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.
Reasons for the LGBT community to worry?
There is a lead over at AMERICAblog Gay with the headline:
Did the White House really just threaten to cut off the entire gay community?
Now here’s the thing. The story talks about how Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual and Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina are PISSED at the LGBT community for actions they have taken on trying to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. You know, actions like bringing it up in the President’s face. They are pissed that the LGBT community are not just sitting back and being quiet, towing the company line, so according to John Aravosis of AMERICAblog, the LGBT community may be cut off.
This is not a far-flung idea. After all, it was Emanuel that killed the 70%+ approval rating public option from healthcare legislation, even though we had the votes to pass it. People are saying Emanuel is a behind-the-scenes king of compromising that waters down legislation to where it becomes meaningless. You know what? They are right.
The LGBT community was thrown under the bus under President Clinton. President Obama promised to be our “fierce advocate”, but we know how that has turned out. So fine. Let Emanuel throw a temper tantrum. We can get what we want out of the Congress, and leave the dillydalliers at the White House in the dust.
Why marriage is important – gay and straight: A story of elder abuse
Reposted from sister blog BuryingTheLead.com
I cannot believe just how horrific some stories of abuse can turn out to be, especially for the elderly. All too often, cases of our elders being taken for granted and scammed are in the news, and the actual act of elder abuse is rampant. Try doubling elder abuse with that of gay elders, and you get the following story.
A gay elderly couple that had been together for quite a while named Clay and Howard lived in Sonoma County, California. Now you think of Sonoma, and think – this place is just North of San Francisco, and it is known as the wine country. It has to be progressive. Well not for Clay and Howard. You see, Howard (age 88) fell down outside his and Clay’s (age 77) home. Unable to care for him, Howard was put in a nursing home. But things took a dramatic turn for the worse. Clay was forbidden by the County to see Howard. Clay himself was put in his own nursing home. The County and the facility declared that Clay and Howard were just “roommates”, and thus Clay had no legal right to either see Howard, nor make any decisions about his care.
This is an excerpt from the article that is most horrific – though I plead with everyone to read the entire thing over at NCLRights.org:
What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold’s lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.
This is beyond chilling and horrific. This is some of the most disgusting treatment of gay elders that I have ever read about. And I ask you this one question: Would this have happened to a man and a woman who were married? No, not at all. So why would we allow this to occur to a gay couple?
Marriage is about love, and gay and lesbian couples have and express love just like their straight counterparts. But it is also about protection and civil rights provided by law. This is why marriage is so very important – gay and straight.
Forget educating straight people – gay people need it too!
So there is a bunch of misinformation out there about the GLBTQ community, and it members of that community that are responsible for educating people. We need to keep people in the know, clear up misconceptions, and stomp on the downright lies of the bigots and homophobes until they no longer are spread.
But this morning, I actually found myself having to educate not only the straight people around me, but my gay brethren as well. Let me explain.
They are holding a blood drive at work today, out in the open common area. People are happy and buzzing around, talking about it. One coworker turned to me and another gay man and asked, “Are we donating blood today?”. Almost in unison, I said “We can’t” while my gay coworker said, “Probably not, no.” I looked at him and said, “Um, we CAN’T donate blood.” That made the whole room stop.
At that point, I had to explain to everyone, gay and straight, that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is prevented from donating blood. I personally know this because I was a three gallon blood donor and have filled out the form many times. Those three gallons I donated were pre-coming out, so I was honest. And because I believe in being honest and safe, and having just had my annual physical, I would be a perfect donor. But I have had sex with another man since 1977, and am thus, disqualified.
The information about a gay-male ban on blood donation came as news to everyone in the room. No one, not even the other gay man, knew about the blood donation issue, except for one – and he was misinformed, saying the FDA recently lifted the ban. No, not according to the FDA’s website!
I am proud to call myself a 3 gallon blood donor. I was even part of the bone marrow donation part of the Red Cross, and was called in as a potential match. And even though I’m a healthy, disease-free gay man, I’m not good enough to help save lives.
This policy MUST end.
Support our soldiers! Ask Obama to pardon Choi and Pietrangelo at PardonOurSoldiers.com
Our soldiers would give their lives for us, and it doesn’t matter if they are gay or straight. Yesterday, two brave men, Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo protested the US Military’s practice of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the discriminatory practice of throwing gay and lesbian soldiers out of the armed forces. For that, they were arrested and thrown in jail.
Now is the time for us, those of us that support the military, to ask President Obama to pardon Choi and Pietrangelo. Please go to PardonOurSoldiers.com and sign the online petition!
How to put half a million people to work, RIGHT NOW
Face it. Unemployment is insane at over 10%. We need to do something about it, and we need to do it fast, or else Sarah Palin will be telling Barack Obama in 2012, “It’s the economy, stupid”. Wow. Wouldn’t that be ironic.
In Oregon, where the ProudLiberal is, as well as in New Jersey, we have special programs. It’s called “you can’t pump your own gas”. It has to be done by someone else. An employee of a gas station. Someone who is paid, specifically to take your payments, and pump your gas. it’s not a horrible job, though the weather is not always cooperative. But it’s also a job that anyone, from a Harvard educated MBA to an 8th grade middle school drop out can do. So we got that going for us.
There are over 115,000 gas stations in the United States, according to a 2008 estimate. Most of those are going to be opened a good portion of the day – say two shifts. And good thought that you are going to have to have at least four people to cover a week, plus one more to cover for vacations. So, that is 115,000 stations times at least 5 people. That comes out to 460,000 jobs. Jobs that could be created TOMORROW if we just went mandatory full-service gas (including truck stops and commercial service stops) all across the United States.
Two caveats. First, we have to pull out Oregon and New Jersey from the 460,000. However, I think that it would probably balance out, with the mega-gas stations that exist out there, and making commercial gas stations full service as well.
Second caveat is the thought, “But that will drive up the price of gas!”. Okay – let’s look at reality here. Oregon, which is full service only, is currently at $2.867 per gallon. Washington, right next door, is currently at $2.973 per gallon. What was your argument again?
Half a million people, back at work and getting paid, will be paying into unemployment for the rest of us. They’ll be paying taxes again for our needed infrastructure. And the boon in construction jobs associated with building out-buildings at some gas stations will be that much better.
Let’s get to work!
