Attorney General Pushing to Stop Deporation of Genital Mutilation Victim

It has upset me for years that the US government routinely monkeys around with asylum for women who are either victims of genital mutilation or are facing genital mutilation if they return to their home countries. A lot of these women are Muslim or are from various African tribes that use the procedure as a form of control on a woman's sexuality.

It's painful, unnecessary and can sometimes lead to infection or death. If we live in a country that purports to protect the rights of women it seems sick that we would deny shelter to these abused women and girls.

Apparently, and finally, someone up top agrees with me. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is pushing to stop the deportation of a Mali woman who was subjected to this perversion.

The U.S. attorney general is trying to prevent immigration authorities from sending a Muslim woman to her home country, where she was a victim of female genital mutilation.

In a stinging order overriding federal immigration courts, Mukasey blasted a decision that said a 28-year-old citizen and native of Mali should be expelled "because her genitalia already had been mutilated [so] she had no basis to fear future persecution if returned to her home country."

Calling the rationale "flawed," Mukasey sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals with orders to reconsider ...

"Female genital mutilation is not necessarily a one-time event," Mukasey said. He noted that the board in a previous case had granted asylum in to one woman whose "vaginal opening was sewn shut approximately five times after being opened to allow for sexual intercourse and child birth."

He also concluded that the Board of Immigration Appeals was wrong to assume that the woman "must fear persecution in exactly the same form [namely, repeat female genital mutilation] to qualify for relief."

Mukasey had been urged to look into the matter by angered members of Congress in the wake of the January decision.

"This recent action taken by the Board of Immigration Appeals is a step backward for the rights of women worldwide," declared Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, in a January letter.

"Female genital mutilation is a gross violation of a woman's human rights and has traditionally been grounds for the granting of an asylum claim," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, said in the letter.

The woman, a 28-year-old, fears that if she has a daughter her child would be subjected to the same abuse. I seriously hope that she isn't deported. She's had a hard enough time already. Why should we make it doubly cruel by returning her to the people who subjugated her in the first place?

The Sick of Sarah Palin Club: Alaska Chapter

Recently when Gov. Sarah Palin returned to Alaska after being picked as John McCain's running mate she was greeted by 1,400 Alaskans who though McCain picked the wrong woman. While most of America was still falling in love with the self-professed "hockey mom" who is just like us, these individuals, mostly women, felt the need to point out that not everyone was head over heels for the Manchurian vice presidential candidate.

These are from the Alaskan Women Reject Sarah Palin Rally that happened over a week ago.

The woman in the hockey jersey and long, braided ponytails was quite inventive, putting her sign "Hockey Mama For Obama" on a hockey stick. I also enjoyed the new take on the McCain-Palin logo, reckless-inexperienced.

This woman's sign doubles as a weapon. Perhaps she feels the need to be armed with a spiked wooden stake because "Palin is a dangerous northern extremist!" ... and a vampire.

This one reminds me of the flag of the US continental army with the rattlesnake and "Don't tread on me" written on it. Only it's a black crow telling me to "beware of tricksters." Kind of creepy, but I like it.

Palin has a pretty devoted following in Alaska so it's not surprising that a few non-Palin fans feel some folks have spent a little too much time drinking the Palin-aid and trying to convince others it's refreshing and delicious. Carly Fiorina tried the Kool-Aid and wouldn't you know it? It came right back up.

Palin, quite famously, fought the government when they were trying to put the polar bear back on the endangered species list. I don't know if Palin knows this, but we're largely a nation of animal lovers to the point of lunacy, especially if those animals make cute plush toys. I'd love to here her try to explain why she wants to kill Knut's relatives. Seriously. Answer that in a way that doesn't sound heartless to the bear-of-any-kind-lovers in the lower 48. And you don't want to mess with PETA. Those mo-fos are crazy.

They sent Michael Vick to prison over dog fighting. Granted, he was a despised black man, but former Sen. Bill Frist killed some cats and Judith Nathan Giuliani killed some dogs, both in the name of some "questionable" science and serious ass covering. While it didn't "dog" them politically, it would have if either (or their spouse) had ever gotten out of starting gate.

Anyway, Frist's presidential dreams died with Terri Schiavo.

Agreed. Sarah Palin is a lot like Bush in a skirt. Oo! Ooo! What's the difference between Gov. Sarah Palin and President George W. Bush? LIPSTICK!

It's understandable that this kid would point out that Sarah Palin does not speak for him. She doesn't speak for a lot of women and children based on her policies. I don't know where to begin almost. I think the most outrageous was how as mayor of Wasilla the city charged rape victims for their testing kits. As if it weren't hard enough for sexual assault victims to seek help and get justice, now the indignity of being charged for an unspeakable act being perpetrated against them. Palin has backed off from this, even though the state legislature had to create a law to stop the charging. And, shock-shock, Wasilla was the only town doing this.

She should be glad she's on the bottom of the ticket because if she were up top she'd be hanging out with Rudy "One Delegate" Giuliani.

You'd think that "God's will is not a foreign policy," but I'm almost positive "because Jesus told me so" is the Republican Party platform. I still don't know why the Prince of Peace would want to hang out with some contradictory war hawks (I'm almost positive Jesus is a dove), but whatever. Who want's to listen to a Jewish carpenter with a "God Complex?"