Quick Hits for 9/18/15

*** - After the GOP debate, it's become clear the deceptive video attack on Planned Parenthood was a manufactured ruse, likely encouraged by GOP operatives, to give Republican candidates a topic to hide behind, a topic their most fervent followers will always support.  My gut feeling?  This was encouraged as a way to prevent GOP candidates from having to weigh in on the Confederate Flag issue, a topic which terrified the right, but is now gone from most media coverage today.

The Planned Parenthood video tape is a lie!  It's been proven to be a lie!  It was highly edited to make it seem like people were saying things they just did not say.  Anyone using said tape to validate their political stance is knowingly using a lie to promote their own agenda.

At the debate, every GOP candidate insisted they would be the one who defunds Planned Parenthood first.  I don't think most of them would, as even they know the services Planned Parenthood provides, which is overwhelmingly medical services and exams not related to abortion, would be hard to replace in most communities.  Also, if they get rid of Planned Parenthood, they get rid of one of their liberal boogymen, a villain they lean heavily on when it's election season, perfect for firing up the zealotry.

My real problem is with CNN.  They're not supposed to be Fox News, who giddily promote the video as truth.  They are supposed to be better than that.  CNN knows this video is a lie, but they let any reference to it go unchallenged.  Not only are they guilty of being crappy debate moderators and journalists, they're enablers, spoon feeding the GOP the ability to say, "since CNN never questioned the video, it must be true."  Media in this country sucks right now, and Bernard Shaw and Peter Arnett would be ashamed of what has happened to their once trusted network.

*** - Anyone who says the arrest of Ahmed Mohamed was justified needs to explain the following three things.  First, if the school was so concerned it was a bomb, why wasn't the bomb squad called and the school evacuated?  MacArthur High School was never concerned it was an explosive device, and only regular Irving, Texas police officers responded.  Second, Ahmed never said the clock was anything but a clock, replying every time he was asked with, 'it's only a clock."  Since the Irving Chief of Police has stated the officers knew it was only a clock, BEFORE they arrested him (9/17 MSNBC), why did they arrest him?  There was no crime, he was telling the truth, there was no danger to anyone at the school.  If the school still felt disciplinary action was warranted, they could've given him detention, suspended him, or at least called his parents to come pick him up, which they didn't do until after the arrest.  Third, if the school and mayor both acknowledge this was nothing but a kid and his science project, why the need to insist he was guilty of doing anything wrong?  MacArthur High was quick to insist Ahmed was guilty of violating policies, making sure every parent at the school knew about the manufactured threat, even though the school clearly didn't take the threat seriously themselves (see question one).  Law enforcement and the mayor insist the arrest was warranted, but outside of vague comparisons to real bombs, something the officers knew was not a concern (see question two), they offer up nothing but smug self righteousness.

Ahmed was arrested for being a 14 year old Muslim. Irving, Texas is full of idiots.  End of story.

*** - This morning I got to talk with Briana Bierschbach from MinnPost about the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, or MSOP.  If you had not heard, the program is violating the rights of its prisoners buy trying to create a 'do-over' in regards to the sentences handed down.  Example - a prisoner is tried and found guilty of a sex crime, they're sentenced for 15 years, they serve those 15 years, and then the state insists we can't release the prisoner, attempting to hold them, in some version of a prison, for their entire life.  The problem here is the lack of proper sentencing at the time of the trial, but they can't solve that problem with people already in prison.  We're eventually going to lose the appeal process completely, and the state will be sued for millions of dollars for violating the prisoners rights by not releasing them after they have served their time.

If the state wants to make serious sex crimes a lifetime sentence, they could do so.  They won't.  Why?  Not because a lifetime sentence is a harsh penalty or because of the cost of housing the prisoner.  Nope, it's because if they create such a rigid standard, wealthy people won't be able to buy their way out of it.

*** - It's time to retire the term Political Correctness, and all of it's versions (PC police, etc.).  It's primary purpose is to hide disgusting stereotypes and behavior in plain sight.

John Fugelsang had a sensational essay on bullying.  He talked about how we need to stop referring to it as 'bullying' and refer to it for what it really was, abuse.  He was right.  We use the term bullying to make horrible mental and physical abuse seem like a harmless prank.

When someone brings up political correctness, or the PC police, they're almost always using it to try to divert criticism away from something horrible they have done or said.  "I just gave my secretary a little swat on the caboose, but due to political correctness, my boss wrote me up."  "I was just making the comment that all Muslims are terrorists, but then the PC police showed up to insist I was wrong."

The term "Political Correctness," in any version, is used to validate sexism, misogyny, racism, assault, anti-semitism, homophobia, islamophobia, and amazingly jackass-ian behavior.  If you hear someone sarcastically refer to "here comes the PC police" or how "we're all slaves to political correctness," say loud and proud, "yep, you're right, it isn't politically correct to be a (racist, sexist, homophobe, etc.) so stop acting like I'm the bad guy for pointing out your horrible and unacceptable behavior, and either change or go away."