Friday Reads: Heckuva job of supporting our troops, George!

[updated 1:45 pm with new information on Ann Coulter. See Below]

By Diane Silver

For your Friday morning reading, we once again find George W. Bush and friends following the Hurricane Katrina Model of Management -- ignore, neglect and above all turn your back on those you claim to support.

Today's example comes from The New Times and once again involves soldiers injured in Iraq. The Times reports that the quality of disability benefits and when wounded troops get them depend on where the injured veterans live and whether they served in the active duty military, Reserves or National Guard. Sadly, the states with the most troops in Iraq are seeing the biggest problems. Once again the problems appear to be a lack of planning and a failure of compassion.

Also today...

Want to know why it's so hard to meet your bills? Paul Krugman explains the history of the disappearing middle class over at AlterNet.

If you can't afford to subscribe or refuse to pay for Time Select, this is a good opportunity to read the clearest thinking economist I've ever seen. One of the great things about Krugman is that he explains the hows and whys and the oh-my-gawds of economics in terms even I can understand.

Meanwhile, five papers have now dropped Ann Coulter's column. The Human Rights Campaign continues its efforts to get papers to oust Coulter. HRC President Joe Solmonese explains why in a column at The Huffington Post.

Editor and Publisher reports on the The Times of Shreveport, La.. In a note just posted on the newspaper's site, Times Executive Editor Alan English wrote:

"Today we move past the rhetoric and unproductive dialogue offered by Ann Coulter. The Times is dropping her column effective immediately.

"It is her recent 'joke' about John Edwards being considered a 'faggot' that is the back - breaking straw for a decision we've openly discussed for some time."

The entire note is worth reading.

[1:45 pm update: A 7th paper has now dropped Coulter. That's the good news. Her replacement is Michelle Malkin. That's the bad news.]

Finally... The Boston Globe notes that new media give people new power: "People are producing their own newspapers every day."

So they are, and I have.

By the way, the photo is of George W. at his second inauguration. He looks grim doesn't he? Two years later, we all feel grim.

Ann Coulter's mouth & what it feels like to be despised & gay

Andrew Sullivan talks about what it was like to be in the room when Ann Coulter made her "faggot" comment:

I felt the atmosphere personally. It was an ugly atmosphere, designed to make any gay man or woman in the room feel marginalized and despised. To put it simply, either conservatism is happy to be associated with that atmosphere, or it isn't.

Kansas: Ann Coulter & Fred Phelps live at the corner of Bigotry & Publicity streets

By Diane Silver

Another day, another cartoon by The Wichita Eagle's Richard Crowson gets right the heart of the matter.

Not only are Ann Coulter and Fred Phelps two of a kind, but these public bullies might well have an impact on the in-the-face bullies who torment schoolchildren. After all, if it's OK for people in the news to say these things, isn't it OK for someone on the playground?

I'm not talking about the normal taunting everyone faces as a kid. A 2005 study comsissioned by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network showed that the bullying faced by lesbian and gays is relentless.

Three-quarters of students surveyed across America said that over the past year they heard derogatory remarks such as "faggot" or "dyke" frequently or often at school, and nearly nine out of ten reported hearing "that's so gay" or "you're so gay" - meaning stupid or worthless - frequently or often.

Over a third of students said they experienced physical harassment at school on the basis of sexual orientation and more than a quarter on the basis of their gender expression.

Nearly one-in-five students reported they had been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth because of their gender expression.

...The study also showed that bullying has had a negative impact on learning.

LGBT students were five times more likely to report having skipped school in the last month because of safety concerns than the general population of students.

We end our meditation on the big-time bullies like Coulter and Phelps by heartily applauding our neighbor to the north. Iowa's governor just signed an anti-bully bill into law. Let's hope Kansas is next. Tell your lawmaker that you support the anti-bully bill currently in the state Legislature.