you tacky thing

Adapted from my friend Cel:

Apparently, Republican VP Nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is “unable to discuss any major court cases” other than Roe vs. Wade.

The rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic, to your blog. (Any decision, as long as it’s not Roe v. Wade.) If you see this, and you think it’s sort of important for the Vice President to be able to intelligently discuss — nay, NAME — more than one Supreme Court case, consider doing this, too! Maybe if we get the info out there, Governor Palin can educate herself. I’m sure she’s terribly committed to being ready on day one.

A case that’s been on my mind quite a bit lately: Loving v. Virginia. This decision overturned Virginia’s “Racial Integrity Act of 1924″ (and my skin crawls even typing that) and affirmed the constitutional right of mixed-race couples to marry.

Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.

The relevance of this case to same-sex marriage is hotly debated. Which is irrelevant, of course, to those who want to amend the U.S. Constitution to forbid same-sex marriage outright. Perhaps that’s why Palin doesn’t consider past court decisions relevant enough to study and remember: She wants to change the document all that dusty old stuff is based on.

Edit: In the interest of fairness, I will link to the the actual clip and note that she was unable to come up with a decision she disagreed with. That one might stump me, too. I mean, Plessy v. Ferguson is sort of a copout since it was later overturned. I could whine predictably about Bush v. Gore, but I couldn’t really speak extemporaneously about the merits of the case. I tend to remember cases that passionately resonated with me rather than ones I dislike.

A recent exchange with a friend reminded me of this piece, which I wrote for my old blog two years ago.

—

Hi, my name is Tacky, and I’m a recovering grammar nazi. (Hi, Tacky.)

It started all the way back in elementary school. I learned to read and write early — before kindergarten, even — and teachers always praised me for the way I spoke and wrote. My sentences were complete and complex from a startlingly young age. My vocabulary was large, varied, precocious. I had little trouble producing the sort of English the adults in my life wanted to hear. Correct English. What they tried to teach other kids, I already knew. When Mr. Stasfurth, my fourth- and fifth-grade teacher, explained to us, “You have to learn the rules of grammar before you can break them,” I swelled with unconcealed pride. I already knew the rules. I was doing English right.

Middle school complicated things. (more…)

Obama’s speech: rhetorically skillful, politically brave, moderately moving and inspirational. I have objections — oh, do I have objections — but they can be set aside for the moment. Senator Obama is first and foremost a capable politician, and he is going to tailor everything he says to his target audience. I am not his target audience. I am not supposed to fall back in awe. I can accept that.

Let’s talk instead about what sparked Obama’s speech. (more…)

Okay, you knew I couldn’t stay quiet on the Ferraro thing.

Sadly, I know I need to preface the following by saying: No, I do not believe that Geraldine Ferraro hates black people. No, I do not believe that Geraldine Ferraro is secretly a member of the KKK. Yes, I’m sure Geraldine Ferraro loves Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and has kissed a lot of babies of color and TOTALLY has black friends.None of which excuses the ass-showing she’s been getting up to lately. (more…)

Young woman: “Women are so catty.”
Me: “That’s really sexist.”
YW: “No, it’s not. It’s just my opinion! We’re all entitled to our opinion.”
Me: “You’re not entitled to the opinion ‘women are catty’ any more than you’d be entitled to the opinions ‘Jews are greedy’ or ‘Hispanics are lazy.’”
YW: “Actually, I’m Jewish and Hispanic, and Jews are greedy and Hispanics are lazy.”
Me: “… Well, at least you’re consistent.”

*headdesk*