The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Wow. Just Wow. With the naked drama and paranoia over Obama's senior domestic policy aide Melody Barnes's simple statement about marriage equality, and the slow movement on LGBT issues by the WH and Congress, I guess we should be happy that these nuggets of wisdom keep coming out that justify the DNC donor boycott/"pause".
A Blender emailed me yesterday about a reception for Rhode Island U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D), and the lawmaker was asked about both the boycott and his viewpoint on the progress on civil equality. The senator's candid response tells the whole story about what "change" means from this Democrat's point of view.
I'm really glad I asked him about the gay bloggers and their boycott of the DNC. I told him you were all angry over a lack of progress on issues like Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a repeal of DOMA, etc.
I like Sheldon a lot, and I have much respect for him, but his response to my question was bullshit. His whole spiel was "Oh politics is messy and complicated, blah blah blah....." And then he said Congress has to get health care done, then fix the economy, do climate change, etc. Great, and the civil rights of 30 million people are being denied. I guess gays and lesbians don't matter. I wish someone had said that to him.
Then I mentioned that the gay bloggers believe the Democratic party takes the GLBT community for granted and keeps delaying votes on our rights. I really pressed Sheldon on that. He said we should all feel fortunate that we have Obama in the White House and a Congress which supports him. He said the Republicans were obstructionists, and added amendments to bills, etc.
I felt very disillusioned listening to that. He didn't seem to have a real explanation why the Democrats haven't moved faster on gay rights. Politics is unwieldy? Do you and Joe Sudbay and the others buy that argument? Should we?
Whitehouse's view probably represents that of many of his Hill colleagues. I have to say that the senator's response is exactly why a boycott donations to the DNC is under way (along with the DSCC and DCCC, IMHO). There is no excuse for the lack of movement on so many minor (low-hanging fruit listed by our advocacy orgs), let alone, major LGBT issues by this admin and by Congress.
That a sitting senator hasn't any problem giving the "you should be grateful" statement is BS -- implicit is that LGBTs need to keep opening our wallets over and over and be happy about any progress is ludicrous. The President made promises, we're holding him and the party to dealing with them. The problem is there's always going to be an excuse that also revolves around timelines for midterms, re-elections, etc., so the best time to deal with the "hard" issues is now. These leaders can multitask. They choose not to.
So what are your thoughts? Anyone else attend their Congresscritters events and heard BS like this?
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN), and other House Republicans will hold an online town hall meeting on Thursday, November 5, 2009. This online health care forum named "Pelosi Plan Exposed" will run for 12 hours and expose the 12 truths of Nancy Pelosi's health care bill. House Republicans will also promote and discuss the GOP health care legislation introduced in the House this week.
During this unique and interactive online broadcast, Americans will be able to ask questions and interact with Members of Congress through Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail starting Thursday at 1:00 PM EST, and ending Friday at 1:00 AM EST.
The punchline will be the laughable GOP health care reform plan that ensures that health care insurance companies can continue to deny coverage to people.
The alleged complications in this case underscore the danger of: 1) the closet, 2) that DADT reinforces the closet and foments fear of being shoved out of it to a deadly level, and 3) the military engages in secrecy because of the homophobia that instituted Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the first place.. (Dallas Voice):
The aunt of August Provost, a bisexual Navy seaman from Houston found murdered at Camp Pendleton last month, told Dallas Voice this week that the family has received information suggesting that her nephew’s killer is a gay sailor who somehow feared being outed by Provost.
Rose Roy, of Beaumont, the sister of Provost’s father, said in a phone interview Tuesday, July 14 that she’s “not at liberty” to identify the source who provided the information to the family. But Roy said the source told the family Provost had a heated argument with the suspect a week before his murder, and that the sailor now being held as a person of interest by the Navy has a history of mental illness.
“This guy went the extra mile to make sure that my nephew would never be able to speak about his [the killer’s] sexuality,” Roy said. “My nephew died for reasons other than what the military is saying.”
If this is the case, then it's not a hate crime, as the military asserts, but the inquiries by a member of Congress for clarity on the matter are going unanswered.
“What I know about the murder is what the Navy so far has told us, which is not very much,” [U.S. Rep. Bob] Filner told Dallas Voice. “I think they ought to be far more open and far more in detail. They keep saying they know it’s not a hate crime, but they don’t give me enough information for me to agree with that or not. If they don’t do it right, we will have an independent congressional inquiry. There are several of us in Congress who are calling for that, and we’ll figure out a way to do it if we need to.”
The reason for the lack of information being released by the Navy and the Marine Corps about whether sailor August Provost's murder was a hate crime related to his sexual orientation is because, according to a U.S. Congressman from California, it would raise questions about consequences of DADT and the inability for any gay or lesbian to report harassment without outing themselves. Here is the Navy Times take on the status of the case.
A sailor remained the top suspect in the June 30 murder of a fellow sailor with Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
...Navy officials said they don’t believe the shooting was gang- or terror-related. They also continued to dispute rumors that Provost was killed because he was gay, despite contentions raised by several relatives and gay advocacy groups who claim the sailor had been harassed at the unit because he was open about his homosexuality.
While Navy officials have denied that the shooting was a hate crime, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., has asked Navy and Marine Corps officials for additional investigations into Provost’s death. Provost “made the selfless and courageous decision to serve his country, regardless of his sexual orientation; he should be treated with honor and respect,” Filner wrote in letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway; Col. Nicholas F. Marano, who is Camp Pendleton’s base commander; and Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
Filner said he was frustrated with a lack of information from the Navy and the Marine Corps, particularly over the suspicion that Provost’s sexuality might be connected to his death, which would raise questions about consequences of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“They don’t want that discussion to take place,” he said.
There is zero incentive for the Pentagon to admit this was a sexual orientation-related hate crime. I do hope that all of the relevant information comes out, because clearly there is no national security risk if the facts come out. The real risk out there is the one the Pentagon put the country in by discharging qualified gay and lesbian personnel.
Seaman August Provost, 29, is dead. His body was found on June 30 at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego, CA. At this time the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is calling it an apparent homicide and are looking for a "person of interest" in custody. There is evidence that this could be a hate crime.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista) said today he had asked the U.S. Department of Defense and the Marine Corps to investigate whether the killing of a sailor, who was gay, at Camp Pendleton was a hate crime...Gay leaders in San Diego had asked Filner to intervene. Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, said Provost's family said the sailor had been harassed by other personnel on the base.
Filner said initial indications are that Provost was shot and his body burned. He said his committee also will investigate the case.
Provost's partner found out about the death from a newspaper reporter, Murray-Ramirez said.
Provost enlisted in the Navy in March 2008, and was a boatswain mate seaman who worked on hovercrafts. Provost's Facebook page confirms he is 29-years-old and interested in "men and women." On his MySpace page, Provost referenced dating men and identified another Houston man as "the love of my life."
...The homicide of August Provost III came on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed the Pentagon hoped to make "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" investigations-and attitudes toward gay and lesbian servicemembers-more "humane."
Well, now this young man is dead. So much for humane policy. HRC, which has just launched a DADT repeal tour, put out this statement:
"Our thoughts are with the Prevost family at this time as authorities work to learn what happened in the early morning hours this past Tuesday," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "The Human Rights Campaign has confirmed Congresswoman Susan Davis has been in touch with officials at the base and is tracking the investigation. We know that every day members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are targeted for simply being who they are. Furthermore, our gay or lesbian soldiers struggle with the extra burden of not serving openly and honestly based on the discriminatory policy of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' As we monitor the investigation, our community must continue to raise awareness on a law that we know hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers at risk."
In the SD Union-Tribune, the real crux of the story is revealed:
Provost's partner, Kaether Cordero, said Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part.
"People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew," Cordero said from Houston. "He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them."
Provost had recently complained to family members about a person who was harassing him, so they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia Provost of Houston.
If Provost was gay, then clearly if he went to complain to his supervisor, he would have to "Tell" about his sexual orientation. How on earth are service members placed in this position supposed to ask for help? I hope someone asks Robert Gibbs about this at the next presser -- or the President or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. How should a harassment dilemma of this kind should be addressed if one is to be truthful? If Provost's death turns out to be a hate crime, the blood will be on their hands for the inaction -- leaving gays and lesbians in uniform in harm's way for the sake of affirming homophobia in the ranks.
Wow; I can't wait for The Peter's take on that Roll Call headline. Anyway, this article is about yesterday's meeting with Speaker Pelosi, her team and Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jared Polis (D-CO) to discuss what legislation to move forward. Apparently everyone was keeping tight-lipped about the details.
According to sources, the Members discussed workplace discrimination, health care benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees and a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars gays from openly serving in the military. The lawmakers also discussed how to help the Senate pass hate crimes legislation that has already cleared the House.
I'm not sure what to make about this quote from Frank about ENDA:
Asked what has shifted in the last year, Frank said Democrats picked up 21 more House seats and held a first-of-its-kind educational hearing on transgender issues last summer.
In addition, "the transgender community stopped yelling at me and [Pelosi] ... and started lobbying sensibly," Frank said.
Oy. Can he ever sound like he's not picking a fight?
RED ALERT: And for those of you who don't think shutting the gAyTM makes a difference...they have been taking us for granted, and don't let them tell you otherwise:
Democrats also see the power of the gay community's purse.
On Thursday, the Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council is hosting a fundraising event with Vice President Joseph Biden. Frank, Baldwin and Polis are among those headlining the 10th annual event; the cost to attend ranges from $1,000 to $30,400 per person.
Democratic consultant Mark Nevins said the gay community is a "compelling voting bloc" for Democrats, particularly because of their strong organization and financial backing.
"They are organized. They work hard. They vote and they have money," Nevins said. "They are a powerful financial institution."
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the religious motivation for the law is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Congress over-reached its authority under the law and discriminates and violates the Equal Protection Clause. The law violates the fundamental right to marriage (including same-sex marriage) under the due process clause and it should be repealed immediately to help reconstruct the economy.. Supporters of DOMA argue that the act is a legitimate exercise of Congressional power under the Full Faith and Credit Clause and the act does not violate either the Equal Protection Clause or the due process clause of the United States Constitution.
On June 21st, 2004 an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office called “The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages“, was sent to Honorable Steve Chabot, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives at his request. The analysis stated that recognizing same-sex marriages by the Federal government would affect federal revenues through both the individual income tax and the estate tax. Revenues would be higher: by $400 million a year from 2005 through 2020 and by $500 million to $700 million annually from 2011 through 2014. A billion dollars earned from Federal tax revenue is what would be added to the U.S. Treasury every three years if same sex-couples were allowed to file Federal Income tax forms.
The stock market keeps on crashing as I predicted with my words of warning written in the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 31, 2007. No one listened. Not lawmakers, not President Bush, not Vice President Cheney. Exactly a year later after my warning, Christian evangelicals gathered around the Merrill/Lynch bronze bull sculpture, the standing one with shiny low hangers to pray for a bull market.. The organizer of the prayer group stated to Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, “This is so severe in the economic area because we are facing judgment from the actions, not only for our stance towards Israel, but our blatant sin against Him in passing laws such as the one allowing homosexual marriages.”
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its roundup of the 2008 Most Embarrassing Re-Elected Members of Congress. My friends in the Golden State, you have sent a disproportionate number of these losers back to the Hill, lol.
Members are not ranked, but rather listed in alphabetical order. The top 10 list includes:
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
The full report is here (PDF). Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, had this to say:
From Rep. Bachmann's smearing of president-elect Barack Obama to Rep. Buchanan's serious FEC violations -- these members of Congress stand out for their inability to conduct themselves in a manner that respects the office they hold. By highlighting those officials who have been an embarrassment to their constituents, the institution of Congress and in some cases, the United States of America, we fervently hope that they do more to better represent those who voted them into higher office.
(It is time to get mad, folks. This has all gone way out of wack. - promoted by Julien Sharp)
"You've been able to pocket close to half a billion dollars and my question to you is that fair for a CEO of a company that's now bankrupt? It's just unimaginable to so many people," Waxman asked Fuld.
Source: AFP Aw, but it wasn't really that much. It was a much more imaginable number:
An open letter, sent to Senators Richard Durbin and Barack Obama, and Representative Jerry Weller and crossposted on Facebook, Pam's House Blend, and Trans-cendental
Dear Senators Richard Durbin and Barack Obama, and Representative Jerry Weller.
I am a registered voter in the 11th congressional district of Illinois.
As a citizen of the United States of America, I am appalled at the idea that the congress would even consider ceding its authority to the executive without congressional and judicial review, as stated in section 8 of the proposal from the Bush administration:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
"The senator embraces 'earmarks' as a way to help N.Y. She's received campaign funds from project beneficiaries."
If you like our congresspeople frequently bypassing the normal, annual budget process to insert narrowly drafted spending provisions directly into legislation (without public review), and then receive sizable campaign contributions from the beneficiaries of the 'earmarked' legislation -- well, then you should love this story about Sen. Clinton from the Los Angeles Times.
...One thing is clear, however: Destiny is a classic example of how New York's junior senator has embraced old-fashioned pork-barrel politics, first to build power in the state, then to extend it nationwide as she becomes a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
And to fuel her rise, Clinton has relied on the controversial funding device known as "earmarking." The earmarks enabled her to win favor with important constituents, many of whom provided financial support for her campaigns.
Since taking office in 2001...
Clinton has delivered $500 million worth of earmarks that have specifically benefited 59 corporations. About 64% of those corporations provided funds to her campaigns through donations made by employees, executives, board members or lobbyists, a review by the Los Angeles Times shows.
All told, Clinton has earmarked more than $2.3 billion in federal appropriations for projects in her state since her election to the Senate...
So, how many of you out there have a member of Congress on this list from Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington:
CREW's List of the 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress:
Members of the Senate: Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Members of House: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA) Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA) Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA) Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) Rep. David Scott (D-GA) Rep. Don Young (R-AK) Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL) Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM)
...Also worth noting is that the entire Alaska delegation is now on the list. Senator Stevens and Rep. Young are both under federal investigation, and an ethics complaint was filed against Sen. Murkowski by the National Legal and Policy Center.
Sadly, despite an election in which Democrats ran on a platform of eradicating the “culture of corruption” and the fact that voters overwhelmingly turned against members with ethics problems, very little appears to have changed. Members of both parties have boasted of Congress’ progress on this front, yet only tepid ethics reforms were passed and no new enforcement mechanisms were added. The bi-partisan House ethics task force, originally charged with reporting back by May 1, 2007, has yet to issue any recommendations, and the ethics committees in both Houses remain loathe to consider the unethical conduct of their colleagues unless, of course, gay sex is involved as we learned watching the Senate Republicans’ radically disparate treatment of the crimes committed by Sen. Craig and Sen. Vitter.
Speaking of Diaper Dave, you have to surf over to the General for his latest letter to Mitch McConnell in light of sex worker Wendy Cortez's press conference about her business relationship with Vitter. A snippet:
Cortez also said that his "little senator" was actually a "very tiny senator." I think we both know what it feels like to hear that. I can't count the times a woman, brainwashed by the tales humongous members in femislamunistofascist organs like Cosmopolitan, pointed at my normal sized Private Johnson and broke into unstoppable laughter. It can be very humiliating.
That brings us to David's law, a bill sponsored by Sen. Vitter, that would set standards for what is considered to be "big" and what is considered to be "normal" (the breaking point being 2.5 inches). I see the hearing as being a huge media event that'll destroy the "The Great Size Lie" once and for all.
Picture it. We get Cortez to testify that Sen. Vitter is very small. Then we have the senator whip it out, perhaps even displaying it resting in the palm of your hand to provide scale (I understand you are experienced in the proper display of another man's member). Can you think of a more dramatic visual than that? I certainly can't.
(This guest post on the Project comes to us from Governor Bill Richardson. He's pretty supportive of LGBT equality, and he's right there for ENDA, the law to ban employment discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity. Enjoy!)
I am thrilled that ENDA will finally get the committee mark-up we have all been waiting so long for. It's about time. It's been a long, thirteen year struggle. Together, let's make sure that we do not wait one year more. We should also make sure that the Senate finally passes a decent hate crimes law that protects LGBT Americans from heinous, hate-motivated crimes.
For me, these issues are about basic civil rights. LGBT Americans have been denied their civil rights for too long. And all Americans suffer because of it. I think that Dr. King put it best when he wrote that "Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere." Until the rights of every American are guaranteed, the rights of all Americans are demeaned.
The all-night debate over the failed Iraq policy is in full swing. See it live on C-SPAN.
Democratic Senators have called for an up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed Iraq redeployment bill, but one Bush rubber stamp GOP obstructionist senator after another has stood up to bleat objection to a vote on the legislation.
Think Progress is liveblogging it from the Capitol building.
After the flip, read Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (Nevada) letter to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, urging him to cease blocking up-or-down votes on bipartisan amendments to change course in Iraq.
Before opponents of continued American involvement in Iraq elevate their hopes too much over what appears to be new-found vigor in congressional Democrats baiting Republicans into a filibuster on a resolution for a troop withdrawal timetable, it might be worth the effort to read what Time magazine has to say about what's really going on behind the scenes in Washington.
The all-nighter is a public relations stunt by the Democrats stung by growing voter dissatisfaction with their inability—or, less charitably, unwillingness—to change the course of the nation in either its international affairs or its domestic trajectory. The Tuesday all-nighter is a golden, well-staged, carefully planned setup to force Republicans into a show so constituents can see that something is being done, and that something is being done by the hard-working opposition party as it tries just about anything to get past the virtually impenetrable obstacle of an obstinate President and his loyal allies.
Here's the reality: this spectacle, produced by Sen. Harry Reid and his merry band of followers, will materially change nothing whatsoever, either about the course of the American-Iraqi War or about how the Democrats in Congress and the Bush Administration are going to get their respective wishes granted, all while Iraq, itself, continues to disintegrate, taking a good chunk of the Middle East around it into the maelstrom of political instability, sectarian mini-wars, massive refugee movements, homegrown and imported violence, and finally—for the home team's consumption—a direct military confrontation between the United States and Iran that at least some powerful Democrats, as well as Republicans, already know is virtually inevitable.
Oh, yes, American soldiers will be continuing to die in our favorite, home-away-from-home, God-forsaken Mesopotamian Hell-hole while the political theater currently running in the Capitol Building plays itself out for the C-Span crowd and the Sunday talking heads circuit.
More solemnly than even that, American soldiers (and a whole lot more Iraqis) will still be dying next week, next month, and for the foreseeable future. The Democrats cannot stop this. All they can do is make sure the show they're putting on gets better, lest people start looking for the real exit from the theater instead of the phony prop the Democrats use for their grand and repeated entries to the stage of battle with a President who is more than their match.
Is the above an unduly, unfairly harsh assessment? Count the bodies of dead American soldiers between now and the end of the year; then ask, "How many fewer would there have been if the Democrats had begun impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Richard V. Cheney on Tuesday, July 17, 2007?"
Of course, one might argue that timing is everything in politics.
To the next dead American soldier, though, timing means nothing.
How low do the polls on Iraq have to go before Dems stop worrying about the GOP bleating about how Dems don't "support the troops"? CBS News' latest poll shows the public thinks the troops should come home and Bush's Big Adventure is a disaster.
The poll has bad news for President Bush, too. His job approval rating slipped to 27 percent, his lowest number ever in a CBS News poll -- 3 points less than last month and 1 point below his previous low of 28 percent in January...More than half say President Bush's foreign policy has made world leaders less likely to cooperate with the U.S.; just 10 percent say he's made foreign leaders more agreeable.
As I said, the Dem Congress, elected to effect change, hasn't had time or had an effective message (and frankly doesn't have enough "D"s) to sweep past GOP stonewalling, so the numbers for Congress have also taken a dive. They should have known that the impatient public would turn on them quickly if they didn't take action, regardless of how realistic it would be to do so.
But Congress also fared poorly in the poll. Its approval rating was also at 27 percent ? a 9-point drop from last month. Nearly six in 10 among those surveyed said the 110th Congress has accomplished less during the last six months than Congress usually does.
The bottom line -- and Bush knows this -- once he packs up and leaves in 2009, the Iraq mess is going to cling to the winner of the 2008 election. The debacle will take years to clean up, and any delay in swift efforts to both reduce the threat of terrorism and pull out the troops without adding to chaos (a tall order) will probably ensure a one-termer.
BTW -- this can't help either -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard plans to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq by February 2008. How many are left in the coalition of the willing?
An aside -- the mind blower is the approval rate on Darth Cheney -- 28% approval and 59%. To be able to find 28% hard core supporters of Cheney shows some serious low-information sheeple are out there.
(This is a hot topic, as the historic majority minority population -- blacks -- are now at parity with or surpassed by the number of Latino voters in some locales. This has made for a sad struggle over power that can turn ugly. It's pretty clear that when a Dem candidate cannot bother to sign on to any pro-gay legislation when their colleagues have, one has to look to a candidate that a voter feels better represents his/her overall interests, regardless of color. In this situation, it sounds like Assemblywoman Richardson simply needs to clear the air and publicly state her position on pending LGBT legislation, rather than whether she is personally homophobic. That will be telling. - promoted by pam)
The Los Angeles Timesreports that the filing deadline has passed for the 37th Congressional district special election to fill the seat of recently deceasedU.S. RepresentativeJuanita Millender-McDonald and a slew of people have made the cut. This race is to represent a district which has large pockets of African American, Latino and queer individuals.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese has written a guest post for bilerico.com to respond to Representatives Donnelly and Ellsworth. The Congressmen, both Indiana democrats, recently voted against the federal hate crimes law and were trying to explain their rationale on our site. Rep Ellsworth's staff responded in the comments. Rep Donnelly chose not to respond apparently.
I know some of you had reservations about allowing the Congressmen to post their reasonings on the blog. I honestly believe that the comments to the posts and Joe's guest entry completely set the record straight (pardon the pun). And I have to honor the Congressmen's willingness to engage the community when they knew we were unhappy with them...
A measure was introduced in the House yesterday to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Reverend Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values coalition opposed the bill, saying it was unnecessary: What are these people doing? There is no level of discrimination.
OpenCongress.org is a new site that may be of interest to Blenders and other political junkies. It brings together:
Official Congressional information from Thomas, made available by GovTrack.us: bills, votes, committee reports, and more.
News articles about bills and Members of Congress from Google News.
Blog posts about bills and Members of Congress from Google Blog Search and Technorati.
Campaign contribution information for every Member of Congress from the website of the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org.
Congress Gossip Blog: a blog written by the site editors of OpenCongress that highlights useful news and blog reporting from around the web. The blog also solicits tips, either anonymous or attributed, from political insiders, citizen journalists, and the public in order to build public knowledge about Congress.
One of the neatest features is the ability to subscribe to feeds to track bills, members of Congress, or issue areas. Here, for example, are the feeds to track congressional legislation regarding sexual orientation and same-sex marriage.
It's still in beta, but it looks like it has a lot of promise. (Via BoingBoing.)
A Blender emailed me yesterday about a reception for Rhode Island U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D), and the lawmaker was asked about both the boycott and his viewpoint on the progress on civil equality. The senator's candid response tells the whole story about what "change" means from this Democrat's point of view.
The alleged complications in this case underscore the danger of: 1) the closet, 2) that DADT reinforces the closet and foments fear of being shoved out of it to a deadly level, and 3) the military engages in secrecy because of the homophobia that instituted Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the first place.. (
While Navy officials have denied that the shooting was a hate crime, 
RED ALERT: And for those of you who don't think shutting the gAyTM makes a difference...they have been taking us for granted, and don't let them tell you otherwise:
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its roundup of the 
