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  We need Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repealed.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.

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!

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!

Okay – I am a political geek, and have loved watching Democratic conventions since I was a youngster.  This one just blew my mind.

As the custom, the roll call took place, and when the votes got close enough, the home state was yielded to.  Illinois took the floor, and looked like they were about to put Obama over the top – when Illinois yielded the floor to New York!

You should have heard me – and probably every single other viewer – at that point.  WOW does not even start to describe it.

And when New York turned it over to their Senator, Hillary Clinton, to finish the contest, I have to say it brought a tear to my eye.  I wasn’t the only one – CSPAN cut to many in the crowd, eyes swelling with tears of pride, overcome with emotion.

Hillary, I did not always like what you did during the campaign, but continued to like you and your husband.  But what you did there filled me with pride.  You go, Hillary!

By now, you have probably heard that Independent Senator Joe Lieberman will be speaking at the Republican National Convention.  That’s fine – he has the right to do it.  But because Lieberman was formerly a Democrat, and the Democratic Leadership has honored his past service and the fact that he will caucus with Democrats, with the Chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee.  Why are we as Democrats supporting this man, when he is doing everything he can to kiss up to the Republicans and kick Democrats in the teeth?

Tell Senator Harry Reid to remove Lieberman from his leadership role!

Okay – as you know, Impeachment has been taken off the table by the Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  Well, Dennis Kucinich, who wants to put it back ON the table.  Kucinich met an earlier request to get 10,000 signatures on a petition to protect the constitution.  Well now Kucinich is looking to get a million signatures to turn in.  So do your part – go and sign the petition!

And do you want to do something about Pelosi not doing the people’s work?  Well did you know that Cindy Sheehan, professional Peace-Mom, is running for her seat in Congress?  Check her out, and donate!

Okay , so we have defeated this in the past, but we have to lean on Congress one more time.  There is another bill that is going to give the telecommunications companies THAT HAVE SPIED ON YOU AND ME immunity from prosecution.

I almost threw up when I read this quote:

“The bill meets the standards the president called for,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. “We encourage members of both parties to pass it.”

Standards, as in promising to NOT hold criminals liable for breaking the law.  This is just wrong.  Call Congress and tell them to defeat this bill!

There is an upcoming action about FISA that we all need to take a stand on. Soon, there will be a new FISA bill in front of the House and Senate, with the President Bush making threats and calling for Telecom immunity. Do YOU want to sign away your rights? Contact your elected official and tell them to say “NO!” to Telecom immunity! http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/house_fisa/

Once you do that, would you be shocked that Bush is as emphatic about Telecom immunity as he is to bomb Iran? And that if you want to vote McCain (even those KYLE’S out there, like the Hillary supporter this morning on the Bill Press show that said he would not vote for Obama out of SPITE) then you are supporting Bush’s plan to bomb Iran. Just say no! http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/house_fisa/

Like many people, I am in support of the ENDA (Employement Non-Discrimination Act) that Congress has recently debated, and passed, in the House, without the “T”.  I thought that we should just pass it as is, because it’s important to get protections into place for members of the gay community.  After all, I actually left two jobs – one in 1994 and one just this past Summer 2007 – due to rampant sexism and homophobia.  The job I just left actually had a GLBT protection clause in place.  But because the company is run by racist homophobes, when discrimination actually came down on me, the company chose to ignore it.

Well I continued to believe that the GLB of the GLBT should be protected.  And then I met a cab driver in Portland named Rachel.  Rachel is a transgendered woman who has had her cab vandalized dozens of times, threatening her livelihood.  If Rachel doesn’t have a cab, Rachel doesn’t work.  Her coworkers did everything they could to stop her from having a job, and her cab company stood by and didn’t do squat.

After submitting documentation multiple times, and being told they could be sued, business decisions won out and Rachel got protection.  But what if they hadn’t?  If the company was right winged bigots, like I experienced, Rachel would be out of a job and unable to make a living.  Is that right?  No, it’s not.

That’s why it’s important to protect the T in GLBT just as much as it is to protect the GLB members of the community.

The house is going to debate HR. 3685 this week, and Democratic Representative Tammy Baldwin is planned to offer an amendment that will protect gender identify as part of the bill.  Call your congressperson and tell them to support both the bill and the amendment!

As I was listening to the artist P!nk’s song “Dear Mr. President”, an idea cut through the depression of a year and a half more of George Bush. The song, if you haven’t heard it, is a GOOD protest song. Not the best, but it’s pretty good! It deserves to be heard more and more. How can that happen? Well, if it rises in popularity, it will get played more. And the more it is played, the more it can make an impact.

So that’s where iTunes gift program comes into play. I went into iTunes and found the album (located at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=136184052&s=143441&i=136184157 – just let iTunes open it up after putting that in your browser, or just go find the album, explicit version, in iTunes). Then I clicked on “Gift this music”. It opened a new window and I chose to gift JUST the song “Dear Mr. President”. A few clicks later, after using email to submit my gift to comments@whitehouse.gov (don’t try president@whitehouse.gov, as it seems to be blocked inside iTunes itself), I was 99 cents poorer, but felt much richer in conscience.

So go do it! Find your favorite protest song in iTunes and gift it to comments@whitehouse.gov. Add your own message in. I wrote, “Mr. Bush, I think you really should listen to this” and sent it on it’s way.

Now before the naysayers come in, I will say this. First off, Apple is a “blue” company for the most part. I can’t find their donations listing, but I know they support Greenpeace and NPR, so there is some progressive roots right there. So you will be generating income for a progressive company. Secondly, P!nk is a progressive artist. You will be supporting her as well. If you choose another anti-war song, you will be supporting yet another progressive artist.

So, if you have five minutes and 99 cents to spare, PLEASE take part in this!