It is sad to see the small cloud at the interior of our very large blue lining. The fact that ballot measures passed restricting Gay rights in four states is such a negative mark on our continuing struggle for equal rights in this country. To know that Gay Americans overwhelmingly supported Obama, the nation's first black president and the first black president of any major western power is testimony to the goodwill of people in general. It hurts my heart to hear that Proposition 8 in California passed narrowly with the help of 78% of African Americans in that state's electorate.
How did this happen? Our sons and our family have friends who are gay couples who have adopted or had surrogate pregnancies or sperm donors. These families are wonderful loving Americans who we should all see as a natural part of human diversity. As a heterosexual Christian family my wife and I don't see the differences in these families. Except, in our case, we see them as being more functional than dysfunctional in terms of their relationship to each other as family. We know plenty of hetero families that are broken, abusive and misguided in our circle of friends and our children's playmates but none, so far, of the Gay ones.
Obama has stated he is not against Gay marriage, but supports federalizing partnership rights, and leaving Gay marriage as a state's right issue. I couldn't more firmly disagree and with him being a constitutional law professor don't understand his reasoning. The preamble talks of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, how can being denied a right to marry into a stable and functional relationship, a core unit of a stable and functioning society, qualify under these words?
The Constitution also demands equal protection under the law and an implied separation of church and state by barring the promotion and establishment of any religion. Surely both of these argue in favor of Gay marriage. Should a state be able to abrogate the constitution in these fundamental areas as well? If your standard for barring Gay marriage is based on moral grounds, what is moral about discrimination and bigotry? If for religious reasons, then these referendums are unconstitutional on their face!
As an African American family, we don't understand African Americans who are amazed and inspired by Obama's win and could at the same time vote for erecting a new set of barriers for a subset of Americans. It seems fear has prevailed and many think they are buying a ticket to Heaven by acting on a religious litmus test. It is time we reject the Christianity of judgement and act on the commission of Christ to love as being the greatest of Christian Acts. Denying others the right to love in the way they choose, to form relationships and functional families in a secular state, is not love. This fundamental freedom of choice is every child of God's divine right.
To think of all the Gay Americans who supported and voted for Obama to help us all be better Americans, better people, only to see Gay Americans rejected as part of that American family that stood up Nov. 4th is painful. The world can no longer legitimately see Black Americans as "less than" with Obama's ascension to the most powerful office in the free world. Can't we see others in our own country in the same way? As we celebrate this great barrier falling we should look to ourselves and see the beam in our own eyes, it is this that will continue to hold us back as a unified and free American people.
I voted for change, this is one change I never expected to see. We can't go backwards, we must push forward to include and support our Gay friends and family.
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/phoenix/stories/2008/11/03/daily77.html
Today Jon Kyl of Arizona issued a threat to President-elect Obama on his Supreme Court Nominees. Lets send him a message that change has come to America and we will campaign against him to remove from office. We came close to taking Arizona. Obama will probably nominate Sonia Sotomayor, judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, possibly to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Write Senator Kyl and let him know how you feel about his obstructionist speech to the Federalist Society. Here is the contact info for an online submission to Sen. Kyl. Please pass this on to your network.
http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
This morning I awoke to a new world!
A world, not just my country, the world that has been transformed.
I woke up at 5AM and went to the computer to see this new world my sons inherited this day and I saw... rejoicing!
I soon found a picture of a celebration in Japan, JAPAN!!!
Then, I wept, I wept and said to my wife who was holding me by then... "I always thought they hated us, I always thought they hated us"... We black Americans, we n-----s, today we are no longer that! My sons are no longer that! In the eyes of the whole world that matters, they have nothing to prove to anyone except themselves!
As a nation, as a planet, we are all human beings and so much more. As I surfed through the Internet pictures from Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia... China... yes China! flashed across the screen. all with a collective exult that the dream, the American dream, is still alive and will thrive, "that all men are created equal" and there are a majority of people of good will in the world who know this in this age!
Humanity spoke last night and spoke to the ancient African slave and one of Rome's greatest poet's words, 'Nothing human is foreign to me'.
A global scream of the words spoke by Martin Luther King, that we demand that we be "judged by the content of ...(our) character."
Obama speaks to our humanity -- a humanity that can no longer be constrained by fifteenth century social and racial constructs. The age of race is dead!
LONG LIVE THE.... THE AGE OF THE HUMAN RACE!!!
Okay people when teams do this to other teams it is posted on a wall in the locker room to motivate the team and piss them off at the arrogance of the trash talker. LET'S SEND PALIN, TODD AND THE BROOD BACK TO ALASKA ON A SNOW MACHINE THEY CAN KEEP ALL THE CLOTHES FOR CONCILATION PRIZES!!! By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer Dan Nephin, Associated Press Writer – AP –
Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin shakes hands with members of the Beaver Area … Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin set aside Joe the Plumber for Joe the Quarterback — as in Joe Namath — and told supporters at a rally near where Namath grew up that she and John McCain are still in the game and they're going to win.
"In the biggest game of his life, all the experts had Joe Namath and the Jets written off to defeat. They were up against the elite team that had all the money and they were held in awe by the media.
"And Broadway Joe replied, 'We're going to win the game, I guarantee it.' And they won," she said of Namath's guarantee before New York defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.
"Pennsylvania, with your help, we're going to win this state, I guarantee," Palin told more than 1,000 supporters who packed a chilly Beaver Area High School football stadium, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, on Thursday night.
VOTE FOR THAT ONE! THE SMART GUY THIS TIME!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH2iufUU1f4
It makes you want to cry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2VFRt5W4FM
REAL HOPE FOR PEACE!
Olbermann nails Sarah Palin with side by side talking points of Bush 2000 and Sarah clips from the debate! Another must see video. Make it viral pass it on!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXPMn99a7nQ
MUST SEE VIDEO! PASS IT ON!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50
OR SAME VIDEO AT
http://vodpod.com/watch/1051178-afl-cios-richard-trumka-on-racism-and-obama
THREE CHEERS FOR TRUMKA!!!This is what OBAMA has been saying! Fox News, the McCain/Palin campaign , Limbaugh et al, don't get it, this is not about Obama this is about us! A campaign accountable to the voters who paid for it! America wake up, Obama is us! All of us, he isn't black or white he is both! and neither, his perspective is different because his life allows him to step outside of himself and see all of us and know what matters, our needs and dreams. Trumka is right, it is time to put down the divisions, do what is right for your neighbor and yourself. America can't aford to be divided now. We are competing with the world that we can either lead or let come against us. Let us lead by example and defeat fear and tyranny here and abroad through the strength of our example!!!
Re: William Kristol NYT Op Ed, How McCain Wins
http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/09/29/opinion/29kristol.html
This from the man who brought us the Iraq war. Little Billy is a nasty piece of work. He is not a patriot but a partisan. The problem is his candidate, John McCain is touting "Country First" and his article is saying do anything, no matter how despicable, to win first! Cultural issues divide the nation and divert from the needs of struggling working families.Trying to use Obama's book, "Dreams of My Father" as fodder for an argument against Obama might increase interest in a great book that will help Obama. The "middleclassness" Obama spoke of is the one that rejects public service for a "strivers" mentality in the black community. It is the notion that the only path to upward mobility in the black community is to acquire the material trappings of the middle class and leave a struggling community behind. Both Barack and Michelle (and Joe Biden as an analogy in the working lower middleclass ethnic white community)rejected this form of "middleclassness" for a career in public service by making a positive difference in the lives of others for the greater good of all.McCain on the other hand, it can be argued, has spent a life doing the polar opposite. He never rejected "middleclassness" because he's never known it, he ran away from it. He has always been an "elite" and when he decided to leave the military legacy he inherited and had the chance to make the personal moral choice of staying with his commitment to his family, getting a job and working, he chose instead to be cavalier and marry the boss's daughter from which all his "class" choices have stemmed. From that point on he has steadfastly hewed to the patterns and lifestyle only an elite class can live, well heeled associates, private jets and public charity. His policy choices reflect that elite class and so have the economic scandals those choices have engendered. No wonder he rarely mentions the middle class, it's apparent he can't feel their pain because their the "economic fundamentals" and are strong, they work hard for the rich.The question is not when Obama "changed direction" but when is McCain going to see the middleclass is not below a net worth of five million. That as a patriot he begin to see the policies that set people towards the creation, and elevation of a larger middleclass are best for our nation. These same policies McCain and conservatives have rejected time and time again in favor of total free market solutions and unregulated capitalism that earlier in the 20th century created problems for our nation, and it appears has done the same for our nation at the beginning of the 21st century.
Greensburg, PA: Speaking to a packed house in the Greensburg Salem High School gym Thursday, Democratic VP nominee Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) criticized the Bush Administration on its handling of U.S. military involvement in Iraq, shouting, “we will end this war.”
Introduced by NFL Hall of Famer and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, and Norma Margonari, a local activist who comes from a large family of coal miners, Biden opened his remarks by thanking Pittsburgh for pitching in to help his family. He choked up and somberly spoke about how after his wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident, Rocky Bleier, one of the Steelers, came to his sons’ hospital room to give them footballs to cheer them up, at the request of Dan Rooney’s dad.
Biden calmed fears when he said the Obama-Biden team would guarantee to keep Social Security intact. He answered questions on health care benefits and fixing the economy - but his most crowd-rousing comments were given about the Iraq War.
His statement, “Imagine a country where we only go to war when it is absolutely necessary” brought a big round of applause.
Biden continued, “and when we do….. we go with the support of the rest of the world.” More big applause. And then, ” Ladies and gentlemen, we will end this war.” Standing ovation.
Senator Biden’s got a personal interest in six-year long war, since his family learned their oldest son, Beau, currently Delaware’s Attorney General, and a captain in the National Guard, will be deployed to Iraq next month. But he’s been blasting the Bush Administration for several years for their lack of commitment to benefits for vets returning home, including making it extremely hard to be considered “eligible” for education and health benefits once their tours of duty are over.
Last year, the senator’s bill to provide funding for MRAPs, mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, paved the way for construction and distribution of these V-shaped hull tanks, directly leading to a dramatic drop in the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who were hit by roadside bombs. The bill was passed by a vote of 75-24. The one remaining vote was Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was absent in the Senate that day.
Pittsburgh has a higher than average number of residents in the U.S. military. Speaking to the veterans and their families in the crowd, Biden continued, “The only people sacrificing right now are those who have children or husbands or wives who are serving, and the families that are left behind. And we don’t mention it often enough, but we have thousands of people who have died. We have over 30,000 who have been wounded.”
He continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, we owe them. We owe them more than we can ever repay them.”
The senator stayed to answer questions (unlike his counterpart, Gov. Sarah Palin, so far…) and left to a standing ovation.
Sep. 22: Today in a special telephone conference call with reporters, Tom Nee, the president of the National Association Of Police Organizations, announced his organization’s support and endorsement of the Obama-Biden team.
In opening remarks addressed to Senator Biden, Nee announced:
“it’s my great honor this morning to pledge to you, and to commit to you, the support of 287,000 police officers from around the country – representative of about 2,000 organizations that have pledged their support to your candidacy, and to the candidacy of Barack Obama, as the next president and vice president of the United States.”
After his endorsement announcement, Nee explained, “Joe, I’ve got to tell you, man to man. We’ve been great friends, and you’ve worked so very hard on behalf of the American people for a very long period of time. We know that we can count on you,” Nee added. “You have a proven track record. You’ve never talked the talk. You’ve walked the walk …”
After thanking Nee for his support, Sen. Biden responded, “And, look, here’s the thing I can commit to you guys and to the women in your organization — we are going to reestablish he crime bill. We are going to put another 50,000 cops on the street. We are going to provide for the kind of technological health you guys need.”
Biden continued, “Tommy, I promise you, I guarantee you — I would not have joined this ticket unless I was absolutely convinced that Barack’s voting record would be exactly how he will govern as president. So it’s a big deal. And we’re not going to do anything, literally, without asking you guy to the table. You know what you need. You know what the problems are.”
The National Association of Police Organizations represents 2,000+ unions and associations, with 238,000 law enforcement officers and 11,000 retired officers. It also includes 100,000+ citizen members who “share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.”
Senator Biden was a guest speaker on the last day of the NAPO Convention on August 4; Senator McCain was invited as well, but sent a surrogate, the former governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating.
Each speaker got about half of the votes but neither had a required two-thirds majority, so the Executive Board set up a meeting on September 20 to decide who NAPO would endorse in the 2008 presidential elections. Today they announced their endorsement goes to Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden.
John McCain has as his economic advisor Senator Phil Gramm and according to Think Progress are some very, very disturbing facts which calls into judgment, McCain’s judgment.
For everyone who has lost a home due to foreclosure, this is what you should know of McCain’s economic advisor who called those who complained of their economic standing “A nation of whiners”
“As recently as December 31 of last year, still working for Swiss bankers, specifically to help kill the Emergency Home Ownership And Mortgage Equity Protection Act and the Helping Families Save Their Homes and Bankruptcy Act, a bill that would have let bankruptcy judges adjust mortgages terms so American families facing foreclosure could repay their loans and keep their homes.”
This eye-opening yet sickening piece also reported of Gramm, “Gramm’s deregulation [as a senator] help set the stage for an explosion of banks slicing up subprime mortgages, bundling them with other mortgage slices, to hide the credit risks, and selling mortgage stew to other investment firms. That gave lenders powerful incentive to make as many loans as possible, regardless of risk.”
The most chilling words are a regardless of risk. We are only speaking of the financial meltdown that occurred the other day, yet there are other risks in this dangerous world. I think we as Americans have a right to question his judgment on a whole host of issues and not only this one.
In a wonderful piece called The Real American Traitors by William Rivers Pitt, you will simply be blown away as you read, “During his administration, Clinton offered legislation that would give the Treasury Secretary broad powers to ban foreign nations and banks from accessing American financial markets unless they cooperated with money-laundering investigations that would expose and terminate terrorist cash flows.” Concerning this legislation put forth by former President Clinton, Phil Gramm killed this all important piece of legislation and he even had the audacity to say, “I was right then and I am right now. The way to deal with terrorists is to hunt them down and kill them."
Yes, you kill terrorists, but you must also cut off their funding. This is also a risk factor we must all think about especially when McCain surrounds himself with advisors in Senator Phil Gramm. I would like to know if the family members left behind on 9/11 in which the terrorists could have been stopped financially would be called “whiners” by Gramm in seeking justice for them.
You may contact the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net
"Sooner or later, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is going to have to come up with a different plan than the one he's currently following: trying not to let the passengers of the Good Ship USA notice that his plan to bail out all of the sickly financial organizations isn't working. Sooner or later, whoever's in charge is going to have to let the economy hit bottom.
You think voters are mad now? You haven't seen anything. And Bush and Cheney know that.
So I think the Bush administration is hoping to keep the markets stable until November 4. They're hoping the passengers won't push the current crew off the side of the Titanic and elect a new crew from the ship's passenger list. They're hoping that if they keep lighting up the sky with firecrackers over THERE or THERE or HERE -- we won't notice the way the ship is listing to the side, the way the water is pouring in the gaping holes just at the water line.
In other words, they're counting on us being Stuck On Stupid."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-denlinger/secret-memo-from-bush-don_b_126326.html
DO NOT BE DISCOURAGE!!!KEEP YOUR FOCUS! THERE IS NO TIME FOR HAND WRINGING!ITS GOING TO BE CLOSE! DONATE! REGISTER! GET OUT THE VOTE!HERE IS A REASON FOR OPTIMISM!!!
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10
WE WILL WIN BECAUSE WE MUST WIN!!!
