The debt ceiling debate has utterly dominated national headlines for the last few weeks now, and with no resolution in sight, the saturation coverage is not likely to let up soon. Believe it or not, though, there are other things going on in politics and national affairs -- important things that haven't gotten nearly the attention they deserve. We thought we'd bring you up to speed on a few of them here: 
 
 [via the Huffington Post] -- A bill signed this week by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) bans abortions after 20 weeks if the fetus is determined to be viable. However, under Roe v. Wade, fetal viability occurs at 24 weeks at the earliest. Ohio is just the latest in a series of states to ban late-term abortions. Since last year, 20-week bans have been passed in Nebraska, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma -- none of which have so far been challenged in federal court. Ohio is also considering a more extreme bill that would ban all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. 
 
 The Obama administration sets the record for number of deportations: 
 
 The Obama administration set a record last year for the number of illegal immigrants forced to leave the country. Huge increases in deportations came from people arrested for breaking traffic or immigration laws or drunk driving, which raises questions about the administration's claims that it is focusing on the most dangerous criminals living here illegally. 
 
 The AP reported Friday: "The U.S. deported nearly 393,000 people in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, half of whom were considered criminals. Of those, 27,635 had been arrested for drunken driving, more than double the 10,851 deported after drunken driving arrests in 2008." 
 
 The mass prisoner hunger strike that no one is talking about: 
 
 Over 400 California prisoners are entering the fourth week of a hunger strike in protest of what they describe as cruel and unusual conditions. The strike, which began at Pelican Bay prison near the Oregan border on July 1., has seen remarkably little national media coverage, despite at its peak spreading to 13 prisons and including 6,600 people. 
 
 The short list of prisoner demands includes more lenient treatment in isolation units and an end to "debriefings" -- lengthy interviews that prison officials use to determine inmates' gang member status. 
 
 A number of prisoners have gone on and off hunger strike in the past weeks, but almost 20 inmates started showing early signs of starvation this week. Despite reports that the strike ended Thursday at Pelican Bay, prison officials at other facilities relay that 500 inmates continue to refuse meals. 
 
 One of the reasons for the scant news coverage may be a ban imposed by prison officials on strikers meeting with the press. Authorities say this is for security reasons. 
 
 Real momentum for the end of DOMA: 
 
 The Senate Judiciary Committee this week held hearings on the "Respect for Marriage Act," which would repeal the "Defense of Marriage Act." DOMA was signed into law under President Clinton in 1996 after passing Congress with a strong majority. It defines "marriage" as a legal union between one man and one woman and holds that no state has to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex that was performed in a different state or jurisdiction. DOMA's repeal would lead to federal recognition of any state's valid marriages, including same-sex marriages from states where they are legal. 
 
 The White House announced this week that President Obama supports the repeal act, and a Senate hearing on Wednesday showcased strong repeal arguments and a healthy dose of political theater. Notably, Judiciary committee member Al Franken (D-Minn.) eviscerated the testimony of a witness from the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, who spoke in defense of DOMA. The video of Franken's take-down got some fast online traction: 
 
 Despite the hearing and White House support, repealing DOMA faces hurdles: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated on Thursday he wouldn’t allow a vote in the House on the Respect for Marriage Act. 
 
 A right-wing think tank may be behind an under-the-radar assault on the EPA's power: 
 
 [via TPM] -- A bill that would strip fundamental powers of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate water toxins passed the House last week and "crept closer to a Senate vote," reported TPM. 
 
 The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 "bears a striking resemblance to several pieces of "model legislation" recently leaked from The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and might be the newest testament to the organization's potency," TPM noted. 
 
 Under the bill, states would no longer be held to federal water quality standards. It would also stop the EPA from blocking new mountaintop removal coal mines in states like West Virginia, pollution from which has been recently linked to "significantly higher" rates of birth defects. 
 
 The Center for Media and Democracy last week revealed documents from ALEC, the Washington-based policy institute that brings Republican lawmakers together with lobbyists and right-wing activists to draft model legislation, that suggest the think tank may have inspired the legislation. 
 
 This bill is unlikely to pass the Senate and the White House has threatened to veto it in any case, but the episode is a sign of ALEC's growing clout on Capitol Hill. ||||| There's a new petition on Change.org to "Let Bert & Ernie Get Married On Sesame Street." The petition reads as such: 
 
 In this horrific age of LGBT kids taking their own lives, they need to know that they ARE BEAUTIFUL and their lives are worth living. Aside from those that are committing suicide, the bullies that facilitate these tragedies need to learn that homophobia is NOT okay. They need to know that acceptance of their fellow human beings would indeed plant a seed of peace that will reverberate throughout the world. We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful. Only that they allow Bert & Ernie to marry or even add a transgender character to the show. It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different. Let Sesame Street and PBS Kids be a big part in saving many worthy lives. 
 
 Okay, sure, we understand where the petition is coming from. And yeah, children absolutely need to be told that they are loved regardless of their sexual orientation, height, weight, sex, and so forth. But a big gay wedding on Sesame Street? Why are we assuming Bert and Ernie are gay in the first place? (Related: Why are we looking at two felt puppets as sexual beings?) Also, we've been told repeatedly by people at the show that Bert and Ernie are just friends! The New York Daily News reports, 
 
 Getting hitched would change things for Ernie, who has long sang about how his bath toy, Rubber Duckie, "was the one." A debate over the sexuality of Sesame Street's most famous duo has dogged the show since Bert and Ernie first appeared in 1969. The puppet pair sleep next to each other and bicker almost as much as a married couple. But the producers of Sesame Street say Bert and Ernie's relationship is purely platonic. "Bert and Ernie are best friends," the non-profit Sesame Workshop said in a statement. "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. "Even though the Sesame Street Muppets ... possess many human traits and characteristics, they have no sexual orientation." 
 
 Right, because these two puppets aren't actually people, remember? Moreover, is it even worth showing a gay marriage to kids if it's not even real? Maybe we should try to concentrate our efforts on allowing gays to legally wed throughout our entire country. 
 
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 Online push for Bert, Ernie to have gay wedding on 'Sesame Street' [NY Daily News] 
 
 Bert And Ernie Aren't Not Married Because Of Intolerance [Videogum] 
 
 Let Bert & Ernie Get Married On Sesame Street [Change.org] ||||| Alyssa Bert And Ernie Shouldn’t Get Married 
 
 Some folks have gotten together a petition on Change.org calling on Sesame Street to have Bert and Ernie get married or for the show to add a transgender character. I’m not sure I have an opinion on the latter, but I’m pretty firmly against the idea that New York’s two most famous roommates should tie the knot. 
 
 If Bert and Ernie were gay, I would be all for them bopping down to City Hall and getting hitched. But the characters aren’t gay. People may want them to be gay, but the Sesame Workshop has repeatedly denied that either character is homosexual and that they are a couple, and I’m pretty firmly in favor of creators’ rights to determine basic facts about their characters. We can debate the specifics of the characters’ portrayal, but if Sesame Street says the pair isn’t gay, it would be a bit odd to force them to get married because we want some role models. Archie Comics’ approach, adding and firmly establishing a new gay characters, makes much more sense than this kind of justice-oriented retcon. 
 
 And more to the point, I think it’s actively unhelpful to gay and straight men alike to perpetuate the idea that all same-sex roommates, be they puppet or human, must necessarily be a gay couple. Having close, affectionate friendships with another man doesn’t mean that you two are sleeping together, just as liking fashion doesn’t automatically flip a switch on your sexual orientation and make you only interested in dudes. Such assumptions narrow the aperture of what we understand as heterosexual masculinity in a really strange way. As much as I write about how narrow depictions of women can be in pop culture, depictions of men may end up being more positive, but that doesn’t mean they’re less limiting. ||||| So, there's this petition going around asking that Bert and Ernie -- yes, the yellow and orange dudes from Sesame Street -- get gay married. You know, like Elton John and David Furnish. Though I suspect if B and E ever did have a wedding, the guest list wouldn't be half as fab, the food would be kind of dry, and the music would be that awful kind that stays in your head for days. (I'll be here all week.) 
 
 The petition, which is coming from Change.org, is asking that the two puppets tie the knot on the show in a "tasteful way" in order to teach kids tolerance of those who are different. 
 
 Great message. Utterly stupid idea. 
 
 Before I unleash my opinions on this matter, you should know that Sesame Street is not going ahead with the marriage. A spokesperson for the show insisted that the pair are simply "best friends with no sexual orientation." They also pointed out that the characters were "created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves." To that, I say, "Amen." 
 
 Anyone who knows me -- or reads anything I write here on The Stir -- knows that I'm all for gay marriage and anything that will aid in tolerance; and am ardently against hatred, homophobia, and fear-mongering. But having Bert and Ernie marry one another is just plain stupid. They're puppets. They bicker, sing songs, and teach kids how to count. They -- and the rest of the characters on the show -- shouldn't be marrying anyone, girl or boy. 
 
 Getting Sesame Street to teach acceptance of different people is a fine concept -- one the show has already demonstrated, and for that, I applaud them. But there doesn't need to be a wedding between two characters in order to do this. Do kids watching the show even know what marriage is? Would they think twice if they saw two men hugging, as opposed to two women? My guess is no. Gay weddings are better served on more high brow shows, where the audience will actually understand the message. 
 
 Although there have been great strides recently in the gay community (yay, New York!), we still have a long way to go before everyone is in complete and total acceptance of homosexuality. And we should do things to try to change that. This, however, isn't one of those things. Because this is just silly. 
 
 Do you think Bert and Ernie should get married? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Image via Sesame Street ||||| Alyssa Rosenberg fights the pop culture pressure for them to get married: 
 
 I think it’s actively unhelpful to gay and straight men alike to perpetuate the idea that all same-sex roommates, be they puppet or human, must necessarily be a gay couple. Having close, affectionate friendships with another man doesn’t mean that you two are sleeping together, just as liking fashion doesn’t automatically flip a switch on your sexual orientation and make you only interested in dudes. Such assumptions narrow the aperture of what we understand as heterosexual masculinity in a really strange way. 
 
 Agreed in principle. But, er, c'mon. My gripe is that I've not just been fighting for gays to have the right to marry for two decades; I've also been fighting for them to have the right not to marry, if they so choose. And that applies to Bert and Ernie.
– An online petition by Change.org to have Bert and Ernie get married on Sesame Street is generating lots of buzz but also plenty of criticism—including from those who support same-sex marriage: Nicole Fabian-Weber, the Stir: "Utterly stupid idea." Why? "They're puppets. They bicker, sing songs, and teach kids how to count. They—and the rest of the characters on the show—shouldn't be marrying anyone, girl or boy." (Whitney Jefferson at Jezebel has a similar gripe.) Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon: "They're close buddies who happen to be lifelong roommates—and in a preschooler's universe this is totally appropriate! It's only in the adult world of defensive, 'no homo' heterosexuality that their cohabitation becomes problematic and laughable." How about we push for more gay celebrities to appear on the show "and leave the absurdity of debating puppets' sexuality to the homophobes." Alyssa Rosenberg, Think Progress: "If Sesame Street says the pair isn’t gay, it would be a bit odd to force them to get married because we want some role models." Also: "I think it’s actively unhelpful to gay and straight men alike to perpetuate the idea that all same-sex roommates, be they puppet or human, must necessarily be a gay couple." Andrew Sullivan, Daily Beast: "My gripe is that I've not just been fighting for gays to have the right to marry for two decades; I've also been fighting for them to have the right not to marry, if they so choose. And that applies to Bert and Ernie."