ACLU mom steps down
The American Civil Liberties Union has jumped feet first in the transgender bathroom controversy, not surprisingly supporting the Obama administration's directive that people should use the restrooms, locker rooms and showers that correspond with the gender they identify with rather than the gender they were born with.
But that policy has caused the leader of the Georgia chapter of the ACLU to quit her position after her elementary school-aged daughters were "visibly frightened" and "concerned about their safety" by the presence of males in a women's restroom.
They asked questions, Maya Dillard Smith said, that "I, like many parents, was ill-prepared to answer."
The ACLU, she said, has become "a special interest organization that promotes not all, but certain progressive rights. I found myself principally and philosophically unaligned with the organization."
Still describing herself as "progressive" and "unapologetically black," she said she hopes to find solutions for the transgender community while "balanc[ing] the need to ensure women and girls are safe from those who might have malicious intent."
As such, a video prepared to go along with a website she created, Finding Middle Ground, features a little girl explaining that she does not want transgender people to be "uncomfortable" but asks, "What about me, too?"
Buttoned-down
How scripted is the Hillary Clinton campaign? Judge for yourself.
Emails between the Democratic presidential front-runner's campaign and South Carolina public schools and colleges, obtained and published by The Associated Press, show her people wanted the last word before her appearances on introductory speeches, questions to be asked and details as minuscule as the type of glassware available.
At Greenville Technical College, for instance, the media relations director rebuffed the campaign's desire "to write your introduction," and its president said it would not allow the campaign to script questions instead of answering the "bad questions" it thought students might ask.
At a high school event, the Clinton entourage wanted to see and edit an introductory speech by a student.
Elsewhere, Des Moines Community College President Robert Denson said he was only too glad to include the campaign's scripted talking points into his introduction.
Asked about the control, staffer Nick Merrill hit the deny button.
"We take pride in Secretary Clinton's ability to answer tough questions," he said. We do not screen questioners at events, nor do we script interactions."
Except, of course, when they do.
Left coast lunacy
The following was actually happening in one of the United States.
In California, a bill called the California Climate Truth and Accountability Act of 2016 cleared two state Senate committees and was on its way to further consideration.
The measure would allow state prosecutors to go after businesses and organizations promoting skeptics of man-made global warming. It would move such heresy into being a violation of the state's Unfair Competition Act and extend the statute of limitations on being prosecuted for such crimes from four to 30 years.
"This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change," an analysis of the bill was reported to read.
The bill, sponsored by Democrat state Sen. Ben Allen, claims there's no disagreement among scientists about the causes of global warming, therefore anyone who disagrees should be prosecuted.
No disagreement? None?
Fortunately, the bill died late last week when the full Senate failed to take it up before the proper deadline.
It's probably a good thing for the state. Opponents would have been lining up to take the law to court.
Controlling the message
Count The New Yorker magazine as another media outlet all in for Hillary Clinton. An original article by Claire Landsbaum titled "Why Hillary Clinton Is Avoiding Press Conferences" was substantially altered recently to make it sound as if the Democratic presidential candidate's decision was a shrewd political maneuver.
For instance, paragraphs quoting her saying "this isn't easy for me" and "I am not a natural politician" and the author's conclusion that the candidate knows news conferences are not her strong suit were deleted.
Another that noted her decision to avoid the press was "strategic" and that it "makes sense for Clinton to wait until after she officially clinched the Democratic nomination" was changed to one that noted "a lack of press conferences doesn't equal a lack of transparency" and mentions positively appearances with (truly hardball questioners) Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres.
From Landsbaum's last paragraph also was pared the phrase that says "her charisma doesn't come through in press conferences."
At the bottom of her article is the magazine "Get Out of Jail Free" card: "This item has been substantially edited since its original publication."
Is it any wonder the cartoons are the most popular things in The New Yorker?