kanesrealm

I live in a rural area which means I'm surrounded by steaming piles of beetle fodder and this allows a heightened sense of smell and man is there a wretched odor permeating the comments of many politicians who have suddenly found a new love for the LGBT community. These commenters I speak of spend their political lives dedicated to denying gay people equal rights under the law. They spent years fighting same-sex marriage until finally the clock ran out and a Supreme Court decision legalized it for the whole country. This victory has led to the retaliation of the biggots, haters, religious zealots and their political allies to go after the LGBT community through alternate means disguised as such things as religious freedom restoration acts designed to permit the expansion of LGBT discrimination. At no time has religious freedom in this country been threatened by the simple act of extending equal rights under the law to every citizen. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the U.S. Co...

The Huckster, old Bumble Bee Mike Huckabee himself went to Kentucky to stare down Pontius Pilate, only to be thwarted by the fact Kim Davis had been ordered to be released from jail by the same Judge that put her there early this morning. She could have quietly left the jail with the piety and modesty of, oh, what's his name? Yeah, yeah, that Jesus guy. But oh no, she exited to the theme of Rocky 3 and cried for her followers while praising the living God. The Huckster clearly hadn't anticipated her release  but didn't bother to alter his speech. It was full of demagogic nonsense about releasing her and imprisoning him in her place. I'm all for that but what a load of shit and he knows it. Davis was released because her deputies are issuing licenses. Here's an interesting factoid, the media has examined one of those licenses issued while she was in jail, it does not have her name pre-printed on it, which is what we were told last week. So what's the deal? So...

On June 28th, 1969 at a gay bar in New York City, called Stonewall Inn, the patrons that night had reached the breaking point of being raided and abused by the N.Y.P.D. simply for existing. They fought back and riots began. The police beat them back but by the next morning word had spread throughout the gay community and over 1,000 people took to the streets around Stonewall and the riots began again and so did the birth of the Gay Rights Movement. Today in 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of equality of marriage for all. It was a 5 to 4 vote, it should have been unanimous. No where in the U.S. Constitution does it state that marriage is for heterosexuals only, given that, the Justices that voted against the right of equality have no justification beyond personal prejudice. Although Chief Justice Roberts dissent is conciliatory, he is wrong. To those who continue to believe that this issue should only have been decided at the state level, you also are wrong. This issue was ...

I bet you thought Indiana's Freedom of Religion Act was going to quietly fade from the news once it was signed into law, nope. The Indiana Republican Party has made so many mistakes with this legislation, starting with even considering it, that they need to taste electoral defeat but that probably won't happen. This past Saturday hundreds turned out to protest at the Statehouse. A noble effort and a demonstration of what needs to happen when our leaders do stupid things. However, it wasn't going to sway Governor Pence or most of the legislators behind this law. So Governor Pence did everyone on the opposite side a favor, he went on the national Sunday talk shows and demonstrated tremendous political ignorance, he refused to answer George Stephanopoulos question "is it alright to discriminate against gays and lesbians in Indiana?" Pence would not answer the question. His non-answer speaks volumes about his personal beliefs, which are not a surprise to this writer ...

The State of Oklahoma is not happy about Federal Courts striking down their anti-gay marriage law last year. They are so outraged by this meddlesome interference with their institutional bigotry that they are considering passing a law which would outlaw any government office in the state from issuing marriage licenses. Instead of a license you would have to get a certificate issued by a clergyman. The thought process being the end of gay marriage in Oklahoma. Not so my dim little legislative bulbs. Large numbers of your citizens can go online and become an ordained minister in a matter of minutes and oh yeah it's valid because of that whole Church State U.S. Constitution thing. The clergy, including all of those newly ordained, will now have a new revenue source and it's tax free. Clever, very clever. You will then have to pass new laws eliminating any religion that goes against what you want. Perhaps you will need to jail  numerous clergymen to intimidate the uncooperative. ...

The Indiana Freedom of Religion Act passed out of committee on a straight party line vote of 9 to 4. If you're not aware of it Indiana 's Republican Party has a super majority in the House and Senate as well as the Governor's seat. Who knew the Hoosier state had so many multimillionaires. It will be voted on by the full House as early as March 23. This despite the overwhelming objections of Indiana business leaders who believe passage of this law will have a severe negative impact on economic growth. Yes there are ordinary citizens opposed and organized but don't worry in Indiana those opposed to the ruling parties follies have little influence. But corporate interests usually do,it was they who played an important role in stopping the anti gay marriage legislation last year. This time around their influence doesn't seem to be working. Many in business have voiced concerns, particularly in the health field, of lawsuits resulting from employess deciding they can...

It's one thing to enjoy a lazy day sippin' lemonade and binge watching a favorite show, it's quite another for our legislative representatives to waste the public's time on unnecessary legislation. The Indiana General Assembly is considering a "Freedom of Religion Act" during this session and it's coming to a boil today. This legislation began brewing after the legalization of gay marriage. It is about legitimizing refusing service to the GLBT community but it could open the door to far more discrimination than that. Apparently the sponsors of this bill and it's supporters have forgotten that they live in the United States of America and they already have freedom of religion. We have this thing called the Constitution and the First Amendment reads exactly as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of t...

The Alabama Supreme Court under the direction of Chief Justice Roy Moore has directed all state judges to violate a federal judges orders to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. This is a finger in the eye of the U.S. Supreme Court which has already upheld you can't do that. Now with a  recent contradictory order from another federal judge saying you can the U.S. Supreme Court will finally address this issue in a definitive manner with a decision due in June. It would be easy to make jokes about Alabama but one hesitates to insult the good folk who mean no harm. C.J. Moore is clearly an obstructionist and a self justified bigot but he will soon be served notice from SCOTUS that he's wrong. Will he continue to defy the law of the land? I'm betting yes and he will then face federal enforcement of the law. The right for gay marriage is long overdue as is all gay rights. Gay rights are civil rights and it is time for those afraid of this to get over themselves. You do not ...