I propose a new state law (heck - while we're at it, let's make it a Federal law):
"No marriage shall be valid in this state, or in any state of the Union, that has not first been approved by the California/United States Ministry of Marriage and Family Life. This provision applies to all persons without regard to age, gender, citizenship or place of residence, and applies without regard to the date or place of marriage."
Would you approve? I doubt that anyone here would approve. Why not? Because (I think) most people are of the opinion that her or his marriage (whom to marry) is her or his own personal business. Yet, most places do have some restrictions on marriage relating to age (below age "n" requires parental consent); degree of consanguinity of the parties; absence of disease; maybe a few others.
What restrictions are tolerable and why?
6.18.2008
Noteworth Quote
``The Republicans will make a fundamental, if not fatal mistake, if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barrack Obama. Don't underestimate the extraordinary, substantive moment that Barack Obama's nomination represents in our country.''
Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, in Tokyo, June 18, 2008
Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, in Tokyo, June 18, 2008
6.11.2008
The U.S. Congress Votes Database 110th Congress / Bills / H RES 1258
Impeaching George W. Bush, President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Read more information on this bill from the Library of Congress.
The House voted today by a comfortable margin to refer 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush to the Judiciary Committee, as the measure's chief sponsor vowed to bring the issue up again if the panel does not agree to hold hearings.
On a 251-166 vote, the chamber elected to refer Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-Ohio) resolution to the Judiciary panel. All 227 Democrats present voted in favor of the referral, along with 24 Republicans -- a big boost from the four GOP lawmakers who voted for referral of charges against Vice President Cheney back in November.
Democrats Voting For:
Neil Abercrombie, Gary Ackerman, Thomas Allen, Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Joe Baca, Brian Baird, Tammy Baldwin, John Barrow, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Timothy Bishop, Sanford Bishop, Earl Blumenauer, Dan Boren, Leonard Boswell, Rick Boucher, Allen Boyd, Nancy Boyda, Robert Brady, Corrine Brown, G.K. Butterfield, Lois Capps, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Russ Carnahan, Christopher Carney, André Carson, Kathy Castor, Donald Cazayoux, Ben Chandler, TRAVIS Childers, Yvette Clarke, William Clay, Emanuel Cleaver, James Clyburn, John Conyers, Jim Cooper, Jim Costa, Jerry Costello, Joe Courtney, Bud Cramer, Joseph Crowley, Henry Cuellar, Elijah Cummings, Lincoln Davis, Danny Davis, Susan Davis, Artur Davis, Peter DeFazio, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, William Delahunt, Norman Dicks, John Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Joe Donnelly, Michael Doyle, Chet Edwards, Keith Ellison, Brad Ellsworth, Rahm Emanuel, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Bob Etheridge, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Bill Foster, Barney Frank, Gabrielle Giffords, Charles Gonzalez, Bart Gordon, Gene Green, Al Green, Raul Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, John Hall, Phil Hare, Jane Harman, Alcee Hastings, Brian Higgins, Baron Hill, Maurice Hinchey, Ruben Hinojosa, Mazie Hirono, Paul Hodes, Tim Holden, Chris Van Hollen, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Darlene Hooley, Steny Hoyer, Jay Inslee, Steve Israel, Jesse Jackson, Sheila Jackson-Lee, William Jefferson, Eddie Johnson, Hank Johnson, Stephanie Jones, Steve Kagen, Paul Kanjorski, Marcy Kaptur, Patrick Kennedy, Dale Kildee, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Ron Kind, Ron Klein, Dennis Kucinich, Nicholas Lampson, James Langevin, Rick Larsen, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Sander Levin, John Lewis, Daniel Lipinski, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Stephen Lynch, Tim Mahoney, Carolyn Maloney, Edward Markey, Jim Marshall, Jim Matheson, Doris Matsui, Carolyn McCarthy, Betty McCollum, Jim McDermott, James McGovern, Mike McIntyre, Jerry McNerney, Michael McNulty, Kendrick Meek, Gregory Meeks, Charles Melancon, Michael Michaud, George Miller, Brad Miller, Harry Mitchell, Alan Mollohan, Gwen Moore, Dennis Moore, James Moran, Patrick Murphy, Christopher Murphy, John Murtha, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Richard Neal, James Oberstar, David Obey, John Olver, Frank Pallone, Ed Pastor, Donald Payne, Ed Perlmutter, Collin Peterson, Earl Pomeroy, David Price, Nick Rahall, Charles Rangel, Silvestre Reyes, Laura Richardson, Ciro Rodriguez, Mike Ross, Steven Rothman, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Dutch Ruppersberger, Tim Ryan, John Salazar, Loretta Sanchez, Linda Sanchez, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, John Sarbanes, Jan Schakowsky, Adam Schiff, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Allyson Schwartz, Robert Scott, David Scott, Jose Serrano, Joe Sestak, Carol Shea-Porter, Brad Sherman, Heath Shuler, Albio Sires, Ike Skelton, Louise Slaughter, Adam Smith, Vic Snyder, Hilda Solis, Zachary Space, Jackie Speier, John Spratt, Pete Stark, Bart Stupak, Betty Sutton, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Gene Taylor, Bennie Thompson, Mike Thompson, John Tierney, Edolphus Towns, Niki Tsongas, Tom Udall, Mark Udall, Nydia Velazquez, Peter Visclosky, Timothy Walz, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, Melvin Watt, Henry Waxman, Anthony Weiner, Peter Welch, Robert Wexler, Charles Wilson, Lynn Woolsey, David Wu, John Yarmuth
Republicans Voting For:
Kevin Brady, Michael Castle, Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, David Dreier, Vito Fossella, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Wayne Gilchrest, Ralph Hall, Tim Johnson, Walter Jones, Peter King, Steven LaTourette, Frank LoBiondo, Donald Manzullo, Tim Murphy, Ron Paul, Jim Ramstad, David Reichert, Christopher Shays, John Shimkus, Michael Turner, Heather Wilson, Frank Wolf
Read more information on this bill from the Library of Congress.
The House voted today by a comfortable margin to refer 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush to the Judiciary Committee, as the measure's chief sponsor vowed to bring the issue up again if the panel does not agree to hold hearings.
On a 251-166 vote, the chamber elected to refer Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-Ohio) resolution to the Judiciary panel. All 227 Democrats present voted in favor of the referral, along with 24 Republicans -- a big boost from the four GOP lawmakers who voted for referral of charges against Vice President Cheney back in November.
Democrats Voting For:
Neil Abercrombie, Gary Ackerman, Thomas Allen, Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Joe Baca, Brian Baird, Tammy Baldwin, John Barrow, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Timothy Bishop, Sanford Bishop, Earl Blumenauer, Dan Boren, Leonard Boswell, Rick Boucher, Allen Boyd, Nancy Boyda, Robert Brady, Corrine Brown, G.K. Butterfield, Lois Capps, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Russ Carnahan, Christopher Carney, André Carson, Kathy Castor, Donald Cazayoux, Ben Chandler, TRAVIS Childers, Yvette Clarke, William Clay, Emanuel Cleaver, James Clyburn, John Conyers, Jim Cooper, Jim Costa, Jerry Costello, Joe Courtney, Bud Cramer, Joseph Crowley, Henry Cuellar, Elijah Cummings, Lincoln Davis, Danny Davis, Susan Davis, Artur Davis, Peter DeFazio, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, William Delahunt, Norman Dicks, John Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Joe Donnelly, Michael Doyle, Chet Edwards, Keith Ellison, Brad Ellsworth, Rahm Emanuel, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Bob Etheridge, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Bill Foster, Barney Frank, Gabrielle Giffords, Charles Gonzalez, Bart Gordon, Gene Green, Al Green, Raul Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, John Hall, Phil Hare, Jane Harman, Alcee Hastings, Brian Higgins, Baron Hill, Maurice Hinchey, Ruben Hinojosa, Mazie Hirono, Paul Hodes, Tim Holden, Chris Van Hollen, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Darlene Hooley, Steny Hoyer, Jay Inslee, Steve Israel, Jesse Jackson, Sheila Jackson-Lee, William Jefferson, Eddie Johnson, Hank Johnson, Stephanie Jones, Steve Kagen, Paul Kanjorski, Marcy Kaptur, Patrick Kennedy, Dale Kildee, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Ron Kind, Ron Klein, Dennis Kucinich, Nicholas Lampson, James Langevin, Rick Larsen, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Sander Levin, John Lewis, Daniel Lipinski, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Stephen Lynch, Tim Mahoney, Carolyn Maloney, Edward Markey, Jim Marshall, Jim Matheson, Doris Matsui, Carolyn McCarthy, Betty McCollum, Jim McDermott, James McGovern, Mike McIntyre, Jerry McNerney, Michael McNulty, Kendrick Meek, Gregory Meeks, Charles Melancon, Michael Michaud, George Miller, Brad Miller, Harry Mitchell, Alan Mollohan, Gwen Moore, Dennis Moore, James Moran, Patrick Murphy, Christopher Murphy, John Murtha, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Richard Neal, James Oberstar, David Obey, John Olver, Frank Pallone, Ed Pastor, Donald Payne, Ed Perlmutter, Collin Peterson, Earl Pomeroy, David Price, Nick Rahall, Charles Rangel, Silvestre Reyes, Laura Richardson, Ciro Rodriguez, Mike Ross, Steven Rothman, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Dutch Ruppersberger, Tim Ryan, John Salazar, Loretta Sanchez, Linda Sanchez, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, John Sarbanes, Jan Schakowsky, Adam Schiff, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Allyson Schwartz, Robert Scott, David Scott, Jose Serrano, Joe Sestak, Carol Shea-Porter, Brad Sherman, Heath Shuler, Albio Sires, Ike Skelton, Louise Slaughter, Adam Smith, Vic Snyder, Hilda Solis, Zachary Space, Jackie Speier, John Spratt, Pete Stark, Bart Stupak, Betty Sutton, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Gene Taylor, Bennie Thompson, Mike Thompson, John Tierney, Edolphus Towns, Niki Tsongas, Tom Udall, Mark Udall, Nydia Velazquez, Peter Visclosky, Timothy Walz, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, Melvin Watt, Henry Waxman, Anthony Weiner, Peter Welch, Robert Wexler, Charles Wilson, Lynn Woolsey, David Wu, John Yarmuth
Republicans Voting For:
Kevin Brady, Michael Castle, Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, David Dreier, Vito Fossella, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Wayne Gilchrest, Ralph Hall, Tim Johnson, Walter Jones, Peter King, Steven LaTourette, Frank LoBiondo, Donald Manzullo, Tim Murphy, Ron Paul, Jim Ramstad, David Reichert, Christopher Shays, John Shimkus, Michael Turner, Heather Wilson, Frank Wolf
6.06.2008
Feingold On the Bush-Cheney Iraq Propaganda Campaign
"Even the deeply flawed October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) did not support the claims made by the President and the Vice President regarding an Iraqi nuclear program. That NIE assessed that Iraq did not have a nuclear weapon or sufficient material to make one, and that without sufficient fissile material acquired from abroad, Iraq probably would not be able to make a weapon until 2007 or 2009. Yet the President made the following statements: '[Saddam] possesses the world's most dangerous weapons' (March 22, 2002); '[w]e don't know whether or not [Saddam] has a nuclear weapon' (December 31, 2002); and, of course, '[f]acing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof - the smoking gun - that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud' (October 7, 2002). Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney insisted that assessments related to Iraq's nuclear program that were disputed within the Intelligence Community were known 'with absolute certainty' (September 8, 2002) and through 'irrefutable evidence' (September 20, 2002). And, on the eve of war, after the IAEA had reported that its inspectors had found 'no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq,' the Vice President asserted, '[w]e believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons' (March 16, 2003).
"Administration officials' claims of a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda were even more outlandish. Before the war, the Central Intelligence Agency assessed that 'Saddam has viewed Islamic extremists operating inside Iraq as a threat,' that 'Saddam Hussein and Usama bin Laden are far from being natural partners,' and that assessments about Iraqi links to al Qaeda rested on 'a body of fragmented, conflicting reporting from sources of varying reliability.' Moreover, the Intelligence Community consistently assessed that Saddam's use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States rested on his being 'sufficiently desperate' in the face of a U. S. attack and his possible desire for a 'last chance at vengeance.' Yet the President not only repeatedly suggested an operational relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, but asserted that Saddam would provide weapons of mass destruction to al Qaeda for an unprovoked attack against the United States: 'you can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror' (September 25, 2002); '[e]ach passing day could be the one on which the Iraqi regime gives anthrax or VX - nerve gas - or some day a nuclear weapon to a terrorist ally' (September 26, 2002); '[Saddam] is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army' (October 14, 2002); '[Saddam] is a threat because he is dealing with al Qaeda. . . . [A] true threat facing our country is that an al Qaeda-type network trained and armed by Saddam could attack America and not leave one fingerprint' (November 7, 2002); and '[t]he danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other' (March 17, 2003)."
"Administration officials' claims of a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda were even more outlandish. Before the war, the Central Intelligence Agency assessed that 'Saddam has viewed Islamic extremists operating inside Iraq as a threat,' that 'Saddam Hussein and Usama bin Laden are far from being natural partners,' and that assessments about Iraqi links to al Qaeda rested on 'a body of fragmented, conflicting reporting from sources of varying reliability.' Moreover, the Intelligence Community consistently assessed that Saddam's use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States rested on his being 'sufficiently desperate' in the face of a U. S. attack and his possible desire for a 'last chance at vengeance.' Yet the President not only repeatedly suggested an operational relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, but asserted that Saddam would provide weapons of mass destruction to al Qaeda for an unprovoked attack against the United States: 'you can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror' (September 25, 2002); '[e]ach passing day could be the one on which the Iraqi regime gives anthrax or VX - nerve gas - or some day a nuclear weapon to a terrorist ally' (September 26, 2002); '[Saddam] is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army' (October 14, 2002); '[Saddam] is a threat because he is dealing with al Qaeda. . . . [A] true threat facing our country is that an al Qaeda-type network trained and armed by Saddam could attack America and not leave one fingerprint' (November 7, 2002); and '[t]he danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other' (March 17, 2003)."
6.03.2008
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