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[wombat]

This is why we need to keep this board alive. We need a tiny corner of decency on the internet where we can get away from Facebook and its ilk for a moment and restore our faith in virtual humanity.

[pmcd9]

This is why we need to keep this board alive. We need a tiny corner of decency on the internet where we can get away from Facebook and its ilk for a moment and restore our faith in virtual humanity.

Hear Hear!

[AugustWest]

Ditto!

I didn't get a harrumph outta that guy...

[miles]

Inev, she's in jail because she ignored a federal judge's order, not because of her principles.  She's free to walk out of jail any time she wants -- all she has to do is agree to follow the law of the land or resign as county clerk.  We are a country of laws, and SCOTUS is the final arbiter of what those laws mean.  As a government official, it is her job to implement and enforce the laws as interpreted by the courts.  She does not get to substitute her beliefs, no matter how sincerely held, for the law of the land.  Even if I agreed 100% with what she believes (which I absolutely don't) I would agree that jail is the right place for her right now.  She's not being punished for her beliefs, she's being punished for ignorning the law as a government official.

As a law talking guy in the state of Kentucky, do you think there's any weight behind her claim that the certificates issued while she was imprisoned are invalid?

[AugustWest]

As a law talking guy in the state of Kentucky, do you think there's any weight behind her claim that the certificates issued while she was imprisoned are invalid?

Not really, no.  They were issued in accordance with Kentucky law by duly authorized deputy clerks.  She may say that those deputies were acting against her instructions, but she doesn't really have the authority to refuse a marriage license to someone who legally qualifies for one, and therefore doesn't not have the authority to instruct her employees to deny them.

[miles]

Not really, no.  They were issued in accordance with Kentucky law by duly authorized deputy clerks.  She may say that those deputies were acting against her instructions, but she doesn't really have the authority to refuse a marriage license to someone who legally qualifies for one, and therefore doesn't not have the authority to instruct her employees to deny them.

That's kinda what I thought. I mean, what's worse to the right, judicial or clerical activism? But every report I heard on her release mentioned that she and her attorney reiterated that claim, so I began to wonder if a county clerk in Kentucky has more authority than other places.

[Carlos del Vaca]

One of my more conservative FB friends posted recently that she dislikes Colin Kapernick and other football players kneeling for the national anthem, because she "associate(s) it [the anthem] with respecting the flag and those who fight for it and whose coffins are draped in it when they are brought home fighting for our country."

Now, there's a whole discussion to be had there about the meaning of the protest. But her interpretation of what the national anthem is all about relates to my "patriotism is overrated" theory.

If she wants to associate the national anthem with our troops, and particularly those who died in the line of service, that's all well and good. Is it right for her to suggest that everyone else should think the same things about the national anthem she does? Is there a particular guide to what exactly the national anthem should mean to all citizens?

I just know "Why do you hate dead soldiers?" is cheap rhetorical bullshit.

[pmcd9]

Is there a particular guide to what exactly the national anthem should mean to all citizens?

The anthem itself is about how the flag gave hope to soldiers who survived a siege. So there's some validity to the honoring the soldiers line of thinking. It's also about how slavery is awesome or something like that, but we don't sing that part anymore. Maybe if we did people would better understand Kepernick's protest.