Friday, November 7, 2008

Obama should retire the term "fiscal conservatism"...

...and replace it with Fiscal Reponsibility. The only plausible
association of the terms fiscal and conservative would be oxymoronic.
Simply put, conservatives are anything but fiscally conservative, so
progressives should own the idea of anything fiscal and can show
leadership by changing the message to that of fiscal responsibility
over the phony fiscal conservatism.

Random thought II

With Ford posting a 3Q loss of $129M, and GM bleeding out, I am
thinking one possible positive outcome of them completely going under
is the possibility of them giving up their patents on battery
technology. That would open the floodgates for developing electric
cars.

Random thought

I wonder how long it will be before that douche bag Steven Baldwin
will move to Canada.

Animal Farm Friday - Dog Bites Man

This would be funnier if it was Bush being bit.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Awesome Art

Norquist Plots GOP Resurrection, Goes After Bush's Churchill Complex


Grover is so small now, it should be easy to drown him in a bath tub.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Prop 8 may still fail

This was shared with me by a friend and co-worker:

something I came across:

It may turn out that changing the state constitution is not so easy. There are only two ways to amend the state constitution, and Prop 8 should have been done as a "revision", not an "amendment", as discussed on these pages:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hommarl6.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hommarl8.htm

A "revision" requires a 2/3 vote of the legislature, or a constitutional convention, to start a ballot initiative that will change the state constitution. It's not supposed to be so easy to make important changes, and Prop. 8 did not follow the proper process. Prop. 8 went with a signatures-only start, which is only appropriate for a minor change (ie. an "amendment").

The California Supreme Court granted wide-ranging legal protection to our class this year, in clear legal wording that goes well beyond the single right that Proposition 8 addresses. Among other things, they said:

"An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

The California Supreme Court will get a chance to rule on this "amendment" in due time, and it's likely they will consider the elimination of rights for a protected class to be a major change to the state constitution.

For example, Prop. 8 might have said that "Only marriage between a WHITE man and WHITE woman is allowed in the State of California." The court will treat Prop. 8 the same way that they would treat an amendment that took marriage rights from couples based on their race. Race = gender = sexual orientation... all are now classes of individuals protected from discrimination, according to the highest court in California. We have already won, our opponents just can't see it yet.

And keep in mind that Prop 8 had a much smaller margin of victory than Prop 22 did 8 years ago (it won by 66% back then), and a 10%+ change in public opinion in 8 years is really quite amazing and represents a fast-moving trend. Naturally we will not give up this fight, and if amending the state constitution is so simple, it's just a matter of time before our young folks (bless 'em), reverse this some day with a new inclusive, right-granting initiative.

The year 2008 will still stand out as a year of progress for us. Our enemies are hanging on to their last desperate threads of bigotry, but despite their efforts, many of us are married already, our community is energized once again, and they have only been able to prolong the inevitable by another couple of years, at best.


Steven M. Blum
Benefits Administrator
Morrison &
Foerster
555 Market Street
SF, CA 94105

Alex Thurston: A Note to Homosexual and Heterosexual Americans

I wish I wrote this, but Alex Thurston's words reflect my exact sentiments to the letter:

As a straight man, I would like to express to all gay and lesbian
citizens of this country my deep sorrow over the setbacks for your
civil rights in this election. And I would like to express to all
Americans that we cannot tolerate discrimination of any sort in the
United States.

With Floridians, Arizonans, and (it seems) Californians voting to
ban gay marriage, and the people of Arkansas voting to ban gay
adoption, we’ve received painful news not just for homosexual
Americans, but for all Americans. I would think that these setbacks are
particularly painful given that many homosexual activists, from
bloggers to campaign staffers to volunteers, gave their all for the
victory of President-Elect Obama. As many newspapers at home and abroad
speak of turning the page on discrimination, it’s clear that that’s not
the case. We still have a long way to go before all our citizens have
the rights they deserve, and even further to go before institutional
discrimination in the workplace, real estate sales, and other sectors
of public and private life is erased.

If it is any consolation, I believe that gay people are winning the
cultural war - and though that did not translate into success at the
ballot box yesterday, it will one day soon. In America, the struggle
for the enfranchisement of every adult citizen and the granting of full
civil rights to all citizens regardless of their race, sex, gender,
religion, or sexual orientation has tended to flow in one direction -
toward that of an open and democratic society - though not without
major tragedies along the way.

With the expression of gay identity becoming more acceptable in
films, songs, nightlife, and even high schools, I believe it is only a
matter of time before a sea change occurs. Young people, even young
evangelicals from what I’ve heard now several times, have a
fundamentally different attitude toward homosexuality than previous
generations. If this election marks the beginning of our political
come-up, then let a major part of that come-up be the quest to remove
this national shame from our collective identity and collective
conscience by striking down discriminatory laws, initiatives, and
politicians.

Because victory in the cultural struggle is clearly not enough. We
need victory at the ballot box as well, and the best way to achieve
that, in my opinion, is by stating now - as voters, as partisans, as
Americans - that discrimination and equivocation on the issue of gay
rights are unacceptable. We are past the point where we can tolerate
politicians who propose one set of rights for one set of citizens, and
a different set of rights for another group of citizens, and justify it
based on electoral caution. We must not equivocate on issues of basic
human rights, and we must not allow our leaders to do so either.

I repeat that this moment is one of deep sorrow, but I will also say
that for me, and doubtless for others, it comes as a wake-up call. I
had faith that California would reject discrimination. I was
under-informed about other ballot initiatives. Clearly there is work to
do, and it’s not just the priority of one group - it must be a priority
of all Americans, because where we stand on discrimination of any type
determines in large measure the legacy we pass on to our children and
to history.







Tuesday, November 4, 2008

first reax

Lots of thoughtful stuff to blather on about once more in control of my faculties, but a quick snapshot on my predictions and how they panned out are below. Just for giggles, I've shared these thoughts only with a few folks close to me, and didn't write about them for fear of jinxing any of them. That said, I do have backup proof of my predictions, so I feel happy revealing them now after the fact. Here are my proudest:

  • Obama with +350 electoral votes (votes still coming in, but it's close)
  • Indiana to Obama (most polls said McCain, I NEVER lost hope in IA, and he got it!!!)
  • Florida by a hair (by the grace of Orange county - including my mom, sister, and niece - WIN!)

Truthfully, apart from Obama's overall win, I expected Indiana to be a very long shot, but something in my gut told me it would happen. If I can ever tap into that, I might find a way to make myself rich. Until then, I'll just soak in the joy of being right about a few things regarding the second most important thing ever (the first most important thing being my wife, Clarice).

No blogging just voting

And volunteering.

You. Go vote. Then volunteer.

Monday, November 3, 2008

I am the dreaded swing voter.

A white, conservative, suburbanite banker talks about his experience canvassing for Obama:

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's
about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have
been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and
never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for
their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they
often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what
it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.