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Dear God, if you exist (and a lot of people say you do), please make Malia Ann Obama a Lesbian. Even a College Lesbian would do. Or an intense schoolgirl crush. Yes, Lord, I know she's only 11 years-old. But by the end of her daddy's first administration, maybe you could use Malia as an instrument of Your Will to grant her daddy a measure of true empathy, not just the pretty words about the theme of empathy which he so seductively spouts.
In your precious Son's name,
Karen, Mrs. Lloyd Richards
LOL JK! I SO FUNNNNY.
Your hilarious buddy,
Karen, Mrs. Lloyd Richards
it'll happen, you know.
To take out your anger on an innocent child - well, I have often found that gays/drug addicts/other antisocials do this. Take out their anger on innocents. Listen to your prayer.......God will answer it. FOR WHOSOEVER DIGGETH A PIT, SHALL FALL IN IT.
He has lied, and when he does support something, he does it in a half-hearted way and let the clueless Repukes determine how the issue will be discussed. Then he runs out and has these town hall meetings to drum up support.
He really needs to grow some balls and lead. People keep saying that Chicago politics is so tough. It can't be too tough if he was able to win. Or am I missing something?
Now I'm hot to change my response from "in the middle" to "disapprove".
We used to have presidents that did what was RIGHT, not what was politically expedient.
Obama, and his spokesboiz, go all squeamish if it has anything to do with buttsex.
There. I said it.
i have the choice of continuing to demand, very simply and very publicly, that Obama keep his word.
writing to my elected congresscons is a fucking waste of my time.
After the last eight years and even those during Clinton years Obama has had a much more public affection with the LGBT community and talked about many of the issues affecting this community in a meaningful way than any before him. I don't disagree that so far not much has changed but we are having a conversation about it with the people in Charge up in DC rather than just blowing off steam in the blogosphere.
~ john ~
Sent from my mobile phone
The best way to ensure your voice is heard is by supporting neither party, and putting funds and time spent on them toward more local initiatives (be it a local campaign, or a local third party candidate). If we stopped pumping money into the presidency (a lost cause) and focused instead on House races for third party candidates who actually support us, then in a few short election cycles we would have a bloc capable of stopping or facilitating legislation much as the so-called Blue Dogs do now.
How do you like it when it's applied to you? Now pipe down.
DADT
NEEDLE EXCHANGE
TRANSPARENCY
RENDITION
Promises made. Promises broken.
I never thought I’d say this, but I am beginning to despise Obama as much as I did the previous occupant of the white house. At least bush was up front about his horrible positions and policies. Obama says one thing then does the exact opposite.
He promised to repeal DOMA then turned around and defended it by comparing gay marriage to incest. Their defense of DOMA would have made jerry Farwell proud.
I voted for Obama, and would never have voted for McCain. But now I’m very sorry Hillary didn’t win. At least the Clintons keep their promises. It certainly couldn’t be worse.
there have been so many broken promises i simply cannot keep up.
it has for the last 8 years or so.
AM: Economic and Domestic Policies; Civil Rights Matters.
K
"...the Obama administration gave the green light for forty-two more mountaintop removal permits in a major victory for the coal industry."
[Mountaintop mining involves blowing off the tops of mountains to get at the coal underneath].
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/29/coal
Hannah got arrested the other day . . .)K
FISA
rescue dog
Mentioned in the same posting as DADT and DOMA, both signed into law during the Clinton Administration.
You may want to re-evaluate your trust and to whom it's placed.
But the real thrust of my statement was about promises made and promises broken. For a president so early in his presidency Obama sure has taken the opposite tack on quite a few of those promises.
And again, it is more than not doing something that he promised; it is about actually defending DOMA after promising to repeal it. He definitely did not have to go as far as they did. Actually comparing gay marriage to incest! Now that’s crazy right wing talk, and coming from the Obama admin makes it downright scary, and infuriating. Especially because he promised the exact opposite.
What a fucking disappointment.
And to think, one year ago, I hated Sarah when she mocked him for that.
Someone should tell him two things:
(1) He is the President of the United States; and
(2) Congress is not the "community" he's "organizing"
He needs to get past his past.
Complete sellout.
Throw these AIDS activists in with the single payer protesters who were hauled off for having the AUDACITY to question why single payer wasn't even on the table at the health care meetings. Honestly, the Obama administration is a disgrace.
The Dems grabbed back the Congress in '06 with the promise to fight the wars and Bush. How'd that work out for us?
I voted for McKinney because Obama had already done enough lying (FISA for one huge example), and hiring on of the same Goldman/Sachs mafia that laid the ground work for the destuction of our economy, to convince me that he was not to be trusted.
I have taken to calling him Obushma.
Bless those activist. Obama is becoming more and more a disappointment as each week go by. I'm not going to become a teabagger but if Obama doesn't shape up in the coming year, I'll do everything in my power to show the local, state, and national (white house) democrats that if they want to continue playing the Washington Shuffle, then I'll show lying to me (change! change! change!) carries a price.
Third Party 2010/ 2012 all the way.
We do not change our views for the politician and their circumstances. We truly BELIEVE in what we say, no matter the circumstances, person, or circumstances surrounding the person.
Who the fuck is talking about you? Oh yeah, another unregistered person signed in as a guest.
They used to only allow registered people to comment, so it was easier to have a real conversation. People like to come in from freerepublic and restate blogs and just leave worhtless messages.
To this day just about any message you read that is completely worthless is left by an unregistered account. Not always though.
You can turn the email feature off.
During the campaign, I got really POed when John McLaughlin said on his show that Obama is "just a regular pol."
Not until the last few weeks has he been proven completely, utterly, madly correct. It's the same old garbage, not that I'd want another Republican criminal in there. We desperately need a 3rd party candidate.
Oh, never mind, it is seriously too late.
What the hell, the Administration '...isn't ready' to pursue this promise. Yes, wait. Wait as so many more people who have the problem of drug abuse with needles continue to contract HIV; you know that disease which has insurance companies supporting the most expensive array of drug treatments seemingly known to the US...(how much does each new case cost our Healthcare and productivity?).
Yes wait. Wait as the biggest segment of people showing new infections of HIV are people of color and women.
Wait, and while you let every truly important thing that can be dealt with immediately and with real conviction and demands just as much immediacy as any economic or security issue, what impact does your delay create?
I am again so ashamed to see that politics are at the center of your agenda moreso than the health and very lives so the people you swore and oath to protect by upholding the Constitution of the United States.
America needs national anti drug war protests and these Americans could inspire such action. I hope.
Drug Warrior Obama said what he needed to say, during the campaign, to defuse and undermine the drug war opponents who were confronting candidates in the primaries.
He conned everyone in the drug reform community from AIDs activists to criminal justice reformers. His highly parsed position on medical marijuana will prove him a total hypocrite sometime soon as the Justice Department and DEA, under the oversight of Drug Warrior Joe Biden, find loopholes and back doors to rationalize even greater aggressions in California.
Remember, California is trying hard to see past prohibition. this will cause ever more draconian reactions from the drug warriors under Obama.
2. A patriotic American does not have to be a "stoner" to oppose the 40-yr. social justice, civil liberties and human rights atrocity that is the war on drugs.
Eventually it was Martin Luther King who decided it for me, I judged Obama based on the content of his heart and I could not support him. Obama is a drug warrior. I swore in 1996 to never again vote for drug warriors.
Here is a good story on the issue of Obama's parsed rhetoric.
Public health = "we have to have significant law enforcement."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/new...
"Traditionally, the debate is either interdiction, criminalization, longer prison sentences for not only dealing but users – that's one approach," Obama said. "The other approach would be sort of a public health, decriminalization approach. My attitude is we do have to treat this as a public health problem, and we have to have significant law enforcement."
2. This issue is about health and not freedom to me.
Frankly I am kind of surprised to see that this meant anything about the enforcement of illegal drugs to anyone.
2. Freedom from the crime, disease, terrorism and poverty caused by the war on drugs is a public health issue.
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal:Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies
by Glenn Greenwald (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/profile/...)
Can we all say together "DON"T ASK,DON'T TELL", and "DOMA"?
I'm still glad Obama won the election, but he seems to be abandoning the progressive base of the Democratic party at a pace that is leaving me more and more concerned.
Are we, and our concerns, really that unimportant and expendable that he can jsut so cavalierly throw us under the bus, politically speaking?
Take a look at what he's proposing for Guantanamo- "preventative detentions" outside the purview of judicial limits. Sounds more like "neo-con" naziism than "hope and change" to me.
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, God love'em, came right out and said what Obama is proposing "...violates American values and is likely unconstitutional".
As someone who worked hard and donated money to get this guy elected, I'm beginning to ask myself, "Just WHO is this guy, really?"
Doing so saddens and sickens me even more than I express.
Is the man spineless or overly cautious?
Say one thing during the campaign, but do the opposite in office while telling us he really, really supports us, but that pesky old congress just gets in the way.
If you don't actually stand up and support what you confess to believe in, then you don't really stand for anything.
So, no need to wait, action. He's long since a "legitimate hypocrite."
To continue to ignore the data and continue this ridiculous federal ban on needle exchange when all data shows it's effectiveness is abhorrent. Shame on Obama once again.
I give a standing ovation to the arrested activists for their civil disobedience on this issue!
"Build support in Congress and the American people." The catch-all euphemism for betrayal, especially on anything related to the health and civil rights of all Americans.
I'm so tired of politics.
Remind us of other issues similarly jettisoned into the cyber-ether when they become merely something he will "work towards"?
Rahm makes nasty phone call to White House website techie: "Get that shit scrubbed off there or you're out of a job!!"
WTF!!!
Although I was never struck with Obamamania, I still thought that his words meant something. How wrong that appears to be now. There is something about people who lie that really bothers me.
He hoodwinked everyone, and its time now just to rear our
heads back and watch as he fucks us.
He wants to work with Congress! Indeed! What a waste of a vote.
The "peons", the "people" - can deal with the disfunctional Congress.
Some of us think that we can do 2 things at once. And some of us demand that the government stop spending money on killing people.
But you go have your little personal fight...
IV Drug users CHOOSE to use IV Drugs.
IV Drug users CHOOSE to share needles.
And if you think it's a personal little fight, have a peek at the Washington Mall October 11th.
We should all be in this together: LGBT, addicts who can't get into treatment programs because all the money goes to prisons and up-armored police forces, working class folks getting screwed so that the banksters can make even more millions, perople swept off the streets to rot in Bagram and Guantanamo (and remember that this has been done to people born and raised in the US, so it's not just those "nasty A-rabs"), people tortured to death, people dying for lack of real health care (about 18-20,000 a year, and that includes folks with "insurance").
Don't fall for the "we should be first in line" idea. We are in this together.
Read what was said, and not what you think was meant.
He is in charge and consequently should TAKE CHARGE! Truman did this with the "Negro situation", had he not and assumed Obama's MO, the AF's would still be waitking their turn.
This individual is lacking guts and fortitude. It is that simple.
Lyman, Obushma isn't taking in every point. He "compromises" on everything to get Republican votes, to be "bipartisan." What's rational about that. The Reps were repudiated in '06, and even more strongly last year. There is no reason to go along with them, especially because—however much he gives in to them—they still vote no.
The Dems went along with everything that Bush wanted from '06 to '08. Now Obama is expanding Bush policies in Afghanistan, in Guantanamo and Bagram. He's protecting the Bush people from accountability for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. And, that makes him legally complicit in the crimes.
Obama's ratings are dropping precipitously in the health care debate, too.
I just don't see how what he's doing constitutes a strength.
1. The candidate promised to lift the ban.
2. The White House Web site reaffirmed the president's commitment to lifting the ban.
3. The White House Web site no longer reaffirms his commitment to lifting the ban until enough congressional and public support can be won in order for any legislation to pass.
4. The president is not lifting the ban in the near future.
5. The president actually affirmatively makes things worse by administratively supporting defending the ban - naturally he and his spokespersons will support the administrations reasoning!
6. The spokesman reiterates the president's support for lifting the ban, some day, once Congress has enough support (think super 60 or last term of his administration).
Hopefully you can see that Obama wants to do it but feels he will lose political capital that he needs for health care and other initiatives that he deems priority for now.
Be patient.
I think that the main point here is that Obama IS THE PRESIDENT and as such has certain powers and abilities to effectuate certain areas under his control. He is not for the most part doing this. He seems to want a consensus before he acts on anything.
He is in charge and consequently should TAKE CHARGE! Truman did this with the "Negro situation", had he not and assumed Obama's MO, the AF's would still be waitking their turn.
This individual is lacking guts and fortitude. It is that simple.
In fact, if he had steamrolled over the Republicans instead of "going along to get along," I'm guessing his political capital would have risen! And he would have been able to further discredit the Republicans, which would have helped cement the Democrats staying in power while assisting to deep-six the Republican party.
Instead, he's allowing the Republicans to call the shots. THE MINORITY PARTY, THE DISCREDITED PARTY THAT WAS VOTED OUT IN 2 ELECTIONS RUNNING.
The man has no morals, and he's a coward. It's hard to know if he's just a spineless gutless weak-kneed shill or if he truly meant to turn his back on EVERY SINGLE ISSUE he supported while campaigning. In which he is a lying immoral power hungry asshole.
Like Obamas promises on torture, closing Guantanamo, ending DOMA and DADT and, coming soon to a weaseling out near you: the public option on healthcare.
Second, the president isn't some 98 pound weakling who sits on the beach all day bemoaning the fact that he's not as strong as all the boys at the beach. I'm getting a bit tired of all of this talk about how weak and powerless he is.
Joe is going to write about this later, but the White House is trying to sell everyone a bill of goods that they have nothing to say or do with legislation. Great, then why even have a health care reform proposal? Why talk about it during the campaign? I mean, the president has nothing to do with influencing legislation, so why tell us anything at all on any position affecting legislation? In fact, what really happens, is that the white House does take the lead on legislation. They organize groups that come together and figure out a strategy for getting legislation passed. The only time the White House sits back and says "gosh we can't do anything cuz it's up to Congress" is when they don't want to do anything.
The point is, Obama sent the budget to Congress with the funding ban language included. He could easily have not done that. Maybe some blue dogs would have complained about it, but this is not an issue that is seriously going to hold up the budget process.
As far as waiting in line, as I noted above, line-waiting is self-defeating. We must work together.
As for the idea that he has only a little political capital, that is completely ahistorical.If you can harken way back to 2000, you will remember that Bush wasn't even elected. He was put into office by the "Supreme" Court. He had NO capital. He did whatever the hell he wanted to, including going to war, kidnapping people all over the world, including US citizens, and stole from the Treasury to benefit his cronies at a rate the country has never seen before.
Obama has refused to spend ANY political capital. He has said he will give away the public health care option for Republican votes. So, your entire argument is based on misunderstanding, ignorance, and/or naivete.
No problem then. I have no problem with you shutting up about about your ease with eliminating something that effectively stops the spread of AID.
Stop being so selfish and only wanting the focus of our government to be on issues that personally affect you.
I support full, equal rights for gay/lesbian/transgender, but let's keep this in the proper perspective. I mean, I'm a veteran, but I'm not purely focused on military/vet issues or VA benefits. Those things are meaningless if we can't get the economy going, don't have health care for all Americans, etc.
You guys can't see the big picture. You don't face the same political problems Obama faces. You start doing things like overturning DADT, or needle exchanges, and you might lose support from some centrists on more important legislation. Obama supports it, but doesn't want to push the issue politically and lose support for key legislation. Forcing something like gay marriage is not worth it if it means losing meaningful health care reform. Get the broad agenda through, and then we can work on the smaller issues.
There is a disturbing pattern that Obama has fallen into, the reversal of his stance on HIV is just one example. That pattern is part of the big picture which the activists are seeing pretty clearly; he makes beautiful campaign speeches stating his firm commitment for an issue, he may even put his public support of the issue on the website, he decides that it is contraverisal and backtracks to the extent he appears to be going to the other extreme of the issue, then he tells everyone that it's not his problem, it's Congress. This is not what the people who believed in him and worked very hard to get him elected had in mind for their leader. They wanted him, to well, lead. Leading on these issues may not ingratiate himself with the right, but nothing will, so he might as well do what he promised to do in the first place.
When I agree with an issue that the President is trying to push through, I am there for him. If he wants me to call my representatives and pressure them to get healthcare reform passed, I'll do it. But if at the end of four years, the laundry list of campaign promises is a lot shorter than the actual accomplishments, he might still get my vote if there is no good alternative, but he won't get my time. He won't get me making phone calls. He won't get me canvassing. He won't get me registering voters. He won't get my trust. And I won't be alone. That's a promise that I can keep.
I mean, geez, how selfish can I be?
YOUR people as you call them are spoiling for a fight.
What is the value in declaring you are gay when you are in the Military? Just so you can be kicked out and made into a martyr?
That is the rule as it exists NOW. Why not continue until the rule is repealed.? In any case, WHY do you have to discuss your sex life in the ARMY?? Unless you plan to accost someone sexually?
Why do you want to have kids? So you can be better than women/men?
Why don't you get proactive and form your own health insurance companies? Your own hospitals? Why MARRY? That is a religious ritual, and a civil union works as well?
Yes you are selfish sir. You want the whole world to see YOUR point of view. I don't care if you are gay, I have no problem with that. As for rights, If you would put your partners name on your accounts, those are automatic. Why not buy a house in both names.
Because you are not really interested in solving your immediate problems - you think someone owes you gratification.
You like to compare yourselves to Negroes. Well, they went ahead and created their own universities, their own banks, their own recording studios - WHILE fighting for their rights.
But you want to have it all, by only making noise. Do SOMETHING productive. Form your own Battallion in the army ( no pun intended)
Makes me wonder WHY then would your gay and lesbian friends vote for him?
If Policy is all that is needed to put an incompetent in a position - then surely you see why there should be no such policy passed in future to allow others like him ( and yours) to reach such high heights again.
You silly fools, you really believe that you had anything better than Obama waiting in the wings? You have NEVER, ever seen such a brilliant leader...and nothing you did or did not do would have stopped him. Negroes do not need to thank you for your policies - they shed their blood for it, and they are superior.
When the chips were down no one could find a better substitute for Obama.
And that is no big deal to anyone any more.
PS do you see anything in this post that would keep it in moderation hell at Huffpo?
Ball up Obama! Or this will be your only term.
Obama keep disappointing for frivolous reasons
MT, retired county health commissioner
He should consult with Peggy Hamburg his brilliant FDA chief, or Thoomas Frieden, his brilliant CDC director. Follow the science
But you're correct in that a growing majority are among blacks and Hispanics.
Also, other countries and even U.S. cities have proved that needle exchange is effective in lowering rates of not only HIV but also Hep C and other diseases.
This isn't just a matter of Obama going back on a promise (again). It's a matter of ignoring sound science in favor of backwoods prejudices.
John F. Kennedy said, when he announced his administration's commitment to send men to the moon, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."
It takes leadership to do the hard things. Someone needs to give Obama a copy of "Profiles in Courage."
There is a list of priorities that need attention and if you want yours (just like health care) to be attended to now, DEMAND it from your congressional leaders and show them the people have the power to bounce their butts out! 2010 is just around the corner...
Substitute "dadt" for "needle exchange."
Is the pat answer to all broken campaign promises to be the same: "we support or don't support, but we just can't get to changin' it now?"
Maybe there will be enough activists each day to shut down the rotunda indefinitely.
You dont live in a DICTATOR ship. You live in a DEMOCRACY.
Which means : Will of the People, For the People, Of the People
The PEOPLE being everyone. SO we try for a MAJORITY, not an EDICT from on high.
WAIT! Why not wait?
You are so impatient - America is suffering from fast food culture.....and the last 8 years of breaking the constitution
Never have I regretted voting for someone so much. At least I voted for Hillary in the primary. Who knows if she would have been any different but somehow I think she would be. ALso with a super majority there wouldn't have been any bargaining and begging republicans for petty privledges say like a public option.
We've been had by this man.
Quit waiting around to enact policies that will make a difference and save lives. Do the same as our last president. Grow some balls, ignore Congress and pass any law you believe in.
Thanks
GEESH!! You CLEARLY do not understand what a "needle exchange" is. It allows drug addicts to turn in dirty needles in exchange for CLEAN ONES, so NO ONE IS SHARING needles. DUH. It also provides statistics on addiction and HIV infection to local and federal medical services.
You CLEARLY don't understand the term "addict" either.
Have some compassion for people in bad situations. At the very least offer them the opportunity to AVOID HIV infection. The less HIV infection on the planet the better. Don't you think? It's common sense.
And you are that nice idiot "Let-em-die."
The reality is drug users not only can contract AIDS themselves without clean needles, but that as any idiot but you could predict, can also spread AIDS out to the general population.
So Mr. Lack of Empathy your nastiness means death and destruction to others than your "expendable" drug addicts.
Your Let-em-die plan is also not cost effective: preventing AIDs with inexpensive needle exchange, also means fewer cases paid for through public health programs.
(Surely, you don't believe any of those private health insurance plans will keep an HIV-AIDs patient on the books, no matter how many years they've paid premiums, do you?)
So we all pay on your Let-the-addicts-die plan, one way or the other.
And it's to appease cold-hearted idiots like you that Obama dropped the needle exchange program.
Nice.
And may I say that, to me, you represent what is wrong with this country.
Yes, Obama said that he would work to uplift the ban. Did he say that it would be through the budget or an executive order? NO. If so, put your freakin money where your mouth is and prove it.
Patrick Murphy (D-PA) said it best when he recently discussed DADT with Rachel Maddow:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/3180845...
Do away with the Bush practice of using executive power to overturn acts of Congress via "signing statements". Respect the legislative branch of government by using that system to fulfill campaign pledges. THAT'S how we repeal DADT, get the ban overturned on needle exchanges, etc.
To me, Murphy's response is an indirect wake up call to the bulldog activists to turn up the heat on their CONGRESSMEN regarding these issues, and not the President.
To evade having to pressure the World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards. Congress asked him to comply, and he stated that it infringed on his Executive power.
Obama will, when he wants to, disregard the will of the Congress, just as his predecessor did. So Murphy's namby-pamby response to Rachel's pointed question about suspending DADT discharges was disingenuous. Obama has already revealed himself to be as ruthless as Bush.
Except Obama already uses signing statements and already chooses not to follow the law on other things.
If he is going to do that for some things, then why not all things?
But all those good points aside, there does appear to be a troubling pattern emerging with Obama.
What I am finding fascinating is tha diehard Obama-maniacs get as angry with, and intolerant of, us progressives who dare to raise these issues and concerns as the Bushies did when anyone dared question their boy.
Whatever happened to 'question authority?'
What exactly is your point? That we should look to Congress to keep the president's promises with regards to things the president has the legal authority already to do?
As Bill Maher said, he's the president, not your boyfriend - stop defending him when he's clearly wrong.
Then I suggest you go read the brief. You can also find it in the past entries of this blog.
Then I will probably ask you: what part of pedophile and incest do you not understand.
I never have heard such garbage. If someone get HIV/AIDS while in the hospital, then sue the heck of of the joint and have them shut down.
But people on the street that want to shoot up and get HIV/AIDS that way have get no love from me!
And you are that nice idiot "Let-em-die."
The reality is drug users not only can contract AIDS themselves without clean needles, but that as any idiot but you could predict, can also spread AIDS out to the general population (for instance, to the fetus of a woman whose husband has had sex with an infected drug addict. Or who has had sex with someone who had sex with an infected drug addict.)
So Mr. Lack of Empathy your nastiness means death and destruction to others than your "expendable" drug addicts.
Your Let-em-die plan is also not cost effective: preventing AIDs with inexpensive needle exchange, also means fewer cases paid for through public health programs.
(Surely, you don't believe any of those private health insurance plans will keep an HIV-AIDs patient on the books, no matter how many years they've paid premiums, do you?)
So we all pay on your Let-the-addicts-die plan, one way or the other.
And it's to appease cold-hearted idiots like you that Obama dropped the needle exchange program.
sex and stop using drugs! I am sure this president will have to go
back on a lot of things once he gets a good look at the void we r in!
Though choices will have to be made and I am not ready throw the
president under the bus becasue of a needles problem with largely
affect peopleaking a personal choice to due illegal drugs! If someone
contracts HIV/AIDS then it's their fault and nobody else! I don't see
obama holding putting a needle in their arm.
Aren't you the little saint?
actions! If you what to shoot up drugs and and have un protected sex
with every person that walks the planet than u put your self at great
risk of getting this virus! What eve happen to putting the responsibly
back into the hands of the person performing the act! U r a fool to
think that goverment can solve every problem known to man! U R the ass
to even think that is possible! I would much rather have my president
spend time fixing the economy and getting rid of nuclear bombs than to
worry about a bunch of drug addicts and sex feins! I am sure the
majority of the people in this country didn't elect because he was
going to give hardworking people money to people that wanted to get
high off illegal drugs! U r the fool for even getting upset!
Point two: Most needle exchange programs have two primary goals, harm reduction for addicts and reduction of medical waste in the the normal trash flow (think kids getting stuck accidentally while playing in a park). On these two goals, needle exchanges work. The side benefits of exchange programs for non-addicts in terms of quality of life are significant, especially in urban environments. There's no serious debate about the effectiveness of exchange programs. They work. There's decades of data backing that up and several delivery models of programs tailored to the needs of a specific area. I expect the government I pay my taxes to to adopt policies that improve my quality of life. Nothing in your rant above addresses any of those facts (those pesky things that remain no matter how loudly you scream).
As John pointed out below, the point is not the blinding stupidity of continuing a counterproductive policy that's not evidence-based. The problem is that Candidate Obama promised something and President Obama is walking back from it. If he didn't want to deal with what has always been a volatile public health issue, he shouldn't have campaigned on it. Abrogating his leadership role, yet again, is part of a very ugly pattern.
Point Two: Reducing harm for people who break the law! My heart is
bleeding, hence you sound foolish! Kids getting poked by dirty needles is a
failure in the medical waste disposal policy, not exchange clean needles, in
the end you still are going to have dirty used needles. See you are not
being realistic. What would be the significant quality of life you would
gain from a drug addict having a clean needle. NONE WHAT SO EVER! Drug
addicts don't mug, steal, and engaged in prosititution because they need
money to buy clean needles. FOOL! I live in a urban area all my life and
have seen it all not just watching TV and NEVER heard or seen a drug addict
committ a crime to buy a clean needle. I guess you must have been a cave for
the past 8 years. You must think money grow on trees. So I am here to
inform you it doesn't. So if he has to make a choice getting the economy
back on track, stop terriorist from killing innocent people, stop crazy
dictators from launching nuclear bombs at us, and putting together a climate
bill that will save the planet, if you don't want those things to be a
priority then HEY YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FREE NEEDLES FOR DRUG ADDICTS PROGRAM!
I guess the Obama can fix all that is wrong in the world within a year and
then take the rest of term off. Go vacation like Bush did most of the
time.
http://www.sldn.org/
Have you guys ever heard of a quaint little thing called integrity?
I see as a pot shot at people trapped in the throes of addiction who become HIV infected via shared dirty needles who then pass the virus on to their sex partners and children.
Given that dynamic is playing itself out disproportionately in poor, urban, communities of color, I see Obama's reneging on his promise as "pot shot" at his own people.
That is inexcusably shamelful.
When it comes to these issues, Obama is playing the same type of tawdry political game that "liberals" like FDR and JFK did in relation to blacks five and seven decades ago.
They paid lip service to their issues during campaigns in pursuit of their votes. But once elected they backed off.They knew if they appeared to be too forceful in their advocacy on behalf of the "coloreds/Negroes", they knew they risked a white backlash and congressmen they needed on board to advance their legislative agendas might jump shit.
Obama, ironically enough, is doing the very same thing when it comes to gay people and hot button issues like needle exchange.
If he keeps thumbing his nose at the base, and his support among independents continues to decline, if he's not careful he could be the country's first one term, mixed race president.
Under it all I came to believe that Obama is a conservative black baptist fundamentalist like those in the states that, at the same time, voted for him and voted against gay marriage rights. These are very ignorant and insular religious bigots who will do anything that makes them look, in their own minds, whiter than any white fundamentalist. Their values, and Barack Obama's values, are a mimic of white christian values in the 1950's.
And all this, "let Congress deal with it" nonsense is just refusal to accept accountability.
I'm starting to see a pattern that is most likely going to result in a very blotched, troubled, one term presidency. Looks like this kind of ACT-UP protesting is what it's going to take from the GLBT community at large in order to ensure our civil rights. Which really is f**king pathetic.
"...to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..".
Few people took the time to do that to realize that he follows the path of least resistance and worked very little in his adult life - a regular job.
So many people didn't care to investigate the guy realistically and that's what is scary about our current society.
Do you wear a flag pin?
No surprise that lesbian/gay issues are low priority.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/9/751641/-...
Many of you state Obama is not who he said he is. I say he did not give you a time table. As the President of all the people, not just some, he is putting those first.
Again, use your heads and you will see how action on this front will put a screeching halt to the rest.
Time to CLEAN HOUSE and get rid of ALL of them. (Note: I voted for Obama, and am VERY disappointed so far).
"Sec. 819. (a) None of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative.
(b) The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998, also known as Initiative 59, approved by the electors of the District of Columbia on November 3, 1998, shall not take effect."
This clause must be inserted in the appropriations bill to keep I-59 from being enacted. I-59 that was approved with 68% voter support in the polls.
The Democrats still have the clause in the D.C. appropriations bill passed this year.
And probably a homophobe.
I hope ACT UP continues to rise again. And also, that the country rises up as well for all the LIES of Obama and his administration.
Standing strong is not a republican virtue. Unlike the republicans we stand strong on the idea and not the politician.
2) The economy is beginning to turn around.
3) We're not the world's pariah.
Not bad for 6 months in office I'd say.
2) Yes, bank profits are up. Nothing else is better in the economy.
3) You've got a poll on world pariah-ship? Let's see it.
Shame on them for giving billionaires, trillions of dollars to destroy other people. Shame on them for giving Israel weapons. Shame on them for not protecting the public with needles that cost less than a dollar.
Maybe if they deny often enough people will start to believe. Perfecting another Bush era tactic, eh? At this rate, it should be news when he actually starts keeping his word.
Thank you John. It could not be clearer of more succinct.
Is your argument that Obama isn't responsible for a brief filed by the Department of Justice, which last I checked is part of the executive branch as well?
And yes, I'm sure Obama would be more than happy to follow and enforce Jim Crow laws if there were still any on the books. *eye roll*
Get a clue.
Additionally, there are a lot of things Obama can do through Executive Order that he has yet to do. When he repealed the Global Gag Rule he shouldve done it on the same day that GWB signed it into law, but I think he did it the day after. The day after! This administration is trying to do too much, too soon. I think they realize the risks they are taking for Democrats in the midterm election come 2010, that is why his admin is trying to push through all this legislation now. Unfortunately politics as usual. I think it's too soon to say much about his administration, but I do agree he has done some unlikable "Republican-style things."
For the record, I live in Florida, identify as feminist and I voted for Clinton in my primary - didnt count, but didnt much matter either. I did vote for Obama cause McCain always makes me throw up in my mouth a little.
This has got to be one of the most ridiculous discussions I've ever come across on the web. Do you people think you are the only ones in this country with an issue? How on earth is Obama gonna support a program that makes it easier to use drugs? Even if it may be a good idea for curtailing the spread of AIDS, that position is political suicide. I don't really care what he said during the campaign. EVERY politician will stretch certain issues.
I can hear the republicans now. "Muslim socialist non-citizen Obama encourages heroine use with federal funds". I consider myself a liberal, but I don't think we should throw "personal responsibility" out the window entirely. If gay drug users are spreading AIDS, then gay drug users are responsible for the spread...not the government that refuses to endorse their behavior with tax money.
AIDS among indigent addicts their families and offspring cost all of America tens of billions of dollars a year and growing.
Compassion, and a science based approach to reducing a multi-billion dollar public health expenditure, would be excoriated by an electorally impotent and ignorant minority and so the president, who promised science as a guide to policy, backs away from both science and an election promise.
If an infected addict no longer shares needles then others will not be infected.
If needle exchange gives addicts a clean source of needles then they are not forced to find whatever needles they can, from whatever source, to inject their medicine.
Reducing the spread of communicable diseases, including AIDS, among indigent addicts reduces the cost to all society for healthcare.
The point is that Obama keeps reversing himself. It is getting to an absurdist point.
For example, now he is threatening to veto a bill that would require members of the House and Senate intelligence committee to be given security briefings by the CIA. He only wants the 8 leaders to get briefed.
The man is morphing into GWB by the day.
-peace
-jsa
Also the extra comment about "gay drug users" was unnecessary and a bit telling about the author of the previous statement. I think heterosexuals also use drugs and get HIV from intravenous drug use and at a higher rate.
peace...jsa
- Obama is working extremely hard to get healthcare fixed.
- Obama is doing an excellent job re-shaping America's image in the middle east.
- Obama's administration is 10 times more transparent in it's dealings than Bush.
- Obama has introduced several new regulatory changes to our financial system...necessary changes.
Give the guy a break!!
Obama is:
-screwing up health care by not leading.
-give you the Middle East, but how could he possibly have done worse?
-is no more transparent than Bush, and is claiming the same privileges.
-isn't doing jack to make real changes that are needed to prevent another economic implosion.
I'll cut him some slack when he deserves some again. Slack on the front end got me nothing but broken promises and stupid mistakes. If it's too harsh, the Palin route is always available.
This is how the American right wing "thinks." I use the word loosely.
/ snark
I understand people want it lifted now. But it's not. It sucks. Sorry. Get in line. There are lots of things that suck. They can only do so much. Now if he leaves office having never lifted the ban, then you have grounds for calling him a liar.
I've waited my entire life for hate crimes to be addressed, to have my life given the same considerations as any other straight Americans. I contribute to the fabric of this country and I'm tired of being told to stand at the end of the line.
Now go find your pride, get educated and come back when you have something positive to contribute.
And please, I don't need and don't want your prayers.
You think because we are gay we are supposed to sit and take whatever crap or crumbs are dealt to us. Wimp. You think that is what ACT UP is about? What Stonewall was about.
Get a clue.
Just wait if you die in the too bad.
As a feminist and Hillary Clinton supporter, I never believed he was a progressive or would stand for much other than the status quo.
But I know how you and the other blogger boyz feel about my ilk.
Never mind; I'll move over for ya anyway. There's plenty of room here under the bus.
Google the Obama Deception.
I suspect that, regardless of campaign promises, the political reality is that needle exchange funding rates rather low on the President's priorities, and he made a political calculation that continuing the ban was likely to reduce the partisan fighting over the bill. I like Obama, but he's still a politician... political decisions like that are what they do, for better or worse.
Of course, it's folks' right to feel upset, deserted, etc. and to vocally protest- as long as they do so legally. Kudos to those protesting nonviolently over an issue for which they feel very strongly. For all his merits, Obama is not a messiah- and when his political priorities don't gel with yours, you ought to get as vocal as you want about it and try to persuade others to see things your way.
I don't get it. Why should we federally fund drug addicts?
Police and prisons are not doctors and hospitals.
Criminal oppression of sick Americans is not compassionate nor is it humane.
Ignorance like yours about the nature of this disease keeps it illegal and thus spreads the disease even more.
Needle exchange is the first step in getting addicts into contact with public health professionals who can help the addicts move away from their addiction.
The disease of addiction is most often spread by addicts who become dealers to support their addiction. As dealers they entice young people into use and addiction.
If we treated addiction as a disease with clinics and dispensaries the addicts would no longer be the sales force for the drugs. They would no longer have a vested economic interest in making new young addicts for our society.
It is the puritanical prohibition of addicts that leaves the afflicted on the streets with no choice other than to sell drugs to children in order to finance their addiction.
Ideology and intolerance informs your perspective.
No democracy can ever bring the two together.
Stop the cycle.. Stop the spread of disease...
The only weak here is your argument!!
cnon
CLEAN NEEDLES HELP DRUGGIES! CLEAN NEEDLES HELP DRUGGIES!!
I'M TOO DUMB TO REALIZE! I'M TOO DUMB TO REALIZE!!