When Our Heroes Fail Us....

"If you're looking for heroes,  don't look to me..."   - John Edwards, 2008 campaign ad.

By now the long sad story of the rise and fall of  former Senator, Vice Presidential and Presidential candidate John Edwards  has come to its sadder conclusion  with a federal indictment for violation of  campaign finance laws.  Edwards is charged with using nearly  one million dollars of  campaign funds to  cover up his extra-marital affair, and  child  with television producer  Rielle Hunter.



I supported  John Edwards when he ran for president in 2004, and again when he ran in 2008,  I was even a blogger  for his campaign  on  his  "One America"  website.   I donated money,  I volunteered at  rallies and  worked phone banks for the  Edwards campaign in  California.    When  the news of  the  affair and love child with  Hunter broke, like many people  I was very  angry.

Lots of people asked  me at the time if I "regretted"  supporting his campaign.    That is  complex  question.    At the time  I blogged on here, that the issues and positions  Edwards publicly  championed  in his campaign were still as relevant and important  as ever.    The actions in his private life  didn't change that.

What  angered most Americans about the whole sordid saga, was  what  John Edwards did  to  his wife, Elisabeth Edwards.    I can't say that  I knew Elisabeth Edwards,  but I did have a number of opportunities to  meet her,  and on two occasions  had the chance to talk with her  one on one.   She was an extraordinary person.   In 2007 she was the only national democratic figure  to  speak  at  San Francisco Pride.   That same year, she  gave an amazing speech at the  San Francisco  Human Rights Campaign Dinner.  I was sitting  in the audience  that night.



As I sit  here in London, typing this blog entry,  I think of my political scrapbook.  It is a very odd bi-partisan  collection,   The photos and  autographs range across the political spectrum.  From  Ronald Reagan,  George HW Bush,  Dan Quayle,  Liddy Dole,  Bob Dole,  to  Al Gore,  Bill Clinton, Barack Obama  and  yes,  both John and Elisabeth Edwards.    Stapled to the page  that has autographed blog entries from  the Edwards  Campaign  blog,  is a small note  I received  from  Elisabeth Edwards in  early February, 2008.

I had emailed  the Edwards campaign asking  the Senator to take a stronger stance  on  the repeal of the  Defense of Marriage Act.   I wrote telling   Eric's and my story of  how this  horribly bigoted, discriminatory law denied basic civil rights to us  and  thousands of  other bi-national  same sex couples just like us.

I went on to explain how  DOMA was  forcing me to choose between  my country and the person I love.   I included  a link to  the youtube video Eric and I had made to support the  Uniting American Families Act,  a proposed law that would right  that wrong, and grant  immigration equality to couples like us.

I honestly didn't expect to hear anything back.  Maybe one of those generic "thank you for your feedback, and support", emails.    What  came in the mail  two weeks later  was a one page  handwritten note  from Elisabeth Edwards.    She  wrote ;

"David,  thank you  for  sharing yours and Eric's story with us,  I can't even begin to imagine  what  it must be like to make the choices you are facing.   Please know  that you and Eric are in John's and my thoughts.  Like you ,  We  hope to  see the day when  the discrimination against  LGBT Americans is a thing of the past.   Your Friend, - Elisabeth Edwards"

When the  Edwards  campaign  came to end  in the early Spring of  2008,  like many Edwards  supporters,  I  was torn between  supporting  Hillary Clinton  or  Barack Obama.   The night before the California  primary  I called both campaigns  and asked why they should get my vote.    The Clinton campaign volunteer I spoke with  talked  mostly about  what was  "wrong" with Barack Obama.   The Obama volunteer I spoke with   talked about  Obama's  commitment  to  equality and opportunity for all Americans.

I voted for  Obama.

As I watched  the news reports on yesterday's  federal indictment ,  a friend of mine in  Arizona  texted me and asked if I felt  "betrayed' by John Edwards.   No.   John Edwards  didn't  betray  his supporters, he betrayed his family.   He  failed and disappointed his supporters, and  it looks like  he will continue paying  the price for that  failure in a number  of ways,  personal, financial and political.
  

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Yet as with so many other political figures who have fallen in similar ways,    to  expect a candidate to be something more than human is  not realistic or fair.

That being said,  I can't help but wonder about that road not taken.   I wonder  how  different  2011 might have been,  if  John Edwards  had  lived in private the life he portrayed in public

The United States of Stereotypes... Enjoy!

(hat tip to the Huffington post)

Take That! Newsweek...

(Hat tip to  JoeMyGod)

Earlier this year,  Newsweek  Magazine ran a piece  entitled  "America's Dying Cities..."   One of the cities it named  was  Grand Rapids, Michigan, which came in at  number ten on  their list,

Being from  Madison, Wisconsin originally,  I normally would not mind the national media  engaging in a bit of Michigan bashing, but this seemed to be hitting below the belt.

Many cities in the U.S. are struggling to  recover from the  recession , but to  label a city as "dying"  is a bit much.

The good people of Grand Rapids seem to agree.  They responded to  Newsweek's  death notice for their city  with the following  video.

Now I know  lots of people  who really hate this song, (I'm not none of them, but I will grant that is one of those tunes that should be forever banned in Karaoke  bars..)   But you have to give props to the folks in Grand Rapids.   The video is brilliant....

The Obama's Are In Town....

Reaching Out to an Old Friend...

Back in 1995  at  the University of Wisconsin  I met  a remarkable  man named Kevin Robinson.  He was at UW on a fellowship to the UW Law School.   We  hit it off immediately, our mutual  love of politics led to a great friendship and hours of spirited debate.  

 When our paths parted in  1997  we promised to keep in touch.  Over the years  this became something of a running joke,  as we invariably would lose touch and track of each other  for  two or three years, then one of us would  stumble upon the other's contact info and fire off a note  or voice message.  This would lead to hours on the phone or  instant messenger catching up.  

Today,  I was going through some old emails  and found a chat log  from my last conversation with Kevin in late 2008.   Smiling to myself  I thought,  "well, it's been two and half years, time to catch up!"  Remembering that Kevin was teaching at  Bryn Mawr College,  I went to the Bryn Mawr website to track down Kevin's email ...

What I found on the Bryn Mawr website was this..

Posted February 12, 2010

The Bryn Mawr College community is struggling to come to terms with the loss of Assistant Professor of Social Work and Social Research Kevin J. Robinson, who died unexpectedly last weekend at the age of 40. The community was notified with an e-mail from President Jane McAuliffe, who described Robinson as a “treasured colleague” whose loss is deeply felt.

Dean Darlyne Bailey of Bryn Mawr’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research has announced that the College will host a memorial event to celebrate Robinson’s life and work on Sunday, March 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Thomas Great Hall. members of the Robinson family will join the Bryn Mawr community as it remembers him.

A small funeral service for family, friends, and fellowship will be held on Friday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Watkins, Garrett and Woods Mortuary, 1011 Augusta Street, Greenville, South Carolina 

Robinson’s sunny, gregarious personality and unusual ability to forge meaningful connections with others made him especially well suited to community-based participatory research (CBPR), his preferred method of study. In CBPR, researchers consult members of the populations they propose to study before framing research questions and designing experimental protocols.

“The community drives the research,” Robinson explained in an interview two years ago. “They set the priorities and have an interest in the findings and the dissemination of the findings.”

At the time of his death, Robinson was at work on a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control, in which he partnered with the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation and the The Colours Organization, Inc., a service and advocacy group for LGBT communities of color in Philadelphia. 

Its hard to  describe the range of emotions I have been feeling this afternoon.   Shock,  sadness, and yes, intense guilt  for  allowing  too much time to go by before I reached out to an old friend.    As I sit here  and type this,  I can almost hear  Kevin say  "David Paul... don't get  all deep and moody on me!"    Yet  it's  damn hard not to... 

What  stands out most for me today is the painful truth that in this age of  Social Media,  "keeping in touch" can't  be  a matter of   Facebook Friends,   Twitter Following  or  Linkedin Connections.   It  has to be real, it has to be personal  and it has to be human.

If you have a friend in your life who you haven't spoken with recently,  a wonderful friend who  tends to  pass in and out of  your "real time" life every so often like a comet on an irregular trajectory.   Please,   take a moment  grab that comet by the tail and pull it in  for a hug,  a phone call,  or even just a "hello" over a cup of coffee.  Don't allow that friendship to slip out of reach. 

My deepest  (albeit belated) condolences  to all who were blessed to have had Kevin in their lives.  I know I was.

Put on Your "rapture jammies" kids! The end is neigh!

In  all the  news  of  Wills and Kate getting married, Osama Bin Laden getting what he deserved, and various and sundry  Republican  wannabees  deciding NOT to run  for President;  I have been woefully remiss in mentioning the BIGGEST news story of them all!

*ahem*   THE WORLD IS GOING TO END   THIS SATURDAY!!  ....   No really.    Seriously,  a crazy guy said so on the internet, so it must be true!



Here we go again...   Harold Camping, (the loony tune 'Lurch the Adams Family Butler',  of Wingnut Radio,) is saying  (again) the world is going to end.  But wait it gets better!    Apparently  the  REASON the end of the world is happening now, is  because  San Francisco  is full of  .....   THE GAYS!



(via JoeMyGod)
The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that End Times proponent Harold Camping credits gay pride events and same-sex marriage for hastening the arrival of Saturday's rapture. Camping also says that 200 million Christians (only) will ascend to heaven in three days (time zone by time zone, beginning at 6PM, you'll recall) with the rest of us to be turned into pillars of salt, destroyed by earthquake, or burned alive in a hail of sulfur. All that will take place over the next five months because the Earth itself isn't scheduled to explode until October 21st.

The funny bit? When I hear or read nonsense like this, part me thinks, "wait.... we all get five months where the world will be  free of all the rapture wing nuts? Cool!" 

 In all seriousness, I can actually understand why these people are so eager for the world to end. The real world scares these people, a lot. I mean think of it, Women voting, freedom of expression and thought all over the place. All that "science stuff" that contradicts their views on ....well, everything. On top of all of that, there's this black guy in White House!

So, I guess if I was a bigoted,  reality-challenged half-literate moron, who believed the Earth is only 6000 years old, and was convinced the Human Race started with two fully formed people named Adam and Eve.  Who rode around a garden on dinosaurs chatting it up with talking snakes?  The 21rst Century would probably scare the crap out of me too.

So to my friends in the SF Bay Area, when you see Harold Camping and his tens of devoted followers, camped out in downtown Oakland, all  waiting to get "Beamed Up" to wing nut never-never land.  Smile as you walk by and say "Have a nice trip!" You'll make their day. Which is a warm memory they all are going to need, when the world is still here, come Sunday Morning.   

Take it away  Criswell....

The American Right Wing and "Obama Derangement Syndrome"

It might actually be funny if it wasn't the truth...

Yeah, I know... I haven't posted in a while...

Getting settled  here in London,  finding my way around at my new company  and just  life  in general has  gotten in the way of  posting.  Sorry about that.    Needless to say   there  has been lots of news.

Being an ex-pat again is an interesting experience.   Watching  things  in the U.S.  from  this side of the Atlantic is always  both a new, and  enlightening perspective.    As the  bigoted, hate-filled  Moron-a-thon  that is  the GOP Presidential Primary season  gets under way,  We take moment to  introduce our GOP 2012 hopefuls...

We have examined previously the glorious bucket of extra-crispy crazy that is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. His latest bit of fun and mentally unbalanced frolic is his own warped version of "School House Rock" where kids can learn Huckabee's own personal version of American revisionist history. The videos are neo-con schlock on a scale so nutty that it has to be seen to be believed.

   
UK politics here in even  at its nuttiest  is nowhere  near  as insane as what now passes  for  normal in the  American GOP

UPDATE - Mike Huckabigot   rides the  WAAAAAmmmublance   about how  he can't run for President, because the vast overwhelming majority of the  reality based world realizes  he is a complete nutjob.

Oh joy

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Lawrence O'Donnell on the Differences Between Presidents

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Cue the Painful Squirming on the Right...

 It's a tough day to be an Obama Hater.... But you have to give the wing nuts credit for tryin....
(via Huffington Post)

WASHINGTON -- Most reactions from Republican leaders to news of Osama bin Laden’s death emphasized the U.S. military’s role or praised former President George W. Bush, while downplaying President Obama’s role in the seismic event...

Speculation already abounded Sunday night that bin Laden’s death by U.S. Navy SEALS in Pakistan would be a huge political boon for Obama. Republicans tried to give the president just enough credit, without giving him too much.  

Republican leaders in Congress varied in how they credited the president.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not mention the president, saying that America was “grateful for the heroic efforts of the many men and women around the world who have fought and who are still fighting to protect the world from terrorism. Though they may never make the headlines, we are ever mindful of their many sacrifices.”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) thanked Obama after the military and additionally thanked Bush.   House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Obama had “followed the vigilance of President Bush in bringing Bin Laden to justice.”

Bush himself said Obama had called him Sunday evening to share the news and that he had “congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission.”    

Obama, in his nine-minute speech from the White House Sunday evening, mentioned Bush only once, remarking that Bush had expressed after 9/11 that the U.S. war against al Qaeda was not a war against Islam.
--------------------------------------------------------
So let's take just a moment to remember the "vigilance" of  former President George W. Bush....

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." -Mark Twain

President Obama addresses the nation and the world...



The news of the  operation in Pakistan  that  finally  took out the  world's  number one terrorist, was greeted here in  London  with  a sense of relief.   Also, with a undercurrent of  concern that the  scenes of  jubilant  celebration  in the United States, while completely  understandable, could serve as  a rallying cry and recruitment tool for  Al-Queda leaders  who  are still at large.    That being said,  I for one  am quite happy the bastard is dead.

The President's speech hit all the right notes.   President Obama payed tribute to those who died,  those who served and continue to serve and  restated the  truth that  the United States is not at war with Islam.  Taking care to again  draw the distinction  between violent extremists,  and  a religion  that billions of people around the world, including in the United States,  peacefully follow.

Yet even  now,  there  are  people in the United States who just cannot get past their personal hatred of President Obama and the Democratic Party.  A former university classmate of mine, and neo-conservative blogger  just  couldn't help himself,   when he  posted on Facebook  how he was glad  President Obama  hadn't  "given up on the War on Terror, like many in his party wanted him to."   

There is no way you can  respond to something that irrational, that mindlessly  partisan  and  that  demonstrably  false.  So  you shake your head,  click  "unfriend"  and join the rest of the world in the reality-based community.



As much as the scenes of  celebrations in New York might make some people uncomfortable;  the sense of euphoria at "ground zero" is understandable.

I remember 9/11/01  very well.   I was actually on an airplane.   I was flying from Chicago to Houston for work, when about 20 minutes into the flight we suddenly turned around and returned to  Chicago.   The pilot assured us  there was nothing wrong with the plane, but that the FAA was grounding all air traffic.   Everyone onboard assumed it was a problem with the  Air Traffic Control system at Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports, which had experienced problems earlier in the week.  It wasn't until we got into the terminal,  we saw CNN and  found out what had happened.

So  with so many people around the world,  I am relieved and  happy to hear  the news that Osama Bin Laden is gone.   At the same time,  mindful that  the violent extremist ideology  he championed,  is still very much alive.  We owe it to those who have died  to  continue to be vigilant.  

Yet if today's  news  shows us anything,  it is  proof  that  the aims and tactics of terror groups like Al-Qaeda  will, in the end,  only result in the terrorists own violent demise.

Royal Wedding Thoughts...

Well  here is the  photo.   We waited along the Mall with thousands and thousands of  other people after swearing we wouldn't get anywhere  near Central London today.  Yeah, well...   How often does London throw this big of a party?

First the Wedding.  It went off without a hitch.  The weather forecast said it was going to rain.  It didn't.   Anti-monarchist protesters  said they were going to be out in force.  The weren't.   Pundits  said the crowds would be unmanageable and  unruly, and nothing could have been further from the truth.  

 It's hard  not to get caught up in the hype of an event this big.   The global audience  that watched  these two people get married today  was estimated at over  two billion.  Why?

To be honest?  I really am not sure. There are the obvious reasons.  It's a live history lesson..  The British Monarchy  is living history. To steal the quote from the movie  "The Queen"; it is an unbroken line going back over a thousand years. It's hard not be  fascinated watching  this institution change and adapt  to  the  21rst Century.

You can argue the issue of  how ridiculous  the idea of  hereditary  privilege is  in this day and age, and many here in London are.   London's  biggest talk radio station  LBC 97.3 FM, had no shortage of callers on  both sides of this issue.  With the majority of callers expressing  enthusiastic support, for the  Royals, and  what  today's pomp and pageantry  has done for the morale of the whole nation.    But there were other callers who were just adamant in saying they feel it's crazy to keep paying millions of pounds a year to support a group of people who's only qualification is having been born into the Windsor family.

Yet  if you are going to argue  strictly from the perspective of cost, today pretty much killed that argument.    The cost  to the British taxpayer,  (of which I am now one..)  to maintain the Monarchy is around  70 million pounds a year.    Estimates of  how much money this wedding has  generated for the British economy so far is  low-balled around  six hundred million pounds.  Not a bad  ROI. (Return On Investment.)

If nothing else,  I am totally behind anything that gives British composer John Rutter an excuse to compose new music.  His  new piece  "The Anthem"  commissioned  especially for today's ceremony was amazing.




So at least for today, the debate over the merits and costs of a Constitutional Monarchy was put aside.   Billions of people all around the world,  joined  the over one million people in Central London, (including this new Londoner),  in wishing "Wills and Kate"  all the best.

Why the "Birthers" Will Never Accept Reality...

Rachel tells it like it is..

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Anyone who still is flogging this  issue is either an idiot, a racist  or simply full of shit.

Headline : Cranky Nutjob Soils Adult Diaper Over DOMA...

Ah... Pat Robertson, the comedy gift that keeps on giving. (hat tip to JoeMyGod)



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.

Lest we forget just how anti-American this lunatic actually is, let's revisit one of his greatest hits. Here with his favorite backup wacko,  Jerry Falwell.  Pat and Jerry  manage to blame everyone but Osama Bin Laden for the attacks of 9-11.

It long past time for this 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.

The ridiculously mis-named "Defense of Marriage Act"  (DOMA),  is an affront to ALL Americans. I love how Conservatives like Robertson love to champion protests against companies like Disney and Apple for the their progressive stances, but when Progressives do the EXACT SAME THING, to protest business that support bigotry and discrimination, that is just "unbelievable".

I am not going to wast time and blog space going through the facts on how EVERYTHING Pat Robertson and his assorted ilk, have said about same sex marriage is a complete lie. If you really want to read through it all, feel free to go here.

I do have hope that eventually the United States will grow up and leave behind the likes of Robertson and his fellow snake-oil salesmen of hate.  In the meantime,   the rest of the Western World still looks at us and shakes it's head.

Hear That Odd Popping Sound?

It's the heads "birthers"  exploding all over the United States....

via Talking Points Memo...
Hoping to end a long-running "controversy" over whether he was born in the United States, the White House released President Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate on Wednesday.

"The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country," the White House's Dan Pfeiffer wrote in a blog post.

"Therefore, the President directed his counsel to review the legal authority for seeking access to the long form certificate and to request on that basis that the Hawaii State Department of Health make an exception to release a copy of his long form birth certificate," wrote Pfeiffer. "They granted that exception in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting."

Check out the birth certificate:

A Conversation with a "Birther"

Radio Host Michaelangelo Signorile  had a call on  his show  from a man in Alabama who is convinced that  Barack Obama is not an American.   The call is  a stark examination of   how  no facts, no amount of proof, no birth certificate will EVER  satisfy these people.   They are desperate to believe that  the Obama Presidency is the result of some vast  conspiracy.

This call to the show from Winston in Alabama confirms why the birther conspiracy will never go away, a fascinating look at why crazy beliefs endure. Even after all the facts were explained to Winston, and after he appeared to agree that the facts were right, he still held doubts that President Obama was born in this country.

What's clear to me is that birthers have other reasons for which they dislike the president, even hate him -- and some of those reasons are too ugly, perhaps, for them to even admit to themselves. Hence, they cling to this conspiracy even after it's disproved.

London is not ready...

Not by a long shot.

A bit more than a year out from the biggest logistical challenge London has faced since the Battle of Britain, what is painfully clear to even the casual observer is just how "not ready" this city is to host the Olympics.

Tourists tend to praise London's public transit system. Before I lived here I would regularly lament the failings of the Chicago Transit Authority and the San Francisco BART and MUNI systems, wishing they could "be more like the trains in London."

I take it all back.

To the ELevated trains of Chicago's Red Line I humbly beg your forgiveness. To my beloved BART and MUNI trains from SF Civic Center station, I take every sarcastic remark I ever made, chew and swallow them. You are marvels of urban engineering and models of efficiency compared to "the Tube".

I now know why as a visitor, I always thought. London Transport worked so well. For the most part, visitors only really use the tube in Central London (zones 1 or 2).  Also tourists usually are not on trains at Rush Hour. Around 6pm they're at their hotels getting ready to go out to dinner or theaters/clubs in the West End.

London Trains seem to do pretty well if all you need is to get from Earls Court to Leicester Square during off-peak travel times. Beyond that? It's one big game of "signal failure roulette".

Let's pause here for just a moment to address that great all-purpose excuse for any major problem with trains in and around  greater London...

"Signal Failure".

Back in the 1970's on the now legendary British scifi TV show "Doctor Who", whenever actor Jon Pertwee couldn't pronounce a particularly technical phrase in the script; he'd substitute the phrase "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", in place of whatever it was he didn't want to try to say.



I'm convinced "signal failure" is London Transport's version of this. I moved to London on April 8th, and EVERY DAY I have been here, there has been an announcement of "signal failure" at one or more points on the Train System.

So as stand writing this on my blackberry in the stifling heat of yet another idled Jubilee line train; I can't help but pose the question:

If London can't manage to keep its train running through an average rush hour commute, how on earth will this city cope with the world's biggest sporting event?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

VERY Cool Time-lapse Video

San Francisco to Paris  in  two minutes..   very cool!  (Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)


SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

New Chapters....

Hey there folks, 

Well the move is done.  I arrived in London this afternoon and  Eric and I made it home  with all four bags relatively easily.   Its  been an exhausting  and  emotional week.   Leaving  my job at Kaiser Permanente  on Wednesday, and  getting everything  moved out my  San Francisco apartment, sadly didn't leave a lot of time for  goodbye's.  To  all the folks who have emailed  saying;  "What?!?  You've left!"  I am sorry there wasn't any extra time. 

This move would have never  happened on time without help from  some of  the most  amazing people in my life.   My Sister and Brother-in-Law  Leah & Jean Georges Demathieu  were miracle workers helping clear out my apartment.  Also,  I never would have been  ready  and able to move without the help of Rudy Guerrero,  the most amazing friend anyone could ever ask for, who helped haul and lug and carry and  was an amazing  source of morale support through this whole daunting process.

Saying  goodbye  to  San Francisco was very bittersweet.   Finally being able to move  here to London and start the  next chapter of my life  is wonderful,  yet at the same time it is  odd to leave  a city and  people that has been home for  seven years.     

So as my  (now former) co-workers  at  KP  Learning and Development  like to say...  Onwards!

Brilliant... Just watch it.

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Thank you GOP for restoring my faith in just how crazy you are...

I will admit I have been  somewhat  distracted over the past few weeks as  I have been packing for my move to London.

As a result of having my head in boxes  for the last two weeks, I have not paid close attention to  what has been going on in the newly GOP controlled  House of Representatives.

Which, as it turns out  is a real  pity.  As I have missed what  amounts to comedy gold,  courtesy of the the Teabagging Wingnuts of the  new Republican majority.   The always brilliant  Rachel Maddow  brings us all up to speed on the latest  fun and frolic...

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Wow....Just when you think the  well of wingnutty-ness  has run dry,  the GOP rises to the challenge and doubles down on the crazy.  Lets review. shall we?

According to Donald Trump, (yes,  the really bad hair guy, Donald Trump)   President Obama was not born in the US because there are (according to him)  no pictures of  the young Barack Obama prior to age 13.   BARACK OBAMA PICTURES: The early years - chicagotribune.com  -  Opps.

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THEN,  we have  our current involvement in Libya.  Remember back in oh...  say  2002 and 2003  when ANYONE criticized the  war in Iraq,   the  greater Wingnuttia   went berserk with shrieks of  How  DARE you criticize  the Commander-in-Chief in a time of war, you traitorous  America-hating, troop-hating commie bastard! Why do you want the terrorist to WIN?!

Fast forward to  2011,   It now seems  as if our dear  right-wing patriots  are only patriotic  when the GOP holds the  keys to the Oval Office

And now,  we have  the glorious MYTH that somehow the GOP now cares about and is focused on, JOBS.   Hmmm  really?

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The Republican Party is now  a very bad, very sad joke.   One silver lining in all this,  is that once the cirque du' insanity that will be the  2012 GOP Presidential Primaries  is over,  America will most likely re-elect Barack Obama with the largest plurality  since  1984, when Ronald Reagan stomped on Walter Mondale like a bug at an exterminator convention.

Ireland Moves Forward... The US? Not So Much....

Amazing  Public Service Announcement currently running in Ireland...



Meanwhile in the United States the ridiculously mis-named hate group "Focus on the Family" is launching a counter campaign that is PRO- bullying and is actually offering cash prizes to anti-gay Christian students who make the best video about how it's totally right to bully, shame, and ostracize gay kids for their sexuality.

According to Focus on the Family Spokes-bigot  Candi Cushman;  

,LGBT groups use bullying prevention to "promote their homosexual agenda, including the idea that homosexuality is normal. Focus on the Family education expert Candi Cushman said that the group is against bullying but that bullying prevention “is being hijacked by activists.” She claims that anti-bullying programs are gay activism in disguise and that these programs conceal their true purpose.

Eliza Byard, Executive Director, of the The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) had this to say about Focus on the Family's opposition to anti-bullying efforts in schools...

Focus on the Family has tried to discredit GLSEN's efforts to make schools safe for all students since our founding in 1990. These most recent attempts show that, once again, Focus on the Family either doesn't know what it is talking about or simply don't care about addressing bullying, or both. The policies we support - which, by the way, include protections for bullying based on religion - have been shown by years of research to make a difference in young people's lives. That is why nearly 70 national education, youth service and civil and human rights organizations endorse the Safe Schools Improvement Act. In terms of LGBT youth, we certainly hope that Focus on the Family agrees that the current environment in which nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experience harassment each year in school is simply unacceptable. But we won't hold our breath.

The wing nut social conservative Right knows that Anti-bullying efforts are a direct threat to their ability to fund-raise by dehumanizing Gays and Lesbians. Focus on the Family is desperate to get control of the Bullying debate and get control of it FAST. Because, if you say it is wrong that a kid was bullied because they were  gay, you are really saying there is nothing wrong with being Gay; and FOTF has too much invested in their hate, and can never allow that to happen. 

This in spite of the clear evidence that bullying based on sexual orientation was the direct cause of a number of tragic teen suicides across the the United States last year.

These people are insane bigots, They are so filled with hatred for people who don't share their sad twisted anti-American, anti-Constitutional world view, they would seek to stop efforts that could help save kids lives.

This past year, as this...American equivalent of the Taliban obsessed over DEFENDING the bullying to death of Gay Kids, the news was been filled with story after story, of a Gay Teen somewhere in America who was bullied into taking his or her own life.

Focus on the Family has spent millions of dollars saying that Gays and Lesbians are "attacking families" and are out to "destroy traditional marriage", that Gays and Lesbians have a "Radical Agenda" and are a"threat to children". So I am sure the LAST thing Cushman would want to do is have to answer for the impact that her "work" has had in putting the lives of American kids at risk in their own schools, every day.

While the rest of the civilized world continues to move forward  it is hate groups like  Focus on the funding..er.. I mean "family",  that  seek to turn the United States into  a theocratic backwater of hatred and intolerance. 

Well, that didn't take long...

Two days after announcing a hold on same sex couple deportations, the USCIS says  "whoops! Not really!"  (hat tip to The Advocate)

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Official: No Hold on Gay Immigration Cases

By Andrew Harmon

Immigration officials say they will no longer put a hold on the cases of binational married gay couples, just two days after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that action on such cases would be halted pending further legal guidance. 

Wednesday morning USCIS press secretary Christopher S. Bentley toldThe Advocate that the agency had received legal guidance to lift the hold it had issued Monday. The guidance was issued in the form of written communications from the Office of the General Counsel at Department of Homeland Security (USCIS is a component of DHS). 

Bentley declined to release any of the written documents at this time, saying it was privileged communication. He emphasized that the official policy itself within DHS had never changed.
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Well so much for that... Turns out the "Abeyance" or hold on same sex partner deportations is over.

I don't know WHY so many people are surprised by this... ALL of the promises made by then Senator Obama, to the LGBT community in 2008 were just hot air.

We will hear them again in 2012. The President will barnstorm around the country claiming HE repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell.   He didn't.  Congress did.  The President didn't lobby, didn't act, didn't do diddly-squat.   Oh sure,  AFTER all the work was done, he was glad to jump in.   The ONLY thing he did was sign the bill.  Important to be sure,  but hardly "fierce advocacy".

Over the next 18 months, the President will tout how he has "Stopped Defending DOMA" (while hoping nobody asks about the ENFORCEMENT of DOMA, or how for the first 3 years in office he defended DOMA by comparing same sex marriage to incest...)

So I guess it's time to (once again) point out the BLINKING OBVIOUS... (everybody join in.. this time with feeling!)

PRESIDENT OBAMA IS NOT A PROGRESSIVE or EVEN A LIBERAL.

President Barack Obama, is a centrist.  A  timid one at that.  He wants to govern but he doesn't want to actually have to lead.  Now that being said,  we all can agree that he is light years better than ANY of the GOP Wingnut lunatics  that want to replace him.  But frankly, at this point,   that  isn't saying much.

Also,  what is even more apparent this past week, given his behavior;  it is starting to become clear, that deep deep down, the President  believes the Gays are kinda icky.   To be fair,  I think he feels BAD about believing that,  but not bad enough to actually change anything.

We waited, my husband and I. We hoped, we donated, we campaigned and we believed. Now three years later,  we have  this latest 'bait and switch- back" on DOMA and Immigration equality.  It has  just proved to us, that we were right this past year to give up on President Obama, and move to the UK.

I said this on Monday,  and  it keeps ringing true;  The BEST the LGBT community can hope for out of Barack Obama, is that he moves from a position of actively opposing marriage equality to one of passive indifference.

My Reaction to the USCIS Announcement

Yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services revealed that  deportations of people who have overstayed their visas, but  are in a state-recognized same sex marriage,  are now on hold.   (From  Metro Weekly:)
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Following up on reports from this weekend, Metro Weekly just received confirmation from Christopher Bentley, the spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, that cases of foreign partners who are married to a same-sex partner and would otherwise be eligible for a green card are on hold in light of questions about the continued validity of the Defense of Marriage Act. Bentley writes, "USCIS has issued guidance to the field asking that related cases be held in abeyance while awaiting final guidance related to distinct legal issues." He notes, however, "USCIS has not implemented any change in policy and intends to follow the President's directive to continue enforcing the law." The legal distinction means that although DOMA is still being enforced, the USCIS is using its discretion to hold off on denying green card applications where applicable.
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 A lot of people  have sent me text messages and emails  today  asking me if I am excited and happy about  this "significant step forward"  for same sex  bi-national couples.

Sigh....

I'm sorry but this is all nonsense, wonderfully symbolic nonsense, but nonsense all the same.

Green Card Petitions by same sex couples will not be approved as long as DOMA is still on the books. Also this does NOTHING for bi-national same sex  couples who are currently living overseas,  or for couples where the Non-American partner is not currently in the U.S.

As far as the Administration taking  this "significant step" goes... There is also no logical reason that the steps taken this past month;  (declining to defend DOMA in court,  putting pending deportations on hold ect.) couldn't have been taken THREE YEARS AGO. That might have helped move current court challenges to DOMA through the system faster. Instead we had the Obama DOJ filing legal briefs defending DOMA by comparing same sex marriage to incest... How soon we forget huh?

The legislation recently introduced to repeal DOMA is dead on arrival in the House of Representatives. Why? Simple, the GOP and it's rabidly wingnutty base are desperate to keep LGBT Americans as the one last minority it is safe for them to promote the hatred of, for fundraising purposes.

When the Republican Party wants to deport children BORN HERE because their Parents were not citizens, do you honestly think these politically opportunistic bigots are going to sit idly by and allow same sex couples even a small dose of equality?

I am very glad that the couples who were facing forced separation have been given a reprieve, but unless DOMA is repealed it will be only a temporary one. 

  I know this feels like it should be seen as some sort of positive step forward, but I just can't get excited because Barack Obama (with one eye on his re-elect) has moved from active opposition to Marriage Equality, to passive indifference.    

This is window dressing ahead of the 2012 re-election kickoff.  Which Huffington Post says is coming in April. 

Nothing more...

Earth Hour 2011 - Tonight at 8:30pm Pacific Time

The Illustrious Jabba The Huckabee will now Accept your Donations...

(hat tip to  JoeMyGod for this latest bit of American Taliban ass-hattery)
Speaking to his faithful minions at the Shereton in West Des Moines, GOP Presidential hopeful, Rev. Mike Huckabee, ranted how the threat of Gay Marriage will destroy America, and that stopping it might even cost you your Job!
.

Wow... There is just way too much Crazy here to even begin  to  pick apart.   If you are going to argue about  who God gave land to, you might want to check with the  Native Americans,  who I imagine would take issue with Mike's claim of  divine ownership.

The singularly  Caucasian  audience was almost roused from their rubber-chicken induced stupor by Huckabee's  dire exhortations of a battle of Good vs Evil,  and his fierce stand against those who would "enslave us".   (Mike better be careful,  Wall Street  might take those references  personally....)

Also you can't help but wonder,  how thrice-married serial adulterer Newt Gingrich  will deal with  Huckabee's  assertions that only a monogamous marriage is "true".

Let the glorious circular political firing squad that is  GOP Presidential Primary politics, begin!

Happy 80th Birthday William Shatner!

Big Immigration Equality News Out of New York...

hat tip to John A over  at  Americablog

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Bi-National Lesbian Couple Can Press US Marriage Claim

It what appears to be the first such action of its type, an Immigration Judge in Manhattan has adjourned deportation proceedings for the Argentine lesbian spouse of an American citizen to allow the couple to proceed with their application to have their marriage recognized for purposes of federal immigration law.

Monica Alcota, 35, who came to the US a decade ago, married her partner of nearly three years, 25-year-old Cristina Ojeda, last August in Connecticut.

The couple’s attorneys, Lavi Soloway and Noemi Masliah, argue that their clients’ marital status should qualify Alcota for permanent residency, as would be the case with any different-sex couple.

A 2010 US court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of federal recognition for legal same-sex marriages, they say –– coupled with the Justice Department’s recent decision that it could not and would not defend DOMA’s constitutionality on that point –– opens up the real possibility that Alcota and Ojeda may be accorded recognition.

In a March 22 hearing in the US courthouse at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, Immigration Judge Terry A. Bain gave the couple the go-ahead to press their claim with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) –– a unit of the Department of Homeland Security –– through what is known as Form I-130, a petition to have Alcota recognized as “the spouse of USC.”

For now, the couple’s case has been adjourned until December, a decision supported by the government's attorney.

“It is almost impossible to overstate the significance of what happened in there,” Soloway said immediately after the hearing. “An adjournment based on an I-130. It would never have happened a year ago. I don’t think I even would have filed it.”

Describing the development as “huge,” Soloway also credited Bain with being “very kind, very generous” in her handling of the case.

Brilliant...

Today on the House Floor,   Rep Anthony Weiner (D NY)  thanks the GOP for  their  clear laser-like focus on the issues that  TRULY matter to the American People...

(hat tip to  JoeMyGod)