Yesterday, the Obama Administration signed into law new hate crimes legislation that extends federal protections to victims of hate crimes on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The law was attached to a military spending measure.

When I read the list of groups covered, I found it remarkable that gender and disability were not currently covered in federal hate crimes law. Better late than never, I suppose.

While federal protections for victims of hate crimes is important, having those same protections on the state level is of equal or greater importance.

Last session State Rep. Jeanne Richardson and State Sen. Beverly Marrero introduced a measure that would extend hate crimes protections to people on the grounds of “gender, or gender identity or expression”. The bill made it out of sub-committee in the House, but was taken off the calendar in committee.

Tonight at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis there will be a discussion panel (Facebook link) featuring Rep. Richardson and Sen. Marrero, as well as Memphis attorney Murray Wells, hate crime survivor Jack Robinson, and Tennessee Equality Project Board Member Darlene Fike.

The discussion panel starts at 5:30 this evening in rooms 250 &252 at the University. Parking will be available in the Central Parking Lot across from the law school. Assurances have been made by University Parking Services that no tickets will be issued for off-campus visitors who lack a parking hang tag the evening of the event. Please be considerate of the University Holiday Inn’s parking lot, which is reserved for its paying guests.

Come out and be a part of the discussion.

Mid-Southerners for Choice Luncheon

Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis is hosting a luncheon featuring State Representative Jeanne Richardson (HD-89) on Thursday, August 20th 11:30 am, at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door, or ahead of time here.

Come out and show your support for Planned Parenthood, and comprehensive reproductive healthcare.

I know this whole “death panel” thing has been going on for weeks now, but I’ve gotten to the point where I want to slap someone every time I hear them talk about Government pulling the plug on granny because she’s too expensive. What bullshit.

We already have death panels you douchenozzle, they’re called INSURANCE COMPANIES.

As The Memphis Liberal points out the Supreme Court has ruled that

Inducement to ration care is the very point of any HMO scheme.

The argument on the right is that you can sue an insurance company. Perhaps, but you’re still dead if you don’t get the treatment you need because some corporation hedged their bets.

It’s not like it’s ever happened before or anything.

Oh, and how does a lawsuit play with conservative notions that tort reform will magically fix what’s driving up the cost of healthcare. Come on people be consistent.

Nope, the reality is we’re talking about two different cultures. One that believes corporations are going to do what’s right for people and that the government can’t do ANYTHING right, and one that believes government’s role is to provide an equitable foundation for all Americans and that corporations are more interested in protecting shareholders than doing right by regular folks.

Which one sounds more realistic?

Seriously, conservatives have been working for 30 years to protect shareholders and corporations far more than help regular Americans. Their perspective is that if the corporation benefits, somehow so does everyone else. From the union busting that the Reagan Admin. engaged in, to trade deals that have sent American jobs hither and fro, with the help of conservative and largely southern Democrats that have served as compliant enablers, the conservative ideology has destroyed America’s manufacturing base and left us in a position where good jobs for regular people are going the way of the dodo. All the while this same “Conservative ideology” is largely responsible for a tenfold increase in the national debt over the past 28 years.

Somehow, this is supposed to provide a better quality of life for all us little people. But aside from making really affordable “cheap plastic crap” made in places most people couldn’t find on a map, the only real benefit has been the availability of second rate goods to people who used to make a first rate version of the same damn thing.

So when we apply this ideological difference to the healthcare “debate”, if that’s what you want to call it, you have some people talking about healthcare, and others talking about something else entirely. Sobeale hit on this back in June when talking about the difference between the left and the right on the healthcare debate.

Progressives want to give everyone healthcare. The other side wants to give everyone health insurance.

Healthcare. That’s what I’m talking about, not insurance. Insurance is the ONLY thing in the world you buy and pray you don’t have to use. Healthcare is something EVERYONE NEEDS, but that a growing minority of working Americans DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO. Sure, they can go to the doctor or the hospital, but if it’s something serious, they’ll likely go bankrupt. That’s the reality, and 50% of the people who go bankrupt every year are in that situation.

So now that the Healthcare industry has dumped some $130m since April into putting the kibosh on any plan that includes a “public option” by stirring irrational fears and mobilizing a vocal but largely uninformed group of people to disrupt anything and everything that might further the “public option”. The debate has shifted from providing healthcare to all Americans to providing Americans with insurance, something they don’t want to have to use.

This is just plain madness.

The right wing reactionaries that show up in force at Town Hall meetings across this nation are grounded in the same ideology that has helped bankrupt this county and millions of it’s citizens. They are not there to debate, they are there to debase the process, to incite fear, and ultimately, deny you a right to affordable treatment when you need it most.

This is not the huge movement that the media would play it up to be. They are not taking to the streets demanding that things stay the same. They are a couple of hundred people per district, out of some 600,000+ constituents, mobilized to make a good show of strength for a very short period of time. It’s media manipulation at it’s worst, and the media is playing the role of compliant enabler, just like those conservative Democrats who are paralyzed with fear anytime someone proposes a change that they might have to defend.

It’s time for US to take to the streets and demand REAL healthcare reform that includes a “public option”. It’s time for us to show our strength. We’re running out of time, and the media “death panel” has written the obituary on meaningful reform, and is just waiting for that last gasp before they run with it.

It’s time to move this forward lest we have to wait another 16 years, or until we reach critical mass.

It’s time.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis is hosting a luncheon featuring State Representative Jeanne Richardson (HD-89) on Thursday, August 20th 11:30 am, at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door, or ahead of time here.

Come out and show your support for Planned Parenthood, and comprehensive reproductive healthcare.