Daily Show on Second Amendment Hypocrisy
In the wake of terrorism in Boston, Jon Stewart chronicles Congressional Second Amendment hypocrisy. Legislators who were unwilling to curtail the Second Amendment in order to combat the scourge of violence in our inner cities (which has caused nearly a million American deaths since 1970) were more than willing to sacrifice other Constitutional liberties in order to combat terrorism (which has caused approximately 3,400 deaths since 1980).
Remembering…or More Importanly… Not Forgetting Sandy Hook
Last Sunday night on 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley interviewed the families of Newtown victims. Although the Newtown families have been successful in pushing for comprehensive gun control measures in Connecticut (which were signed into law last Thursday), they face Republican opposition in the Senate. Republican lawmakers, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have vowed to filibuster any gun control bills that are introduced to the Senate. Yesterday, President Obama spoke in Newtown to make what Politico calls a “last gun control push.” The President stated that a gun control filibuster is just “not right.”
In a star studded video, Funny or Die presents, “Prop 8 — The Musical,” featuring Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Craig Robinson, Lake Bell, Rashida Jones, Kathy Najimy, John C Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Margaret Cho, Andy Richter, and Sarah Chalke. I know that this video is several years old, but in the wake of Hollingsworth v. Perry, it remains relevant. The video runs just over three minutes.
NY Corruption and the Revolving Door
Last night, Rachel Maddow started her show by discussing New York State’s outrageous public corruption scandal. The scandal involves New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, New York City Council Member Daniel Halloran, and four others in an six count complain, which alleges bribery, extortion, and fraud charges.
State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, a former Democrat, allegedly paid off party bosses in order to get on the ballot in the New York City mayoral race as a Republican.
Aside from this blatant corruption, Maddow discussed subtler, routinecorruption–the revolving door between Washington and the private sector. As an example, Maddow noted former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chief Mary Schapir. Schapir, who was tasked with being Washington’s top bank regulator, recently took a job with a consulting firm which advises banks about compliance with SEC regulations.
The video (17:55) includes a brief introduction to the rest of the episode, and the relevant part of the story begins just under two minutes in.
For the FBI press release regarding New York State corruption scandal, click here.
“When Contraception Was a Crime”
Constitutional Law Professor Geoffrey Stone (University of Chicago) discusses the history of the legal battles in the US regarding contraception. The talk lasts 58:04 minutes. However, Professor Stone’s lecture runs approximately 30 minutes (the rest being questions from the audience) and was part of the Chicago’s Best Ideas lecture series.