I said that President Obama should step up and denounce the proposed legislation in Uganda. What better place to do it than at the prayer breakfast that is organized by “The Family” (the group with ties to those sponsoring the legislation in the first place.
Tonight America saw a leader, someone who didn’t just run to what his party wants in the face of political defeats. We saw a president who doubled down on the bipartisanship he called for when he ran for President.
In the start of the debate (and towards the middle) he did make a point of reminding everyone that the horrible economy we are currently facing was inherited by Obama and not created by him and that any short term deficits created by the recovery act was needed to make sure to plug the hole in this economy.
The mention of the recovery act reminded me of my drive to MD recently. I drove through MS and AL, conservative states with GOP governors that publicly opposed the stimulus bill. Of course this did not stop them from accepting funds to improve the infrastructure (like highways) and erecting signs taking credit for spending the “recovery money”.
Obama also called out the GOP members who scoffed at the idea that the spending freeze wouldn’t take place until next year, reminding them how their jobs work and the spending bill that they pass will take effect in 2011.
But criticizing the GOP was not the focus of the address. Obama focused on truly calling for bipartisan solutions on how to fix the problems we face.
On healthare, he stood firm on the need to pass reform, but called on others to propose alternatives if they had them.
On energy, not only did he push for his clean energy bill, but he welcomed drilling offshore for oil and gas, manufacturing safer nuclear power plants, and developing clean coal technology.
Of course, the GOP stood for all the things they want in energy legislation, but sat down for what they didn’t want. I guarantee you that if Obama puts up a clean energy bill that includes drilling for oil and gas, developing clean coal, and building safer nuclear power plants, that the GOP will STILL vote against it. Why? Because they just do not want to pass anything that Obama can claim a political victory on… even if he comes halfway and gives them what they want when it comes to policy.
Obama could pass healthcare legislation that includes tort reform and all the other things they want and the GOP would still vote against it.
So while Obama is making the call for bipartisanship, I am not sure there is any GOP Senator with the integrity to answer that call and do what is right for America. And if they do not answer that call, perhaps it is time to drop the carrot and use the stick.
Finally, Obama called for the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell” because as he said earlier, what is right isn’t always what is popular. Why people who want to risk their lives to defend our country should be forbidden to do so because of who they have relationships with is beyond me. Of course, Obama has been slow on pushing equal rights for our GLBT citizens so I will believe this call for increased equality when I see action on it.
The GOP response was, of course, full of crap. Health insurance can already be sold across state lines. What the GOP proposes is to allow insurance companies to circumvent state laws by basing themselves in a home state with easy regulations and having the customers who purchase those policies in other states fall under the jurisdiction of the state the insurance company is based in. That just makes no sense.
What I didn’t hear from the GOP is proposals that show they will come halfway.
And it is obvious the Governor of VA has not read his constitution in a while. The fifth amendment applies to all people, whatever the crime, and not just citizens. If we start picking and choosing who gets due process, the terrorists win.
A final thing to point out is that we had a minor Joe Wilson moment tonight. It was not as loud or disruptive as Senator Wilson was last year but I do not recall seeing what I saw tonight in past addresses.
When criticizing the ruling by the Supreme Court giving corporations the ability to spend unlimited funds supporting or opposing any political candidate, Activist Alito visibly shook his head and said that it was “not true”. I do not recall ever seeing any member of the SCOTUS do anything but sit there. They never stand, they never clap, and they never respond to anything that is said. They just sit there like 9 little statues. That is, until tonight. I guess his ruling wasn’t activist enough and he needed the American public to see his activism.
The State of Maine is currently one of the few states that allows for equality in marriage by allowing same sex couples to obtain civil marriage contracts. However, if the religious right has their way (as they did in California with prop 8) that will all come to an end.
So I am calling on everyone to do what they can to help the “vote no on 1” group get their message spread so they can fight the idea that we as a nation should treat people who are gay as second class citizens. If you live outside of Maine you can make contributions or volunteer to make calls to get out the vote. Just spreading the word is helpful.
And if you are a straight person who supports equality for your fellow humans who happen to be gay, consider buying this shirt to help spread the word.
Just in case you haven’t seen the story about the interracial couple that was not allowed to marry in Tangipahoa parish…
But check out this quote:
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.
“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” Bardwell said. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it.”
Really? I hope someone reminds this genius that the President of the United States of America was elected with a large majority of the popular vote and a landslide electoral vote. SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE ACCEPT CHILDREN FROM INTERRACIAL COUPLES QUITE WELL IN OUR SOCIETY YOU MORON! And it really doesn’t seem like President Obama is suffering much.
I hope that Bardwell loses his job and that his children (if anyone was stupid enough to breed with him) marry interracially. However, I think the appropriate statement to make is a quote from the late great Ashley Morris: FYYFF!
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/interracial-couple-denied_n_322784.html
A common chant in LGBT pride rallies is “We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used to It!”. Well, I was thinking about what a straight person might shout at a rally in support of LGBT rights. I quickly came up with an answer!
“I’m straight! It’s Great! I dont hate or discriminate!”
Someone else liked it so much that he wished someone would make a bumper sticker. I did him one better. I made a bumper sticker and a t-shirt and they are available at the LJ4a Store now!
Vermont is now the 4th state to approve gay marriage and the first to do so with their legislature. And not only did the ban pass their legislature, they also overturned the veto of their Governor to make it happen!
This gives me hope that one day we will have a government that actually treats all people as equal.
Gay marriage is now legal in Iowa because the ban on safe sex marriages was overturned by their Supreme Court.
Hurray for equal rights!
Update: The Supreme Court of Iowa said:
“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective… The Legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”
Exactly!
Supporters of Proposition 8 wanted to keep the list of donors to their cause public because they were afraid that they might be harassed for their views. However, their quest to keep their names secret failedand we can all know who contributed to this campaign (as we all know who contributes to every campaign).
Who do these people think they are? Do they think that they are above the law? Why are they such cowards? I mean, one would think that if they truly believed in what they are saying that they would be proud to declare their support for proposition 8.
Here is a hint to those pro-prop 8 people. If you don’t have the integrity to stand up and declare your support publicly for an issue, then perhaps you have other things to worry about other than preventing gay people from signing a civil marriage contract.
The pick of Pastor Rick Warren has caused an uproar amongst Obama supporters, especially gay rights activists, because of Warren’s extremist conservative views on gay marriage and abortion. Ironically, Warren is also getting blasted for his participation in the Obama inauguration ceremony.
The problem here is this. As an Obama supporter I knew that Obama was not perfect and had flaws. One of those flaws was his view on gay marriage (a flaw that all major Democratic candidates shared). Unfortunately, many Obama supporters got so caught up in the idea of Obama and getting rid of Bush and Republican rule of our nation that they failed to come to terms with the difference that Obama has with them.
Take for example Joe Cutbirth who says in I voted (twice) for Obama and Apparently I Lost:
Rick Warren’s selection is a thumb in the eye of every lesbian and gay citizen of this country, and an insult to kind and decent Americans who believed that Obama’s presidency was the beginning of a new era in our history.
I am as loyal a Democrat as they come, but I am saying right now, today, publicly, on the record, that this is so troubling to me - and frankly to a lot of other people, gay and straight - that I will not vote for Obama in 2012, if I do not have the right that day in whatever state I am living in this country to marry the person I choose.
Forgive my bluntness but this is just dumb. Imagine if Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin gets the GOP nod in 2012. Is Cutbirth really saying that he would vote for either of those two extremists over Obama? Or is he saying that he would just stay home or vote third party, helping Jindal or Palin get elected? Again, this is another example of some Democrats and their willingness to cut their noses off to spite their faces.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am vehemently against proposition 8 and support true equal rights for homosexuals, including them getting the same label to their civilly recognized unions that heterosexual couples have. And I am not saying that people should not be critical of Obama. I will be one of the first to be critical of Obama when he is wrong (and I am openly critical about his stance on gay rights).
What I am saying is that instead of being so darned emotional about your candidates, that some people really need to stop, breathe, and think about this issue for a moment. What effect does Obama picking Warren have on policy? The answer is nothing. Barack Obama has made an overture to people that he disagrees with (something he promised to do in his campaign, if Mr. Cutbirth paid attention to that) and he did so without having to sacrifice anything relating to policy. The more Obama reaches out on symbolic issues to the religious right, the less he has to do so on policy issues while still looking bipartisan.
And perhaps, just perhaps, if Obama shows a willingness to listen to the other side… maybe some people on the other side will return the favor. Imagine that.
Update: After an email exchange with Mr. Cutbirth I feel rather secure that he would not support either Jindal or Palin for President. And he just wants to see the leadership support the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (understandable). The one thing I just don’t understand is that he seems to want to hold Obama to supporting gay marriage as a condition for him supporting Obama in the future. However, Obama never promised to support gay marriage so holding him responsible for doing something he didn’t say he would support seems a bit odd. This just goes to show you that even people who agree on many issues can still have major disagreements.
While each and every person who voted against gay marriage on election day should be ashamed of themselves, the 70% of Black Voters in California who voted against gay marriage should be doubly ashamed.
Many pundits have said that the reason the black voters voted the way they did is because those who supported the “vote No on Prop 8″ position did not take the time to do some outreach in the black community. I disagree with that idea wholeheartedly. If there is any group that should not need to be told that voting to discriminate a group because they are different is wrong, it is the black community. No black person should ever have to be told “discriminating against someone who is in the minority is a bad thing”.
