Tomorrow's Postings - NEM Sunday

The boyfriend and I will be catching a bus - one of several leaving Hampton Roads - at 7:00AM to travel to Washington, D.C., with a group of other LGBT Virginians attending the National Equality March. As a result, I will not have Internet access and will not be doing live postings tomorrow. I have written some posts that will automatically publish tomorrow morning and in the event we get home before it is too terribly late, I may do a preliminary update on our experience. The D.C. weather forecast is for clear and sunny tomorrow, and I surely hope that such will be the case.

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The boyfriend will be acting as my photographer and I am hoping that with press credentials I may get an interesting interview or two. Whether or not Obama and the Congressional Democrats pay any note to those of us assembling tomorrow, I believe the March will energize people to not be satisfied with the crumbs being doled out to us at present and that a younger generation of leaders with more energy and a willingness to press demands for equality will be moved to step forward. We need more inspired leaders and few ass kissers like Joe Solmonese and his cohorts at HRC.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Obama's Speech Tonight - Be Good House Gays?

UPDATE: While a number of MSM outlets are acting like Obama did something major in his speech, it was in reality just more pretty words and HRC should not have given him a platform. My low expectations were fully confirmed. Here's one accurate analysis is as follows:

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Of course it's nice having President Obama speak to us, but that's all it was -- more pretty words without any new substance. So much for that rumor that President Obama would give us a timeline of 2010 for the repeal of DADT or speaking up for Maine Equality. It was pretty much a rehash of his campaign promises, and yet we're still left wanting actual action and fierce advocacy. That didn't change much. Paul Sousa Founder, Equal Rep Co-Chair, Join The Impact MA

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The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama will tonight deliver more pretty words about supporting gay rights while as is all too typical doing nothing beyond those pretty words. Of course Joe Solmonese and other sycophants at HRC will eat it up and act as if progress has been made - even as gays in a majority of states can be fired at will and have fewer legal protections from abuse than household pets. Obama is treating LGBT Americans like the white good old boys of the old south treated blacks when they addressed educated black Americans by terms like "boy." Personally, I'm not taking the bait and I am not willing to be treated like an ignorant child being told to patiently wait while nothing of significant application is being done. The likely passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act is nice but has little application to the day to day lives of the majority of LGBT Americans. I agree with fellow blogger Lane Hudson that now is the time to for Obama and Congressional Democrats to act and deliver on promises that would cost nothing to pass. Here are some highlights from the drivel coming out of the White House and commentary from real civil rights activists rather than the lap dogs at HRC:
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President Obama will tout the imminent passage of long-delayed hate crime legislation when he addresses the nation's largest gay rights group on Saturday, as he seeks to allay concerns among some in the community that he is moving too slowly to prove his commitment to their cause.

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"The president has articulated unwavering support for it and a desire to sign it," said Melody Barnes, the president's top domestic policy adviser. "This is all part of a theme of steady, forward progress on issues that have been supported by the community."

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But many activists say it will not be enough to ease their simmering frustration that Obama has not moved quickly on issues such as repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act or reversal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

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"At a time when we're kind of broke and we're wondering where we're going to get the money, it'd make sense to focus some time on something that doesn't cost any money, like honoring the promise of our constitution to treat all of its citizens equally under the law," said Lane Hudson, a gay blogger and activist from the District.

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"We're now pushing this administration to undo decades of discrimination that currently exist in federal government policy," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It's not just about policy, it's really about the day-to-day life and safety of individuals and their families across the country."

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Obama's aides have signaled that efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act will take a back seat to other domestic priorities during the president's first term, an indication that Obama wants to avoid the mistakes that Bill Clinton made when he attempted to allow gays to serve in the military during the first months of his presidency.

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I continue to believe that the only way to change the game and get Obama and Congressional Democrats off their respective asses on gay rights issues is for gays to stop 100% of their financial support for these folks until they begin to deliver. They need to taught that rather than continue to support those who take us for granted and just give us pretty speeches we will stay home on election day and that our wallets will remain tightly closed. Every time readers receive calls for money from Congressional Democrats, the message sent needs to be no action = no money.

Joe Solmonese and HRC Make Me Sick

Had Martin Luther King subscribed to the mindset of the self-anointed leaders at HRC, the South would still be segregated and anti-black racial bigotry would continue to be the norm. I have had less than kind things to say about HRC in the past - and I regularly throw away their pleas for money - but I am now of the mindset that either HRC needs to be shut down or a coup staged to take over the leadership so that the organization acts as a civil rights organization as opposed to a simpering ass kisser for politicians that stroke certain egos by giving them "access." HRC in its current form makes me sick. It's a wonder Joe Solmonese has not suffocated since his nose is so far up Obama's ass. I am not the only one that believes Solmonese doesn't see the forest for the trees. Here's snippet of Pam Spaulding's take on his e-mail blast to supporters:

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Is HRC telling people to sit hands folded for Obama re: progress until 2017?

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In one of those "what does he really mean" moments, Joe Solmonese sent out an HRC e-blast to supporters that suggests he's willing to cut the President slack until he leaves office in 2017, after an assumed second term in office. . . . If this the message that is being telegraphed as the party line, it proves the org is definitely not in touch with the grassroots discussion out there about what the President needs to say tomorrow night.

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And cutting slack until 2017, if that's indeed the message, means yet again, that those who have the luxury to wait (they have non-discrimination measures where they live and work), don't understand the day-to-day peril working LGBTs live under in terms the vulnerability of being fired or losing the chance for employment because of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

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Like me, Pam lives in a state where LGBT citizens have zero protections. North Carolina does not have an anti-gay marriage amendment, but otherwise its LGBT citizens are third class citizens like those of us in Virginia. You can read Solmonese's full message at Pam's site, but I think she has parsed it correctly. I am NOT willing to cut slack until 2017 and in fact, as I will address in another post, it may be a hugely perilous assumption to expect Obama to win re-election in 2012 since (1) the way things are going he may well face a nomination fight and (2) the GOP might surprise us an find a rational candidate to challenge him. The only thing Obama has delivered to date is that he's not John McCain. Beyond that, most of us are still waiting for delivery on campaign promises.

Saturday Male Beauty

Krugman: The Uneducated American

Paul Krugman - a Nobel Prize winning economist - has a column in yesterday's New York Times that basically serves as an indictment of the tax cutting Republican Party and the anti-knowledge Christianist base of the GOP that wants schools to engage in religious indoctrination rather than true science and knowledge. I believe that Krugman is directly on point and that if America wants to maintain its position in the world, people had better wake up. One need only look at the teabaggers and lunatic GOP base to realize that if this segment of the population expands into the newer generations, we are going to become a second class nation. Moreover, for democracy to effectively work, there must be an educated and informed citizenry. Otherwise the slide into demagoguery is all too easy. How people expect the country to remain first class when they refuse to fund education and allow our infrastructure to crumble all in the name of no new taxes is baffling. Even more baffling is how these same anti-tax and anti-public spending reactionary then claim to be patriots. Here are some portions of Krugman's column that I believe is a must read:

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If you had to explain America’s economic success with one word, that word would be “education.” In the 19th century, America led the way in universal basic education. Then, as other nations followed suit, the “high school revolution” of the early 20th century took us to a whole new level. And in the years after World War II, America established a commanding position in higher education. But that was then.

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Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board.

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About that erosion: there has been a flurry of reporting recently about threats to the dominance of America’s elite universities. What hasn’t been reported to the same extent, at least as far as I’ve seen, is our relative decline in more mundane measures. America, which used to take the lead in educating its young, has been gradually falling behind other advanced countries.

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[T]hese days young Americans are considerably less likely than young people in many other countries to graduate from college. In fact, we have a college graduation rate that’s slightly below the average across all advanced economies.

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There’s no mystery about what’s going on: education is mainly the responsibility of state and local governments, which are in dire fiscal straits. Adequate federal aid could have made a big difference. But while some aid has been provided, it has made up only a fraction of the shortfall. In part, that’s because back in February centrist senators insisted on stripping much of that aid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the stimulus bill. As a result, education is on the chopping block.

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So what should be done? First of all, Congress needs to undo the sins of February, and approve another big round of aid to state governments. We don’t have to call it a stimulus, but it would be a very effective way to create or save thousands of jobs. And it would, at the same time, be an investment in our future. Beyond that, we need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.

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The no new tax crowd - and those who want lower taxes out of their own short term greed - are selling out the future. If we do not invest in the future, we, like past dominant nations, can and will slide into second or third tier status.

Julian Bond - Rights Still to be Won

The Miami Herald is carrying a column by Julian Bond - the same Julian Bond from the civil rights push for African Americans - that looks at the state of gay rights in this country more than six (6) years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas. Until that ruling, in thirteen states - Virginia included, of course - gay Americans were subject to arrest and in some cases open to felony charges simply for having same sex physical relationships in their own homes. While the specter of arrest and criminalization under the sodomy laws is gone, in many states - again, Virginia included - LGBT citizens are still second or third class citizens. Why? Religious based discrimination when all of the bullshit excuses are stripped away. That's the true bottom line. In a nation that promises freedom of religion yet continues the penalization of gays and deprivation of legal protections and equality under the civil laws shows that the propaganda of the United States is a fraudulent and that the nation still fails to live up to the promises set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This travesty needs to end NOW and the days of being satisfied with incremental change are gone. Would that Obama and Congressional Democrats had the guts and courage to end religious based discrimination against LGBT Americans. Here are some highlights from Bond's column:

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The civil rights struggle for legal equality in America today is no less necessary, nor worthy, than a similar struggle fought by blacks several decades ago. Now, as then, Americans are denied rights simply because of who they are. When lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans gather in Washington Sunday for the National Equality March, they will invoke the unfulfilled promise in our Constitution that they, too, are due equal protection under the law.

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I will join them in their march because I believe in their equality and believe in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that promises to protect it. I will join them because the humanity of all people is diminished when any class of people is denied privileges granted to others. I will join them because I know that when heterosexuals stand up and call for justice alongside their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters, the sooner justice will come.

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We can no longer pretend that civil rights do not include rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Flimsy justifications for anti-LGBT bias are giving way to evidence that society is strengthened, not weakened, when LGBT people are given equal protection under the law. Where they are free to marry those they love, the sky has not fallen. Where they cannot be denied employment and housing simply because of who they are, the sky has not fallen. Where they serve nobly in the military without the burden of secrecy, the sky has not fallen. Rather, when all people are free to live up to their full potential, all of society benefits. Yet the United States still permits all these forms of discrimination. And this is why we must march.

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My friend Coretta Scott King said in 2000: ``Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender or ethnic discrimination.'' That is why the NAACP resolved several years ago that ``we shall pursue all legal and constitutional means to support non-discriminatory policies and practices against persons based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or cultural background.''

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This weekend, those who believe in the ideals of our Constitution, those who have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where people will be judged not by whom they love but by the content of their character, and those who stand up for their ideals can be proud that they stood up and spoke out for justice.

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Julian Bond is currently a professor of history at the University of Virginia and distinguished professor in residence at American University. He is also board chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Hampton Roads Singer's Song Becomes Gay Rights Anthem

I have known local singer, Julie Clark (pictured at left), for several years now and first met her thrugh Hampton Roads Business OutReach ("HRBOR"). She's both smart and talented and I hope the media exposure from the selection of a song she released back in January as the anthem for the National Equality March will give a further boost to her career. I agree with Julie that equal rights and equality means equality for all, not just those who conform to a particular religious belief. Congratulations Julie!!! Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot's story on this development.

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Singer-songwriter Julie Clark might be one of the best-known artists gigging around Hampton Roads, her folk-acoustic-pop stylings are a staple at local festivals and live venues around town. This weekend, though, the performer will play the biggest gig of her life, and it's a party with a purpose.

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On Sunday, Clark will perform her song "Courage of Our Convictions" on the West Lawn of the Capitol building in Washington for the National Equality March, an event supporting equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

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"I'm really looking forward to it," she said. "The energy is going to be high. I did think I had a good shot at winning, because the song is so appropriate for the event." The lyrics of the song don't explicitly mention gay rights but rather the universal themes of civil rights, God, justice and conquering hate. Clark wrote the song with the LGBT community in mind, though. "I feel very strongly that we don't live in a just society until everyone is equal, including gays and lesbians," she said.

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Clark entered the song contest a month ago; finalists were selected by industry judges and then a public voting forum via Facebook, YouTube and text messages. In addition to getting to perform the song at the march, at which Lady Gaga also is scheduled to appear, Clark won a plane ticket, which she said she'll use for her increasing number of performances out of state.

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It will be a pleasure to see Julie perform on Sunday. It should be an interesting day and I will naturally write about the experience.

National Equality March Route

Click image to enlarge

Friday Male Beauty

Dedicated to Randall Terry

Freeper and Christianist Extremist Randall Terry Condemns NEM

It was only a matter of time before the loons and haters of the far right began to hyperventilate and convulse over the National Equality March and Obama's appearance at the HRC dinner tomorrow evening. Randall Terry - yes, the same Randall Terry who supports the murder of abortion providers - doesn't disappoint with his crazed and hate-filled press release. The man is about as un-Christian as one can be and continues to be a poster boy for why one might prefer not to be a Christian, or at least Terry's style of Christian. Here are some highlights via PR Newswire for Journalists of Terry's screed:

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Christians will gather at two key locations to remind homosexual marchers that God loves them, and they can be redeemed, but society cannot "normalize" a self-destructive behavior that can rob a human being of their eternal soul. Christians will bear witness to the truth: God made marriage to be a sacred covenant and sacrament between a man and a woman, and His Laws and order cannot be nullified - not by them, not by the Courts, and not by President Obama.

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[W]hen they try to force the rest of us to create a right to "homosexual marriage" where none exists, and to say that an objectively evil behavior is good and even desirable, we must fearlessly oppose them with all our might. The child-killing movement and the 'homosexual marriage' have formed an unbreakable bond - a 'cultural axis of evil' - because they both spring from the same root: the rejection of God's Law and Natural Law concerning human sexuality and procreation.

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"President Obama does America and the nations of the world a great disservice by legitimizing this self destructive, degrading behavior by speaking at the HRC banquet. On one day he speaks at Notre Dame, talking about the common good, and then proceeds to attack life and marriage in his policies, thereby destroying the common good. It is shameful."

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Those attending the National Equality March who seek to avoid Mr. Terry's form of "love" should avoid the following locations where gay-haters are supposed to be gathering:

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1. Saturday Evening, Oct 10, 6:00 PM: Location of Human Rights Coalition Banquet, at which President Obama is the keynote speaker. Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. 801 Mount Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC.

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2. Sunday, Oct 11, 12:00 Noon: National Equality March Parade route, Southeast Quadrant of Lafayette Park, across from White House.

Taliban Bob McDonnell Duck's Answering Equality Virginia's Questions

As Equality Virginia explains in a new press release, it contacted the candidates running for statewide office and asked them about workplace discrimination against GLBT persons and access to employment benefits, including health care. Each was asked the same four questions. Creigh Deeds answered the questions while Taliban Bob McDonnell basically answered none of them and instead launched into a pattern of excuses/justifications for his anti-gay actions while in elected office. This exercise in avoiding honest answers to me demonstrates that despite McDonnell's well orchestrated lies that his views have change, the reality is that in reality we are dealing with the same Taliban Bob who wrote the 1989 thesis at Pat Robertson's university. Here are the four questions McDonnell did not answer:

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1. Do you support an executive order affirming the right of GLBT employees of state government to be protected against workplace discrimination?
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2. Will you advocate for legislation. like HB 2385 (Ebbin) introduced in the 2009 General Assembly Session, which would codify protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation , including gender identity, as well as race, sex, national origin, age, disability, religion, pregnancy and veteran status?
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3. Will you seek and advocate for changes in the state health insurance plan, consistent with Mr. McDonnell's opinion to the President of the University of Virginia regarding access to gym benefits, that would offer health care insurance benefits to otherwise qualified adults living in the household of GLBT employees? In addition, we would like to know if you support eliminating the remaining legal barriers in the Code of Virginia that prevent private companies from offering workplace benefits to the domestic partners of GLBT employees.
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4. Will you support and advocate for legislation to eliminate current legal restrictions on the ability of private insurance companies to offer private employers group life insurance that includes domestic partners (i.e., legislation identical to SB 945 (Howell) and HB 1726 (Rust) that was included on Virginia Free's 2009 listing of pro-business legislation)?

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These are all fair questions that are important to LGBT Virginians and Creigh Deeds to his credit answered all four in a gay affirming manner. Deeds' answers can be seen here. Not so with Taliban Bob. Instead he wrote EV Executive Director Jon Blair a letter containing legalistic mumbo jumbo that sought to justify his anti-gay record by blaming the General Assembly - basically anyone but himself - for his appalling track record and said "It is up to the General Assembly to determine what further benefits are appropriate." Bottom line: Do not look to Taliban Bob to lift a finger to lift up LGBT Virginians from their current third class citizen status in Virginia. Instead, I believe we are likely to see more persecution if McDonnell wins on November 3, 2009. My recommendation to LGBT citizens contemplating a move to Virginia is - DO NOT MOVE HERE. For those already here: LEAVE IF YOU CAN.

Obama's Address at the HRC Dinner on Saturday

There is much conjecture going on as to what President Obama will say when he delivers the keynote speech at HRC's dinner on Saturday evening. Personally, I expect that we will hear more of the nice sounding bullshit that has been Obama's hallmark since being elected - with the aid of gay votes and money. Any outline for concrete action will likely be missing in action. I'd love to be wrong, but sadly I doubt that I will be. Obama said to hold him accountable during the campaign last year. Now that he's in office, he feels that he has to account to no one. There are others who likewise have low expectations. Andrew Sullivan is one. Here are some highlights from his comments on Obama's upcoming speech:
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A constructive proposal for the president as he addresses HRC this weekend. Help us in Maine and Washington state. Marriage equality is being attacked in Maine with classic techniques of fear, especially around children. In Washington, the Christianist right is fighting to reverse equal domestic partnerships, revealing that the m-word is not their real concern; their true fear is that gay people might cease to be pariahs.

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Since the president has made it clear he will offer us nothing but words - and only in contexts where straight people are largely absent - he could urge the voters of Maine and Washington to stand up for equality. My old comrade in the marriage fight, Evan Wolfson, has offered his thoughts on how Obama's speech could help. I hope Obama or his speech-writers listen.

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I hate to say it, but much of the time I believe the best option for LGBT Americans who seek full civil equality is to leave the USA and emigrate to more gay friendly countries. As the USA falls further behind other nations on the issue of gay rights, the choice of destinations continues to increase.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Barney Frank Calls National Equality March "Useless"

UPDATED: I have received comments from some arguing for work back on th ewhome front. I just do not see activism in our home states - at least not in backwater states like Virginia - as the solution. Years of activism have brough us here in Virginia basically nothing and legal protections for LGBT Virginians continue to rate lower than protecting domestic pets with most of our bigoted legislators. For Virginia, national legislation is the only answer for change within the next decade or more in my assessment. What works in Massachusetts doesn't necessarily work elsewhere.

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Since I heard this story I have had to calm down a bit before writing my thoughts. I'm not sure what happens to members of Congress, but sooner or latter their egos get the better of them and they seem to end up in tempestuous love affairs with themselves. Joining this category is Congressman Barney Frank. Notwithstanding the abject failure of Frank and Congressional Democrats to deliver ANYTHING significant benefiting everyday LGBT Americans - even with a Democrat in the White House and Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress - Mr. self-impressed Frank told Michelangelo Signorile that the National Equality March is ""useless" and LGBT Americans should not put pressure on the White House. Poor Obama. He can't take "more pressure." What about LGBT Americans who continue to be thrown out of the military under DADT or gays fired from their jobs due to religious based bigotry. In my view, Obama's "pressure" is pretty low key compared to what many LGBT Americans face every day in this falsely proclaimed land of "liberty." Here are some highlights from The Gist:

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On the National Equality March:Barney Frank believes the march this weekend and rally on the mall are "useless" and don't put pressure on the White House. "I literally don't understand how this will do anything," he said. "People are kidding themselves. I don't want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless." Besides, he says, "Barack Obama does not need pressure." He says we should model ourselves as lobbyists on "the National Rifle Association." He says people should not come to Washington and should stay home and lobby their members of Congress. "Nobody in Congress even knows they're there, he says, and he is not attending the March: He is going to California to raise money for himself and other Democrats.

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I can't wait for the next call I get from Congressional Democrats asking for money when I will mimic Mr. Frank's words and relate how in my view giving money to Congressional Democrats is "useless." I hope Mr. Frank's fundraising trip is a bust. LGBT Americans need to turn off the LGBT ATM and tell folks like Barney Frank to go f*ck themselves until the deliver REAL results. The time for talk is over. Action is what is needed.

My Readers - Reader Profile of Carole

Every now and then I have done profiles on some of my readers with whom I feel a connect and who, of course, are willing to have themselves discussed on this blog. In the past, profiled individuals have often been other bloggers who are likewise readers. Today, I want to spotlight a very special woman who is a fierce straight ally in the struggle for full civil equality for all LGBT Americans. I first heard from Carole (pictured above left) back in the run up to the vote on Proposition 8 when she contacted me to remind me that not all Christians and Christian denominations are the enemies of gay Americans. In fact, she proudly advised me that her church and some 20+ other churches had taken out a full page ad in a California newspaper urging Californians to vote "No" on Proposition 8. Since then I have heard from her from time to time, particularly during the week of September 28th when I went into total melt down and found my self subject to a TDO. Carole spoke with both the boyfriend and me and her support and words of encouragement have meant a great deal. Here are a few highlights from how Carole describes herself:

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If you ever write a profile of your readers, it would be okay to refer to me as "carole, a retired United Methodist pastor in California, working for equality and hoping to bring change in the church." I have gifted, gay clergy friends who are afraid to come out, and it makes me sick that the church has been the culprit. I'm 68, straight, have been married to the same man for 45 years, have 2 adult kids and 3 young grandchildren. The picture I'm including is from our church web site, taken at my retirement celebration June 28, 2009.

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So this is a "coming out" for me... I realize that we need to be out and connected for support and for bringing fairness and justice to our communities... and in our churches. It's cool if I can be in touch with you. Admire you very much. I hope we'll stay in contact, and I hope you'll call me anytime.

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While Carole will not be in Washington, D.C., this coming Sunday for the NEM, she will be with all of us who are there in spirit. I thank her for all her words of support and her willingness to try to make a difference in a denomination that has not yet taken the gay affirming steps of the the United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church and ELCA. Carole is an example of the wonderful people that I have come to know through this blog. Carole, thank you for all you have done and continue to do. Oh, and Carole first came to my blog via a parishioner who mentioned it to her.

Thursday Male Beauty

Gay Men "Can be Outed by Their Facebook Profiles"

The UK's Pink News has a story that is very relevant in homophobic states like Virginia where gays can be fired at will by employers because of their sexual orientation. The story is that by analyzing one's Facebook profile - particularly your friends - it can be determined whether or not you are gay. Or so say two students, Carter Jernigan and Behram Mistree, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who developed software which looked at the gender and sexuality of a person's Facebook friends. It then used statistical analysis to make a prediction of someone's sexuality. Based on a small control group, the predictions were 100% accurate. In this area, it is precisely the type of thing that zealous homophobes in the military would use to out gays in the military notwithstanding the "Don't Ask" portion of DADT. Here are some story highlights:

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Gay men can be outed by looking at their Facebook friends, a study has found. According to researchers, the information can be found despite discretion and privacy settings. Although many people set their profiles to private, they usually do not hide their friend lists and researchers say it is their friends' profiles which can reveal personal data such as sexuality.

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They developed software which looked at the gender and sexuality of a person's Facebook friends. It then used statistical analysis to make a prediction of someone's sexuality. Although Jernigan and Mistree could not ascertain the sexuality of all the men they surveyed, the programme gave 100 per cent correct results for a small control group. However, it did not work on lesbians or bisexual people of either gender.

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The study has not been published in any academic journal but has raised interesting questions about privacy and discretion on the web. Kevin Bankston, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit digital rights group, told the Boston Globe: “Even if you don’t affirmatively post revealing information, simply publishing your friends’ list may reveal sensitive information about you, or it may lead people to make assumptions about you that are incorrect.

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Again, I can only ponder when Congress and state legislatures will get off their ass and pass laws to stop religious based discrimination against LGBT citizens. Both the military and employers should be looking at job performance and competence, not who one falls in love with or sleeps with in the non-work hours.

Still No Out Reach to LGBT Virginians by Taliban Bob McDonnell

As the November elections in Virginia get closer, Taliban Bob McDonnell continues to try to distance himself from his 1989 thesis setting forth a Christianist road map for governance which McDonnell has consistently followed while in elected office. Bob, actions speak louder than your recent disingenuous words. In the case of gay rights, while in the House of Delegates and then as Attorney General, Taliban Bob's actions towards gays make him the equivalent of Darth Vader for LGBT Virginians. Other than providing what I have heard described as half- assed responses to Equality Virginia's questionnaire, McDonnell has done NOTHING to convince LGBT Virginians that his views on gays have changed. Why? Because in my view his approach to gays has not changed whatsoever. He merely is lying to hide his true anti-gay gay agenda as dictated to him by Pat Robertson, the loons at Liberty University and The Family Foundation, the Virginia affiliate of the ever toxic Focus on the Family. Here's a brief highlight from a Wall Street Journal story where McDonnell again lies about his real views:

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Mr. McDonnell said he wrote the paper, titled "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of The Decade," as a 34-year-old completing a joint law and master's degree program at Regent University, the Virginia school founded by Christian fundamentalist Pat Robertson. In it, Mr. McDonnell wrote that government should actively discriminate against "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators" in favor of married couples.

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Now 55, Mr. McDonnell has said the passages about women don't reflect his opinions. "Like everybody, my views on many issues have changed as I have gotten older," he told reporters. He said he no longer believes government should discriminate against unmarried or gay people.

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Bob, I again challenge you to prove that your views have changed: come to the next HRBOR Third Thursday (see: www.hrbor.org), issue a statement in support of the National Equality March this weekend, or allow yourself to be interviewed and asked hard questions by LGBT bloggers. I'd be more than happy to afford you an interview. But both of us know that none of the foregoing will happen because your views sadly have not really change at all.

A Passionate Call of Why Health Care Reform is So Needed

I am a strong proponent of a major reform of the health care system in this country. It is nothing short of a travesty that the USA cannot provide some basic health care for all its citizens when most of the rest of the industrialized countries in the world already do so - and often far more economically than the system in this country which is run for the benefit of big pharmaceutical companies and big health insurance companies that frequently make obscene profits and literally condemn many to death by refusing life saving procedures. Tonight, Keith Olbermann made the case for why a major reform is needed - indeed, it is immoral not to do so. Here's a video of some of Keith's comments:

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Montana Justice: Discrimination Against Gays "A Prevalent Societal Cancer Grounded In Bigotry and Hate"

In a well reason, but nonetheless surprising ruling in some ways, the Montana Supreme Court in a 6-1 majority ruling upheld a lower court ruling giving parental rights to a Missoula woman who had been in a 10-year lesbian relationship that included two children legally adopted by the other woman in the partnership. The other woman had left the relationship and married a man, and did not want to grant parental rights to her former lesbian partner. The court ruled that the former partner has a "parental interest" in the children and a right to joint custody. This decision in a "red state" shows that at least some in the judiciary - sadly not in Virginia - are waking up to the fact that LGBT Americans are fully human and entitled to the SAME rights as all other citizens. What is even more amazing is that one justice, James Nelson (pictured above), used his concurring opinion to declare in most uncertain terms what a blight homophobia is on society. Here are highlights from the Missoulian:

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In his specially concurring decision, Nelson denounced discrimination against gays and lesbians as "bigotry" and called it "a prevalent societal cancer grounded in bigotry and hate." "I remain absolutely convinced ... that homosexuals are entitled to enjoy precisely the same civil and natural rights as heterosexuals, as a matter of constitutional law," he wrote.

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Nelson said the case shows that until the courts recognize homosexuals as "equal participants with heterosexuals in our society ... with exactly the same civil and natural rights, lesbian and gay citizens will continue to suffer homophobic discrimination." "Regrettably, this sort of discrimination is both socially acceptable and politically popular," he wrote.

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"Sadly, this case represents yet another instance in which fellow Montanans, who happen to be lesbian or gay, are forced to battle for their fundamental rights to love who they want, to form intimate associations, to form family relationships, and to have and raise children - all elemental, natural rights that are accorded, presumptively and without thought or hesitation, to heterosexuals," Nelson wrote.

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Nelson's comments brought a rebuke from Jeff Laszloffy, president of the Montana Family Foundation, a socially conservative organization that filed legal comments in the case on behalf of the adoptive parent of the two children.8

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Kudos to Justice Nelson. Would that there were more judges and justices on the bench who as clearly understood that equal protection under the law means EQUAL rights and protections. Leave it to the Christo-fascists at an affiliate of Daddy Dobson's foul Focus on the Family to attack Justice Nelson for calling the group and its members what they really are: bigots.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

FRC's Tony Perkins and White Supremacy

All too often the the lazy, mindless MSM provides a platform for anti-gay extremists without ever bothering to do a little homework on who exactly they are basically promoting on their shows/networks. Tony Perkins of Family Research Council is a case in point. The guy is a nasty piece of work if there ever was one. Moreover, his racism and white supremacist mind set is actually fairly typical of the latent white supremacist at work at many of the "family values" Christian Right organizations. These organizations hate gays, blacks, immigrants and non-Christians and have nothing but contempt for the Constitution and the right to freedom of religion of other citizens. Yet, the MSM time and time again allows Perkins and bigots like him speak as if he was a legitimate spokesman for main stream organizations. Frankly, other than perhaps Faux News, no legitimate news outlet ought to allow Perkins and those like him on the air. Here are some highlights from Pam's House Blend that show the real face of Perkins and similar false Christians:

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The MSM puts Family Research Council honcho Tony Perkins on the air to represent the "family values" agenda, but seem to ignore his outlandish racist affiliations documented in this diary, including ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, declared a hate group by the SPLC, and the KKK. More background, via Media Matters:.

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Indeed, a Fall 2004 article in the SPLC's Intelligence Report asserted that Perkins "spoke to the Louisiana Council of Conservative Citizens on May 19, 2001," during his tenure as a Louisiana state legislator. The SPLC characterizes the CCC as a "white nationalist" organization, and has reported that the group is "the reincarnation of the racist White Citizens Councils of the 1950s and 1960s." The CCC declares in its statement of principles:

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We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.

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In 1998, nearly three years before Perkins spoke to the CCC a second time, both Sen. Trent Lott and Rep. Bob Barr received widespread national media attention (and outrage) for speaking in front of the CCC—and both politicians used the “I-didn’t-know-their-politics” copout. The national tumult over Lott and Barr that year even prompted US Rep. Thomas Wexler to sponsor a House Resolution condemning the racism of the CCC.

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The next time readers see Perkins pontificating anti-gay bullshit, I hope each of you will take the time to call or e-mail the network providing this bigot a platform and confront them with Perkins' past and demand that they run an apology/correction to viewers explaining their error in broadcasting Perkins and his vile message of bigotry.

Who Said It? Bob McDonnell or Pat Robertson?

Blue Virginia has a great post that looks at the attitudes of Bob McDonnell in comparison with those of Pat Robertson. What one finds is that the reactionary, anti-freedom of religion attitude of Robertson is synonymous more or less with the views of McDonnell. Does Virginia really need a raging theocrat as governor? I do not think so. Here is the Blue Virginia post in its entirety as well as the answers:

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Can you tell who said the following? Was it Pat Robertson or Bob McDonnell?

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Separation of Church and State

(1) "There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore."

(2) "Leaders must correct the conventional folklore about the separation of church and state."

BONUS: "I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." ~ George Bush

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Women

(3) "Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family"

(4) "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

(5) "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."

(6) "It is not a surprising attack by liberals who measure equality [between men and women] on a factual economic basis"

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Feminists

(7) "(feminists are the) real enemies of the traditional family."

(8) "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

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Education

(9) "We're going to bring back God and the Bible and drive the gods of secular humanism right out of the public schools of America."

(10) “The state government has a legitimate role to ensure that family members are educated and socialized in order to operate at a minimum level of self-sufficiency”

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As for who made the above statements, the answers are as follows:

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(1) Pat Robertson(2) Bob McDonnell(3) Bob McDonnell(4) Pat Robertson(5) Pat Robertson(6) Bob McDonnell(7)Bob McDonnell(8)Pat Robertson(9)Pat Robertson(10)Bob McDonnell

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This is NOT what Virginia needs to move it forward. Taliban Bob's claims that he's a moderate are merely well orchestrated lies.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Wrongdoer in Bahrain Hazing Case Yet to be Disciplined

The Virginian Pilot has a story today on the ongoing saga of the Navy's mishandling of the hazing and abuse that occurred in a dog-handling unit in Bahrain which led to a suicide and the dismissal of a gay sailor traumatized by the experience. Such bungling and/or cover up is frankly not a surprise for those of us living close to the military. Making the entire matter worse is that the ring leader of the abuse has been promoted and has so far escaped any consequences for his grotesque conduct. Instead, a subordinate, Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia (pictured at left), was initially set up to take the fall and she finally committed suicide. It's ironic that the Navy brass has time to initiate witch hunts for gays service members but no time to investigate and discharge the real bad apples who do far more to destroy unit morale and cohesiveness. In my opinion, Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who served as head of the unit, should have been court martialed and sent to prison rather than promoted. Here are some story highlights:

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As the Navy takes a fresh look at allegations of widespread hazing in a dog-handling unit in Bahrain, evidence is emerging that some lower-ranking sailors felt scapegoated for abusive behavior that allegedly was masterminded by the man in charge of the unit. One of those sailors, Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, committed suicide shortly after an initial investigation of the abuses was completed in 2007. She had been the unit's second in command.

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Another member of the unit, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jake Wilburn, was ultimately booted out of the Navy with a dishonorable discharge after a fellow sailor, Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, complained of systematic harassment. Rocha later left the Navy and gave up an appointment to the Naval Academy after telling a commanding officer in 2007 that he was gay and suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by the abuse.

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A Navy investigation eventually turned up more than 90 instances of abuse in the unit, including sailors being force-fed dog treats, locked into a kennel and ordered to simulate oral sex. . . . . Wilburn, Rocha and another sailor, Petty Officer 1st Class Shaun Hogan, all say the ringleader of the abuse was Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who served as head of the unit. Toussaint has since been promoted to senior chief and is now assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station's Dam Neck annex. Navy spokesmen said he is deployed and unavailable for interviews.

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Welcome to the Navy way: good ole boy sadists get promoted and honorable gay and lesbian sailors get discharged. It is a truly f*cked up system that needs to change NOW.

‘Pro-LGBT Picket’ at Obama-HRC Dinner

If President Obama believes that his appearance at the HRC dinner this Saturday evening will magically mollify all within the LGBT community, he is sadly mistaken. Indeed, he should expect protesters outside the venue who are tired of nice words and no action - the hallmarks of Obama's approach to LGBT Americans. Longtime activist Andy Thayer is angry and he’s taking his anger from Chicago to Washington. Thayer, you may remember, co-founded the effective online StopDrLaura campaign with fellow activist Robin Tyler, issued a press release yesterday in connection with the protest Saturday evening. Without real action, Obama's words are absolutely meaningless - a fact that seems lost on HRC. Here are some highlights from the press release with which I very much agree:
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While the picket organizers will be participating in the Sunday, Oct. 11th Equality March, they charge that the march organizers have been going easy on the Obama administration and the Democratic Party in general. Barack Obama was long on pro-gay promises during the campaign, they say, yet short on delivering on them once he took power in late January.

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“The time for talking is over,” said Andy Thayer of the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), one of the two organizations sponsoring the picket. “This President promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), he promised to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, he promised to pass the pro-LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act and a whole host of other things. Instead, he’s delivered on nothing while embracing anti-gay bigots Rick Warren and Donnie McClurkin. The last thing we need is more flowery rhetoric in front of rich, self-effacing gays and lesbians dressed up like penguins.”

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”The Obama administration has likened LGBT relationships to incest and bestiality,” said Queer Liberaction co-founder Blake Wilkenson. “He cited his ‘Christian beliefs’ for the reason why he now opposes equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. He refuses issue a stop-loss order to prevent purges of lesbian and gay soldiers. If we are going to get real change out of this White House, we need to make demands of this President. As the great anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass put it, ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand.’”

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For more information about the Saturday, October 10th pro-LGBT picket of President Obama, contact the Gay Liberation Network at LGBTliberation@aol.com or 773.209.1187, or Queer Liberaction at LGBTliberaction@gmail.com or 214.679.6321

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As my friend Wayne Besen has said, "If I were advising President Barack Obama, I would tell him to pay as much attention to the ornery jeers from protesters outside the Human Rights Campaign's Oct. 10th Washington dinner as the cheers coming from inside the ornate ballroom." Wayne went on to correctly note as follows:

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Let it be known that the GLBT community is no longer interested in being pals with the powerful or having the famous tell us we are fabulous - unless it leads to action. If the goal of this evening were simply to provide an interesting dinner guest, Meryl Streep or Michael Moore would have sufficed. What we want from Obama, however, is a fighter working to set us free. We need signed paper in the form of laws, not paper-thin promises and illusive signs of hope. Unless a concrete vision is offered at this event, Obama's speech will sink like concrete in the Potomac River.

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We are way past the time for more talk - regardless of the ass kissing that will no doubt take place at the HRC event. Only real legislative action will suffice. And until that happens, LGBT Americans need to keep their checkbooks and credit cards in the wallets and turn of the LGBT ATM machine completely.

Does Obama Get It? Or Is He In A Bubble Like Bush?

Bob Herbert has a great column in today's New York Times that looks at Obama's apparent inability to get what is in the minds and emotions of every day Americans in terms of the current economy. The same question, however, could apply to Obama and the issue of gay rights or the unwinable war in Afghanistan. At some point, he needs to stop listening to his advisers who - much like the Chimperator's insider crowd - appear to never want to level about what is REALLY going on. On the economic front, the economy for rank and file Americans still stinks tremendously regardless of whatever economic "indicators" pundits and others like to look at. Reality on the streets is what counts because eventually in politics, perception does become reality. Right now, the feeling on the part of many is that Obama and the Congressional Democrats are in over their head and cannot deliver. Here in Virginia, that is translating into Democrat indifference and the likelihood that the GOP may prevail in electing the most reactionary and anti-religious freedom slate to office in many decades. Obama and his gutless cohorts in Congress need to wake up NOW! Here are some column highlights:
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The big question on the domestic front right now is whether President Obama understands the gravity of the employment crisis facing the country. Does he get it? The signals coming out of the White House have not been encouraging.

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The view of most American families is somewhat less blasé. Faced with the relentless monthly costs of housing, transportation, food, clothing, education and so forth, they have precious little time to wait for this lagging indicator to come creeping across the finish line. Americans need jobs now, and if the economy on its own is incapable of putting people back to work — which appears to be the case — then the government needs to step in with aggressive job-creation efforts.

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Nearly one in four American families has suffered a job loss over the past year, according to a survey released by the Economic Policy Institute. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans is officially unemployed, and the real-world jobless rate is worse.

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A massive long-term campaign to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure — which would put large numbers of people to work establishing the essential industrial platform for a truly 21st-century American economy — has not seriously been considered. Large-scale public-works programs that would reach deep into the inner cities and out to hard-pressed suburban and rural areas have been dismissed as the residue of an ancient, unsophisticated era.

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We seem to be waiting for some mythical rebound to come rolling in, magically equipped with robust job creation, a long-term bull market and paradise regained for consumers. It ain’t happening. . . . . The number of people officially unemployed — 15.1 million — is, as The Wall Street Journal noted, greater than the population of 46 of the 50 states.

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The Obama administration seems hamstrung by the unemployment crisis. No big ideas have emerged. No dramatically creative initiatives. While devoting enormous amounts of energy to health care, and trying now to decide what to do about Afghanistan, the president has not even conveyed the sense of urgency that the crisis in employment warrants.

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Whether anything dramatic emerges remains to be seen. The master in this area, of course, was Franklin Roosevelt. His first Inaugural Address was famous for the phrase: “The only thing we have to fear. ...” But he also said in that speech: “Our greatest primary task is to put people to work.” And he said the country should treat that task “as we would treat the emergency of a war.” Now that’s the sense of urgency we need.

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Will Obama wake up? I certainly hope so, but as with the issue of gay rights, I am anything but confident that he will do so. Waiting for Congress to act is a losing plan. We need bold leadership and Obama has been missing in action.