Gay Rights are Human Rights

I have never been more proud of political commentator Keith Olbermann then I was last night when he devoted his “special comment” to the embarrassing and disturbing passage of Proposition 8 (legislation overturning Civil Unions to gay and lesbian couples in California in the latest election.)

Olbermann actually personified my position and feelings on the issue quite accurately. He began by situating himself as a straight man with no close gay relatives but with friends and colleagues prohibited from enjoying the same freedoms he does because of their sexual orientation. This is exactly how I feel; I am not a gay man, nor do I have any gay relatives, that I am aware of, but I do have many gay friends that I would like to believe are just as American, and indeed, just as deserving of all the rights and responsibilities provided by those unalienable rights in our Declaration of Independence.

I also like how Olbermann used the analogy of other minorities getting married as a point of contention because that is one of the first defenses I use when I discuss gay rights as well. Basically, if we as a country think that African Americans should marry “white” people or marry each other (something once illegal in this country) then so should we defend the right for gay unions; if those with a mental or physical handicap can enjoy governmental sanctioned marriage then so should a lesbian couple [I am in no way suggesting that homosexuality is a handicap.] Or, since it is Veteran’s Day, what if there was a law saying all those that served in our nation’s armed forces could not marry? In my opinion, this is the exact same issue. It is the controlling body of the country personifying their fear of a group of people they are afraid of or don’t understand.

Actually, I do not even think we have the right to put it on the ballot. This is not an issue that you can poll the general public about. It does not matter what the majority opinion is, the Bill of Rights was actually created to protect the minority. We would need no First Amendment if everyone spoke the majority opinion all the time, for example. Again, I would argue the majory of the South in the late 19th early 20th century would be opposed to African American unions but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be protected by our country. All that voted for Proposition 8, Amendment 2 in Florida, and the countless other public measures designed to inhibit freedoms to Americans should literally feel ashamed of yourselves. What gives you the right to think you have the power to legislate humanity? That does not sound like the “small government” conservatives hold so near and dear…

The following is a clip of Olbermann’s “Special Comment.” He more clearly and effectively conveys my ideas, giving more attention to the idea of love (or lack there of in the world) and the need to allow the ember of love to burn. Please take a look at this video. We must remember they have done nothing to us and their lives do not affect us in negative ways. We cannot legislate sexuality, we cannot legislate freedom, we cannot legislate love.

Final Election Thoughts Before We Move On (or so we can move on…)

Politics, and this historic presidential election in particular, seemed to be the only thing that dominated public discourse, popular culture, and this blog for the past two months. It’s finally over, but I have a few closing thoughts about the election and the state of the country before we move on.

Let me begin by congratulating President-elect Barack Obama, and his campaign. I must confess that while not everyone, including Democrats, believe he is that great I happen to believe he will be noted as one of the top 3 or 4 greatest Presidents of all time. I think his personality, speaking skills, background, political theories, and, yes, skin color will lift him to at least “Top 20″ status before even taking the oath. Bill Maher has called him the Jackie Robinson of politics and that holds true for a number of reasons. Jackie was the rookie of the year in his barrier-breaking season and became the MVP shortly thereafter. So not only did he “happen to be black,” he was a darn good baseball player to boot. Talent certainly makes shattering stereotypes easier. And most importantly, if it wasn’t going to be Obama than who was going to be our first minority? He’s talented, for the reasons I’ve mentioned above, and he did not want to be pitied or use white guilt to get elected; he used his policies to speak for themselves.

Obama’s campaign, without a doubt, has set the new standard for Presidential races. The painstaking deliberation, forethought, and holistic understanding that went into every decision they made is almost impossible to imagine. The money they raised (from 3.2 million contributors) is mind boggling. They never stopped and it paid off.

The first post-election question I have, however, is “what if?” What I mean by that is the Democrats ran a flawless campaign. They nominated a charismatic, uniting candidate. The economy is in shambles. The rest of the world does not have a good idea of us anymore. The campaign McCain became the figure head for might be documented in political science books for decades to come as the “what not to do” example. They never stuck to their message. They chose an unknown, nationally uninformed governor (who just happened to be very attractive?) from a state no one hears about except in relation to a wildlife reserve. Their economic adviser calls Americans whiners. [I recently received an email explaining all the differences between the Columbia/ Harvard grad and the man who finished 4th from the bottom out of over 850 at the naval academy; the community organizer vs. a man who crashed a million dollar plane 6 times; one married one vs. one divorced his wife after a disfiguring car accident, etc.] What I am trying to say here is what if even one of these things went the other way? Is this how crazy the country has to get and how lopsided the campaigns have to become for the Democrats to win an election? And while it might have been by a safe margin, it was by no means a land slide……..

One of the most respected men in American politics, Colin Powell, publicly endorsed Obama and while on meet the press he brought up an interesting point: in regards to the McCain supporters attacking Obama for being a Muslim Powell retorted with, “So what if he was?” Yes! What if he was? There is nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be. Is it easier to hide your racism if he is Muslim instead of Black? There was another so what in North Carolina. Elizabeth Dole (who lost) attacked her opponent for consorting with Atheist organizations. So what! There is nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be a Muslim and nothing that says you have to be a Christian… Luckily, so many personal attacks from the Right only distracted a little bit. It was actually amazing at times to see how effective McCain’s personal attacks were. He convinced his followers Obama was a terrorist, un-American, a Muslim, etc; so much so that he actually had to calm his rallies down because they were getting violent. After controlling those, he switched to Socialist and that stuck like sweat beads on Joe the Plumber’s forehead. I watched an episode of the West Wing last weekend and the Democratic President was in a town hall meeting and jokingly said to the man in the back, “you’re getting ready to call me a Socialist aren’t you?” That was 10 years ago! Find some new material guys! Taxes distribute wealth, democrats didn’t invent the idea of taxing. Find some new material.

On a different topic, Florida, and I would assume other states as well, did pass a Marriage Protection amendment…. by something like a 66% to 33% margin. I won’t get into all my philosophies because this is my most passionate social cause but it is just sad to see that the progress that we are making is still in small steps.

I am estatic about the political future of the country. I literally weep everytime I see footage of the hundreds of thousands of people cheering all over the country and world for the victory of Barack Obama. As his acceptance speech suggested, he will listen to all sides, especially when they disagree. I will try to do the same in my political converations to come. We now have a President we can unite behind and I am excited about the possibilities for the new future of this country.

What does America Want in this Election?

I’m starting to realize that the reason I haven’t written a new political post in such a long time is not through lack of topics or shortage of entertainment but I’m simply bored with the process. I think we have come to the point in the election cycle where we are quite literally counting down the days to November 4th. Who really hasn’t made up their minds yet? I really don’t believe there is a such thing as “Independents” that must be won over, at least not this late in the game. You either love Obama’s charisma and new ideas or praise McCain’s patriotism and stand-alone attitude. Nothing new about the nominees will be revealed in the next few weeks; independents: (what ever that means) it’s time to fish or cut bait. You’ve made your decision or if you haven’t than you simply haven’t been paying enough attention and need to stop hiding your ignorance behind the veil of ‘waiting for some unknown event.’

Which brings me to my next point. It’s starting to hit me that the election is not about ideas, it’s not about personalities, it’s not about parties, so I don’t know what it is about. I belive I am safe in saying it is not about ideas because one side (yes, the side I favor) seems to have an open plan of action to get the United States back economically, fiscally, and environmentally; while the other side does not hide the fact that it has agreed with the failed Bush policies 90% of the time–that’s not their attack plan. Obama has a plan while McCain simply wants to scare you out of voting for an “unknown.”

But is the election really about candidates either? If we can remember how close the last two presidential elections were than we certainly see a connection with the tightening in this race. It seems the American people do not care who is running, they remain equally divided. I think both sides would argue the candidates they have put forth this election are dramatically more appealing than their 2004 counterparts. If it is obvious that one person can unite and excite so many (i.e. Regan and Clinton) and one person can destroy an entire country and popularity system (Dubya) than why is 2008 still so close?

Personally, I think it is because it is not about candidates and it is not about current issues. When it comes down to it we don’t care about your Iraq policy or new forms of energy; we really still just care if you are going to tax us or not (note McCain’s new attack ads warning of Obama taxing. Yes, he will tax the top 5 or 10% but lower taxes for everyone else. That’s how Democrats work, not just Obama. Move on dot Org!); are you going to be pro-life or pro-choice; will you support gay rights or conserve Christian moral values? I would aruge that this is what the last election was about and it seems what November 4th is shaping up to be as well.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it is time we look at candidates and their current issues and not the philosophies of their respective parties. Don’t vote for a person because that is who your party nominated, vote because they will be the best woman or man for the job. I hate to say it, but if you don’t think they will be better than I would suggest not voting rather than voting for something you don’t believe in. Ok, time to get biased: McCain may be a Vet but still gets D ratings by veteran advocacy groups. He may be a “maverick” but still agrees with 90% of Bush’s failed policies. He may be more “experienced” but he will still be the oldest President ever to hold the office, if elected. He wants to stay in Iraq at the cost of Billions of American tax dollars and thousands of real American lives.

Obama may be young, he may be inexperienced, but he is smart, he is charismatic, the world loves him, and he has a plan. He is who we need now. Just think about it… Don’t vote for old party ideals (of either side). Vote because you pay attention to world and domestic issues and you seriously know your candidate is better for the next 4 or 8 years.

Too Fit for President?

That was the title of a recent Wall Street Journal article. I don’t think I have to add anything to show the lunacy people have displayed trying to convince Americans Obama is not like “us.” Now we have decided since two thirds of “us” are overweight and 30% of “us” are obese Obama is not capable of relating to America. It’s late and I’m tired, luckily (hopefully) I don’t have to explain any further how low this attack is: Obama is too skinny to be president… SHUT UP! I’m not overweight and run three or four times a week. I may not be like “us” either but Obama sure represents me…

My weekend post will be asking you to think about your opinions on the arts: opera, theatre, dance, and symphonic music, in particular. I want you to rank them. I’ll give you the scale and my opinion soon, just think about them for now…

The American Dream is Far From Dead

Today at 7:20pm local time, Barack Obama, the son of a Midwestern woman and a immigrant from Kenya, spoke to over 100,000 Berliners. He spoke “not as a presidential candidate, but a United States citizen.” I had heard rumors of Obama’s public speaking prowess but never, until today, experienced the emotional power and awe-inspiring charisma Barack Obama brings to the world stage. He gave Germany, and the world, a symbol of an American change. A symbol of hope, a symbol of intelligence, a symbol of economic, environmental, and foreign relations understanding.

I do not exaggerate when I say tonight’s speech brought tears to my eyes. I now look at this candidate, and the change America needs, as an immediate necessity. He did not bring new political ideas to the stage but he presented the ideas held by so many progressive Americans to the world, and they listened.

I will await the conservative backlash of tonight’s events but, without a doubt, this is the beginning of a new America, a new president, a new dream.

Obama hits homerun with overseas trip…

For all those questioning Barack Obama’s foreign policy creditability, and daring him to plan an overseas trip, you finally have it. Stunningly, and to the excitement of the Obama campaign, the new democratic Iraqi government is urging for the swift removal of US coalition troops (by the end of 2010,) basically summarizing Obama’s own war strategy.

It must be nice to have your first display of foreign policy be an agreement with the Prime Minister of a newly formed republic (instituted by the Bush White house). Both George W. and John McCain have stated publicly they would end our presence if the Iraqi government wished it, and now they have. Unfortunately, neither of them will agree now to a swift exodus.

McCain answered by explaining there will always be tension on the “Iraq/ Pakistan border.” Never mind the fact that Pakistan borders Afghanistan, not Iraq. So much for McCain’s undisputed foreign policy prowess… I guess he’ll just continue to fight by endorsing his new attack ad, blaming Obama for the high gas prices.

John McCain’s Worst Week Ever…

I agree with guest host Rachel Maddow when she says the mistakes, flip/flops, avoidances, and mishaps occurring in the John McCain campaign this week have not been given enough coverage and would have been handled differently if it were anyone other than our beloved “Maverick,” senator McCain.

Granted, it is a slow news week and I seem only to have watched the “progressive” cable news networks, but the events this week: McCain’s economic adviser calls Americans “whiners” for their reaction to a “mental recession”; He doesn’t recall ANY of the votes he makes in the Senate when asked about them; and he confuses the Pittsburgh  Steelers for the Green Bay Packers, need to be covered!

This video is a clip from Countdown with Keith Olbermann 07/11/2008 and sums up the disastrous week…