means that Obama can continue to implement the changes that they support for another four years (and avoid a Romney administration, which would look at lot like the G.W. Bush administration). I hear them, and I would have accepted the President’s dodging of this issue until after the election in November, but I’m glad that I can say that the President is willing to stand up for and be honest about his support of same-sex marriage, and that counts for a lot in my book.

Here’s the important thing, though. With or without the President’s support, the changing demographics of this country will lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage in all states. It’s inevitable. We have always expanded rights over time. Supporters of gay rights know it, and their opponents know it, too. The only questions are whether it will happen sooner rather than later, and what side of history one wants to be on.

View Link: President Obama Publicly Backs Same-Sex Marriage

Don't 'Like' This Post Or Your Boss Can Fire You

… [two] deputies in the Hampton, Virginia sheriff’s office … made the mistake of “liking” their boss’ opponent’s Facebook page during a contested sheriff election. They were both fired shortly after their boss won reelection.

… a federal judge in Virginia denied their claim that they were unconstitutionally fired for expressing their political view on the unusual theory that “liking” a Facebook page does not constitute a form of expression protected by the First Amendment …

This judge needs to be sent back to law school. An introductory course on constitutional law might do him some good. His argument is that “liking a Facebook page is insufficient [because] it is not the kind of substantive statement that has previously warranted constitutional protection.” As this judge sees it, a “like” on Facebook is not making “actual statements.”

As the linked article notes, the First Amendment does not simply protect “actual statements.” It shields expressive activity, such as “saluting a flag” or “wearing an armband.” Certainly those two activities make just as much of an “actual statement” (and require about as much effort, which is to say not much effort at all) as liking a page on Facebook.

I hope the two officers appeal this ruling.

View Link: Don't 'Like' This Post Or Your Boss Can Fire You