The Closing Arguments

"In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo," …"In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That's what's at stake." – Senator Barack Obama
2008 is an election that will change all of our lives. All across this nation, we have a choice to make, we have to choose hope over fear, we have to choose unity over divisions, we need to bring the change this country desperately needs. It is up to us to choose the course of our history, and we do not get second chances to make it right. I used to hold Senator McCain in a high regard, and would have voted for him in 2000 when he ran for President, had that John McCain showed up this time, then I might still be one of his supporters. But John McCain has sold out, he has sold out his principles, he has sold out to the religious right, he has sold out to the neo-cons, and he has turned this from an election about real issues facing real people and tried to take it to the lowest common denominator playing off people’s fears and prejudices, and it is time that Senator McCain take his final curtain call because his 15 minutes are up. But who we vote for as our next President we need to look at ballot propositions. In five states there are proposed amendments/propositions that would deny rights to gays and lesbians and ban gay marriage, California (VOTE NO ON 8), Florida (VOTE NO ON 2), Arizona (VOTE NO ON 102), Connecticut (VOTE NO ON 1), and Arkansas (VOTE NO ON 1). This is an election that will have consequences, consequences on our economy, our nation defense, our foreign policy, and our basic fundamental rights to equality. As I said we don’t get second chances, we don’t get do over’s, this is the defining moment of a generation to stand up to the fears and prejudices of the past, this is our chance to overcome division and take a stand for equality. This is our chance to have our shining moment in the sun. We are at the crossroads of American History, and our destiny is of our own choosing, so make the choice, make the choice that will ensure a better tomorrow for all of us.
CALIFORNIA: Vote No on 8
FLORIDA: Vote No on 2
ARIZONA: Vote No on 102
CONNECTICUT: Vote No on Question 1
ARKANSAS: Vote No on Act 1

The Free World

First, the set up.

Driving to work today my car radio locked itself on the AM band (don’t get me started, I am getting a new one next month). And I got to listen to this blow hole talk about how great America is, how we are the leaders of the free world and how we have so many rights and freedoms in this country, that if people don’t like it they can just leave. The blowhole in his next segment went on to talk about the dangers of a black President, said that their fried chicken and watermelon would ruin the White House and that they would never get the smell out, this blow hole also talked of the dangers of allowing the homosexual agenda to be pushed upon us, we are endangering our marriages and our children if we believe that the homosexual agenda is harmless, yet we are the leader of the free world.

Now, for my soapbox

Citizenship in America is not easy, to quote a movie, America is advanced citizenship and you have to want it. When is America going to get it, free speech is about more than being able to stand up and say whatever you desire, free speech is the ability to acknowledge someone is standing in the middle of room advocating at the top of their lungs what you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours, that is the freedom of speech. Freedom is taken for granted in this country; freedom is taken to mean freedom for those who agree with you, a moral standard, and a belief system shoved down everyone’s throats, while we pretend to have a freedom of religion. What happened to the ability to change the channel if you find something offense, why do we need it regulated, censored, or banned, pick up the remote and change the damn channel, it isn’t that hard. Moreover, what exactly is it about that homosexual agenda that scares the hell out of you, why you are so insecure in your beliefs, and in your marriage that you think the two boys in a loving relationship down the block will ruin it for you is beyond me, and if you can figure that out, well then you are a smarter person than I am. Let ask our allies such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, or the Czech Republic, Hungary, Uruguay, Slovenia, Spain, and Norway how they feel about same sex unions, those countries all have some form of legalized same sex union, and none of them have been stricken from the face of the earth, married couples did not cease to love each other or be married because two people of the same sex are also in a committed union together. America professing to be the leader of the free world is a crock of shit. Before we can profess ourselves to be the leaders of the free world we need to establish what freedom is, not a one sided “I am free to inflict my views upon you”, but an open debate, an open world where two people can stand openly in a room and profess their beliefs openly, and have the person standing next to them respect their right to be able to do it, that is freedom. Let us see that taught in classrooms, defend that, then we can stand up and sing about being the land of the free. The problem with so many people in our society, especially our leader is not that they do not get it, but that they can’t sell it. We have many issues facing our society, a failing economy, a falling foreign policy, a failed war, and what we need are serious people who get it to take charge and work together to solve the problems facing our nation. Most politicians are not the least bit interested in what our problems really are, they are interested in making you afraid of it, and telling you who is to blame for it, that is how elections are won. Senator Obama was right when he talked about apathetic voters who cling to their guns and bibles because that’s all they feel they have. Republicans have gotten really good at that game, you don’t need to debate issues, you just need to talk about family, values, character, and scare people that the other side is coming to take that away next. We have real problems facing this country and it is time for serious people to step up and help pull this country back up, and for blow holes like the moron on the morning radio, it’s past time that your fifteen minutes are up.

Thank you and good night.

We the People, In order to form a more perfect union

As any person such as myself who is interested in politics, this time of year is fun for us with presidential politics in the air, this year I have been playing attention to all of the candidates and have especially how they handle questions of gay marriage/unions and gay rights and their various positions on those issues. Now I am not going to get into a detailed post about gay rights or gay marriage, I have done that already and there is no need to regurgitate old news. What I am going to take a swing at is the accusation that this whole gay marriage thing is nothing more than activist judges attempting to legislate from the bench. Now I, as a student of government, believe in the separation of branches of government and the autonomy of each to perform its necessary duties. But my question is what do you do when a branch of government fails to do its duty, or allows outside special interests to unduly influence their deliberations, what do you do then, is it then the responsibility of one of the other branches to step in where the others fail to perform? In my opinions legislatures and executives have failed to take one the issue of gay rights, and it doesn’t matter what party either, the only difference is on party tells us to our faces they won’t help us, the other promises us everything but sells us out behind closed doors. There are plenty of states in this county who have sufficient majorities in their legislatures and Governors offices to pass gay rights legislation and at the very least civil unions, so the question is why. It all comes down to winning elections, no matter what party, it just like it was in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s anyone who actively supported equal rights for blacks was all but committing political suicide. Just watch the democratic candidates closely while they will respond to questions about gay marriage watch their careful non-committal response. The truth is, as long as we continue to let the neo-conservative right and the evangelical right dictate national policy then nothing will change. I wonder how many of their followers would be so faithful if their sins where to be posted on the front page of the times or tribune. So back to the Judges, if a legislature fails to act, then damn right a judge, or anyone else with the ability and power to do the right thing have the stones to stand up and do the right thing. Perhaps if legislators both state and national would grow a pair of balls and quit selling them off to the highest bidder and pandering to every interest group who walks by, what kind of would we/could we live in. I’ve said it before a new civil war is brewing in this country, not between north and south, but a war of ideology, and unless more people start to call for true equality and understanding on both sides, we are headed for a very dark future indeed. Until then bravo to anyone in a position to make a change who has the stones to do it.