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Barack Obama Sketch

NAACP Supports Marriage Equality

 

 Last night, I listened to Rachel Maddow interview Ben Jealous the president of the NAACP about the organization's recent announcement that their board voted (62-2) in favor of supporting marriage equality. As I listened half halfheartedly to the banter of yesterday's show, I couldn't help but stop and be captivated by video footage of Mr. Jealous being forced to pause as he spoke on this issue, overcome with emotion as he spoke about how his parents had to go to Washington D.C. to marry because interracial marriage was illegal in Baltimore when they were wed.  He gets choked up as he tries to tell us about how people thought that the wedding was a funeral as it traveled back across state lines for a reception at home.

Check out the video here:

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As a mother, as a former bullied child, and as a human being capable of empathy... this speaks volumes to me. The fact is that so long as we condone an attitude of separate but equal in laws that divide us and restrict rights, like civil unions, or worse - so long as we write outright discrimination into our state and national constitutions, we are all guilty of bullying, hatred, and violating the civil rights of others.

It is not the time to sit idly and declare that this is an unimportant fight that belongs to someone else. I am not gay. I don't want to marry anyone of the same sex. I could easily let this issue fall aside and waste not a single breath on it - but that would be wrong. Jealous brilliantly addressed this issue of whether the rights of homosexuals were of just concern for the NAACP (or anyone else really) when he said that, "This is an issue of our constitution. It is a matter of our laws, a question of how our government treats its citizens and ultimately whether we will let states codify discrimination into their constitutions and therefore make hate the law of their land." 

When Rachel asked why the NAACP wasn't content to support individual state causes, he went on to say that,"We decided it was important to come out clearly for the entire country, to make it clear that we will fight these efforts wherever they pop up, we simply cannot stand by and watch one group be targeted for de jure discrimination, we have opposed de jure discrimination from our founding, the reality is the right wing in this country is seeking to instill hate in the state constitutions and we can't stand by no matter who the group is."

Let's repeat that one more time, lest we forget, "We cannot stand by and watch  one group be targeted for de jure discrimination." No. We cannot. The president knows it. Ben Jealous knows it. I know it. You know it too. There are no excuses. There are no good reasons for hate, or separate but equal, or don't ask don't tell, or any of that mopey shame-y stuff anymore. As I watched this fine man speak last night, in my last moments before sleep, I heard the rumble of a stone of hope being hewn from a mountain of despair. This small change in the atmosphere of our country is momentous. I am proud to witness it, as I was proud two weeks ago to watch President Obama express similar sentiment. Though the mountain of despair still stands, another holy stone of hope has gone rolling and I look forward to the landslide.                                    

43 Catholic Agencies File Suit Over Federal Birth Control Mandate

Today 43 Catholic agencies filed suit in 12 different federal courts over the federal mandate requiring employers to cover contraception in their health insurance policies.  The Catholic Church claims that they are being denied their right to freedom of religion. 
Of course, I acknowledge that we absolutely do live in a country where we have a first amendment right to a freedom of religion that should protect people who honestly take religious issue with having to pay for another person's birth control.  However, I also recognize that free exercise of religion also means protection from religion.  Those who voted against, and successfully denied the Blunt Amendment understand that the federal mandate doesn't ask anyone to pay for anybody else's birth control. So let's lay that myth to rest right here and now. The federal mandate simply ensures that women and men are treated equally when offered employee wage and benefit plans.
Consider the case of a hypothetical Tim and Sarah who manage to get two jobs at a Catholic Hospital. As a result of their new employment, Tim and Sarah are each offered wage/benefit packages that include some variation of salary, retirement solutions, and health insurance benefits in exchange for the hard work that they devote to the hospital each day.  The Catholic Hospital, in exchange for Tim and Sarah's hard labor, will make out a series of checks each month.  One to a retirement fund, one to an insurance agency, and one each to Tim and Sarah for their wages. 
When Tim gets his paycheck, he can take it and cash it and spend it however he wants to.  The church has no say in the morality of how he spends the fruits of his labor.  Tim can buy fatty foods, alcohol, cigarettes, condoms, spermicide, or pay for an abortion and there is not one thing that the Catholic Church can say about how he spends the money that he earns from them.
If Tim gets sick, say he gets a testicular torsion that requires that his testicle be removed, his health insurance- which he earned through work, should cover that procedure even if it means that it might render him infertile.  I would go so far as to suggest that if he wanted to have a vasectomy because he wanted one, and for no medical reason at all, other than it was his choice, his insurance ought to cover it.
For those who don't understand this concept, I refer you to an old John Wayne favorite, McLintock.  In the film, John Wayne aka G.W. McLintock is approached for a job:
Devlin Warren: About that job Mr. McLintock.
George Washington McLintock : Look son, I told ya, I got no need for farmers. Or use for them either.
Devlin Warren : Just one minute, Mr. McLintock. My father died last month, that's how come we don't have a homestead. I've got a mother, a little sister to feed. I need that job badly.
George Washington McLintock : What's your name?
Devlin Warren : Devlin Warren.
George Washington McLintock : Well, you've got a job. Go see my home ranch foreman. He's over by the corral.
Devlin Warren : Step down off that carriage, mister!
George Washington McLintock : [Devlin swings and McLintock and gets thrown to the ground] Hold that hog leg! I've been punched many a time in my life but never for hirin' anyone!
Devlin Warren : I don't know what to say. Never begged before. Turned my stomach. I suppose I should have been grateful that you gave me the job.
George Washington McLintock : Gave? Boy, you've got it all wrong. I don't give jobs I hire men.
Drago : You intend to give this man a full day's work, don'tcha?
Devlin Warren : You mean you're still hirin' me? Well, yes, sir, I certainly deliver a fair day's work.
George Washington McLintock : And for that I'll pay you a fair day's wage. You won't give me anything and I won't give you anything. We both hold up our heads. Is that your plug?
Devlin Warren : Yes sir.
George Washington McLintock : Well, hop on him and we'll go get your gear.
Now, think of Sarah.  She, like Tim and good old Devlin Warren, just wants to give a day's work for a day's pay.  She, like Tim and Devlin Warren, just wants to hold her head up.  If she labors for the Catholic Hospital and earns a wage/benefit plan, she ought to be able to have the same freedoms to use her benefits as any man.  
When Sarah gets her paycheck, she can take it and cash it and spend it however she wants to.  The church has no say in the morality of how she spends the fruits of her labor.  Sarah can buy fatty foods, alcohol, cigarettes, condoms, spermicide, or pay for an abortion and there is not one thing that the Catholic Church can say about how she spends the money she earns from them.
If Sarah gets sick, say she gets an ovarian cyst that requires hormonal treatment, her health insurance - which she earned through work, should cover that medicine even if it might make her temporarily infertile and especially since it might save her fertility all together.  I would go so far as to suggest that if she wanted to have her tubes tied and for no medical reason at all, other than it was her choice, her insurance ought to cover it.
Saying that the federal government is asking the Catholic Church to violate it's first amendment right to freedom of religion is ignoring that the Catholic Church has no say in what happens to wages/benefits once they have paid them.  The Catholics who pay for insurance packages dispersed as part of employee benefit programs are really paying nothing more than wages.  They are buying the labor of their employees, not birth control. No one is asking the Catholic Church to violate their first amendment rights.  No one is asking them to do anything more than deliver an honest day's pay for an honest day's work.
I think that both hypothetical Tim and hypothetical Sarah deserve the same healthcare package.  In the wake of a near depression, with slowly recovering unemployment numbers, people shouldn't have to ask themselves if their employer is allowed to hide behind religion to discriminate against them and shirk their responsibility to provide an honest benefit package.
The Catholic Church has a right to free religion, but Sarah also has a right to fair and equal treatment under the law.  She has rights too.  As I've said before, and I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said it before me, "Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose."  If this is so, then so must Church's right to free religion and conscience objection end at Sarah's ovaries. 
If you enjoy this piece, check my archives at addictinginfo, or follow me on Facebook!

Political Compass

If you want, you can take this political compass quiz too.  It's not too long of a quiz and a pretty interesting page.

You won't be able to see all of the leaders I've plotted myself against in one image on the quiz page, but if you click around once you finish your test, you'll see where I found them all to make this conglomerate image. 
At first I was startled at how far left I was.  Then, I looked around me at the ideological company I keep, with Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, and Gandhi nearby, I very quickly became quite content with my location in the political spectrum.
I also don't mind that the two candidates running for 2012 office closest to me, are Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

It's Time For DNC To Back Tom Barret

 

There has been an uproar in the Democratic community as we face what has been dubbed “the most important non presidential election of the decade" between republican incumbent  Scott Walker, who is on the ballot after a recall earlier this year, and his challenger - Democrat, Tom Barret. Interest in this race has been hyped as the pundits on both sides have suggested that the results of this race are likely to set the tone for the upcoming elections this fall. It is a classic standoff. We have a crooked governor, Scott Walker, whom Mitt Romney refers to as a hero, who is well funded by the GOP and it’s SuperPacs on one hand and Tom Barret, and underfunded Democrat who stepped up to run against Walker with little money but with the support of farmers, teachers and steelworkers who have unified against Walker.

Walker has raised more than $25 million since January 2011 to defend his seat,and has spent more than $20 million, according to data compiled by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. In contrast, Barrett — a late entry into the contest who won the primary just last week — had raised only $832,000 by the end of the April reporting period and spent $809,000. Still, even when being outspent by vast amounts of more than 20 to 1, Tom Barret isn’t far behind. A Marquette Law School Poll shows that with three weeks to go until the recall election Governor Scott Walker has taken a six-percentage point lead over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 50-44 percent, among likely voters. This means that this is a race that Tom Barret can win. 

It seems that the DNC ought to step up and start funding Barret’s team. In fact it has been reported that Wisconsin’s Democratic Party has asked the DNC for $500,000 to help with its massive field operation. With less than a month until the June 5th recall election it seems like the DNC would be quicker to cough up the money and help swing the pendulum of the 2012 elections to the left, where they should be. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, to attain a win here. If the DNC recognizes that the polls suggest that very few Wisconsin voters are persuadable at this point — after huge pro-Walker ad expenditures, the numbers have barely budged — then they’ll see that the race will likely be decided by turnout. 

This petition to increase funding for Tom Barret from DNC is hoping to get 125,000 signatures to present to Debbie Wasserman Schultz. It says, “The people have worked hard and it's time to help.” This seems like a no brainer, the DNC should be backing Tom Barret with more than 1/20^th the monetary support that his opponent carries. It is good for Wisconsin for Tom Barret to win.  It is good for the Democratic Party for him to win. I see no reason that the DNC ought not step up and throw some money at this problem, especially when doing so means that a win is likely and beneficial to the whole party.

If you doubt if it is worth your time to click on the link to that petition and sign it, consider the contrast in the two statements below. 

First we have a Wisconsin Democratic operative who says that, “there’s not enough overall national money, national support from both individual donors and D.C. coming through the door and we’ve got three weeks — we need that money now.”

Second we have RNC Chairman Reince Priebus who says,   “We’re all in here, we will be involved foras much as we need to be involved. We haven’t put a limit on the number.”

If this is truly one of the most important elections of the decade, then it is surely for reasons that go beyond the juxtaposition of the ideologies of our two parties in the form of big money vs unions and workers. It is also important because it will show us just how much we allow ourselves to be led around by the nose by the person with the most money.
Let’s fix this.  Make some noise with the DNC by signing the petition.  After all the effort and work that had to happen to get this recall,  now the Democratic Party needs to get in the game, back their player and root for a win.

My people.

Here we have Fremont Peak, and an Afghan Proverb.
Having seen the quote this morning, I couldn't help but slap it on a pic of my one of my favorite people.
I can't help but sing the chorus to Rodney Atkin's song in my head as I prepare this post for you:

These are my people
This is where I come from
We're givin' this life everything we got and then some
It ain't always pretty
But its real
It's the way we were made
Wouldn't have it any other way
These are my people

Poverty

   

Yesterday I posted this image that my sister, Laura and I created together.
This morning I was looking at the comments on that post as it was shared around Facebook.
I saw that one man said this, "Poverty is succumbing to tough external circumstances. I'll never starve or be in want. Determination will make a way..."  I think that is a cocky and ignorant attitude.
I think of physical illness, like in the case of, my quadriplegic grandmother who used every ounce of her determination each day simply trying to live. Were her husband like another man I met with a sick wife, she would have been divorced and left in some institution somewhere. But for the grace of love and a little luck, she would have had a very different life and no amount of determination or good choices would have changed that. Maybe we should remember that phrase, "But for the Grace of Love and Luck" and spend a little more time counting our lucky stars and less time disparaging those without such grace and luck.
I think of the failures of our society toward children and the young women and men who are turned out of their homes for stupid things ranging from being gay to dating someone out of their race which is disgusting for their parents to do. Some get kicked out for using drugs or getting pregnant. I do not fault teens for these lapses of personal responsibility, that's why we don't let them sign contracts, be independent or go to war till they are 18 - they are known for a lack of personal responsibility. As a result we have young people with no home, no education and no real ability to work themselves out of poverty. Again, "But for the Grace of Love and Luck..." my life, and probably yours, would be very different wouldn't it?
I think of mental illness and the scars of war that many citizens and veterans carry that have nothing to do with succumbing to weakness or not being tough enough to survive external circumstances. They are simply victims of illness and disease that our society doesn't understand and thus, discards. Think of that - whole people lost to nothing but carelessness and apathy. These people are not weak, they are sick. There is a difference. They did not choose this illness, they did not choose to carry the heaviest of burdens, their lives are half chance just like everybody else's. Just like yours and mine. (Here we are again - But for the grace of luck...)
To assume that people have earned poverty as a punishment for poor behavior is a denial of every shitty thing that you ever did. It is looking another person in the eye and saying "I am holier than thou. My sins deserve and beget wealth, while yours don't." That makes no sense. That is kicking a broken person when they are down. That is a failure to understand that at any given moment a person can fail desperately at survival. The world is a tough place. It doesn't discriminate toward riches, or cater to determination.
Never, ever, be so cocky as to believe that you are better than the 2-3 million people (mostly children) living in poverty today in America. You are lucky plain and simple. If you don't believe me, think about the fact that your spirit could just as easily have been born to a starving AIDS baby in Africa... How would your determination get you out of that one?
If you are one of those lucky souls who doesn't fight for survival on a daily basis, own it. Pay it forward. Lift somebody else up the way fate did you. Have some humanity - as the most recent meme I saw passing around this morning read, "You are the product of 4 billion years of evolutionary success- act like it."