Filed under politix …

Mar 02 2004
1 Comment
agit-prop, god, love, politix, queer, war

Love and Hate

Newsweek columnist Gersh Kuntzman, on msnbc.com:

A picture in The New York Times on Sunday did more than just capture the gay marriage debate: In the photo, two newly married lesbian women are kissing while all around them, homophobes, bigots, haters and distorters of Christ’s message of love taunt them with flame-covered signs reading, “Prepare to meet thy God!”

It’s a striking image of love and hate in bloom. And so it’s time to ask a question that has come up from time to time in our nation’s history: Looking at that picture, it’s time to ask yourself, “Which side are you on?”

Kuntzman then quotes extensively from the hate mail he received after a week ago writing a column in support of gay marriage, and includes the writer’s names. It’s sobering stuff.

No single column of mine has ever generated as much hate mail as [last week's column] in support of allowing people who love each other to marry. True, some of the letter writers hoped to engage me in a civil debate. But the majority saw my support for gay civil rights as a good opportunity to unleash wave after wave of hate. Oh, and some hoped that I would die a horrible death.

So, I ask again: Which side are you on?

(The photograph that Kuntzman refers to in the lead par is online at Queer Visions, from whence came this link)

Mar 01 2004
politix, war

Inquiring minds want to know

So, Australia is to have a judicial inquiry into the intelligence that led to our involvement in the baseless and illegal war in Iraq. But what kind of an inquiry will it be?

I was pleased to see Mark Latham asking the PM in parliament today whether we would have a Royal Commission (he used the term “Royal Commission powers”; I’m not sure what an inquiry with “Royal Commission powers” is unless it’s a Royal Commission, but I digress). FWIW, a Royal Commission is what I’ve been arguing for all along. Unlike other forms of judicial inquiry, a Royal Commission has the power to compel witnesses to attend under subpoena, to order witnesses to answer questions, and to apply contempt penalties – including imprisonment – to those who fail to comply.

On a more philosophical level, a Royal Commission is, technically, set up by the executive arm of government – the Crown – and not by politics – the legislature. Importantly. a Royal Commission is the only form of judicial inquiry which could compel the man who took us to war – Howard – to give sworn evidence. On my analysis, that means that anything less than a Royal Commission will be a whitewash.

Howard, predictably, stonewalled.

Feb 15 2004
agit-prop, extemporanea, politix

I am the thinking man’s Ted Matulevicius

I’ve had two letters in the Herald this week, one on the Free Trade Agreement and one on Politicians’ Superannuation. Regular readers will observe that they both are based loosely on buggery.org posts from the same day..

Feb 15 2004
politix, queer

Winston’s wedge

Howard has given another indication that he plans to use gay rights as a wedge issue in this year’s election, speaking out against gay adoptions in Launceston:

“I respect people’s choices about their own lifestyles — that’s their right, and I don’t seek to discriminate against them — but I have a view that gay adoption goes against what the community regards as the traditional family formation, and that is a mother and a father.

“Therefore, I don’t support gay adoption and I regret attempts to achieve it in parts of Australia.”

For folks out there that don’t “get” this, I recommend substituting the word “black” for “gay” when politicians talk about family issues:

“I respect people regardless of their race, and I don’t seek to discriminate against them — but I have a view that adoption by black people goes against what the community regards as the traditional family formation, and that is a white mother and a white father.

“Therefore, I don’t support black adoption and I regret attempts to achieve it in parts of Australia.”

History will judge you, Howard.

Feb 14 2004
politix

Terrible consequences

(Letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 2004-02-14)

20040214 Lte Super
Feb 13 2004
politix, weird

Send in the Clones

It’s been a big twenty-four hours in the world of cloning: scientists in South Korea have created the first scientifically-verified cloned human embryo; the Raelians claim a cloned baby (their sixth!) was born in Sydney a few days ago; and John Howard has successfully cloned Mark Latham’s superannuation policy.

Feb 10 2004
politix

Gimme a little sugar

(Letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 2004-02-10)

20040210 Lte Sugar
Feb 09 2004
1 Comment
politix, war

Jus ad bellum

From the Bush interview on Meet the Press:

RUSSERT: How do you respond to critics who say that you brought the nation to war under false pretenses?

BUSH: The first of all, I expected to find the weapons. Sitting behind this desk making a very difficult decision of war and peace, and I based my decision on the best intelligence possible, intelligence that had been gathered over the years, intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid but analysts from other countries thought were valid.

Leaving aside the bizarre syntax of Bush’s answer, there is a bigger question here. Is it enough to say that war—a pre-emptive, first-strike war without the approval of the UN—was justified, or can ever be justified, on the basis of “intelligence”, even if it is “the best intelligence possible”?
Continue reading →

Feb 09 2004
politix

Freet Raid

So the big big BIG news this morning is that Australia and the United States have made a Free Trade Agreement. Well a Freeish Trade Agreement—one that opens up Australian markets to virtually all US exports but which isn’t quite so unrestricted in the other direction.

Australia’s sugar growers and dairy farmers will be rushing to their local music store to get a copy of the appalling idolette Shannon Noll’s execrable hit “What About Me?” after hearing there’s precious little in the deal for them (and here was me thinking the US appetite for sugar was unquenchable!)And most of our beef farmers will be dead in their graves from vCJD before the 18-year phaseout of US beef tariffs is complete, so I doubt they’ll be celebrating.

But the US will drop its 25% tariff on that most Australian of icons, the ute. Our car manufacturers, who have such quintessentially Aussie names as Ford, General Motors Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota, will be delighted. Now the yanks can get their hands on one of Brittney‘s sisters at an affordable price.

On the plus side, we are being told that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has survived the negotiations intact, despite demands from the US pharmaceutical lobby that Australians should pay more for their pills and potions.

Whether that’s really so or not, only time will tell. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and those have not yet been shared with us.

Related: How Capitalism Works.

Feb 07 2004
politix

Kerry, queer rights and the HIV ban

John Kerry’s comments on the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on Gay Marriage amount to a halfhearted endorsement of gay rights, notes Miguel on Come Undone.

Responding to the decision, Kerry said:

I have long believed that gay men and lesbians should be assured equal protection and the same benefits—from health to survivor benefits to hospital visitation—that all families deserve. While I continue to oppose gay marriage, I believe that today’s decision calls on the Massachusetts state legislature to take action to ensure equal protection for gay couples. These protections are long overdue.

Kerry does, however support the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, apparently.

I guess Kerry’s halfhearted support for gay marriage is to be expected—politics is supposed to be “the art of the possible” after all, but Miguel has a point.
Continue reading →

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