First a handy dandy poll. (as you can see I'm on one of my poll benders.) Also note the poll to the right. I'll switch it out every few days. There is nothing scientific about these polls...duh...Have fun. Vote often. Below are stories worth noting.
Mormon turn around:I hesitate to link this because the actions of the LDS church in this case in no way mitigates the damage it has done and its previous vile, amoral behavior. Additionally, I'm done with the poverty consciousness of the Gay elite. Begging bigots for basic human rights is no longer acceptable. Women and Men are afforded human rights by virtue of being born. Not because a majority says so. So the LDS church in Salt Lake City agrees that housing and employment discrimination is wrong. Whoop Dee Fucking Doo. No one gets an prize for ceasing to be a hate filled crank for a few hours. Gays being happy about a group expressing a smidgen of human decency is a sign of a severe poverty of spirit.
If one wants to know why the dream of equality for gay Americans moves at a snail's pace - one can no longer blame the right wing homophobes. Their positions and tactics are established and as old as time. It's the gay elites, who subsume their principles to get along with a "cool" president who plays them for fools, combined with "stunt" tactics not worthy of the seriousness of the issue that are holding the gay rights movement back. The couple that hung Palin in effigy last Halloween are at it again this year. This year one of the "victims" is Carrie Prejean - who stated her views on gay marriage publicly - views that she was blasted for by the gay "community" even though they are in complete agreement with the President of the United States. This agreement is a fact. Facts are those things from which Obama Pod People recoil like vampires from sunlight. Ms. Prejean is "displayed" chopped in half. You go, boys. That will win some converts to the cause!
Many of these same gay Americans who vilify Prejean profess an orgasmic allegiance to Barack Obama without the slightest whiff of discomfort. For the sane, the equation is simple: IF PREJEAN IS WRONG, OBAMA IS WRONG.
Of course, the real problem here is not a vulgar Halloween display. It's the lack of vulgar equanimity. If these two men can slaughter a fake Prejean, can a person chop an Anita Dunn mannequin in half and place it on their porch? Plenty of people think Dunn's admiration of Mao is morally bankrupt and an invitation to evil - I'm one of them. Mao slaughtered more people than Hitler and Stalin. Imagine the hell that would fall on anyone who did in a fake Dunn for fun.
Stunts are no longer useful in the fight for gay equality. Nor are the whores that run the HRC. The only option for progress now is non-violent civil disobedience. Until the punks who think violent Halloween displays are "protest" and the gay elites grow up - gay Americans will be treated as third class citizens.
Less than 24 hours after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama addressed a large gathering of gay activists at a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign held in Washington D.C. and spoke briefly on the issue of gay rights.
President Obama, with the assistance of the overhead crane operator who holds his swollen head upright, first addressed the issue of Don't ask, Don't tell and promised those in attendance "Don't worry, Be Happy, because soon I will set you free. No one wants you to go to war and fight and even die, more than I and eventually, someday, I will make sure that you can do just that without having to hide your queerness. I have no timetable for accomplishing this feat, but I don't work well when there are expectations or goals. So, my best advice to those of you currently serving in our military is, just keep quiet, good things are a comin. And, if you should die in service to your country in the interim, just know this, I sort of cared!"
As those in attendance pressed for some answers on when the administration would act to overturn DOMA, as promised by President Obama during his campaign, Obama would only say this "Ask not how long you must wait to be treated like other human beings, ask what you can do for me, Obama, Mmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmm! I know you want the FREEDOM to marry your partners, but as long as marriage is between one man and one woman, my hands are tied. I have directed my Attorney General, Eric Holdit, to review the constitutionality of DOMA and I asked Eric to have a full report on my Big Old Oval Office desk no later than the 12th of never. I know that seems like a long, long time, but I'll still be here even if you're not"
After the event HRC president, Joel SalmonCroquet, spoke to reporters and said, "I just love President Obama, especially his big Swollen Head. We shall overcome, Someday."
Representative Barney "bulbous" Frankfurter, who came late to the event, spoke briefly to reporters on the subject of gay rights saying, "this really doesn't concern me, I've got mine and even some of yours, so quit marching queeers because everytime you march, you make me look like an ingrate, you stupid commoners".
The bulbous and corrupt Representative Gaseous...uh...I mean Frank...says gays marching for equality is "A waste of time".
He doesn't stop there: "The only thing they're going to be putting pressure on is the grass," the Democrat said Friday. With friends like these does the gay community need enemies?
Make no mistake: I agree that those seeking equality have wasted a hell of a lot of time - and continue to. The asinine support of Barrack Obama, who has a record of cavorting with homophobes, was a big time waster. As is the ongoing obsession with ballot initiatives. The current debate in California centers around whether or not a ballot initiative repealing prop 8 should be fought in 2010 or 2012. Either year will absorb a huge amount of time and money and are 50/50 bets at best. Probably more like 40/60 in 2010 - an almost certain GOP year. Effective action for change does not seem to occur to the ninnies at the HRC.
What would be effective - and not merely affected - is non violent civil disobedience. The marchers in Selma did not waste time on ballot initiatives. They put themselves on the line. They had the moral high ground...then claimed even higher ground. They changed the stance of an entire nation because they sat in the front of buses, they sat at Woolworth's counters, they faced down bigots.
31 of 32 initiatives banning gay marriage have passed. With a record like that you'd think the gay elite would get a little more imaginative.
The gay rights movement is in danger of lapsing into a racket. Raise money, get signatures, raise money, vote, usually lose, wring hands, raise money, repeat. If it were up to the insiders among the gay elite this cycle would go on forever.
Regardless of Frank's perpetual obnoxiousness, it is ONLY the protesters on the ground who are worthy of our regard and admiration at this point.
This time the Obama DOJ did not use child molestation and incest as legal reasoning to discriminate against gays...so I guess that is progress. The DOJ insists it must defend laws on the books. This is a suspect theory. Besides, Obama promised to repeal this law. He has taken no action to do so. None. Zero. Zilch.
This is yet another demonstration that Obama is a man with no principles whatsoever.
3. Shitmydadsays:Possibly the perfect use of Twitter. My favorite so far: "My flight lands at 9:30 on Sunday...You want to watch what? What the fuck is mad men? I'm a mad man if you don't pick me the hell up."
4. The U.S. Couch Potato Open: Lordy, I love a weekend like this. USC plays its first game Saturday, along with a slew of other good games on tap. The U.S. Open is cooking for the Americans this year. Serena is looking great, though, I have a Venus bias I freely admit to. The American men look great too. Roddick is rolling. The third round also features Americans Jesse Witten, Sam Querrey and my other favorite Yank: James Blake. GOD BLESS WHOEVER INVENTED THE DVR!
5. Music: Duh...what song did you think I was gonna post today?
What's the Hopey Changey progress Obama can claim this time? He didn't call all gay people child molesters in the Justice department brief. Whoo hoo! A transformative president! A real leader! A man-god! The light bringer! His Justice dept does not think 10% of the population are perverts! Wow! I have a tingle going up my leg!
(Or is that a homo who wants to grab the goods because he is blind and thinks i am 14???)
I am SO glad the Left is waking up. (Though I will continue to yell TOLD YA SO! for a good, long while. Perhaps forever. The Obots deserve a long season in Hell for what they did last year.
Regarding "Don't ask, don't tell": Obama pledged to repeal the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents openly homosexual men and women from serving in the military, his spokesman said. "While campaigning for America's highest office, Barack Obama told prospective voters he would, without a doubt, repeal the discriminatory policy we know as Don't Ask Don't Tell. His assertiveness on the subject was profound; his no-nonsense approach, so appealing"
But, is that going to happen? So far, Obama is saying it's up to Congress to deal with this issue, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat) says it's up to Obama to deal with it. The classic Washington political "hot potato" no one wants to take hold of.
Obama decided early on to avoid what was seen as Clinton's mistake in 1993 (pushing the repeal on the military gay ban in the his first week in office) - and put gay rights on the back burner. "Back burner" is a generous assessment on my part as tangential evidence indicates that Obama might just prefer to ignore gay rights issues entirely.
In terms of cold political calculation the BHO Administration probably believed this was the correct move. He did not win because of gay rights concerns and there were, in fact, "bigger fish to fry" in January. Politically, I am sure the arguments against moving on gay rights around the Axelrod conference room table seemed solid. Gay rights advocates bought in and waited. But now Obama has spent his political capital with all but the most kool addled gay rights advocates.
For two reasons:
1. Obama continues to create an appearance of activity around his agenda and his persona. He's been everywhere, all the time, he's in our face on every topic from bank bailouts, to GM to hand washing. He has held forth on everything - including the NCAA and NBA tournaments. Yet, Obama promised over and over and over again to lead on gay rights. He has avoided and insulted instead. The disconnect became too much after his Justice Department defended DOMA last week. The defense itself is not the core problem. The apparent choice to make it nasty is. Throwing in incest and child molestation was excessive, unnecessary, demeaning and hearkened back to arguments against interracial marriage that centered on "mud people."
While Obama has nurtured the appearance of the over achiever at work, pushing Congress to repeal DOMA has been avoided and the attack on gay military personal continues unchecked.
2. It is not 1993. While gay rights is still divisive but much has changed in 16 years. In 1993 gay rights was still a backwater in the national consciousness. Since then we've had gay centered sitcoms, lesbian movie stars, gay athletes, and talk show hosts. There are two gay oriented cable networks. Gay marriage equality is the law in a handful of states. Now 60 plus percent of Americans oppose Don't Ask Don't Tell.
In other words, there has been substantial movement. When Bill Clinton bravely - and dangerously - took on the gay military ban in 1993 he was far ahead of the curve.
Obama remains behind it.
Obama bothers me for so many reasons. The main one being that he is not the product that was force fed the American people last year. At all. This should be obvious to all by now. Far from the amazing agent of hope and change - he's just another politician - with a rather gross and mysterious pedigree - who spends most of his time dancing with the money men who brought him when not heading out for burgers and going on date nights.
In the case of gay rights his duplicitous nature is not my biggest beef. It is his stinginess. Obama does have a public speaking skill set akin to FDR, Reagan and Bill Clinton. He can move the conversation with a speech. But Obama is stingy. He uses his "gift" only to move himself along - never the country. Obama's best speeches are all geared toward pushing Obama. He touches on great themes when - and only when - it serves him first. So what ever he said about race while embracing Wright last Spring was subsumed by the subtext which was: I've got to use my "gift" to save my ass.
In 1952 Nixon famously saved his political career after being accused of taking gifts from donors as he ran for V.P. the first time. He went on TV and made his "checkers speech" denying he'd taken gifts - except for one: His family was given a dog named Checkers. People loved it. It was early and brilliant political television and remains the go to example of American political career ass saving. For Dick Nixon, the rest, as they say, is history.
Here is all Obama had to do on gay rights: Address it head on and early on in a speech on ONE day using his "gift'. He could have said: this is where we've been, this is what ought to happen... and what is right for all of us, it will take some time but here is the down payment...then signed an executive order ending benefit discrimination. He then would have really bought himself some time on the more volatile gay rights flash points.
I urge everyone to read the entire post linked above.
Why didn't Obama take the action of a real leader? Simple: He isn't one and there was nothing in it for him. We've already learned beyond all doubt that values and campaign promises are meaningless to this President.
...and your flag lapel pin, too! (by Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors) When the whisperers and the naysayers try to appease the LGBTQ community that there is too much going on with two wars, the Great Recession, Healthcare reform, international tensions, and so forth, they need to be called on their bullshit...Right now, this very moment, the Dims have control of the White House, and the Congress, and enough of the Senate that they can make real change. By the midterm elections, they might not have it; hell they probably won't have it if history is any guide. There is literally no better time than the present to make real progress. It will not happen on its own, the only thing that is missing is the political willpower and leadership...
What they are not willing to say (or put in writing) is that LGBTQ rights are not priorities. But let's be honest for a moment: they are really saying that Human Rights are not a priority. I do not accept that, and I don’t think anyone else should either.
Obama Extends Benefits To Gay Federal Employees (by The Cajun Boy at Gawker) The AP reported Tuesday that the Obama administration plans to announce Wednesday that they're extending the same benefits available to spouses of straight employees to the spouses of gay and lesbian federal employees...Interestingly, the move comes the day after two prominent gay men, activist David Mixner and blogger Andy Towle, announced that they would boycott an upcoming DNC fundraiser out of concern that the Obama White House was supporting policies detrimental to the gay rights cause. Coincidence? And where did the idea come from? From Hillary, of course.-Caro
Obama OKs Some Benefits for Gay Federal Workers' Partners (Truthdig) It would take new legislation to extend full health coverage to the same-sex partners of federal employees, but President Obama, via presidential memorandum, will grant some benefits to them. The administration is already on thin ice with gay activists, some of whom are angry about a Justice Department brief defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, the very law that prevents the government from recognizing the rights of gay couples.
Daniel Politi is not impressed: Obama Throws Gays a Crumb (by Daniel Politi, Slate) Due to this increasing disappointment in Obama's administration, gay rights supporters couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the news. An adviser to the Clinton administration on gay issues tells the NYT that "more important now is what he says tomorrow about the future for gay people during his presidency."
Reid Clarifies His Position On DADT: 'We Would Welcome A Legislative Proposal From The White House' (Think Progress) During a press conference Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) attracted attention when a reporter asked him whether the Senate will be pushing for a bill to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT): "...'My hope is that it can be done administratively.'" The Obama administration has repeatedly resisted calls to suspend DADT by executive order. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs last month said that President Obama is looking for a 'durable legislative solution," and Obama himself has written that repeal of the policy "needs Congressional action." Many LGBT bloggers immediately criticized Reid's comments, saying that Obama and Congress were "playing hot potato over DADT."
Tuesday in a statement to ThinkProgress, Reid's office clarified the senator’s remarks, saying that what he is looking for is a "legislative proposal" from the White House. Additionally, while the Senate does not currently have a bill introduced, "a number" of senators are working on one.
Click here for more politics and media news headlines.
Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com
Music: sing if your glad to gay...sing if you're happy that way...
Obama's schedule for June 16th announced by White House:
6:15am - Obama works out with Michelle at WH gym. Personal treadmill testers will warm up for the Obamas at 6:05.
7:00 - Obama's shower tester to enter shower to ensure proper water temp.
7:05 - Obama to shower. POTUS scheduled to soap up and rinse without out valet or White House lawyer for first time today.
7:30 - Breakfast with family in residence. Both Obama daughters set to pester him about about upcoming slumber party. Obama to respond with usual "just let me eat my waffle."
8:00 - Obama to overhaul financial regulations.
8:15 - Obama to overhaul healthcare regulations.
8:20 - Obama to overhaul CEO pay.
8:21 - Obama to overhaul education, the Fed, Wall Street, Main Street, Sunset Blvd between Dodger Stadium and the Arby's next to the creepy iCarly/SpongeBob mural in Hollywood, The Department of Motor Vehicles in all 57 states, and Joe Biden.
8:22 - Obama to announce members of the Admin's committee to rework the second law of thermodynamics and consolidate Special and General Relativity to cut down on overhead costs and redundancy, saving approximately 11 dollars and 52 cents.
8:30 - Obama to declare Michelle "Czar" of outlet malls. Directing her to overhaul outlet malls around the nation, insisting outlets be combined with Indian gaming casinos wherever possible to consolidate travel and cut down on green house gas emissions.
8:33 - Obama to pass by Larry Summers office and poke him with a stick from the hallway to wake him up.
9:45 - Obama to chair meeting of National Security Council in short sleeves to show he's a relaxed kind of guy.
Main agenda items
"How to continue to give all work to Hillary while taking credit whenever possible."
and
" Should POTUS issue apology to French for Ben Franklin's gas?"
Also something about Iran and North Korea.
3:00 - Obama to appear on Dr. Phil and - in a jovial manner- order that Dr. Phil get a pedicure, thanking all pedicurists for their invaluable contribution to American life and ensuring that they won't be forgotten in the budget process.
4:00 Townhall meeting in Peoria, Arizona to announce who will play him in his biopic on Lifetime - Hugh Laurie or Vanessa Williams?!
4:10 Townhall in Crouton-on-Hudson, New York to show his favorite clips from The Mod Squad and to announce who will play Michelle in the upcoming biopic on Lifetime: Hugh Laurie or Mellisa Ethridge?!
4:30 Townhall in Hilo, Hawaii on "The Art and Science of Blaming Predecessors" also to insist that he has no look-a-likes. He really is everywhere, all the time.
5:00 State Dinner for Prime Minister of some European country no one gives a shit about anymore. Obama to be on phone with Chinese Ambassador throughout meal begging Beijing not to sell dollars. Customary toast to be made by new White House Food Taster, George Clooney.
6:00 Michelle and Barack to commence Date Night. First a private dinner at a Oprah's Santa Barbara home, then a preview of a multicultural revival of Tennessee Williams "A Streetcar Named Desire" called:
"W.T.F. is that white women cryin' 'bout when the Mayan Calender sez the world is about to end and my sugah diabe-tes is messin with my head... and the rainbow is enuf."
Subtitled:A meditation onColonialism, Socialism, global warming, FEMA, lemurs, 9/11, racism, sexism, Shirley Chisholm, Don Draper, Wet Naps, wet dreams, end times mythology, breakfast cereal, pre stone age henges, and Jesus.
By Tony Kushner.
11:45: Sandman to visit POTUS.
Other stuff:
When even the resident pot head at HBO knows you're a fraud it means the Kool Aid Kegger is finally winding down:
I urge readers here to read this at Cannonfire. He - and those he links to are - frankly - calmer writers on this topic than I am - or want to be. Joseph Cannon's piece hits the mark directly - as he usually does. From there you can go to Riverdaughter who nails it as well - saying what many of us think and I have written in less polite terms:
The left is suffering from a moral sickness. It wanted an outcome so badly that it was willing to sacrifice its own personality and principles to get it.
Damn right.
Cannonfire also quotes Andy Sullivan who is moral trash and ought to be shunned by all thinking people as soon as this Obama gay bashing storm passes. One can read Sullivan's regrets without clicking on his putrid blog.
Clarity: Obama's Justice Department compared gay men and lesbians to pedophiles. This is HATE. The Justice Department of the United States has taken the same stance as those who want gays dead in places like Iran.
Often I take joy in watching the False Deluded Obama Left wake up to the truth about Chicago Slim. I'm far from ego less. In this case my response is closer to nausea. I am heartsick for all the gay kids out there who read Obama's vile legal brief.
Let us never forget that it did not have to be this way. Those of us who knew Obama was a con man and a fraud must never stop reminding the Sullivan's and the Avarosis's what they did. They had an audience. They could have educated voters about Obama. They chose to participate in the lie. For this they must be held responsible and for this they must apologize.
The most horrific and blatant example yet that Obama is Bush 3:
Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.
Actually, Obama is worse than Bush. Bush would never have been so morally depraved as to invoke the budget to promote bigotry. One can hardly imagine a McCain Administration producing a federal brief this reactionary. Hey Andy Sullivan: Go slink away into a hole in Provincetown - FOREVER. You WERE WRONG. Admit it.
Link here. Yes it is Americablog. It may now have finally occurred to Avarosis and the foolish, idiotic Obama Pods that Obama is a fraud of epic proportions. I will never let people like John Avarosis forget what he and the Pods did last year with their relentless, sexist attacks on Clinton. Let's put this as plainly as possible:
A PRESIDENT HILLARY CLINTON WOULD NEVER SUBMIT A RETROGRADE AND DESPICABLE BRIEF SUCH AS THIS TO A FEDERAL COURT.
NEVER.
Apologize NOW.
YES YOU CAN.
Some of us knew Obama was a fraud before it was cool.
The California Supreme Court will release its decision of the constitutionality of Prop 8 at 10am on Tuesday morning. It is widely expected to uphold the proposition and ban gay marriage in California.
Gay rights supporters have planned protests and candlelight vigils up and down the state. There is nothing wrong with this response. But it is time now to get past candles and vigils. Gay marriage is now legal in 4 states and gay marriages are recognized in the District of Columbia. The legal avenue has garnered some success. But this, too, is no longer enough. While this is a legal issue it is not only a legal issue - it is a moral issue as well. Disallowing 10% of the population to participate in a right the other 90% assumes is immoral.
Nonviolent civil disobedience is the next step. The myth of Rosa Parks, a genuine patriot, is that she acted alone. In fact, a large and organized support system backed her up and was galvanized by her brave act of nonviolent civil disobedience. During the Civil rights movement brave people were willing to put their bodies on the line to move the greater population's moral compass.
Gay rights advocates must now be willing to do the same. How would this look? I can not say for certain. But the institutions now enforcing the immoral laws must be put on the front line - nonviolently. In fact, nonviolence must be the animating principle here.
Any violence - even minor incidences - is unacceptable.
Linked here are the requirements for civil ceremonies in California. Gay couples who wish to be married could go to county clerks and request a license - refusing to leave until they are granted. These sit ins should be supported by as many people as possible. All refusing to leave. County clerks offices may well be the Woolworth's counters of this movement.
People will be dragged away. It will be ugly. Nonviolence training is a must.
Another important point here is this: Churches must be avoided. This issue has nothing to do with any one institution's beliefs. It is an issue of legally recognized basic rights by the state. If the Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, or any other denomination or religion will not or feel they can not recognize same sex marriages that is their right and must be respected. Gay Marriage rights advocates would be wise to stop arguing religion entirely. However, if churches such as the Mormons finance campaigns against gay marriage their histories are fair game.
Where else nonviolent disobedience is appropriate will become clearer. It may be clear now to those more involved with this movement than I. What is absolutely clear to me is the need to claim the moral high ground. Gay rights advocates already own it. But it must be claimed in order for the rest of the sympathetic but disinterested population to get on board. This is not even about gay people being treated as equal. It is about what is right for a representative, diverse democracy.
Tradition is not an argument. Slavery is a traditional institution in human history. It is also wrong.
What is best for child rearing is not an argument. There is no evidence that heterosexual couples raise children better than homosexual couples. By this thinking "straight" couples who cannot or have no desire to have children should then be banned from getting married as well.
What the "majority" desires is not an argument. Civil rights are not conferred upon minorities by the majority. If this were the case many hotels would still have signs declaring "No colored or Jews allowed."
Finally the word "marriage" cannot be compromised on...unless heterosexual couples married by the state are willing to accept calling their binding commitment a "civil union". It is important to note that those in favor of "civil unions" for gays but not full marriage rights are the judicial activists on this point. They want to carve out a special class instead of accepting simple equality for all. Marriage rights are conservative in nature. Marriage solidifies a society.
And let's not pull any punches here. Much of the gay community is immature - with men in particular. All oppressed minorities evolve defensive survival mechanisms. Ghettos for gay men evolved and stereotypes emerged from these communities and about these communities. There are nuggets of truth in these stereotypes. With many gay men there is a flipness and self hating secretiveness about sex. Crystal meth addiction hammered gay men living through a holocaust in the 80s and 90s - it also aided in the spread of this plague. However, within this community there is also an understanding that marriage rights are an important milestone for gay men. It is part of growing up.
How oppression and self hatred expresses itself among lesbians is outside my experience. I won't comment on it - except to say that struggles of lesbian women in this society are no less real and no less painful because straight men - who hold the power - find them less of a threat to their manhood.
California is one state. However, in many ways it is a nation-state. Creating a group of literally millions of second class citizens is unacceptable and immoral for this state and the entire nation.
The Civil Rights movement of 50s and 60s shows the way. On Tuesday at 10:01 AM it will be time to take the next step.
As funny as the clip above is let's not forget that the issue on the table - legalized discrimination against American gays - is not funny. It is wrong. It is immoral. It is dangerous, especially in a case like Choi who has skills we desperately need for our safety. It is against everything we claim to stand for as a nation and is therefore corrosive to everyone in this country, not just gays. It is illogical. It is based in ignorance and fear. It must end.
Great stuff today from Caroline...please read the Greenwald piece even it you don't have time for the other stuff... music below.
Politics and Media Headlines 5/15/09
Moral Kombat (The Daily Show, Comedy Central) Barack Obama blocks the release of detainee photos, and refuses to intervene in the dismissal of a gay lieutenant. Why is it okay to torture people, Jon asks, but not okay to take pictures of it. And why are we firing one of the few people who can understand what the prisoners say, just because he has a boyfriend-Caro
We wouldn't want to inflame anti-American sentiment (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon) We're currently occupying two Muslim countries. We're killing civilians regularly (as usual) with airplanes and unmanned sky robots. We're imprisoning tens of thousands of Muslims with no trial, for years. Our government continues to insist that it has the power to abduct people -virtually all Muslim-ship them to Bagram, put them in cages, and keep them there indefinitely with no charges of any kind. We're denying our torture victims any ability to obtain justice for what was done to them by insisting that the way we tortured them is a "state secret" and that we need to "look to the future." We provide Israel with the arms and money used to do things like devastate Gaza. Independent of whether any or all of these policies are justifiable, the extent to which those actions "inflame anti-American sentiment" is impossible to overstate.
Pull The Other One (by Nell Lancaster, A Tiny Revolution, thanks to Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque) The Iraqi and Afghan public don't need five-year-old pictures of torture to loathe and wish harm to U.S. troops: they've lived it, they've heard the survivors' accounts, and they're still experiencing massacres by air strikes, house raids, checkpoints, lawless detention, and the multiple humiliations of occupation. The only things that could dampen their anger are the departure of U.S. troops and trials, conviction and long sentences for higher-ups responsible for the crimes committed against their peoples.
If You're Angry About the Torture Photos, You're Being Played By Obama (by John Cook at Gawker) Obama did not actually decide not to release the photos, despite the way his reversal has been characterized. The decision isn't his to make. The Pentagon is currently compelled by a court order...to turn 22 photos over to the ACLU, which sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act for their release in 2003. The Pentagon lost in district court and lost again on appeal...By trying to take the issue to the Supreme Court, all Obama is doing is delaying the photos' release and earning points as a moderate and loyal Commander in Chief. He knows that the photos will come out before his next election, and any lingering anger from his supporters will have long since dissipated. Bad policy, smart move.
But here's the worst problem with the reversal - it empowers the right wing: Liz Cheney Claims Victory In Obama Detainee Photo Reversal (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line) In Thursday's Washington Post piece on Dick Cheney’s ongoing torture tour...
Click here for more politics and media news headlines.
Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com
MUSIC: Hey ex -hippies, stupid college terps, kool aid addled Brentwood morons, smug upper west side brats, David Geffen-esque asswipes, Huffington/Kos sheeple....
Andrew Sullivan's piece called The Fierce Urgency Of Whenever about gay rights is a good jumping off point for tonight. In it he states: ...I have a sickeningly familiar feeling in my stomach, and the feeling deepens with every interaction with the Obama team on these issues. They want them to go away. They want us to go away.
His piece is largely personal and about HIV, not gay rights (Though there are, of course, intertwined, they should not be taken as one and the same.) I have no desire to write a broadside about Sullivan and HIV. The appropriate response to that is, as always, compassion.
However, it causes a bottomless pit of fascination for me that so many people fell for Obama. And fall they did. Flat on their backs. Flattened on their backs is more like it. My distress and revulsion is still palpable.
I've done my time on campaigns over the years: Ted Kennedy, McGovern, Mondale, Brown, Jesse Jackson, Harkin, Clinton, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Clinton...and in all those campaigns the level of self congratulatory delusion never came close to what was evident in Obama's campaign. Obama in the eyes of those who supported him was not a candidate at all - but a seer, a Messiah, an answer to everything from Gay Rights to bunions. As last year wore on - and into 2009 - oozing smugness became the order of the day. Regardless of all evidence to the contrary - and though that evidence was downplayed anyone with a computer could have found it - the Obama fanatics ignored and dismissed it. Have we ever seen so many people willingly blind themselves?
Every time I volunteered I had hope and purpose. Like all who volunteer I had a belief in the process, a desire to be a part of something bigger, and a faith, of sorts, in the candidate. However, rarely did I have or detect a sense in anyone else that they thought the candidate was anything but a person. Bill Clinton remains the most gifted speaker we've seen in my lifetime. I admit to occasional moments of being so moved by him that he appeared to be something other than a politician. It never lasted. I knew Bill Clinton was a moderate and would behave as such. And chose to volunteer anyway.
The faith the Obama people put in Obama was of a different stripe. It was religious. Which is to say it was willfully blind. The candidate himself really did not matter to them- and he knew it. What they were projecting mattered.
Now, I suspect that many progressives internally exited the Obama Exultation Express when he chose an economic team straight out of Wall Street. But their egos can't come "out of the closet" just yet. So excuses and half baked criticisms are all that can be mustered. "At least he's not McCain or Bush" is the order of the day. Even that excuse has jumped the shark. With each passing compromise and avoidance by Team Obama this too becomes moot.
Instead of reflexively resting on what they believe he's "better than", realistic Obama supporters should be asking - What exactly is the difference between McCain, Bush, and Obama? The answer, so far, is not much. As I stated before, the interference in Detroit probably would not have happened with a President McCain. But even there, the result will be the same: Bankruptcy for Chrysler and GM. The gag rule being rescinded is another instance of sure difference. Still that rule comes and goes every time the parties switch off.
I know much of my audience here is more conservative than me. That's fine. I appreciate it, in fact. Still watching so many "liberals" lop off there common sense for over a year is - at the very least - compelling reading. Did Sullivan actually believe BHO would be a strong proponent of Gay rights? Did John Avarosis? I love calling them dunderheads. but they aren't and I know it. How could Sullivan remain a cheerleader for so long? How did Avarosis get sucker punched into selling his soul?
Huffington and Cheetos man are a different breed. Neither are willing to think outside the box or question their current assumptions. Their arrogance is too thick. Obama merely accentuated their constricted thinking and gave them an excuse to continue bashing Clinton -any Clinton. Obama was the perfect candidate for them- especially for the fad following Huffington. I have no doubt that once Obama sinks below 50% she will turn. She is already prepping her crowd - attacking everyone in the Obama Admin - except Obama.
It actually saddens me a bit to see Sullivan's disappointment in Obama's gay rights cowardice. Like seeing a kid who just found out Santa Clause doesn't exist.
But my patience is short. He was cold blooded and mean last year and has not earned anything but a smidgen of compassion because he realized too late that his God has clay feet on issues closest to his life. Again the issue is not supporting Obama - it is supporting Obama blindly. Not questioning. Not holding up the basic tenant of being intelligent and engaged: Question everything and everyone - even those you intend to vote for. Sullivan and Avarosis have no right to be disappointed in Obama. Both men have a large audience and a platform that could have been used to educate. They could have questioned what happened at the DNC meeting last May. They could have - at least - wondered why Obama was so secretive about his academic record. They opted for cheer leading, mudslinging and gleeful, vicious attacks on Palin.
Sullivan in not a progressive but he's become a defacto member of the Left's intelligentsia with his adoration of Obama. And yes, Andrew, Barry does want you to go away. He wants Code Pink and Move On and anyone who believed he would shake up the elite to GO AWAY. You were used by a man who uses people and throws them overboard as a lifestyle. You should have seen this coming, Andrew.
