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Hey Juan Williams, “You Are
Black, I am Afraid”
Article first published as Hey Juan Williams, “You Are Black, I am Afraid” on Technorati
What if a white person had uttered those words to Juan Williams? Would he be as adamant about freedom to express opinion? Has he forgotten that not so long ago, he would not have been allowed to even utter his opinion?
Freedom of speech is one of the things that makes America great. Another thing that was great about America, I thought, was that we cared about people, no matter where they came from, what their religion was, what color their skin was, or what their personal views were. We respected people. Or so I thought. Maybe I’m wrong. Having the right to do or say things doesn’t mean those things should be said or done.
We’ve come to a place in today’s society, where the things that shock or hurt people the most have become the “in” things to do. We no longer treat people the way we want to be treated. We do things that will garner the most attention, and unfortunately, that no longer is the moral thing in most cases. Well, I guess it depends on whose morals you base that on. MY morals say that you don’t say hurtful things to people just because you can. My morals say you don’t attack people on the basis of their religion or the way they look.
We all have opinions, some are good and some are bad. We’ve probably all have had thoughts about a situation or a group of people at one time or another that wasn’t so pleasant. No one is perfect, however no one has to say hurtful things either. I couldn’t imagine what it is in today’s society to be a Muslim American. I would feel like I’m under siege in my own country. And yes, this country belongs to Muslim Americans too.
To Juan’s credit, he didn’t stereotype all Muslims, as some have done recently. He didn’t say he was afraid of ALL Muslims. Today we are able to use soundbites and snippets, however, that people can use to turn a statement into whatever we want it to be. Ask Shirley Sherrod.
What Juan did was give just enough to extremists, and there are extremists on all sides, to further persecute a religion and a group of people. He added fuel to the fire. That is what surprises me about him. No matter where his political views lie, I would think that whatever his ethnic makeup is (I don’t know because he looks black but his name is Juan so he could be Hispanic,) he would be a little more sensitive to the effect words can have on a group of people, positively and negatively.
If he is ever walking down the street, and someone of a different ethnicity, culture, or religion crosses the street and clutches his/her wallet or purse a little tighter, I hope he simply smiles, and remembers that what goes around really does come back around.
HIV-positive muppet to star in
Nigeria’s ‘Sesame Street’
- “Sesame Square,” Nigerian version of popular children’s show to feature host of new muppets
- The golden-furred Kami is a girl-muppet who is HIV-positive and has a taste for adventure
- Zobi, an ageless blue muppet is obsessed with yams and is constantly getting into trouble
- $3.3 budget funded by United States Agency for International Development
(CNN) — Big Bird and the Cookie Monster have some new friends, but they’re a long way from “Sesame Street.”
One of America’s best-loved children’s shows, which began life on a fictional New York street over 40 years ago, is about to land in Nigeria under the title of “Sesame Square” — bringing with it some distinctly West African twists.
The show stars Kami, a girl muppet who is HIV-positive, has golden hair and a zest for adventure; and Kobi, an energetic, furry, blue muppet whose troublesome escapades help others learn from his mistakes.
In a country with a population of over 150 million — where, according to the CIA World Factbook, nearly half are under the age of 14 — the show will address some of the biggest challenges faced by young people in the region: AIDS, malaria, gender inequality, religious differences — as well as many positive aspects of Nigerian life. In the case of Zobi, this is characterized by an obsessive love of yams — a staple food in the Nigerian diet.
“We have a very focused health and hygiene umbrella concept area that we’re concentrating on,” Naila Farouky, senior director of international projects at Sesame Workshop, told CNN. “This is something our local advisors have prioritized — something that absolutely has to be addressed on the show.”
In one episode, Zobi gets tangled up in a mosquito net, much to the amusement of the local kids. But there’s an important message behind the antics — mosquito nets are the best way to prevent infection from malaria on a continent where, according to the World Health Organization, a child dies from the disease every 45 seconds.
There are also an estimated 278,000 HIV-positive children in Nigeria, according to the National Agency for Control of AIDS.
However, like its American predecessor, “Sesame Square” is not solely focused on health and social issues, but a host of essential learning skills.
Farouky told CNN, “The thread of the show continues to be about basic life skills — literacy, numeracy and pre-school education.”
–Naila Farouky, Senior Director, Sesame Workshops
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind “Sesame Street,” received a $3.3 million grant to produce the show for five years, from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and President Barack Obama’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief.
So how did the producers go about adapting such an iconic show for a Nigerian market?
“If we’re writing scripts for programs in Nigeria, the writers will be Nigerian scriptwriters,” explains Farouky. “We’ll often look for people who already have some experience in writing, but because we’re aware [of] the format that we use and the methodology that we use, we’ll provide training on how to write.”
According to Farouky, collaboration is at the heart of the production process. “We work with our local teams to find ways in which we take the content that’s important to them, to infuse the project with the cultural values, making sure we know which the taboo issues are and which are not,” she told CNN.
Farouky recalled how, when making an Egyptian version of Sesame Street called “Alam Simsim,” the character of Oscar the Grouch was firmly rejected on grounds that he glorified living in a garbage can — something at odds with the cultural values of the region. Were there any similar issues in the making of Sesame Square?
“Our program is hosted by two muppets, a boy and a girl,” she told CNN. “And because there is an entire region in Nigeria up in the North which is very Muslim, we had to be very sensitive. Even our publicity pictures could not have the muppets hugging, which we would normally have,” she explained.
Roughly a quarter of households in Nigeria own television sets, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, which will inevitably limit the scope of its reach. However, the Sesame Workshop has used a significant proportion of its funding to produce additional learning materials, and is examining ways that it can use radios and mobile phones to help promote the messages in the show.
“[The material] has been developed in a way so it could stand alone, to reach out in communities where there is no broadcast,” Farouky said. “So even if a child is not able to watch a television show, they would at least be able to make use of the outreach material.”
Although the first adaptation to reach West Africa, “Sesame Square” will be the latest in a long line of region-specific shows around the world, which include “Sisimpur” in Bangladesh, “Ulitsa Sezam” in Russia, and “Takalani Sesame” in South Africa.
Women On the Move, a non-profit organization that focuses exclusively on creating a positive, inspiring and culturally diverse environment that encourages women to make things happen, announced today its targeted radio programming, has surpassed more than 10,000 downloads in just five months. The company, which is one of the fastest growing women’s social media niche brands, currently has three branded segments – “Minding Her Business,” showcasing women business successes, “The Round Table,” with top women in industry discussing issues and politics, and “Worth Reading,” profiling authors and books from politics to cookbooks. The shows have included women and men from top organizations around the nation, celebrities, Washington insiders and noted business leaders.
“Women On the Move has a very strong and dedicated community of women who work to expand our mission of empowerment,” says Founder Leslie Harris. “To date we have well over 10,000 active members through our Facebook page, Twitter.com/womenonthemove1, our website, MyWomenontheMove.com and our radio programming, which is hosted on iTunes and airs on BlogTalk Radio. There are numerous ways to get involved and network and we continue to rapidly grow.”
Women On The Move’s radio show has interviewed top celebrities including Roger Bobb, supervising producer of Tyler Perry Studios, Rob Hardy Director/Writer/Producer of RainForest Films, Rebecca Shambaugh, author of “Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton,” and Deborah Gregory, author of the Cheetah Girls and Catwalk, just to name a few.
“We are in the process of working out scheduling for Donna Brazile and have a wish list of Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, Desiree Rogers, Susan Rice, Angelina Jolie, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Glen Beck, Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Mary Matalin, James Carville and Jesse Jackson,” adds Harris.
Harris recently announced a new initiative brand “Let’s Talk,” a web portal covering politics, business, entertainment and shopping. “Let’s Talk brings current issues, trends, topics and gossip all together in one place and encourages lively debate. Our classified inventory is nearly full and we’re actively selling digital advertising for each of our segments, our newsletter and our radio programming.
Women On The Move provides women with ways to empower themselves to reach their goals. To learn more, visit MyWomenontheMove.com, Twitter.com/mywomenonthemove1, Facebook or BlogTalkRadio – Women On The Move.
BlogTalkRadio is the largest and fastest-growing social radio network on the Internet, with more than 12,000 active hosts and millions of listeners tuning in and joining the conversation each month. Many businesses also utilize the platform as a tool to extend their brands and join the conversation on the social web.
The Wussification of American Kids
Which mom out there contacted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) about the dangerous Fisher-Price brand high chair that scratched your child? There were 13 of you so fess up. We moms want to know where you found the time to go up against government bureaucracy and red tape in order to make sure that no other child endured the kind of scratch or cut that your child tragically suffered.
Fortunately, you were able to alert the authorities and set into motion a national recall of 950,000 high chairs in the U.S. I definitely feel better already. According to the alert from the CPSC, “Children can fall on or against the pegs on the rear legs of the high chair resulting in injuries or lacerations.CPSC and Fisher-Price are aware of 14 reports of incidents, including seven reports of children requiring stitches and one tooth injury.”
High chairs that can scratch are just the tip of the iceberg. Now, and perhaps not so surprising, the CPSC is debating the safety of children’s science kits and whether the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 would require the additional testing outlined in the Act. A “children’s toy” is defined by the Act “as an item primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.” Science kit manufacturers need a waiver so that they are not required to extensively test general household items in the kits like paper clips, rulers and rubber bands. Recently, the commission denied the waiver in a 3-2 vote, which would force the manufacturers to make kits only for teens.
Tell me again why America is behind in education? Do we really need to test paper clips? Without testing them, I know they can be swallowed (choking hazard), they are sharp when extended (eye poker outer), they can be thrown (resulting in swelling), they can be inserted into an electrical outlet (electrocution) and they can be pushed up any kid’s nose if they feel the urge. Does that mean we take away all paper clips? Lumping together real dangerous baby items with items that can be dangerous to a child with an imagination has done little for improving our children’s critical thinking skills. Sometimes we just need to let them learn from stupidity to make sure they don’t end up dying from it when they’re older and things are more dangerous. I still remember with fondness my father’s constant admonitions, “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you some kind of a nut?”
Ahh, the good old days.
Bishop Eddie Long: ‘This thing I’m going to fight!
By Craig Schneider and Shelia M. Poole
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bishop Eddie Long faced his congregation and the media this morning at 8 a.m. for 20 minutes to address allegations he took advantage, sexually, of young men who at the time were looking to the preacher for friendship and guidance. He also briefly spoke at a 10 a.m. press conference and is holding an 11 a.m. service. Below is a live, minute-by-minute report by AJC reporters and photographers on the scene. See photos here. Read the full AP story here.
WSB TV Crowds throng New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia on Sunday morning.
Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com A steady flow of traffic heads toward New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia on Sunday morning. Bishop Eddie Long was set to face his church members during the service, after lawsuits were filed this week by four young men alleging he coerced them into having sexual relations.
11:25 a.m. It is standing room only at New Birth’s second service of the day. The main sanctuary is packed.
11:20 a.m. Through her spokeswoman, attorney B.J. Bernstein — who represents the men suing Long and did not attend the services — said she would have no comment on Long’s remarks Sunday morning.
11 a.m. New Birth’s second service has started. The service is currently live on the web at the New Birth Web site. Officials are not allowing media access inside the church for the second service and they won’t say if they expect Bishop Eddie Long to say anything different at the 11 a.m. At the 8 a.m., he came to the pulpit at 9 a.m. and spoke for 20 minutes. Scroll below for details.
10:20 a.m. For the 11 a.m. session, media will not have the same access, according to officials at New Birth. Media credentials will be relinquished. Officials won’t say whether the service will deviate from the 8 a.m. service, which was streamed live on the web and shown live on television.
10:08 a.m. Bishop Eddie Long’s press conference was brief. He did not take questions. His wife was at his side. Here’s what he did say: “On the advice of counsel, I am not going to address the allegations and the attacks. I want this to be dealt with in the court of justice not the court of public opinion. I am going to fight. Fight very vigorously. Things New Birth has stood for … we will continue to do.” Video.
10:07 a.m. Bishop Eddie Long at the podium addressing the media. Reiterates that he will fight the allegations.
10:04 a.m. We’re at the press conference and will have details and photos soon. Keep checking back for the report. Channel 2 Action News will also broadcast live if you’re near a TV.
9:39 a.m. There is a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Check back for updates. We’ll have a transcript of Long’s talk.
9:23 a.m. Long spoke to the congregation for about 20 minutes. He did not specifically deny accusations, but he made it clear he would fight the allegations he took advantage, sexually, of young men who at the time were looking to the preacher for friendship and guidance. Long acknowledged the media and perhaps others who were tuning into the service, either live on TV or from the live stream from the church’s website. “Good morning to all our other guests,” he said. “… I do want to remind. We’re here today and every Sunday morning. And I’ll be here next week.”
9:22 a.m. “I am not going to try this case in the media, it will be tried in the court of justice and decided in the court of justice. Please hear this: I’ve been accused. I’m under attack. I want you to know as I said earlier I am not a perfect man. … But this thing I’m going to fight. I feel like David against Goliath, but I’ve got five rocks and I haven’t thrown one yet.”
9:21 a.m. “I have never in my life portrayed myself as a perfect man, but I am not the man being portrayed on television That’s not me. That is not me.”
9:15 a.m. “Without a doubt there are painful situations in life that are inescapable. About painful situations … We can control our response to them. You can curse it, and allow the situation to make you bitter … you can nurse it. You can rehearse it or you can reverse it … and allow the situation to make you better. … Somehow and someway we will become better. … We are going after the lost … and some of you who came here that think I’m lost … there will be an opportuntiy for you to come down here to the altar.”
9:11 a.m. This is also live on Channel 2 Action News TV and web cast from New Birth.
9:10 a.m. More from Long: “This is difficult for everybody. This is probably the most diffucilt time in my life. Want to talk to you about how to handle painful and difficult situations. And start with scripture from Psalms 34:19. Y’all did know I was going to use my Bible today. I was just going to take a few moments. But I gotta talk to my family.” Long reads: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord dilevers him out of all of them. Above all this church, the church of the living God and all that is precious and holy at this moment.”
9:08 a.m. More from Long: “My first responsibility is to my family.This an extremely difficult time for me and for my family. It’s extremely difficult for you. [People] called you and asked you questions. You aint never got this many phone calls in your life. It’s a time when you see the veil dropped and you see who’s with you and who’s not with you. As a pastor I want to help everybody. “
9:07 a.m. “This is an extremely difficult time for me.” “… a time when you actually see the veil dropped and you see who’s with you.”
9 a.m. Long is at the podium. He takes off his glasses. Waits for applause. Walks around. Waits. Music kicks in. A good two minutes now gone by. “Good morning New Birth. Good morning to all our other guests. And I would be remiss not to say good morning to the rest of the world. I do want to remind. We’re here today and every Sunday morning. And I’ll be here next week. First of all let me thank you on behalf on my wife my family for all of your support and prayers. We are certainly humbled by such a loving congregation. I realize many have been waiting on me to say something.”
9 a.m. Long is in. Big response from congregation.
8:50 a.m. Scratch that last report. Channel 2 is now saying the Internet feed — which you can access at New Birth Web site — will stay up when Bishop Eddie Long addresses his congregation. AJC reporters are also in a media room outside the hall but within the church and they will report on Long’s address.
8:45 a.m. Channel 2 Action news is reporting that New Birth will definitely cut feed before Long speaks.
8:45 a.m. New Birth officials are checking on the ambulance. They will not say when Long will address the congregation. There is a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m., so it’s presumably before then. Inside the church, Bernice King is speaking, talking about giving money to church.
8:40 a.m. The live stream is showing a video of Bishop Eddie Long’s visit to South Africa. We’re still not sure whether New Birth will cut the feed before Long speaks live to address allegations.
8:30 a.m. A fire truck and ambulance just entered the grounds with lights going. No word on what it’s about. We’ll check.
8:18 a.m. The service has started. Plenty of music. Long has not appeared. There is still a steady stream of cars arriving. Access to live streaming video at New Birth or Channel 2 Action News.
7:56 a.m. The live stream of the service is on. Crowd is starting to get excited. Music is playing, man on stage is singing Hallelujah. People are standing, pumping their fists.
7:40 a.m. 20 minutes until Bishop Eddie Long is supposed to address his congregation. At the front of the church, people are gathering near the front of the stage, clustered together — some slightly swaying.
7:30 a.m. There is a steady flow of traffic heading into New Birth now, but no significant backups at the church’s entrance on Woodrow Road in Lithonia. Outside the church grounds, there are three media tents and at least five satellite trucks. Channel 2 Action News is broadcasting live and will be updating the story during their Sunday morning newscast.
7:20 a.m. Just a quick heads up on this morning. Long will speak at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. services and will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. We’ll have reports throughout the morning. You can also follow the AJC Twitter account.
6:45 a.m. Parishioners are already filing into New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia to hear Bishop Eddie Long. Long talked to supporters in conference call Friday, telling them that he was “under attack.” But his comments were vague and he didn’t take questions because of the pending suits. “We will arise through this situation, and go forward, and we are moving forward,” Long said, according WGLC-TV which monitored the phone call. All other responses to the graphic allegations in the suit have come through a spokesman or his lawyer; Long denies the allegations against him.
- Vino Wong and Christian Boone contributed to this report.
I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!
The Policeman vs. the Nurse
By TARA PARKER-POPEWhen Miriam Leverington, a cardiac nurse in Colorado Springs, was stopped for speeding, she grumbled to the police officer.
“I hope you are not ever my patient,” she reportedly told him.
What happened next has become a topic of widespread debate in Colorado and on the blogosphere. The police officer, Duaine Peters, complained to the hospital where Ms. Leverington worked that her comment amounted to a threat, suggesting she might give him poor care should he ever become her patient.
The hospital fired the nurse, and now the nurse has countered with a lawsuit. She says she was merely exercising her right to free speech — and expressing her hope that she never see the policeman again.
The case is now being decided by a federal appeals court, but raises the question of whether nurses and health care workers should be held to a higher standard than other workers.
The Gazette in Colorado Springs is taking its own online vote, and so far more than 70 percent of respondents agree the hospital had a right to fire the nurse.
What do you think? Should someone be fired for talking back to a police officer outside the workplace? Are the rules different if the person is a health care worker?
GOP AGENDA TO INCLUDE SOCIAL ISSUES!
An election year agenda being unveiled by House Republicans Thursday will include language affirming the party’s support of “traditional marriage” and its opposition to abortion rights, House GOP sources tell POLITICO.
The document, to be unveiled at a hardware store in Sterling, Va., will include “a commitment to life and a commitment to marriage,” one source said.
Two other sources cautioned that the language on marriage is likely to be in the preamble to a series of legislative goals and that an effort to put a bill along the lines of the Defense of Marriage Act into the package was rebuffed.
House Republicans had a spirited debate behind closed doors about the degree to which social issues should be included in the new agenda, and social conservatives have been pressing for the GOP to be more explicit in putting social issues in writing on this 2010 agenda.
Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), winner of a 2012 presidential straw poll at the recent conservative Values Voters conference, led the campaign to ensure social issues would not be ignored. Some others believed that the plan should focus more narrowly on fiscal and security issues that unite a broader swath of the GOP.
The decision to at least affirm opposition to abortion and gay marriage appears to represent a compromise between the factions.
House Republicans will be able to review the new agenda this afternoon, after which they will discuss it at a conference meeting. Republican leaders will unveil it to the public Thursday morning.
Conservative advocates debated the social versus fiscal divide in Tea Party and GOP circles at a Family Research Council symposium Friday, headlined by The New York Times’ conservative columnist Ross Douthat.
Douthat said the Tea Party movement, though aimed at cutting government size and spending, is electing candidates that are just as socially conservative as they are economically conservative – whether it be Joe Miller in Alaska or Christine O’Donnell in Delaware.
“In many cases, if you look at Tea Party voters, they are the same people, the same constituents who tend to be the most supportive of pro-life measures, the most opposed to gay marriage,” Douthat said. “It stands to reason that, in a time of massive economic dislocation, a time of massive expansion in government spending that the American public would shift its focus more toward specifically economic issues and the battle over health care.”
Fiscal conservative Lawrence Reed of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) said Americans have lost the character the nation was founded on – a character that included respecting people and life – but that he thinks economic conservatism has to come first to fix the country.
“If you politically win on all the economic issues, you could lose on all the social ones and still have an avenue as a social conservative to advance what’s important to you,” Reed said. “When there’s a smaller government, families, individuals, private, voluntary organizations and churches have a bigger role. It’s on the strength of those institutions, not mandates from the government, that allow for a healthy culture to blossom.”
Social conservative Bob Patterson of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society thinks Americans must focus on social issues first, and that’s the main difference between social and fiscal conservatives. He said economic conservatives have traditionally been a lot better than social conservatives at furthering their interests, though.
“They [economic conservatives] are far more strategic than are social conservatives at driving the policy agenda,” Patterson said. “After 30 years of pushing our issues as social conservatives, we have very little to show for it. If we were a business, we would be bankrupt.”
Douthat said it’s ironic that there are so few differences between social and economic conservatives and that they are fairly tightly linked.
“There’s a reason for this so-called fusionist case, that free markets depend on stable families,” Douthat said. “I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that even if social conservatism and economic conservatism, broadly speaking, go together, in individual segments of society and individual people and individual politicians and individual populations, they’re often split apart.”
Douthat said social conservatives have to speak up more to get heard in Washington.
“It’s like what Winston Churchill said about Democracy: ‘It’s the worst system except for all the others,’” Douthat said. “The same is true of capitalism and social conservatives need to be willing to point that out.”
Patterson agreed that social conservatives need to speak up more but added that they need to reshape their political image in a more positive way.
“Social conservatives are known more for what they’re against, homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, pornography, than what we’re for: lifelong marriage, the natural family, a thriving social sector in civil society and the elevation of children over the desires of adults,” Patterson said.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OBJECTS TO COURT ACTION ON “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL”
- The government says ending the policy immediately is “untenable”
- Group that went to court to stop “don’t ask” says it is “extremely disappointed”
- The White House says the Obama administration remains committed to ending the policy
- The administration wants that to be done by Congress
Washington (CNN) — The Obama administration is objecting to a request for an immediate halt to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy after a federal court ruled that the policy barring gays from serving openly is unconstitutional.
The government calls a worldwide cessation of the policy “untenable,” saying an injunction should be limited to the plaintiff, the gay political group Log Cabin Republicans, and members who it claims are gays and lesbians serving in the military.
The government also states that an immediate termination of the 17-year-old policy may pose a threat to the military.
“A court should not compel the Executive to implement an immediate cessation…particularly at a time when the military is engaged in combat operations and other demanding military activities around the globe,” the government said in a court filing.
Thursday was the government’s deadline to respond to an injunction proposed by the group that filed the original suit.
The Log Cabin Republicans asked U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to immediately repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the United States and everywhere the U.S. military operates worldwide.
“We are not surprised by this but we are extremely disappointed with the Obama administration. Many times on the campaign trail, President Obama said he would support the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Now that it’s time to step up to the plate, he isn’t even in the ballpark,” said Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement, “This filing in no way diminishes the President’s firm commitment to achieve a legislative repeal of DADT — indeed, it clearly shows why Congress must act to end this misguided policy.”
Gibbs added, “the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have both testified in support of repeal. And the Department of Defense continues to work on a plan on how to implement repeal.”
Judge Phillips, a 1999 Clinton appointee, ruled earlier this month in California, that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law violates the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. Phillips will now rule on the injunction but a specific timeline is not set.
The response comes just two days after a failed attempt by Senate Democrats to pass a defense spending bill that included a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
On Friday a federal court judge is expected to rule on a closely watched case in Washington state, where an Air Force major was dismissed for being a homosexual.
Maj. Margaret Witt, a flight nurse with 20 years of service, was honorably discharged in July 2007 on the grounds that she had a six-year relationship with another woman, a civilian.
The lawsuit seeks to reverse the Air Force decision to discharge Witt.
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