We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn't think were possible. Each day, we're told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don't even count at all. Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength, we see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards. Every single day we see that, and it's hard to hope in those moments. So it may be tempting to get discouraged, to give into cynicism. It may be tempting for some to compromise with power, and grab what you can, or even for good people to maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass.
But this man, Rev. Jesse Lewis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path. His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, "Send me." Wherever we have a chance to make an impact, whether it's in our school or our workplaces or our neighborhoods or our cities, not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose, because it aligns with what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don't step up, no one else will.
How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call. What a great debt we owe to him. May God bless Rev. Jackson. May he rest in eternal peace.
June 26 should be a red-letter day on every gay and lesbian calendar - the day the Supreme Court extended marriage equality to all Americans in these momentous words that will ring through centuries to come:
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
Here's the NBC news report on that day and President Obama's eloquent remarks:
Here's your Head Trucker's post on that day. M.P. and I were teary-eyed with joy. I thought, finally -- it's over, we won, now life can flow on smoothly and happily for us gay folks, as it should.
But of course life doesn't always go as we expect. Now we face new challenges. Let's stay united, firm, and courageous. Our love is here to stay!
Revolting, absurd, utterly childish. Like something out of a cartoon or a cheesy sitcom - but this is the filthy, despicable reality of the new America.
Bernie Sanders tells it like it is. I wish this was required viewing for everyone in America.
And here is an excerpt from former President Obama's remarks on democracy, during a visit to Hamilton College in upstate New York two days ago:
One month ago today, President Biden announced he would not seek the Democratic nomination this year. What a difference a month makes! From the doldrums of something like despair, the Democratic Party is now "fired up and ready to go," in a phrase made famous by former President Obama 16 years ago. Your Head Trucker's political memory stretches back to the election of JFK in 1960, but I've never seen such an electrifying turnaround before.
As Michelle Obama said in her speech tonight, "there's magic in the air." It all makes for a grand show, a political spectacle, though substance is a bit lacking. But that's American politics: who would choose to study for a test when there's such a great pep rally going on?
PBS provides highlights from the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
NBC gives provides the full speeches by Doug Emmhof, Michelle Obama, and Barack Obama.
There are 103 days left until the election, November 5th. Check your voter registration, and be sure it's up to date.
What a difference a week makes - from depression to elation! I Hope the Dems keep the campaign train fired up and steaming right on to victory - not just for the good of the party, but also for the country and the world, and all us little people who live and love and work in it.
Here are a few news clips worth watching. First, the Obamas endorse Kamala:
Governor Walz on the "he-man woman haters" in the Republican party:
Secretary Pete on Trump's fear of debating Kamala:
Former Ambassador Susan Rice on Kamala's creds to be Commander-in-Chief:
Former President Obama issued a statement today on the Daunte Wright killing by police in Minneapolis:
Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police. It’s important to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but this is also a reminder of just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country.
The fact that this could happen even as the city of Minneapolis is going through the trial of Derek Chauvin and reliving the heart-wrenching murder of George Floyd indicates not just how important it is to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but also just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country.
Michelle and I grieve alongside the Wright family for their loss. We empathize with the pain that Black mothers, fathers, and children are feeling after yet another senseless tragedy. And we will continue to work with all fair-minded Americans to confront historical inequities and bring about nationwide changes that are so long overdue.
If you want to help, you can learn about the issues, connect with local and national organizations, find resources on trauma and mental health, and take action here: www.obama.org/anguish-and-action
ABC News reported last night with newly released bodycam footage of the shooting:
What I Say: Much as I deplore yet another killing, the situation is not as simple as the headlines make it sound. It was not merely a traffic stop - Daunte had an outstanding warrant for a gun violation and had failed to appear in court. The police have a right and a duty to make an arrest in that situation. His second mistake was jumping back behind the wheel of his car while being handcuffed - at that point he is a danger to the public. So it seems clear to me that he bears some of the responsibility for what happened.
This does not, of course, justify his killing.
I have no background in law enforcement but it seems to me there must be a better way to take someone into custody. And firing a gun instead of a taser is a rookie mistake, not what is expected of a 26-year police veteran. So the police also were at fault for failing to handle the arrest peacefully - that's their job, and they are supposed to be professionals.
After 9/11, the federal government under George W. Bush effectively militarized the police all over this country. Today, if we are not to live under a police state, law enforcement must be re-imagined and effectively reformed immediately. No more senseless killings!
There's also this report from ABC News last night on the case of U.S. Army Lt. Caron Nazario that in my view is an even more egregious example of outrageously, horrifically bad policing over a mere traffic stop, though it did not result in a killing:
There are good people in law enforcement, a very necessary function of government - but these killer cops have got to be stopped. Along with a lot of other unconscionable things going on in this country. How, I don't know, but there must be a way.
NBC recorded an informal meeting of the three ex-Presidents - Obama, Bush, and Clinton - at Arlington National Cemetery on the afternoon of Inauguration Day, and you'll like what they said:
Speeches from the third day of the virtual convention, selected by your Head Trucker.
Former President Obama: "Our Democracy Is at Stake" Excerpt:
Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better. But here's the thing: no single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president. Democracy was never meant to be transactional – you give me your vote; I make everything better. It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.
Because that's what at stake right now. Our democracy.
Look, I understand why a lot of Americans are down on government. The way the rules have been set up and abused in Congress make it easier for special interests to stop progress than to make progress. Believe me, I know. I understand why a white factory worker who's seen his wages cut or his job shipped overseas might feel like the government no longer looks out for him, and why a Black mother might feel like it never looked out for her at all. I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there's still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and crazy conspiracy theories and think, what's the point?
Well, here's the point: this president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can't win you over with their policies. So they're hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote does not matter. That's how they win. That's how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That's how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That's how a democracy withers, until it's no democracy at all.
And we can't let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too. Do what Americans have done for over two centuries when faced with even tougher times than this – all those quiet heroes who found the courage to keep marching, keep pushing in the face of hardship and injustice.
A poignant speech by former Representative Gabby Giffords:
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
And Senator Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for Vice-President:
What I Say: To be perfectly honest, some of tonight's speeches - including several others not posted here - gave me the feeling I was listening in on the chatter at girls' night out: lots of cutesy smiles and talk about babies and mothers and ooey-gooey feelings, and who loves you best. Well now, sisters, that's fine, that's fine - I suppose you all feel your time has come, here at the centennial of Women's Suffrage, and why not celebrate being girls in power together? Whee!
But it's a damn hard, cruel world out there, and you're not being elected to toss posies and wave from the back of a convertible. You are all entrusted with the fearsome responsibility of saving this Republic from destruction in the midst of the most terrible crisis since the Second World War - or the Civil War - maybe even since our country was founded. As Obama said, our democracy is at stake, threatened by malicious, cunning forces within and without. Cutesy, gooey, kissy-kissy feelings just won't cut it.
I'm not saying any of you ladies aren't strong - I'm just saying, you'd better be prepared for a helluva big fight against some mighty mean and ugly desperadoes - and fight to win, by wit and grit. We are counting on you, Kamala, and all the rest of you - and so are unborn generations who will grow up in liberty or slavery, depending on how you meet the challenges of today.
So go get 'em, girls. But leave the powder puffs at home.
You seem like a smart man, I thought maybe you can help me with a big problem I’m having.I’m 32 and never had a longterm relationship before but a few months ago I met this really HOT guy at a party and well, we fell for each other in a big way and are ready to move in together.Trouble is, there’s an allergy problem. I have a 12-year-old schnauzer who sleeps on my bed at night.Every time my boyfriend comes to my place, he starts sneezing uncontrollably and it ruins the evening for us.Otherwise, we seem to be a perfect match. But what can I do?I don’t want to give away my dog, but I don’t want to lose this chance at a great LTR either.
Perplexed in Pensacola
Dear Perplexed:That’s easy.Take the dog to a vet and get him treated for that allergy.Or fix up a separate bedroom you can “match up” in without Fido spoiling the mood.Good luck!
Dear Good Friend Manley:
Your excellence writings has come to attention off we the Commisars of the Poeple’s Revolutionary Front of Kukudada.We thank you also have welfare of common pioples at heart being because you drive simple truck not big fat limazin like greedy capitalist pigs runing you govertment and rapping all pimples of the world for filthy gold and oil to.We like enlist your aide promote peace freedom also true equality for all poepels of world so we ask you print are manifesto on your widerange blog 168 pages plus full referenses of all great freedom loving riters like yourself from vast ages of world and elsewhere.You will do this without asking miserable fee for publication yes?And consider kind donation from your heavy Amrican pockekt to support struggle of sad starving soldier poeples fighting good cause yes?PS, gay OK with us we no discramate against all oppress good pippels like yourselve long is you preform nice in sicret not like cursed dogs in strit.
Grateful Comrade X
Dear X:Sorry, bud, I gave at the office, and my own revolutionary coffers are empty.Try hitting up Bernie Sanders.I hear he’s loaded with dough.
Dear Mr. Manley:
I am a normal man who just happened to come across your blog, which seems to be of a homosexual orientation.In fact, I seem to be finding homosexual type blogs more and more lately, and this upsets me because I am totally normal and always have been, and I am truly happy with that.But I keep thinking about the homosexual lifestyle and wonder if I might be turning homosexual myself.I assume you are a practicing homosexual yourself so I just want to ask your honest opinion:does painful, degrading sex with another man really make you happy?
Wondering in Walla Walla
Dear Wondering:No, but that’s not my scene.Your mileage may vary, though.
Former President Obama delivered a moving, eloquent eulogy at the funeral of Rep. John Lewis today at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. It's well worth your time to listen to this historic address. Excerpt:
The life of John Lewis was, in so many ways, exceptional. It vindicated the faith in our founding, redeemed that faith; that most American of ideas; that idea that any of us ordinary people without rank or wealth or title or fame can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation, and come together, and challenge the status quo, and decide that it is in our power to remake this country that we love until it more closely aligns with our highest ideals. What a radical ideal. What a revolutionary notion. This idea that any of us, ordinary people, a young kid from Troy [Alabama] can stand up to the powers and principalities and say no this isn't right, this isn't true, this isn't just. We can do better. On the battlefield of justice, Americans like John, Americans like the Reverends Lowery and C.T. Vivian, two other patriots that we lost this year, liberated all of us that many Americans came to take for granted.
America was built by people like them. America was built by John Lewises. He as much as anyone in our history brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals. And someday, when we do finish that long journey toward freedom; when we do form a more perfect union – whether it's years from now, or decades, or even if it takes another two centuries – John Lewis will be a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.
And yet, as exceptional as John was, here's the thing: John never believed that what he did was more than any citizen of this country can do. I mentioned in the statement the day John passed, the thing about John was just how gentle and humble he was. And despite this storied, remarkable career, he treated everyone with kindness and respect because it was innate to him – this idea that any of us can do what he did if we are willing to persevere.
A life of courage, perseverance, gentleness, humility, kindness, and respect: what a concept. What a man. What an American.
Former presidents Bush and Clinton also spoke at the funeral:
Former President Carter was too frail to travel but sent a letter of condolence which was read out during the service:
The current squatter in the White House was nowhere to be seen, but he did tweet out a plug for a pizza joint during the ceremony:
I do have things I would like to see adopted on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country; and the right to a job based solely on our own qualifications.
I acknowledge that this is an agenda, but I do not think any self-respecting radical in history would have considered advocating people’s rights to get married, join the army, and earn a living as a terribly inspiring revolutionary platform.
Wow! Oh my, what a happy, happy day - the Civil Rights Act protects the gays and trans folk too:
Sometimes small gestures can have unexpected consequences. Major initiatives practically guarantee them. In our time, few pieces of federal legislation rank in significance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There, in Title VII, Congress outlawed discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.
Those who adopted the Civil Rights Act might not have anticipated their work would lead to this particular result. Likely, they weren’t thinking about many of the Act’s consequences that have become apparent over the years, including its prohibition against discrimination on the basis of motherhood or its ban on the sexual harassment of male employees. But the limits of the drafters’ imagination supply no reason to ignore the law’s demands. When the express terms of a statute give us one answer and extratextual considerations suggest another, it’s no contest. Only the written word is the law, and all persons are entitled to its benefit.
Hooray! Read the Court's 6-3 ruling (172 pages, PDF) here.
NBC News reports today's stunning decision:
And your Head Trucker is ashamed to report that he did not really get the whole trans thing until he learned about Aimee Stephens - who, sadly, died last month of kidney failure:
According to the ACLU, this is the first trans civil rights case ever heard by the Supreme Court.
In short: If you don't have time to read the whole decision, Amy Howe at Scotusblog offers an overview of the ruling, written by Justice Gorsuch - remember how everybody feared he would be such a conservative jurist? - as well as the dissenting opinions. Among other things, she notes:
Gorsuch addressed some of the broader concerns that the employers had raised in the three cases, about the effect of the court’s ruling on issues like bathrooms in the workplace, locker rooms and dress codes. None of those issues, Gorsuch reiterated, were before the court in these cases. Instead, he stressed, the court is ruling only that an “employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.” Whether sex-segregated bathrooms or locker rooms or dress codes might violate Title VII “are questions for future cases,” Gorsuch wrote.
The same is true, Gorsuch added, for questions involving the relationship between Title VII and federal laws and constitutional provisions protecting religious freedom. Although “other employers in other cases may raise free exercise arguments that merit careful consideration, none of the employers before us today represent in this Court that compliance with Title VII will infringe their own religious liberties in any way.”
Caution: It appears from a quick glance at the Wikipedia article on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the law applies only to an employer "who has fifteen (15) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year"; however, your Head Trucker is no lawyer, and you should consult an attorney if you have any questions about the law.
Silver lining: Michelle Goldberg opines in the New York Times on the irony of this decision in the era of Trump:
[T]he thrilling 6-3 decision the Supreme Court just issued upholding L.G.B.T. equality wouldn’t be as devastating to the religious right if it had happened under a President Clinton.
Before Monday, you could legally be fired for being gay, bisexual or transgender in 26 states. Now the court has ruled that gay and transgender people are protected by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex. The decision has extra cultural force because it was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, and joined by the conservative chief justice John Roberts. . . .
The phrase “But Gorsuch” is shorthand for how conservatives justify all the moral compromises they’ve made in supporting Trump; controlling the Supreme Court makes it all worth it. So there’s a special sweetness in Gorsuch spearheading the most important L.G.B.T. rights decision since the 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
This isn’t simply Schadenfreude. The fact that this momentous ruling was written by a right-wing judge sends a message that progress on L.G.B.T. rights will be very hard to reverse.
More is needed:Justice Kavanaugh's dissent is well-written, well-reasoned, and well worth reading in full, going as it does to the very heart of constitutional government in these United States. Susan Howe summarizes:
He began by acknowledging that the arguments for “amending” Title VII “are very weighty.” He also observed that the Supreme Court “has previously stated, and I fully agree, that gay and lesbian Americans ‘cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth.’” But, he continued, the job of judges is “not to make or amend the law,” and, as it currently stands, “Title VII does not prohibit employment discrimination because of sexual orientation.” . . .
Kavanaugh contended (and appeared to agree with his colleagues in the majority) that courts should follow the ordinary meaning of the words in a statute, because that is how both members of Congress and the public would understand the law. . . . And here, in Kavanaugh’s view, the ordinary meaning of the phrase “discriminate because of sex” does not extend to discrimination based on sexual orientation. . . .
Kavanaugh concluded by acknowledging “the important victory achieved today by gay and lesbian Americans. Millions of gay and lesbian Americans have worked hard for many decades to achieve equal treatment in fact and in law. They have exhibited extraordinary vision, tenacity, and grit—battling often steep odds in the legislative and judicial arenas, not to mention in their daily lives. They have advanced powerful policy arguments and can take pride in today’s result.” But Kavanaugh reiterated his belief that Congress, rather the Supreme Court, should have been the source of that result.
Frankly, your Head Trucker is inclined to agree with Justice Kavanaugh on the simple basis of plain English. In all honesty, it does seem like doublespeak for Justice Gorsuch to say on the one hand that the Court must be bound by the plain text of the law; and on the other hand, to define the word sex with a meaning that is not part of the plain English meaning. To say that cat means all four-legged creatures is not to state the meaning of the word, but to add meaning to the word.
However, if a law were to forbid, let us say, cruelty to cats, and you interpret it to mean that cruelty to all four-legged animals is forbidden, then that is good morality, but bad English and bad interpretation, and highly liable to be contradicted by another interpreter. Because it is good morality, we will accept what the Court has so graciously given us; but can we count on it to be a lasting gift as years go by? Or merely a cupful of smoke?
It's also important to note that the Court's ruling does not rest on any constitutional right; the justices based their decision solely on the Civil Rights Act, which is merely a federal law, not the Constitution itself. Therefore, to remove all possible doubts and objections in future, it is imperative that Congress itself amend the Civil Rights Act to specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Do keep that in mind, fellas, as we move forward - always remember that the Supreme Court can change its collective mind, and often has, down through the years. The protections we received today must be cemented into federal law at the first opportunity.
The same goes for for the right to same-sex marriage declared by the Court five years ago in Obergefell v. Hodges - which Chief Justice Roberts angrily dissented from at the time as another example of "legislating from the bench."
Of course, Congress can change its mind, too, and laws can be repealed; even provisions of the Constitution can be changed or removed by amendment. Nothing in this life is ever entirely sure and certain forever; but a law enacted by vote of the People or their representatives is somewhat harder to overturn than a court decision, especially if it reflects the popular will of the time. And according to the polls, it seems that equal rights for gays and trans folk is indeed the popular will in America at this time, by about 2 to 1. So let's be sure to nail this ruling down in law.
Meanwhile, again I say: Hooray! The gays are people too. We have a right to exist. And work and live and love, just like everybody else on this planet. Hooray! Hooray! God bless America!
And I have lived to see this day.
Bonus: Former President Obama tweeted out this message today:
For the record, another inspiring speech from the former president, directed to the nation's high-school class of 2020:
Doing what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy -- that's how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way -- which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.
Bonus: For comedy relief, here's a couple of headlines that made me laugh out loud.
A couple of weeks after leaving office, former President Obama is enjoying a well-deserved holiday from the woes of the world, kite-surfing in the beautiful waters of the British Virgin Islands. Who can blame him?
Which reminds me of this song:
Two weeks without you, and I still haven't gotten over you yet.
Politifact, a website run by the Tampa Bay Times, started a fact-checking subsite called the Obameter when the current President took office in 2009, designed to track the fulfillment, or not, of Obama's 533 campaign promises. The final tally is shown below, with a score of 48.4% for Promises Kept:
No doubt that score would have been higher if Republicans in Congress had not stonewalled the President at every single turn, to the point of actually shutting down the government.
At the Obameter site you can browse through all 533 promises to see what has been done or left undone with each one over the last eight years.
Politifact also tracks the statements and promises of other politicians, including Obama's successor, with its Truth-O-Meter. Whether fact-checking and truth-telling will remain legal under the next administration, however, is anyone's guess.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, harmony; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
and welcome to the Blue Truck, a blog for mature gay men with news and views on gay rights, history, art, humor, and whatever comes to mind. Plus a few hot men. The truck's all washed and gassed up, so hop in buddy, let's go.
CAUTION: For mature gay men only beyond this point. Some posts and links may not be suitable for children or the unco guid. You have been warned.
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My Story
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Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?
It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
