Notes From All Over: Political Edition

after obama won the democratic primary fight i purchased an obama magnet to put on my car. it has been displayed there ever since... but i've always joked with my friends that i bought the magnet because if obama ever disappointed me...i could take it off and put it back on once the feeling had passed.

the obama magnet is in the trunk.

the purpose driven inauguration
so obama has asked evangelical, bigot rick warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. well, fuck you too.

warren runs one of those evangelical monstrosities out in california...the bareback or saddleback church... something like that.

he was also one of the leading voices in support of prop8 out in california and has used strong, divisive language when discussing homosexuality. he called his defense of "traditional marriage" "a moral issue that god has spoken clearly about."

andrew sullivan, the openly gay obamacan, said "if anyone is under any illusion that obama is interested in advancing gay equality, they should probably sober up now."

obama himself has tried desperately to defend his choice:

obama mentioned that warren asked him to speak at saddleback church two years ago eventhough obama has beliefs "that were entirely contrary to his." right...two years ago before you were even the democratic nominee. not at an inauguration that will be watched around the world. not at the precise moment when you're supposed to move this country forward and start the "change" you've been preaching.

no...warren seems like a spectre of the bush years kicking off your big day.

obama also said, "we're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere when we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as americans."

yes...we fags can be so disagreeable.

what pisses me off is that this is the issue obama seems okay to set aside for his inauguration. this is the issue that clearly does not concern him enough to make an effort to not ask a leading homophobe to provide the invocation.

i am fearful that obama simply does not give a flying fuck about equal rights for homosexuals in this country.

will he even carry through with his promise to repeal "don't ask, don't tell?"

his transition team met with leaders from the GLBT community yet there has not been a single, openly gay individual posted to his cabinet.... despite my earlier post which lead us to some optimism in this regard.

obama's invitation to rick warren to play such a pivotal role in his inauguration (and don't even get me started on why there's an invocation and benediction at the inauguration of the president of the united states when there's supposed to be a separation of church and state) just shows obama's lack of empathy or support or whatever you want to call it....solidarity? with the gay and lesbian community.

a large number of us supported hillary in the primary and then happily (or begrudgingly) backed him in the general... but this large voting block that helped usher him into the white house is the first group to get a giant "fuck you" from the president-elect.

call it political savvy or maneuvering or whatever... i'm afraid he just doesn't care.

the clintons, the bushes and the saudis
so records from president bill clinton's foundation and library have been released. turns out he's received millions from the saudis. what a shock.

but what amazes me even more is that the republicans.... even the media... seem to want to make a big deal out of this.

"can hillary stand up the saudis as secretary of state when her husband received so much money from them?"

if these questions are to be raised by the media and the republicans...we must yell "foul!"

were these questions ever asked of president bush with all the connections his father has with the saudis? no.

ex-presidents who continue to play an active role on the international stage will have ties with other countries. bush41 and clinton have them...

if anything...i'd say poppy bush being in bed with king abdullah played an enormous role in bush43's blind acceptance of the atrocities carried out every day in saudi arabia.

but hillary has never been under the thumb of bill...and i see no reason why any donations (charitable or otherwise) to her husband would make any difference in her negotiations with any country.

hillary is one tough broad. that's why i love her...

she will be a great secretary of state. (she would've been an even better president. but there's still time for that....)

farewell, deep throat
w. mark felt...a.k.a. deep throat, has passed. the man who leaked information regarding president tricky dick and watergate was 95. felt admitted he was the linda lovelace of the political world in 2005.

caroline, or change
so the last-living spawn of john f. kennedy wants to be senator from the empire state.

well, la-de-da.

i have mixed feelings on this. initially i loved the idea of caroline kennedy serving in the senate. but then i started thinking more about it.

sure...she's an intelligent woman. a constitutional scholar and lawyer. an advocate for education and schools.

but where has her voice been over the past eight years? where was she during the dark days of the democratic party?

my friend sally sent me a great article from the huffington post that said caroline was silent during all this time but now that everything is coming up roses...she wants to be an active member of the democratic party.

and not just any member... a senator from one of the most powerful states in the country. a senator from new york is no small thing.

but i have a bigger concern. this is hillary clinton's seat. hillary.

who did caroline support in the primary? obama....

in fact, several pundits may say that caroline and teddy kennedy's support of obama was a major turning point in the primary campaign.

so should hillary's seat go to someone who isn't even a supporter?

sure....now caroline is saying she's an obama/clinton/kennedy democrat... but are we really sure about that middle one?

of course, nobody's opinion really matters but that of governor paterson. he has the sole discretion to pick hillary's successor. and i heard some reporting last night that it's a done deal: the seat belongs to caroline if she wants it.

i can't say having another liberal kennedy in the senate is a bad thing...especially with teddy's future in question.

all i'm saying is...i have questions about caroline. and if she wants to be the senator from the tough as nails state of new york.... she better buck up, stop running from the press.... and flash us her balls (and i say that in a metaphorical, funny "ha-ha" way and not a sexist, anti-feminist "you need balls to be successful" way).

in conclusion
only 32 more days until that fucker is out of office.

that, at least, makes me happy this morning.

e.

Keep It Gay, Keep It Gay, Keep It Gay...

i seem to be obsessed lately.... but since i seem to be on the subject of gayness, here's an exclusive from mike allen of politico:

Gay and lesbian activists, who had been getting a bit restless about the Obama transition’s centrism, were welcomed into transition headquarters yesterday for a big meeting with John Podesta, who’s leading the transition, and Jim Messina, personnel director of the transition and a deputy chief of staff in the new White House. Participants said afterward that the session, which drew about 60 attendees and a cadre of senior Obama advisers, was very positive and productive. A prominent lesbian activist will chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality. And at the meeting, Obama officials said they’re giving serious consideration to two favorites of the community – John Berry for Interior and Mary Beth Maxwell for Labor.

and that's just plain secretary of the interior... not secretary of the interior design, my lovelies. and if anyone knows about labor, it's those hardworking lesbians. sister epiphenita of the power tools and st. barbara are DIYing their garage apartment repairs...

so butch.....

e.

Thoughts on Super Tuesday & The Media

all the polling places have opened.... over twenty states from sea to murky sea.

west virginia GOP caucuses have already chosen mike huckabee the winner today. mitt romney has already released a statement blaming the loss in WV to mccain's nixonian tricks. (by the way - how delicious is it that republicans are accusing other republicans of dirty republican tricks?)

the north dakota democratic caucuses have also closed their doors and we may have a winner soon....

and my mind is debating frantically with my heart on how i think this day will turn out.....

mccain will become the prohibitive nominee on the GOP side... few debate that.

the democrats appear to be in for a longer haul.... unless the country pulls a new hampshire and all the polls turn out wrong.

obama clearly has the momentum... some will argue there was not enough time for the momentum to build a victory.

millions of early ballots have already been cast in the delegate rich state of california.... obama is ahead there in some polls now... but not then.

so i dare not even make a prediction today except to say i'm in for a long night and probably wish i had taken tomorrow off.

but instead - i want to focus on an issue i've wished to focus on for some time... and an issue i think will help shape the outcome of tonight's results.

the media
i feel more and more like a republican these days as my distrust and dislike of the media become overwhelming.

i blame the media for much..... i think they were so excited to crown hillary the "inevitable" nominee that it pissed people off and cost her a lot of support.

i think bill did not play the race card initially - but the media played up the race card and caused a lot of infighting within the democratic party. oh, but allow me to be clear: on the morning of the SC primary - bill played the race card. bringing up jesse jackson - that was race. but before that point...i felt it was mostly a media hysteria.

and i don't want to completely let bill off the hook...if hillary loses the nomination, i think scholars will look back at bill in south carolina and point to his behavior as the turning point. the media did nothing but focus on bill and the coverage shifted away from hillary. for two week i heard nothing of hillary... only bill and his anger and his "race card."

everyone was also thrilled to call her feminist credidentials into question and claimed she had to let her husband fight for her... it was all such bullshit.

and let's be honest: the media appears to be quite infatuated with barack obama... and how could they not be? he's a fresh face... an exciting face.... he gives them something new to write about.

i also think the media...and NBC in particular...suffers from a great deal of guilt over never having a viable black character on friends.

so obama is the media darling...

even after thursday night's debate in los angeles...i thought hillary clearly won that debate... she clocked obama with her knowledge of issues and made a particularly strong case for her nomination when discussing universal health care.

but what did the media focus on for the next several days? her answers on the iraq debate and how that was obama's strongest moment and he won the debate.

has the media forgotten all of their much-beloved and ballyhooed exit polls? iraq rates low on voters' minds.... the economy. health care. immigration. these are top issues out there.... issues hillary clearly won on during the debate.

but the media decided to focus squarely on those 10 minutes or so when hillary had to explain her vote.

i hate that she voted to authorize the war.... but i still think she's the best person to lead us into the future.

looking ahead to the morning after
tomorrow the spin will be handled not by the campaigns of hillary or barack... but by the media. if the states are evenly split and clinton and obama divide most of the delegates - as is expected (as are the campaigns playing it today)... then the media will take over.

did barack win states hillary was expected to win? did he show better in california? or new jersey? or connecticut?

did hillary win more states than expected? did victories come at closer margins?

the delegate count will be forgotten by the media and they will crown their victor (my bet: obama). little else will matter.....

i hold out hope that my girl will win tonight... she is a brilliant political mind with a vast pool of knowledge. she is our best bet for universal health care... perhaps our only. and i believe she has the compassion and the desire to tackle issues that are closest to my heart... the rights of the GLBT community at the top of the list.

on that subject
i have to make a quick digression... and this is an odd "thank you" to ted kennedy, even though he has endorsed obama.

we've all heard obama's stump speech... his national campaign ad airing on cnn and msnbc. he speaks a lot about this race not being about "black or white, male or female, rich or poor." he makes the point to include many groups in this moving moment.

but it wasn't until kennedy's endorsement...when ted himself said ending the differences between "straight and gay" that obama ever included that phrase.

yes, after kennedy endorsed obama....he said "straight and gay" in that speech.... a speech that did not originally include that phrase according to transcripts provided to the press before the event.

so i want to thank ted kennedy for remembering us... for making a candidate remember us.

i watched hillary's "town hall" on hallmark last night (and online) and i was thrilled that the second question of the night was about GLBT issues...

the democrats are supposed to be a party that cares about us... so please, don't forget us.

back on track
get some good wine ready, my friends and tuck yourself in for a long night.... i expect some good surprises... i expect some heartbreaking moments...

but all in all...the media and i agree on at least one point...this is a campaign for the history books. more exciting than anything we've seen in some time.

i'll see you on the flip side.

hillary 08.

e.