Prop 26 - Mississippi: On Tap For Tuesday

Tata posted this at Brilliant at Breakfast and I wanted to share. The letter was written by one of her Christian relatives.

All eyes on Mississippi this Tuesday...

Mississippi Proposition 26 – Think before you vote.

Proposals to provide single cells with the rights of citizens is dangerous on several levels. The ongoing desire of passionate groups to eliminate the reproductive rights of women is based upon the religious belief that a fertilized egg houses a human soul. That religious belief is based upon no evidence and a great deal of misguided faith. People who believe the special nature of humans is that we have a soul entering the body at some point in development and leaving the body at death also believe that causing that spirit to leave the body is considered manslaughter, if not murder. We have accepted the idea that once the brain becomes inactive (flat-lined) and the cells of the body continue to live, that the soul has left the body and that allowing the remaining cells to die is not considered manslaughter or murder. Those of us who have been to many funerals have heard clergy of all types describe death as the soul leaving the body behind and moving on to another journey.

The question that still creates much controversy is which event allows the soul to enter the body. Keep in mind that almost everyone understands that the brain is the part of the human body that houses the soul. Co-joined twins that have two heads have two distinct personalities and are treated as two people, regardless of how many body parts they share. A baby that is born with several duplicated body parts, but one head, is considered to be one person, not several. It’s all about the brain. If you are religious, you might accept the idea that God created a human brain to be able to house a soul. Identical twins develop from a single fertilized egg which is then separated after fertilization and those two cells then develop separately into two separate bodies. Does each twin have half a soul?

Trying to determine the beginning of a human life or any other life is nonsense. Life does not begin at fertilization or at birth, it began a long time ago and continues through a series of important events. One of the things we have in common with everyone on this planet is that all of our ancestors lived long enough to reproduce and pass those living human cells on to future generations. That long line of life involves a sequence of living human cells going through a series of beginnings and endings of significant events, not the beginning or end of life. The question of manslaughter or homicide is determined by whether or not the human cells or cluster of cells houses a human soul, and if one has caused that soul to leave the body. An atheist or agnostic might use the word independent intellect instead of soul, but the same points apply. If your religious belief is that a fertilized egg or a fetus in early stages of development houses an independent soul, that belief is protected in this country and our government cannot punish you for having that belief. The same should be true of my belief that the soul enters the body at birth, the first breath of the baby. Both events are important in the continuity of human life, fertilization to create a cell with the full genetic complement to develop a human body, and birth to bring the body and spirit together and a new, independent individual into the world. If a fertilized egg houses a soul, what happens to it as that first cell divides into a ball of cells and later into layers of types of cells and finally into specific body parts? Do all the cells house the soul, or does it move into the brain later? I contend that most of society will accept the idea that a baby taking its first breath is an independent individual with a soul (or underdeveloped but independent intellect). If your religious belief is that an independent soul is present in a fertilized egg, you have the right to that belief, but you do not have the right to impose that religious belief onto the rest of society. I believe that a pregnant woman is developing a human house, but that there is nobody home until birth, when that house becomes occupied by a soul.

Imposing religious beliefs of one group on all of society is something this country has fought since before its beginning as a nation. Shall we develop laws that prohibit driving or other activities on Saturday or Sunday because some people have religious beliefs that require them to refrain from those activities? Shall we force women to cover their heads and faces because some religious beliefs require that behavior? We respect the rights of individuals to worship as they please. We do not allow the beliefs of those individuals to undermine the rights of the rest of us. The greatest danger is to promote the idea that our country needs to allow religious fringe groups to control the rest of the country. Be very careful of how much control you want the government to have over your independent decisions and individual rights, even if in this particular case the proposition under consideration is consistent with your individual religious beliefs.

Politics 2011

I just don't think I can deal with it.

Between the various birthers and other nutbags on Facebook, I've about had it with the right wing rigidity.

Facts and logic no longer are of any consequence.

Nothing this dude says reflects presidential material.

But can someone explain this to me?

The south is gaining seats in the Electoral College as a result of the 2010 census, giving the region a little more clout in the presidential race.

The people moving into the south are coming from other areas of the country, obviously. Is it just conservatives who are migrating and no one else? So why doesn't this make the other areas more liberal as their conservative residents vacate for nirvana?

The Truth Shall Set You Free

People are starting to express themselves
albeit, minorities, but everyone is a minority depending on the position you hold.
The majority is going to have to deal with it, as well as the minority.

And then we have to grow. Buckle up!

A Test for Office Seekers

I have decided we need to have a test for anyone planning to run for public office. If you fail the test, you can't run.

I normally don't approve of this sort of thing, especially when applied to the right of citizens to vote. But when it comes to running for office, these are like job candidates who have to submit a resume and in many cases, take a test to determine competency.

If an aspiring candidate believes, for instance, that the world was made in 6 days, and is only 6,000 years old, and that evolution is bunk, then they need to be excluded from eligibility.

We need to get back to some basic intellectual standards in this country if we are to survive as a nation.

Plenty of voters are quite stupid and gullible. But their choices in a race should be limited to those who do not exploit the stupidity. Voters might actually have to start thinking for themselves again. Maybe the really dumb ones will bow out once the lowest common denominator of politician is barred from running for office.

Can you tell I'm tired of this shit?

SOTU

Dear Teacher,

The one thing I learned tonight is that I can pick any buttharp out of 6 notes and nail it with Jethro Tull.

Do I get bonus points for that?

Signed,

konagod (with love most sincere)

A Little Fringe "Benefit" to Republican Victories in November

Voters should have pondered this before having a knee-jerk reaction in November.

The Republican strategy is to eliminate anyone on the genuine left because it makes their case more compelling when they call someone a socialist who is slightly right-of-center.

Amurika 2012, here we come!

Those Damn Far Lefties

I still see this shit all the time about "far lefties" in Congress and that "far left" Obama.

Get this straight, you stupid fucks. The political spectrum isn't linear like a ruler. I'm pretty far left (and pretty conservative in many areas), and if you were to place me on a 12-inch ruler, I might even be right (or left?) on the convenience hole which allows you hang it from a nail in the wall, the one to the left of the one-inch mark.

I keep looking for these "far left" members of Congress, and seriously, I'm not seeing many, from my perspective. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was pretty cool until he got beat on Tuesday. Yeah, he was the guy involved in that campaign finance reform with that other "far left" guy: John McCain.

So, when these idiot people starting bitching about the "far left," I think they are actually bitching about the moderates. Lo and behold, we have something in common!

The political spectrum isn't linear like a ruler, thankfully, because life would be pretty boring and simplistic if it were. It's more 3-dimensional actually, which must be quite a challenge for these folks who like to keep it left vs. right. Or at the very least it's like a box, with a left and right as well as a top and a bottom. (I won't blow your mind right now with depth perception.)

So, heed my advice. If you want to be taken seriously in your critique of current politics, get a perspective of where you are on the linear "playing field." Because a politician on your 5 1/2" mark isn't far left. In fact, you have no idea how left left can be.

Just saying. And I'm right.

But Wait; There's More!

Yes, it says ZERO.

The Morning After

It was bad. But it easily could have been far worse. Nevertheless, the stage is now set for some interesting months ahead leading into the 2012 campaign. And the political map is starting to look more like 2000 than it did in 2008 with blue on the west coast and northeast, and red filling in the middle.

The worst of it:

Florida. One word: Rubio.

Kentucky. Two words: Rand Paul.

Pennsylvania. Three words: fucking Pat Toomey!

California: Gee, there must be so much available pot out there that the 18-24 group just doesn't see it as a big deal. Those who need it medically can easily get it legally, and those who use it recreationally are content to pay their fines if caught. Personally, I'd rather be a responsible legal consumer vs. a responsible illegal consumer, but that's just me I guess.

It's pretty clear that Prop. 19, in being defeated 55-45%, took a late hit from an infusion of Reefer Madness-inspired money, and a spineless calculating Democratic establishment that wasn't in the mood this year to make the case for it. Sad.

Iowa: Very disturbing that voters ousted three justices who participated in the same-sex marriage ruling last year, despite the sky not collapsing after same-sex marriage became legal, and life going on as usual for the past year.

Each of the three judges received about 45-46 percent support with 91 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press, marking the first time members of Iowa’s high court had been rejected by voters. Under the system used here, judges face no opponents and simply need to win more yes votes than no votes to win another eight-year term.

You'd think the voters could just move on, or that the judicial ruling would have faded from memory in favor of more pressing issue, but unfortunately there was some outside efforts to jog the voters' memories...

Though several groups formed to support their retention, they were significantly outspent by the organizations that bankrolled the ouster effort, including the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association.

Wisconsin. What the fuck? Seriously, that's like burning your house for the insurance money.

Arkansas. No real surprises here but it's aggravating to watch my home state officially officially seal the deal and join themselves at the hip with the other neighboring red states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi instead of maintaining the mid-western independence of Missouri. Blanche will be packing her bags and a hard right turn is ahead with Republican John Boozman.

Even the 2nd congressional district which includes Little Rock, a traditionally Democratic seat being vacated by a Democrat, is falling strongly into the GOP column this time around, to a fucking Karl Rove protege no less. The vote wasn't even close.

Arizona and South Dakota have rejected medical marijuana ballot measures.



Some positives:

Rhode Island. We now have our 4th openly gay member of Congress.

Alaska. Residents saw the face of evil and cast over 80,000 write-in votes to propel Lisa Murkowski above Tea Bagger Joe Miller. And I hesitated to put this under the column of positives since it's still not ideal, but could have been worse.


The remarkable:

Nevada, where Harry Reid managed to slither past Sharron Angle by a fairly comfortable margin. And that is rather extraordinary given that Nevada is, one could argue, ground zero in the economic collapse. Las Vegas in particular is reeling.

As usual, the New York Times has some really cool interactive maps you can check out and survey the damage.

The Senate

The House

The Governors

That, folks, is how America looks this morning.

Election Day Serenade

Today is election day 2010, a day when when we will have the wonderful feeling of having a direct influence on the direction we're going as a nation. At least for those of us who bothered to vote. And it is particularly exciting when the choice is between an asshole and an insensitive jerk. USA 2010 is about to take a turn.

First, we can probably write off the deep South. Nothing new there.

Rinse and repeat

So, what's going on today? Anything exciting happening?

The Calm Before the Storm

It's been a pretty quiet Monday. (Here at kona ranch, that is.) I've just been pondering how much might change between today and tomorrow. Elections have always been exciting events for me, and nothing much can match the adrenalin that flows through my veins as those polls close on election night and results start to trickle in.

This year is a little different in terms of the excitement. The excitement is not so much driven by optimism as it is by a sense of sharpened anxiety. The same anxiety one might feel while driving in freeway traffic during a horrendous snowstorm, or seeing news report of a 100+ car pileup caused by freaky fog conditions. Yeah, I think that's the one I'm looking for: freaky fog conditions pretty accurately describes the voting environment this year. And we'll know on Tuesday just how many vehicles are involved and the extent of the carnage. I guess I have prepared myself emotionally for the worst, to the extent I possibly can.

It has gotten way too easy for people to discredit something they don't like by calling it a hoax. I'm not sure why they do this. Maybe it's an uncomfortable topic to discuss if there is indeed a possibility that we are all contributing to something like...oh, say global warming, for instance.

It's hard to keep a straight face and argue that global warming is a hoax when there is clear evidence to the contrary. And think about this: the population of the planet didn't hit 2 billion until 1927. Soon it will reach 7 billion and will continue increasing. Along with that mind-boggling growth have been other drastic changes.

Think about how most Americans (and the rest of the world) managed to get around the planet back in 1927. Most people didn't have electricity in the home. The most high-tech gadget might have been a single AM radio.

Passenger car sales were starting to take off -- Henry Ford's Model T sales were at 15 million; SUVs weren't a dime a dozen, no 18-wheelers were plowing up our interstate highway system (because we didn't have one), and the skies were not filled with those hollow metal cylinders ferrying tens of millions of people from place to place. Even in my lifetime, I've seen China change from being a nation where people in large cities traveled by bicycle, to being a nation filled with cars and manufacturing facilities to fulfill our craving for cheap stuff.

And you know what? That human activity has to have some impact on the planet on some level because the planet sure as shit isn't growing in size along with the population! You can claim the climate is cyclical and warming is a natural event. Go ahead and hate Al Gore's guts. But don't take the easy way out by saying the discussion is off the table because it's just a hoax.

We only learn and grow as a society by having a debate, not ducking from it. We can't even have a rational discussion these days about the issue. There are politicians in office right now who deny climate change, and a fresh batch of new politicians waiting to march on in with the same attitude.

It's going to be an interesting Tuesday night on into Wednesday. I'll be here, and you can bet I'm going to have something to say about it.

The #1 Issue

Seriously. Prop. 19 in California, the ballot measure to legalize marijuana (well, to a large degree), is the one I have my eye on most closely. And despite what happens in Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Colorado, Nevada, and every other state with an important congressional race, Prop. 19 is the one that gives me the most hope for progress, and the one that will crush me if defeated.

I have thought it might make me seem shallow to have my focus on marijuana legalization when so much else is at stake. Thanks to Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, editors-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason magazine respectively, for this reminder why the issue is so important.

The 858,000 marijuana-related arrests made each year -- many involving minors, non-violent offenders, and those possessing insignificant amounts -- accounts for more than half of all drug-related arrests and takes a huge toll on the criminal justice system and lower-income communities at every level. No one seriously questions that the drug war disproportionately impacts minorities and that most "drug-related" crime is in fact a result of the black market status of drugs. Mexican drug gangs may be violent but there is no reason to believe that Mexican marijuana merchants would be any more violent than Mexican mango merchants.

And make no mistake: The drug war is effectively a war on marijuana, by far the only illegal drug used by more 1 percent of the adult population on a regular basis.

Think about that. 858,000 marijuana-related arrests each year. And given that we are still living in an era when some major politicians can't even get on board with medical marijuana initiatives, I would gladly trade you a Harry Reid for a Sharron Angle in exchange for a cultural shakeup that would result from the passage of a marijuana legalization measure. Gladly.

Why I Am An Angry Voter

Some Democrats In Name Only don't get no respect. And it's not because they aren't real Democrats with real progressive values; it's because they aren't perceived as worth the effort by the Democratic National Establishment.

The National Democratic Establishment is precisely the reason why I am reluctant to vote for anyone but a 3rd party if I find myself in a lesser or two evils situation.

Case in point, both in Arkansas, (where I won't be voting anyway since I don't live there):

1. Bill Halter, clearly the more progressive, vs. Blanche Lincoln in the Democratic primary earlier this year.

Lincoln squeaked through that one when she clearly shouldn't have because the national Democratic party refused to move left...not one fucking inch.

Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement that Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln has "proven once again she is a true independent voice for the people of Arkansas."

They were not willing to follow the winds within the local Democratic camp, frustrated by Lincoln being a true DINO, and thinking her incumbency would prevail in the end. Wrong. Bad move, and Democrats will pay that price on November 2nd.

2. Joyce Elliott vs. Tim Griffin (Karl Rove protoge) in Arkansas' 2nd congressional district.

The 2nd district, dominated somewhat by Pulaski county (Little Rock), a reliably Democratic district, being vacated by Democrat Vic Snyder, is slated to swing heavily in favor of Republican Griffin this year. I chalk this up to two facts: a) Elliott has the same skin color as the much-hated Kenyan president, and b) the Democratic committee wrote her off as a loser and spent their supporting funds elsewhere...Harry Reid comes to mind.

So...pardon me if I refuse to automatically throw my support to the Democrats, even in a state where they have a chance to win, if I'm not even 10% as enthusiastic about their positions and their candidacy (thinking Democrat Bill White of Texas) as I would have been had I been able to vote for Halter and Elliott.

This is why I get frustrated by the guilt-trip that voting for a 3rd party is a wasted vote, or that we must hold our noses in many cases and vote for the Democrats because the Republican alternative is repugnant. Yes, the Republican alternative is quite often a disaster of epic proportions waiting to happen, but voting for some Democrats is like rewarding the abusive spouse. Some of us are fucking fed up with the abuse and are ready to walk away.

I don't want to hold my nose when I vote. I don't want to reward greed and corruption in an effort to avoid more greed and corruption when I vote. I want to hold my head up and vote with pride for someone I'd be thrilled to represent me in office. Someone who is on the record as shutting down the bullshit. Even if they don't stand a chance in hell of winning.

If enough people would do this, it would send a message, sooner or later. We need to stop playing the money game and the bullshit game.

Hand-Wringing and Pearl-Clutching

We have about a week remaining in this circus known as the 2010 mid-term elections. Not long after President Obama took office I started to realize it was probably going to be a brutally ugly year for Democrats. And that was before the Supreme Court ruled in January of this year that corporations have the right -- as persons-- to spend freely on political campaigns.

Aside from that insidious infusion into the campaign season, I can understand why so many people are conflicted. A sizable number of Americans have been directly impacted by the recession. There's anger on the left and there's anger on the right. And we certainly don't have much common ground on the solutions.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend show that one Republican group, American Future Fund, has purchased more television advertisements attacking Representative Bruce Braley, Democrat of Iowa, who was expecting an easier path to re-election. Another group, the 60 Plus Association, reported spending more than $150,000 against Representative Solomon P. Ortiz, Democrat of Texas, who has been considered a likely victor in November against his cash-short challenger, Blake Farenthold.

“As you know, they have been dumping tens of millions of dollars of secret money into these campaigns,” Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview. “I would say the outside groups have shuffled the deck in a number of these races.”

I shouldn't be surprised either that so many Americans are straddling the fence between Democrats and Republicans. Some people don't mind paying taxes but want their rights to own guns as well as wanting to restrict the rights of women to seek abortion.

Or consider James Cherry — no handy label for him either. He is a structural engineer and an unaffiliated voter who leans, he said, toward the Republicans on gun rights and abortion.

But he is also heavily involved in philanthropy, and the federal health care overhaul passed by the Democrats touches on his passions about caring for others. He enthusiastically supported the change and has no patience for Republicans or Tea Party enthusiasts who want repeal. Indeed, he is unhappy with both parties that the law does not include a single-payer government option that liberal Democrats had favored. His wife, Julia, is on the same page.

In my mind, the problem we have as a society is that we can't seem to come to terms with the notion of individual liberty. Many want the federal government to stop meddling in the rights of states, but they have no issue with the states meddling in the rights of the individual, depending on the rights. Guns: yes. Abortion: no. Same-sex marriage: no. God: yes. Muslims: No. Evolution: No. Stem-cell research: No. Prayer: Yes. Hell yes! And so on...

Until we learn to live and let live, we are doomed to repeat this cycle over and over for decades to come.

I wish I could say the far rightward march and the potential for the success of it was limited geographically. Unfortunately, this debate isn't limited to places like Texas, Kansas and Mississippi. This ill wind is blowing from Massachusetts to California, from Washington to Florida.

The anger isn't just about what Obama has or hasn't done in terms of the change we were promised. There has been progress on many fronts, and a glaring lack of progress on others. If we were simply dealing with an electorate feeling disenfranchised because we didn't get enough of the change we were promised, I seriously doubt more than a very small percentage would be switching their vote back to the Republican column from whence we just came. It's about far more than change, or the lack thereof. It's about anger and fear, lies and distortions, with a surprisingly gullible and ignorant electorate.

And that's what scares me the most about this election cycle. I will be voting here in Texas, and that doesn't come without significant hand-wringing on my part. I so desperately want to see Governor Rick Perry tossed out that I'm willing to consider casting a vote for Democrat Bill White who is proudly on record as being in favor of something I see as a major moral shortcoming, and his opposition to another I view as being grossly lacking in compassion.

White and Glass said they favor the death penalty; Shafto said she opposed it as uncivilized.

White said he would oppose legalizing medical marijuana. Shafto said the nation learned nothing from Prohibition and that making drugs illegal already is creating crime. Glass said as governor she would sign a law legalizing medical marijuana, but she said it was only a "hypothetical" because a Republican Legislature would never pass it.

Or I may have to "throw my vote away" on the Green Party candidate, Deb Shafto.

It is unlikely that Texas will ever field a viable candidate who is truly progressive. And I don't plan to spend the rest of my life in Texas waiting for one.

For the sake of my own sanity, I need to let it go, disengage, and just observe the spectacle unfolding. Chalk me up as yet another very angry voter.

Things that get my dainty white lacy Queer panties in a tight little knot.

Say whatever you want about climate change. Go ahead; call it a hoax. Say it's a mass conspiracy by the scientific community to drum up support for grant money. Call it a natural cyclical phenomenon.

You can even drag your religion into it, if you feel you must. I've got no problems whatsoever with evangelicals who want to argue that our earth is God's creation and it is our duty and responsibility to treat it with respect.

Make the case that we have a duty to wean ourselves off oil imports from unfriendly producers like Iran even while steadfastly making the case that it's not a reaction to global warming.

Whatever.

Just do me one favor, please. Don't ever say this:

“I read my Bible,” Mr. Dennison said. “He made this earth for us to utilize.”

Because if you truly believe it is our God-given duty to burn through every resource on the planet, burning anything that will move a vehicle in the process, then you are simply an idiot.

We're Killing a Harmless Snake

A few years ago I saw a snake in the backyard. It was something I'd never seen before, definitely not the harmless thin garter snake. This one wasn't particularly pretty and it was fat. It was coiled. And it hissed a lot.

The cats seemed intrigued and I was freaking out for their safety. Rather than take the time to consult the Snake Book, I got the hoe and dispensed with the fucker in short order, thinking it was out to get all of us.

It was a harmless hognose snake. I have never forgiven myself.

And this is what I see happening in the 2010 elections. We are all so freaked the fuck out, angry, scared, fearing the other, that we are willing to do damage to innocents, just to get the thing out of our midst, even if its intent is good, and even if it isn't being very successful at the moment.

Thus concludes today's lesson.

Flower Power

Back when I was around 8 years old I went to visit my grandmother in Dallas. She was a manager of apartment complexes in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in the 60s and 70s.

I had been out there for some reason....the Texas State Fair or something. And for $5 I bought one of those mechanical sunflowers that would move to the sound of music.

I took it back to my grandmother's office where her hippie girl hired help saw it and was impressed. Hippie Girl wanted to buy it from me. George Harrison was playing in the background.

I refused to sell. Hippie Girl offered me a profit..offering to give me $8 or $10 for this piece of trash which, oddly enough, was not made in China at the time. Probably made in the USA.

But I refused to sell. Because I did not believe in the profit motive. I thought it was dead wrong. And I steadfastly refused. I felt like I was cheating her.

Not much has changed since I was 8.

Boehner Fails in Cigarette Promotion

Too bad the Boehner doesn't share the same attitude about pot, something which actually has some benefits.

Mr. Boehner said he and other Americans should have the right to decide for themselves.

Yeah, tell that to the tens of thousands (and I'm being nice) of Americans serving time for marijuana convictions.

Fucker.

Despair: 2010

I have got to distance myself somewhat from politics. That's not to say I'm going to stop reading or turn off the TV and pretend it doesn't exist. But I do need to get over this notion that my one vote can make a difference when I'm living in a country where 50% of us don't bother to vote, and 95% of those who do think the only serious choices are Democrats or Republicans, with the occasional independent thrown into the mix who, in most cases is either a former Democrat or Republican.

I am exhausted with watching the pendulum swing every election cycle in only two directions: left or right Democrat or Republican.

It was crystal clear to me in 2007 that the economic meltdown was going to be one hell of a bastard, and I could not fathom why anyone would seek the highest office in the land with the job of turning the country around after 8 years of the Bush regime and two wars in progress. For as much as I wanted to see Democrats get swept back into power, it seemed like a suicide mission. Lo and behold, my predictions are right on track.

Unfortunately, we seem dangerously close to returning those to power who helped get us where we are now, because of our frustration that the new guy hasn't restored health, vigor and free-wheeling prosperity to a nation which has been kicked in the gut and is spitting up blood. So let's vote Republican again and get back in the ring for another and final ass-whuppin'?

Well, be my guest. It's your country too. Although I must say I refuse to be held responsible for the outcome. I'm not one of the people who is going to sit out any election due to disenfranchisement with an impotent political system. I will vote, as I always do, with a sound and intelligent mind, for the best candidate on the ballot. I will come home, turn on the TV, and watch as the votes are tallied across this nation. And I will hope for the best. I will hope that ignorance does not prevail. I will hope that racism is not a factor. Without a doubt, in some races I am going to be disappointed. It seems inevitable.

For the last 25 years or so I have waited for the next generation to come of age and get involved politically. And now that the moment is here, I can't begin to express my frustration. Yes, they did seem energized in 2008 by the message of hope and change coming from a man who would make history as the nation's first black president. Whether that enthusiasm will carry on into the 2010 elections remains to be seen. The signs aren't looking very good.

This graphic cracked me up. A few days ago a Facebook friend of mine posted it to her page as-is, and without additional commentary. What soon followed was an eye-opening outburst from a guy hurling insult after insult at blacks, Muslims, gays, and people who work for a living but happen to have a differing political view. He essentially had zero tolerance for anyone who didn't share his beliefs. And this wasn't some fellow with white socks pulled up to his knees and tea bags hanging from his hat; this guy was young enough to be my son. Yep, that's right: the next generation I've been waiting on for two decades. And you can bet your chapped ass he's going to vote.

This was not some isolated incident either. I see this in one form or another on a regular basis, on Facebook and elsewhere. Whereas we once differed by party affiliation (or lack thereof), and on the issue of abortion, we now differ on sexual orientation, whether gay people should be afforded the same right to engage in a state-sanctioned relationship which conveys rights and privileges currently provided to opposite-sex couples. And lately, we have begun to differ over truly inconsequential issues like...where law-abiding Americans should be allowed to build a mosque, and in some cases, whether they should be allowed.

All of this plays perfectly with the building opposition to all things Democrat and Obama. Every single fringe issue does nothing but bolster the opposition and divide the rest of us.

So you'll have to pardon me if I sit quietly the next two months, watching and waiting. It's quite clear I'm not going to change any minds with my viewpoints no matter how eloquently and logically they are presented. So I simply won't waste my time. Besides, Americans of voting age are, by default, adults, and should have the wherewithal to make rational and intelligent decisions based on the plethora of available facts these days. If they, as a voting bloc, manage to usher in a different kind of change which is motivated by fear and hatred, so be it.

I have and will do my small part to prevent that madness from happening. Whether the rest of us of sound mind and body care enough to do the same remains to be seen.

The Best News I've Heard This Year!

What boggles my mind is why so many people would bother to give one iota about the issue of marriage equality, let alone contributing huge sums of money to stop marriage equality from happening! Despite what the far-right likes to say, it doesn't have any impact on heterosexual marriages any more than unmarried gays living together has an impact on unmarried straights living together.

This is not a liberal/conservative/Democrat/Republican issue; this is an EQUAL RIGHTS issue.

And while this ruling will be appealed, and it may well turn up in the lap of SCOTUS, today is a victory I will relish long and hard. It is a big steaming hot dish of fuckyou served up to the Mormon Church, and any other idiot groups who pumped millions of dollars into the campaign of H8.

And I can't help but sit here with this smirk on my face wondering if they all got their money's worth in the end.