.
In case you’d been wondering why the nation has felt a little bit like a party lately, well, there’s a couple of things.
But do a couple of things add up to a pattern? Not quite, but they do make 2/3 of a pattern.
And as we sit waiting for the “third shoe to drop,” we celebrate President Obama finally remembering his … no, I wouldn’t say “base.” Obama’s base is pretty much the middle class. But these are large groups of good people who’ve experienced and continue to experience injustice in America, and have traditionally voted Democrat, and have been promised some justice by Obama.
In order to deliver on even a fraction of those promises he’s had to bypass the anti-American, Republican-controlled Senate and House, which we coulda told him but it took him a while to wrap his head around that fact. And of course he’s doing it all now in Pander Season, but hey whatever it takes.
There are the gays (and the people (like me) who care about them.) True, he HAD barely managed, over the shrieks and moans of John McCain, to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and he did instruct his DOJ to no longer defend the monstrous, unconstitutional DOMA. (No worries, Speaker Boehner’s brigade of church ladies stepped into the breach, using my tax money and yours!)
But of course what gobsmacked the nation a couple months ago was his coming out in favor of marriage equality, after what was evidently a bizarrely long but sincere “evolution.” As MSNBC’s Alex Wagner paraphrased Gil Scott Heron, “The evolution was televised.” Those who blame credit Joe Biden for pushing him prematurely to this place give short shrift to LA Mayor Villaraigosa, who a month earlier had many Democratic mother hens wringing their hands over his insistence on passing a resolution in favor of marriage equality at the upcoming Democratic Convention, in (!) North Carlina.
Speaking of the Tarheel State, it seemed especially gutsy and counterintuitive for the Prez to come out on this the day after North Carolinians triple-killed gay marriage – but not to my brother Crab! The way he saw it, there were now no Southern states without laws specifically forbidding same-sex marriage – no new places for Karl Rove to use that kind of wedge issue to bring out the knuckle-draggers as he did in 2004. I was thinking, maybe they could bring back the Shar’ia Law Scare?
Obama’s coming out was a bigger deal than I realized, even though it had no policy implications. California’s Proposition 8 wouldn’t have passed if it weren’t for its backers successfully portraying Obama’s squeamish neutrality as opposition to gay marriage. With the Leader of the Free World’s support, all the opposition suddenly looks like a paper tiger. With manly blacks like Shaq, Jay-Z, and Charles Barkley following in his footsteps, the ‘phobes look more effete and pathetically outdated than ever. Gay marriage is coming – WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! (apologies to Gavin)
And then the next good people the President remembered were the mostly Latino, frequently-undocumented immigrants (and the people (like me) who care about them.) Do you remember what happened when we tried to pass the DREAM Act a year or two ago? The Senate Republicans filibustered it. That’s right, they filibustered the smallest, most acceptable little bit of immigration reform which was originally a Republican idea – allowing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented young people who were brought to this country through no fault of their own, had no criminal record, and were either pursuing college or serving in the military. That’s 800,000 promising young Americans that all Senate Republicans wanted to keep illegal and in danger of deportation.
I hope everybody remembers that, forever – the Senate Republicans filibustered the DREAM Act.
So now, President Obama has done all he legally can to remedy the situation, and simply announced that he will not utilize the scarce resources of his Justice Department persecuting these young people. And there was a great rejoicing. And Republicans squealed like stuck pigs. And Romney doesn’t know WHAT to say, he wasn’t prepared for this. This executive order is only a temporary fix, these kids better hope Obama is re-elected and enough Democrats get into Congress to make it permanent. LATINOS, get your nalgas out to the polls this fall – you really let us down earlier this month!
So, who’s next? A lot of us have a good idea who should come next: the pot-smokers, medicinal and otherwise (and the people (like me) who care about them.) One of Obama’s biggest broken campaign promises was that he wouldn’t sic his justice department on pot sellers and users in states – like California – that have legalized the harmless and healing herb. And his thugs have carried this betrayal through with gusto – showing up in any town like Costa Mesa that’s run by freedom-hating tyrants who invite them in, kicking down doors, brandishing machine guns, trashing places, always focusing not on the dispensaries that break rules, but the ones that are most politically active.
Well, this is the next step Obama needs to take if he wants to regain our trust – stop these raids immediately, with apologies and with reparations!
This is an even bigger deal than the true medical need for cannabis, and bigger also than the right of people to get high on this natural weed while other folks are enjoying the much-more-dangerous alcohol and tobacco. Keeping this drug illegal is but one more way our government keeps power and control over us, makes the most innocent among us criminals, keeps the prison-industrial complex booming, empowers and enriches REAL gangs and criminals.
Complete this trifecta NOW, Mr. President, if you want to regain the respect of liberty-loving Americans. We’re waiting…
We need a sensible federal marijuana policy. We need to hire Jim Gray and the founder of Oakestdam University to work on sensible policies we can adapt nationwide.
Nice smoke screen Vern. And here’s why I will NOT vote for Obama, nor would anyone else who wants America to remain the land of the free and returned to the land of opportunity:
1. Reneged on pledge to filibuster FISA Amendments Act (July 2008)
2. Lobbied for $700 billion Paulson TARP bank bailout
3. Pushed for no sanctions against Lieberman despite his support for John McCain
4. Nominated healthcare company lobbyist Tom Daschle as Secretary of HHS
5. Had neoliberal Robert Rubin as his chief economics adviser
6. Then had the equally neoliberal Larry Summers assume this role
7. Chose the failing upwards Timothy Geithner to head Treasury
8. AIG bonuses and money to Goldman under Obama
9. Doubling down in Afghanistan
10. Delay and reduction of withdrawal from Iraq
11. Moving Guantanamo activities to Bagram
12. Military commissions for some detainees
13. Support for indefinite detention
14. Refusal to release torture photos under FOIA
15. Refusal to investigate and prosecute Bush era criminality
16. Geithner’s DOA economic rescue programs: the PPIP and TALF
17. Minimal help for homeowners and no cramdowns
18. Treatment of Chrysler and GM with bankrupcy compared to bank no fail “stress tests”
19. Kabuki of TARP repayment by banks while still dependent on government credit lines
20. Extra-Constitutional use of the Fed by the Executive for fiscal policy
21. Credit Card bill without usury caps and with 9 month delay for other reforms
22. Business friendly Mary Schapiro named to head SEC
23. Gary Gensler who helped deregulate derivatives named to head CFTC
24. $787 billion stimulus: too little, too late, poorly structured
25. Use of financial crisis to attack Social Security and Medicare
26. The great healthcare non-debate
27. Continued use of state secrets argument in ongoing Bush era cases
28. Use of signing statements, including one to punish whistleblowers
29. Vetting process problems, especially tax related ones
30. Leaving Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head OLC twisting in the wind
31. Eric Holder, failure to reform DOJ, not removing worst of Bush USAs
32. Failure to move against new oil bubble
33. Retention of Bush Defense team: Gates, Patraeus, and Odierno
34. Continued missile strikes inside Pakistan
35. Keeping Bush’s domestic spying programs and adding a new one, cybersecurity
36. Choice of Elena Kagan who favors expansive Presidential powers as Sollicitor General, her subsequent nomination to the Supreme Court
37. Leaving EFCA (to help counter anti-union companies) to wither in Congress
38. Welcoming Arlen Specter who brings nothing to the Democrats into the party
39. Weak ineffective proposals for financial reform
40. Obama wanted John Brennan at CIA but settled for making him his counter- terrorism adviser
41. Chas Freeman with broader Mideast perspective done in by AIPAC
42. Dennis Blair made DNI; failed to act to stop atrocities in East Timor
43. Choice of McChrystal involved in torture in Iraq to head Afghanistan command
44. Obama threat to suspend intelligence cooperation with UK over Binyam Mohamed case
45. Efforts to keep Bush and Obama White House logs secret
46. Playing games with “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
47. Filing a brief to overturn Jackson (access to lawyer) in the Montejo case
48. Not withdrawing Bush brief in Osborne DNA case
49. Egregious brief in challenge to Defense of Marriage Act
50. The Supplemental which made Iraq and Afghanistan Democratic wars
51. Choice of Rahm Emanuel as the President’s Chief of Staff
52. Choice of Dennis Ross as Iran envoy and then his move to the White House
53. Politically embarrassing processes to fill Obama and Clinton’s Senate seats
54. Choice of Bill Richardson, then Judd Gregg to head Commerce Department
55. Reneging on pledge to re-negotiate NAFTA
56. Obama’s throwing his pastor Jeremiah Wright to the curb, then reaching out to religious conservative Rick Warren
57. Continued challenges to habeas corpus petitions over indefinite detention, the Janko case
58. The Obama White House website
59. Continuing an ineffective program that Iran can exploit politically
60. Going slow on climate change when there is no time to
61. Not withdrawing a Bush-era amicus brief in the Ricci v. DeStefano reverse discrimination case and supporting a rollback of Title VII
62. Appointment of a CIA General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
63. Appointment of a DNI General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
64. CIA delay in a FOIA request concerning torture
65. The influence of Goldman Sachs in the Obama Administration
66. Attempt to keep secret the Cheney interview on the Plame affair
67. Mountaintop removal under Obama
68. Attempt to restrict Congressional notification on intelligence matters
69. Opposition to a second stimulus
70. Another egregious attempt to fight a habeas corpus petition in the Jawad case
71. Continuing charter schools and standardized tests
72. Holder’s decision to support a weak, narrow review of torture
73. Re-appointment of Ben Bernanke as Fed Chairman
74. Continuing renditions
75. Politically dubious company was used to vet reporters in Afghanistan
76. Judge vetoes a too weak SEC plea bargain with Bank of America
77. Justice’s argument for making Bagram a new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case
78. Defense to turn over databases to poorly controlled fusion centers
79. Obama changes but keeps Bush’s Star Wars program
80. Failure to win an Israeli freeze on settlements
81. White House refuses to back its own staffer environmentalist Van Jones
82. Politicized US Attorney in the Siegelman case cleared by Office of Special Counsel
83. Criticism of Iranian nuclear program; support of Israeli nuclear weapons
84. Support for a weakened reporter’s shield law
85. Use of the Zazi case to retain broad Patriot Act surveillance provisions
86. Wilner v. NSA, continuing the coverup of warrantless surveillance of communications between attorneys and detainees
87. Attempt to spike the Goldstone report on Israeli-Hamas war crimes in Gaza
88. Slowness in filling federal judgeships
89. Inadequate aid to overwhelmed state budgets
90. Attempting to dodge the Supreme Court deciding whether innocent Guantanamo detainees can be resettled in the US
91. Allowing drilling in the waters off the north coast of Alaska
92. Keeping detainee accounts of CIA torture secret
93. Current FBI manual allows for widespread domestic spying
94. Securitization invalidates most foreclosures
95. Geithner wanting unlimited powers to save large banks
96. Another state secrets defense to conceal domestic spying
97. Circuit Court dismissal of Maher Arar suit
98. Weakening Sarbanes-Oxley and calling it financial reform
99. Unemployment
100. Inspector General for Fannie and Freddie ousted for investigating fraud
101. Gaming courts to convict Guantanamo detainees
102. White House counsel removed for his principled stands on torture and Guantanamo
103. US seizes mosques claiming Iranian connection
104. Howard Dean removed as head of the DNC
105. Scientist with close ties to Monsanto put in charge of all governmental agricultural research
106. Pesticide lobbyist nominated as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for trade
107. Effort to let some government contractors avoid paying taxes
108. A bad US Attorney nomination for Northern Iowa
109. Hunger in America
110. The breast cancer recommendations fiasco
111. Ongoing confusion and disorganization in the military commissions process
112. Phillip Carter another official in closing Guantanamo resigns
113. Refusal to sign anti-land mine treaty
114. The Ghizzawi case and the legal limbo of “cleared for release”
115. Black prisons at Balad and Bagram
116. Delay in declassifying historic documents
117. Max Baucus’ conflicts of interest in healthcare and with his girlfriend
118. Major security breach at a White House party and a ridiculous assertion of “executive privilege”
119. Dana “Pig Missile” Perino nominated to the Broadcasting Board of Governors
120. Cass Sunstein, an anti-regulator in a regulatory position
121. Warrantless for profit electronic surveillance by telecoms and search engines
122. The government sides with torture lawyer John Yoo and attacks Bevins actions again
123. The TSA publishes its security manual online
124. Toxic legal arguments in al Zahrani v. Rumsfeld, yet another Bevins action
125. The Nobel Peace Prize and a neocon acceptance speech
126. Blackwater’s involvement in military and CIA assassination and drone programs
127. Congressional Research Service censorship in the firing of Morris Davis
128. AIG writes off $25 billion in debt and sticks taxpayers with the bill
129. The Administration plays hardball to kill an amendment that would lower drug costs
130. A poorly considered blank check to Fannie and Freddie
131. Continuing a Bush botch in the Nisoor Square massacre case
132. Jonathan Gruber, a major defender of Obamacare was also a paid consultant for it
133. A Geithner related cover up of the AIG at par payments on swaps
134. Adoption of stealth signing statements
135. al Bihani, more bad legal reasoning in another Guantanamo habeas case
136. Cutting Medicare and Social Security by deficit commission proposed
137. A 3 year non-freeze budget freeze proposed
138. NASA flights privatized
139. OPR report on Yoo and Bybee watered down and its relation to the Padilla case
140. Government targeting of US citizens for assassination
141. Abuse of informants by ICE agents
142. Obama leaves Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board empty
143. Obama backs firing of teachers in Rhode Island
144. Irish human rights advocate Edward Horgan has US visa pulled
145. Threatened veto of 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act over Congressional notifications
146. Obama Administration intimidation of whistleblowing site: wikileaks
147. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to ignore science on endangered species
148. Senate vacation more important than jobless benefits
149. Government seeks to compel turnover of emails without a warrant
150. Obama goes after an NSA whistleblower: the Thomas Drake case
151. Obama goes after a CIA whistleblower: the James Risen case
152. Weakening Miranda rights in national security cases
153. Advocating the privatizing of public housing
154. Another step in making Bagram the new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case, the appeals court edition
155. Massey mining disaster, 29 die because of corporate greed and poor regulation
156. Obama proposal for a line item veto
157. A military commander allowed to use military forces for intelligence operations without Presidential approval
158. Political pandering in sending 1200 National Guardsmen to the Southwest border
159. A sad record on resisting Guantanamo habeas petitions
160. Israel attacks an aid convoy for Gaza; Obama punts
161. A further erosion of Miranda: Berghius v. Thompkins
162. Naming James Clapper, a Bush appointee, to be the next DNI
163. DOJ seeks to protect Vatican in sex abuse scandal
164. Yahya Wehelie, an American exiled without charge
165. Failure to replace National Labor Relations Board members means hundreds of decisions must be reviewed
166. SCOTUS opts for overly broad definition of material support to terrorist groups
167. Speaker Pelosi backstabs Social Security
168. Complaints by government scientists of political interference at Bush era levels
169. Flip flop on free trade agreement with Colombia
170. SEC declares major victory but lets Goldman off easy
171. Private contracting of intelligence continues under Obama
172. Two Guantanamo prisoners to be deported back to Algeria against their will
173. The Shirley Sherrod affair: trumped up charges of racism and a bungled response 174. Whitewash report on Bush era US Attorney firings
175. Despite its record, Blackwater still gets big US government contracts
176. Wikileaks releases government files showing Pakistan involvement with Taliban and admission that things are going poorly in Afghanistan
177. Obama seeks to get access to everyone’s web histories without a court order
178. Teacher funding sacrificed to keep Education Secretary Arne Duncan happy
179. State’s top Iran hand resigns over Obama’s Iran policy
180. Citizens United: validation of unlimited corporate political funding
181. Push to expand US arms sales around the world
182. Project Vigilant, Infragard and “volunteer” corporate spying for the government
183. Obama’s approval hits Bush levels in Arab world
184. Effort to pre-empt state environmental lawsuits involving green house gases
185. Justice’s Anti-trust division asleep at the wheel
186. Kagan’s recusals render her even more ineffective on the Supreme Court
187. Poverty level highest since 1994
188. Courts run interference for corporate violators of international law
189. Warren named to set up but not to run Consumer Financial Protection Board
190. Chief economic adviser Larry Summers leaves; Obama looks for someone even more pro-business to replace him
191. DOJ IG report goes soft on Bush era surveillance against peace groups and other activists; meanwhile the Obama Administration conducts raids against similar groups
192. Move to put backdoors in the internet to facilitate spying and more requirements on banks on international money transfers of any size
193. HHS Secretary Sebelius delays for at least two years required insurance coverage for contraception
194. Americans on Medicaid increased to 48.5 million in 2009
195. Big home lenders suspend foreclosures as their documentation gets challenged in court
196. HR 3808, a bill passed by Congress, to facilitate the acceptance of false documentation by banks in foreclosure proceedings
197. ICE raids and deportations increase under Obama
198. Social Security COLA frozen for second straight year; no action taken
199. Waivers for military aid to countries with child soldiers
200. Big and deserved losses in the 2010 elections
201. 42 million Americans on food stamps at the end of FY 2010
202. No indictments for those involved in the CIA destruction of the torture tapes
203. The Bowles-Simpson Cat Food Commission proposals
204. $3 billion in aid for Israel for a 90 day settlement freeze
205. No change in Democratic Congressional leadership after 2010 election disaster
206. Forced proselytizing still prevalent at US Air Force Academy
207. TSA harassment and violation of the 4th Amendment
208. More TSA idiocy: full body scans and invasive pat downs
209. The response to the 2009 coup in Honduras
210. Use of diplomatic personnel to spy at the UN
211. Fed proposes rule change to Truth in Lending Act to protect bank fraud
212. FCC head Genachowski takes an axe to net neutrality
213. Lieberman and Amazon.com seek to censor wikileaks
214. Pressuring the Spanish government into dropping torture prosecutions against 6 high level Bush officials
215. Neoliberal free trade deal with South Korea at a time of high unemployment
216. Hamfisted banning access to wikileaks by government departments
217. Massive screwup in printing $100 bills
218. Extending tax cuts for the rich in a poor compromise on jobless benefits
219. Dancing boys of Afghanistan paid for by US contractor Dyncorp
220. EPA backtracks on smog standards
221. Former OMB director Peter Orszag goes to Citigroup
222. Obama breaks the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to supply Israel with nuclear fuel
223. DREAM Act for children of illegal immigrants done in by Senate Democrats
224. DOJ drops investigations of corrupt members of Congress
225. The FBI’s Guardian database, another useless, intrusive surveillance program
226. Pentagon weakens rules on contractor conflicts of interest
227. Investigation by state Attorney Generals into foreclosuregate: no criminal charges
228. Obama names Mr. NAFTA Bill Daley as his new Chief of Staff
229. Obama names neoliberal free trader Gene Sperling to replace Larry Summers
230. Executive Order to make regulations more business-friendly
231. Gulet Mohamed: Detention and torture of US citizens by proxy
232. Nelson v. NASA: government can demand intrusive, unnecessary information about its employees
233. Choice of GE’s outsourcing CEO Jeffrey Immelt as Obama’s Jobs Czar
234. Failure to weaken or eliminate the filibuster
235. Corporate targeting of Wikileaks and liberal organizations
236. Reaction to the popular revolution in Egypt
237. HHS Secretary Sebelius helps states cut Medicaid rolls and funding
238. Petraeus accuses parents not US attacks for burns to children in Afghanistan
239. US general in Afghanistan sets up illegal propaganda program targeting Americans
240. Obama plans to devastate small block grants program for the poor
241. Silence on the Wisconsin labor protests
242. Former Senator Christopher Dodd quickly becomes lobbyist after promising not to
243. Obama reinstitutes sham review tribunals at Guantanamo
244. DOJ colludes with Bush era official Scott Bloch to keep him out of jail
245. The treatment of Bradley Manning
246. State Department spokesman PJ Crowley forced to resign over Manning comments
247. Massive conflicts of interest in David Stevens at HUD and soon to be head of main lobbying group for the mortgage industry
248. Mild reaction to bloody anti-democratic repression in Bahrain and Yemen
249. Torture psychologist appointed to White House task force
250. FBI program which allows them to investigate anyone doesn’t work (surprise)
251. In his Libya war, Obama has completed the unconstitutional process of Presidents’ usurpation of Congress’ power to make war
252. Obama accepts award for transparency in secret
253. Democrats create PACs to receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors 254. 2011 government shutdown threat as Shock Doctrine
254. The 2011 “great” biprtisan budget deal
255. The OCC deal to cover for banks in foreclosuregate
256. Reshuffling neocons at DOD and the CIA
257. Leak of Detainee Assessments shines light on the weakness of cases against many Guantanamo inmates
258. Geithner shields foreign exchange derivatives from Dodd-Frank regulation
259. Crazy new application for some US passports
260. DOJ wants SCOTUS to allow for GPS tracking without a warrant
261. An industry stacked panel to study fracking
262. SCOTUS attacks small claim class actions
263. SCOTUS okays fraud in financial presentations
264. SCOTUS attacks large class actions and Title VII
265. DOJ’s non-investigation of torture produces few results
266. Department of State threatens participants of Gaza flotilla with terrorism charges
267. Detainees now held on ships to avoid judicial scrutiny
268. CIA operating a black site prison in Somalia
269. SCOTUS and DC Appeals Court torpedoing detainee habeas petitions
270. SCOTUS greatly expands warrantless searches; Obama DOJ approves
271. Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the 2011 spike in gasoline prices
272. Christine Varney, head of DOJ Anti-Trust Division, goes to law firm that had case before her
273. Senseless 2011 debt ceiling crisis, budget cutting, and attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
274. TSA closes US airspace to Mexican human rights activist
275. DHS guts its unit monitoring right wing terrorism in US
276. “Recovery” benefited corporations, not workers
277. Harassment of a government scientist Charles Monett because his work clashes with drilling in the Arctic
278. African Americans and Hispanic wealth took hardest hit from financial crises
279. Cass Sunstein sitting on labor rules to protect child workers
280. Oil leasing in Gulf resumes
281. Administration pressures NY AG Schneiderman to go along with bogus mortgage settlement
282. DOJ dumps responsibility for its bungled gun running sting on handy US Attorney
283. US ranks 41st in the world in infant mortality
284. White House engages in selective prosecution of Dan Choi over DADT protest
285. COBRA extension ditched
286. Obama spikes EPA ozone limits
287. 2011 Obama fictional jobs plan
288. Contractors cost twice as much as unionized federal workers doing the same work
289. New EPA greenhouse gas limits also being drawn out
290. CFTC proposes ineffectual limits on commodity speculation
291. State Department targets career officer Peter Van Buren for writing critical book
292. Secret Law and the OLC legal justification for killing a US citizen abroad
293. US incomes fall more after recession than during it
294. Another Afghanistan fail: torture rampant in Afghan prisons
295. Bank of America dumps derivative exposure on to the FDIC with Fed approval
296. New rule to legitimize government lying in response to FOIA requests
297. Cronyism and the Keystone XL pipeline
298. Despite pledge, Obama still taking money from lobbyists
299. Secure Communities and deportation as a business
300. The Occupy movement and the attacks upon it
301. DOJ prosecuting financial fraud at the lowest rate in 20 years
302. US stops funding of UNESCO
303. 42% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck
304. The Post Office facing cuts because of unnecessary prefunding mandates
Smoke screen, you said? Do you want me to go through that list and weed out everything that wasn’t Obama’s fault, just to start with? No, I don’t have all day for that.
Too much smoke…
You don’t have time, and I certainly don’t, but c’mon, a cursory examination would certainly lead you to conclude that Obama had a hand in TOO MANY of those items.
I dare say that many conservatives will be holding their noses and voting for Romney, and many progressives will be doing the same with Obama.
Grrrrr … grrrrr…. granted.
But how will Romney be an improvement — or, for that matter, not be a far worse disaster?
Even Rocky Anderson presumably knows that he’s not going to be elected, so barring some disaster the next President of the U.S. will be either Obama or Romney. At some point, we have to make a choice. Is there a single thing on your list that would be better under Romney? I can think of many that would be worse.
Greg, I beg to differ with you on your assessment of Rocky Anderson. For someone who is campaigning on his Occupy accomplishments, I would think that you know the power of the people, If everyone would get their heads out of the sand and stop denying that Obama has turned out to be a Globalist, a tool for Wall Street as well as for the war-mongers and decided to vote for Rocky Anderson, we could have a leader that will work on behalf of the 99%.
It is time for America to elect a man of character, truth, honesty and integrity. Rocky Anderson is all that and more. He has been walking his talk his whole adult life. He didn’t just make a statement on LGBT right to same sex marriage after “evolving” into it just in time for an election; he has been actively working on behalf of the community since 1996. When he was Mayor of Salt Lake City he issued an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination in hiring on account of sexual orientation. He was Grand Marshal in the Salt Lake Gay Parade and flew the rainbow flag over the City & County Building on Pride Day. HRC recognized him as one of top ten straight advocates for the LGBT community. This weekend he is in Minnesota to help fight the proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. He does not need to evolve into a statement to manipulate the voters.
As a student of history I am sure you know that the US government has been waging war on Third World countries for almost 50 years, under both the Democrats and the Republicans. It is time to cast aside party alliance, and vote your conscience….raise up the people….let’s have a Revolution at the Voting Booths…show Obama and Romney, they might be able to close down Occupys around the country, but they can’t stop an idea that has come…and they can’t take away our vote…our vote is our voice, and its our weapon.
http://www.voterocky.org/warmongering
D’Marie, if we had a single transferable vote or approval voting, I might well vote for Rocky Anderson over Obama. But we don’t — and that means that a vote for him is abstaining in the race between the only two people who have a chance to win.
The differences between Obama and Romney are substantial enough that I do not want to abstain in the choice between them. If you think that they’re peas in a pod, then you will have no trouble abstaining, but I think that it takes real effort for people with values fitting within especially the left-wing of the Occupy movement to think that someone who’s not as good as we would like and does somethings that all “serious” Presidential candidates are expect to do is the equivalent of the very personification of the callous 1%.
If there were only Obama and Romney on the ballot, would you really abstain? You might say so, and you might mean it, but I would be shocked if you really saw no significant difference between them. I think that that takes real effort.
I’m totally voting for Rocky in November.
And I’m totally rooting for Obama to kick Romney’s ass. (And sending money when I can.)
Hey, it’s California, and we can do that!
That’s true, a certain number of Californians have the freedom to vote 3rd party without doing damage. (I’d have voted for Nader in 2000 had I been registered in NY rather than PA.) But Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, and even Arizona might be tight races, so the rest of the region is less blessed. People in Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah also don’t have to worry, but for the opposite reason as California. So as long as you’re going to Nevada to canvass voters one weekend, it makes up for your vote here.
The Jill Stein campaign is going to come and rough you up, though, Vern.
my god what the hell was that post did diamond write that it wasnt long enough 304 really .
Not mine, but it represents as thorough a list of the non-conservative critique of Obama as I’ve seen, even though lots of it really can’t be pinned on Obama. (Some can, though.)
I’m foregoing a point-by-point rebuttal for now.
And really, we could take The Grating Juan more seriously if he would once, just ONCE, criticize a Republican…say, Mitt Romney…the way we’re willing to criticize Obama.
And so, we’re left with viewing him simply as a partisan hack.
G.J. criticizes Vern all the time, and Vern was a Republican for a while.
Somebody needs to scrub him well before he climbs back over to the left side of the fence.
Oh, me? Diamond has an exorcism planned for me, up in Fullerton. He’ll have to catch me first though.
Do you have any idea how much a competent exorcist runs these day? I may have to go with an incompetent one.
I’m pretty sure that Diamond’s plan includes a three cornered hat, lots of organic green tea, and an enema bag.
Be on the lookout for “kettling”, which he learned from the Occupy events.
Worse, than that, ‘gogue. Since Vern is the target of the exorcism and can’t be asked to write a song for it, I’M writing the exorcism song! His Republican demons will flee without hesitation!
ok here goes i was against bush in his immigration stand . i was against any rep who voted for calif tax hikes , and here i will toss a bone for you if reps bring up obamas birth thing again i will scold them .. here makes u happy
It’s a start. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Doesn’t it make you feel like a more fair-minded person already?
The other thing that would help your cause is if you could be a bit more objective about Obama. If a person off the street were to stop by here and read what you write, they would leave with the impression that there is ONE thing that Obama has done that you support. Yet, I’ll bet I can find several decisions in that list that, if pressed, you’d admit supporting. To name but a few;
197. ICE raids and deportations increase under Obama
13. Support for indefinite detention
230. Executive Order to make regulations more business-friendly
27. Continued use of state secrets argument in ongoing Bush era cases
92. Keeping detainee accounts of CIA torture secret
And I’ll add one of my own (although it may be on the list, I just don’t have the time to find it); 305. The decision the kill bin Laden rather than take him prisoner and the decision to assassinate the American citizen Anwar al Awlaki and his 16 year old son.
oops…”isn’t” ONE thing…
anon the raids where good but he just stopped those to try and kiss the hispanics butt ,, i dont know why ILLEGALS CANT VOTE .. oops i forgot holder trying to make them vote down in florida .. the bin laden thing and drones i will give him credit for that . but i think he is total disaster on the economy i think he is a euoro socialist , and now a tape comes out with him ripping bush for exacutive order saying he thinks its highly suspicious that bush did that .. WOW LOOK IN THE MIRROR MR PREZ .. I DISAGREE WITH ABOUT 90% of this guy SO THERE YOU .GO hope that is objective enough for you . but i cant stand this guys policys ..
And Mr Romney would handle the office so much better, eh?
I know, the two party system leaves us no viable choices, but still–your list of grievances is no help right now. I support your right to vote.
Paula Was Here without a dought he would HE HAS A BUSNINESS BACKGROUND . knows how to turn things around . nobama has no leadership skills no busniness experiance , never ran a company . too much into the public secter . not the private where the heart n sole of the economy is . has no idea how busniness work . too busy giving handouts to everyone .. he would DO WAY BETTER ,
But what KIND of business background?
One based on making money for rich investors, and letting American workers go. That’s not what we need.
hey, i like the lesbian thing. can we get some videos
I’ve seen people smoke a cigarette, and not die.
I’ve seen people drink booze, and not die.
I’ve seen people drive a car, and not die.
But those 3 things are reported to be the leading killers in the USA.
I’ve seen people smoke pot, and not die.
I’ve seen people, drop, snort, inject, smoke, etc. all kinds of stuff, and they did not die.
And some people think that means illegal drug is perfectly safe.
News flash. Added: Jun 21, 2012
Official CNN News Report | Just released, Rodney King’s Death Ruling “..He had been smoking pot..”
The report I saw was that marijuana was found in Rodney King’s home, but that autopsy results were still weeks off.
Even if he had been smoking pot, that’s hardly reason to think that it caused him to drown.
I’ve seen people drink milk and not die too. Criminalize milk!
Everyone I’ve seen die had originally spent a LOT of their time breathing. Damn air.
“their time breathing. Damn air.”
I know what you mean Vern, they even want to make the co2 we breath out with every breath, illegal too.
Cute. I forget – in Cook World, marijuana kills people and climate change is a hoax.
Looks like your post was a call to action………
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77712.html
Here’s the deal. Marriage is between a MAN and a WOMAN, period. MAN to MAN, WOMAN to WOMAN….is NOT NOT NORMAL !!!!!!! In regards to the DREAM ACT. DISGUSTING !! Go back to your opwn country….come back LEGAL…and then u are welcome in OUR schools.
Here’s the deal KC.
In the words of William Shakespeare..”Thou doth protest too much.”
Your homophobia merely highlights your propensity to give in to your “NOT NOT NORMAL” feelings.
Someone who is comfortable with their own sexuality, is not threatened by someone different than themselves. Someone else being gay does not threaten my masculinity.
How does a gay marriage undermine yours?
Nah, here’s the deal KC: You go find your own lonely little place with no gays or Mexicans. The rest of us will do fine without you.
You are embarrassing the Sunshine Band.
Hmmm, is it just me or is KC’s writing very similar to The Grating Juan’s?
No, there’s more than one moron in the world/county that thinks and writes like that. I’m not even sure Juan cares much about gays either.
I always feel like that scientist looking through the glass door in Far Side and talking to his colleagues, “Yes, gentlemen we know they are fools. But the question remains: What SORT of fools are they?”
D’Marie Mulattieri – Well written piece.
Just a couple of questions – you didn’t mention Obama’s relationship with Oprah Winfrey and Diana Ross. Hmmm. How about Whoopie Goldberg and Arsenio Hall?
Hmmm. How about Samuel L. Jackson and Will & Jada Smith? Hmmm. How about
Tavis Smiley and George Clooney? Do you notice that they all have something in common? Well, other than being BLACK? What George Clooney isn’t BLACK? Hmmm… See…even the great ones can make mistakes!
Other than that….you wrote a great article.
Huh? D’Marie wrote an article? Where?
Are you talking about her two comments? I don’t think she wrote that list of 304 gripes.
Someone has traced it back to a writer from firedoglake.