Put the Blame on Mame, Boys

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford admits he wasn't hiking the Apalachian Trail; it was just a tale, he was really off hiking some tail. Another God-fearing, family-values, Republican pol caught with his pants down - just had to have some of that good stuff down Argentine way.

Oh but it's teh gayz who are destroying the American family, tearing society apart, bringing down the wrath of God! Right.

The governor apologized to the wife and kids at a press conference, saying he was ready to "work through the process" of forgiveness and reconciliation with them. Gee, all the straight boys have to do is say "I'm sorry" it seems, and that makes everything okay, no matter who they've been banging.

By odd coincidence, last night - before this story broke - the roommate and I were watching Gilda, the Rita Hayworth classic, which is set in Buenos Aires.

Now after hearing the gov's confession, I can't get this song out of my mind:

Sunday Drive: Father's Day

In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill. We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference.

That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.

--President Obama

Chief Quartermaster John Lehnen, featured in this video, is the father of four special needs children.

I also came across this clip today from a new documentary about gay fatherhood, which seems appropriate to post today:

On a personal note: even though I knew definitely from the time I was 14 that I was gay, I still somehow wanted a child or two, a son especially - perhaps to redeem the mistakes that had been made in my parenting, but also because that desire to perpetuate the blood lies deep in us Southerners.

But 30 years ago, when I came out, it just didn't seem possible. Oh yes, even way back then we knew it was possible to get a child with a lesbian friend and a turkey baster, or some other strange method. But that didn't appeal to me, just having a child to say you had one, and one that somebody else would raise - what would be the point of that?

So I let that fond wish die out in my heart. Probably just as well; I might have been a rotten dad. But now that technology and culture have changed so much, I wonder what I would do if I were 20-something now. So much more is possible for the younger generation today than was possible for us back there in the late 70's.

How fortunate they are.

The Whole World's Watching

In tribute to the Iranian protesters,

being hunted down and killed

by their own government:

Someday you will see how long we've waited for the time
To show you how we've died to get together with you all . . .

Notice how with her last breath, this dying woman looks to the camera as if to say, See what they are doing . . .

A sample of unconfirmed tweets from Andrew's blog:

4.22 pm. Conf'd Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Call from Iran reports severe skin burns due to the unknown liquid dropped from helicopters.

unloaded massive amounts of guns for more than 500 basijies whom had been sent there several hours earlier to confront the demonstrators.

Reports from Tehran, Azadi St., Sanati Sharif University indicate that more that 10 helicopters landed inside the university,

Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Reports: Security Forces attacked to Khomini Hospital to arrest Injurd protesters, It is said at least 30 injurd are there...

Reports: At Least 10 Protesters Shoted By Bassij, Bassij Opend Gunfire to People at Haft Hooz SQ.

2.58 pm. good source: Hospital close to the scene in Tehran: 30-40 dead thus far as of 11pm and 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Voice from Iran: Shame on a country in which foreign embassies are safer than hospitals :(

2.31 pm. Canadians, call your foreign office. It's confirmed Canadian Embassy rejects injured protesters

Australian Embassy reportedly accepting injured

My Friend Wounded At Haft Hooz SQ, No Clinic Is Open!

2.19 pm. IT IS NOT OVER, IT IS JUST BEGUN!

FB report: shouts of Allah o Akbar in holy city of Mashhad "explosive"

Reports: People Pushed Back Millitas at Gisha St.

From a source in Tehran: allah akbar just started and it's the most intense yet. so surreal.

RT ASAP! TAKING WOUNDED Portugese Embassy No.30, Nezami St., Abbas Pour St., Valy-e-Asr

Reports: Bassij Millita attacking People at Haft Hooz SQ, Heavy Clashes Just Strated...

1.52 pm.

People Shouting on the roofs, all over the Capital: "Death to the Dictator"!

12.46 pm. Helicopters did not spray boiling water. It was a type of ACID, similar to what Mojahedeen used in '78-'82.

I feel like I'm in a police state for 1st time. Pple are so pissed, starting to feel scared. As of late aftrnoon Basij are everywhere

My heart is pounding fast as I'm hearing about dead ppl lying on streets in Tehran

Will chemical warfare B next by the gvmt to kill ppl? Seems they're doing anything 2 stop ppl

Bassij opened gunfire on people near Sadeghieh, West of Tehran.

hospital source - Tehran hospitals report hundreds of casualtys -

Unconfirmed - The Army will not follow orders to kill the people

European embassies reportedly open doors for injured, tell families to take them there.

Lincoln:

. . . that government of the people, by the people, and for the people should not perish from the earth.

The President's Statement on Iran

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 20, 2009


Statement from the President on Iran

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

Excerpt from a reader comment on Sullivan's blog:

These citizens are done with their leadership. The trust has completely and irretrievably dissipated, and the fear, although present, is not sufficient, especially as it becomes more clear the army will remain on the sidelines. And the mullahs have opened all the playbooks on repression and crowd control simultaneously; it's a smorgasboard attempt at blocking the rising tide of resentment; if you'll recall, that's called the mullah's-ass-on-a-pressure-cooker-lid-to-retard-fulmination rule. If things look bad with the pressure cooker, piling more mullahs on the lid will only result in a more spectacular finish.

If the Warsaw Ghetto uprising had been broadcast to the entire world, Hitler's demise most surely would have come several years sooner. The mullahs have no way out. They are, essentially, fucked. It's now only a matter of time. And Iran's negotiations on their nuclear program? Suspended indefinitely due to lack of credibility; nobody will believe anything they say now.

TICK, TOCK, MOTHERFUCKERS...


[Sullivan:] From his mouth to Allah's ears.

Joe Jervis: Why Pride?

Joe Jervis writes a moving post on why Pride matters; here's an excerpt, but go read the whole thing:

I'm not worried what the outside world thinks about the drag queens, the topless bulldaggers, or the nearly naked leatherfolk. It's OUR party, bitches. If you think that straight America would finally pull its homokinder to its star-spangled bosom once we put down that glitter gun, then you are seriously deluding yourself. Next year, if one of the Christian camera crews that show up to film our "debauched" celebrations happen to train their cameras on you, stop dancing. And start PRANCING.

All you suburban, lawn mowing, corpo-droid homos out there, hiding behind your picket fences, the ones wringing your hands and worrying that Pride ruins YOUR personal rep, listen up. Do you think that straight Americans worry that Mardi Gras damages international perception of American culture? America, land of the free, home of "Show Us Your Tits!"? They don't and neither should we. Our Pride celebrations are just our own unique version of Mardi Gras, only instead of throwing beads, we throw shade. No one has to ask US to show our tits. We've already got 'em out there, baby. And some of them are real. . . .

But sometimes I think we are the worst people in the entire world when it comes to standing up for each other. The gay people who'd like to soothe their personal image problems by selectively culling some of our children from Pride events? They disgust me. They appall me. They embarrass me. To them I say: the very road that YOU now have the privilege of swaggering upon was paved by those very queens and leather freaks that you complain about,as you practice your "masculine" and give us butch face. If you want to live in the house that THEY BUILT, you better act like you fucking know it. United we stand, you snide bitches. America's kulturkampf ain't gonna be solved by making flamboyant people go away.

I'll end this by making one final Jewish reference. Possibly you've heard the Jewish in-joke that sums up the meaning of all Jewish holidays? "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat." My Pride version?

They wish we were invisible.

We're not.

Let's dance.

Confession: Joe's post has made me stop and think and re-evaluate my attitude. All these many years I've been working on doing the straight-acting thing, at least around the straights. But has that gotten me an ounce more respect from them? Hell no.

I've told the story of what happened after my husband died, and how cold and cruel the treatment from the townfolk was; and God knows we were the most un-flamboyant gays like ever, in Wranglers and boots, cowboy hats and pickup trucks and country music on the radio. But that made no difference; as I discovered, we were still hated by a large part of the populace just as much as any drag queens would have been in that little town.

I remember about 30 years ago, a favorite aunt of mine once made the pointed remark, apropos of nothing, when I was visiting: "I don't mind what gay people do as long as they aren't flamboyant about it." I hadn't come out to her - I never did, she's dead now - and I always thought that was a coded remark: I love you, and I know you're gay, just don't show it or talk about it.

In other words, Lie to me, don't be yourself, I don't want to deal with that. But would she really have loved me any less if I had come out to her?

Do the haters really hate me any less for keeping silent and looking straight?

Joe's post has made me realize the answer to both questions is No.

In that case, fuck it. You might as well live your life the way you want to, then. Keeping up a big act, living a lie, doesn't make any difference about who loves you in the end.

Thanks for the epiphany, Joe.

Photo from a hate-filled rightwing blog that gave it the title

"A conquering army on the march."

I'm loving it, enlist me. Where can I get a uniform like that?

More armies like this and the world would be a much better place.

David Mixner: What's Next?

In the wake of the great betrayal, David shares his personal plan for what to do now in "the greatest civil rights struggle of [our] generation; I think he's right on track (emphasis mine):

-I just sent a check that I was planning on giving to the Democratic Party to the initiative battle in Maine. They will have on the ballot this November their passage of marriage equality. Let's be sure they have the resources they need early and not at the last minute. I made my contribution through ACT BLUE.

-I will not contribute to the Democratic National Party nor to any candidate who does not have an actual record of voting for marriage, against DADT, etc. No more empty promises from well-meaning politicians. I have been burned so many times I am running out of salve.

-There is no question that wise minds and cool heads have to discuss and plan a national campaign of civil disobedience.

-No more needless compromises or working for partial victories. It is time to go all out for the repeal of DOMA and DADT. The political convenience of an elected official and his calendar is not the business of a civil rights movement. The business of a civil rights movement is freedom.

-I will be watching our national organizations closely with an understanding eye to their mission. However, their mission should be our rights first and the politicians second.

-No longer will I jump up and down simply because the President or Democratic leadership just mentions they are against DOMA or for repeal of DADT. We are long past the days when we were just happy when they said the word 'gay.' I want action and I want it now.

-Will do everything I can to get as many people as possible to the March on Washington on October 11. Let us make a powerful, eloquent statement while empowering ourselves!

-Finally, I will continue to chose my words as carefully as I chose my actions. I don't want to become like our oppressors - filled with anger and derision. I want us to not only lift ourselves up into freedom but also to lift our oppressors out of their partisan hate into a better world.

On that last point, David's got a cooler head than I do - I'm one of those hotblooded Texans you've heard about - guess you boys had that figured out already, huh - but I'll try to channel my anger into a constructive path.

(Image: honk to magygraphics)

The Eve of Destiny

Posted by Andrew Sullivan:

“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…” - an Iranian blogger, with more courage than most of us will ever know.

And this, from another anonymous Iranian:

[T]he green light has now been given to the basij to kick ass and take names. "The way of the law is open," [Khamenei] says. "If people continue to take the other way, I will come back and speak more directly." Qanun, qanun, qanun. Law, law, law. His emphasis on the need for law and order. By the end, uncharacteristically, the leader, gets hot. Interjections from the crowd interrupt him and he tells them to stop and listen. He talks about the U.S. and the West and how the U.S. wanted to launch a spurious velvet revolution in Georgia. He says that these "aqmaqha" -- idiots -- think that they can do the same in Iran.

And then he ends by weeping. He tells Iranians that he loves us more than we can know. Ten years ago, Khamenei wept publicly when students were protesting in the streets. That's when regime loyalists began to crack down. "Our vote is written in blood, and we gave it to the leader," the mosque crowd yells back.

Things do not look good. It is worse than it ever was.

And this anonymous woman in Tehran:

Tomorrow is the Saturday of destiny....Tonight the Allaho Akbar is louder than other nights....Where is this place? A country were people have only God left to reach out to... This is a country where every night people's scream of Allah O Akbar is louder than the night before... Every day I wait till night time comes so I can hear this sound and see if it is louder than the night before or not ... My body is shaking... I wonder if God is shaking himself?

God help them.

Shalikashvili: Gays in the Military? No Problem

Clinton's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, argues for accepting gays in the military in today's WaPo:

But it is not just foreign militaries that show service by openly gay individuals works. The U.S. military itself has had successful experiences. Enforcement of the ban was suspended without problems during the Persian Gulf War, and there were no reports of angry departures. A majority of U.S. service members say they know or believe that someone in their unit is gay, according to a 2006 Zogby International poll, and most of those who know of openly gay peers report no detriment to morale or cohesion. A recent study co-authored by Laura Miller of Rand Corp. found no correlation between a unit's readiness and whether known gays serve in it. And last year, four retired flag and general officers studied all available evidence and found that allowing gays to serve posed no risk to force readiness.

While the proper timing of repealing "don't ask, don't tell" remains uncertain, it is evident to me that a policy change is inevitable. More than three-quarters of the public favors the change. Polls show that even a majority of Republicans support allowing openly gay people to serve. Within the military, the climate has changed dramatically since 1993. Conversations I've held with service members make clear that, while the military remains a traditional culture, that tradition no longer requires banning open service by gays. There will undoubtedly be some teething pains, but I have no doubt our leadership can handle it.

And say, guys, why don't you go to the SLDN site and sign the petition to the Secretary of the Air Force on behalf of about-to-be-shitcanned Col. Victor Fehrenbach. Sure, the petition won't do any good; but the more letters, emails, phone calls we produce on every issue, the more we ramp up the pressure.

As we've seen today, just this week the community put on some heat, and we got some response from the Administration. Keep it up guys, and don't back down. We've got to earn our rights - nobody, but nobody, is going to just hand them to us.

Do something.

Col. Fehrenbach, war hero and military outcast

Tweet Populi

(click here to view)

Clay Bennett Chattanooga Times Free Press Jun 19, 2009 EditorialCartoonists.com

It's important to understand that even though the millions protesting the fraudulent Iranian election wear Western clothes (most of them, not all) and watch satellite TV and have armloads of technology, they aren't Americans, and they don't want to be just like us in every way. Their most-used slogans and chants are religious ones; their religion imbues their thinking and their daily life in a way that would seem way overblown to most of us, living in a Western society that started becoming secularized more than 300 years ago.

Still, what they are protesting is a patently outrageous fraud, and a government that claims to be the expression of God's will on earth, but has betrayed the clear will of the voters. They want democracy, freedom, and human rights, all within the context of their religious views, but still, it's a start, and it's a fascinating standoff between the rulers and the ruled, a historic moment for democracy - government of, for, and by the people.

I'm not an expert on Iran or politics or any of that stuff. But watching the videos and reading the tweets (once again I recommend Andrew Sullivan's ongoing coverage), a few things are real clear and easy to see. It will be interesting to learn how this plays out - an unarmed populace against a dictatorship; seems like the military would have to get involved on the people's side to overthrow the fascist regime, but what do I know.

The Supreme Leader Khamenei's big speech today seems to boil down to this: How could there possibly be any fraud, when the president won by 11 million votes? This is God's will, and I'm God's mouthpiece, so y'all just go home and mind your own business. Think spiritual thoughts and be peaceful and calm, and STFU - or we'll sic the goons on you, you ungrateful pigs.

Oh my. Such a transparent lie, an obvious deception. It sounds just like our fundamentalist Republican pols here in the Bible Belt, laying down the law and "the Bible says," if they could get away with it. Using God to terrify and control the masses has always been such a great way to stay on top, all down through history.

But sometimes people get wise to the fraud. Sometimes they want to have their own say about how things are run, instead of turning it over to priests and kings, by whatever names they are called.

I forget the exact source of this at the moment, but even in the days of the Roman Empire, there was a saying: Vox populi, vox dei.

The voice of the people is the voice of God.

Mule, Meet Board

A little pressure gets a little attention. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The administration has directed the Census Bureau to determine changes needed in tabulation software to allow for same-sex marriage data to be released early in 2011 with other detailed demographic information from the decennial count. The bureau historically hasn't released same-sex marriage data.

Actually, that's an understatement; the census bureau has deliberately suppressed some data about same-sex couples, under Bush administration policy. They were all set to do it again, but maybe now we'll get the data counted correctly.

Americablog, regarding two more DOMA-related cases, not connected with the one last week that sparked all the outrage:

Top gay lawyers [from GLAD and Lambda Legal] simply wanted to talk with the Obama administration's representatives at the Department of Justice and the Office of Personnel Management (which is not only run by an openly gay man, but has an openly gay general counsel). The gay lawyers wanted to know the details of the administration's reasoning that DOMA precluded health care benefits, among other benefits, to the partners of gay employees. The Obama administration refused.

However, today it's a different story:

Two very top White House officials, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and Political Director Patrick Gaspard, are holding a "wonderful" conference call on Monday with the LGBT caucus of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). I've seen the email, which reads in part: "The call will include important updates on the Administration's LGBT agenda and how we move forward."

This does go to show -- and I've heard it from many people on other issues -- if you want the attention of the Obama White House, you have to play hard ball. For the LGBT community, among other things, that means shutting down the Gay ATM.

No doubt, we'll hear how great it was that White House people talked to the gays. That might have been a big deal in 1979, not 2009.

And even Justice is doing a little turnaround now:

The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next week with the groups, in an apparent effort to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act. . . .

At the meeting — which hasn’t been announced and is expected to include leading gay rights groups like GLAD and Lambda Legal — both sides are expected to hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.

All of this still doesn't add up to much. But it's a start.

There's an old joke most Southerners know about the farmer who hitched up his mule to a wagon, but the mule just sat down and wouldn't move. So the farmer gets off the wagon, goes up to the mule, and hits him over the head, blam, with a two-by-four. Then the mule got up and trotted right along as he was supposed to.

A friend who was passing by asked the farmer why he hit the mule like that. The old farmer replied that the mule was usually cooperative; "but fust, you have to get his attention."

LOL: Iran-I-Am

You have to see this Sage Stossel cartoon.

Do you like green protest plans?
I do not like them, Sam Imam.
Do you like them in the square?
I do not like them anywhere . . . .

Clarifications and Comments on That Memo

The Washington Blade reports:

Gay rights attorney Evan Wolfson, who heads the same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom To Marry, said congressional passage of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act would take precedent over DOMA in the area of federal employee benefits. Thus approval of that measure would enable the Obama administration to provide full federal personnel benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees without the repeal of DOMA.

"A more recent bill would undo or at least limit the other one," Wolfson said.

Hirsch of Federal GLOBE said White House officials kept his group informed of the administration's efforts to prepare the presidential memorandum during the past several months. He said the plan all along was to issue the memorandum during LGBT Pride Month in June. He said the memorandum's signing shortly after the administration issued its controversial defense of DOMA in federal court, in response to a lawsuit challenging DOMA, was coincidental.

Hirsch and Solmonese of HRC each called the presidential memorandum a small but important first step in the ongoing effort to provide equal rights and treatment of LGBT people who work for the federal government.

According to Hirsch, a presidential memorandum has the same force of law as a presidential executive order, with the memorandum used more often in federal personnel matters. Hirsch and White House officials noted that some news accounts claiming that a presidential memorandum expires at the end of a president's term in office are incorrect. A presidential memorandum remains in effect indefinitely unless another president rescinds it, just as presidents can rescind executive orders issued by their predecessors.

Solmonese pointed to a statement by Berry in a phone conference for reporters, in which the gay OPM director said the president's memorandum would give him greater authority to prohibit workplace discrimination against LGBT employees.

"Although today's actions are only the beginning in what will be a multi-step process towards achieving real and tangible equality for our community, it is no doubt an important first step," Solmonese said. " We commend President Obama and his administration for taking this action to provide some basic benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees and his endorsement of legislation that would provide domestic partner health benefits."

Kameny is the first known gay person to challenge the federal government after he was fired for being gay from his job as a civilian astronomer with the Army the late 1950s, He called Obama's presidential memorandum an important development.

"There's been a great deal of adverse criticism of the president in recent weeks because people got the feeling that things they wanted to see weren't happening," Kameny said. "My feeling is he made clear that he's on the right side, he's with us, things are moving as fast as he can get them to move, and I feel very satisfied."

Leonard Hirsch has posted a personal reflection on his recent life-threatening illness and the President's action here (PDF document).

Related links:

Federal GLOBE - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Employees of the Federal Government

GLIFAA - Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies

Noted in the GLIFAA press release:

President Obama's announcement today follows earlier news reports that Secretary Clinton would soon expand the State Department's definition of "Eligible Family Member" (EFM) to include same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners and their children. Presently, domestic partners are classified as "Members of Household" (MOHs), a term that denies critical protections to family members, including those separated from their employee partners who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 grants the Secretary of State exclusive authority to define the term EFM, and GLIFAA has pushed for years to update the definition of the term. GLIFAA also thanks Congresswoman Baldwin, Congressman Berman, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, Congressman Ackerman, Senator Feingold, and Senator Wyden, who repeatedly wrote Secretary Rice and Secretary Clinton to remind them of the hardships facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families serving overseas.

As soon as she took office, Secretary Clinton received a letter from over 2,200 current and former employees of the State Department and other foreign affairs agencies asking her to treat all families equally: "We question the logic of leaving same-sex partners to fend for themselves during an emergency evacuation of a high danger post. We are embarrassed when the Department will reimburse a variety of moving expenses, including the cost of transporting a pet, when an employee is assigned overseas, but will not do the same for a same-sex partner... Madam Secretary, we believe that no colleague of ours is a second-class colleague, and no colleague's family is a second-class family." Ninety-two percent (92%) of the letter's signers did not have an MOH family member but signed because, like Secretary Clinton, they know that leaving families vulnerable and without diplomatic protections while in service to the U.S. Government abroad is wrong.

The impact of H1N1 influenza on one GLIFAA family highlighted the second-class status suffered by MOHs. In Mexico, tests confirmed that one Foreign Service Officer's two sons had contracted H1N1. The Health Unit quickly sprang into action and gave Tamiflu to the children and to the employee father. However the Health Unit would not provide Tamiflu to the other father -- even though it was unavailable locally -- because he was an MOH, and not an EFM. It took the personal intervention of the Chargé d'Affaires before the Health Unit took this basic public health measure. Once regulations are revised based on the administrations guidance, no Embassy children will have to watch their parents bear this discrimination again, because all family members will have access to Tamiflu when medically appropriate.

What I Say: You wonder why the doctor or nurse, with hypodermic in hand, didn't just give the other dad the shot and keep quiet about it; lie if necessary. You wonder what kind of fricking tight-ass bureaucrat down in Mexico would sacrifice those kids' dad for the sake of a petty homophobic rule.

You wonder why the God of all Creation, the God who is Love as "the Bible says," would get all huffed up and indignant and rain down fire and brimstone over something like this, like some backwoods shyster multimillionaire TV preacher with a shit-eating grin and a hateful arrogant self-righteous heart as hard as board.

Shove it up your ass, Pat Robertson.

If Anne Frank Had Twitter

Having posted about Anne Frank last week, I found this reader comment at "Twitter 1, Censors 0: Why It's Still Working" sparks some intriguing thoughts:

Wow! Imagine if they'd had twitter at Tienemen square, or in Nazi Germany. Anne Frank could have been read in real time! What a tremendous gift to the people of the world that there is a way to immediately expose the oppressive tactics of their governments! So much for silencing the masses!

Also, I found this cool image of Iran's blogosphere at "How Iran's Internet Works":



Interactive version can be found at the Harvard website.

While there, I poked around and read a little bit on one of the "secularist" women's blogs; and lo and behold, here is a reader comment opposing her questioning of authority - and it sounds so familiar:

Human rights are not recognized by Islam, period. Religious rights are the only rights women or men are entitled to.
Islam requires total submission to One God, including our sense of what is right and wrong to what God declared right and wrong. If you are not willing to accept that then you are not a muslim. It is not gauranteed that you will understand the wisdom behind each and every command and decree of God and this is the test for us in this life according to Islamic doctrines and true devotees. ergo, your letter in that context is irrelevant and meaningless...

The writer is a Muslim, but danged if he wouldn't fit right in here in the Bible Belt; that's the old "the-Bible-said-it-and-I-believe-it" mentality to a tee. Ain't that right, fellas?

Fundamentalism is the same all around the world, I guess: a wonderful tool to control other people with. It's not about God, it's all about power.

P.S. - if you Twitter, set your location and time zone to Iran to help confuse the fascist regime and protect the demonstrators. The head religious honcho in Iran, the Supreme Leader (what a title . . . I'm not making this up) is about to make a major address to the crowds, so probably more interesting developments are about to happen there.

Reax: Polis, Aravosis, Frank

CBS interviews Jared Polis and John Aravosis:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Excerpt from a reader's comment on Americablog about the Barney Frank flip-flop:

By making such a crass and transparently political calculation, Barney Frank has committed the same mistake that Mattachine made. He has overvalued his relationship with the Democratic power establishment over his relationship with our community - and in so doing, he has forgotten his roots. Had he spoken up for our community by giving voice to the pain that ordinary gay couples feel over DOMA, we would have rallied around him as a natural leader. But by defending Obama's indefensible legal brief, he has placed himself at odds with his own community. He will not lose everyone's support - our community is not monolithic - but at this very moment in history, Barney Frank was handed a rare opportunity to rise to the occasion and become a truly great leader. Instead, he has revealed himself as just another crass politician.

The old wineskin is incapable of containing the new wine.

What I Say: I like Barney a lot, he's shrewd as hell and tells it like it is. But just as he said the other day that the President "has made a big mistake," so too I think Barney has now made a great error. He's still playing the political ballgame after the game has been called.

And furthermore, your Head Trucker is amazed at the utter insanity of some bloggers and commenters to the effect of, Well I'll vote for the Republicans next time. That's just bizarre, and totally not comprehending reality.

Who in their right fucking mind could possibly vote for the party of Limbaugh, Cheney, Palin, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Sally Kern, Larry Craig, Ted Haggart, and oh let's not forget George W. Bush?? It's the party of torture and unlimited executive power, remember?

Please, Mary, put the pipe down and snap out of it. The Republican party is in its death throes, anyway; they won't go quietly, but they are the dinosaurs of the 21st century. Supporting a quasi-fascist party is definitely not the way to go, boys. You really want to be singing "We're here, we're queer" as you're marched into a metaphorical detention camp?

Either we have to pile on the heat to get the Dems' attention; or somehow a new and vote-winning party, more responsive and more concerned about all the people's needs - not just the gays' - has got to arise here. We've all been very well trained to think of American politics as "either-or"; but maybe it doesn't have to be either Dems or Repubs, maybe there's room for more and better in our political system. Certainly, a massive turn to a new, more progressive outfit would get the Dems' attention in a hurry.

Sometimes what looks like a very small, almost trivial incident, can set in motion a huge movement. It occurs to me that this little debacle could be the crack in the dam, a historic turning point in the political history of this country - if the Dems don't act fast to make good on their fine talk and promises. It's about civil rights, people - it's not optional anymore, it's required.

Or else the Dems just might follow the Republicans into extinction one day. I've already recommended that you fellas take a look at Canada's New Democratic Party. Give some thought also to the platform of Britain's Liberal Democrats, and see if you like what you read. The names aren't important, it's the philosophy the party stands for.

I'm not a prophet or a political wizard, but one thing I do know: Change has come to America. And maybe a bigger change than anyone really expected. Think it over.

Promoting social liberalism, Lib Dems seek to minimise state intervention in personal affairs: they oppose what they call the 'nanny state'. Their president's book of office is John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, which defined the harm principle of law. While objecting to state limitations of individual rights, they favour a welfare state that provides for the necessities and amenities of life. . . . strong environmentalist values . . . renewable energy . . . taxing the rich more . . . power to the people.

--Wikipedia

Obama's Plan for Gay Rights

What did I tell you?