Best Christmas Present Ever….
Posted by BoShuff on November 26th, 2008 filed in humor2 Comments »
Even if it is a bit early…
Please say a word of thanks to whatever power you do that with….
AWESOME
I’m Angry…
Posted by BoShuff on November 24th, 2008 filed in General Election, cabinetComment now »
At the person that I chose as my candidate for President.
Not President-Elect Obama, but the first person I chose.
I am angry at Sen. Hillary Clinton.
I’m angry because soon she will be Secretary Clinton.
I’m angry because I feel that this decision is all about her and no longer about the ideals, policies and plans that she laid out during the campaign.
I’m angry because the United States Senate is losing someone who could really push for universal health care, someone who would move ahead with LGBT equality, someone who had the political clout and capital to pass the agenda that Obama has laid out and to keep him in check when that agenda didn’t give with her own thoughts.
This move by President-Elect Obama is strategically brilliant, and I am stunned that Hillary fell for it. Not only has ne figured out how to get her out of the Senate, he figured out how to get her out of the country most of the time. Even when she is in the country, having her focus be on purely international issues will eliminate her as a voice for change on domestic programs. Brilliant.
But my anger comes back to Hillary’s choice to accept it. Why? I don’t see what she gains except a line on a resume. Someone who never needs to worry about an introduction much less a resume is worrying, it seems, about the next box to check on her list of accomplishments.
Yet it doesn’t move forward any of her core values. Hell, it doesn’t even help crack a glass ceiling, that one got cracked by her husband 16 years ago.
I want to see Sen. Clinton stay Sen. Clinton for a very long time. To pick up the mantle that Sen. Kennedy will at some point have to put down. To be a voice for the traditional core Democratic Party values. Sen. Reid, with his bold step of having a stern talking to with Sen. Lieberman clearly doesn’t want it. So who is left? (Pun intended) Who will pick up the cause of progressive values in the Senate and continue to pressure Democrats to be Democrats? If Sen. Brown of Ohio had been there longer than maybe him. The loss of Biden, Obama and Clinton in the Senate will make it interesting to see how the left will be able to stand up in the power brokering.
So, dear Senator, know that there are supporters and donors of yours who are just a little bit miffed. Before you head down to the State Department, please, tell us who will fill your shoes in the Senate. Who is it that we on the left can turn to for inspiration and leadership? Who will make sure that the little guy isn’t still left behind?
If you haven’t yet made your decision, please re-consider. While fixing America’s place in the world is important, fixing America is more important.
Not Political…
Posted by BoShuff on November 22nd, 2008 filed in humor1 Comment »
But damn hot.
But it’s damn hot.
WOW
Right Picture, Wrong Frame…
Posted by BoShuff on November 19th, 2008 filed in LGBT1 Comment »
I have been struggling with the protest and rally reaction to the passage of Prop 8 in California for a number of reasons.
I’ve talked already about how frustrated I am with this delayed response to the passage of Marriage Amendments so I won’t get into that again.
Today, however, it dawned on me why these protests and rallies were frustrating me so much.
I think that the grassroots uprising that we are seeing is excellent, and I am thrilled that people are engaged that were never engaged before. My struggle is based simply on the thought that those who are rallying are presenting the message in the wrong frame.
I looked through the pictures from the Columbus rally. I will grant you, I was not there and therefore did not hear and see everything. That being said, the overwhelming sentiment of that rally and from what I have seen appear as icons and avatars, other writings, pictures from other events seems to be a message of “Stop the Hate.” The “H8″ imagery is powerful and a great visual trick, one that I am sure resonates even better with the generation of text messages and facebook.
The problem, as I see it, is that the message of “Stop the Hate” will not change the minds of the people whose minds we need to change.
There are people who voted for Prop 8, and all the other Marriage Amendments because they hate LGBT people. That’s true. These people will not change. Telling them to stop hating us is not going to get them to stop hating us.
The people that matter in this debate are the middle. As is always true in any political fight, the middle is what matters. These voters will not be swayed by a stop the hate message because they don’t believe that they hate us. These are the voters whose votes were determined by their communities of faith, by their uncomfortability with changing the definition of a word that they are all experts on and by those who would be perfectly fine with civil unions. This is the moveable middle, and they don’t hate us. They simply do not understand the issue well enough to be fully informed when they are voting.
Megaphones and rally signs talking about hate will make us feel better, but they won’t move the middle. The middle will not attend the rallies - the rally should be used to energize and activate the supporters. The problem lies in what will they see in the mainstream media coverage of the event.
That’s where the frame cracks. It doesn’t matter if it is 40 people on Long Island, 500 in Columbus, or 10,000 in San Francisco, the imagery and message coming out of the rally was that of “Stop the Hate.” If people don’t think that label applies to them, then they won’t hear the message wrapped around it. This type of message will create the feeling in the moveable middle that we are simply playing the victim card.
It’s time to get the debate about relationship recognition back on track. We must talk not about stopping the hate, but about recognizing the love. We have to understand why voters, even voters within San Francisco, voted for Prop 8. Those are the messages that we must put our passion behind.
My fear is that the wave of energy will peak and crash before we have the time to find out which messages will move voters. I am worried that the organizations that are in place - HRC, Statewide Orgs, the Task Force etc will miss the opportunity to capture this grassroots energy and that the new organizations that are forming will not use messages that matter with the same energy.
These organizations need to recognize the strength of the others, where they exist, and complement each other. We must maintain control of the message for all the sound and fury to amount to anything.
Bearing SSW…
Posted by BoShuff on November 9th, 2008 filed in personal2 Comments »
Heading on vacation today. Off on our annual cruise so not going to have internet access for the week.
You want to see funny - watch all the straight people on a cruise figure out what the group of 27 bears actually are.
This is Our Loss…
Posted by BoShuff on November 6th, 2008 filed in General Election, LGBT3 Comments »
This post will probably piss some people off, but I am sort of known for that, so here goes.
I am saddled with the feeling that the loss in California is being over hyped, by our side. I am also bothered by a nagging feeling that people have forgotten that many other states have gone through the same thing already.
While I understand that rights were taken away in this case, and that is a significant difference, I am not feeling the emotion of anger or sadness that many on this blog and many others are expressing.
Let me explain.
Yes, rights previously acknowledged by the California Supreme Court were taken away, and this is the first time that has ever happened.
That part of the Prop 8 is disturbing and very worrisome.
However, these are not rights that have been long established in the psyche of the voters. Many of them, in fact, did not buy the argument that rights were being taken away because they didn’t believe that they existed in the first place.
Furthermore, from a strictly practical standpoint, no one in California is any worse off than they were in May. All of the couples who were married in the interim are still married. All those who were not, are not.
The “harm” that has been done is simply internal and emotional. I understand that need and that reaction. I understand it because I have lived it. Ohio, where I live, went through this same struggle four years ago, as have many other states along the way. I understand the grieving process that people will need to go through and I empathize with people living in California who are in that process. I believe as well that the length and depth of grief will be amplified because our expectations were that we could win. Emotional reactions to situations occur when our expectations of the situation are not met. I think this emotion is driving far more of the statements being made recently than is the factual and concrete evidence of harm.
My fear, however, is that we will look backwards only and not forward. I am saddened by the finger pointing and name calling that has begun already. I understand that one of the stages of grief is to try to figure out how this could have happened, and it is human tendency to blame the easiest cause we can find. So, it is natural that the first reaction is to blame the closest thing, group, or people we can find.
Therein lays my fear.
Our loss in California is our loss. Our loss in Ohio was our loss. Our losses in Arkansas and Florida and Arizona were our loss. We lost.
It is a difference in vision. Were we victims of others, or do we determine our own destiny.
I refuse to be a victim any longer, and I will own my communities defeats. I am partly responsible for this loss, and the others.
I do so, because the flip side of the coin is what keeps me motivated.
I will not be “given” rights by some other benevolent entity. I will win them. I will claim partial responsibility when I help win them, and the pride of that achievement will carry me forward to the next struggle.
Is the high support for Prop 8 among African Americans their fault? No, it is ours. We did not do enough to win those votes and be present in that community to earn their respect and understanding.
Is the high support from the Mormon Church to blame? No, we knew that this would be an expensive campaign, and the campaign actually raised more money than our opposition. It is our fault that we have not yet reached a point where our narrative outweighs theirs.
What Prop 8, and the approval of it by voters shows me is simply that we are not as far along the road to full equality as we thought we were.
This loss hurts, for sure. Coupled with the other losses, it definitely put a sting into what should have been a great night. A night that saw the election of a man who included the words “gay and lesbian” in his acceptance speech. A night that saw the author of the Federal Marriage Amendment sent packing. A night that saw sweeping change and one of the largest steps forward in the civil rights struggle ushered in. This should have been a night to celebrate on all fronts, and unfortunately it wasn’t.
The sky has not fallen, however, and we must remember that.
We must learn from what we have not yet accomplished and figure out how we accomplish it another way. We must stop, step back for a moment, and do a deep analysis on now we progress from here. The responsibility for our civil rights lie with none other than ourselves, and if we don’t look in the mirror instead of point a finger, we will continue to repeat the cycle.
The Road is Not Always Smooth…
Posted by BoShuff on November 5th, 2008 filed in General Election, LGBT1 Comment »
I awoke this morning early in order to check on the final results form last night, yet all the unanswered questions from before I went to bed are still unanswered.
I am doing my best to not be bittersweet in my celebrations of what occurred yesterday.
Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and perhaps California took a step backwards last night, this is true.
Yet we also made some important gains.
In New York, the Democrats, it seems, will control the Legislature for the first time since 1965 which should allow Marriage Equality to be passed by the Legislature.
In Colorado, Marilyn Musgrave, the author of the Federal Marriage Amendment, was soundly defeated by a woman both fully supported by and supportive of the LGBT Community.
Most importantly is the sea change that the national results represent. The conservative wing of the Republican Party has been shut down. I do not think that this will last for a long time, the bigots will rise again, but for now there is a different tone and a different power structure in place.
Now, however, is the time that the LGBT Community must hold accountable the people that we helped put in place. There is no longer any reason to leave idle Hate Crimes Legislation, an inclusive ENDA a repeal of DADT and a repeal of DOMA. In 2010 the Democrats will lose seats in Congress, it is inevitable, so we must act now.
Our LGBT organizations must begin a push to make this happen. We have shown that we have the ability to mobilize money and people for elections and it is now time for the community to prove that we can also move legislation.
As new Senators and Members of Congress begin to move toward Washington, we have an oportunity to remind them of who sent them there. If you donated anything to any campaign, follow up. If you volunteered on a campaign, remind them of who you are. If you have the skills and desire, think about going to work for the new administration or office holders.
We will win Marriage Equality. It may not be in 2008, but it’s coming. Meanwhile, the road to full equality has many more stops along it, and this is our chance to reach some of them.
The Day…
Posted by BoShuff on November 4th, 2008 filed in General Election2 Comments »
This day, they say, has been two years in coming. This day, they say, will alter the course of history of the United States and of the world.
This day, I say, should be the start of a brand new day.
I just came across a quote from a 6th grade teacher to her class. It wasn’t cited, so if I find it I will add the appropriate credit.
Rosa sat
so Martin could walk
so Barack could run
so we could fly.
We have the opportunity today to close more the door on the darkest of times in our country. We have the opportunity to wedge closed the door on hatred and the power of the “religious right.” We have the opportunity today to slam the door on the failed policies of the last eight years and fix the mistake of 2000.
Go vote. Vote like your life depends on it. On some level it does.
And Now for Something Lighter…
Posted by BoShuff on November 3rd, 2008 filed in humor2 Comments »
Hostess has announced that Twinkies will come in a lighter 100 calorie pack soon. YAY! I’m sorry, I love twinkie but boy do they make me feel guilty. This also ensures that in the case of nuclear winter, we can all survive as slimmer versions by eating a lower-calorie twinkie - the only food sure to survive.
Lighter Twinkies - From CNN.com
Help Win Marriage Equality In New York…
Posted by BoShuff on November 2nd, 2008 filed in General Election, LGBTComment now »
Marriage Equality, decided by a Legislature and signed by the Governor, is a possibility in New York in the next year if the Democrats are able to win back control of the New York State Senate. The measure has passed the House before, and will again in the upcoming session.
Supporters of a Republican in one of the most tightly watched races are using this as a wedge issue and putting out possibly illegal robocalls in the last two days.
A legislative win on marriage will permanently take away one of the arguments that the right uses all the time, that of “judicial activists.” To win in a statehouse is almost as vital to the movement as maintaining the decision in California and preserving our ballot win in Arizona.
Joe Mesi is the candidate for State Senate that is being attacked for his support of marriage.
While it’s late, there is still work to be done and therefore donations are still needed. This is a double opportunity - help the Democrats win the Senate and show the opposition that using the LGBT community as a wedge issue is an expensive mistake.
Donate anything you can - Joe Mesi for State Senate