I’m pleased to report progress against two of the GOP most hateful initiatives, Arizona profiling and Texas textbook distortion.

Justice Department officials told Arizona’s attorney general and aides to the governor Friday that the federal government has serious reservations about the state’s new immigration law. They responded that a lawsuit against the state isn’t the answer. "I told them we need solutions from Washington, not more lawsuits," said Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat. The Justice Department initiated separate meetings by phone and face-to-face in Phoenix with Goddard and aides to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to reach out to Arizona’s leaders and elicit information from state officials regarding the Obama administration’s concerns about the new law. The strong message that the Justice Department representatives delivered at the private meetings – first with Goddard, then with Brewer’s staff – left little doubt that the Obama administration is prepared to go to court if necessary in a bid to block the new law, which takes effect July 29. Goddard said he noted that five privately filed lawsuits already are pending in federal court to challenge the law. "Every possible argument is being briefed," said Goddard, who is running unopposed for his party’s nomination for the governor’s race. Brewer, who is seeking re-election, later said in a statement that her legal team told the Justice Department officials that the law would be "vigorously defended all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

In Terry Goddard’s defense, as attorney general, his job is to defend Arizona’s statutes, whether or not he personally agrees with it. I do not have the slightest doubt that this bill is a direct violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equality under the law to all citizens, not the GOP vision of white-only rights. However, given the record of the current Extreme Court, that ideology takes precedent over the Constitution, I fear they may well ratify this abomination.

The California Senate on Friday approved legislation that sends a clear message to Texas and textbook publishers: don’t mess with our kids’ minds. "My bill begins the process of ensuring that California students will not end up being taught with Texas standards," State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who authored and sponsored the legislation, said in an interview. Texas standards had better not "creep into our textbooks," he said. The S.B. 1451 measure – approved on a bipartisan vote of 25-5 – requires California’s Board of Education to examine and report any discrepancies between the new Texas standards and California’s standards. "At that point," Yee told Raw Story, "we will make it very, very clear that we won’t accept textbooks that minimize the contributions of minorities and propagate the close connection between church and state." California, also a critical client for textbook companies, can counteract Texas’s influence on how books are written for schools across the country. "It’s a warning to the textbooks writers and companies," said Yee, who served on the San Francisco Board of Education earlier in his career and is currently the second highest ranking Democrat in California’s upper house. The Texas modifications – approved last Friday – include elevating the significance of Christianity in the nation’s founding, minimizing the importance of Thomas Jefferson and his framework for separation of church and state, emphasizing "the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s," diminishing the scope of Latino history, and redefining slavery in more pleasant terms. Yee called the changes "pretty disturbing," accusing the Texas board of seeking to "wipe away history" and "rewrite history." School curriculum, especially social studies and history, he said, should be "devoid of politics." America "came into existence because the founding fathers wanted to flee the tyranny of the church over a government," added Yee, who immigrated from China at age three. "That part of the pride and joy of living here – that you’re not dictated by religion."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>