WTF Friday: Colorado Edition

Sometimes there's nothing better to say about a news story than "WTF?!" This is one of those times.

This past week, after Colorado racist Republican Tom Tancredo jumped into the CO governor's race (running under the American Constitution Party), Republican candidate Dan Maes reacted by unearthing - gasp - a truly WTF-inspiring smear campaign against Democratic Candidate and current Denver mayor John Hickenlooper.

Maes says that Hickenlooper's support of B-Cycle, a pilot program that provides about 400 bicycles for Denver residents to use for free to travel the city is evidence that he is "converting Denver into a United Nations community," whatever that means. He insists: "This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed...This is bigger than it looks on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms."

The Huffington Post says it best: "So, in other words, Dan Maes is deeply, unquenchably crazy."

(going on in Maes' head right now)

Sidenote: Tancredo's entry into the race (which will likely split the conservative vote) combined with Mae's emerging craziness is making things look pretty darn good for Hickenlooper.

Damn Straight! (No Pun Intended)

One of the tough things about being in a targeted (discriminated-against) group is that when law after law takes away your rights or ignores you completely, you get used to disappointment. I wasn't particularly looking forward to the Proposition 8 court decision being handed down today. After the nervous months leading up to the Prop 8 vote in California in 2008, then the months of disappointment when it passed and took away the right of same-sex couples to marry, and then the long, five-month trial and deliberation period when Prop 8 was being challenged, I didn't know what to expect.

I was honestly surprised to hear today that the federal judge hearing the case declared Prop 8 unconstitutional, saying that it violated both the equal protection and due process rights clauses. Combined with the ruling from a Massachusetts judge in July that said that the federal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act = defines marriage as one penis + one vagina) is unconstitutional, it looks like queer folks' rights are actually on an upswing right now.

No doubt the Prop 8 case will go all the way to the Supreme Court soon, and will have a lengthy deliberation there as well, but the facts and reason have been clearly laid out in this case. (The pro-equality lawyers successfully argued that there is no "rational basis" for preventing same sex couples to marry; see the whole decision here.) We can only hope that love triumphs over hate once again and freedom and equality get a little bit closer to actually being the law of the land.

Ugh, Target. So disappointing.

Today at my Education Coordinator job, I needed to shop for school supplies for about 50 people. After checking in our warehouse for donated and reusable folders, pencils, etc. I realized I'd have to buy new notebooks and additional pocket folders. I will not take money, even my workplace's money, to Walmart, so I settled on Target. I've been avoiding Target lately too, since Inga Muscio opened my eyes to the connections between shopping at big-box stores, including Target, and supporting modern-day slavery.

But, hey, it wasn't Walmart. And I did find some really affordable items that will now ensure that my students have the school supplies they need. I picked up a couple of items out of my own budget while there, too.

Then, I come home to this little gem of information in my email inbox, courtesy of MoveOn.org:

"Target, the retail giant, just became one of the very first companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate cash in elections.
Target has spent over $150,000 in the Minnesota Governor's race backing state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right Republican who supports Arizona's draconian immigration law, wants to abolish the minimum wage and even gave money to a fringe group that condoned the execution of gay people. "

Really, Target? Gross. I immediately signed the petition being sent to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafl telling him that I won't shop at Target again until they stop trying to control US Politics by buying elections. Then I just felt icky and sad for spending money there this very day.

While I knew that it was only a matter of time before companies started using their Supreme Court-given "right" to donate unlimited sums of money to political campaigns, but I thought better of Target. I suppose it's only a matter of time before more corporations show their stripes.