Saintless

It appears as though equality suffered a blow yesterday, when Prop. 8 passed by a narrow margin in California. It’s a sad day when we see equality and human rights take a step backwards. But, we don’t have to sit back and accept defeat. And I’m not going to.

After a discussion with Joseph Price on Facebook, I realized that we can take this movement in a different direction, and maybe it’s the one we should have been going in the first place.

Marriage should not have a legal definition in America. Religious groups have argued that marriage belongs to them, and used that argument to ban gay marriage. Well, I say we let them have it.

I realize this is a really difficult and complicated issue. But, the government needs to get their noses out of my business. Churches should issue marriage certificates, not the County Clerk. I am no legal scholar, nor do I have all of the potential issues ironed out. And I definitely need help. This is far bigger than I am. I’m hoping to get some experts on board, and I’ve started putting out feelers to get that help.

In the meantime, share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section, after you read this article that Joseph shared with me:

WHY do people — gay or straight — need the state’s permission to marry? For most of Western history, they didn’t, because marriage was a private contract between two families. The parents’ agreement to the match, not the approval of church or state, was what confirmed its validity.

Stephanie Coontz goes on to talk about the history of marriage in America, and provides a very convincing argument that maybe it’s time for the historical tradition of marriage to make a comeback.

Sarah Palin’s comment about Pro-America wasn’t some off-hand comment that was taken wrong, as she tries to convince us of in this video:

We believe, we believe that the best of America is in the small towns that we get to visit, and in the wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.

She’s feeding part of a message intended to “inspire” the right wing of the Republican Party. Here’s the other part of the message, from a different mouthpiece:

Well, I would say that people who hold anti- American views. I don’t think it’s geography. I think it’s people who don’t like America, who detest America. And on college campuses, a Ward Churchill, another college campus, a Bill Ayers, you find people who hate America. And unfortunately, some of these people have positions teaching in institutions of higher learning. But you’ll find them in all walks of life all throughout America.
[...]
I think the people that Barack Obama has been associating with are anti-American, by and large, the people who are radical leftists. That’s the real question about Barack Obama — Saul Alinsky, one of his teachers, you might say, out of the Chicago area; Tony Rezko, who is an associate also.

It disgusts me to think that they are getting away with trying to divide our country in this fashion, not by pitting political ideas against political ideas, but by pitting ordinary Americans against ordinary Americans. And it disgusts me that it seems to be working, and that somehow that message is more attractive to some people than this message:

(Check it out about 4:50 in)

“There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this country. We all love this country, no matter where we live, where we come from.”

This idea that Barack Obama wants a united country is not a new one. His 2004 DNC speech is an easy example. “There is not a red America and a blue America…There is a United States of America”, and if you look, those examples go back through all of his public life.

For more, see Keith Olbermann’s special comment last night:

As I was writing this, a friend sent me this link, to an article titled “Populism Without Pitchforks“:

Here again, Obama’s recent soft-populist language goes off in another direction entirely, not targeting much of anyone, but instead invoking a sense of natural order in which all of us live up to our responsibilities, in service of a sense of national purpose. It is an ethics based on a sense of mutual obligation and engagement, embodied in the ever-expanding circle of Obama’s own campaign. And in this sense, it is deeply reflective of the best in American populism, what the historian Lawrence Goodwyn called, “the movement culture” characterized by “collective self-confidence,” and the active engagement of millions in the practice of democracy.

I voted yesterday, and I feel even better about my vote today, knowing that in two short weeks, we’ll find that Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election, and that we can look forward to a United States of America, and not a Divided States of America. And when Obama wins, that means that Americans will have chosen to band together, and rejected the politics of hate and fear. God bless America.

(h/t Richard Warnick and Jason The)

Now, this is what I’m talking about!

 

Find a comfortable chair to sit in, or lie on the floor. Remove your shoes. Close your eyes but not too tightly.

Take a deep breath: Inhale blue…  Hold it.  And exhale red… Repeat.

Now tense up every part of your body, really really tight. Hold it…hold it…  Now relax. Feel your body melting into your chair or into the floor.  Again: Tense tense tense…  And relaaaax.

Now I want you to picture yourself lying on a gorgeous, secluded beach. Breathe in the fresh air. Feel the warmth of the sand. Hear the rhythmic lapping of the ocean and the palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze. You have no worries. No cares. Your 401(k) is flush with cash. You feel completely relaxed. You are at peace and everything is fine.

Oh, look. John McCain is walking by. Without opening your eyes, gently raise your hand and wave. “Hi, Senator,” you say. “Sorry you lost the election in such a massive landslide. Too bad, so sad.” He waves back and says, “Thank you, my friend. In the end, the best man won. By a hundred and fifteen electoral votes.”

And here comes Sarah Palin, wearing her Miss Congeniality sash. Again, you lazily raise your hand. “Hi, Sarah. Too bad the Troopergate report got ya booted from office,” you say. She replies, “Oh, that’s okay. Now I can spend more of my time monitoring that sneaky Putin over there in Russia. I hear he’s training an army of judo experts.” She trips over a piece of driftwood. You let out a relaxing sigh and take a sip of your margarita.

Oh, and here’s Dick Cheney, trolling for spare change with his metal detector. “Hey, Dick,” you say. “Takin’ a break from the war crimes tribunal?” “Yep,” he replies. “They got Rumsfeld in the dock now. If things go according to schedule, I should get my life sentence later this afternoon. Oh look…I found a nickel.” He wanders out of sight. You take another cleansing breath.

Just as you’re about to drift to sleep, a group of former senators approaches. Coleman. Dole. McConnell. Collins. Cornyn. Stevens. Chambliss. Roberts. Smith. Sununu. “Hey, folks,” you say. “Whatcha been doin’ since your massive losses?” They reply as one: “Beach volleyball!!” You nod. They get swallowed by a rogue wave.

And now, very slowly, count backwards: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Open your eyes.

Repeat as needed.

Bill in Portland Maine is one of my favorite bloggers for a reason. Above is how he started his daily blog, Cheers and Jeers. This is why it’s one of my daily must-reads. He likes to point out things like how many days till Bush-Cheney leave office, and even cute puppy pictures. Read the rest of today’s Cheers and Jeers. It’s all you needed to know from the political arena today, in one amusing little package.

Once again, Saints and Sinners has offered to host a Debate Watch Party. I’m helping Becky set it up, and we’re planning on giving local candidates some time before the debate to speak to attendees. There will also be a table set up with lawns signs, bumper stickers, etc.

This debate will be Town Hall style, coming to us from Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Questions will be taken from the audience and from the internet. MySpace is the place to submit your own question.

Here are the Debate Watch Party details:

We will start at 6 pm to offer our candidates running for office in 2008 a moment to preach to the choir. Candidates will have lawn signs & email sign-up forms. (If you are a candidate who would like to participate, please call me at 801.755.3974 or Becky Isais at 702.354.2984 and we’ll get it set up!)   

The debate begins at 7 pm, and ends at 8:30.

OUR FRIENDS AT SAINTS & SINNERS ARE OFFERING………
*5 T.V.s to enjoy the debate*
(1 flat screen & 1 HUGE screen)
FREE ADMISSION & DONATED FREE MEMBERSHIPS!
FREE PIZZA!

Remember, this is a Private Club for Members, which means you must be 21 or older to attend!

This debate will be town-hall style, and questions will be taken from the audience and the internet. To submit your own question, go to http://www.myspace.com/mydebates

Time:	Tuesday, October 7 at 6:00 PM
Duration:	4 hours
Host:	Misty Fowler
Contact Phone:	8017553974
Location:	SAINTS AND SINNERS, A PRIVATE CLUB FOR MEMBERS (SALT LAKE CITY, UT)    3040 SOUTH STATE STREET SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84115 VIEW MAP: GOOGLE MAPS MAPQUEST YAHOO! MAPS

There are many more events being hosted statewide, click here to find them all. You can also sign up to host your own party at my.BarackObama.com.

Don’t forget, Monday is the last day to Register to Vote By Mail in Utah. If you or a loved one haven’t done this yet, or need to update your address, drop everything you’re doing and visit VoteForChange.com RIGHT NOW! You can’t put it off any longer!

Sometimes, all you need is a chart:

more charts

This last week has been an absolute whirlwind in politics, and it’s not showing any signs of slowdown.

First up, you better get your butt over and register to vote, or verify your registration, because in some places, it’s the last day to get registered, and the rest of us have the deadline coming up!

This whole economy thing has the entire country on edge. The Dow is down by a record number of points today. McCain pulled a faux-suspension of his campaign last week to rush to DC to help with the bailout bill, where he was pretty much told to butt out by Harry Reid. He said “bullshit” on national tv while Obama brought up his refusal to meet with Spain, during the debate McCain tried to cancel. The Congressional leaders announced over the weekend that they had finally gotten “the bill” together, but failed to pass it today. Apparently, anyone up for re-election knew they didn’t dare vote for it, and while the Dems pulled together about 140 members to vote for it, the GOP failed their own goals, leaving it to die on the floor. McCain somewhere along the line was claiming credit for getting the GOP to go for it, though I’m not expecting him to claim credit for the failure. The American public feels like they’re getting screwed, which is exactly how they should feel giving up what I read earlier was the greatest single dollar amount for any transaction, ever. Banks are failing left and right, though the only people truly getting screwed for the most part with that, are the shareholders in said banks, thanks to this think called regulation. The conservatives are telling us that the solution to the economic failure due to lack of regulation is to…drumroll, please…..have less regulation. Pretty much everyone agrees something has to be done, but the problem is what to do, and how to get everyone on the same page.

It’s almost enough to make me vote for McCain, because God only knows how anyone is going to clean up this mess and come through it with the American people supporting them. That, of course, is just a passing thought, because Obama is the only candidate that I think really stands a chance at actually fixing this mess in a responsible manner, and not leaving astounding debt for my grandchildren to inherit.

Responsibility. What’s your policy?

I just got this email, and I think it’s a wonderful idea!

This idea came from Letty Cotton Pogrebin.

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin’s name. A Planned Parenthood donation is tax deductible, where a political donation isn’t.And here’s the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they’ll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here’s the link to the Planned Parenthood website:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ go to donate, then to honorary gifts.

You’ll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the “in Sarah Palin’s honor” card.

Governor Sarah Palin
Alaska State Capital Building, 3rd floor
P.O. Box 110001
Juneau AK 99811-0001.

The fax # is 907 465.3532.

Here’s Barack Obama’s message to Americans:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONM7148cTyc]

Here’s his plan, as mentioned in the video. It’s hard to get much in a commercial, even when it’s a 2-minute commercial. The starts off by presenting the problem:

The Problem

Wages are Stagnant as Prices Rise: While wages remain flat, the costs of basic necessities are increasing. The cost of in-state college tuition has grown 35 percent over the past five years. Health care costs have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years. And the personal savings rate is now the lowest it’s been since the Great Depression.

Tax Cuts for Wealthy Instead of Middle Class: The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. At the same time, this administration has refused to tackle health care, education and housing in a manner that benefits the middle class.

And the topics that the plan covers:

• Jumpstart the Economy
• Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
• Trade
• Job Creation
• Support Small Business
• Labor
• Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
• Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
• Reform Bankruptcy Laws
• Work/Family Balance

Given that I work in the tech industry, and I’m very focused on the environment personally, I really appreciate that Obama wants to create green jobs. I’ve said this a lot lately, but if we (America) don’t take the lead and become innovators when it comes to alternative energy and green jobs in general, someone else will. We will have lost the opportunity to continue the tradition of making America great, and being leaders for the rest of the world. We have to do it at some point. Our environment will not sustain our current course of action. Our gas prices will not sustain our current course of action. We have to. And I believe Obama gets that, and realizes there are mutiple reasons for us to head this direction.

There’s a reason why…

Over the weekend Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman, told Bloomberg News that he was “not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money” and that the United States could not afford big tax cuts such as those proposed by Republican John McCain. Alan Greenspan went on to say that the current economic crisis, that began with the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market last year, is so bad that he called it “a once in a century” crisis and will lead to the failure of more firms.

And don’t forget, while the economy is in it’s downward spiral right now, that McCain himself gave the reason why Obama’s plan is better than McCain’s.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_APdK9fgDM]

McCain has done some slimey things in his past, but this outweighs anything I know about.

McCain’s new ad (if you can stomach it):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVLQhRiEXZs]

Do you see what they did there? They took a bill that was supposed to teach young children how to keep from being victims of child predators, and twisted it to make Obama look like some old pervert, and visually emphasized it with a truly funky picture of Obama, with his shirt disheveled, and a leer on his face. That bill wasn’t about giving condoms out to 5 year olds, it was about keeping them safe. But that didn’t matter to McCain. What mattered was winning.

Oh, and apparently, that same twisted lie was once before (unsuccessfully) used by Obama’s opponent in the Illinios State Legislature. McCain couldn’t even make their own lie up, they had to borrow one that hadn’t worked the first time.

Here’s what Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton had to say:

It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls - a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why.

So, what McCain essentially did there was, for those not more aware of what’s really going on, use America’s children to lie to their parents, and make them afraid of Barack Obama. The Politics of Fear are alive and well.

Olbermann’s special comment tonight was regarding tomorrow’s sad anniversary of 9/11/2001.

First he went into the GOP “9/11™ Tribute” at their convention, and how horrifying it was. The video was not a tribute to the victims of 9/11, their families, or even Americans in general. It was a tribute to the horrific deeds done that day, an attempt to make Americans remember the fear, and their hope was that Americans would then look to Republicans to save them from it happening again.

Doesn’t that make them the Terrorists, because they are attempting to inspire terror in the hearts of Americans, to further their own agenda?

Then he went into how McCain is blackmailing the US electorate with his claim that he can, will and knows how to capture Osama bin Laden. If he knows, what is he holding out for?

Wow, Keith really outdid himself tonight. Way to go!

There’s still a chance to catch the comment again during the 9:00 PM (MDT) hour, or over at MSNBC.