Posts Tagged ‘political hijinks’

President takes on the Democratic Party “Moderates”

February 4th, 2010

It was good to see the President point out the idiocy of Blanche Lincoln’s logic on where the Democratic agenda should be. This is the more feisty president I wanted, but probably shouldn’t have expected.

But there is a broader story there about how politics has been redefined by the Conservative movement and its media and religious allies.  Even good solid progressives in a city like San Francisco by into the idea of needing to play on the field that the Republicans have built.  This despite (still) huge advantages in majority positions in both houses of Congress.  The Democrats seem to not realize that part of the political process needs to be rebuilding that field.

This is something that is fascinating me more and more lately.  I’ve been having quick back forth conversations about it with Dave Caploe about this and have been reading his lectures and articles in the New York Times recently.  I’m going to continue down this road where it leads me intellectually, and politically share that experience here on this blog.  Hint: the radical left is for all intent a myth created by the right.  As I asked the other day, name me that last major progressive legislation passed through into law in this country.  Anything since Johnson?

So along with exploring my middle aged need to ascribe understanding to my own life experiences, I will also write more about why we have a nation have ended up where we are and why.  I’m just a simple fundraiser and executive, but we can all learn.  Heck, I didn’t learn to speak Spanish until I was nearly 50 years old.

And Mr. President, more of this please.

The Coakley Blues in the Bay State

January 18th, 2010

I have no idea what is going to happen in tomorrow’s special election to replace the seat once held by Ted Kennedy.  I don’t watch CNN, MSNBC, or Fox any more; I had found my general sanity had become more and more at stake.  But if you were to read the blogs and watch the network news, this is a forgone conclusion.  The Democrats are screwed.  It’s impossible to know from those sources what to take.  The cliche of course is that any news, good or bad, is always bad news for the Democrats as far as the media is concerned.  The news loves a story, and this would be a huge story.  It would be spun as a repudiation of Obama and health care and the end of the democratic party agenda.  That assumes it has had a coherent agenda, but you get my point.

The Repubs are energized to vote in Mass. and the Democrats are not.  That will be the tale.  If Coakley loses, a lot of recrimination will come about the time we’ve waisted trying to get bipartisan support for a health bill, and our lack of willingness to fight for anything.  It’s pretty known that I’m a bit down on the first year of the Obama presidency.  But the biggest fear I carry now is that the Blue Dog Dems will read a Bay State loss as vindication for their view that we’ve gone to far to the left.  I can’t for the life of me name one single left wing policy that we’ve passed except for the stimulus package as a Keynesian response to a tragic economic environment.  Our final health care bill is a pretty market friendly conservative bill that has some good things about it.

But here’s to hoping that the media is doing what they often do, build a story that really isn’t there.  Remember the Teabagger dude in upstate New York?  Didn’t win, did he?  In the end, we’ll know what we know tomorrow.  And don’t let anyone tell you the know what’s happening and what it all means.

Post script:  I mentioned yesterday the lovely comment that one of Republican Scott Brown’s supporters used in a rally (“let’s shove a curling iron up her ass”).  I just felt compelled to remind people of a bit of Scott Browns past and perhaps hanging out with people calling for rape isn’t a great idea when you’ve posed for this: (for real, him, years ago)

Republicans: Use a death for political reasons – never!

August 28th, 2009

Ok, I have a little experience in watching Republicans use funerals for political gain.  I was widely quoted for saying that, hey, you know, maybe we should dial it back a bit.  Well, it seems the republicans are very concerned about how Kennedy’s death will affect the health care debate.  They are afraid that it will become politicized.  

So here comes Pastor Huckabee, the most honest man in America saying that essentially, Teddy would have died much earlier if we had the health care plan that Obama wants.  

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate suggested during his radio show, “The Huckabee Report,” on Thursday that, under President Obama’s health care plan, Kennedy would have been told to “go home to take pain pills and die” during his last year of life.

“[I]t was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to consider just taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them,” said Huckabee. “Yet when Sen. Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die? Of course not. He freely did what most of us would do. He choose an expensive operation and painful follow up treatments. He saw his work as vitally important and so he fought for every minute he could stay on this earth doing it. He would be a very fortunate man if his heroic last few months were what future generations remember him most for.”

Of course, every last word of the good reverend is an absolute lie.  My head is spinning with what the Republicans are throwing out there this week.  Tagging Obama so he can be hunted down and shot, looking for the “last great white hope” to take on the president, and anything Glenn Beck is doing right now deserves its own wing at the psychiatric hospital.

 

They are willing to tell these lies because they know that the future success or failure of the Presidency is tied to health care.  That’s the real agenda.  But they are really willing to go to some pretty scary places.

 Todd Gitlin reports that Grassley was silent when a town meeting nutter called the President a Nazi and said he wanted to kill him. The Senator from Iowa is making a first-class fool of himself these days.

The new axis of evil

August 25th, 2009

This is why I love to read Balloon-juice.  His take on the latest lunacy from the right is priceless:

From a winger screed about Obama’s “National Day of Service” plan (via Steve Benen):

With the help of the Obama administration, the coalition is launching a public relations campaign under the radar of the mainstream media—which remains almost uniformly terrified of criticizing the nation’s first black president—to try to change 9/11 from a day of reflection and remembrance to a day of activism, food banks, and community gardens.

Are activism, food banks, and community gardens the new axis of evil? You can bet some of those food banks will be serving artichoke hearts with meatball marinara.

Book Recommendation: The Family

August 23rd, 2009

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You’ll see it listed in the box to the right as one of the books I’m reading right now.  I love it.  It is an amazing story about what some very powerful people in our government and in industry are doing in the name of bringing a more Christian country into place.  

Some of you may know that I was a graduate of and Assembly of God Bible College and worked as a gospel singer for some years.  This stuff is real, and it’s frightening.  

Think about buying the book and let me know what you think.  It’s our own Lynch book club.

Thoughts on Obama

July 1st, 2009

same_sex_flagSo, while I was traveling, President Obama held a party for the gays.

I really, really, really want to believe.  But we have danced down this yellow brick road many times before.  Do any of you remember once candidate Obama saying that by the end of his term we would be happy?  Or did he run on change?  Do you recall hearing that DADT needed to wait until more of the military leadership was ready for the change?  Did you hear about the audacity of hope or call for the patience of Job?

It was disappointing to see so many of our LGBT leaders hanging on every word the president had to say.  He has progressed beyond the actions of Bill Clinton only in symbolism and yet we still seem to believe it is 1993, excited to hear the acknowledgement of our mere existence.

Atlantic Magazine writer Ta-Nehisi Coates gets to the key problem we should be having with how the entire Democratic Party is responding to the the LGBT community:

It’s very interesting to see a man who opposes gays should not have the right to wed, claim credit for talking to “African American church members” about homophobia. It’s even more interesting to see a man who lives in a majority black city, poised to go further than he, himself, ever would, claim that credit. I’ve heard it said, many times, on this board that Obama is actually pro-gay marriage, but that he can’t come out all the way. If that’s the case, then we must conclude that he is lying about his stance. Moreover, he’s invoking his relationship with religion, and his God, in that lie. Perhaps worse, he isn’t being fully honest with the very audiences he wants credit for addressing–the very audiences, that by his logic, would most benefit from that honesty.

We desperately need to be unsatisfied with this sort of stance.  The wink and nudge of democratic party support is not sufficient.  I am happy to have patience.  I can wait and I can be pragmatic.  But I don´t see that as what is happening here at all.  This is old school politics.  “The Congress has to do it, the President has to do it”

I remember during the campaign, then Senator Obama would not have his picture taken with Mayor Gavin Newsom.  I was concerned about the message that sent then, and he continues to send the same message.  He is saying he will back the LGBT community as look as it is not painful for him, politically or personally.

No more words Mr. President.  I will be patient after I have seen one significant piece of evidence that you will fight for me.  Otherwise, I will not back the democrats nor the President in the future.  I will have been too painful, politically and personally.



Pretty Weak Soup

June 18th, 2009

blahblahblahcard_mainpicThe president’s memorandum was pretty weak soup after a week of heated criticism of his administration’s language in their DOMA brief. As stated earlier in this blog, Harry Reid basically passed the buck on DOMA to the president and he has passed it back. The actual memorandum is arguably not permanent and arguably doesn’t extend new options for federal agencies.

I am happy for those that may have gotten something new today. It is always good when some rights are extended. However, it seemed to me to be as little as possible. He is not the “fierce advocate” of the campaign and this is thoroughly designed to placate an angry LGBT community. Unfortunately, many are already saying how great this is, happy for any recognition at all. It was disappointing to see some of our gay leaders there to give the president cover and help him cool down the PINK FIRE.

We’ve waited too long. We’ve been patient. We are not beggars. And the community must keep up the pressure. At least he responded a little bit.

Time for more, Mr. President.

Why it Hurts So Much

June 17th, 2009

obama-hopeAmericablog is making an excellent point:

The obsession with not repeating the mistakes of 1993 has resulted in a huge mistake in 2009. Somehow, despite all the progress and the massive shift in public opinion on gay issues since the early 90s, at the White House, the conventional wisdom on gay-related issues has been dialed back to 1993. The very top staffers at the White House have either fomented that perception or let it fester. There’s a part of me that feels like this was a very cynical political ploy — almost as if they want to have the gay community upset with them. It has been one thing after another and we’re always told how smart everyone at the White House is. So, it really feels deliberate. They only decided it was a problem when the gay ATM started to shut down.

It is often said that we fight yesterday´s battle. If I have one complaint to sum up my concerns about the President it is that he seems unaware that he has a mandate for change. He ran on change, he ran as a progressive, he ran bravely on the politics of hope. What is unique in the story of Obama as compared to other politicians is that we believed him. Sure we all expect politicians to make big promises and then not keep them. That´s what politicians do.

But Obama is something we haven´t seen often in our American experience. We really did see our dreams in his words and believed in the vision that he sold. And it wasn´t to compromise on healthcare, war secrets, and civil rights. It was to fight righteously. As Jon Carroll (read the whole excellent story) said today:

(It does seem to me that Obama is doing an awful lot of right-flank covering, to the extent that it seems as though it may not be his flank at all, more like his sirloin. What is so astonishing about all these ravings in the right-wing press about “socialism” is that Obama, except on environmental issues, has been neither an activist nor a radical.)

There have been times when I have been so proud of this president that I have had tears in my eyes with joy. Especially living overseas and seeing how differently people look at the country that I love, my own country.

This is maybe the source of why I am so angry about what has been happening recently. I was on mild burn about his lack of progress on LGBT issues, but somewhat patient. But this action on DOMA and the subsequent handling of it, including this quickly put together federal benefits extension has made many of us much angrier.

It is self inflicted. This anger that Obama is seeing. He is not living up to the courage of his own ideals. I hope he does. Until then, my job is to scream from the sidelines. And remind him that we are here and we still want to believe.

From Obama Letter February 2008 to LGBT Community

June 17th, 2009

gay-marriage-7Apparently the president is putting together a rush job of a presidential memorandum (note: not and executive order) to extend benefits to partners of federal employees.  There will be a speech made live at a time that the networks will not cover.  The White House admits that this is a rush job to quell the PINK FIRE that is spreading as a result of his Justice Department´s DOMA brief.  He will certainly try to talk his way out of the anger being expressed broadly by the community.

A few things to remember and take note of:

  • this order expires when Obama´s term expires
  • the benefits do not include health care because of the DOMA law he just supp0rted
  • he has been gradually reducing his his level of support as demonstrated by changes on his policies as listed on his websites
  • This is done on the rush to combat something they were unprepared for.

This just isn´t going to satisfy anyone.  Where is our fierce advocate?

I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding
promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers
and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class
citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that
together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.

Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate
discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that
prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending
protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate,
I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide
benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of
my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and
a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full
equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best
way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not
stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and
lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage.
Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
– a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate.
While some say we should repeal
only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not
discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I
have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting
American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as
married couples in our immigration system.
The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention,
we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be
part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex
education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to
combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle
exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local
governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.

We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia
– that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to
evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president.
That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues
is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning
broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination
in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well
as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of
inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked
about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have
been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT
activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin
Luther King once preached.
Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise
on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans.
But neither will I close my ears to
the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward
together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.
Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible.
I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this
country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit.
Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all
Americans, gay and straight alike.

Emphasis added by the Queen.
Barack Obama

A Day of Reading, Not Writing

June 17th, 2009

As I said yesterday, I got a lot of feedback about my call for the DNC gay event boycott and a lot of push back on some of my other ideas about national organizations. Today, I spent the day reading and not writing. I wanted to hear what people had to say about this issue without injecting myself into it much more.

The take away is that there are a lot of angry people. The response about the DOMA brief is one of the most significant moments of anger against the Democratic Party that I have seen in my life. Cleve Jones has called for a March on Washington. David Mixner, Andy Towle, Americablog and I have called for a halt on funding DNC LGBT activity.

But everyone is talking. I think that is healthy. We all have a point of view and a way to respond with our frustration. Rhetoric can get heated. I count myself lucky to have so many good friends in the fight with me. I do not always agree with them, and I won’t always support their ideas, nor them, mine. But I do want the focus to remain on the president’s failing at this moment in history, not the fight on process among us.