CA Republican "Family Values" in Action

(via Huffingtonpost.com) 

Early Wednesday morning, State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. Sources report that Ashburn --a fierce opponent of gay rights -- was driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub; when the officer stopped the state-issued vehicle, there was an unidentified man in the passenger seat of the car.

Ashburn has issued an apology for the incident:

"I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did. I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me - my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate."

Talking Points Memo did a little  bit of homework and found the Senator's 2005 efforts to defend California  from  the   Gay threat :

"We need to preserve traditional values for the future of our children. Children must be raised with morals and principles. As a society, we must provide them with a secured and loving environment that allows them to flourish."

Those are the words of California state Senator Roy Ashburn, a father of four, quoted in a 2005press release announcing a rally to support "traditional marriage."

Ashburn, of course, is the senator with the anti-gay record who was reportedly a regular at Sacramento gay clubs. He was picked up for a DUI early Wednesday morning, reportedly with an unidentified man in he car.

So we decided to look back: just how anti-gay is Ashburn's record?

Said Equality California director Geoff Kors in an interview with TPMmuckraker: "He has voted against every LGBT rights bill that's been introduced in California since he's been in the office."

At that 2005 anti-gay marriage rally, Ashburn said that "Our friends and neighbors in our community are restating the obvious -- that the institute of marriage is fundamental to our society. Marriage between one man and one woman is fundamental to civilization."

That's according to an AP account (via Nexis) of the rally, which was disrupted by protesters. According to the article, Ashburn's office claimed that "hundreds gathered at Patriots Park to support traditional marriage and family values."

But a local newspaper reported "there were actually fewer than 20 supporters."

Here's a look at the votes of Ashburn, a Republican of Bakersfield:

• In 2006, he voted no on a measure to add material on the contributions of gay Americans who had contributed to the development of California or the United States
• In 2008 he voted against expanding anti-discrimination laws to include sexual discrimination.
• In 2009 he voted against a resolution to oppose Prop 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot question.
• Last September, he voted against recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages.
• That same month Ashburn opposed creating Harvey Milk Day, to honor the slain gay rights icon from San Francisco.

Craig Ferguson on  "The Late Late Show" had the best take on the whole  situation...

If you are so inclined...

Ok, usually I don't like to do this, but  in the case  it's for a  great cause.    An old friend of mine, Steve Funk is running for  State Assembly from the Illinois 18th District.  (For those reaching for their maps,  that  is the North Side of Chicago.)     He is running as a libertarian.  If you  are so moved,  please  donate  to help put Steve Funk on the Ballot in  Illinois.  In an era when  neither Democrats or Republicans seem able to get anything done,  it makes sense to start electing independents  who can  think outside the old idealogical boxes!

When there is no point to debate...

Facebook is an interesting animal. It allows you to trade opinions with people in slightly less-than real time. For the most part I find this to be a good thing. It gives you the chance to process, to think, and to then respond. This is, as I just said, a good thing. .... For the most part anyway. There are however, times when there is no way to respond to positions so separated from reality,  that there is no longer any point in trying to have a reasoned discussion of whatever the particular issue is. Health Care Reform is such an issue.

I have friends with whom I disagree with on the issue of Health Care Reform. They are reasoned, intelligent, logical even compassionate people in nearly all other areas of their lives. Yet on this particular issue, they are so utterly, completely and unbelievably wrong, as to boggle the mind.

Tomorrow the President of the United States, will meet with , and seek common ground with, people who are irrationally committed to preventing any meaningful change in how health care is accessed and paid for in this country. First, before I tell you what is on my mind? As preface, I would ask you take just few moments and hear about one family's perspective on Health Care coverage in the United States.

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To my friends who disagree with me on this issue. I love you . I love you even more we disagree on things. Your opposing perspectives make me the better, the smarter and the wiser for having had the debate. Yet on this issue, more than any other, I have had enough.. You are wrong. You are not just wrong, you are inconceivably, wildly and unbelievably wrong. Your opposition to a public option and any serious reform of the for-profit health insurance industry calls into question your basic human nature.

And I am done arguing with you about this. If you are unable to grasp the very basic concept that the need for a civil society to act in defense of the lives and health of its own people, MUST outweigh the lust for profit. Then you are saying that in the United States of America in 2010, you feel dying because you are poor and cannot afford medical care, is dying from a justifiable natural cause.

If you continue to claim that "the free market can provide" in the face nearly a century of indisputable evidence to the contrary. You are demonstrating a lack of even  a basic understanding  of the concepts of free market capitalism you claim to champion.  Captialism 101 - what determines price in a free market?  Supply and Demand.   The demand for health care will always infinitely outpace the supply.  Left only to market forces  the costs  of health care will never go down,  only  increase.  To claim deregulation of insurance companies will lead to greater competition and more options is to demonstrate such willful ignorance of the economic realites of  the costs of health care today,  that I can't  take you seriously.

If you cannot see the need for a public role, a public option a public hand in the defense of  the lives of our citizens in the United States in 2010,  then  you are pro-death.    You are saying the death of over 40,000 Americans each year because they cannot afford health care is just fine with you . You have placed yourself on the side of Economic Darwinism,  and believe in survival of the richest.

In overall life expectancy of a child born in 2009, Canada ranks 7th in the world, the United States ranks 49th. The public health care system in Canada may not be a workable solution for our country.   But to seriously argue that it isn't vastly more effective in overall outcomes compared to what we currently have in the United States, just makes you look incredibly stupid.   If you seriously are pointing to a news story about a Canadian politician traveling to Miami for heart surgery as evidence of the failure of single payer health care, you may as well be protesting outside NASA with signs saying the Earth cannot possibly be round because from where you are standing on the ground it looks flat.

It is my deepest hope, that you find in your core being the understanding that this is not an issue of opposing perspectives on public policy. This is not about right and left.  This is about right and wrong. This is about who we are as a nation, as a society and yes, as a species.  

And to  President Obama,  enough is  also enough.   The Republicans  are wholly  and competely owned  by the  for profit  insurance lobby.   They will never vote for anything you propose,  they can't.  The GOP has boxed itself in  with a rabidly  nonsensical base that  will never tolerate any  sort of  cooperation with you  on  ANYTHING.  So I urge you to follow  my example.   You need to say  to your Republican friends  what I am saying to mine. 

There no longer is any point to having  this debate with them. they are wrong. Trying to explain this any more  is, what my Uncle Dale would describe as;  " Like trying to teach a pig to juggle.  In the end it just frustrates you, and annoys the pig."

America can no longer wait.   Get this done, and get it done now.   The debate is over.

We Pause to Look Back on the Joy that was CPAC 2010....

The  Comedy Gift  that  just kept on  giving....

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CPAC 2010 - Rage Within the Machine
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Ok... I am now officially excited!

CPAC Day 2 Recap... let the Wing-Nuttiness Shine!

Keith Olbermann  gets us all up to speed on the comedy  gift that  keeps on giving. that is  the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

Ok the World has just turned Upside down...

When speakers at  CPAC,   the  UberConservative Poltical  "We Hate Obama-fest"  get  boo'ed  for  anti-Gay rhetoric,  something really wierd  is going on...   

The Obama Administration had better be careful, the Republicans  may not  have been able to  woo African Americans  with Michael Steele's " hip hop GOP",   but  the LGBT community  is very disappointed with the Democrats right now.  When  the crowd at  CPAC is sounding more pro-inclusion  than  the White House Chief of Staff....  the world has clearly gone insane.

(Hat tip to Jon A.  over  at  Americablog for this amazing bit of  alternative reality... Here is the post in it's entirety:)
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 19, 2010
When CPAC starts defending the gays, the Democrats ought to start getting worried
by John Aravosis (DC) on 2/19/2010 06:42:00 PM

Joe just posted this. but it's such a powerful video, I'm posting it again here. At the nation's largest conservative conference today - and we're talking right-wing conservative - a right-wing youth goes on a tirade against gays, talking about the natural order of things, about sex being for procreation, etc. The audience boos him. Then they boo him more loudly. A moderator had to get up and calm down the rather large audience.

Watch it, then a bit of commentary.



When conservatives are standing up for gays, and Democrats treat us like we are an embarrassment, there's a problem.

No one wants Sarah Palin to be President. But we're talking about our civil rights. I think a lot of straight Democrats don't get that. They see out and proud gay people, a lot of us have good jobs, nice clothes, get to travel the world (and a lot of us don't, but they don't ever meet them), so they think our civil rights battle is some kind of champagne party to us, as if we're doing it for fun because we really have everything we could ever want. Well, anyone who thinks that didn't grow up gay. They didn't grow up thinking they were a pervert. That they were sick. That they'd never find love, never get married, never have children or a family of their own - because God made them wrong. They didn't grow up thinking they'd have to kill themselves once they hit the age of 30 because they'd be single, and people would 'figure out' that they were gay, and then they'd lose all their friends and family and their job and career. And they knew they couldn't live with that.

That last point is important. Pick any political issue, any political constituency, and ask yourself how many of those issues, how many of those people, considered killing themselves over their issue. Not a lot, I'm guessing. Now you're starting to understand why gay civil rights advocates, why gay people, care so fervently about their "issue." It's not just an issue for us. It's our lives.

That's what it's like to be gay in America.

We're talking about our lives. And when the Republicans increasingly say the right things, like repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell now, and even supporting marriage, and all the Democrats show is political homophobia, gays get the message.

Some gays and lesbians will vote for Democrats regardless of how blatantly the Obama administration and the Democratic party back away from their promises to repeal DADT, repeal DOMA, and pass ENDA. Regardless of how clear it is that the White House will appoint an openly gay cabinet member or an openly gay Supreme Court justice when hell freezes over. But I think, come November, and come many more Novembers in the future, a lot of gays and lesbians, are going to realize that we're talking about our lives, rather than our right to attend a cocktail party. And when it comes to our lives, and voting for someone who treats us with the same kind of shame every single one of us grew up, I think you're going to see an increasing number of gay Americans distancing themselves from the Democratic party with their donations and their votes.   They may not vote Republican, they simply may not vote at all.

To the White House, the DNC, and our leadership in Congress: You are messing with people's lives, and we know it. And the day that an anti-gay bigot gets booed at CPAC, you all better start being very afraid.
-----------------------------------------------
Wow...  what's next?  Chicago Bears fans defending Brett Favre?

Food for thought.. (hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

It's Time to Truly Protect Marriage!

New Law Would Ban Marriages Between People Who Don't Love Each Other

"We Are The World", Twenty Five Years Later....

Yeah,  I know it's  basically a gimmick, but  as far  as gimmicks go, this one is pretty cool  AND  it's for a very  good cause...

Getting Caught With their Grand Old Pants on fire...

The brilliant  Rachel Maddow  calls out  the GOP  for it's blatant hypocrisy

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A tale of two Google Searches...

During the Superbowl,  the internet search giant Google  ran a very clever ad, that featured the story of a long-distance romance which,  thanks to help from Google has a  happy ending...

 

For tens of thousands of  "other" couples  in  long distance  relationships,  this ad is the opposite of the reality they live with every day.   

Binational couples are couples in which the partners come from different countries. Nineteen nations allow their citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration benefits. Unfortunately, the United States does not.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, even same-sex couples who have been legally married in U.S. states or foreign countries are not able to immigrate based on their marriage

The  odious, foul,  misnamed and  I might add, completely uncostitutional  "Defense of Marriage Act", legally bars same sex couples  from  the Google ad's 'happy ending'. 

For the more than 40,000 binational same sex couples in the United States,   Google's  ad  should  really look like this...





For more information on issues of Immigration Equality and  to find out what you can do to help, check out  immigration equality's website.

Stephen Fry vs. The Catholic Church

The brilliant  Stephen Fry's rebuttal of the  Catholic Church as a "force for good in the World"  motion, from  the  "Intelligence Debate".

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry (Unedited)
by Xrunner17

Meanwhile at "TeabaggerCon" down in Memphis, TN...

We now  join  Sarah Palin's speech to the  "Tea Party Convention"  already  in progress... 


(hat tip to  Andrew Sullivan..)

A few words of wisdom for the Teabaggers...

As  the  Teabaggers  all gather  down in  Tennessee for their  first  "convention"  Jon Stewart offers  some  sage  advice... The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Baracknophobia - Obey
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Punxatawny Who??

We take a break from politics...

To settle  an age old  question  once  and  for  all.  Which is  better?  Star Wars or  Star Trek?

President's Question Time...

President  Obama  went  into the   Lions Den  today  and  took  questions  from  Republican  members of  Congress.    The  end  result?   The  Lions  got  mauled...



The  GOP  is  reportedly now  regretting  allowing  this  exchange  to be  televised and  it's no wonder.   As  member after  member  of the GOP caucus  tried  to  trot  out  talking points ,  the  President  calmly   destroyed  them with facts.   The  biggest  take away  for  the  Republicans?



Reality  is not their  friend...

Go see Avatar. It's driving the Conservative Nutjobs out of their minds...

Apparently  James Cameron's  mercenaries are  a little  too Blackwater-esqe,  and   their mining company employer strikes  a little  too close to home   for  Haliburton  fans. 

Awwwww...  poor  little wingnut  teabaggers  are scared of the  big  lefty  pro-environment  digital cartoon?

Good.

The Republican Response... In its proper context.

Hey there kids! It's the President Obama State of the Union Drinking game!

(Via the Huffington Post)

NOTE: The Huffington Post in no way encourages binge drinking. This is the comedy section. If you actually drank as much as we suggested you would die, so do not do that.

EVENT	INSTRUCTIONS
Obama says "let me be clear"	Do one shot
Obama says "change isn't easy"	Do one shot
Obama says "make no mistake"	Do one shot
Obama says "Let me be clear, change isn't easy, make no mistake."	He's screwing with you to get you drunk, so five shots
Joe Wilson yells something	Do two shots
Obama yells back	Finish the bottle
Obama says "jobs"	Do one shot, two if you're unemployed
Obama says "health care"	Do not drink, you will not be given a replacement liver
Nancy Pelosi claps like a seal	Do one shot
Nancy Pelosi becomes a seal	STOP DRINKING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Obama mentions Bo	Put beer in your dog's water bowl
Michelle Obama wears a slinky dress	Go immediately to the HuffPost Style pagefor close-ups
Joe Biden nods-off/laughs inappropriately/starts talking before the speech is over	Do three shots
Obama uses the term "Congressional leadership"	Do two shots carefully as all that laughing will make it difficult to swallow
Obama says he's "fighting for you"	Do one shot, two if you believe him
Obama mentions Haiti	Text “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross

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Bits from this weekend's Creation Entertainment Star Trek Convention

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Again... it's the "fake news" show that gets it right...

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This pretty much sums it up...

Dear President  Obama &  The  Democratic  Party...

Would  you PLEASE  grow a pair!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2010

The Sanctimonius Marriage of Ingorance and Hate that is , Pat Robertson.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to even begin....

For decades the "Reverend" Pat Robertson has been on television spewing the most ridiculous, insane, blashphemous bile. Claiming nothing less than to be God's political spokesman. To list all of the demented ramblings of this lunatic here would take months, perhaps even years to fully chronicle. But who could forget one Pat's greatest hits from his Gospel According to Crazy. Here in his famous role of backup singer for the equally blasphemous nut job Jerry Falwell...

Amazingly enough, blaming Americans he simply didn't like for the attacks of 9-11, wasn't loony enough for Pat Robertson. This weeks horrific earthquake in Haiti has given us yet another glimpse into the hate fueled dementia that Pat Robertson claims to be his faith in God.

As Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said "well over" 100,000 people may have died in the natural disaster, Robertson took to the airwaves Wednesday on his cable tv show and said that the country has been "cursed by one thing after another" since they "swore a pact to the devil." But before giving us that delightful explanation of why Haiti had suffered an earthquake, he first pontificated on how this horrible natural disaster, which may end up claiming thousands of lives, was in fact a "blessing in disguise" for the people of Haiti.

So once again the rest of us in the reality based community are left scratching our heads in horror and disbelief at what this sad, bitter bigot says while claiming to be a Man of God.

Lets be clear. Pat Robertson is not a Christian. Oh he is very good at claiming to be. But there is very  little coming out of his mouth, that bears any relation to  the words of Jesus Christ. Pat Robertson's religion is in fact, Pat Robertson.  Pat is a dedicated disciple of his own bigotry and opportunism. Pat Robertson’s one true God is the money and conservative political power, that  peddling hatred has earned him over the years.

It long past time for this pathetic bitter and sadly demented old man to be taken aside, given something soft to chew and put to bed.  The only  "higher calling" Pat Roberson is interested in serving, is himself.

2010... Welcome to the...uh... Future??

Wow...  2010.    How  did  that happen?  I remember  sitting  in  elementary school  in  January 1980,   Our teacher  asked  the class to share our  "predictions of  what  what we thought life and  the world  would be like  in the year  2010.  

We  all   had  the typical  "kid answers";  flying cars,  cities under the sea  and on the surface of  the moon and  suborbital  fights  that  would  get  you from   New York  to  Tokyo in  twenty  minutes.    Basically   life  in 2010  would be  one big episode  of "The Jetsons".



Then  in 1983  the  consumer  electronics  industry  was going to put the future in the palm of our hands!... Well,  sort of....



That next  year in 1984,   Hollywood  did  for  2010  what  it had done  for  the year  2000  sixteen years  earlier. With   the  'sequel'  to  "2001 A  Space Odyssey",   "2010  The Year We Make Contact" gave  us a  less fanciful , but  none the less  fantastic  image of  what  awaited  mankind  at the dawn of the  21rst Century's  second decade.  Space shots  to  Jupiter,  colonies on  Mars  and  the  ever  present  talking  computer to do  our  work  for us.


A good friend of mine who was with me in that classroom  30 years ago,   recently  lamented how much the  reality of  2010 didn't  match our  predictions.   I told him,  when you compare  just how  different  life is now  in relation to technology , it  really is remarkable.   He  wasn't  all that convinced.   So I  reminded him  of the  computer games  we used  to play when we were kids,  on my  old  Apple computer.     I remember that machine  well. It was  my  first  "real computer".   It was  an Apple  IIe.   When  my Dad  brought it home  I was  in awe.  This was machine that  was going bring  "the future"  right  to me...



Now  I  carry in my  POCKET a   Blackberry  that  costs a fraction of  what that machine did,  and can do  more  than  10 of  those machines ever could.  Pretty  amazing  when you  think about it.


Granted,   we don't have  flying  cars  that  take  us to  floating  cities and  shopping malls,  but  I am  typing  this blog  entry  on a netbook  computer on a wireless  network,  while  having a  Skype  video  chat  with  Eric  in London.   So  2010 may not be  the  Jetsons  or  the year  we "Make Contact"  but  all in all,  it's  shaping  up to  be  the start of a pretty cool decade.


Happy New Year ,and  New Decade  Everyone!