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Gay mayor's illicit love shakes a Texas town

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The small Texan city of San Angelo has been turned upside down by one of the most unusual sex scandals ever to make an impact on American political life.


Joseph Lown, the popular mayor, suddenly resigned last week after revealing he had fallen madly in love with an illegal immigrant. That was the first revelation; the second was that his new partner was another man.


Not surprisingly the news has become the talk of Texas. In the socially conservative and solidly Republican state, gay marriage and illegal immigration are probably the two hottest potatoes in town. Perhaps, then, it was no wonder that Lown announced the end of his career from Mexico, where he had fled to be with his new boyfriend and from where he could mourn the end of an otherwise successful political career.


The news came as a bombshell. Lown, aged only 32, had just won a fourth term with a massive 89% of the vote. He was immensely popular after having worked long hours to fix the city's infrastructure and attending hundreds of community meetings.


But, in a scene of drama that would be hard to top, he sent a text message to a city official hours before a ceremony to swear him back into office. Lown explained he was in Mexico City with the man he loved, and would not be coming back any time soon.


Not surprisingly, some local commentators greeted the news with a degree of hyperbole. "It was, simply put, the most stunning abdication since Edward VIII gave up the British throne for Wallis Simpson in 1936," declared Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle


It left San Angelo officials bemused. At a hastily called press conference they were at pains to point out that Lown had left not because his partner was a man, but because he was illegal. Lown's decision to resign, they said, had been taken because no mayor could be seen to be aiding and abetting someone who had broken the law. "He hopes that the people of San Angelo will respect his decision," said Ty Meighan, the city council spokesman.


Despite the image of Texas as firmly in the anti-gay bible belt, there is a strong chance of that happening. The demographic nature of Texas has changed in recent years. Houston, Dallas and Austin all boast thriving gay communities. Dallas, in fact, has an image as the "gay cowboy capital" of America.


Lown himself seemed to back the view that his decision to follow his heart had struck a chord with the citizens of San Angelo. In a press conference from Mexico, Lown said he had received hundreds of messages of support. He had already personally replied to more than 300 of them. "I am frankly very touched. Touched deeply by all the support of the people in our city," he said.


Lown explained that he and his unnamed partner would shortly be moving to another city in Mexico. There they would embark on the long process of trying to apply for legal residency for his boyfriend, although he admitted that could take years. He said he wanted to come back to the United States but, in the finest traditions of great love stories, he said that he had to follow his heart and try to make things work with the man he loved.


"I had to give this situation the opportunity or I would regret it the rest of my life," he said.



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Gay mayor's illicit love shakes a Texas town

[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]


Gay mayor's illicit love shakes a Texas town

[Source: News Station]


Gay mayor's illicit love shakes a Texas town

[Source: Valley News]

posted by tgazw @ 11:18 PM, ,

CNN's Cooper Spotlights Woman Who Decided Against Late-Term Abortion

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CNN anchor Anderson Cooper conducted a five-minute long interview of Diane Elder, a woman who decided to let her infant daughter live despite her severe genetic defects, during his program on Tuesday evening. The interview came about after Elder wrote Cooper after watching a similar interview he conducted the previous night of Lynda Waddington, a �Spro-choice⬝ blogger for the Huffington Post and RH Reality Check, who decided to have a late-term abortion herself (the anchor did not mention Waddington�"s left-wing affiliations during the interview). (audio clips from the interview available here)

On Wednesday afternoon, the network�"s �SSituation Room⬝ program played an extended clip from the interview, which followed an additional segment with a different parent whose twins were aborted late-term at the hands of murdered abortionist George Tiller. During this second interview, the father of the twins described how Tiller had the two babies �Swrapped up in a baby�"s blanket⬝ and how the abortionist �Sbaptized them.⬝ Despite the two-to-one imbalance in the segments, CNN did at least try to balance the segments with the two supporters of late-term abortion with that of the interview of Elder.

During the interview with Cooper, Elder described her experiences during the four months after she found out that her daughter had Trisomy 18, a severe genetic disorder, and during the half-day that she shared with her daughter, whom she named Angela. Despite all the hardships that she and her family endured, Elder recounted how after her daughter was born, �Swe were very taken aback when we found that, when she was placed in our arms, we were happy. We were- we were incredibly happy. And my husband was with me. A lot of family and friends showed up right after the birth. She was passed around from arm to- from arms to arms.⬝ Cooper dealt with the subject very sensitively, and thanked her for her strength at the end of the interview.

The full transcript of Cooper interview�"s interview of Diane Elder, which began 20 minutes into the 10 pm Eastern hour of Tuesday�"s �SAnderson Cooper 360⬝ program:

ANDERSON COOPER: Diane Elder chose not to have an abortion, even though, medically and legally, she had every right to. She joins us now, and Diane, thanks so much for being with us. You actually sent me an e-mail earlier today because of- of an interview you read that we had on last night. We had a woman on who, in the 20- 20th or 21st week, chose to have a late-term abortion, because her baby had a severe- severe genetic defect. You had a similar situation. You made a different choice. Why?

DIANE ELDER, CHOSE NOT TO HAVE LATE-TERM ABORTION: Because I wanted my baby to have a natural death. I did not want my child to die at my hands. She-

COOPER: What did your baby have?

ELDER: My baby had a- had a syndrome called Trisomy 18, which is a very severe chromosomal abnormality that is incompatible with life. That�"s what -- that�"s the phrase doctors used to me.

COOPER: And you found this out what- at what stage of the pregnancy?

ELDER: I was somewhere in the fifth month of pregnancy.

COOPER: And, obviously, I mean, it�"s devastating news.

ELDER: It was devastating. I found out on Mother�"s Day, and all I can remember is collapsing to the floor, because I had been trying for this baby for a very long time. So, it felt like a cruel- almost a cruel joke to me that this happened. And so, I- I went forward with the pregnancy another four months, probably the most difficult four months of my life. We were prepared for basically a- a monster, because we were told she was going to not have a brain, and she was going to have possibly cleft palate, club feet, and she was born with all those things. She was born missing part of her brain. She had one club foot, one rocker-bottom foot. She had just everything that goes along with that condition, which is- is bad.

But we were very taken aback when we found that, when she was placed in our arms, we were happy. We were- we were incredibly happy. And my husband was with me. A lot of family and friends showed up right after the birth. She was passed around from arm to- from arms to arms. I told the hospital I did not want any extraordinary measures taken, because I wanted what happened to her to be natural. I didn�"t want to try to- to force her to stay alive with needles and tubes, if that would cause her pain and just prolong a very difficult life. But I didn�"t want to kill her either. So, I just decided to completely turn myself over to nature and let it take its course, and the resolution was really a very good resolution. She- she never suffered.

COOPER: How long did she live?

ELDER: Twelve hours. The nurse woke me up at 5 am, and said, ��Diane, I think you might want to get up now. The baby�"s having trouble breathing, and this might be her time, and she put Angela into my arms.

COOPER: You named her?

ELDER: Yes, Angela- Angela Diane Elder, and Angela looked- it was funny, because she was able to make eye contact with me, and it seemed as though she were looking into my eyes. I could hear her breath becoming more and more shallow, sort of a rattling breath, and then she took two large breaths, and then a very large breath, literally sat up, and then fell back, and she was gone. And it was a very difficult moment, even at this time.

COOPER: Do you- do you regret it, looking back on it?

ELDER: Not in one- not one minute of it. She died peacefully, with no pain. The suffering was ours. For two weeks, of course, at least two weeks, really a whole year, we were in mourning for her, as you would grieve over any loved one who dies. That�"s a normal part of life. You can�"t get away from the fact that- that people die and people get sick, and they die. And- but we felt very clean when it was over, and- and as though the situation was- there was closure. There was a resolution, and-

COOPER: Obviously, other women, other families in that situation make different choices.

ELDER: Right.

COOPER: Do you believe that- that women should have the right to make that choice?

ELDER: When a baby is a fully formed, living baby, I don�"t think that, really, we have ever had the choice to- to take a life at that stage. I think that- that�"s a -- that�"s a fully-formed baby. I mean, I think you had some of the pictures up there, and you saw her. She�"s a fully-formed baby. She was born early, by the way. She came out at eight months.

COOPER: And, when you heard about Dr. Tiller�"s death, your thought?

ELDER: Oh, I think that was awful. No one has the right to do that, particularly not someone who considers themselves to be an advocate for life. How can they take another life? It�"s inexcusable.

COOPER: Well, I- I appreciate you coming on and talking about this. I know it�"s not easy, and I appreciate you writing the e-mail to me and- and that we were able to have you on today. Thank you very much.

ELDER: Thank you so much.

COOPER: Thanks. Thanks for your strength.

ELDER: All right. 




CNN's Cooper Spotlights Woman Who Decided Against Late-Term Abortion

[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]

posted by tgazw @ 9:47 PM, ,

Judicial Empathy and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Over at Liberty & Power, historian Paul Moreno, author of the superb Black Americans and Organized Labor, has a long and fascinating post looking at the problems with several previous empathy-driven Supreme Court nominations. As Moreno notes, President Theodore Roosevelt told his friend and ally Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge that it was "eminently desirable that our Supreme Court should show in unmistakable fashion their entire sympathy with all proper effort to secure the most favorable possible consideration for the men who most need that consideration." To that end, Roosevelt appointed progressive hero Oliver Wendell Holmes to the Court in 1902. Here's Moreno on how that worked out:
Roosevelt particularly liked Holmes' opinions in labor cases, for he expressed more sympathy for labor unions than most judges of his day. But TR was mostly interested in Holmes' views on the emerging American empire. Shortly after the Spanish-American War, President Theodore Roosevelt was concerned that the Supreme Court might insist that all constitutional guarantees extended to our newly-acquired empire-in popular parlance, that "the Constitution follows the flag." In 1902, TR sought and obtained a pledge from Holmes that he would not apply this standard. Holmes then lied to the press about his secret meeting with the President. He dutifully voted with the majority in the so-called Insular Cases, which held, for example that the right to a jury trial did not extend to Filipinos or Hawaiian....

For most of his career, Holmes really didn't believe that there were any constitutional limits at all to government power. He advocated the complete separation of law and morality, writing, "I often doubt whether it would not be a gain if every word of moral significance could be banished from the law altogether," he wrote, "and other words adopted which should convey legal ideas uncolored by anything outside the law." He continued, "Manifestly... nothing but confusion of thought can result from assuming that the rights of man in a moral sense are equally rights in the sense of the Constitution and the law." Essentially, he thought that the majority had the power to impose its will on the minority, for good or ill. In 1873 he wrote that "It is no sufficient condemnation of legislation that it favors one class at the expense of another, for much or all legislation does that.... Legislation is necessarily a means by which a body, having the power, puts burdens which are disagreeable to them on the shoulders of somebody else." Holmes himself confessed in 1919 that he had come "devilish near to believing that ‘might makes right.'"
Much more here.









Judicial Empathy and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]

posted by tgazw @ 9:38 PM, ,

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