Pause for a brief political posting

I don't do this often, but given all the big political news & events of the past few days, I wanted to pause to acknowledge some developments and also pose a question.

First, good on the Supremes for overturning DOMA.  Marriage equality is a good thing, a logical thing, a sensible, moral, and right thing.  And right on the heels of that, shame on the Supremes for that travesty of a verdict on voting rights. 

Also, yea on Ed Markey for winning our special Senate election.  But boo on Massachusetts for the totally lame 27% voter turnout, which I heard somewhere was the lowest ever.  Lame.  For the record, I voted.  Lucy helped me.  My ballot was number 20 in my precinct/ward.  Also, now we have to have yet another special election.  We're just really, really special here in Massachusetts.

There's much more to say (and many others who have said it more eloquently and before I've had a chance to sit down and really write about it), but the other thing that has really grabbed me in the past few days of news: I couldn't stop watching/following the tweets about Wendy Davis's filibuster in the Texas State Senate.  The point that really got me was that she got in trouble for getting help for putting on a back brace during the middle of her speech.  What struck me was the specificity of the rules that apparently say that the filibusterer must "stand continually without assistance and remain on topic."[I pulled that from one story about the scenario.]

What exactly are the filibusterers required to do and why is their physical ability to stand unaided the thing that makes them filibuster-capable?  Why is standing without assistance the issue?  What if someone is in a wheelchair?  How does that kind of rule square with the Americans with Disabilities Act?  What about those with all kinds of disabilities -- Wikipedia has a nice list of political figures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_physically_disabled_politicians#United_States -- that would make it impossible for them to adhere to these rules?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this, but it does make me wonder.  Back in December, the US Congress failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, even after Bob Dole showed up to speak in favor of it.  It's really, really crappy.  [I realize I'm not getting any marks on the eloquence of this post, but I think you understand what I'm saying here.]

So on that note, slightly trumping my awe of Wendy Davis's righteous standing & testifying, perhaps my favorite news video of the week was this one, of Representative Tammy Duckworth, who was the first female double-amputee from the Iraq war, laying into a guy who is getting a veteran's benefit (preference for gov't contracts) because of the sprained ankle he got himself while in military prep school.  It's really worth watching this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/27/196277555/watch-rep-tammy-duckworth-dresses-down-irs-contractor

Tammy Duckworth and Wendy Davis, thanks for standing up, which doesn't always have to come in the form of standing (though it sometimes does).  As I assume most of my readers know, my Dad used a wheelchair, and while his political position was not aligned with mine, I believe he would also admire these strong women for what they've done (though he might possibly have called them "tough broads," a term I have decided to make peace with).

OK, I'll get back to the usual stuff for the next post.  Stay tuned.  I hope to fit in one more before the end of the month (eek!).