Not sure how I feel about this...

What's Right Is Right...

A friend forwarded me this e-mail today:

Did you know that the military is still discharging soldiers for being openly gay? One of these soldiers is California's own Lt. Dan Choi, who is also an Arabic linguist. Lt. Choi is fighting the discharge and fighting the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and needs your help. Lt. Choi goes on trial on Tuesday. I just signed a letter of support via the Courage Campaign for Lt. Choi, which he will bring with him to his trial. Will you join me in signing and urge your friends to do the same before Tuesday's trial?: http://www.couragecampaign.org/SupportDan

My first response was: What part of "don't ask, don't tell" do you not understand? Openly gay...

As I considered bigotry, I considered the difference between homophobia and racism. It really isn't an“apples to apples” comparison. Lt. Choi is young enough that he joined the Army know of their "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. He signed paperwork upon entering West Point and upon being commissioned an officer in the United States Army knowing that to be openly gay was to violate Army policy and procedures.

Do I think it is the dumbest rule in the history of the world? Yes, certainly one of them. Do I think that homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military? Yes, I do. But he knowingly violated rules and signed enlistment papers under false pretenses. I don't know why he decided to be open about his lifestyle, it really isn't any of my business, but he did.

I think it is sad that someone can be patriotically moved to want to fight for this country and be told because of their sexual orientation. Pretty pathetic, really.

I condone no type of discrimination and I think the rule should be changed. I also think that unjust rules should be broken on principle. This form of political thought is called transcendentalism. It is a school of thought that started in New England in the 19th century with folks like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, among others.

Emerson wrote: "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds ... A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men."

He also said:

“So shall we come to look at the world with new eyes. It shall answer the endless inquiry of the intellect, — What is truth? and of the affections, — What is good? by yielding itself passive to the educated Will. ... Build, therefore, your own world. As fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your mind, that will unfold its great proportions. A correspondent revolution in things will attend the influx of the spirit.”

In the end, however, the transcendentalists believed that this living by their own moral compass would lead them into conflict with the state. They held that laws that we feel are unjust should be broken, but that we should be willing to pay the price for violating those laws as part of our statement of injustice. My wanting the world to be different only does so much, John. I am not a militant revolutionary and I will not overthrow my government to ensure that homosexuals can serve in the military. Like the transcendentalists, I am an incrementalist. I believe that change is always happening. 10 years ago an effort was under-taken to ban same sex marriage. At that time, the ballot initiative prevailed by a huge margin. In 2008, after the California Supreme Court had struck down the previous effort, the vote was far, far closer. This is a generational issue. Old people are stupid as fuck and ignorant. But eventually they will die.

I am saddened that this is an ongoing debate, but I believe that it is not a matter of if full equal rights for homosexuals will occur, it is when. I do not believe in civil unions for same sex partners. I believe in full equality. Nothing less. Anything less would be to indicate that I believe they are somehow less than. My advocacy takes the form of voting, and calling out injustice when I see it.

I signed the petition, by the way, while I believe that Lt. Choi knowingly violated the rules, I also believe he should never have to hide who he is to make someone ignorant feel comfortable.

God bless Lt. Choi and those who serve a nation that doesn’t recognize them as equals.

A bad thing for liberals.

I have not been posting lately, but this came via e-mail recently and it is a pretty good summary of the implosion of one of our major parties. I have never voted for a Republican, I have never encountered one worth voting for. I must admit that I am considering voting in the Republican Primary next year so I can vote for Kay Bailey Hutchison. But that is not because I like her, but rather because the Hairdo from Dallas must be blocked at all cost.

All that aside, the implosion of the Republican Party is a really bad thing for the United States and a really bad thing for the Democratic Party. Yes, a bad thing. The problem is that we need more political parties, not fewer and as the GOP eats itself and slides off the "flat Earth" they so love they leave the Democrats in a position that they do not handle well. Unbridled power. It will be good for liberal public policy, but I know the Dems will mess it up. They won't be able to help themselves.

Corruption, over-reaching and alienating the vast moderate middle. They will put up with liberal public policy like environmental policy and health reform, but many will balk at liberal activism. A question for y'all; what is the difference between liberal public policy and liberal activism? Where is the line?

Time will tell.

Long story short, we need a sane and grounded conservative counter-weight to keep the Democratic Party honest and even-keeled.

-----

Angry GOP divorced from reality

By Bill Maher
April 28, 2009

If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns
and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and
clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.

I still don't know what those "tea bag" protests were about. I saw signs
protesting abortion, illegal immigrants, the bank bailout and that gay guy
who's going to win American Idol. But it wasn't tax day that made them crazy;
it was Election Day. Because that's when Republicans became what they fear
most: a minority.

The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well,
nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore.
Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up
with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.

Here are the big issues for normal people: the war, the economy, the
environment, mending fences with our enemies and allies, and the rule of law.

And here's the list of Republican obsessions since President Barack Obama took
office: that his birth certificate is supposedly fake, he uses a teleprompter
too much, he bowed to a Saudi guy, Europeans like him, he gives inappropriate
gifts, his wife shamelessly flaunts her upper arms, and he shook hands with
Hugo Chavez and slipped him the nuclear launch codes.

Do these sound like the concerns of a healthy, vibrant political party?

It's sad what's happened to the Republicans. They used to be the party of the
big tent; now they're the party of the sideshow attraction, a socially awkward
group of mostly white people who speak a language only they understand. Like
Trekkies, but paranoid.

The GOP base is convinced that Mr. Obama is going to raise their taxes, which
he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican
Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say
publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is
appropriate considering that ... Mr. Obama wants to raise taxes 3 percent on 5
percent of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Mr. Perry's independent nation
would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned
Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.

I know. It's not about what Mr. Obama's done. It's what he's planning. But you
can't be sick and tired of something someone might do.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recently said she fears that Mr.
Obama will build re-education camps to indoctrinate young people. But Mr. Obama
hasn't made any moves toward taking anyone's guns, and with money as tight as
it is, the last thing the president wants to do is run a camp where he has to
shelter and feed a bunch of fat, angry white people.

Look, I get it, "real America." After a long run of controlling the White
House, Congress and the Supreme Court, this latest election has you feeling
like a rejected husband. You've come home to find your things out on the front
lawn, or at least more things than you usually keep out on the front lawn.
You're not ready to let go, but the country you love is moving on. And now you
want to call it a whore and key its car.

That's what you are, the bitter divorced guy whose country has left him -
obsessing over it, haranguing it, blubbering one minute about how much you love
it and vowing the next that if you cannot have it, nobody will. But it's been
almost 100 days, and your country is not coming back to you. She's found
somebody new. And it's a black guy.

The healthy thing to do is to just get past it and learn to cherish the
memories. You'll always have New Orleans and Abu Ghraib.

And if today's conservatives are insulted by this, because they feel they're
better than the people who have the microphone in their party, then I say to
them what I would say to moderate Muslims: Denounce your radicals. To
paraphrase George W. Bush, either you're with them or you're embarrassed by
them.

The thing that you people out of power have to remember is that the people in
power are not secretly plotting against you. They don't need to. They already
beat you in public.

An Oldie But A Goodie!

There is a new Sheriff in Town!

The Waxman-Markey Bill, now dubbed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is winding its way through the halls of power as we speak. The compromise announced in the last couple days allows for 35% of 4.7 Billion allowances will be given for free to local distribution companies that provide electrical service to protect rate payers; 15% will be given to “trade-intensive” industries such as steelmakers, glass, aluminum, and paper for free starting in 2014, phasing out by 2 percent per year. Auto makers initially would receive 3% of the allowances free. Members are also still working on a free allowances figure for petroleum refiners, believed to be between 1 percent and 5 percent.

That sounds soft to me!

Climate change experts seem to have found consensus around the fact that we are rapidly running out of time. I wonder if we can really afford to play loose and fast with the allocation of the tradable credits so that our dirtiest industries get their credits for free for a while. I think we should give credits for free to clean industries so they can sell them to the dirtier industries and use the profit to build and expand and create jobs. That would enable the shift to occur more quickly.

But what do I know, I just read about the stuff til my eyes bleed. It's not like I'm an expert or anything. If I was an expert, I'd obviously be working for a coal or oil company...

Here is EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson from the Daily Show last night.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Lisa P. Jackson
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Busy or lazy?

This blog is being severely neglected. For any readers that are still there, I apologize. I have lot of opinions, but the fact that the Texas legislature is in session is taking too much of my time.

I am on Twitter. Tweeting is ADHD blogging. I can be found at: http://www.twitter.com/Freak_Politics

Centrists 1 - Obama 0

Sorry to say it, but Obama was very unimpressive in dealing with the Stimulus bill. He allowed the moderate Dems and Republicans in the Senate to establish the tone of the debate. As a result, the hard work that the House put into a fiscal spending approach was aborted. Hey Liberals, you allowed Joe Lieberman to eat your lunch... again! Hey Bambi, why is fiscal policy important to replace the decline in private sector spending? The Stimulus was always going to be too small, but the White House allowed the mushy middle to turn it into a big fat $800 billion nothing.

Praise song for the day

The following is a transcript of the inaugural poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander, as provided by CQ transcriptions.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

You had me at hello, Mr. President, you had me at hello...

What a speech.  I don't even know what to say.  I need to watch it a couple more times before I write any more on it.  Here are some lines that stick out...

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

---

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end."

---

"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: 'Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].'

"America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Food for Thought

"The liberal candidate may not win, but the conservative candidate has got to become more liberal. The drift of humane society is in that direction."

-Bob Eckhardt, 1962

A brief return from hiatus for this... too good to be true!

Sometimes events occur that demand putting aside planned procedure to address them immediately. George W. Bush ducking not one, but two shoes deserves such an approach. Enjoy, I did.

Hilarious!!!

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

More cabinet rumoring...

It's officially official:
1. Rahm Emanuel is in as COS
2. David Axelrod is in a "Senior Advisor" (nice generic title)
3. Transition economic advisors will be Robert Reich, Larry Summers, Warren Buffet, Bob Rubin, Governor Granholm, Paul Volcker, David Bonior, Roel Campos, William Daley, Roger Ferguson, Anne Mulcahy, Richard Parsons, Penny Pritzker, Eric Schmidt, Laura Tyson, and Antonio Villaraigosa (who Lego my Ego refers to as Villagrossa)

From the realm of idle rumoring:
1. Tom Daschle for HHS
2. Max Cleland for Army Secretary
3. John Kerry is lobbying for Secretary of State
4. Chuck Hagel for DOD
5. Bill Richardson for State
6. Deval Patrick for AG
7. Howard Dean for HHS

Here is my question; if every Democratic governor in the U.S. Goes into the cabinet, will there be any Democrats left to run the states???

This just in...

According to the Portland Oregonian blog (Michelle Roberts) political analyst Tim Hibbitts is predicting that Democrat Jeff Merkley will upset Senator Gordon Smith. He based this prediction based on outstanding votes to be counted. As of right now only 56% of Multnomah County (Portland) has been counted and is breaking sharply for the challenger.

Nothing written in stone!

Also, Senator Coleman and Al Franken are headed to a re-count with Coleman leading by 800 votes. More on this to come...

Update: the state has explained how they are recounting 3 million votes. Coleman has, in the interim declared victory. A bit premature, don't you think Normie?

The President-elect's cabinet

So far I am hearing:
1. Rahm Emanuel for Chief-of-Staff (I believe this is confirmed)
2. Napolitano, Pea and Daley for transition team
3. Gov. Napolitano for Attorney General (this would be a mistake, we need her in Phoenix),
4. RFK, Jr. for EPA Administrator (asked if he would take it, RFK said: "if asked, I will serve)
5. Jon Corzine for Treasury Secretary (I don't buy this)
6. Governor Rendell for DOE (I don't buy this either)
7. Vilsack for Agriculture
8. Steve Westly for DOE
9. Senator Lugar for Secretary of State (this would be a great pick)
10. Caroline Kennedy for Ed Secretary

I would urge caution. Most of this is likely wishful thinking mixed with hangover. Time will tell.

The speech heard 'round the world!

Illegal gay people...

It looks like California will pass the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Statewide it is standing at 52-48 for it. I am particularly disappointed in my old hometown. Los Angeles County voted 50.4-49.6 in favor of the ban. Amazing what some people think is their business. Perhaps if conservatives had focused more on the issues that challenge all Americans they would not have taken an old fashioned ass-whipping from sea to shining sea.

No news on whether Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) will indeed go down to defeat. It doesn't look good at this point. Additionally, Senator Smith in Oregon may hold on, but it is tight there too.

So far I have only missed North Dakota and Missouri. Missouri was tight, it was always going to be close, but I think Obama just didn't resonate with the bumpkins in the southern part of the state. Not sure if there was ever going to be a way to peel them away, but the speech Obama gave last night makes it clear that the politics of division and marginalization of opposition is over, for now at least.

I am tired and I have to get to work now! More later...

This just in...

It is being reported that Barack Obama has offered and Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job of Chief of Staff. I like Rahm Emanuel and I think he will do a good job, but I was holding out hope for former Senator Tom Daschle. I will have to wait and see where he lands. Perhaps in the cabinet or an ambassadorship. Time will tell.

This will free up a Congressional seat in addition to a Obama’s Senate seat from Illinois. There is speculation that Jesse Jackson III is lobbying hard for Obama’s Senate seat, but that others from the delegation are uncomfortable with that. More on this will develop. I’m going to bed!

America, I'm proud of you tonight!

In other news tonight:

Chris Shays loses his seat in Connecticut. There are no longer any Republican House members in New England.

Medical Marijuana is legalized in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts shoots down the repeal of the state income tax.

South Dakota has once again shot down a ban on abortion.

Still no word on the California gay marriage ban constitutional amendment. So far it looks like this will pass. This could be a down note for an otherwise happy day.