Friday, November 28, 2008
There has to be a better way
The news from India is so sad - and then there's the news that a store employee was trampled to death in NY by people rushing into a store. There's nothing I can do about what happened in India (other than resolve to make my corner of the world as loving and peaceful as possible - starting with me) but I am going to rethink my gifts this year. I've never liked the whole Christmas-being-equated-with-gifts thing, but I've participated. I'm not sure where I'm going to go from here, but I'm revolted. I must vow to do something differently. I'd say I'll make all my gifts, but I know that's not true - and it still doesn't get to the heart of the problem. Maybe no gifts at all. Maybe donations to non-profits? Any ideas? There has to be a better way.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Can Someone Please Explain What an "Extreme Egalitarian Agenda" Is?
How I admire people who can argue dispassionately about political issues. I feel the same way about that ability as I do the drive to raise children. I'm glad people do it, but I don't understand it at all.
Like many of us, I've been thinking about Prop 8 and same-sex marriage (I'll use the acronym SSM). At The Y Files, an extremely thoughtful blog by Cathy Young, an anonymous poster talked about the fact that SSM has been going on regardless of legal status. I absolutely agree that one of the major missing pieces in this ongoing debate is that SSM is already happening. The only thing that's not legal recognition and rights. So arguments against SSM paint with a much broader brush than is appropriate. I think we need to acknowledge that we're talking about the legalization, not the fact. SSMs have been happening for decades and no one has been hurt. Maybe I'm being too simplistic about this. It's not an issue of the effect it will have, it's an issue of fairness - just as the legalization of mixed-race marriage was.
Then he says "If gays want marriage ...the key is to have children." I agree that children are a driving force behind marriage rights. I'm confused by the connection between that and his next statement concluding "that SSM is a lot of hype and little substance. It's far more the product of extremist egalitarian political agendas than "need" or equity."
I'm married to a woman. She and I know it, regardless of whether the larger society recognizes it. By choice we do not have children, nor will we. It is not hype that I still believe in fairness, regardless of whether I have children who need legal protections. Why shouldn't I get her retirement benefits (or she mine)? I'm fortunate to work for an employer who offers domestic partnership benefits - but I am just as concerned about my cousin and others who do not have that. Why shouldn't my cousin save $8000 a year in health insurance by joining his husband's plan? Why should I have to carry our health care POAs with me at all times in case something happens and the hospital chooses not to recognize our relationship?
Then there's the last comment. I'm truly asking this - not being sarcastic: What is an extremist egalitarian political agenda? How does a society become too fair?
Like many of us, I've been thinking about Prop 8 and same-sex marriage (I'll use the acronym SSM). At The Y Files, an extremely thoughtful blog by Cathy Young, an anonymous poster talked about the fact that SSM has been going on regardless of legal status. I absolutely agree that one of the major missing pieces in this ongoing debate is that SSM is already happening. The only thing that's not legal recognition and rights. So arguments against SSM paint with a much broader brush than is appropriate. I think we need to acknowledge that we're talking about the legalization, not the fact. SSMs have been happening for decades and no one has been hurt. Maybe I'm being too simplistic about this. It's not an issue of the effect it will have, it's an issue of fairness - just as the legalization of mixed-race marriage was.
Then he says "If gays want marriage ...the key is to have children." I agree that children are a driving force behind marriage rights. I'm confused by the connection between that and his next statement concluding "that SSM is a lot of hype and little substance. It's far more the product of extremist egalitarian political agendas than "need" or equity."
I'm married to a woman. She and I know it, regardless of whether the larger society recognizes it. By choice we do not have children, nor will we. It is not hype that I still believe in fairness, regardless of whether I have children who need legal protections. Why shouldn't I get her retirement benefits (or she mine)? I'm fortunate to work for an employer who offers domestic partnership benefits - but I am just as concerned about my cousin and others who do not have that. Why shouldn't my cousin save $8000 a year in health insurance by joining his husband's plan? Why should I have to carry our health care POAs with me at all times in case something happens and the hospital chooses not to recognize our relationship?
Then there's the last comment. I'm truly asking this - not being sarcastic: What is an extremist egalitarian political agenda? How does a society become too fair?
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Your Quality Supplier of Liberty and Democracy
A friend just emailed this to me:
Dear World:
The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.
The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located, and the parts responsible for it were replaced Tuesday night, November 4. Early tests of the newly-installed equipment indicate that it is functioning correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional by mid-January.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage, and we look forward to resuming full service. We hope even to improve it in years to come.
Thank you for your patience and understanding,
The USA
Dear World:
The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.
The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located, and the parts responsible for it were replaced Tuesday night, November 4. Early tests of the newly-installed equipment indicate that it is functioning correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional by mid-January.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage, and we look forward to resuming full service. We hope even to improve it in years to come.
Thank you for your patience and understanding,
The USA
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Prop 8 - Post Mortem
It's the Neaderthals v. Mandela - who will win?
The joy and relief about the presidential election has been tempered somewhat by the adoption of Prop 8 in California, outlawing same-sex marriage. There have apparently been protests each night since then - my brother took some awesome pictures.
I feel sadness and frustration with the Neaderthals who think they deserve more rights than I. Those feelings are mixed with anger at the folks on our side who have handled this struggle so badly, in my humble opinion.
I have stopped donating to HRC or any of the other organizations working for the legalization of same sex marriage - because I believe if they had handled the issue differently we could be much further along than we are today.
I worked in the South African studies field for several years - Mandela is one of my heroes. A couple of months ago there was an article in Time Magazine about his leadership style and methods. According to the article, Mandela made decisions based solely on strategy, not principle. Apparently it worked, since he was a vital factor in his country moving from apartheid to majority rule.
If we had followed that model, we wouldn't have used the word marriage at all. We would have quietly gone after the legal and financial rights and left "marriage" out of the equation. Bad strategy has set us back even further than we were several years ago, in fact, since there are (I think) 39 states that now have laws specifically outlawing same sex marriage or stating that a marriage is only between a man and a woman.
And now Richard Kim has an article on The Nation site about how disorganization sunk the effort to stop Prop 8. Oy vey. Aren't we passed this childish approach to political organizing yet? We need to learn from the against-all-odds success of the Obama campaign. My father, who's been politically active in Democratic causes since before I was born, said the Obama campaign was the most organized he'd seen. Ever. What will it take for our organizations to move past ideology and rhetoric and start doing what works? And when will we figure out that being disorganized doesn't work?
Interestingly, a friend emailed me what he meant to be encouragement - that "it is widely believed by civil rights groups that equal rights for same sex couples is inevitable." Is that the problem? That we don't take the fight seriously - we don't think we have to be organized or fight like our lives depend on it - because we think it's inevitable? What kind of cockamamie strategy is THAT?
Electing a Democratic president certainly moves us closer to a Supreme Court that MIGHT move in the direction of true justice for us. But that's not enough. And it's certainly not going to be soon enough. I used to think equal marriage rights would happen in my life time. I don't think that anymore. That's sad enough. But to think that actions on our part have contributed to that is even more pathetic.
The joy and relief about the presidential election has been tempered somewhat by the adoption of Prop 8 in California, outlawing same-sex marriage. There have apparently been protests each night since then - my brother took some awesome pictures.
I feel sadness and frustration with the Neaderthals who think they deserve more rights than I. Those feelings are mixed with anger at the folks on our side who have handled this struggle so badly, in my humble opinion.
I have stopped donating to HRC or any of the other organizations working for the legalization of same sex marriage - because I believe if they had handled the issue differently we could be much further along than we are today.
I worked in the South African studies field for several years - Mandela is one of my heroes. A couple of months ago there was an article in Time Magazine about his leadership style and methods. According to the article, Mandela made decisions based solely on strategy, not principle. Apparently it worked, since he was a vital factor in his country moving from apartheid to majority rule.
If we had followed that model, we wouldn't have used the word marriage at all. We would have quietly gone after the legal and financial rights and left "marriage" out of the equation. Bad strategy has set us back even further than we were several years ago, in fact, since there are (I think) 39 states that now have laws specifically outlawing same sex marriage or stating that a marriage is only between a man and a woman.
And now Richard Kim has an article on The Nation site about how disorganization sunk the effort to stop Prop 8. Oy vey. Aren't we passed this childish approach to political organizing yet? We need to learn from the against-all-odds success of the Obama campaign. My father, who's been politically active in Democratic causes since before I was born, said the Obama campaign was the most organized he'd seen. Ever. What will it take for our organizations to move past ideology and rhetoric and start doing what works? And when will we figure out that being disorganized doesn't work?
Interestingly, a friend emailed me what he meant to be encouragement - that "it is widely believed by civil rights groups that equal rights for same sex couples is inevitable." Is that the problem? That we don't take the fight seriously - we don't think we have to be organized or fight like our lives depend on it - because we think it's inevitable? What kind of cockamamie strategy is THAT?
Electing a Democratic president certainly moves us closer to a Supreme Court that MIGHT move in the direction of true justice for us. But that's not enough. And it's certainly not going to be soon enough. I used to think equal marriage rights would happen in my life time. I don't think that anymore. That's sad enough. But to think that actions on our part have contributed to that is even more pathetic.
Walking His Talk
From dailykos.com - for anyone who thinks the change message was simply lip service:
Obama Positions Himself to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues
By Ceci Connolly and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2008Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse the president on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.
The article specifically states that Obama administration officials will look most particularly at measures that were imposed for "overtly political" reasons.
And all those last minute deregulation binges we've been hearing about the last few days? The ones mostly crapping on the environment? Today's article clarifies:
Onward!The list of executive orders targeted by Obama's team could well get longer in the coming days, as Bush's appointees are rushing to enact a number of last-minute policies in an effort to extend his legacy.
Amazing, Improbable, and Beautiful
What an amazing, improbable, beautiful, and moving few days.
The positive and hopeful sentiments pouring into my mailbox have been so heartening. Alice Walker's Open Letter to Barack Obama brought me to tears, though to be fair, everything has been bringing me to tears since Tuesday. The sense of relief I feel is not just emotional, but strongly visceral and physical. My "acquired brother" (to use a phrase of his) (see his fabulous website) described it as "a day that will someday sooth me on my death bed." I understand what he means.
He and I are talking about putting together a book of personal writings from the campaign trail, so if you blogged, or journaled, and would be willing to possibly have us publish your writing, please leave me a comment and I'll contact you. Pictures would be fabulous too, as long as you took them (and therefore own the copyright).
Things Change: Surrounded By Positive Energy
Unlike folks in the Chicago metro area, who live in a blue state, down state Illinois is not blue. Downstate Illinois is rural and much more conservative. A big red dot in a big blue state. I drove to Chicago on Tuesday night, and while I was not at Grant Park, I was so glad to be there the next day. Even though McLean County went blue (by about 900 votes) this year, the red roots of this community run deep. I knew the atmosphere here would be angry and hostile (despite the Pantagraph's endorsement of Obama).
In Chicago, I went to Trader Joe's (bonus!) wearing my Obama shirt. The guy who checked me out saw it and said, "Yes we can." Earlier in the day when I was out walking I said to a woman wearing an Obama button, "It's a good day." She responded, "It's a great day." The feeling in Chicago wasn't euphoric - more calmly tired, happy and hopeful. Balm to my soul.
On the other hand...on the drive home a guy who was walking out of a rest stop as I was walking in saw my shirt and would have killed me with his eyes if he could. I'm trying not to focus on the angry or hostile people because that dovetails with my fear that some will be angry enough to try to take him out.
I went almost immediately into worry about his safety, of course, until someone pointed out that if we can elect him against the odds, maybe we need to apply the "Yes we can" philosophy to keeping him alive. I love that I've already received an email from the campaign asking us all to stay connected and active through www.change.gov (a new organization to facilitate communication with the Obama/Biden Administration. Questions, suggestions, or comments about the federal government, policy, or the coming Obama/Biden Administration? Visit the online Office of the President-elect for more information and to get involved: www.change.gov
Below is an award-winning music video using the words of a Barack speech. Enjoy.
The positive and hopeful sentiments pouring into my mailbox have been so heartening. Alice Walker's Open Letter to Barack Obama brought me to tears, though to be fair, everything has been bringing me to tears since Tuesday. The sense of relief I feel is not just emotional, but strongly visceral and physical. My "acquired brother" (to use a phrase of his) (see his fabulous website) described it as "a day that will someday sooth me on my death bed." I understand what he means.
He and I are talking about putting together a book of personal writings from the campaign trail, so if you blogged, or journaled, and would be willing to possibly have us publish your writing, please leave me a comment and I'll contact you. Pictures would be fabulous too, as long as you took them (and therefore own the copyright).
Things Change: Surrounded By Positive Energy
Unlike folks in the Chicago metro area, who live in a blue state, down state Illinois is not blue. Downstate Illinois is rural and much more conservative. A big red dot in a big blue state. I drove to Chicago on Tuesday night, and while I was not at Grant Park, I was so glad to be there the next day. Even though McLean County went blue (by about 900 votes) this year, the red roots of this community run deep. I knew the atmosphere here would be angry and hostile (despite the Pantagraph's endorsement of Obama).
In Chicago, I went to Trader Joe's (bonus!) wearing my Obama shirt. The guy who checked me out saw it and said, "Yes we can." Earlier in the day when I was out walking I said to a woman wearing an Obama button, "It's a good day." She responded, "It's a great day." The feeling in Chicago wasn't euphoric - more calmly tired, happy and hopeful. Balm to my soul.
On the other hand...on the drive home a guy who was walking out of a rest stop as I was walking in saw my shirt and would have killed me with his eyes if he could. I'm trying not to focus on the angry or hostile people because that dovetails with my fear that some will be angry enough to try to take him out.
I went almost immediately into worry about his safety, of course, until someone pointed out that if we can elect him against the odds, maybe we need to apply the "Yes we can" philosophy to keeping him alive. I love that I've already received an email from the campaign asking us all to stay connected and active through www.change.gov (a new organization to facilitate communication with the Obama/Biden Administration. Questions, suggestions, or comments about the federal government, policy, or the coming Obama/Biden Administration? Visit the online Office of the President-elect for more information and to get involved: www.change.gov
Below is an award-winning music video using the words of a Barack speech. Enjoy.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I'm a Believer or Saint Crispian's Day
Oddly, it was a football analogy that turned me into a believer. My wife, a football fan, finds this hugely amusing. Rachel Maddow's trending report was interesting and all that, but you still have to believe the polls and disbelieve in the Bradley Effect, etc. Then Rachel pointed out that one of the ways to predict who is going to win a football game is to look at who's part of the field the game is being played in. And this game is clearly being played deep into McCain's territory: Indiana and even McCain's home state of Arizona. Obama's apparently actually gained ground in Utah. Amazing. We're certainly not going to take Utah, and I don't think we'll get Indiana, but as of yesterday Indiana had moved to 49% for Obama and 48% for McCain. I think we're actually going to pull this off.
--------------------------------------------
The first votes are in from Dixville Notch, NH (pop. roughly 75, 21 registered voters), which has been the first town to count votes for dozens of years and Obama won by a vote of 15 to 6.
Before we get too excited, according to fivethirtyeight.com there is no historical correlation between how Dixville Notch and the rest of New Hampshire or the country votes. What I do find hopeful, however, is this quote at allheadlinenews.com from Matthew Borghese:
St. Crispian's Day
From here on, if Barack wins, Nov 4 will forever be known in my world as St. Crispian's Day. There is an amazing brief tribute to everyone who has worked their tails off to make this happen at the fivethirtyeight.com website that includes a quote from Henry V. It brought me to tears because I'm so glad to have been part of something bigger than myself and so right. I had started to mourn the America I loved, and I think it might be back.
Organizers of America,
H-Hour, D-Day is upon you.
After the election, when you can talk, email me your stories, because there's more to say about what you did. [pocket99s@gmail.com]
For the organizers, the volunteers, every damn brave last one of you:
For he to-day who sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother.
Let's get this thing done. GO VOTE! And drag your friends with you, too.
--------------------------------------------
The first votes are in from Dixville Notch, NH (pop. roughly 75, 21 registered voters), which has been the first town to count votes for dozens of years and Obama won by a vote of 15 to 6.
Before we get too excited, according to fivethirtyeight.com there is no historical correlation between how Dixville Notch and the rest of New Hampshire or the country votes. What I do find hopeful, however, is this quote at allheadlinenews.com from Matthew Borghese:
Dixville Notch has a Republican history, voting for President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, while previously voting for both President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and Bob Dole in 1996.
--------------------------------------St. Crispian's Day
From here on, if Barack wins, Nov 4 will forever be known in my world as St. Crispian's Day. There is an amazing brief tribute to everyone who has worked their tails off to make this happen at the fivethirtyeight.com website that includes a quote from Henry V. It brought me to tears because I'm so glad to have been part of something bigger than myself and so right. I had started to mourn the America I loved, and I think it might be back.
Organizers of America,
H-Hour, D-Day is upon you.
After the election, when you can talk, email me your stories, because there's more to say about what you did. [pocket99s@gmail.com]
For the organizers, the volunteers, every damn brave last one of you:
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
-- William Shakespeare, Henry the DXXXVIII
For he to-day who sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother.
Let's get this thing done. GO VOTE! And drag your friends with you, too.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Adrenaline Junkie on a Fear High
David Sedaris on undecided voters:
I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?"
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
________________________________________________________
I just got back from Indiana knocking on doors to get the vote out. I came back feeling very hopeful. The person with whom I canvassed told me that in early voting, Obama has a 21% lead. How anyone knows that is a mystery to me, but that's the rumor. My canvassing partner also told me that the conservative newspaper in Indiana endorsed Obama too. So it was beginning to feel like a public opinion landslide, if not a voting landslide. Then I came home and opened my email to find this from the Obama campaign:
"Here's some ominous news: In the last week, Obama's lead in the national tracking polls has dropped by almost three points (emphasis added). If it keeps dropping, we could be looking at four years of President McCain and Vice President Palin.
Now, don't panic yet. Obama's still ahead. But if you thought it didn't matter whether you helped the campaign this weekend, think again. The election looks like it'll be very, very close. If folks start thinking that Obama's got this one licked, and he doesn't really need their vote, we could be in big trouble.
To win, Obama needs a flood of volunteers in swing states to bring in every possible vote. You can help Obama recruit those volunteers right now—by calling MoveOn members in swing states with our easy-to-use website and asking them to volunteer. All you need is a phone and a computer with internet. Try it for five minutes, and trust us, you'll be hooked.
Don't get mad, don't get scared—get to work. Obama needs us now. "
What the hell is wrong with this country?
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