Holy Freaking Crap!

So Sarah Palin's comment at 9:12 in this liveblog? This one here on YouTube?

HOLY FREAKING CRAP! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?

First of all, how tacky is it to say to a man whose first wife is dead that his second wife's reward is in heaven?

Second, the little head bobby thing there makes the "god bless her" part sound entirely too much like "bless her heart." (Also, the fake-folksy thing makes me want to put on the ol' plantation drawl and get mean. I will not subject you to the drawl.)

Third, uh, no. Her reward is not in heaven, nor is mine, nor is any other teacher's. Our reward is right here on Earth, filling thirty-two seats a day, struggling through a concept and finally getting it, shrieking with glee at winning a trophy at a competition, juggling school and a part-time job and swim team practice and still managing to make it in for tutorials, working through college and sending back an e-mail saying how much easier college algebra was because they had you. That reward is right here, here in flesh and blood, and in all of our futures together. For those Christian teachers, that reward will stay here on Earth and do good after them, for a generation or more, long after they've gone on to their heaven.

Fourth, way to make the church crowd comfortable while making all the rest of us squirmy. I'm sure the thought never entered Palin's mind, but if a teacher's reward were in her heaven, what would the point be for all of us non-Christian teachers?

Grr and arrgh.

Holy Freaking Crap!

So Sarah Palin's comment at 9:12 in this liveblog? This one here on YouTube?

HOLY FREAKING CRAP! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?

First of all, how tacky is it to say to a man whose first wife is dead that his second wife's reward is in heaven?

Second, the little head bobby thing there makes the "god bless her" part sound entirely too much like "bless her heart." (Also, the fake-folksy thing makes me want to put on the ol' plantation drawl and get mean. I will not subject you to the drawl.)

Third, uh, no. Her reward is not in heaven, nor is mine, nor is any other teacher's. Our reward is right here on Earth, filling thirty-two seats a day, struggling through a concept and finally getting it, shrieking with glee at winning a trophy at a competition, juggling school and a part-time job and swim team practice and still managing to make it in for tutorials, working through college and sending back an e-mail saying how much easier college algebra was because they had you. That reward is right here, here in flesh and blood, and in all of our futures together. For those Christian teachers, that reward will stay here on Earth and do good after them, for a generation or more, long after they've gone on to their heaven.

Fourth, way to make the church crowd comfortable while making all the rest of us squirmy. I'm sure the thought never entered Palin's mind, but if a teacher's reward were in her heaven, what would the point be for all of us non-Christian teachers?

Grr and arrgh.

Supreme Court Meme

Ganked from a couple of people, most recently princejvstin:

The Rules: Post info about ONE US Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.)

Griswold v. Connecticut. This 1965 case established that the Bill of Rights implies, even if it never explicitly states, the right to privacy. It overturned an 1879 Connecticut law prohibiting the use of either chemical or barrier contraception. The court voted 7-2 that the law violated an assumed right that dwells in, with, and under the enumerated rights of the Bill of Rights and other Constitutional amendments. Justice Douglas suggested that the right of privacy was an "emanation" from other named rights throughout the Bill of Rights; Justice Harlan pointed specifically to the second, fourth, and fourteenth amendments; Justice Goldberg went where I would have gone, to the ninth amendment (where unenumerated rights are reserved to the people).

Further Supreme Court cases establishing that even unmarried couples had a right to contraception, as well as Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas, are built on the foundation of Griswold,, and if you scratch the surface of the religious "pro-life" groups, even the non-Catholic ones, you'll find that the case they truly think is bad law, the one they really wish to overturn, is not the (admittedly somewhat clumsily written) Roe, but the simple elegance of Griswold itself.

Estelle Griswold is one of my true heroes.

Supreme Court Meme

Ganked from a couple of people, most recently princejvstin:

The Rules: Post info about ONE US Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.)

Griswold v. Connecticut. This 1965 case established that the Bill of Rights implies, even if it never explicitly states, the right to privacy. It overturned an 1879 Connecticut law prohibiting the use of either chemical or barrier contraception. The court voted 7-2 that the law violated an assumed right that dwells in, with, and under the enumerated rights of the Bill of Rights and other Constitutional amendments. Justice Douglas suggested that the right of privacy was an "emanation" from other named rights throughout the Bill of Rights; Justice Harlan pointed specifically to the second, fourth, and fourteenth amendments; Justice Goldberg went where I would have gone, to the ninth amendment (where unenumerated rights are reserved to the people).

Further Supreme Court cases establishing that even unmarried couples had a right to contraception, as well as Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas, are built on the foundation of Griswold,, and if you scratch the surface of the religious "pro-life" groups, even the non-Catholic ones, you'll find that the case they truly think is bad law, the one they really wish to overturn, is not the (admittedly somewhat clumsily written) Roe, but the simple elegance of Griswold itself.

Estelle Griswold is one of my true heroes.