"Politics of the possible"
Tuesday, September 1, my SO and I had a face to face meeting with our congresscritter, Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
I had emailed her office last week, asking to set up a meeting. They called me Monday, said she'd had cancellations, could I come the next afternoon for a ten minute meeting. Of course I said yes - I'm unemployed, and live a few blocks away, but even if I'd been working I would have taken time off.
Knowing full well that ten minutes just wouldn't be enough to cover all of the issues I was concerned with, I typed up a list - my own words, the real concerns I had.
At the top of that list was healthcare. Then came GLBT issues. Then economy and finance, and more.
We brought copies, one for us, one for Zoe, one for her aides.
Yes, she has to be diplomatic, she has to negotiate with the rest of the House. She declined to comment on my sentiment that Grassley and Baucus were a waste of space. I felt like she was trying not to chuckle.
But I also felt that she needed to hear from the little people - the working (or unemployed) person, the woman trying to start a small consulting business, the people paying the highest tax rates when working because they're gay, childfree renters without tax shelters.
If people like me are willing to fork over for singlepayer, or at least a strong public option, then the rest of the contry can give up a little for the assurance that they and their children will have healthcare regardless of their economic circumstance.
She agreed with me on the GLBT items, talked about trying to get some of the more strident religious folks to see how gay marriage really isn't a threat to their religious freedom.
She told me, she has to be diplomatic, but as an activist, I don't.
Activists and advocates don't need to put their positions in terms of compromise, and we shouldn't.
The right wing knows this, and is ready to fling shit.
We need to push, and hard. We need to let our congresspeople know what we need.
Believe me, Rep Lofgren will be seeing me again. I'll be keeping track, and there will be praise given or questions asked.
Your Reps work for you. Make the time to go see them. Write down your concerns, so they have stuff to take back to Washington with them.
On Wednesday, President Obama will hold another online town hall, this time focused on health care reform. From WhiteHouse.gov:
This online town hall will be a little different than the last one. This time around, we are engaging online networks outside of WhiteHouse.gov, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. You can get started today by watching the President's video and posting your 20-30 second video response here:
This online town hall will be a little different than the last one. This time around, we are engaging online networks outside of WhiteHouse.gov, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
You can get started today by watching the President's video and posting your 20-30 second video response here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/14/obama.gays.military/
You said on the campaign that people told you to wait until you were "experienced" to be president, but wisely knew that our time is now. Nothing you can do will end the recession quickly, so while everyone is distracted by the economy, use this opportunity to keep campaign promises to the LGBT community, environmental activists, and the various groups that got you elected. If you get this kind of work done, you will be reelected in 2012 and given a wide berth on the economy.
Monday, 5th January 2009
Washington, D.C.
The historic grassroots Barack Obama presidential campaign captured through the lens of http://phottto.blogspot.com/
www.change.gov
http://www.gender.org/remember/day/
The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.
Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.
We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.
If you are coordinating a TDOR and you do not see your event listed here, please contact Ethan St.Pierre, Radicalguy@gmail.com
BELOW FROM ETHAN A FTM
I am still gathering more information on the other 2 Iraqi women who are listed at the bottom of the page.
Including those 2 women, there are now 29 people on this list.
I am updating the statistics and events locations while I wait for more information.
Kellie TelesfordLocation: Thornton Heath, UKCause of Death: StrangledDate of Death: November 21, 2007Kellie was strangled to death with a scarf, by 18 year old Shanniel Hyatt, who then covered the body of 39-year-old Kellie Telesford with a white blanket - with the brown furry scarf used to choke her still bound tightly round her neck. Hyatt said he killer her after discovering she had a penis.
Adolphus SimmonsLocation: Charleston, SCCause of Death: Shot to Death (Aldophus was 18 yrs. old)Date of Death: January 21, 2008
Fedra (a known transvestite)Location: Kota Kinabalu, MalaysiaCause of Death: Was found lying face up in a pool of blood,cause of death was not reported.Date of Death: January 22, 2008
Ashley SweeneyLocation: Detroit, MichiganCause of Death: Shot in the headDate of Death: February 4, 2008The age of Ashley Sweeney is unknown, she was only described as a young transgender woman in a press release.
Sanesha (Talib) StewartLocation: Bronx, NYCause of Death: Stabbed to DeathDate of Death: February 10, 2008Sanesha was 25 years old.
Lawrence KingLocation: Oxnard, CaliforniaCause of Death: Shot to death by a classmate because he liked to wearwomen's clothes. (Lawrence King was 15 years old).Date of Death: February 12, 2008
Simmie Williams Jr.Location: Fort Lauderdale, FloridaCause of Death: Shot to death, Simmie was found wearing women's clothing. (Simmie was 17 years old)Date of Death: February 22, 2008
Luna (no last name reported)Location: Lisbon, PortugalCause of Death: Brutally beaten to death and tossed into a dumpster.Date of Death: March 15, 2008
Lloyd NixonLocation: West Palm Beach, Florida Cause of Death:Repeatedly beat in the head with a brick.Date of Death: April 16, 2008Lloyd was 45 years old.Felicia Melton-SmythLocation: Puerto Vallarta, MexicoCause of Death: brutally stabbed to death by Francisco Javier Hollos, who said he killed her because she would not pay for sex. Felicia was an HIV activist on vacation from Wisconsin.Date of Death: May 26, 2008
Silvana BerishaLocation: Hamburg, GermanyCause of Death: Stabbed to DeathDate of Death: June 24, 2008
Ebony (Rodney) WhitakerLocation: Memphis, TennesseeCause of Death:Shot (Ebony was 20 yrs. old)Date of Death:July 1, 2008
Rosa PazosLocation: Sevilla, SpainCause of Death: Was found in her apartment, she had been stabbed in the throat.Date of Death: July 11, 2008
Juan Carlos Aucalle CoronelLocation: Lombardi, ItalyCause of Death severely beaten causing fractures to the head and face before being run over by a car.Date of Death July 14, 2008Juan Carlos was 35 years old.
Angie ZapataLocation: Greeley, ColoradoCause of Death: She was found in her home with two severe fractures in her skull.Angie was murdered by 31 year old, Alan Ray Andrade. Angie was 18 years old.Date of Death: July 17, 2008
Jaylynn L. NamauuLocation: Makiki Honolulu, HawaiiCause of Death: Stabbed to DeathDate of Death: July 17, 2008Jaylynn was 35 years old.
Samantha Rangel BrandauLocation: Milan, ItalyCause of Death: beaten, gang raped and stabbed numerous times before being left for dead.Date of Death: July 29, 2008Samantha was 30 years old.Ruby MolinaLocation: Sacramento, CaliforniaCause of Death: DrownedDate of Death: September 21, 2008Ruby's naked body was found floating in the American river.She was 22 years old.Aimee WilcoxsonLocation: Aurora, ColoradoCause of Death: undetermined (Police have yet to reveal cause)Date of Death: November 3, 2008Aimee was found dead in her bed. She was 34 years old.
Duanna JohnsonLocation: Memphis, TennesseeCause of Death: ShotDate of Death: November 9, 2008Duanna was found dead in the middle of the street. She was 42 years old.Dilek InceLocation: Ankara, TurkeyCause of Death:Shot in the back of the headDate of Death: November 11, 2008Teish (Moses) CannonLocation: Syracuse, New YorkCause of Death: ShotDate of Death: November 14, 2008Teish was 22 years old.
AliLocation:IraqCause of Death:executed for being transgenderDate of Death:2008, Month is UnknownVideo of Ali before she was executed: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2tDVtjQNfQ*IMPORTANT NOTE - (In case I don't get the details posted in time) There were 2 other Iraqi, transgender women who were executed at the same time as Ali. Please remember them at your TDoR event.Contact Ethan at Radicalguy@...
The Nov. 4th 2008 Election Results was a catch 22 for me, as a black men I was proud of the fact that after all we as American has been through where able to elected the fist black President of America, but as a Gay men I was so disappointed that we as a whole nation took a step backward by banning gay marriage and banning the RIGHTS for not only GAY men and women to adopt but Single, educated, straight men and women to adopt. The FCAC lists three primary reasons for the law: For the safety of children, to increase the number of prospective homes, and to “blunt a homosexual agenda, now I don't know where the FCAC as been for the last hundred years but they should know that you can’t get "it" from standing in the room with a gay person, or talking, living, or befriending a gay person but I can't fault the FCAC they were doing their Job and now it's time for us to do our as a Arkansan I’m not shocked that this law passed but amazed at the double standard while so called Christian Arkansans turn their noses at the gay lifestyle they bathe in hate, incest, and bad fashion. So let this be a warning to all Arkansans who think their better, or more so entitled to rights then others we will not stand for this, we will not go quietly back into the closet, will fight, we will march, we will knock on doors our voices will be heard we will have equal rights for all Americans in a changing America
Terrance-Darnell blog
CAN I JUST SAY LAST NIGHT WAS BEAUTIFUL, EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL, THE TEARS WAS BEAUTIFUL, THE HISTORY, MOMENT, THE TIME STANDING STILL ALL WAS JUST BEAUTIFUL AND THIS BRING ME TO "THE DRESS" FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA AND BEST FRIEND TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA GAVE YOU SUCCESS, CULTURAL, PASSION ALL IN REFINED TASTE..., "THE DRESS" READ VERY INCH OF HER 5 FEET 1O AND A HALF INCH FRAME,.... NOW PUT ABOUT FIVE INCHES OF RAW MARTRIAL TO HOLD HER UP AND SISTA THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL A WOMAN,. THIS WAS MRS. OBAMA BEING MICHELLE, BEING SISTA,BEING MOMMA, BEING BEST FRIEND, AND NOW FIRST LADY MRS. MICHELLE OBAMA,.. I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE MORE.
TERRANCE-DARNELL,BLOG
www.barackobama.com
Wednesday, 5th November 2008
Chicago, Illinois
Barack sent the following message last night...We Just Made History...
Raphael --
I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history.
And I don't want you to forget how we did it.
You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing...
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack
WOW! THERE IS NO WORDS FOR HOW I'M FEELING THIS MORNING ON A 24 HOUR NATURAUAL HIGH THAT I JUST DON'T WANT TO COME DOWN FROM...... MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. IT WAS 21 MONTHS AGO MY WORLD WAS TAKING OVER WITH BARACK OBAMA, IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE IT'S OVER, I KNEW THIS DAY WAS GOING TO COME, I BELIEVE THIS DAY WAS GOING TO COME, NOW THAT IT'S OVER WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? LAST NIGHT WAS THE DEFINING MOMENT IN MY GENARATIONS LIFETIME, AND AFTER IT WAS ALL OVER I COULDN'T OR WOULDN'T GO TO SLEEP I THOUGHT "MAYBE THIS IS JUST A BAD JOKE" AND IF I GO TO SLEEP IT WOULD ALL BE OVER SO AS I WRITE THIS I BELIEVE TODAY, THAT IT IS A NEW DAY TODAY "WE HOLD OUR FUTURE IN OUR HANDS" AND WE MUST DO BETTER, BE BETTER, THINK BETTER, AND LIVE BETTER TODAY IS THE TODAY AMERICA OUR FUTURE AWAITS US LETS GO GET IT.
TERRANCE-DARNELL,
Monday, 3rd November 2008
Barack Obama's position has become somewhat stronger since our update this afternoon. We now have him with a 5.8 point lead in the national popular vote, and winning the election 96.3 percent of the time. Earlier today, those figures were 5.4 and 93.7, respectively. I continue to find a hair's worth of tightening on balance in the state-by-state polls -- even as Obama's position in the national trackers seems to be roughly as strong as it has ever been. This, ironically, is the exact reverse of the position we saw earlier in the week, when the national polls seemed to be tightening even as the state polls weren't.However, Obama's win percentage has ticked upward again for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he's gotten some relatively good numbers out of Pennsylvania since our last update, with PPP and Zogby giving him leads of 8 and 14 points, respectively, and Rasmussen showing his lead expanding to 6 points after having been at 4 before. (The Zogby poll is probably an outlier, but may serve to balance out outliers like Strategic Vision on the other side).Secondly, McCain's clock has simply run out. While there is arguable evidence of a small tightening, there is no evidence of a dramatic tightening of the sort he would need to make Tuesday night interesting.
I continue to find a hair's worth of tightening on balance in the state-by-state polls -- even as Obama's position in the national trackers seems to be roughly as strong as it has ever been. This, ironically, is the exact reverse of the position we saw earlier in the week, when the national polls seemed to be tightening even as the state polls weren't.
However, Obama's win percentage has ticked upward again for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he's gotten some relatively good numbers out of Pennsylvania since our last update, with PPP and Zogby giving him leads of 8 and 14 points, respectively, and Rasmussen showing his lead expanding to 6 points after having been at 4 before. (The Zogby poll is probably an outlier, but may serve to balance out outliers like Strategic Vision on the other side).
Secondly, McCain's clock has simply run out. While there is arguable evidence of a small tightening, there is no evidence of a dramatic tightening of the sort he would need to make Tuesday night interesting.
[FiveThirtyEight.Com]
UPDATE - 8:30 PM ET: Two new polls released late Sunday give Barack Obama a commanding lead heading into Election Day.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/02/latest-presidential-polls_n_140177.html
I am not a good blogger to keep up to date, but I have been to Winchester, VA several saturdays and now here thru election. on Tuesday I will be an 'outside' attorney at a precinct where the local registrar denied 500 university students, so Tuesday should be busy (and long)
last night about 140 volunteers met to plan the last 48 hours while the McSame HQs was dark. the only thing staying Red out here will be the Maple trees.
Fired up ready to go
Jason and Alexandra are our GREAT STaffers here!!!
Yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and our businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat and Republican, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, disabled or not. - Senator Barack Obama
Yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and our businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat and Republican, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, disabled or not.
- Senator Barack Obama
Monday, 27th October 2008
End of Battle Centers on Turf Bush Carried
Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama are heading into the final week of the presidential campaign planning to spend nearly all their time in states that President Bush won last time, testimony to the increasingly dire position of Mr. McCain and his party as Election Day approaches.
With optimism brimming in Democratic circles, Mr. Obama will present on Monday what aides described as a summing-up speech for his campaign in Canton, Ohio, reprising the themes he first presented in February 2007, when he began his campaign for the presidency.
From here on out, Mr. Obama’s aides said, attacks on Mr. McCain will be joined by an emphasis on broader and less partisan themes, like the need to unify the country after a difficult election.
Mr. McCain has settled on Pennsylvania as the one state that Democrats won in 2004 where he has a decent chance of winning, a view not shared by Mr. Obama’s advisers.
But Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, are planning to spend most of their time in Florida, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, and Indiana, all states that Republicans had entered the campaign thinking they could bank on.
Mr. McCain will stick with the message he has embraced over the last week, presenting Mr. Obama as an advocate of big government and raising taxes. His advisers say they will limit the numbers of rallies where he and Ms. Palin appear together, to cover more ground in the final days.
While some Republicans said they still had hope that Mr. McCain could pull this out, there were signs of growing concern that Mr. McCain and the party were heading for a big defeat that could leave the party weakened for years.
“Any serious Republican has to ask, ‘How did we get into this mess?’ ” Newt Gingrich, the former Republican house speaker, said in an interview. “It’s not where we should be, and it’s not where we had to be. This was not bad luck.”
As Mr. Obama uses his money and political organization to try expand the political map, Mr. McCain is being forced to shore up support in states like Indiana and North Carolina that have not been contested for decades. His decision to campaign on Sunday in Iowa, a day after Ms. Palin campaigned there, was questioned even by Republicans who noted polls that showed Mr. Obama pulling away there. But it reflected how few options the campaign really has, as poll after poll suggests that Mr. Obama is solidifying his position.
Mr. McCain has found relatively small crowds — particularly compared with those that are turning out for Mr. Obama — even as he has campaigned in battleground states.
His campaign has become embroiled by infighting, with signs of tension between Mr. McCain’s advisers and Ms. Palin’s staff, and subject to unusual public criticism from other Republicans for how his advisers have handled this race.
Republicans and Democrats said there were signs that two states that had once appeared overwhelmingly Republican, Georgia and South Carolina, were tightening, in part, because of surge of early-voting by African-Americans. An Obama win in the states seemed unlikely — and no plans were immediately on his itinerary to travel to them — but it is a sign of how volatile a year this is that more states would seem to be coming into play, rather than being settled, as the election approaches.
Mr. McCain’s aides said they remained confident that they could win. They said their candidate did not plan to introduce any kind of formal closing speech, the way Mr. Obama is doing, but would instead hammer home the issues of taxes and spending they said appeared to be giving them some steam.
“We feel good that when people hear the message about spreading the wealth versus raising taxes , they respond,” said Nicolle Wallace, a senior McCain adviser. “It’s just a matter of whether, given Obama’s saturation paid advertising, we can get the message out there.”
The contours of these final days suggest a culmination of a strategy that Mr. Obama’s advisers put in place at the beginning: to use his huge fund-raising edge to try to put as many states in play as possible and overwhelm Mr. McCain in the final days of the race.
“It’s now a big map, so you have to be in a lot of states over the last eight days,” said David Plouffe, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager.
As of right now, Pennsylvania is the only Democratic-leaning state Mr. Obama is planning to visit, and that is only in response to what Mr. Obama’s advisers argued was Mr. McCain’s misplaced faith that he could win there. More strikingly, Mr. Obama also is making a vigorous push in Florida, after a campaign stop there last week convinced his advisers that he has a real shot of winning there.
Mr. Obama is to spend at least part of two days in the state, including a late-night rally with former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday in Orlando timed to make the 11 p.m. news.
Mr. Obama’s aides said that his closing speech, written with his top speechwriter, Jon Favreau, would return to the theme that he offered when he announced his candidacy, calling for change. Mr. Obama’s advisers said that after a long and often acerbic campaign, they believed voters were hungering for that kind of positive appeal to close out the race.
That said, they made clear that while attacks on Mr. McCain might diminish, they would not by any means disappear. “We’re in a good place right now, but nine days is a long time, so we’re just going step upon the gas,” said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist. “It’s time to sum up the case in broader terms.”
The closing argument will be amplified by Mr. Obama in a 30-minute prime time infomercial presented across the major television networks on Wednesday in a rare and expensive move by a presidential candidate.
His aides said they were going to great lengths to make certain that no one becomes lulled by polls showing Mr. Obama in a strong position. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. Obama’s running mate, has forbidden any discussion of the election result or what happens after Election Day, said David Wade, his press secretary.
“This is someone who won his first Senate race by 3,162 votes, and he hasn’t hesitated to remind his traveling staff that he expects this race to be no different,” Mr. Wade said.
Mr. Obama began boiling down his pitch to voters on Sunday, raising a question to supporters in Denver: “Don’t you think it’s time that we want to try something new?”
At Civic Center Park, tens of thousands of people spilled from an outdoor plaza outside the golden-tipped Capitol as Mr. Obama returned to the city where he accepted the Democratic nomination two months ago.
“Just this morning, Senator McCain said that he and President Bush share a common philosophy,” Mr. Obama said. “I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk, and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common.”
The tensions between the McCain and Palin camps have been played out mainly in anonymous attacks from both sides over how Ms. Palin was first presented as a candidate and, most recently, over the dispute that arose following the disclosure that the Republican National Committee had spent $150,000 on clothing and accessories for Mrs. Palin and her family.
A McCain adviser came to the back of Mr. McCain’s plane on Sunday to say, only on the condition of anonymity, that those reports were overblown.
Mr. Obama opens the last eight days of the race with an incursion into several Republican-leaning regions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina. With his Democratic supporters already highly motivated, aides said, Mr. Obama is purposefully focusing on voters who may need to take one final measure of him.
As he opens the week with a stop in Canton on Monday, Mr. Obama is working to offset Mr. McCain’s margins in conservative stretches of both states. He also is taking what could be a final trip to Pennsylvania, staging a stop in Pittsburgh and to the Philadelphia suburbs to counter an intense push by Ms. Palin in the state this week.
Mr. McCain is in Ohio on Monday, before heading to Pennsylvania.
Reporting was contributed by John M. Broder in Washington, Julie Bosman in Kissimmee, Fla., Michael Cooper in New York, and Larry Rohter from Iowa.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27campaign.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=john%20mccain%20dire&st=cse&oref=slogin
![[Photo from San Francisco DOR 2000]](http://www.gender.org/remember/day/images/vigil_shot.jpg)
![[Photo from San Francisco DOR 2001]](http://www.gender.org/remember/day/images/vigil_gwen.jpg)
