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Tuesday, March 28th, 2006
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6:40 pm
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| Thursday, May 26th, 2005
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5:59 pm
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This was a story today on the Pacifica Radio program Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. They looked at claims recently made public by Dr. W. David Hager's ex-wife that he was abusive and repeated forced her to have sex. Hager, a stuanch conservative, received a good deal of email attention a couple of years ago when a number of the women's groups in America protested his appointment by Pr. Bush to the Food and Drug Administration's committee that deals with reproductive health. In December 2003, 4 out of 27 people on an FDA committee voted against the over the counter sale of the morning after pill- the emergency contraceptive pill known as Plan B. Hager was 1 of those 4.
The audio for this program is available here.
Thursday, May 26th, 2005
Dr. David Hager's Family Values: Should This Man Be Advising Bush on Women's Health?
Dr. W. David Hager was appointed by the Bush administration to the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee of the Federal Drug Administration in 2002. Hager is a prominent Kentucky based obstetrician- gynecologist who is the author of six books including "Stress and the Women's Body" and "As Jesus Cared for Women." At the time, his appointment to the FDA advisory committee alarmed many women”s groups because of his staunch opposition to abortion, emergency contraception and pre-martial sex. In his writings Dr. Hager has attacked the birth control pill for promoting promiscuity and advised bible readings to relieve premenstrual syndrome.
( Read more... )</li></ul>
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8:34 am - this is truly beautiful...
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| Monday, May 23rd, 2005
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5:52 pm
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Your Political Profile
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Overall: 5% Conservative, 95% Liberal
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Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
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Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
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Fiscal Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
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Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
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Defense and Crime: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
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2:52 pm - Uzbek massacre.
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| Saturday, May 21st, 2005
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3:30 pm - Let's not go Nuclear
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Religious Leaders Decry Attacks on Religious Liberty
Inherent in Impending Senate 'Nuclear Option' Vote
(May 19, 2005) As the Senate begins debate on the nominations of Janice Rogers Brown and Pricilla Owen, a vote on the so-called nuclear option to cut off filibusters against judicial nominees is expected in the Senate in the next week. The leaders of many religious organizations have expressed deep concern over attacks on religious liberty which underly the legislative impasse which exists in the US Senate.
The Rev. William G. Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association said in a statement issued last month  , “No one religious group or political party can ever hold a monopoly on spiritual conviction,” said Rev. Sinkford. “In fact, political opinions vary widely even within particular faith communities. Within my own tradition, Unitarian Universalists experience diversity of opinion as a true blessing. Many different theological viewpoints are able to thrive within our congregations because we have agreed that we need not think alike to love alike.”
Sinkford continued, “To claim that minority-party senators and their supporters are acting ‘against people of faith’ because they wish to preserve the Senate filibuster is an affront to millions of devout Americans.”
“Senator Frist has crossed an important line in our American tradition,” concluded Rev. Sinkford. “The Constitution wisely ensures that there are no religious tests for political offices. While private groups, including churches, have a guaranteed right to speak out on social issues, a democracy's highest elected leaders must hold themselves accountable to all of ‘we, the people.' I believe that Senator Frist has a moral responsibility to declare unequivocally that the political views of the American people do not define the depth or quality of their faith. Our nation was founded on this inspired principle, and we imperil the precious freedoms of all our citizens when we cease to honor and protect the separation of church and state.”
The impasse in the Senate, and its wide-reaching implication for restricting diversity of opinion and religious beliefs from being heard and valued, provides an opportunity for Unitarian Univeralists to speak publicly on this issue.
For further information:
Opinions:
Correspondence:
Additional Resources:
Write to your Senator today! (Sample Letter  )
If you are a member of the clergy or lay leader interested in playing a key role in the fight to preserve the filibuster, please contact Megan Joiner in the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy at mjoiner@uua.org or (202) 296-4672, ext. 12."
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| Thursday, May 19th, 2005
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2:51 pm - Reality TV
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I was just rereading my responses to the survey I posted a few days ago. I said reality shows were "stupid." I'd like to caveat that answer. I don't like the reality TV craze. I despise the return to popularity of the 80s and 90s symbol of capitalism run amuck--Donald Trump. I hate the roman circuses designed to distract the citizenry from the activities of Empire. How can viewers take pleasure in watching the degredation and humiliation of their fellow human beings?
However, I think--in the words of Pacifica reporter Amy Goodman--when it comes to war, we could use a little reality. if we in america saw for just one week the images of war--widows with limbs sheared off and children blown up by cluster bombs, charred and burned bodies--we would abolish war. that kind reality TV, i would be ok with.
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2:46 pm
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| Wednesday, May 18th, 2005
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8:09 pm - Ex-CIA sponsored cuban terrorist in US
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Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles was arrested in Miami Tuesday by immigration authorities as he was preparing to leave the country. Posada is a 77-year-old former CIA operative who has been trying to violently overthrow Fidel Castro's government for four decades. He has been connected to the 1976 bombing of a civilian airliner that killed 73 passengers - the first act of airline terrorism in the Western hemisphere. He snuck into the United States in early March after years of living in hiding in Latin America and is seeking asylum. Hours before the arrest, Cuban President Fidel Castro led about a million Cubans in a protest march in Havana to demand that the United States act against Posada. Castro - who has accused repeatedly accused Washington of double standards in its war on terrorism - spoke to the crowd.
Posada gave a news conference at an empty warehouse near Hialeah where he denied the accusations against him.
Both Cuba and Venezuela have called for the Bush administration to extradite him to face charges of terrorism. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said "As a matter of immigration law and policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not generally remove people to Cuba, nor does ICE generally remove people to countries believed to be acting on Cuba"s behalf."
This claim that the US does not generally send people back to countries acting on Cuba's behlf was highly unusual given that this policy has never been heard of before by anyone involved in ayslum or extradition law. This was a purely political statement made to indicate that the US would not hand over Posada to Venezuela without specifically saying that. US officials know that they have no grounds to make that claim upon. unless they want to accuse Venezuela of torture and there is no evidence to that effect.
In an interview in Tuesday's Miami Herald, Posada said he was amazed the U.S. government had not been looking for him. He said "At first I hid a lot. Now I hide a lot less." He also denied any involvement in the airliner bombing although recently declassified documents from the CIA and FBI indicate he attended at least two planning meetings for the attack. Posada refused to confirm or deny involvement in other attacks, telling the newspaper: "Let"s leave it to history."
More at: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/18/1434251
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8:08 pm - Newsweek Retraction
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The scandal over Newsweek running a story that contained accusations that US soldiers defiled the Quran during interrogations seems to me, in the words of British MP Galloway concerning Senate hearings on the Iraq Oil for Food scandal, the ultimate smoke screen.
There are so many reason why this outrage at Newsweek over the killings of 17 Afghans supposedly caused by the article is utterly foolish at worst and misguided at best. The Pentagon was given an advance copy of the article and asked to identity any objectionable portions. They rose no objections. Beyond that, the problem is not that the article is false or that the source Michael Isikoff used was wrong. It is that the particular claim of Quran defilement in the form of flushing it down the toilet cannot be definitively substantiated. The claim may still very well be true.
Even if this one instance were not true--and it's not clear that it's not--we cannot allow the verdict to be, as some popular right-wing hack Michelle Malkin wrote: "Newsweek Lied, People Died."
Let's be clear, Newsweek did not retract the possibility and the claim that Quran defilement has occured. They retracted the fact that it was mention in a military investigative report about to be released.
Beyond all of this, the level of confirmed abuse, exploitation, mistreatment, and torture that US soldiers have engaged in towards Muslim and Arab detainees is so staggering--is flushing the Quran really out of the realm of possibility?
Just recently a new book was published by a soldier who worked on the inside at Gitmo. A former U.S army linguist who worked as an Arabic translator at the U.S prison camp in Guantanamo is speaking out about what he witnessed. Erik Saar was stationed at the camp from December 2002 to June 2003. "Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo" describes a wide range of practices and techniques used by U.S military officers at Guantanamo and condoned by senior officers. These practices included female interrogators undressing to sexually intice male detainees and the smearing of what appeared to be menstrual blood on detainee's faces.
The real issue here is not bad journalism that seriously missed the marked--except as a techincal, not substantive, point. As Michael Ratner, head of the Center for Constitutional rights noted, the real issue here is that "the United States should stop torturing people and stop abusing them. And their interrogators should stop exploiting religion." He also said, "You add to that the interrogation techniques that were actually approved by Rumsfeld at Guantanamo, and those are all about religious abuse. Those are about forcible shaving of Muslims. Those are about stripping of Muslims. Those are about exploiting phobias – these are words from Rumsfeld's own approved interrogation techniques – exploiting phobias, e.g., dogs. They are about taking away comfort items, e.g., religious items. So, we are talking about an entire system of interrogation that in part was based upon Muslim sensitivities."
Aside from exploiting Muslim sensitivities, they violate international law, the Geneva Conventions, the Conventions Against Torture and Degrading Treatment, and it's a slap in the face to all folks who believe in basic human dignity.
current mood:  discontent
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| Tuesday, May 17th, 2005
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8:45 pm - Media Reform
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This past weekend was the 2nd National Conference for Media Reform. It was an amazing ensemble of folks from around this country and world working to transform the media into a democratic vehicle that serves society's interests. These people included low power FM operators, media critics, journalists, professors, Paficia Network folks, Air America Radio personalities, members of Congress, Democracy Now! devotees, anti-media consolidation workers, Indymedia activist and many more. They are people who are challenging the media at all levels. They refuse to have the national agenda--including issues of war and peace, life and death, freedom and civil liberites--to be decided and dictated by military generals, corporate executives, or establishment politicians.
The open panel included Mark Cooper, the funky Malkia Cyril of Youth Media Council, the amazing Amy Goodman (my heroine!) of Democracy Now!, Janine Jackson of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and Robert McChesney author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy.
Amy Goodman was, as always, fantastic. It's good she came last. She's almost impossible to follow in a speaker line-up. She spoke about the bombing of, what will soon be my local radio station, KPFT 90.1 FM--the Pacifica station in Houston, TX. The bombing of the KPFT transmiter happened within weeks of the station's founding--this was the first radio station bombing in American history. Who did it? The KKK. Hate groups understand the need to perpetuate stereotypes and simplistic explinations of the world that separate people into categories that make that them easy to demonize. These caricatures that feed the KKK are precisely what Paficia dismanltes by providing space for kinds of people to tell their own stories.
Station KPFA was one of the few public spaces, outside of a few black churches, where whitelisted African American actor, singer, civil rights activist Paul Robeson knew he could go and be heard. WBAI in New York aired the great debate between Malcolm X and author James Baldwin on the effectiveness of nonviolence as a method of agitation for civil rights. The Pacifica archives has the largest collection of audio material of Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the founders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the originator of the phrase, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."
Pacifica went on the air in April 1949 with station KPFA in Berkley, CA. The first thing those who tuned in heard was the chain-smoking, pacifist founder Lewis Hill asking for money. Pacifica pioneered the notion of listner-sponsored broadcast that was later adopted by NPR and PBS. When Lew Hill emerged from the camps that held many of this nation's World War II conscientious objectors, he thought there needed to be a media oulet in America not owned or sponsored by corporations or men that profited from war.
This is what Goodman spoke about. More to come...
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8:43 pm
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At long last, I have graduated. I now have a B.A. in History and English from Lamar University. In August, I will be teaching middle school English in Houston, Texas as part of Teach for America. TFA is a program designed to serve those forgotten, under-resourced schools and student in this country. The vision is to eliminate the achievement gap between whiter, more affluent schools and those schools more heavily attended by ethnic minorities and children from the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder--not to suggest that there are no predominately minority and/or economically challenged school districts that perform at or above expectations.
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| Monday, May 16th, 2005
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7:20 pm
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On April 30, I attended a meeting of the Board of Directors for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. It is a remarkable group of people. We come from across this great nation of ours with one goal in mind: abolition. We are justice workers and friends of mercy. One of the folks I serve with and have come to call a friend is D.K.
I first met the rest of the Board in October 2004 when I was elected. That Saturday we were all in D.C. and had a working lunch. I was seated between two rather amazing fellows. One was DK, David Kaczynski--brother of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. David was the one who thought his brother might be the Unabomber based on the writings and turned him over to the authorities. The guy to my other side was Bud Welch. Bud lost his daughter Julie in the Oklahoma City bombing. How amazing is it that I get to sit and work with these two guys with very different experiences of murder, bombings, and the criminal justice system, but who have come together say executions don't work and they insult justice.
Is it weird to say I find myself becoming friends with the brother of the Unabomber? Daivd is a Bhuddist vegetarian and Executive Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.
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| Saturday, May 14th, 2005
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6:54 pm
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1. Your Full name: T J Geiger II
2. Do you feel like your name fits you? yes
3. Do you have an alter ego? If so, what is his/her name? no
4. Where were you born? Colorado City, Texas
5. Where do you live? Beaumont, TX
6. Do you like to travel? yeah
7. What is your birthday? 7/29/1985
8. Do you have siblings? one half-brother
9. Do you have pets? nope
10. Which was the happiest year of your life? 2004
11. How old do you wish you were? 21
12. A movie is being made about your life. Who would you cast to play yourself? Rob Lowe
13. Who would you cast to play your significant other? (if you have no significant other, cast someone anyway) Julia Roberts
14. How would this movie end? in glory and fame
15. Is it better to be famous or infamous? neither
16. You're going to die a natural death. What is the cause? heart attack
17. You're going to die a sudden, tragic death. What is the cause? car crash
18. How long do you plan on living? as long as I can serve the interests of justice and freedom
19. What was the last song you got stuck in your head? Power to the Peaceful-Michael Franti
20. Sing any commercial jingle:
21. What is your favourite element on the periodic table? silver
22. Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise
23. Introvert or extrovert? I'm really not sure
24. Creation or evolution? Evolution
25. Action or reaction? action
26. Unity or individuality? individuality
27. Hugs or drugs? Hugs
28. Animal, vegetable, or mineral? animal
29. Popsicle, creamcicle, or fudgecicle? fudgecicle
30. Fight or flight? Fight
31. Who is your favourite historical figure? William Llyod Garrison or Lucretia Mott.
32. Which historical figure could we have done without? Henry Stanton-husband of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
33. What happened in the last dream you remember? met an old friend.
34. Do nice guys really finish last? as a nice guy, I'd like to say no.
35. What are your favourite boy names? Tristan, William, Marc, Robert
36. What are your favourite girl names? Gloria, Mary, Elizabeth, Alice, Claire
37. Open or closed? Wide open
38. White bread or wheat bread? Wheat
39. Is it better to burn out than to fade away? yes
40. You put a quarter into a toy machine. What comes out? Freud action figure
41.What do you want to be when you grow up? president or journalist
42. What were your favourite childhood toys? dirt
43. What was your first pet? hercules
44. What annoys you? smalls acts of quiet brutality
45. What is your favourite action caption from the old batman tv show? never saw it
46. How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsie pop? dunno
47. The glass... half empty or half full? full
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON
48. Tightie whities. i'm wearing them
49. Mc Donalds happy meals. yuck, with a smile
50. Reality shows. stupid
51. Gummi bears or gummi worms? worms
52.Would you rather sky dive or deep sea dive? sky
53. Paper or plastic? Paper
54. What position do you sleep in? side
55. Do you sleep on the left, right, or middle of the bed? all of the above
56. Sweet or sour? sweet
57. What was your favourite after school special? Blossom
58. What is your favourite word? love
59. Beach or mountains? beach
60. Mounds or almond joy? Almond Joy
61. Do YOU feel like a nut? yes
62. To give or to recieve? give
63. Chocolate or caramel? chocolate
64. Do you have any nicknames? Rooster-from my father
65. What does your name mean? For me-family and connection
66. Have you ever fainted? no
67.Have you ever had a crush on a school teacher? no
68.What was the last thing you ate? rice and shrimp
69.Do you have any bad habits? messing about with my hair and biting my tounge
WORD ASSOCIATION
what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear...
70. Grey... Earl
71. Human... life
72. Fruit loop... crazy
73. Glove... doesn't fit
74. Plum... pie
75. Structure... justice
76. Race... relations
77. Heart... beat
78. Parasite... green
79. What was your first happy memory? opening christmas presents
80. What was your first unhappy memory? getting spanked
81. If you could visit any time period, what would it be? 1820-1840 USA
82. What would jesus do? not bomb, shot or execute people
83. Make up a word and define it. omit
84. Favourite kool aid flavour? cherry
85. Favourite pick up line? never used one or had one used on me
86. Who was the third gunman on the grassy knoll? james files jfkmurdersolved.com
87. What did you like to make believe as a child? that i had magical powers
88. Did you have an immaginary friend? let me ask them...
89. Would you like to live in a castle or a mansion? neither
91. Do it fast or do it right? fast and right
92. What was the last book you read? Savage Inequalities-by Johnathan Kozol
93. Have you ever had surgery? no
94. Random fact about you...... I'm wearing a woman's watch.
95. What is the first thing you wash in the shower? hair
96. What is your favourite cereal? kix
97. If you could learn any foreign language, what would it be? Yuraba
98. If you had the choice to live forever, would you? yes
99. If you had the choice to be the opposite sex for a day, would you? just for one day? why couldn't it be for longer?
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
100. Fate? yes
101. Ghosts? Without a doubt
102. God? Absolutely
103. Big foot? No
104. Soul mates? yep
105. Aliens? yes
106. Angels? Yes
107. Loch ness monster? No
108. Heaven and hell? yes, we make them both here on earth
109. The Zodiac? nope
110. Love at first sight? yep
111. Karma? yes
112. Vampires? no
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| Monday, January 3rd, 2005
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11:53 pm
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12:33 am
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While in Washington, I got a shirt that says, "Fry Fish, Not People. Alaskans Against the Death Penalty." And it has a trout in the center. Love it.
Sorry to my vegetarian friends, but fish just don't carry the same weight as people, literally or metaphorically.
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12:10 am
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WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!
Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO (c) 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY
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12:07 am
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The Bell
By Stephan Smith
"Oh where are you going?" said the man at his desk
"I'm going to a new world," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I'm going to a new world," said the child and he stood
"Oh I'm sounding drums of war," said the man at his desk
"Oh, I will not fight your war," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I will not fight your war," said the child and he stood
"Oh, but don't you love your country?" said the man at his desk
"Yes, I do, but you don't," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I do but you don't," said the child and he stood
"Oh, but do you know the truth?" said the man at his desk
"Yes, you lie and call it truth," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"You lie and call it truth," said the child and he stood
"Oh, you must be scared to die," said the man at his desk
"No, I'm prepared and you're scared," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I'm prepared and you're scared," said the child and he stood
"Oh, I think I hear a bell," said the man at his desk
"Yes, it's ringing you to hell," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"Yes, it's ringing you to hell," said the child and he stood
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| Saturday, January 1st, 2005
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10:50 pm
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The day after the election and right after Kerry conceeded, I went to my modern dance class, which I love btw. It was really loud, everyone was talking and really excited. the instructor commented on it and said that, while that was good, she was a little overwhelmed that day and that we were going to have a class dedicated to stretching. so we did very slow, calming, centering stretches in dimmed light and, at the end, we were all prostrate on th floor in total darkness. I and few others remained still a few minutes after class had ended because of how good and calm we felt. Afterwards, I learned from Ms. Howes, the instructor, that she was overwhelmed from the election of bush as well. The class was exactly what I needed. it helped to sustain me thourghout the day, and i really believe it helped me get to the point that i was ready to get back to my activism the next day.
On September 10th 2004, I hosted an event outside our student union remembering september 11ths. That's right plural. It was called 9/11: Remembering the Dead. I had gathered information on different terrorist and violent events that happened on 9/11s throughout history and around the world for the purpose of reminding people that, on 9/11/2001, the US entered a global community of victimhood. we were trying to connect the tears that flowed through the streets of New York and america to the tears of people around the world who had lost loved ones to police, paramilitary, and death squad violnce, often with those violent groups having the backing of US political elites.
we talked about 9/11/1971 and the bloody CIA-backed, Kissinger-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected president of Chile Salvador Allende.
9-11-1977 and the brutal beating death of Stephen Biko the founder of the Black Consciousness movement by South African police. Biko helped provide the mental tools needed to fight apartheid. He was beaten and then bled internally to death while being transported to another prison.
9-11-1990 and the US-backed death squad assasination of Myrna Mack, an anthropolgist who was documenting the extermination of indigenous Guatelmalans-the Mayan descendants-by the government for the purposes of economic development by US companies.
9-11-1993 and the assasination of Antonie Izmery. The Haitian businessman was a supporter of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was at a 9/11 remembrance demonstration held to honor the some 12 people who were killed in a incident that occurred on 9-11-1988 when anti-democratic rebels stormed a church and began shooting people during a Mass being presided over by the future first democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Izmery was forced to his knees behind a church and in broad daylight, in cold-blood, he was executed.
The answer to terrorism is a global community united against terrorism wether it begins in Baghdad or the white house and pentagon. The answer is not escalting militarism and authoritarianism.
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10:31 pm
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This is my first set of posts post-election. For a couple of days I was totally out of it. I was blown away by the success of the republican smear tactics and fear mongering.
People who voted for bush...you voted for torture. FUCKING HELL! i do not understand. We are continual gathering more and more evidence that the policy of OKing torture for detainees and prisoners goes right to the top. One of the horrors perpetrated in Abu Ghraib was forcible sodomy of male prisoners. So justify for me, please, the logic that says you can vote for somebody because he's against people of the same sex marrying and having consentual sex, but is complicit in the sodomizing of men and the rape of women!
But anyway, on day three of the post-election period, I was ready to hit the ground running. I started booking events, making flyers, writing speeches, preparing projects. Elections come and go and we must, we must, we must do the work to lay the foundation for men and women to run for elective office on a platform of progressive ideas. As I've said before, we can't be short-term freedom fighters. We've got to be in the struggle for justice, peace and equality for the long haul. I hold on, not blindly, naively, overly enthusiastically, to the fact that John Kerry-who was successly labeled as a Massachusetts liberal-won more votes for president than any other person in history. (Except for the other guy who won.) But that is important to say, because remember Michael Dukakis? The last Mass liberal got very few votes. People, we did good and we'll better next time.
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iamamystic's journal
on the importance of maintaining Senate rules that permit the filibuster option from earthjustice.org