On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy bought a first-class ticket for Covington on the East Louisiana Railway, and found himself a seat. That night, he found himself in jail.

Plessy, seven-eighths Caucasian by the standards of the day, had boarded a Whites-only coach. The keen-eyed conductor, empowered by an 1890 state law, asked Plessy to move to a Colored coach on the same train. When Plessy refused, the New Orleans police were called in to haul him away.

Violating the law carried a $25 fine or twenty days in jail.

The case we know as Plessy v. Ferguson reached the Supreme Court in 1896. Justice Henry Billings Brown, writing for the 7-1 majority, argued that the still-fresh 13th and 14th Amendments — one abolishing slavery, the other guaranteeing all citizens “the equal protection of the laws” — had no bearing on the matter at hand:

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Finally, some fresh air on the torture issue:

“I think it’s important to also know that this is the law, this isn’t a policy.”

Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, laying out clearly the Obama Administration’s plans to prosecute the architects of the Bush torture program, which violates international treaties and federal—

Hold on. He’s actually shooting down the Obama Administration’s plans to continue indefinite detentions without appeal to habeas—

Oops, we’re sorry. He’s really talking about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Never mind.

Mullen: Military to comply if gay ban law changes [AP/TPM]

Image: 21st Century Filth

“The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South’s decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built.”

–from the homepage of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Sons of Confederate Veterans [Wikipedia]

Flag controversy may derail Homestead Veterans Day parade [South Florida Times]

Flag Feud: Confederate Veteran’s group upset over parade exclusion [Ironton Tribune]

Will President Obama Send a Wreath to Confederate Memorial at Arlington? [ABC]

Image: Dead Federal soldiers on Battlefield – Gettysburg, PA, July 1863 [CivilWarPhotos.net]

Let’s start out by granting that Nicolas Cage Barack Obama gave a commanding speech at the National Archives yesterday, expressing in welcome detail the national-security challenges he faces and the means he intends to address them.

And then let’s dwell on what he didn’t say.

Briefly: Barry, unlike Harry Reid, is not frightened by Carmina Burana. Rather than succumbing to fear-mongering on Guantanamo, he disposes of those political tactics decisively.

Which makes it even more disappointing that he implicitly endorses another nefarious Republican line: couching his disagreement with the Bush torture regime as a policy difference.

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While everyone gets excited about today’s dueling national-security speeches from Barry and the Dark Lord, we’re left bewildered by a (fleetingly) secret meeting Barry held yesterday with leaders of law-and-order groups.

And by “law and order,” we mean the usual suspects: human rights and civil liberties organizations.

You know, folks devoted to the ideals and traditions of the Constitution and the rule of law. Or, as they’re known in today’s political environment: left-wing extremists.

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As long as it doesn’t land, we figure we’re safe.

Tuesday Joyride! [Cynics Party]

Just when you thought it was safe to resume fucking pigs, the swine flu is back. Not that it went away, but once we realized it wasn’t going to decimate the world population by week’s end, we got distracted by iPhone Myst.

Swine flu remains a “phase 5” threat, somewhere between contagious yawning and Black Death. Under World Health Organization rules — which some nations are challenging because it would be a bummer — if the flu spreads just a little more, we’ll have a grand old pandemic on hour hands.

The problem is that the virus isn’t following God’s Plan for weeding the garden of humanity. CDC guidelines, for example, cover typical settings like hospitals, nursing homes, and day-care centers. Nobody expected high schools to be the cesspools of Armageddon:

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