Malala Yousafzai is one dangerous teenager. Just ask the Taliban. They thought she was such a threat they put out a hit on her. On October 9th of last year they got to her, severely wounding her in the head. At the time she had been writing a blog for the BBC advocating for the rights of girls to receive an education--one of the myriad of things the Taliban considers un-Islamic. Ms Yousafzai was flown to Britain in order to get specialized medical treatment and in an instant became the face of reason and tolerance--a couple of other things the Taliban aren't too keen on.
The backlash even in Pakistan was immediate and so overwhelming that al-Qaida felt compelled to issue a statement justifying the shooting. They said she was part of an agenda perpetrated by the BBC. The agenda contained the normal hyper bullshit--you know--wars on jihad, Islamic Sharia, yada, yada, yada. The Taliban claimed they didn't shoot her because she was in favor of girls getting an education, but because she was a western spy who opposed the mujahideen and their war. In the statement they failed to mention that since 2009 they had destroyed an estimated 800 schools in north west Pakistan.
Today, on her 16th birthday, Malala Yousafzai addressed the U.N. Youth Assembly, a gathering of young people from over 100 countries. She told the crowd that, "The extremists were and are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them." She also supported free and compulsory education for every child in the world. In addition she said the Taliban was misusing the name of Islam for their own benefit. She received a standing ovation and proved that sometimes the good guys and in this case, good girls do win.
Of course it is a never ending struggle and a dangerous one. The Taliban has issued a statement saying they will kill her if and when they get the chance.
Meanwhile in Texas another group of religious conservatives are set to pass a restrictive abortion bill. This would be the same one that Wendy Davis was able to delay with her herculean filibuster a month or so ago. No such luck this time however. In it's relentless campaign to insert big government into the personal lives and health decisions of women the republican controlled Texas state senate will pass the measure this afternoon. The new law will ban almost all abortions after 20 weeks and limit a woman's ability to induce an abortion with a pill. It will put such draconian new requirements on women's clinics which provide abortion services that Planned Parenthood says it will shut down all but six Texas facilities.
A number of groups have already promised to take the new law into the court system.
Finally NBC is reporting a new Quinnipac poll shows that 49% of republicans disapprove of the way republicans in congress are performing. An identical percentage of republicans believe GOP members of congress are not doing enough to work with President Obama. 32% of democrats don't like the way their party members are handling the national business, while 22% don't believe Obama is doing enough to reach out to the GOP on legislation.
The poll also reveals that when it comes to 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton is the woman to beat. She leads Chris Christie by six points and Rand Paul by 12. Joe Biden on the other hand trails Christie by 21 points, but is tied with Paul.
The same NBC report pointed out it was discovered that Paul's social media director, Jack Hunter was formerly a radio star who was pro secessionist and what they are terming as a neo confederate activist.
I'm not sure what a neo confederate activist is. However, when you make a living on the radio with the moniker, Southern Avenger, talk about how great it was for John Wilkes Booth to kill Abraham Lincoln, preach white racial pride, and oppose all Hispanic immigration it can't be a good thing. Brother Hunter was doing every bit of that shit right up until about six years ago, while making public appearances wearing a mask with the confederate battle flag on the front of it.
Good luck with those minority voters Senator.
And so there we have it. A victory over stupidity, hatred, and intolerance. A loss to those same forces in Texas. Polls, polls, and more polls and last, but certainly not least, a dude on the staff of a United States Senator who thinks the south should secede from the union again.
Who says America isn't great?
7-12-13
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