This comes from here ... it's so good I have to quote most of it:
If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."
Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
If you name your kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity".
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base".
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous".
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign,> you are an "empty suit".
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive".
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist".
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled".
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky."
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you're not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happen while being date raped.)
If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick.
Palin has a right to her religious beliefs, as do fundamentalist Muslims who agree with her on so many issues of social policy. None of them has a right, however, to impose their beliefs on others by capturing and deploying the executive power of the state. The most noxious belief that Palin shares with Muslim fundamentalists is her conviction that faith is not a private affair of individuals but rather a moral imperative that believers should import into statecraft wherever they have the opportunity to do so. That is the point of her pledge to shape the judiciary. Such a theocratic impulse is incompatible with the Founding Fathers' commitment to tolerance and democracy, which is why they forbade the government to "establish" or officially support any particular religion or denomination.
McCain once excoriated the Rev. Jerry Falwell and his ilk as "agents of intolerance." That he took such a position gave his opposition to similar intolerance in Islam credibility. In light of his more recent disgraceful kowtowing to the Christian right, McCain's animus against fundamentalist Muslims no longer looks consistent. It looks bigoted and invidious. You can't say you are waging a war on religious extremism if you are trying to put a religious extremist a heartbeat away from the presidency.
McCain once excoriated the Rev. Jerry Falwell and his ilk as "agents of intolerance." That he took such a position gave his opposition to similar intolerance in Islam credibility. In light of his more recent disgraceful kowtowing to the Christian right, McCain's animus against fundamentalist Muslims no longer looks consistent. It looks bigoted and invidious. You can't say you are waging a war on religious extremism if you are trying to put a religious extremist a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Can he help us heal?
I came out as a Barack Obama convert in February, much to the dismay of some of my feminist friends who were pulling for Hillary's history-making run as a woman.
Hillary, however, voted for the Iraq War. Who knows what Obama would have done if he'd been in her place? However, he wasn't. He's in a much better position to hammer home his differences with Bush & Co.
The last eight years have wreaked havoc on the U.S.'s world-wide reputation. Too many people hate us, fear us--and for what? A war designed to enrich Bush & Cheney's corporate friends in the face of killing, maiming and displacing millions of human beings. If we elect Barack Obama, Americans are telling the world that we don't support this.
Along those lines, look at what this New York Times piece says about foreign reaction to Obama's clinching the nomination:
Indeed, for many, the idea of an African-American in the White House for the first time seemed a concept that could potentially presage a profound shift in America’s sense of itself.
Gerard Baker, the U.S. editor of The Times of London, wrote: “In 220 years a country that has steadily multiplied in diversity, where ethnic minorities and women have risen to the very highest positions in so many fields of human life, has chosen a succession of 42 white men as its leader. For good measure, the vice presidency, the only other nationally directly elected position in the US government, has been held by a succession of 46 white males.”
“But last night, in a tumultuous break with this long history, the ultimate realization of the American dream moved a little closer, and a black man became his party’s nominee for the presidency,” Mr. Baker wrote.
Ségolène Royal, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Socialist rival in last year’s French presidential election, called Mr. Obama’s candidacy “a historic choice.”
“He embodies the America of today and tomorrow,” she said Wednesday. Ms. Royal, who attended an Obama rally in Boston on Feb. 1, said his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq could help mend America’s battered image in the world. “He had a lucid judgment of the war in Iraq.”
. . .
“It should bring a good change in relations with Pakistan” should he win the presidency, said Munaway Akhtar, a prominent lawyer specializing in international arbitration in the capital, Islamabad. “Pakistan has always been friendly to the United States but the people have never benefited, the rulers have always benefited. Hopefully, that would change with Obama.”
There was a prevailing sentiment, he said, that Mr. Obama would better serve Pakistan’s interests. “If Obama would become president there would be a push for democracy in Pakistan.”
A former senior Pakistani diplomat, who was briefly ambassador to the United States, Tariq Fatemi, said that Mr. Obama’s “idealism” struck a chord with Pakistanis.
“Barack Obama would do very well in improving the image of the United States. He would position the United States more as a force for moral values rather than for brute force,” he said.
That sense of optimism emerged in Hong Kong’s financial district.
“I feel his image is younger, fresher and more energetic, with no baggage and a shorter history,” said Richard Law, 50, a lawyer.
Across Europe, Mr. Obama’s announcement was seen through the prism of national interest. In Kosovo, whose birth as an independent country in February won strong support from the United States, political observers said that both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain would be embraced by the territory’s ethnic Albanian majority, since both supported Kosovo’s self-determination.
In Denmark, which supported the invasion of Iraq before withdrawing its troops amid a growing domestic backlash, Matias Seidelin, the political editor of the newspaper Politiken, said Mr. Obama was widely seen as the candidate who could repair America’s damaged reputation.
“Obama is viewed a multilateralist who favors dialogue in his foreign policy,” he said.
Mr. Seidelin said Mr. Obama’s s multiethnic background could foster understanding between cultures in the United States and other countries.
In Germany, where newspapers and broadcasters have been fascinated by the United States election campaign, several politicians and commentators have referred to Mr. Obama as the new John F. Kennedy, expressing fervent hope that he will be make it to the White House not only because of his youth and background but also as radical departure from the Bush administration.
Reinhardt Bütikofer, leader of Germany’s Green Party, said the election was of crucial importance for democracy. “I think this is a major historical moment,” he said. “And it came about against all the odds. What is most exciting is how Obama has been able to mobilize younger voters. This is one of the most important aspects. He can always be proud of that.”
The enthusiasm was also clear among conservative politicians, such as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Social Union, the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats.
If Mr. Obama becomes president, “a transatlantic honeymoon will take place which will reach its climax at the next NATO summit which will be held both in Germany and France. We will reach a new peak of transatlantic romanticism,” he said.
“The dreams of Germans are connected with a renaissance of multilateralism, to which Obama is committed.”
In Brussels, Jan Marinus Wiersma, vice president of the Socialist Group, which has 216 seats in the European Parliament, was equally exuberant: “Mr. Obama represents an agenda for change for which we in Europe are longing. We hope and expect Mr. Obama to win. This will be the start of a new era of positive cooperation between the U.S. and Europe.”
In Switzerland, Miriam Behrens, the spokesperson for Switzerland’s Green Party, said, “Among the general public there is a tendency to support Obama. He’s perceived as a person who’s very charismatic and he’s more open to a European approach to things. That’s very much appreciated here.”
Some Europeans expressed caution about the outcome of the November election. “It’s clear that to affirm this change, there would have to be a victory in November, which isn’t at all certain,” said Mario Del Pero, who teaches American history at the University of Bologna in Italy. But Margherita Boniver, of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Party of Freedom, said an Obama victory in November “would be a moment of great liberation, of the overcoming of many millenary prejudices” whose impact would spread to the entire world.
Nikos Karahalios, a top strategist of the ruling New Democracy Party in Greece, said the government in Athens “isn’t playing the Republican or Democratic card game. But Greece, a small country struggling to make its mark in international affairs, has always had a history of siding by the underdog. That’s what Obama is. That’s why he’s appealing to the Greeks.”
He also evoked expectations that Mr. Obama could soften the anti-Americanism that has flowed from the Iraq war. “How well Mr. Obama rebrands America is crucial for Greece. It will determine how Greeks position themselves vis-à-vis the United States,” Mr. Karahalios said.
The American campaign has been closely followed in Baghdad, where politicians have tended to judge their American counterparts by reference to their stance on and knowledge of the Iraq war.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Mahmoud Othman, a prominent member of Kurdish alliance in Parliament, said: “It is a matter related to the American people. I have preferred Clinton to be the candidate because she is more concerned about the Iraqi issue and the Kurdish issue especially. In general, I think it is good for the Americans because they want a change. They want a new administration since Obama represents the youth and he wants change.”
And since Obama is now the nominee, here's a poem in honor of him:
Hillary, however, voted for the Iraq War. Who knows what Obama would have done if he'd been in her place? However, he wasn't. He's in a much better position to hammer home his differences with Bush & Co.
The last eight years have wreaked havoc on the U.S.'s world-wide reputation. Too many people hate us, fear us--and for what? A war designed to enrich Bush & Cheney's corporate friends in the face of killing, maiming and displacing millions of human beings. If we elect Barack Obama, Americans are telling the world that we don't support this.
Along those lines, look at what this New York Times piece says about foreign reaction to Obama's clinching the nomination:
Indeed, for many, the idea of an African-American in the White House for the first time seemed a concept that could potentially presage a profound shift in America’s sense of itself.
Gerard Baker, the U.S. editor of The Times of London, wrote: “In 220 years a country that has steadily multiplied in diversity, where ethnic minorities and women have risen to the very highest positions in so many fields of human life, has chosen a succession of 42 white men as its leader. For good measure, the vice presidency, the only other nationally directly elected position in the US government, has been held by a succession of 46 white males.”
“But last night, in a tumultuous break with this long history, the ultimate realization of the American dream moved a little closer, and a black man became his party’s nominee for the presidency,” Mr. Baker wrote.
Ségolène Royal, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Socialist rival in last year’s French presidential election, called Mr. Obama’s candidacy “a historic choice.”
“He embodies the America of today and tomorrow,” she said Wednesday. Ms. Royal, who attended an Obama rally in Boston on Feb. 1, said his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq could help mend America’s battered image in the world. “He had a lucid judgment of the war in Iraq.”
. . .
“It should bring a good change in relations with Pakistan” should he win the presidency, said Munaway Akhtar, a prominent lawyer specializing in international arbitration in the capital, Islamabad. “Pakistan has always been friendly to the United States but the people have never benefited, the rulers have always benefited. Hopefully, that would change with Obama.”
There was a prevailing sentiment, he said, that Mr. Obama would better serve Pakistan’s interests. “If Obama would become president there would be a push for democracy in Pakistan.”
A former senior Pakistani diplomat, who was briefly ambassador to the United States, Tariq Fatemi, said that Mr. Obama’s “idealism” struck a chord with Pakistanis.
“Barack Obama would do very well in improving the image of the United States. He would position the United States more as a force for moral values rather than for brute force,” he said.
That sense of optimism emerged in Hong Kong’s financial district.
“I feel his image is younger, fresher and more energetic, with no baggage and a shorter history,” said Richard Law, 50, a lawyer.
Across Europe, Mr. Obama’s announcement was seen through the prism of national interest. In Kosovo, whose birth as an independent country in February won strong support from the United States, political observers said that both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain would be embraced by the territory’s ethnic Albanian majority, since both supported Kosovo’s self-determination.
In Denmark, which supported the invasion of Iraq before withdrawing its troops amid a growing domestic backlash, Matias Seidelin, the political editor of the newspaper Politiken, said Mr. Obama was widely seen as the candidate who could repair America’s damaged reputation.
“Obama is viewed a multilateralist who favors dialogue in his foreign policy,” he said.
Mr. Seidelin said Mr. Obama’s s multiethnic background could foster understanding between cultures in the United States and other countries.
In Germany, where newspapers and broadcasters have been fascinated by the United States election campaign, several politicians and commentators have referred to Mr. Obama as the new John F. Kennedy, expressing fervent hope that he will be make it to the White House not only because of his youth and background but also as radical departure from the Bush administration.
Reinhardt Bütikofer, leader of Germany’s Green Party, said the election was of crucial importance for democracy. “I think this is a major historical moment,” he said. “And it came about against all the odds. What is most exciting is how Obama has been able to mobilize younger voters. This is one of the most important aspects. He can always be proud of that.”
The enthusiasm was also clear among conservative politicians, such as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Social Union, the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats.
If Mr. Obama becomes president, “a transatlantic honeymoon will take place which will reach its climax at the next NATO summit which will be held both in Germany and France. We will reach a new peak of transatlantic romanticism,” he said.
“The dreams of Germans are connected with a renaissance of multilateralism, to which Obama is committed.”
In Brussels, Jan Marinus Wiersma, vice president of the Socialist Group, which has 216 seats in the European Parliament, was equally exuberant: “Mr. Obama represents an agenda for change for which we in Europe are longing. We hope and expect Mr. Obama to win. This will be the start of a new era of positive cooperation between the U.S. and Europe.”
In Switzerland, Miriam Behrens, the spokesperson for Switzerland’s Green Party, said, “Among the general public there is a tendency to support Obama. He’s perceived as a person who’s very charismatic and he’s more open to a European approach to things. That’s very much appreciated here.”
Some Europeans expressed caution about the outcome of the November election. “It’s clear that to affirm this change, there would have to be a victory in November, which isn’t at all certain,” said Mario Del Pero, who teaches American history at the University of Bologna in Italy. But Margherita Boniver, of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Party of Freedom, said an Obama victory in November “would be a moment of great liberation, of the overcoming of many millenary prejudices” whose impact would spread to the entire world.
Nikos Karahalios, a top strategist of the ruling New Democracy Party in Greece, said the government in Athens “isn’t playing the Republican or Democratic card game. But Greece, a small country struggling to make its mark in international affairs, has always had a history of siding by the underdog. That’s what Obama is. That’s why he’s appealing to the Greeks.”
He also evoked expectations that Mr. Obama could soften the anti-Americanism that has flowed from the Iraq war. “How well Mr. Obama rebrands America is crucial for Greece. It will determine how Greeks position themselves vis-à-vis the United States,” Mr. Karahalios said.
The American campaign has been closely followed in Baghdad, where politicians have tended to judge their American counterparts by reference to their stance on and knowledge of the Iraq war.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Mahmoud Othman, a prominent member of Kurdish alliance in Parliament, said: “It is a matter related to the American people. I have preferred Clinton to be the candidate because she is more concerned about the Iraqi issue and the Kurdish issue especially. In general, I think it is good for the Americans because they want a change. They want a new administration since Obama represents the youth and he wants change.”
And since Obama is now the nominee, here's a poem in honor of him:
Monday, May 19, 2008
Alice Walker: Build alliances based on Truth
There's an amazing piece by Alice Walker in The Root. Ostensibly it's about Obama vs. Clinton, but it's much more than that.She begins by painting a picture of what it was like to live on a Georgia plantation (she was born in 1944):
"My parents and older siblings did everything imaginable for Miss May. They planted and raised her cotton and corn, fed and killed and processed her cattle and hogs, painted her house, patched her roof, ran her dairy, and, among countless other duties and responsibilities my father was her chauffeur, taking her anywhere she wanted to go at any hour of the day or night. She lived in a large white house with green shutters and a green, luxuriant lawn: not quite as large as Tara of Gone With the Wind fame, but in the same style.
"We lived in a shack without electricity or running water, under a rusty tin roof that let in wind and rain. Miss May went to school as a girl. The school my parents and their neighbors built for us was burned to the ground by local racists who wanted to keep ignorant their competitors in tenant farming. During the Depression, desperate to feed his hardworking family, my father asked for a raise from ten dollars a month to twelve. Miss May responded that she would not pay that amount to a white man and she certainly wouldn't pay it to a nigger. That before she'd pay a nigger that much money she'd milk the dairy cows herself."
She then talks about why she supports Obama, and while a lot of what she says swirls in a complex way around race, class and gender. She points out, for instance, that Obama isn't the only one with a "racial heritage"; there are clearly certain benefits to whiteness that are the invisible elephant in the room.
While she would "adore having a woman president,"
"my choice would be Representative Barbara Lee, who alone voted in Congress five years ago not to make war on Iraq. That to me is leadership, morality, and courage; if she had been white I would have cheered just as hard."
Walker also addresses the differences she has with Obama--indeed, with most American politicians:
"I want a grown-up attitude toward Cuba, for instance, a country and a people I love; I want an end to the embargo that has harmed my friends and their children, children who, when I visit Cuba, trustingly turn their faces up for me to kiss. I agree with a teacher of mine, Howard Zinn, that war is as objectionable as cannibalism and slavery; it is beyond obsolete as a means of improving life. I want an end to the on-going war immediately and I want the soldiers to be encouraged to destroy their weapons and to drive themselves out of Iraq."
While she calls the fact that Obama is a clear contender a "miracle we are witnessing," she calls on us to "build alliances based not on race, ethnicity, color, nationality, sexual preference or gender, but on Truth."
She also offers a kind of pragmatic optimism at the end that speaks to me deeply. She says:
"Even if Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may well be beyond his power to lead us toward rehabilitation. If he is elected however, we must, individually and collectively, as citizens of the planet, insist on helping him do the best job that can be done; more, we must insist that he demand this of us. It is a blessing that our mothers taught us not to fear hard work. Know, as the Hopi elders declare: The river has its destination. And remember, as poet June Jordan and Sweet Honey in the Rock never tired of telling us: We are the ones we have been waiting for."
Friday, May 16, 2008
First we have to get our wedding sweatshirts out of storage
Marriages supposedly will be performed beginning a month from now.
Not sure if Annie and I will do something small at city hall or something bigger. It's kind of amazing to think that we'll be legally married...AGAIN. Our other marriage license (received at City Hall four years ago when Gavin Newsom decided to let us all break the law) was nullified and our money returned. But we still have the piece of paper. It's probably worth something on ebay.
Of course if the voters vote down our civil rights in November, we might end up with another useless piece of paper. Can you imagine having let voters during the Civil Rights era determine segregation and anti-miscengenation laws at the polls?
No matter.... it's an exciting, historical time. Those fighting gay marriage are trying frutilessly to keep back the arc of history which, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, bends toward justice.
See, I'm not a cynic at heart.
*
PS: Click here for a great video about the annoucement that includes a touching moment with writer Jewelle Gomez and her partner.
And below is another great video that captures the historical flavor. Forward to the middle to hear Gavin Newsom , the best part.
Not sure if Annie and I will do something small at city hall or something bigger. It's kind of amazing to think that we'll be legally married...AGAIN. Our other marriage license (received at City Hall four years ago when Gavin Newsom decided to let us all break the law) was nullified and our money returned. But we still have the piece of paper. It's probably worth something on ebay.
Of course if the voters vote down our civil rights in November, we might end up with another useless piece of paper. Can you imagine having let voters during the Civil Rights era determine segregation and anti-miscengenation laws at the polls?
No matter.... it's an exciting, historical time. Those fighting gay marriage are trying frutilessly to keep back the arc of history which, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, bends toward justice.
See, I'm not a cynic at heart.
*
PS: Click here for a great video about the annoucement that includes a touching moment with writer Jewelle Gomez and her partner.
And below is another great video that captures the historical flavor. Forward to the middle to hear Gavin Newsom , the best part.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Dear Mr. Rove
Justin Evans (no relation) wrote a series of letters to Karl Rove--which he promptly sent to D.C.--and has now collected these hilarious, hard-hitting letters in a book that looks and feels suspiciously like the version of the Federalist Papers I was forced to read as a hung-over undergraduate.
Indeed, the back of the book boasts a blurb from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who (ahem) wrote that Dear Mr. Rove is "more important than the Federalist Papers. We
ll, at least number 47. What was Alexander Hamilton thinking with that one?"After reading Justin Evans' book, I have come to the conclusion that Justin is doing the work of democracy by reaching across chasms to communicate with "the Other."
To prove this point, let me list the ways in which Justin Evans and Karl Rove are different. (Note to Homeland Security: I'm not condeming these differences, just celebrating diversity):
* Karl escaped the draf
t with student deferments during the height of the Vietnam War.
t with student deferments during the height of the Vietnam War. * Justin is a teacher.
* Karl is retired promoter of Bush's agenda.
* Justin earned a master's degree.
* Karl is a college drop-out (after no longer needing the deferment, apparently).
* Justin self-published his political satire after no one had the balls to take it on.
* An imprint of Simon & Schuster will publish Rove's memoir for an advance purported to be in the millions.
* Justin is humble (his blog moniker is Untalented Writer).
* Karl is, well, not.
* Justin is funny.
* Karl is funny-looking.
Dear Mr. Rove is available for purchase here (download is $1.25, book is $8... much cheaper than a BLU-82 Daisy Cutter).
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Damn You Barak Obama
This is not only an example of great slam poetry by Darian Dauchan--it does a great job of expressing the complexity of feelings that many of us have about politics and Barak Obama. (Thanks, Ellen.)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
"He Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi"
If you're voting for John McCain, here's what you're voting for:
Q: What prompted Jon Stewart, on "The Daily Show," to ask, "Has John McCain's Straight Talk Express been rereouted through Bullshit Town"?
And now a Quiz about McCain, aka "Senator Hothead":
Q: What did Richard Kimball, John McCain's opponent in his 1986 Senate race, do during a debate that got McCain so upset that, according to his aide Jay Smith, he "wanted to kill" Kimball?
A: He revealed that McCain was standing on a riser behind his podium.
A: He revealed that McCain was standing on a riser behind his podium.
Q: What prompted Jon Stewart, on "The Daily Show," to ask, "Has John McCain's Straight Talk Express been rereouted through Bullshit Town"?
A: McCain decided to speak at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University six years after calling Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance."
Q: McCain told workers at a gun factory, "I will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell and I will shoot him with one of your products." How did he later clarify this declaration?
A: "I certainly didn't mean I would actually shoot him. I am certainly angry at him, but . . . I would not shoot him myself."
Q: True or False: When he was a boy, McCain liked to blow up frogs with firecrackers.
A: True.
Q: True or False: When Chelsea Clinton was eighteen, McCain told this joke: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father."
A: False. (Just kidding, True.)
Q: What was McCain referring to when he told reporters, "It's up to you to find that out, kids?"
A: The financial connections between Cindy McCain and Charles Keating, the man behind the nation's biggest savings-and-loan collapse.
Q: Who said the following about McCain: "He will make Cheney look like Gandhi"?
A: Pat Buchanan.
(adapted from the 3/17/08 New York Times)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Coming Out as a Barak Obama Convert
Katha Politt's great piece in her The Nation blog articulates much of what I feel. She makes a great point about how, on domestic issues, Obama and Hillary are similar. But...
...on foreign policy Obama seems more enlightened, as in less bellicose. Maybe Hillary Clinton's refusal to say her Iraq vote was wrong shows that she has neo-con sympathies; maybe she simply believes that any admission of error would tar her as weak. But we already have a warlike president who refuses to admit making mistakes, and look how that's turned out. The election of Barack Obama would send a signal to the world that the United States is taking a different tack.
She also is helping me to embrace, rather than cynically reject, how Obama makes me feel:
I usually resist words like "hope" and "change." But . . . let's go with the charismatic candidate this time. Let's go with the candidate voters feel some passion about. Let's say goodbye to the Clintons and have some new people make history.
My Republican brother-in-law said he might even vote for Obama. I do think Obama has a better chance of winning a national election--not because Hillary's a woman, but because (warranted or not), she is seen as a divisive figure.
Obama might just bring us back together after the horrible tearing-apart of these past eight years.
I've been doing some searching of Obama's position on queer rights. As an Illinois senator, he sponsored legislation in Illinois that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
And when he was criticized for planning a campaign event with a preacher (Reverend McClurkin) who claims to be a "former homosexual cured by prayer," Obama said:
I strongly believe that African Americans and the gay community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin’s views and will continue to fight for these rights as president of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division.
Obama disagreed with McClurkin's views on gay issues; however, instead of silencing McClurkin, Obama added an openly gay minister to the slated events.
I respect that because trying to silence people is not the path toward change. (Ever hear of backlash? It's a result of attempting to shut the door.)
Instead, bring in love and dialogue. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Super Tuesday
No matter what, today is an historical day. No matter what, this is an historical election cycle.
This guy was my choice--and he's no longer in the race (no surprise; I voted to register my ethical support for his convictions).
Now, I'm conflicted--I see strengths and problems in both Clinton and Obama.
Still, look at them. They are the top runners. It's an exciting time.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Who's Your Candidate?
The following is an interesting way to find out which candidate you agree with on the major issues. Answer a few questions then click the "Find Your Candidate" button. It will also show how the rest of the candidates rank according to your preferences:http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
Here are my results in order:
Kucinich
Dodd
Gravel
Gravel
Clinton
Obama
Biden
Richardson
Edwards
Paul
Giuliani
Romney
McCain
Hunter
Thompson
How can it be that for me, Romney comes before McCain?! The most surprising one, though, is that Edwards is so far down on the list. I wasn't planning to vote for him anyway. Still, this makes me want to investigate him further.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Stephen King for President
We need a writer for President. Certain writers express a great deal of wisdom. For instance, here's what Stephen King says about definitions of torture:So I said something to the Nightline guy about waterboarding, and if the Bush administration didn't think it was torture, they ought to do some personal investigation. Someone in the Bush family should actually be waterboarded so they could report on it to George. . . . I suggested Jenna be waterboarded and then she could talk about whether or not she thought it was torture.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Maybe the Edwards Need to See a Marriage Counselor?
Elizabeth Edwards has come out in support of gay marriage:
I wonder if her cancer diagnosis has helped her decide that life is too short for political hypocrisy.
Or if, as this piece suggests, her public stance gives her husband--who like all the candidates is vocally against same-sex marriage--more leeway with GLBTQ voters.
No matter, in another generation or two, this issue will be seen as akin to Jim Crow laws.
I wonder if her cancer diagnosis has helped her decide that life is too short for political hypocrisy.
Or if, as this piece suggests, her public stance gives her husband--who like all the candidates is vocally against same-sex marriage--more leeway with GLBTQ voters.
No matter, in another generation or two, this issue will be seen as akin to Jim Crow laws.
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