What I am amazed by is the complete insensitivity of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to the fact that we’ve had a domestic terrorist attack against the government. Does Pawlenty, while at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.,  not see the same images we see on our computers and TVs this morning? What was he thinking when he said this?

(Pawlenty) even compared Democrats to Tiger Woods, saying “we can learn a lot” from his news conference Friday.

“Not from Tiger, but from his wife,” Pawlenty said. “She said, ‘I’ve had enough.’ She said, ‘No more.’ I think we should take a page out of her playbook and take a nine-iron and smash the window out of the big government in this country.”

"I think we should ...smash the window out of the big government in this country." - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, February 19, 2010, one day after a domestic terrorist smashed his plane into the side of the glass IRS office building in Austin, TX.

Yeah. That damn government: taking our taxes and paying for roads, bridges, teachers, and the damn stimulus saving countless American jobs. Instead we need to keep our money to pay for McMansions and private planes that we can use to knock out the windows of big government, just like the new right-wing hero, Joseph Stack.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party’s principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

via Washington Times – Steele: GOP needs ‘hip-hop’ makeover.

Presenting the top 10 all-time Republican hip-hop songs:

“Liberals Ain’t Shit” – Snoop Dogg DeLay
“De-Regulate” – Warren B
“Lobbyists Paradise” – Koolio
“Be the Power” – Public Enema
“Straigh outta the O.C.” – R.N.C.
“Strom” – Reaganem
“GOPP” – Corrupt by Nature
“Homos Just Don’t Understand” – Tearoom Jizzy Craig & the Foley Prince
“Nuthin’ But a “G.O.P.” Thang” – Snoop Dogg DeLay
“Republican’s Delight” – The Capitol Hill Gang

Limbaugh is, without ambiguity, rooting for failure. In the midst of an economic crisis, Limbaugh quite openly admitted that if Obama’s economic policies are successful, it would undermine the talk-show host’s worldview. As such, Limbaugh wants desperately to see more Americans suffer, more workers unemployed, more businesses close up shop. The key here is philosophy — if government spending can stimulate the economy, as it always does, then the right is wrong. Limbaugh would much prefer a suffering nation than a reevaluation of conservative ideas.

via The Washington Monthly.

We’ve been cutting taxes for people who “create jobs” for a decade now and our economy is in ruins. And now that they are out of power, what is their new idea for America? The Republicans want more tax cuts. Really? Really.

They say the things listed below aren’t stimuli. The GOP says they won’t create jobs.

The thing is, government exists for a reason. It is the embodiment of the brain and brawn of our nation. We have government in order to do things collectively that would be inefficient to do individually: national security, sewage and other utilities, infrastructure investment, health care. We also have it for protection from the worst of humans and nature: food & water and materials inspection, business regulation, emergency management, federal police. Refusing to fund the basic necessities of America may make a GOP tax-cutter feel highly self-righteous, but it is unpatriotic. No amount of lapel-pin wearing will hide how the GOP wants America — in Rush Limbaugh’s immortal words — “to fail.”

via What GOP Leaders deem wasteful in Senate stimulus bill – CNN.com:

On Monday, House Republican leaders put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the nearly $900 billion stimulus bill that is being debated:

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

Let’s see, we’ll spend $9 billion to fund the inefficient Missile Defense System (which I’m not against), but the GOP won’t invest in trying to come up with clean coal technology? Imagine if we did finally discover the ability to have clean-coal energy. America is packed with coal. Imagine the American-made energy. Imagine the jobs and exports it would produce.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

One of America’s greatest exports is Hollywood.  It makes us a ton of cash and creates thousands of jobs, including at Kodak, a struggling American company. We would do well do invest in this export. Besides, this is $246 over 11 years – a tiny investment.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

Investing in the the improvement of America’s technology backbone will keep our country on the cutting edge, which is important in job creation in the digital age.  Helping  consumers use this new technology as soon as possible is vital for American technology companies to remain competitive in today’s information economy.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

Yes, GOP.  Shipbuilding isn’t job creation. Santa’s elves come down from the arctic and build our ships for free.

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

Construction must not be job creation, either.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

Furniture elves?

Automobiles:

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations

Lord knows American car companies don’t need to sell cars and we don’t need to conserve gas or get off of foreign oil. It’s always 1956 in the GOP.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.

Didn’t we just have a ton of layoffs at Whitman-Walker while completely closing one location in Northern VA? This is obvious job creation in the health field and advertising. STDs don’t screen themselves.

I guess spending a few dollars on early-diagnosis cures per patient isn’t as economically stimulating as when the government and local hospitals will need to spend exponentially more for expensive medical care and hospital stays for indigent patients.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

No need to hire engineers. No need to be proud of America’s ability to offer clean water and land to her citizens, especially in the nation’s capital.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

Improving our national treasures and is important for the pride in America, and we must fund our constitutional mandate. But these will create jobs in the DC area, and we all know the GOP hates Washington.

• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

I guess spending a few dollars on counseling jobs and medical help per patient isn’t as economically stimulating as when the government and local hospitals will need to spend exponentially more on fighting cancer and liver disease.

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

American computerand software companies certainly don’t need to sell any more products or retain workers.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

Isn’t this job creation?

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.

Engineers smengineers! No jobs for you!

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

Wow. Just wow. The GOP calls the construction (jobs) of fire stations (jobs) wasteful. Wow.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Again, aren’t these all direct job creation? GOP: “No We can’t! no we can’t!”

• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

The GOP would rather not hire anyone at a veterans cemetery and continue to be “energy inefficient.”

• $850 million for Amtrak.

Whether this is stimulus is arguable. How is the money spent?

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

Whether this is stimulus is arguable. How are we reducing the hazard? Are we hiring people for summer jobs to strip and fix lead-painted buildings?

• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

Cut this? More of America on the cheap.

The GOP: “No Can Do!” Do they have a desire to invest in America, or do they just want their tax breaks?

President Obama fired a warning shot at Wall Street on Thursday, branding bankers “shameful” for giving themselves $18.4 billion in bonuses as the economy was spinning out of control and the government was spending billions to bail out many of the nation’s most prominent financial firms…

“That is the height of irresponsibility,” Mr. Obama said angrily. “It is shameful, and part of what we’re going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.

via Obama Harshly Criticizes Wall St. Bonuses – NYTimes.com

Aretha's Inaugural Hat has a Posse

Aretha’s Inaugural Hat

We walked down 7th street, passing signs that said,
“A Bus will be along every 10 minutes on Inauguration day”
But they neglected to mention buses would all be full.

A sea of people in the DC streets the morning of the inauguration

We emerged in the Capital, downtown, truly in a sea of people.
No one knowing what was happening, but following the crowds
Hoping to finally land in a place to witness History.

A report of a water-main Break on Seventh
“Entrances Every Three Blocks” they say.
But no one in those lines is moving either.

“Eighteenth and H! Eighteenth and H!”
One cop repeats to anyone looking for the Mall.
The Mall was full by seven we heard. Now it’s nearly ten.

A river of bundled pilgrims flowed around every corner,
And like an overflowing river, there was no hope of containment
We were fluid, escaping through every street and around every bus blockade

We made it to 18th, and down to the Mall.
We walked over the hill at the Washington Monument and hit a wall of people
We made it finally to 14th, but they said no one was going to get through.
So we retreated and settled near the base of the Monument.

The air was bitter cold and
The changing wind contained harsh reality
There was no transportation
But you came.

You were millions who believed in hope.
They told you it would be a “nightmare”
And anti-American preachers prayed for rain
But you came.

You woke before dawn, dressed your children
Loaded your cameras, and left your warm homes
Uncertain of the day, but determined to be part of it
That is why you came

Do not be sad if you came to the Capital but didn’t make it to the Mall.
Because your story is the most important one
You are living proof how America, in one of her most difficult moments,
Rejected fear, cynicism, empire, and oppression
For Hope, Belief, Common Good, and Liberty

Doug Mills/The New York Times

In our eagerness to embrace this new attitude and new Time
Our Capital City was bursting at the seams with restless Humanity
That only stopped for one brief moment while one young man put his hand in the air
Swearing himself to be our protector, and our servant.

Your pilgrimage to a patch of grass may have been cut short
And you may have ducked into a hotel or bar on the District city streets.
But where you settled only expands the reach of the importance of that day

Your wild tale of how you got there
Or how you made it only so far
Will go down in History.

And Generations from now when we look at that overflowing day in Washington
We will remember how we came together as One people. Full of hope. Full of promise.
And wherever we stood at that moment, we will remember when our country
Embraced a new day.

I’m making a note today. Keep your eyes out for Cory Booker.

Cory Booker – Wikipedia

There is a disconnect in the community. Leaders are being too practical and not outraged enough, while people are too used to being outraged while not thinking strategically how to make a real difference.

Dan Gilgoff at US News:

I’m struck by the angry reactions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks to my story this week on the elation of the gay rights movement over President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson to give the invocation kicking off inaugural week. (I noted separately, on this blog, that some of the elation is born of the Obama transition team’s stepped-up its outreach to LGBT leaders.) The gay rights movement is far from elated with Obama, a number of commenters write.

Is the Gay Rights Movement—or Are Just Its Leaders—Elated Over Gene Robinson? – God & Country (usnews.com).

The (unnamed source Democratic) activist… said David Medina, a gay man who is a former national political director for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, has been tapped as deputy chief of staff for Michelle Obama…

Dave Noble, a gay man led efforts to mobilize gay voters for Obama’s presidential campaign, will serve as the White House’s liaison to NASA, the activist said…

Karine Jean-Pierre, a lesbian, has been selected to be the White House liaison to the Department of Labor…

More gays to serve in Obama White House – Washington Blade

Impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich enters the State Capital for first time since his arrest in December. The imbattled Governor will swear in the Illinois Senate, the same body that will decide his political future, today at noon.

New House members to be sworn in Wednesday include Deborah Mell, D-Chicago, the governor’s sister-in-law…

Deborah Mell, a lesbian and advocate of gay rights, was once arrested at a protest for gay marriage. She and the governor have publicly disagreed on gay marriage. Mell ran unopposed in November, paving the way for her to become the first out lesbian in the Illinois General Assembly.

Ironically the newly elected Mell may soon be asked to vote on Blagojevich’s impeachment.

Impeached Illinois governor to swear in Senate (ChicagoPride.com)

Labour MP Chris Bryant

In 2003 the tabloid press published pictures of Mr Bryant posing in his underwear, which they procured from his Gaydar profile, alongside transcripts of sexually explicit messages he sent to other site users.

In his exclusive interview with Attitude he described the experience as “very, very, very, very unpleasant.”

“I didn’t sleep much for about three months.

“Friends of mine were phoned and abused and had their sexuality revealed to their families.

“My family had journalists turning up on their doorsteps.

“It was very, very, very horrible at the time.

“We had a general election since then and I increased my majority, so my constituents … they certainly know everything there is to know about me.”

Chris Bryant speaks publicly about “horrible”Gaydar photo controversy – from Pink News – all the latest gay news from the gay community – Pink News.

One interesting facet of the controversies over Warren and Robinson is the fact that the inclusion of the one does not placate the critics of the other. Homosexual activists are still angry over the choice of Warren to deliver the invocation on January 20. A host of others will be offended by the choice of Bishop Robinson. These two responses illustrate the depth of the divide over the issue of homosexuality.

The Idol of Our Many Understandings — Bishop Robinson at Prayer.

Obama’s answer to the 1996 Outlines question was very clear: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” There was no use of “civil unions,” no compromise whatsoever.

Windy City Times – Obama changed views on gay marriage.

A.N.S.W.E.R. usually organizes whatever major war protest is happening on the mall. The counter protest is usually organized by Free Republic. I think both of these groups are extremist, but A.N.S.W.E.R. tends to grab ahold of whatever is happening at the moment. Their protests are large because they attract new people who care about a cause, plus the same core group of left-wing protesters who carry their own agendas regardless of the issue of the moment. Free Republic tends to tow the extreme Republican party line of the moment, whether it be “We have to fight them over there…” or “Nuke Iran.”

Since the Free Republic group is usually pretty small, you begin to recognize people after a while. This weekend there was one long-haired mountain man that I first didn’t recognize, then it dawned on me I had photos of him from September of 2005, where he looked like an overgrown boy scout. While some Free Republic people (or “Freepers” as they are called) can spew some pretty vile stuff at these rallies, this guy is usually pretty quiet and holds a sign. His transformation to this bearded man of the wild was pretty stark. Upon reviewing the photos my buddy Bullneck got to thinking: “Is this a sign of Republicans wandering in the wilderness?”

Is this a sign of Republicans wandering in the wilderness?

Bishop V. Gene Robinson

The first openly gay Episcopal bishop will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural event for President-elect Barack Obama.

The selection of New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson for Sunday’s event follows weeks of criticism from gay-rights groups over Obama’s decision to have the Rev. Rick Warren give the invocation at his Jan. 20 inauguration…

Robinson, 61, said both Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will attend the event, and Obama is expected to speak. As for himself, Robinson said he doesn’t yet know what he’ll say, but he knows he won’t use a Bible.

“While that is a holy and sacred text to me, it is not for many Americans,” Robinson said. “I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation.”

Gay NH bishop to offer prayer at inaugural event : NPR

Andrew Sullivan says the selection is the squeeky wheel getting the grease. Let’s hope LGBT can learn to be more than just a squeeky wheel. We need to help steer.

Photo by Flickr user janinsanfran

Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has reached the end of the road in his effort to reverse his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting, one of his lawyers said Thursday.

Attorney Tom Kelly said Craig had decided against asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to void the conviction. The decision means the legal wrangling in the case is over.

PageOneQ | Larry Craig drops further appeals

It’s not TV, it’s the presidential inauguration.

HBO has scored exclusive broadcast rights to the Jan. 18 opening ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Don’t have HBO? No worries. The network is in talks with cable and satellite distributors to air the event, which will be held at the Lincoln Memorial, without commercial interruption for free to all.

HBO Snags Rights to Inaugural Kickoff

Capitol police officers tried to clear a path for Mr. (Roland) Burris. “You can’t keep a regular citizen from walking into the Capitol,” one officer shouted.

Somehow, Citizen Burris made his way to the office of Nancy Erickson, the secretary of the Senate, to whom he presented his credentials, only to have her reject them. Afterward, the aspiring legislator stood in the rain outside and declared, “Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the State of Illinois.”

Not yet, he isn’t. The problem for Mr. Burris, of course, is that he was named to the seat by the embattled Illinois governor, Rod R. Blagojevich. Ms. Erickson had already said that the appointment letter forwarded by the governor’s office did not comply with Rule II of the Senate’s standing rules, which requires signatures of both the governor and the secretary of state.

Burris Is Blocked From Taking Illinois Senate Seat – NYTimes.com.

I listened to Al’s (sorry, Senator-elect Franken’s… I remember his co-host Katherine yelling “Al!” so often, it’s hard now to call him “Senator Franken”) radio show religiously for about two years I guess. I listened via iPod podcast at work, so in my head I deeply absorbed nearly every word, skit, joke, and interview on that show. I loved the guests. I loved Al’s bloopers as a broadcaster, always willing to put himself on the line while learning how to follow – or break – the rules. He is a craftsman. Comedy is his tool. 

He often snarled at Norm Coleman the incumbant senator, who he now he just defeated. “What do you think about that, Norrmm?!” he might say on the air. It wasn’t a political plug for his own career, but instead sincere outrage at things Coleman had said or done. Al Franken wears his heart on his sleeve. He would crack with tears when talking about his late father, and his questions were more often about learning something new than scoring a political point.

Al Franken and Global Justice, with Jokes

He was a warm, charming, engaging and funny guest at an awards dinner I photographed in 2005. It was a tiny room, and he chatted with family and friends of other guests at the dinner. I discovered his new book “The Truth – with Jokes” on the bookshelf a weekend too early, so I had a copy for him to autograph. He didn’t seem upset, and he appreciated my regular listening and my compliment on the recent Oy oy oy show with the Isreali ambassador. He spoke at the dinner, where a former intern of his was receiving an award. 

Franken is a small man in stature but with a big brain. He’s been filling that brain up for years by interviewing people on the radio. Now he wants to put what he’s learned to work in Washington.

By the way, Franken loves concept humor. For the best example – and simply the largest laugh he’s ever given me – see the “Buddy Hackett” episode of Al’s cancelled sitcom “Lateline,” available on Netflix.

OK, so I try to be fair and understand source facts in arguments. Yes, I know that doesn’t make for exciting blogging. Still, if I’m going to have an opinion it should be based on reality not imagination, right? So in doing a little research about this, I found a few interesting things. Unless you look into the controversy, you may not realize that:

• “Magic Negro” is a literary term used to describe a non-threatening black character in a story who helps the white protagonist using special insight or magical powers, often related to his race.
• The parody “Barack the Magic Negro” is supposed to be sung from the point-of-view of Al Sharpton, who in the song says Barack isn’t really black like Snoop Dog or himself.
• The song’s point is taken from a David Ehrenstein Los Angeles Times article that accuses Obama of being a “Magic Negro” for America, to help whites overcome white guilt by electing a black man.

So let’s identify the outrage: A prominent Republican included the song in his holiday CD sent to fellow Republicans. The outrage is that someone of such stature would include an arguably racist message in his all-but-official holiday greetings.

This begs the question, is “Barack the Magic Negro” parody? If it is a parody, especially because it was inspired by an opinion article, does this mean it’s not racist? Well you cannot ask this without looking at the lyrics to the song that was originally written by Conservative satirist Paul Shanklin in 2007. I got these from Conservative Culture.

SHANKLIN (Sharpton impersonator): Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C.

The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s not authentic like me.
Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper
Said he makes guilty whites feel good
They’ll vote for him, and not for me
‘Cause he’s not from the hood.
See, real black men, like Snoop Dog,
Or me, or Farrakhan
Have talked the talk, and walked the walk.
Not come in late and won!

[refrain] Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.

Some say Barack’s “articulate”
And bright and new and “clean.”
The media sure loves this guy,
A white interloper’s dream!
But, when you vote for president,
Watch out, and don’t be fooled!
Don’t vote the Magic Negro in –
‘Cause — ’cause I won’t have nothing after all these years of sacrifice

And I won’t get justice. This is about justice. This isn’t about me, it’s about justice.
It’s about buffet. I don’t have no buffet and there won’t be any church contributions,
And there’ll be no cash in the collection plate.
There ain’t gonna be no cash money, no walkin’ around money, no phoning money.
Now, Barack going to come in here and –

Wow. That was bad. Horribly, horribly bad. I don’t mean racist. I just mean incredibly lame. But it is using source material to poke fun at a societal issue. So yes, it is a parody (not satire).

But does this excuse the message? Let’s take a look at it. First of all, the lyrics are more an attack on Al Sharpton than Barack Obama. The lameness of the lyrics makes it difficult to really level an articulate position on what they say. Is it really about Obama being a Magic Negro, or about Sharpton being a greedy politician? To me, it’s more about Sharpton. It’s a poorly structured song with a garbled message.

So let’s go back to the source material: the David Ehrenstein Los Angeles Times article that accuses Obama of being a “Magic Negro” for America. This has likely been beaten to death in the blogs since it was first published March 19, 2007, but I am only reading it for the first time.

It seems obvious to me that Ehrenstein wasn’t expecting Obama to win.

Obama’s fame right now has little to do with his political record or what he’s written in his two (count ‘em) books, or even what he’s actually said in those stem-winders. It’s the way he’s said it that counts the most. It’s his manner, which, as presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden ham-fistedly reminded us, is “articulate.” His tone is always genial, his voice warm and unthreatening, and he hasn’t called his opponents names (despite being baited by the media).

Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn’t project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.

Ehrenstein joined the masses of pundits who believed that it wasn’t what Obama said, it was how he said it. Even Geraldine Ferraro all but called Obama a Magic Negro (she said he was only winning the Dem nomination because he was black). These pundits just didn’t get it, and they were wrong the whole way through the election. It’s not about Obama. It’s not about race. It’s about America. It’s about bringing in a new generation of leadership that will get past the arguing and old politics in order to tackle the problems we are facing – which seem to increase every day. To overlook that and assume anyone likes Obama for some magical reason based on race – and not because Obama has demonstrated knowledge, wisdom, temperament and leadership – shows an inability to get past race. This is itself racism.

So the leadership of the backward opposition political party demonstrates their narrow mindedness by sending a poorly crafted (and not humorous) parody of Al Sharpton accusing the first black president of being a tool elected by whites to magically save them from their own guilt. By sending the greeting only to Republican National Committee members, he further identifies his fellow Republicans as the party hung up on judging people by the color of their skin.

They can’t get past race. It’s got to be about race. Well this isn’t about race. It’s about the next generation of leadership, and the next phase in American progress. New generations are coming about – generations that don’t care about race or sexuality or old gripes. Obama is the first of many new leaders who aren’t your typical silver-haired white guy. When Republicans exhibit behavior that shows they are not ready to be a part of this new reality, they falter. That’s why this whole holiday CD thing is such a fiasco for them.

If we are going to endure as a single polity, we have to live and have a dialogue with those who oppose us. Rick Warren is not Pat Robertson. He can be engaged. He does good work in many areas. Better to have him in the dialogue than to return to the arid brutality of the culture war. And better for Obama to include Warren in his inaugural, while working to bring greater equality to gay couples and gay people, than to exclude him and preen in purity. We should judge Obama on whether he delivers the goods.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Obama Defends Choice of Pastor

“…I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans…

“It is important for America to come together, even though we have disagreements on certain social issues…

“We’re not going to agree on every singe issue. But what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere… where we… can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.”

It’s the policies, stupid. If Obama can use a prayer from Rick Warren to open the tent and bring in more people to understand and support him, so be it. It’s who Obama puts into government positions and what they do in his name that is most important to the lives of LGBT Americans, not who he chooses to have say a prayer.

LGBT groups and voices need to shut up and pick our battles. The invocation is not one of them. Leave prayer to those who pray. Demand policy be in the hands of those who lead for the common good.

Yeah, I can’t stand Bush the man or his presidency. And I consider myself a liberal. But I am an American, and I do not appreciate anyone throwing a shoe at my president. And I don’t appreciate my friends on the Left laughing about it.

It took me about half a day after seeing the footage to reach this conclusion. At first I found it funny just because of the sheer farce of it, of course. And I share Conan O’Brien’s impression that Bush was fast at dodging the tossed object. But I am an American, and I am alarmed when the leader of my country is physically attacked.

What really has bothered me was the second shoe. How did this guy ever throw out a second shoe? He should have been flattened to the ground immediately and arrested.

I’ve learned not to speek too much about things I can’t really understand (not exactly a Blogger’s manifesto, huh?). I don’t know what it was like for our Secret Service or how they were limited in their ability to protect him, so I will not presume to know how to better do their job. But as an American who is about to entrust the Secret Service with a new president who makes an attractive target to a racist nutjob, I hope they have everything under control.

Last week, NPR ran a piece whose basic premise was that most gays and lesbians today have no idea who Milk was. “I don’t know very much about his life story,” said 35-year-old Patrick Wojahn, who was elected to the College Park, Md., city council last year. “It just shows that all this stuff is many, many years ago and unfortunately not as fresh in our minds as maybe it should be.”

“Unfortunate” is an understatement. Wojahn is now one of the 600 openly LGBT elected officials in the country. Milk was the first. Among those 40 and under, not only is Milk forgotten, they never knew him or were taught about his life. There’s little realization that many of the rights we have gained as a community, like the right to marry in two states and to enjoy civil unions in 12 more, flow from Milk’s 1970s crusade.

In an effort to persuade the panel to throw out (Larry) Craig’s guilty plea, his attorney argued that Craig’s foot tapping was protected by his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

But the judges were unpersuaded.

‘A government may constitutionally prohibit such speech if there is ‘a showing that substantial privacy interests are being invaded in an essentially intolerable manner.’ ‘ they said, citing a previous case.

‘Offensive speech may be prohibited as intrusive when the ‘captive’ audience cannot avoid the speech. … A person using a restroom stall is such a ‘captive’ audience with substantial privacy interests that would be intolerably invaded even by communications less potentially offensive than sexual solicitations.

‘Thus, even if appellant’s foot-tapping and the movement of his foot towards the undercover officer’s stall are considered ’speech,’ they would be intrusive speech directed at a captive audience, and the government may prohibit them.’

Originally published Friday, December 01, 2006

Why is Barack Obama So Popular?

I’ll tell you why.

In his e-mail today marking World AIDS Day, he talks about the challenges we face with the pandemic. And this is how he frames it:

“We can turn away from these Americans, and blame their problems on themselves, and embrace a politics that’s punitive and petty, divisive and small.

“Or we can embrace another tradition of politics – a tradition that has stretched from the days of our founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another – and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this Earth.”

This man is inspiring. He knows the importance of leadership. He actually answers questions instead of dancing around talking points. He’s becoming a symbol for the “Common Good,” and America needs that right now. The world needs it.

I don’t care if he’s just a “Freshman Senator.” I’m ready for him to be President. Today.

(E)vidence of entrenched homophobia and religious intolerance obscure a more difficult truth. Prop 8 should have been defeated — two months before the election, it was down 17 points in the polls — but the gay-rights groups that tried to stop it ran a lousy campaign. According to veteran political observers, the No on Prop 8 effort was slow to raise money, ran weak and confusing ads, and failed to put together a grass-roots operation to get out the vote.

‘This was political malpractice,’ says a Democratic consultant who operates at the highest level of California politics. ‘They fucked this up, and it was painful to watch. They shouldn’t be allowed to pawn this off on the Mormons or anyone else. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and now hundreds of thousands of gay couples are going to pay the price.’