Deborah Lipp

Here’s the whole thing, from Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener:

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

This has been all over the Internet in the past 24 hours. Amazon has “de-listed” hundreds of gay and lesbian books from it’s sales ranks.

Please sign this petition protesting this decision.

Who isn’t?

But seriously, it’s all I hear about. It’s all I read about. The radio has gone to 24-hour-economy. CNN probably has an Economy Logo.

And obviously this is an important story, arguably the most important story right now. But you know what? It’s not the only story.

We’re still at war in two countries, peace has not yet been achieved in Middle East, and the situation in Darfur is still dire. The battle for civil rights continues, reproductive freedom is still being chipped away at, and gay marriage is still not legal in most states. Many Americans lack healthcare, global climate change is an increasing crisis, and there are cute kittens caught in trees right this very moment.

I get it. Economy. But please tell me something else too.

So the Republicans demand changes from Obama in the economic stimulus plan, which he (unwisely) concedes on after reaching out to them, and then they vote 100% against. Because they want tax cuts for high-income Americans. A policy proven, proven I say, to work have contributed to causing a major recession. One hundred percent of House Republicans decided that saying no to economic recovery and standing by failed policies was the essence of party loyalty.

Meanwhile, the Ledbetter Bill passed the Senate, with only five Republicans voting for it, including the only four women Republicans in the Senate (in the House, only 3 of 169 voting Republicans voted yea). On the radio this morning, I learned that Ledbetter’s campaign ad for Barack Obama polled as one of the most effective ads of the campaign, and the single most effective “negative” ad. Which means there 202 Republicans who are so utterly opposed to equal pay for women that they are willing to risk going on record, knowing for a fact that such record has had a strongly impact on campaign results.

They’re toddlers. They’re pouty, foot-stampy, hold-their-breaths-until-they-all-turn-blue toddlers. Our President says “Yes We Can” and they say “No We Won’t!” (And add “So There!”)

I know that the more-intelligent-than-me President Obama has a grand scheme about bipartisanship and outreach and a new era in Washington and all, but I don’t see how an intelligent and fair-minded spirit of bipartisanship can work while the toddlers are having a tantrum. Possibly a time out chair is in order.

Just look.

They can’t stand up to funding Bush’s war in Iraq. They can’t stand up to oppose telecom immunity for illegal spying. They can’t stand up to carte blanche money thrown at the financial industry as a bail-out. But they can By God stand up to Roland Burris being seated as a senator.

I am so proud.