Hall of Shame

Well, I alluded to this in my last post, so here it is.  My effort to shine a glaring light on some shameful darkness.  Therefore, I present the following 'Hall of Shame' exhibits:

• Hall of Shame - Intolerance Division:  Indiana gets a law allowing discrimination  - Once this door is open, who knows whatever groups could be targeted next for what is indeed discrimination.  Did Hoosiers miss the memo about the meaning of the Civil Rights Movement?  I wonder if there will be some movement to challenge this or repeal it.  Or maybe boycott Indiana events?  Anyone and everyone involved should be ashamed.  UPDATE:  There are calls to boycott.  But believe it or not, 18 other states have similar laws.  As does the federal government.  Read more here -  the article has a link to a WaPost article about the various states and these laws.
• Hall of Shame - Who's Above the Law Division:  Glenn Greenwald nailed this story of a court case most of us probably have never heard of.  The ruling:  the gov't intervened - in a private and secretive session with the judge - to stop a private lawsuit on grounds of "national security."  We have NO idea of the nature of the 'threat' or even the agency which felt 'threatened' - yes, that's all been made secret.  The DOJ and the judge should be ashamed.
• Hall of Shame - NSA Continued Overreach Division:  Maybe you've heard of CISA.  Beware, though - this sounds like a bad idea.  Trevor Timm reports it's really a surveillance bill.  For more details, you can check out Marcy Wheeler's take on Emptywheel blog.  The NSA should hang up its intrusive snooping in shame. 
• Hall of Shame - Continuing Shame Division: Gitmo.  That place needs to be closed and the detainees either released or charged and given more humane conditions and access to due process.  We've made mention of Guantanamo Diary here before.  Here's another story of a detainee.  The U. S. should stop this continuing source of shame.
• Hall of Shame - Unconscionable Division: Read about a proposal in CA seeking to get to the signature-gathering stage.  I can't bring myself to type the horrible idea it espouses.  I don't recommend reading the comments to the op-ed link, though - I scanned some and some were pretty intolerant.  There is also a link to a previous article - general news about the controversy.  The originator of the petition should be "run out of town" in shame.  I have no idea how anyone could advocate such a petition and still call him or herself a human being.  I really hope a judge quashes it or the AG follows author Thrasher's recommendation.

Now that we've visited the 'Hall of Shame" - maybe we should say a cleansing prayer to dispel the gloom and drive the forces perpetuating such atrocities into retreat:

A Cleansing Prayer

Heavenly Father:
Cleanse our hearts,
Clear our minds,
And purify our spirits;
Show us better ways
Of promoting general welfare
And securing the blessings of liberty for all
Show us more positive ways of relating to one another
So that we may truly walk together on this journey.
Amen.