Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Beyond "Gay Marriage": Getting Back on Track

Now that "gay marriage" has been defeated in Tennessee and in most of the United States, it is time for the "gay rights movement" to get back on track and quit following into the anti-gay Christian right's political traps. "Gay Marriage" was a distraction, politically timed to divide the Democratic Party, mobilize conservative Christian voters, and elect Republicans. The issue is so unpopular and political dangerous, even most Democratic candidates opposed it (i.e. Harold Ford Jr. and Barack Obama..)

Now it is time for the Democratic Party, as the majority party in control of Congress now, to prove it deserves the support of gay voters. It is time to fight discrimination against gays by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (to protect gays from employment discrimination) and end the miltary's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy which has been a disaster for the military and for gays in the military. Clinton should never have "compromised" with the anti-gay military establishment and enshrined anti-gay bigotry in military policy (which still considers homosexuality to be a "disorder"). DADT has ended the careers of thousands of gays and lesbians in the U.S. military. (DADT makes it a crime to publicly acknowledge being gay or lesbian, and requires gays and lesbians to be celibate and keep their identity a secret.)

While there seems to be enough Democratic support to pass ENDA, not many Democratic leaders have been willing to call for and end to DADT and allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military, even though recent polls show a strong majority favor allowing gays to serve in the military.

We must also confront the hypocrisey of "liberals" who claim to support gay rights, but who do NOT support giving gay and lesbian couples EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS. That is still an issue that Democrats are divided on and even many liberals cannot seem to embrace. Unfortunately, marriage equality will require challenging irrational religious dogmas that should not have anything to do with public policy, and a strong defense of the separation of church and state, which many Democrats (i.e. Harold Ford Jr., Barack Obama, etc.) do not respect.

Will the Democrats defend the separation of church and state, and equal civil rights?

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

A Christo-Fascist Thanksgiving

Our friends at the anti-gay American Family Association demonstrated once again that they are NOT a "Christian" organization at all, and they do not understand "Thanksgiving." The AFA once again threatened to boycott a major corporation (Wal-Mart) for the "sin" of supporting their gay and lesbian employees and treating gay people as human beings. The AFA threatened a boycott on Friday, the big shopping day after thanksgiving, complaining that Wal-Mart had donated money to gay organizations (inlcuding the Northwest Arkansas LGBT Community Center), had joined the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and had promoted a gay movie (Brokeback Mountain). They have called off their "boycott" after Wal-Mart issued a statement saying that the company would not take any positions on "controversial issues." Although the AFA called off their boycott, Wal-Mart continues to support the gay and lesbian chamber of commerce and the Northwest Arkansas LGBT Community Center, and they still carry Brokeback Mountain and other movies that portray gays as human beings. So Thanks AFA for nothing..

What Did the American Family Association Get from Wal-Mart?

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Democrats off to Rough Start

The Democrats are off to a bad start as the majority party in Congress. Nancy Pelosi, soon to be the Speaker of the House, was rebuked by the Democratic Congressional Caucuas when they rejected her pick to be Majority Leader, sleaze-bag John Murtha, who Citizens for Ethics and Responsiblity in Washington-CREW calls one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress, who recently told the conservative Blue Dog Democrats that the Democratic ethics bill is "full of crap." The person chosen to be Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, ain't no prize. He's another DLC "centrist. Pelosi herself has emphasized that the Dems will be governing from the "center," which the Republicans and conservative media pundits have moved to the right of center, particulary by trying to paint Pelosi as a radical socialist revolutionary, which she ain't.
Check out Doug Irelands THE SKINNY ON NANCY PELOSI
It's going to be a rough two years...hopefully the Democrats will take some lessons from George Greider and get a political backbone to fight for a real progressive agenda.

McCain Not "Straight" (On Gay Rights)

John McCain has been getting a pass from the media and the public for so long just because he is a "war hero." Now that he is sure to be running for the Republican presidnetial nomination, he has "flipped and flopped" on many issues, especially gay rights issues. Once an opponent of anti-gay amendments, he supported the failed Arizona anti-gay marriage amendment. On Sunday's ABC This Week, Stephanopoulus Stumps Mccain on gays in the military. McCain said he supports gay rights, including the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which is NOT pro-gay at all. When Stephanopolous tried to point out that the military defines homosexuality as a "defect," McCain denied it! Like so many politicians, including some Democrats (Bill Clinton) unfortunately, McCain claims to support "gay rights" but actually does not

McCain has been courting the Religious Right to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, speaking at conservative Christian colleges Jim Jones and Libery University, meeting with Jerry Falwell and other religious right leaders, and taking more conservative positions on issues like abortion.
------
And if the Democrats really want to keep gay voters, they better take some action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act while they have a chance to prove they support our rights, or they can forget it in 2008.

Nothing to Say

Well..you may have noticed I haven't posed a blog in several days... that's because I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY.
I've been thinking about things I said that I probably should NOT have said, or how I SHOULD have said them, but it seems like wasted brain power now to dwell on them..
I don't know how I feel about the Democrats in control of Congress, yes it is better than the GOP, but not sure by how much. While the Republican Right scares the Sh*t out of me, the Democrats often get my hopes up and then disappoint big time. I'm afraid it might HELP the GOP in 2008, as Congress seems pretty unpoplar regardless of which party is in control since it is such a wasteland of incompetence and corruption, and it looks like some Dems will probably be fingered in the Abramoff scandale and others.
To all those who had hopes the Democrats will END the War in Iraq..SURPRISE. They will not. It will keep going for a few years at least. There are institutional (i.e. military) forces at work that will not allow the U.S. to withdaw from Iraq soon.
And the Democrats will NOT do what Dennis Kuccinich suggests, and CUT OFF funding for the war. That would be interpreted as abandoningn the troops, and that will be a BIG NEGATIVE in 2008. And the will NOT cut any wasteful military spending either for the same reason.
The Theocons (theocratic conservatives) seem to be winning more power in both political parties, so watch as both parties continue to play their GOD cards...
The GOP and conservative press will keep boxing the Democras into a right-of-center position by accusing everything they do as being "socialist" or even worse, "San Francisco Liberalism." So the Dems will probably NOT move to the left where they need to go on many issues... it will be the SOS as before...
I think Gay Marriage is DEAD in the U.S., while it and other gay rights causes seem to be advancing in the rest of the civilized world..
If Tennessee keeps moving to the right we may need to start a freedom highway to Vermont or somewhere north of the Mason-Dixie line soon...
So I guess I did have something to say after all.. Sorry I'm feeling kind of down politically right now...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Catholic Bishops Reach Out to (Celibate) Gays

Well the worldl's largest anti-gay organziation, the Catholic Church, is trying to "reach out" to gays:
Bishops Adopt Gay Outreach Guidelines
There is a catch--if you want to be reached, you have to be celibate, like a pedophile priest.
The Bishops also admonished heteros who commit the grave sin of using "artificial contraceptives." If you have sex, you must do so only to have children I guess..
It's hard to believe the Catholic Church continues to thrive in the 21st century.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Gay Pride Tension Could Put Gay Issues on Israel Agenda

Thanks to Ann for sharing this with me:

Gay Pride Tension Could Put Gay Issues on Israel Agenda

FOCUS ON ISSUES

Could tension over gay pride rally put homosexual issues on agenda?
By Dina Kraft
November 12, 2006

JERUSALEM, Nov. 12 (JTA) — Gay issues have never been at the forefront of Israeli domestic politics — unlike in the United States — but some wonder if that will change after fervently Orthodox protesters used violence to prevent a gay pride parade.
Confrontations with police and threats of worse violence to come forced gay-rights advocates to downgrade last Friday’s event from a parade through the city center to a rally, in a cordoned-off stadium on the edges of the capital.

“In the past two weeks, people are talking about the issue as part of a conservative agenda, where before it was never an issue,” said Eran Hertzmann, 34, a high-tech worker from Tel Aviv who attended the rally with his partner, Uri Eik, 37.

The two belong to an organization called Hoshen that tries to educate the general public about Israel ’s gay community.

“The idea is to destroy the stigma and show we are all simply people,” Hertzmann said.

Noa Sattath, director of Jerusalem Open House, a group for gays and lesbians that helped organize the rally, said the violence surrounding it did not bode well for social change.

“The fact that people think they can act violently and trample on the rights of a minority,” she said, “is a distressful sign.”

Religious leaders claim gay activists caused the problem by not being sensitive to their concerns. Still, the violence and public statements by Muslim, Jewish and Christian clerics against the event stood in marked contrast to the general Israeli openness toward gay society.

Israel’s army has a more liberal approach to homosexuals than the U.S. military, accepting openly gay soldiers as opposed to the Americans’ “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Israeli gay couples are also allowed certain types of legal recognition.

“Still, there’s a lot of work that has to be done with society at large in order to be accepted,” said Rommy Hassman, a leading Israeli gay-rights activist.

In secular Tel Aviv, gay life flourishes. But as one ventures from the center of the country, the acceptance level tends to drop off.

That became apparent in the run-up to last Friday’s event.

The past week saw several long nights of rioting by fervently Orthodox youth in Jerusalem ’s Mea She’arim neighborhood. Throwing stones and burning trash cans, they faced off against police to demonstrate their opposition to an open gathering of homosexuals in the city center.

Even the Vatican got involved, calling on the Israeli government to cancel the event, saying it would be offensive to all religions, given the sacred nature of Jerusalem .

The Supreme Court ruled the event should be allowed to take place. In the end, however, the street violence and threat of more to come, coupled with a heightened security alert following the deaths of 19 Palestinian civilians in Gaza from errant Israeli shelling, led to a compromise deal between gay activists and fervently Orthodox leaders to hold a rally rather than a parade, and not in downtown Jerusalem but in a Hebrew University stadium.

There were roughly as many police — about 3,000 — protecting the event as there were participants. Participants were searched for weapons before being allowed inside.

As part of the compromise struck between the two groups, there were no fervently Orthodox protests at the rally. The event went off without serious incident, but police did detain five religious men found at a Jerusalem park with clubs, knives and a gun.

The rally turned into a demonstration for democracy as much as for gay rights. Many heterosexuals at the rally said the violent opposition had galvanized them to come.

“When I saw where the violence could lead, I felt it was my obligation to be here,” said Dvora Jacobi, 63, a chemist from Rehovot.

“Today the police carried out one of the most important tasks in history by protecting you. Over the past several days, there was wild incitement against you, which does not reflect the position of most of the citizens of Israel ,” Sami Michael, director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel , said at the rally.

“Let us be free in our own country,” a young Israeli man wrapped in a rainbow flag roared out to the cheering crowd.

The young man was Adam Russo, one of the three people stabbed at last year’s gay pride march in the capital.

Until last year, gay pride marches in Jerusalem , generally small events, took place quietly and without major protests. But the idea of a gathering came under scrutiny last summer when an international gay festival was planned for Jerusalem , a move fiercely opposed by religious groups in the city.

That festival ultimately was canceled because of societal tension caused by the simultaneous Gaza Strip withdrawal, and after Israeli police said they would not be able to secure the parade and possible fallout from the withdrawal at the same time.

A local march was held instead, where Russo and two other marchers were stabbed by an Orthodox protester.

Hassman, the gay-rights advovcate, said the intense reaction by Jerusalem ’s fervently Orthodox snowballed after the attention on last year’s planned international event.

“ Jerusalem is becoming more and more Orthodox and religious and I think political leaders were looking for trouble. The easiest way to arouse a public is to find an enemy,” he said. This time the enemy was the gay community.

Nightly television footage of Jerusalem streets blazing and clashes with the police did not reflect well on the fervently Orthodox, he said.

“Now they look like the bad guys, and the gays look like the good guys,” he said.

Among those at the rally who said the government should have spoken out against the violent demonstrations was Dana Olmert, daughter of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Olmert, a lesbian who lives with her partner in Tel Aviv, was especially incensed by comments from Eli Yishai, a Cabinet minister from the Sephardi Orthodox Shas Party, who condemned the gathering and compared the gay community to the biblical residents of Sodom and Gemorrah, who were destroyed for their iniquity.

“I wish someone in the government had answered back to him,” she told Israel ’s Channel 10 television.

Ford Rules out DNC Chair (but what about RNC chair?)

Harold Ford Rules Out DNC Chair

But what about RNC chair??? With an HRC (Human Rights Campaign-gay rights group score of 25, he may actually consider the Republican National Committee where he fits in quit well..

In fact, I encourage HFJ to please switch parties now and spare us any more talk of your rising star in the Democratic Party.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Hatred of Gays Unites Jerusalem's Feuding Faiths

Hatred of Gays Unites Jarusalem's Feuding Faiths

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 | Reason : In the News

Hatred (of Gays) Unites Jerusalem's Feuding Faiths
by TIM MCGIRK / TIME

Reposted from:
Time.com

Analysis: A showdown over a gay pride march reveals the rising tension between religion and secularism in the Jewish State

In a Holy City fissured by faith, finding a consensus on anything among Jewish, Christian and Muslim clerics is a near-miraculous occurrence. Yet Jerusalem's rabbis, priests and imams have united, however briefly, to stop the city's Gay Pride parade.

For some of their followers, the issue is worth spilling blood over: An unknown extremist Jewish group pasted up signs announcing a $500 "reward" for every gay man or woman killed during the parade, which is scheduled for Nov. 10. Several ultra-orthodox rabbis have vowed to mobilize more than 100,000 protesters to shut down Jerusalem on the day of the parade, and police warn that some groups plan to pelt the marchers with apples jagged with razor blades.

Meanwhile, in a rare display of solidarity with Jewish extremists, an influential Islamic cleric is urging Muslims to stage a simultaneous protest inside the old walled city to draw away Israeli police who would otherwise be shielding the gay parade from harm. "Not only should these homosexuals be banned from holding their parade," says one Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan, who preaches at a mosque near Damascus Gate, "but they should be punished and sent to an isolated place." Hatred, it seems, can be a bridge to inter-faith harmony.

Gay pride marches have, in fact, been held in Jerusalem for the past five years, prompting only grumbling among the city's conservatives. Then, last year, an ultra-Orthodox youth waded into the crowd of revelers and slashed three people with a knife. The furor over the parade reveals a long-standing contradiction inside an Israeli culture where secular values compete with fiercely defended religious traditions. Tel Aviv prides itself on its hip, cosmopolitan nightclubs and an easygoing "life is a beach" attitude, while an hour away, in some Jerusalem neighborhoods, ultra-orthodox men still dress in the style of 17th century Poland, with long black waistcoats and beaver-skin hats. Making up one third of the Jewish residents of the Holy City, the ultra-Orthodox ride their own buses, send their kids to religious schools, and close off streets to cars on the Sabbath. Any Tel Aviv visitor wandering into these pious communities in shorts and a T-shirt on the Sabbath has always run the risk of getting clobbered by a rock. But the violence at last year's Gay Pride parade may have been a sign that the tension between the opposite poles of Israeli identity is rising.

Israeli laws are the most tolerant in the Middle East toward gays, and ultra-Orthodox Jews see that as a symptom of a Jewish state rejecting its religious responsibilities. For some, the battle to stop the Gay Pride march has already begun. In the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shea'rim, police clashed over three consecutive nights this week with curly-forelocked youths who burned tires and hurled eggs and tomatoes. One officer said he was stunned "by the level of hatred" he saw in these clashes against Israel's small but vocal gay and lesbian community. Israel's Supreme Court has approved the parade, but the city's police could still call it off for the sake of public safety.

The implications of calling off the march under threat of violence worry civil rights advocates. Says Elena Canetti, a spokeswoman at Jerusalem Open House, which sponsors the parade: "This is bigger than gay rights. It's now about whether we respect the rule of law in Israel, or give in to threats of violence." Cannetti says that human rights activists and some leftist parties have signed on to the parade, which is expected to draw several thousand gay marchers. "Many people aren't coming because they're scared," she says.

The mile-long parade route is carefully planned to avoid any places of worship, and Canetti says that she has told some of the procession's expected participants, especially those from flashy Tel Aviv, to tone down sexy costumes. "We're not having floats or naked men flashing their asses," she says. "We just want to tell people: 'Hey, we're here. We have a right to exist.'"

The tension over the Nov. 10 march may have erupted even sooner had the Lebanon war not forced the cancellation of a World Gay Pride Procession that had been planned for Jerusalem this summer. Even then, one extremist, Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, from the Eda Haredit rabbinic court, blamed the failure of Israel's campaign in Lebanon on "the homosexuals' obscenity and promiscuity in the Holy Land."

The anti-gay bandwagon has even attracted support from abroad. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, of the Orthodox Rabbinical Alliance of America and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada, has been carrying out a three-year campaign against what he calls "the homosexualization of the Holy Land." It was Levin who crossed the boundaries of religious and ethnic hostility and recruited the support of prominent Palestinian Islamic cleric Taisser Tamimi against the parade. Evangelical Christian groups were also upset by what they saw as the deliberate flaunting of sexuality in Christendom's most sacred place. Says Rev. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, "This city's long history makes this event very provocative for people's feelings and beliefs. It's too 'in-your-face.'"

But secular Israelis say it's a shame that the only thing Jerusalem's three feuding communities of faith can agree on is their condemnation of gays. Both sides will be looking to prevail on the streets of Jerusalem next Friday.

—with reporting by Jamil Hamad/Ramallah and Aaron J. Klein/Jerusalem

Happy Birthday to Me

It's My Birthday!
I was born on this day, Nov. 12, 1963

And I'm still going strong despite all the obstacles in my way..

The God Delusion



Watch the video of Richard Dawkins reading from his bestselling book THE GOD DELUSION, in Lynchberg, VA and be sure to watch the Q&A as students from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University try to debate him!

This is a MUST READ BOOK!
Read the First chapter here!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Elton John: Religion Fuels Hatred of Gays

Elton John Echos my recent post about religion, though I think we should specify FUNDAMENTALIST religions fuel hatred and bigotry... I have many problems with "liberal" religions as well, but I can live with and respect them since they are not attacking people like fundamentalists do.


Elton John: Religion encourages hatred toward gays

Posted 11/11/2006 9:49 PM ET
LONDON (AP) — Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias, pop star Elton John said in an interview published Saturday.

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."

"But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," he said. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."

John also criticized religious leaders for failing to do anything about conflicts around the world.

"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together?"

John said those in his own field have been similarly lax.

"It's like the peace movement in the '60s. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts, but we don't seem to do them any more," he said. "If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Gay Rights Advances in the Rest of the World...

Mexico City Approves Gay Civil Unions

Of course, the largest anti-gay organization in the world, the Catholic Church, is fighting it, as well as the ruling conservative party in Mexico...

And South Africa's parliament in on its way to legalizing same-sex marriage!

Wow, it seems like Mexico and South Africa are more progressive than TENNESSEE! and most of the United States!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Letter to a Christian Nation

I'm still stunned by the 80% vote in support of the anti-gay Amendment 1 in TN. We know why don't we.. CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM. I know we are supposed to be nice and sweet talk these people, but how can you reason with people who believe in mythical sky-gods and demons, and who believe Jesus is coming back soon to zap them away???

Folks, there is NO sky god! He ain't up there. Your Bible is full of crap, like "if a man lies with a man he should be put to death." Now do you really believe that? Or what about "slaves obey your masters," or "women be subject to men" and "remain silent." Do you reallly believe "god" (where the fuck did "he" come from??) made the world from scratch and made ONE man and then took one of his ribs and made a "woman" and then after a few millennia decided he made a mistake and killed every living thing on the planet excpet Noah and his family and a pair of every living animal (how did they fit on that ark??), and then do you belive this "god" chose ONE race of people to be his "chosen people," and commanded them to KILL their enemies who worshipped other gods (jealousy??), and then do you believe a virgin gave birth to a god child who walked on water, had to be killed as a sacrifice to save the world, but was resurrected, and now is coming back to rescue you and punish eveyone who does not believe all this crap? Do you really believe you will live forever on some cloud while I burn in some lake of fire somewhere because I chose reason over insanity?

You can believe what you want, but please keep it to yourself, and stop trying to force your superstitious delusions on the whole fucking world!

And read these books
LETTER TO A CHRISTIAN NATION by Sam Harris

THE END OF FAITH by Sam Harris

THE GOD DELUSION, by Richard Dawkins

Is (Ex) RNC Chair Ken Mehlman Gay?

It's looking like former RNC chair Ken Mehlman may be an UNCLE TOM REPUBLICAN!

Bill Mahr outs Melman on Larry King

I said "former" because Ken Mehlman is now resigning from the RNC

Hmm...wonder why...

Will Karl Rove be the next Uncle Tom Republican to be kicked out of the closet..

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

What's the Matter with Tennessee?

While I expected anti-gay Amendment 1 to pass in Tennessee, it is shocking that it passed with the support of 80% of TN voters! Eighty Percent! No doubt Amendment 1 galvanized conservative voters and contributed to Bob Corker's defeat of Harold Ford Jr., despite Ford's pandering to anti-gay bigotry and support of the Amendment. It looks to me like 80% of Tennessee thinks gays and lesbians are not full citizens entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

While progressives must keep working to change the political direction of Tennessee, it is clear that this state is swinging far to the right, and even Democrats are being forced to pander to anti-gay, conservative voters.

Is this state hopeless? Is 80 percent of Tennesseans bigots?

I'm trying to plan my escape to Vermont!

Election Aftermath: How Dems Can Win Without the South!

The Democrats have "won" the House of Representatives, but (as of 11:30 PM Tuesday), it looks like they will come up three or four seats short of taking the Senate (Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia, Montana).

(Ford has LOST, despite all his attempts to pander to the christo-fascist bigots in Tennessee.)

The pattern is clear now, there is a long overdue geographical reallignment of the Dem and Rep Parties: the Democrats have won several senate seats in the Northeast and Midwest (Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania). The Republicans still dominate the South.

I have been thinking this, and now I found someone who wrote a book who agrees with me: The Democrats should forget the south! No, I don't mean totally give up, but focus on winning the moderate/rockefeller Republicans in the Northeast and midwest, not focus on winning the south. Just as the Republicans became a majority party by winning the South from the Democrats, the Democrats should take the Northeast and Midwest back from the Republicans.

So agrees Thomas Shaffer, author of WHISTLING PAST DIXIE: HOW THE DEMOCRATS CAN WIN WITHOUT THE SOUTH (Simon & Schuster).

You can read his article from In These Times "How Democrats Can Win Without the South"

In order to win the South, the Democrats will have to keep moving to the RIGHT and embrace the christo-fascist theocratic agenda. It's not worth it. The Democrats should be a populist/liberal party and not cave in to the right-wing southern bigots. We should keep working on the South, hopefully they will embrace reason and modernity in the next century, but in the meantime, the Democrats should look North and left.

I'm trying to find a way to move to Vermont so I can have health insurance, a civil union and a SOCIALIST Senator (Bernie Sanders!)

UPDATE: Well I may have blogged too soon, it now looks like Webb may have beat Allen in Virginia by a few thousand votes, but there will be a recount. The Democrat is ahead in Montana and Missouri, so the Democrats have a slim chance of winning the Senate! But we won't know until after the recount in Virginia..will it be 2000 all over again??

Election Prediction/Thoughts

For what it's worth, the election will be over in a few hours but I predict:
The Democrats will take the House, but not the Senate
Ford Jr. will Lose
Cohen will win
The Anti-gay Amendment 1 will pass overwhelmingly, thanks to the support of many prominent "Democrats" (Gov. Phil Bredesen, Harold Ford Jr, etal.) (early results show 80% yes!) Bigotry is very popular in TN!
(I had hoped we could keep the margin of defeat lower in Shelby County)

Unlike many "progressive" Democrats, I do not see a major Democratic sweep. I don't see a lot of enthusiasm for the Democratic Party, I see a lot of anger at Republicans (and a lot of it from Republicans unhappy with the GOP leaders in congress who have not been conservative enough!).

The unfortunately political reality is that the U.S. is a conservative country politically. Many of the Democrats who will win will be "moderate conservatives" which will fuel the right-ward drift of the Democratic Party, which is being pulled to the right both within and without.

I think the next two years will be very difficult for the Democratic House. Nancy Pelosi is the answer the the Republican's prayers, and they will demonize her and "San Francisco Liberals" until Hillary is nominated in 2008 and then the party will be over.. so the Dems only have TWO years in the House.
I hate to be a party pooper but,
I predict the GOP will probably win back the House in two years and the White House, because they willl blame the Democrats for all the problems that will come to a head in the next two years: the deficit, etc. Because of Bush's mismanagement the past 6 years, the tax cuts will NOT be renewed so peoples taxes will go UP. The Dems, if they control the House and/or the Senate will be blamed for it all.
The GOP will use Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton (the 2008 Presidential Nominee) to scare the SHIT out of the Christo-Fascist bigots in the South and Mid-West and McCain will win in 2008.
The Democratic Party will split between the conservative corporatists HAROLD FORD JR. wing, and the East/West Coast liberals (Dean/Pelosi) and we will probably have a civil war in the party, and unless there is a major change in the Democratic Party, the conservatives will probably come out in front.

So I am not very optimistic about this election or 2008.

Hopefully the American people will eventually wake up and revolt against this corrupt poltical system and we will have A revolution!
I'M WAITING FOR THE "GREAT LEAP FORWARD"!

Hey it could happen, Bernie Sanders is the FIRST SOCIALIST SENATOR!
Change the USA, Join Democratic Socialists of America!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Bredesen Panders to Anti-Gay Bigots

It is bad enough that the “Democratic” candidate for U.S. Senate ignores the Democratic Party platform opposing anti-gay marriage amendments, now our “Democratic” governor is running ads boasting of his support for the anti-gay Amendment 1. Both the Davidson County and Shelby County Democratic Parties have passed resolutions opposing Amendment 1 and reaffirming the Democratic Party platform which condemns these attempts by REPUBLICANS to write discrimination into our state and national constitutions.

Memphis Stonewall Democrats is disappointed that our Democratic governor Phil Bredesen, as well as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Harold Ford Jr., have chosen to oppose the Democratic Party platform and the will of the Davidson County and Shelby County Democratic Parties by supporting Amendment 1, and supporting writing discrimination against gays and lesbians into our state constitution.

Since “gay marriage” is already illegal in Tennessee, and since Gov. Bredesen already has a strong lead in the polls, his blatant attack on the civil rights of gays and lesbians in Tennessee was unnecessary, and was clearly pandering to anti-gay bigots. With Democrats like Bredesen and Ford, who needs Republicans?

(Can we get rid of both of them Tuesday???)

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ted Haggard Confesses: "I'm a Liar and Deceiver"

It's Sunday, and time for Ted Haggard to confess his "sins":
---
A.P. Nov. 5:

The disgraced former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million evangelical Christians, apologized and said "because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn't want to hurt or disappoint them."

"The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," he said.

----

Well, Ted, you were a liar and deceiver about a lot of things, like that anti-gay marriage stuff.

What is it with you anti-gay homophobes? Are you all repressed homos? Maybe Freud was right about you people..

VT Poised to Elect First US Socialist Senator

If only this could happen in TN!

Vermont Poised to Elect First U.S. Socialist Senator
Published on Thursday, November 2, 2006 by the Guardian / UK

Vermont Poised to Elect America's First Socialist Senator

· Cantankerous campaigner strikes chord with voters
· New milestone nears after eight terms in Congress
by Julian Borger

Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history.

Bernie Sanders is so far ahead in the contest for Vermont's vacant seat for the US Senate that it seems only sudden illness or accident could derail his rendezvous with destiny, after eight terms as the state's only congressman. His success flies in the face of all the conventional wisdom about American politics.

He is an unapologetic socialist and proud of it. Even his admirers admit that he lacks social skills, and he tends to speak in tirades. Yet that has not stopped him winning eight consecutive elections to the US House of Representatives.

"Twenty years ago when people here thought about socialism they were thinking about the Soviet Union, about Albania," Mr Sanders told the Guardian in a telephone interview from the campaign trail. "Now they think about Scandinavia. In Vermont people understand I'm talking about democratic socialism."

Democratic socialism, however, has hardly proved to be a vote-winning formula in a country where even the word "liberal" is generally treated as an insult. Until now the best showing in a Senate race by a socialist of any stripe was in 1930 by Emil Seidel, who won 6% of the vote.

John McLaughry, the head of a free-market Vermont thinktank, the Ethan Allen Institute, said Mr Sanders is a throwback to that era. "Bernie Sanders is an unreconstructed 1930s socialist and proud of it. He's a skilful demagogue who casts every issue in that framework, a master practitioner of class warfare."

When Mr Sanders, a penniless but eloquent import from New York, got himself elected mayor of Burlington in 1981, at the height of the cold war, it rang some alarm bells. "I had to persuade the air force base across the lake that Bernie's rise didn't mean there was a communist takeover of Burlington," recalled Garrison Nelson, a politics professor at the University of Vermont who has known him since the 1970s.

"He used to sleep on the couch of a friend of mine, walking about town with no work," Prof Nelson said. "Bernie really is a subject for political anthropology. He has no political party. He has never been called charming. He has no money, and none of the resources we normally associate with success. However, he learned how to speak to a significant part of the disaffected population of Vermont."

Mr Sanders turned out to be a success as mayor, rejuvenating the city government and rehabilitating Burlington's depressed waterfront on Lake Champlain while ensuring that it was not gentrified beyond the reach of ordinary local people. "He stood this town on its ear," said Peter Freyne, a local journalist.

"I tried to make the government work for working people, and not just for corporations, and on that basis I was elected to Congress," Mr Sanders said. He has served 16 years in the House of Representatives, a lonely voice since the Republican takeover in 1994. He has however struck some interesting cross-party deals, siding with libertarian Republicans to oppose a clause in the Patriot Act which allowed the FBI to find out what books Americans borrowed from libraries.

He says his consistent electoral success reflects the widespread discontent with rising inequality, deepening poverty and dwindling access to affordable healthcare in the US. "People realise there is a lot to be learned from the democratic socialist models in northern Europe," Mr Sanders said. "The untold story here is the degree to which the middle class is shrinking and the gap between rich and poor is widening. It is a disgrace that the US has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any industrialised country on earth. Iraq is important, but it's not the only issue."

In a state of just over 600,000 people he also has a significant advantage over his Republican opponent, Rich Tarrant, a businessman who has spent about $7m on his campaign. "Sanders is popular because even if you disagree with him you know where he stands," said Eric Davis, a political scientist at Vermont's Middlebury College. "He pays attention to his political base. He's independent and iconoclastic and Vermonters like that."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006

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Now if you want to help move the Democratic Party back to the progressive/left, then join Democratic Socialists of America

I'm tryiing to start a Memphis DSA Chapter, so join us as we try to build the progressive democratic socialists movement within, but not limited to, the Democratic Party, which is dire need of direction and purpose!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Lieberman Endorsed by Anti-Gay Clergy

Joseph Lieberman has been endorsed by a group of CT anti-gay clergy, partly because of his opposition to gay marrgae equality.

Guess he is taking a page from the Harold Ford Jr. political playbook.

Conservative Hypocrites

First Mark Foley and now Ted Haggard...the anti-gay evangelist and head of the National Association of Evangelicals, has been exposed as a hypocrite. A gay male "escort" has accused Haggard of buying drugs (meth) and having sex with him over several years. At first I was skeptical of the accusation, but now Haggard admits to buying the meth (onece, but didn't use it!) and getting a massage... yeah right.

The worse part is that Haggard is another leading opponent of "gay marriage", and has been pushing the anti-gay marriage amendment in Colorado along with groups like Foucs on the Family. Haggard also met and talked frequently with George Bush.

What is it with these conservative religious fanatics, are they all closeted homosexuals? Are all anti-gay homophobic Republicans repressed homos? (Maybe Freud was right about those repressed homosexual feelings guys..)

And speaking of conservative hypocrites, Sen. John McCain is now appearing in ads for the anti-gay proposition in Arizona, which is losing according to some polls. McCain used to criticize the religious right and opposed amending the U.S. Constitution, but now that he is running for president in 2008, he is kissing up to the religious bigots. So much for the great hope of gay Republicans, and the illusion that John McCain is a "moderate."

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Does Ford Church Rally Violate Constitution or Law?

Commercial Appeal Church Rally Draws Fire

Was Ford/Clinton campaign rally at the Temple Deliverance Church of God in Christ was a violation of tax laws for churches? It seems like a close breach of the constitutional separation of church and state. Why do the Democrats & Republicans ignore the U.S. Constitution when it comes to religion and politics??
What if the Bob Corker campaign had a rally at Bellevue Baptist Church?
Americans United for Sep. of Church & State are correct to criticize BOTH sides!
Shame on Harodl Ford Jr. (and the Democratic Party) for thier disregard of the Separation of Church and State!

Wonder if the Temple Deliverance COGIC will be able to keep their tax exemption??

Thanks John Kerry/Now Bush Should Apologize

It's hard to understand how a man as smart and intelligent as John Kerry cannot communicate effectively with an audience, an cannot even tell a "joke". Yes, he did insult the military and troops with is comment about ending up in Iraq if you don't do well in school, and not even I buy his "apology" that it was aimed at Bush.
A week before the election and Kerry hands the Republican political amunition that will play on talk radio and in the media, overshadowing the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq...

Kerry, PLEASE DON"T RUN FOR PRESIDENT in 2008! And give some of the millions of dollars you are hoarding away to Democratic candidates who need it now!

Now that Kerry has apologized for his goof, it is time for Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld to apologize for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq and the aftermath.