alamObama Meeting Thurs Aug 14
Special Guest Speakers: For a pre-Convention Kick-Off, we will be joined at our monthly meeting byState Sen Letitia Van de Putte, co-chairwoman for the Democratic National Convention; State Rep Trey Martinez-Fischer and Carla Vela, BexarCounty DemocraticChair REMINDER: The meeting this month will be held in the SEIU office at 1017 N. Main 78212 (6:30 pm) MAP
Barack Obama is too "naive" on world affairs. Obama is going to run circles around this tired former "maverick" know-it-all Republican. McCain is so FAKE with all that "Ladies and Gentlemen" yada yada yada whenever he speaks, as if he is some statesman type gentleman when in fact he has sold out his own Truth Train from 2000, or whatever it was called when he was outmaneuvered by Dubya.
McCain has vowed to appoint more right-wing "apparatchiks" to the Supreme Court; he has already flip-flopped by now supporting permanent tax cuts for the wealthy (does Bill Gates, or Donald Trump, or his wife Cindy need more money than they already have?); and he wants to keep fighting and fighting in Iraq thus helping ensure that the United States is totally bankrupt in the future.
McCain is clueless on the economy, and I have heard him talk about more oil exploration and nuclear plants. What about GREEN POWER, SOLAR POWER, WIND POWER? McCain is deluding himself in portraying his candidacy as keeping the American people safe and bringing them affordable energy. And who brought Al-Quaida into Iraq? Bush and the Republicans, including McCain.
McCain supports a total ban on gay marriage. Well, I've got news for you Mr. McCain, the train has taken off from the station and we are here to stay and get married if we want to! We DO have equal rights under the law.
And the McCain healthcare plan is what? Medical Savings Accounts??? DUH, how many people are going to have the money for those, with $4 and $5 gasoline and a much higher cost of living with food and other essentials? MSAs are about as useful as when Dubya said that emergency rooms provide universal health care. And then when the Republicans rail against "socialized medicine" they forget that Medicare is socialized medicine. What's up with that?
McCain has been part of the Bush Administration's spend and spend and spend and spend and spend policies, and then tries as the Republican nominee (along with his surrogates) to act like the Democrats are tax and spend. Well, better to tax and spend than to spend and spend like these brainless Republicans who have abandoned any semblance of financial management and fiscal responsibility!
And is it any coincidence that oil is almost $140/barrel with Prez Bush and VP Cheney, BOTH of whom are OIL men who are absolutely profiting in some way on the backs of working Americans? And what about the KBR overbillings, a subsidiary of Haliburton that got a no-bid contract for billions for services in Iraq, with Cheney who just HAPPENED TO BE a FORMER BOARD MEMBER and STOCKHOLDER. Please, the corruption of this administration will be documented for the rest of this century, as the truth and tragedy of Bush/Cheney continues to pour out.
McCain is showing signs of a severely aging brain as well. He didn't remember Clayton Williams' remarks about women and rape in the Texas gubernatorial election back in 1990? DUH. I lived in Alabama then, and it was saturation-level news coverage. So here he cozies up with this sexist neanderthal and walks away with $300K in campaign contributions. Plus he has already had to disavow and distance himself from the hyperzealotry of Hagee. Senator McCain, you are showing us so much of your intelligence already! Obama is right to say this would be a third Bush term, which we CANNOT and MUST NOT have.
Obama is plenty smart enough to surround himself with military and defense advisers and listen to them. Bush, on the other hand, DIDN'T listen to his generals, because RUMMY DUMMY believed that you "go with the army you have," meaning that basic protective body armor was not even on the menu for our brave soldiers abroad! Where was John McCain on THAT issue?
OK, am going to stop here for now, but I have a lot more to say, trust me.
And with that I leave you with the soon-to-be President of the United States, Barack Obama!
SAN FRANCISCO - County clerk offices opened their doors Tuesday to hundreds of gay and lesbian couples with appointments to secure marriage licenses and exchange vows on the first full day same-sex nuptials were legal throughout California.
From San Diego to Eureka, couples readied their formal wear, local licensing clerks expanded their staffs and conservative groups warned of a backlash as the nation's most populous state prepared to join Massachusetts in sanctioning gay unions.
In San Francisco, a gay men's chorus was singing on the front steps, where a party atmosphere was lit up by rainbow flags and supporters handing out cupcakes to happy couples.
Helen Zia and Lea Shigemura sang "The Chapel of Love" as they walked to the city attorney's office to get married. The couple, clad in beige jackets and slacks, exchanged vows with Zia's mother by their side.
"This is the most meaningful day of my life. I've always wanted to get married," Shigemura said. "I just never thought it'd be possible."
Unlike Massachusetts, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, California has no residency requirement for marriage licenses. Many couples are expected to head west to wed.
The May 15 California Supreme Court ruling that overturned the state's bans on same-sex marriage became final at 5:01 p.m. Monday, and clerks in at least five counties extended their hours to mark the occasion.
Already, dozens of same-sex couples have seized the opportunity to make their relationships official in the eyes of the law. They included actor and gay rights activist George Takei, who arrived with his longtime partner, Brad Altman, at West Hollywood City Hall on Tuesday morning to get their marriage license.
"Today we are all here to give flesh and blood reality to that ruling. We are going to make history," said Takei, who played Sulu in the 1960s "Star Trek" television series. "Congratulations to all of us and may equality live long and prosper."
Every county was required to start issuing new gender-neutral marriage licenses Tuesday with spaces for "Party A" and "Party B" where "bride" and "groom" used to be.
As couples prepared to marry at the Contra Costa County clerk's office Tuesday morning, three opponents of gay marriage from the Westboro Baptist Church picketed outside, carrying signs with sayings such as "God is your enemy."
Members of the sect are most often seen at military funerals in demonstrations claiming U.S. combat deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
The protesters were easily outnumbered by about three dozen supporters of gay marriage, who held signs that read "Hate is not a family value" and "My marriage is not threatened by theirs, why is yours?" Police vehicles lined up near the demonstrators.
On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who helped start the series of lawsuits that led the court to strike down California's one-man-one-woman marriage laws, presided at the wedding of Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83.
Newsom picked the couple for the only ceremony Monday in City Hall to recognize their 55-year relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement. More than 650 same-sex couples have made appointments to get marriage licenses in San Francisco before the end of the month.
Newsom called officiating the wedding "this extraordinary and humbling gift." After the mayor pronounced Martin and Lyon "spouses for life," the couple kissed, then emerged to a crowd of well-wishers who showered them with rose petals.
The celebrations are tempered by the reality that in a few months, Californians will go to the ballot box to vote on an initiative that would overturn the high court ruling and again ban gay marriage.
On Monday, three lawmakers and a small group of other same-sex opponents gathered outside the Capitol to criticize the Supreme Court decision. They urged voters to approve the ballot measure.
"This is an opportunity to take back a little bit of dignity ... for kids, for all of us in California," Republican Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa said. "It really disturbs me that the will of the people was overridden by four members of the Supreme Court."
In both San Francisco and Beverly Hills, where two women became the first same-sex couple in Los Angeles County to marry legally, small groups of protesters waved signs with sayings like "Repent or Perish," but they were outnumbered by supporters waving rainbow-striped flags.
Groups that oppose same-sex marriage have pursued several legal avenues to stop the weddings. On Monday, just hours before the ruling went into effect, a conservative legal group asked a Sacramento court to order the California agency that oversees marriages to stop issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses.
A hearing was set for Tuesday.
A UCLA study issued last week estimated that half of California's more than 100,000 same-sex couples will get married over the next three years, and 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel here to exchange vows.
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Associated Press writers Laura E. Davis in Los Angeles, Michelle Locke in Oakland, Evelyn Nieves in Santa Rosa, Steve Lawrence in Sacramento and Samantha J. Young in Woodland contributed to this report.
