ATTN: People Blaming Obama for the Arizona Immigration Law Being Stopped
Yes, the racist Arizona law was blocked. It’s all over the news. And people are already blaming Obama for it. WTF?
Here’s the facts. The law was blocked by a Federal Judge, not Obama. Her name is Susan Bolton. Who is Susan Bolton? Someone who has lived in Arizona for quite a while. Someone who has been in the judiciary for quite a while. Someone who has been described – by conservatives and liberals alike as “fair and thorough”. Someone’s Federal judgeship was spearheaded by REPUBLICAN Sentator John Kyl of Arizona. In 2000, under President William J. Clinton.
So STFU already about activists judges and blaming Obama for this!
Why the public should never be allowed to vote on civil rights
You would think in this day and age, that people would understand our past. As the saying goes, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And so the going happens with gay marriage.
Most people don’t see the parallel between interracial marriage and gay marriage. They claim they are two very different things, though the arguments for one have been used for the other. Religious intolerance was used to fight against interracial marriage for decades, and that same religious intolerance is used today against gay marriage. But here is one truly concrete example of why voters should not be allowed to vote on a civil rights issue.
The election of 2000 was contentious. I mean, everyone remembers the outcome in Florida, and how it dominated the news cycle meant that an important Alabama race went unnoticed. Here’s a little excerpt from USA Today:
Did you read that right? ONLY 59% of Alabama voters approved to remove the invalidated interracial marriage laws. That means 41% of the Alabama voters wanted to keep the discriminatory laws on the books, even if they were invalidated and couldn’t be enforced. Here’s the voting breakdown (the percentages are rounded):
So here, literally, is a black and white example of why voters should never be allowed to vote on civil rights.
Another slam from the DCCC
The old saying, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?” comes to mind when I recently dealt with the DCCC. You see, I took the “Don’t Ask Don’t Give” pledge from AmericaBlog.com. It means that I will not give money to the DNC, DSCC, or the DCCC until I think that there is actual movement on GLBT issues. We need the Obama Administration to stop comparing gay marriage to incest and pedophilia. We need Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repealed. And we need the Employee Non Discrimination Act passed. These aren’t hard things to do. But 18 months into the Obama Administration, it appears that Dick Cheney was better on GLBT issues than Obama.
I got a phone call from the DCCC on Friday, asking me if I stood with Nancy Pelosi, and if I did, would I donate to the DCCC to continue Democrats in making progress. I REALLY wish that I recorded this conversation, it left such a bad taste in my mouth.
The conversation started like normal. I let the guy speak for a minute, and when I got time to respond, I told him about the “Don’t Ask Don’t Give” pledge. He asked why. I told him all of the basic reasons, but stressed on the gay marriage being compared to incest and pedophilia. The guy LAUGHED.
I said, “Excuse me?” and the guy continued to laugh. He then giggled through a “thank you for your concerns” and hung up. It was INFURIATING. Like I need any other reason not to give to the DCCC.
This whole thing reminds me of the time the DCCC sent out emails calling supporters “Slackers”.
UPDATE: I just talked to the DCCC. They outsource the fundraising to another company, and they’ll be investigating what happened last Friday.
What is wrong with the media?
Okay. So yesterday we had primaries. Lots of them. And what is the definition of a primary? It’s that several republicans run for one office, and the one with the highest vote count is chosen. And several Democrats run for one particular office and the one with the highest vote count is chosen. That’s what a PRIMARY is.
So tell me. WHY the F*CK is there a headline out there this morning that reads as this one does?
This is just irresponsible. Demanding change? If you look at the races, the ONLY people that were in the “establishment” that were kicked out was one single Republican Governor, the Governor of Nevada. I mean look at the headline right below that one! “Incumbent Lincoln wins runoff over Halter”. And look at the image – it is a Senator Lincoln supporter!
This is beyond ridiculous!
Union bashing at 35,000Feet
It is absolutely no lie that unions are what built the backbone of this nation. Happy to have child labor laws? Paid time off? Workers rights to safe working conditions? Thank a union. And the airlines are actually a largely unionized group, with mechanics, flight attendants, pilots, and the like. Unions are good for the common man, which doesn’t make it surprising that corporate greed is at the heart of airlines pushing for anti-union rules. After all, they are for-profit corporations that think more of corporate profits than customers or their workers.
It would not be so bad if Airlines didn’t rely on the government so much. Subsidized tickets for rural travel? Free money from the government. 9/11 occurred, and the airlines went to the government for bailouts. Most pilots trained in the Air Force. You know.
So next time you airlines want to bad mouth unions, think again. If you want the public to keep traveling, they have to have good, well paying jobs. Union jobs.
Palin’s Latest
Reposted from sister blog BuryingTheLead.com
Tell me something. Have YOU heard about Sarah Palin’s latest word-mastery? No. And hardly anyone else has, either. Frankly, it’s beyond words. She basically wants American law to go back “the way it was – how our founders intended”. And what is that? Based on a CHRISTIAN God and the Ten Commandments.
Hard to believe she would say something so bad. Yes, she’s playing to a certain base, but most of the people in the United States recognize the separation of church and state. Besides. Do people really want to be able to sell their daughters into slavery, give up shellfish, and stop having to wear mixed fabrics?
I need to turn this video into something viral. Suggestions?
Boycotting Arizona – to make it hurt!
Reposted from BuryingTheLead.com
By now everyone has heard about the new Arizona law that allows racial profiling – basically it’s a crime to be brown-skinned in Arizona. And cops can decide who and what to do about it. PAPERS, PLEASE!
Of course there are talks of boycotting Arizona, and the predictable “1,000,000 against Arizona’s new law” type groups on Facebook. But there is one group that is actually doing something – and it may just work.
You see, back in 1993, Arizona decided it would not recognize the new Martin Luther King, Jr holiday. And as such, the NFL pulled out the Superbowl from Arizona. That hurt. It was a big black eye, both tourism-wise, and money-wise. They lost a lot of money because of that. Well turns out that the 2011 MLB All Star Game is going to be in Arizona next year. That pulls a lot of tourists, and a lot of money. But the MLB Players Association wants to do something about that.
Having a large number of Hispanic players – and players from outside the United States – the MLBPA put out word that it objects to the Arizona law, and is calling for a boycott, and the 2011 All Star Game to be moved. This could work. This could REALLY work. Hitting people in their pocketbooks sometimes is the only way to do it.
Thing is, ALL sports need to join in, both condemning the law, as well as boycotting Arizona. My sport of choice, ice hockey, is represented by the just-ousted from the playoffs Phoenix Coyotes. Wouldn’t it be huge if the NHL said that it would boycott Arizona? If the NBA and NFL, and then other smaller organized sports like the WNBA and MLS followed suit? Sports make money. And depriving Arizona of money would make that message loud and clear.
So let’s hear it. The NHL is made up of 80% foreign nationals. Many other leagues are similar. So let’s boycott Arizona. Let’s make it financially HURT!
Quick note about ads
After years, we finally succumbed and put ads up (the upper right hand side of the page). Here’s the thing. They should be contextual – but either way, politically. We had a “Nation for Marriage” ad that was up against New Hampshire Governor Lynch, chiding him for – among other things – signing the gay marriage bill in his state. Ads cost money. And if it’s one thing I’d love to do, it’s draining money from bigots and haters.
So if you see an ad – particularly one for a Republican, against a Democrat or Progressive, or especially against gay marriage or other progressive causes – CLICK IT. It costs them money. Every click times thousands of ads will drain their coffers.
Reasons for the LGBT community to worry – part 2
Wow, it didn’t take time for the other shoe to drop. Not six hours after my first post on why the LGBT community may have a reason to worry comes a new reason to wonder what the LGBT community has coming to them from the Obama White House. This one is more subtle than a threat.
Obama, Gov. Tim Kaine, and the DNC put together a 2010 Strategy video for 2010, and lists the groups that they are counting on for help and support to get through the 2010 elections – hoping that they are not like the 1994 mid-term elections. That’s all fine and good. Except that the LGBT community is NOT on the list.
This is a pretty bold move on the part of Obama, Kaine, and the DNC. The LGBT block is both affluent and loyal. By leaving them out, Obama is saying he doesn’t want the support nor assistance. Yes, he is basically acknowledging that he has thrown them under the bus, and is not going to work on extracting them.
So President Obama, if you want it that way, fine. Interesting, but stupid, strategy.
Here is the video for anyone interested in watching.
Underneath the talking points lay hate
Reposted from sister blog BuryingTheLead.com
There is something to be said about the Republican party starting with the 2008 election, and that is their connection to violent speech. Everyone remembers Palin’s comments during the 2008 election cycle where she claimed Barack Obama “palled around with terrorists“, and the fact that she didn’t denounce hate-speech shouted out from the audience. Even before that, the Republican Party was filled with nothing but intolerant people.
Well it hasn’t changed in the last few years. Palin, Beck, and company are still saying some crazy things, and they are still inciting violence. Anyone who doesn’t connect Palin’s SarahPAC and the image of Democratic Congressional districts with gunsights over them and Palin’s “Don’t retreat – reload” Twitter comment and the inciting of violence, frankly, has their head up their ass.
The inciting of violence from Republicans against those not like themselves is truly nothing new. Think back to the man who burst into a Tennessee church and shot and killed complete strangers “because the church was liberal”. He had hoped to start a trend, so that people would take out liberals, gays, and the “100 people screwing up America” list by right-wing author Bernard Goldberg.
Well it may not be that far fetched to think that Joseph Sean McVey, age 23 of Ohio, was a fan of Palin, Beck, and Goldberg. Why else can you explain why Goldberg had a car modified to look like a police/security vehicle, and showed up – armed – at the airport that Air Force One and President Obama had just departed. What’s the most chilling aspect of the story? When asked what he was doing, McVey said he heard Obama was in town and “wanted to see him”.
There are two Facebook groups out there that say it all. “I didn’t like George Bush, but I never wished him dead“. It has under 1,000 fans. The Facebook group that is praying for the death of President Obama? It has 1,000,000 fans.
