May 26, 2009 archive

The missing part of the story of Proposition 8

Have you heard the reasons why many people believe Prop 8 passed this past November?  It’s the bigoted voters, say some, and they can’t be trusted!  It was a failed campaign by the gay community, say others.  And others still say it was the huge amount of money spent by out-of-state players like the Mormon Church.

But all of those explanations are ignoring an essential part of the story of how the initiative passed.  In light of the upcoming California Supreme Court ruling, I thought I’d tell you about the missing part of the Prop 8 story.

Crossposted at Dailykos.com and Congressmatters.com

Obama falls victim to his bogeyman

Like some great inflatable amusement park monster, Obama and his fellow Democratic Party Machiavellians decided to pump up the deflating Al Qaeda bogeyman to prove their “toughness” on national security – and to keep the arms merchants happy. But the problem with reinvigorating bogeymen is that they frighten people.

The campaign promise of closing Guantanamo has now collided with the rediscovered super-evil, world-threatening, cosmically colossal threat of AL QAEDA! This great terrorist organization, which has been incapable of putting so much as one sniper with a rifle and a box of bullets in the United states, is now becoming a self-created political obstacle for the Obama administration.

We are waging two ruinously expensive “wars” against the Al Qaeda bogeyman, and now the main issue Republicans are using to undermine Obama is his “weakness” in dealing with the terrorist threat he has revived. The irony is extraordinary, but the results are very bad for America. We will continue to piss away our dwindling resources chasing the Al Qaeda bogeyman, and Obama has given the Republicans a permanent claim to superior devotion to protecting us.

Al Qaeda is a weak enemy that can easily be contained for a fraction of our “war on terror” expenditures. But Obama can’t tell these simple truths. He is now the victim of his own bogeyman.

About tomorrow’s Prop 8 decision.

Whether tomorrow’s Prop 8 decision affects you directly or not, it’s likely to be a big moment for the LGBT movement, insofar as so many married and wanting-to-right-to-be-married couples are heavily invested in the outcome.  

I won’t waste words on the background of this issue since so much has been written already.  But if you value equality and want to be part of what happens next, I’ve put together a list of events and links that should be useful.

Enter The Meatrix

     For those of us who often wonder where our food comes from, but don’t exactly want to visit the abattoir, themeatrix.com has the power to open your mind a bit. Before you click the video and take the red pill, I offer you the blue pill if you want to bail out now.

    If you have gone this far, there is no turning back now.

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