Domestic Parter Allowed To Travel As”Gay Spouse” On Military Aircraft

~~~~

When I got home from work in the morning (yesterday morning) I cooked up some meat to make tacos for dinner, Dawnell finished it up when she got home. After that, I tried to go to bed but couldn’t get to sleep. I took one of the sleeping pills and fell asleep but woke up two hours later and then dozed on and off for another 4 hours until Dawnell got home. So work last night sucked and I was very tired. Today when I get off, I have a doctor appointment so that will take up my morning time, after that hopefully I will get some sleep before the boys come home from school. Once they get home, I am usually screwed if I want more sleep since they are always coming into the room to ask me something, tell me something or accuse the other one of doing this or that.

We watched “Session 9” tonight, it wasn’t as good as I was expecting, although you did see some of the inside of the Danvers hospital. I thought it would be better than that from what people had written about it.

They said it may rain tomorrow. I guess it is time for me to take the plow blade off the lawn tractor and to put the cutter blades back on it so I can get ready to start cutting the grass again. I know once I do that, we will get a blizzard or something and I will be out there moving snow by hand which will suck.

~~~~

NADER NEWS

Ralph Nader collected enough signatures to get on the ballot in Hawaii and New Mexico. Signature collections are underway in Arizona where 40,000 signatures are required. Next it’s Kansas.

~~~~

BUSH BOMBS ON NATO

Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback Wednesday when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership in the Western military alliance.

The decision, to be made final on Thursday, was sure to be cheered by Moscow, which heatedly opposes NATO’s eastward expansion.

In another sign of discord, Greece blocked Macedonia’s request to join the 26-nation alliance because of a dispute over its name. Only Croatia and Albania will be invited as new members.

It was a sour outcome for Bush at his final NATO summit as he sought to polish his foreign policy legacy. Instead, he wound up sidetracked by opposition and splits among European allies. It was a result that was foreshadowed by public statements from France and Germany but Bush nevertheless put his prestige on the line and even made a stop in Ukraine on Monday to argue his case.

Bush was counting on the summit to strongly endorse plans for an anti-missile shield in Europe despite once-heated objections from Moscow.

~~~~

GAY PARTNER LABLED AS “SPOUSE” BY HOUSE SPEAKER

The Pentagon at first blocked Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s domestic partner from traveling on a military plane with a congressional delegation on a trip to Europe but gave in after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intervened.

The Pentagon said it was merely following House rules, which do not define domestic partners as spouses. Pelosi’s office countered that the Pentagon has its own rules about who can go on its planes.

Both sides agree that Defense Secretary Robert Gates reversed the decision to keep Azar off the plane after getting contacted by Pelosi.

“It’s a matter of fairness that spouses should be allowed to go, and she is Ms. Baldwin’s spouse,” said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly. He said that Baldwin had raised the exclusion with a colleague, who mentioned it to Pelosi. The lawmakers visited France, the Czech Republic and Poland last month.

Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat and openly gay House member, declined to talk about the incident, which was first reported by the political newspaper Politico. Azar, a Madison energy law attorney who serves on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

The Pentagon still has in place its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bars gays from serving openly in the military. But that had nothing to do with this case, said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

“This is strictly about following our statutory guidelines and the House rules,” he said.

Morrell said that Pelosi asked Gates to honor her decision to waive House rules to allow Azar to travel and that Gates asked her to put that request in writing.

“She did so, and he — in this one case only — agreed to it,” Morrell said. “This is not a precedent by any means. This does not open the doors for life partners to travel on congressional delegations.” But Gates has agreed to review future requests, Morrell said.

Daly said that both the Pentagon and Pelosi had to issue waivers.

In her letter to Gates last month, Pelosi wrote that she was using “the waiver authority inherent in the speaker’s travel policies to authorize the travel of Ms. Lauren Azar to accompany Representative Tammy Baldwin on a congressional delegation scheduled for the March congressional work period. I request that you in turn use your waiver authority to facilitate Ms. Azar’s participation in the delegation.”

~~~~~

“And one thing we want during this war on terror is for people to feel like their life’s moving on, that they’re able to make a living and send their kids to college and put more money on the table.”

–George W. Bush, interview on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Jan. 16, 2007

~~~~

292 Days Left
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring
Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central
Command: 4480

It’s more than just a number

©2008 Ted's Soapbox 2.0. All Rights Reserved.