NAACP President Derrick Johnson knocks it out of the park with statement on same-sex marriage

Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson did some excellent work today with his statement concerning the divide amongst African-Americans over same-sex marriage. In short, it's not about morality. It's a matter of equality under the law.

Some excerpts:

Harvard Study: Jackson among most corrupt state capitals

A study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government lays out what many of us living in the Magnolia State know well: Jackson is home to one of the most corrupt state governments in the country. The study (see below) focuses on the relationship between state government corruption and the relative isolation of the state capital from the majority of the state's population. At first, naming Jackson as a leader in corruption would seem to undermine the theory of the study, which is that corruption grows the further the state capital is from major population centers. After all, Jackson is the largest city in Mississippi by far, and sits at the center of the state's largest metropolitan area.

Reading a bit more of the study, you'll see that in actuality, the study is a condemnation of our state's media over the period from 1979-2002. (That's the era from which data was collected for the study.) I have no reason to believe it's improved since then, especially considering that Mississippi's only statewide newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, appears to be dwindling away before our very eyes. Thanks, Gannett!

Facts like these are what animate many citizens, from Tea Party members to good-government Democrats. With the demise of the stalwarts of old media, hopefully new media can do a better job over the next generation informing the populous of what goes on underneath the dome at the corner of Mississippi and Congress in Downtown Jackson.

Of course, they'll have to actually care about what's going on, which is a whole other matter altogether. (The authors of the study appear to think that state capital isolation is what breeds lower education spending, while I can't help but wonder if the two are related at all, and if they are, whether or not that's a chicken and egg problem.)

Here's a link to an L.A. Times article on the study which gives a synopsis, and here's the actual Harvard study itself:

Harvard Study on State Government Corruption

A Memorial Day tribute

The buglers at Arlington National Cemetery:

Sen. Merle Flowers announces resignation

Sen. Merle Flowers (R-Southaven) has announced his intention to resign from the Mississippi Senate.  A portion of his note to constituents is available here.

Rep. Aldridge ordered to repay $218,355 to elderly aunt

Late last summer, news broke that Rep. Brian Aldridge (R-Tupelo) had been accussed of misusing funds belonging to his elderly aunt, Florence Aldridge.  At the conclusion of trial in December, Chancellor Michael Malski entered an order requiring Aldridge's parents to repay $552,000 and Aldridge's charity, Touched by an Angel Ministries, Inc., to repay $140,100.

Florence Aldridge's attorneys returned to court asking that the judge personally include Rep. Aldridge in the judgment.  On Wednesday, this request was granted.  Chancellor Malski has entered an order requiring Rep. Aldridge to pay $218,355 to his aunt.  The Judge wrote, "Brian breached his duty as an officer of Touched By An Angel Ministries, Inc. and is individually liable to Florence."   

Wonder what Jones Walker clients think about Leviticus?

When Rep. Andy Gipson (R-Braxton) is not attempting to reenact the Babylonian Exile at the state legislature, he serves as Special Counsel for the regional corporate defense firm, Jones Walker.  This rather innocuous fact has taken on greater significance in light of Rep. Gipson's interesting homily on homosexuality.

On its website, Jones Walker provides an index of its "Representative Clients," a list that touts some of the more gay-friendly employers in corporate America.  Take, for example, General Electric Company, an organization that has formed a GLBTA Alliance to "attract, develop, and retain gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender employees."  You will also find Chevron Corporation, the first major integrated energy company to include sexual orientation in its nondiscriminatory policies and offer domestic partner benefits to its employees.  The list also includes Sodexo, a leading integrated food company that, in 2009, was named one of the top ten employers for the LGBT community by DiversityInc.  This is to say nothing of those companies on the list who have adopted strong anti-discrimination policies like Devon Energy Corp. or Tulane University, a school with an Office of Muticultural Affairs that welcomes members of the LGBT community to campus.  

These companies may be interested to know that one of their lawyers has gone public with a rather different view on equality and such.    

Mississippi in the news

In case you missed it, Mississippi has been in the news lately.  For those of you who have struggled to keep up, here's a sampling of what folks outside the Magnolia State have been writing and reading about home:

"GOP war on women real and dangerous"
The Rebel Yell (UNLV Student Newspaper), May 21, 2012

"Mississippi GOP Rep. Bubba Carpenter delights that the state's new law closes last abortion clinic, 'Let them use coat hangers'"
God Discussion, May 20, 2012

"Andy Gipson, Mississippi Lawmaker, Won't Apologize for Citing Bible Passage"
Huffington Post, May 19, 2012

"Mississippi GOP Rep: 'Homosexual Behavior' Leads to HIV/AIDS"
News One, May 18, 2012

"Mississippi State Rep Condemns Gays to Death, Claims they Spread Disease"
ThinkProgress, May 18, 2012

"Andy Gipson, Mississippi GOP Lawmaker, Blasts Gays, Cites Bible Passage"
Huffington Post, May 18, 2012

"Mississippi GOP tucks away 'coat hanger' abortion clip"
The Maddow Blog, May 17, 2012

"Phil Bryant, GOP Mississippi governor: Democrats 'one mission in life is to abort children'"
New York Daily News, April 26, 2012

"Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant says left's 'one mission in life is to abort children'"
CBS News, April 26, 2012

Say what you will, Mississippi's making headlines because its Republicans are crazy

"[The Left's] one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb."

"And of course, there you have the other side, they're like 'Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing their own [abortions] with coat hangers.'  That's what we heard over and over and over but hey, you have to have more babies and you have to start somewhere."

"Been a lot of press on Obama's opinion on 'homosexual marriage.'  The only opinion that counts is God's: see Romans 1:26-28 and Leviticus 20:13.  Anyway you slice it, it is sin.  Not to mention horrific social policy."

Leviticus 20:13 reads: "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.  they are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

These are the not the musings of normal, everyday Americans.  They are, however, the widely published statements of Mississippi's Governor, its House Vice-Chairman of Banking and Financial Services, and House Chairman of the Judiciary B Committee, respectively.

Despite what the Republican Party would have you believe, the national attention being given to these remarks is not due to some vast left-wing conspiracy and it's not because anyone put words into someone's mouth.  It's because these words, as they came out of the mouths and computers of the men who spoke and wrote them, are objectively offensive and more than a little looney.

What should give any reasonable Mississippi Republican pause is that three different party leaders on three separate occassions said three different maniacal things within one month.  That's no coincidence.

Expect more "We look like Mississippi" statements anytime anyone anywhere does something nutty until Mississippi's new Republican leadership decides that there are some brands of crazy that even it won't tolerate.

Republicans hit college students twice in May

This month, Republicans in Jackson and Washington appear to be working together to make college less affordable for Mississippi students.

In the budget signed by Governor Bryant this week, Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning will be receiving $2,400 less per student than they did a decade ago.  The Republican budget also moves over $6 million from Mississippi's Universities and Colleges to pay for the state's portion of the Ayers settlement agreement.  These factors played no small part in the college tuition increases approved by the college board earlier this month.

At the same time college tuition is on the rise in Mississippi, Republicans on Capitol Hill are advancing separate proposals that would allow Stafford loan rates to double from 3.4% to 6.8%. 

This is bad news for college students and makes it less likely that Mississippi will be improving these numbers anytime soon. 

     

Rep. Lester "Bubba" Carpenter on superhero abortion doctors and the need for more babies

I'm trying to focus on an oral argument tomorrow, but this was too good to keep to myself.

Rep. Lester "Bubba" Carpenter (R - Burnsville) recently opined about the new restrictions on abortion created by HB 1390, which was designed to close Mississippi's only abortion clinic.  There's some real gems in the video posted below (thanks, Alcorn County GOP, for composing this video and posting it to YouTube).

First, this, beginning at the 41 second mark:

These doctors, y'all, I learned alot about this this session. Three doctors perform abortions in the State of Mississippi. They fly in from Birmingham, they wear a mask to the clinic in their cars so nobody can see 'em, they go in the back door of the parking garage.... (The Alcorn County GOP edited something out here)

Apparently, what Rep. Carpenter learned is that Batman is performing the abortions in Mississippi.  Actually, Rep. Carpenter, if they wear masks, it's because folks like the ones you're speaking to in that room have been known to loose their minds and kill doctors who provide abortions.

And then this, at the 1:27 mark:

And of course, there you have the other side, they're like, "Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing their own with coat hangers." That's what we heard over, and over, and over, but hey, you have to have more babies and you have to start somewhere and that's what we decided to do when this bill came along.

Yeah, screw those poor women.  Who cares about them anyway?  And we "have to have more babies"?!? Why? So you can continue to ignore the poor ones?

Here's the illustrious video: