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The latest is that he is not only not going to support universal, one-payer healthcare, but he also is tossing under the bus the public healthcare option caving to the industry that is profiteering on our sickness, suffering and death.
He's also tossed under the bus our American soldiers who continue to die in those illegal, criminal, unnecessary wars in the Middle East, to say nothing of the mass butchery and slaughter of the innocent Iraqi and Afghani citizens, who are guilty of nothing more than being of a different religion and having darker skin color than Northern Europeans.
And another issue that throws the American people under the bus is his coverup of the Bush wiretapping, even reserving the right to wiretap himself. Or the torture issue which he also again careful conceals that he is reserving the right to torture while protecting Bush/Cheney.
What happened to his support of the card membership in labor unions? Not even a whisper. Been months since I’ve even heard it mentioned.
Oh yeah, then there is giving away trillions and trillions to the fat cats on Wall Street, trillions of taxpayer dollars while doing nothing to restore our economy. Of course, it actually help the American people would be evil socialist, liberal, Commie and pinko. Damn him! Doesn’t stop him from being evil, socialist, liberal, Commie and pinko to the rich, wealthy, powerful and greedy.
Wakeup! Obama is not only the enemy of GLBT community, he is the sworn of all common Americans, the peons, surfs, working stiffs, wave slaves, labor unions, etc.
Where's that "Change we can..." what? Where's that majority party... WHAT??
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GAVE PARTNER BENEFITS to the gay spouses of the victims of September 11. Did anyone DARE raise DOMA then? No. It had it's peak power in 1996. It is going into history. Defending it's presence especially so viciously and stupidly is insane and a waste.
"I voted for a HYPOCOLONIC of business as usual and all I got was this lousy semi-pro-gay Joe Biden event!"
However, neither Gore nor Bush believed gay Americans were sufficiently human to marry. I voted on principle for Nader, who did.
And I'm going to keep on voting for people who understand the Constitution actually DOES apply to gay folks.
I've heard and considered every argument intended to make me regret that Nader vote. And yet, I still don't. I compromised that principle to vote for Obama, and now I deeply, deeply regret that vote. I won't make that mistake again.
I hope that the gay community is finally having its own Birminingham Jail Epiphany.
We need to make the point that it is damaging to have our enemies deliberately hurt us, but it hurts even more when our so-called supporters stand idly by and watch.
We need to make the point that we have allowed every other constituency to get in front of us, and we are no longer satisfied with a promise of "we'll get to you when all the other problems are solved."
We need to make the point that even though we are 6-7% of the population, we are also 6-7% of the vote, and elections are won and lost on far slimmer margins.
We need to make those points, and then we need to promise to follow through. Our empty threats are no better than their empty promises.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2009
Today, the President signed into law:
H.R. 663, which designates a facility of the United States Postal Service as the Yvonne Ingram-Ephraim Post Office Building;
H.R. 918, which designates a facility of the United States Postal Service as the Stan Lundine Post Office Building;
H.R. 1284, which designates a facility of the United States Postal Service as the Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office;
H.R. 1595, which designates a facility of the United States Postal Service as the Brian K. Schramm Post Office Building.
If that's true, that gives a whole new meaning to politics as usual.
I don't understand your point. The speculation being put forth by that TV pundit was that African-Americans and Latinos are strong supporters of Obama but not all that keen on gay issues, thus Obama may not want to upset them by taking on gay issues. That was the point the TV person was making.
For example, Prop. 8 passed with 52.5% of the vote. However, a majority of whites voted AGAINST Prop. 8. Seventy percent of African-Americans and 53% of Latinos voted in favor of Prop. 8. Ironically those two groups came out in strength in November to vote for Obama.
What does that have to do with gays coming in "all colors, shapes and sizes?"
Also used to hate hearing Bush's voice on the radio. Now when I hear Obama speak, have to move very quickly to change the station, tune to something else, even static, rather than have Obama aggrivate me and raise my blood pressure.
Paging Ralph Nader. Paging Ralph Nader.
This guy gives arrogance a new capital A. Following clueless GWB, that really says something.
Do you remember the Reagan administration. They let 250,000 people die before they could say the word AIDS, because they they hated homosexuals. The gay community supported Reagan. No connection to progressive groups that voted against Reagan.
We have a president, not a perfect president, but a president who acknowleges our right to equality. Acknowleges our humanity. He has made some major mistakes. He has been tone deaf to our needs, but he is far better than most. Push him? Yes. Demomize him? What is the payoff than a collective circle jerk about how much we dislike him. It might be cathartic to you but it does not work for me.
Bush and Obama both make you sick? Obama is pushing for reforms that benefit our community --- healthcare, education, employment. Have we lost the fullness of the human experience? Have we reduced ourselves to a political construct "gay" that has no gender, no race, no socioeconomic status, no culture, no nationality, no agenda other than gay?
If that is what gay means, it is empty. I reject it for myself . Call me a homosexual.
.
If we had equal rights under the law, we wouldn't need this reform you speak of. If we had equality under the law, we would be eligible for Health care benefits from our spouses, we wouldn't be allowed to be fired in half the states in the US, and I have yet to see him push anyone on any of the issues that affect us DIRECTLY, those reforms do nothing to advance our equality under the law.
I really am sorry that you do not have any empathy for those who choose to voice their frustrations and anger in ways that do not suit your style, or that you do not approve of. Guess you should head back to the Mattachine Society, if we depended on folks like you we would have had no Stonewall, or any other moments of community solidarity.
And I do not know what planet you were on during the Reagan Administration, but having lived in the heart of West Hollywood and San Francisco during that time, I am curious as to how you came to the conclussion we, as a comunity were supportive of him. As I recall he was the impetus for the start of ACTUp and various other rights organizations, he was our rallying point to express our outrage. Hardly the well supported by gays president that you claim.
You have every right to your opinion, but to rewrite the history of Gays and Reagan is just crap.
I also lived in San Franciso during this time, and I encountered more log cabin republicans than not.
Peace
I agree, this rehashing of old history is pointless and unproductive.
Peace
The opinions of commentators in the deep bowels of a blog are far different than most of the voices you hear in the media and at the forefront of the fight.
We need to have more compassion and respect for each other, not less. Especially at this point in time. Hang together or Hang separately as Ben Franklin said...
And thanks for the respectful back and forth. THAT is the way we should all communicate, not the pissy back and forth of the earlier comments.
And please, take back your GAY card because the homosexual card is so clinical.
LOL
PEACE BACK TO YOU, and to ALL our brothers and sisters in this struggle. Please, let us not forget we have the same end goal in mind, how we get there depends on us NOT turning on each other as we often do on these types of boards.
SOLIDARITY NOW.
The Obama/Holder DoJ is today asserting that Cheney's statements to the FBI (about Plame) must be kept secret so "they do not become fodder for political opponents OR LATE-NIGHT COMICS."
No shit.
I have called it the sucker call that is, bird watchers out looking for the sucker bird and the call to attract them is the sucker call, "Here sucker, sucker, sucker. Here sucker, sucker, sucker. Here sucker, sucker, sucker." Obama thinks the gay bird is a sucker bird because the gay bird answered his call.
Apparently, the Obama administration will go to all lengths to appease the pitchfork wielding gays and their supporters!
We'll see.
I'm also looking forward to the Obama admin shitting all over the House public healthcare option, before all hell breaks loose and they hafta make a phone call and agree to a meeting in order to hold back that tide.
Seriously. You're not this dim.
"The Official Secrets Act is not to protect secrets, it is to protect officials."
Also notice how Obama isn't showing who he is meeting with. Wouldn't look bad if he was meeting with Rick Warren at the same time he was turning away GLB?
As trivial as they may be, you have more rights today than you did 6 months ago.
Don't be willfully stupid, it wastes our time.
Do you understand that these so-called "rights" are piecemeal, divvied up by state, county and city lines and not at all uniform and sometimes fleeting? They simply don't apply to every gay person in the U.S., especially for those of us in the South and Midwest. Lawrence v. Texas is probably the most recent universal right to equality all gays have achieved (if you conveniently overlook the targeting of gays by "moral" police), and that came about in 2003, SIX YEARS AGO! No, instead of rights, we face rampant, publicly accepted/tolerated universal discrimination, that's what binds us together still today just as it did six months ago.
Again, what is your evidence that the DOJ was livid.
I love the suggestion that I am Att General Holder. I am just an average gay person fighting for his rights. I don't have the income, prestigious or platform that you and the attorney general enjoy. I just wish you would use it more productively, instead of fueling unneccessary division and hate.
Andrew Sullivan agrees that this meeting with the DOJ is a good move. What exactly are you trying to achieve by seeding seeds of hatred?
Since when in the hell does the LGBT control the calendar of the President?
You guys are acting as though your meeting requests should trump the other hundreds of meeting requests that the white house gets on a daily basis.
Now..regarding that. This President has found time to meet with many different groups and constituencies of the DNC but not LGBT. That is his right; however, it is our right to be upset and withhold monies to the DNC. We also have the right to question if the promises he made to the LGBT population during the campaign were hollow ones and right now they are appearing to be hollow.
here is the link to the PHB diary since you do not provide any actual support for your information:
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/11572/white...
Maybe all of this embarrassment will wipe the smug arrogance off of Obama's face. I thought we had elected a mature adult to run this country. Guess I was wrong.
---------------------------------------------------------
Aide: Husband of Ensign's ex-mistress sought cash
LAS VEGAS – The husband of Sen. John Ensign's former mistress made "exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits" through an attorney, an aide to the Nevada Republican said Friday. In a statement, Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said the demands from an attorney for Doug Hampton were made within the past month.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_go_co...
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/06/did-fox-news-o...
- More evidence for that than the dubious blackmail charge the police know nothing about...
Sounds like more Fox news fictionalizing to cover Ensign's ass.
Usually though extortion claims sans police involvement are BS and dangerous BS too as they tend to be easily discredited and backfire.
...Schadenfreude is sometimes not wrong.
Ultimately, when they did follow up with Hampton, Fox News producer Tom Lowell told Huffington Post, they found his claims were not "credible."
"We always evaluate people when they call into the newsroom in terms of: does this sound like its solid? Does it sound like its actionable?" Lowell said. "There were some questions here, so we decided that we would make some inquiries but that it wasn't something we needed to move on immediately. And before we could nail everything down and confirm this story the Senator had already announced his press conference."
--------------------------
If only they had done their job with the bush crime family.
John, seriously, WTF are they thinking? These are stupid mistakes, and they know the media is dying to go parana on Obama.
It makes one wonder how competent the "Keystone Cops", I mean, lawyers are over there at the DOJ.
Obama needs to live up to those promises. He's running the Administration, HE needs to make sure his promises/policies are implemented.
I hold no one else responsible but Obama.
Period.
Oh, of course also those pesky Democrats in Congress, but this, this pathetic DOMA 'defense', has nothing to do with them right now.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs...
Make it look good!
Too little too late. We in the LGBT Community already had a taste of the cake. Nasty nasty cake.
Icing won't do it.
We need a new cake. One prepared by a professional baker.
John???
Obama ran on the platform that change doesn't come from above, it comes from the ground up. (He may hate himself for saying so right now, but it's true. It's working.)
Obviously, right now, we're having an impact. Well, mostly the impact comes from $$$ (Look at my name - does it look like I have any????), but the voices come from people like me.
Regular ordinary people. Powerful!! We ARE making a difference, we ARE making the people with money and power listen to us.
It's working!!!
Do better Mr President
You want things changed at the DOJ. It might be helpful to get the person who gives the DOJ legal advice confirmed. Shes been held up since March. Not surprisingly she is a hardcore progressive. Reid has yet to bring her up for a floor vote. Thats where people should be angry.
President Obama isn't watching over every little thing thats going on at DOJ. They are in fact suppose to be an independent body. But you could all help the process by pushing to get her confirmed. Yet you waste time jumping down Obama's throat. Get the important people in the positions there and things will change on torture and Equal rights. AGAIN. This is the head of the OLC that continues to be held up.
We have a real chance here - a meeting with the DOJ and activist lawyers. Yet, all you people can do is throw poo at it. There is no voice of moderation. No attempt to understand basic civics - the independence of the DOJ, and the role of Congress in passing legislation.
Our struggle is like the civil rights struggle. But would Thurgood Marshall, King and other black leaders and organizations reaction with this vitriol to a meeting with DOJ to discuss litigation strategy. No, they would view it as a victory.
Your hatred is making you lose sight of the utlimate prize.
That is a representative comment here. Please explain the line that demarcates anger and hatred?
Scapegoating is easy. Activism is hard. I'm not waiting for Obama to do everything. Congress is a co-equal branch of government.
Our own responsibility for our situation has to come into your play. Sit there and hate, or do something. Get off your ass and call congress. Playing into this pathology of Obama hates us is the easy way out. It's the cowards way out. Have a nice weekend. Peace.
On the other hand, you are right that meeting with the DOJ is a good thing--attending a $1,000 per plate fundraiser is certainly not. Dialog is good, pouring money into coffers of hate is bad. Of course, we don't want people who are not on the train representing us at this meeting. Our voices must be heard!
http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0609...
Obama has not moved at all on gay rights but I would pause to say at this point in the early part of his administration that he is a bigger mistake then Bush.