Grade This! - July 5, 2006
The latest news wrap-up: gays and the New York Times: who’s the greater threat to America this week?
Wednesday July 5, 2006
Amazingly, the Pentagon Doesn’t Handle Homosexuality Well
Last Wednesday the Pentagon retracted a document identifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. Hurray!? Department of Defense spokesperson Lt. Col. Jeremy Martin initially refused to apologize or even feign embarrassment after the University of California at Santa Barbara uncovered the document last week. He simply told reporters that the policy was “under review.” But now, three decades after the American Psychiatric Association formally removed homosexuality from their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Rummy has recognized that homosexuality should not, in fact, be listed alongside schizophrenia and paranoid psychosis. Unlike the APA decision, which gay activists tirelessly fought for in the early 1970s, gay activists largely ignored the Pentagon document. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest and most influential gay rights group, didn’t so much as issue a press release! Their spokesman simply told Campus Progress, as if to illustrate the lack of importance of what had occurred, that Andrew Sullivan, the punditocracy’s leading (openly) gay hawk, didn’t even mention the matter on his popular blog, the Daily Dish. Are gay activists too tired after the FMA debacle earlier this month? Are they jaded from fighting the Pentagon on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for the past 10 years? Darlings, wake-up and smell the heterosexism.
Apathetic Gays: C
Homosexuality as a Mental Disorder: F
UCSB Exposing the Pentagon: A
Submitted by Alex Halpern Levy, Wesleyan University
New York Times Makes #14,121 on List of Things Secretly Plotting Against the President
If you’re looking for a laugh, read this article. The humor starts with this slightly melodramatic title: “Behind Bush’s Fury, a Vow Made in 2001.” The article proceeds to detail the outrage that has engulfed so many conservatives in the wake of reporting – by The New York Times (and, lest we forget, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, which did not receive a request to hold the story) – that the government is sifting through bank data.
People are positively fuming, according to the Times. The House is preparing to take up a resolution today that says Congress “expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans.” And American lives are at risk! Or at least the Michelle Malkinites think so.
Republican Congressman Peter King has called for the imprisonment of the editors and reporters of the The New York Times. Funny thing is, the Times tells us, King “convened a hearing in 2004 where Treasury officials described at length their efforts, assisted by financial institutions, to trace terrorists’ money.” So again, what’s the big deal? King explains: “Obviously we wanted the terrorists to know we were trying to track them,” he said in the article. “But we didn’t want them to know the details.” Oh, um, ok. And that’s how the article ends. Which just proves the Times’ magnanimousness. This guy is calling them a seditious bunch of traitors who deserve to rot in jail, and they give him the last word. At least he’s not attacking the Gray Lady’s etiquette.
Rep. Peter King: F for attacking the Times, B for holding the hearings
Michelle Malkin: F
Freedom of the Press: A
Submitted by Ben Weyl, Grinnell College
Oh Yeah? Let Me Tell You the Stupid Stuff I Did on MY Spring Break
American students who’ve gone on tours of Israel are familiar with rules against straying from the group, even when it means being confined to postcard-worthy sites in majority-Jewish areas. But when traveling alone in Israel and the Palestinian territories, common sense should make the rules. Brown University student Benjamin Bright-Fishbein learned that lesson the hard way on June 11, when, after choosing to visit the West Bank city of Nablus by himself, he was abducted from a cafe by al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen. Bright-Fishbein, who studied in fall 2005 at the American University in Cairo and in spring 2006 at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, was shown on Al-Jazeera stating in Arabic that his captors would kill him if Israel did not release Palestinian prisoners. Several hours later, after the militants confirmed Bright-Fishbein was American and not an Israeli citizen, he was released. Bright-Fishbein described his trip to Nablus, a city Israeli Jews are legally forbidden to enter, as “a big mistake.” After his release, a Reuters photographer captured the rising senior smiling, a messenger bag slung across his shoulders, as he chatted with two Israeli army officers. A typically confused American tourist has never been so lucky.
Kidnapping innocent (and naïve!) tourists: F
Releasing hostages unharmed: A
Acting sensibly while studying abroad, so other students can enjoy the privilege: A
Submitted by Dana Goldstein, Campus Progress
It’s Like He Came From a Really Great Generation or Something
Readers of The New York Times feasted last week on a 2,000-word profile of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The article was a hit; even after more than 24 hours, it remained one of the most emailed articles on the Times’ Web site. But why? What is it about the Kennedys that still leaves the American people gasping for air? No doubt, the Kennedys have always exuded charm and even a bit of magic, but it is a magic of a lost time, never to return. For self-described progressives, a good many of them seem stuck in the past. We’re talking about a family that was news 40 years ago (no offense, Ted). And yet the Times writer – like much of the public – seems hopeful, so hopeful, that he will try to regain the family’s lost throne. He “is looked upon as the next potential vessel for Something Bigger,” the writer gushes. “In words, temperament, and actions, he conveys a frenetic vibe of restlessness that invites the questions ‘What else?’ ‘What next?’ ‘What more?’” Why care? RFK, Jr. should be commended for his work as an environmental activist and for his recent foray into the dark side of electoral reform. And if he decides to run for office, all the best luck to him. But I, for one, do not intend to wait for the re-coronation of the Kennedys. Progressives, let’s move on.
The American people’s love for celebrity: B-
The New York Times for playing on the people’s passions: C
RFK, Jr.: A (Got to love the Kennedys)
Submitted by Ben Weyl, Grinnell College
Republican Senators Continue to Report “Saliva-y” Taste to Their McDonald’s French Fries
On June 21 the Senate rejected yet another proposal to raise the minimum hourly wage over the next year from an abysmal $5.15 to $7.25. An alternative put forth by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that would raise the minimum wage to $6.25 per hour over the next year was also rejected. The Senate has voted down an increase in the minimum wage for the ninth year in a row. Who says they aren’t committed to a cause? But don’t fret, not everyone on the Hill is terrified of wage increases. The House recently rejected an attempt by House Democrats to hinder the $3,300 annual boost in their salaries, which would make their total increase in base salary $31,600 since the last minimum wage increase. Life is hard when you’re making at least $168,500 per year.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s attempts to block raises for legislators: A
Expecting 7 million workers to support themselves on $10,600 per year: F
Submitted by Blair Townsend, University of Texas
Snow: What You Don’t Know Will Eventually Be Told to Terrorists by the Evil New York Times
As the grand finale to outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow’s tenure, the Bush Administration pushed him in front of reporters to explain a White House program that began tracking thousands of Americans’ financial transactions right after the September 11 terrorist attacks. That’s right, another spying program (the same one we Graded above!). This time the administration had to fess up when The New York Times and The Washington Post refused to spike their stories about the program. Why would Snow want to bury a program he called “government at its best” at his press briefing Friday? Snow’s newspeak got better, he tried to quiet critics by “declining to give specific examples of where the program had been successful in shutting off terrorist financing, but saying that he had assured himself that it was working.” Translation: “trust me!” Mr. Secretary, that ship has sailed. This is compounded by the fact that Government agencies have an atrocious record of securing data. In the last year alone, the identities of 26.5 million veterans were compromised by the Veterans Administration, 26,000 employees were compromised by the Agriculture department, 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries were compromised by Health and Human Services, and 1,500 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration were compromised. That brings the grand total of citizens’ identities compromised by the bureaucracy just in the last year to approximately 26,544,500—and Uncle Sam wants YOU to be next.
Tony Snow’s version of “government at its best:” F
Compromising one out of every dozen Americans’ personal data: F
The Post and Times sticking to their guns: A (they’re usually good at that)
Submitted by Julie Brinn Siegel, University of Pennsylvania
Church Expresses Deep Regret For Accidentally Loving Neighbor
At their June 21st annual convention, the US Episcopalian Church delegates voted to refrain from electing more gay bishops. They officially apologized for the pain they caused the world wide Anglican communion by electing the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson in 2003. Robinson and members of Integrity USA, an organization defending Episcopalian gays, expressed grave disappointment. Rev. Susan Russell, the president of Integrity, commented at the convention that the Church had “not only failed the gospel but failed its gay and lesbian members” in their decision. Conservative Episcopalians argue the resolution is not enough, and fear crazy liberals infiltrating their Church. Specifically, they fear Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new presiding, and first female, bishop who openly supports Episcopalian gays. Another glimmer of hope lies in the fact that over 30 bishops have signed a letter saying they will not support the ban, but will take steps to support and (gasp!) promote the election of more gay bishops. Still others are determined to fight liberal bishops like Jefferts Schori, asking instead for oversight by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Banning various aspects of gay inclusion in society seems to be a trend these days. Maybe next year they’ll ban gay supporters from attending the convention at all.
Rev. Russell: A (for calling out homophobia in front of what must be a pretty tough crowd)
Conservatives coming up with new ways to pretend gays don’t exist: F
Canterbury: B (at least they’re not making the situation any worse)
Submitted by Jill Hawkins, University of Wisconsin
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The gays are finally coming out of the closet big time in America, and we owe them our almost total support. When people discover how many family, friends, work associates really are gay – people they know and respect – the conservative freaks who can’t think for themselves and spend their lives believing thousand year old religious superstitions will be ever so more marginalized. Support your gay friends and remind them that they MUST get involved in politics if we are to build a better society.
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