LOST

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."
"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

"Return to your own self, enter into your own heart, learn the value of your soul, ponder what you were, are, should have been and can be."

What Price Must We Pay For Our Rights?

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Malcolm X asked his brothers and sisters to fight for their rights. He reminded us that begging for ones rights doesn't work. We must demand our rights; be willing to die for our rights. He stated, "The price of freedom is death."

Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters have bled and died for the rights of straight people in every war since the beginning of time. And we are still second class citizens. So I wonder what would happen if every gay or lesbian soldier, sailor, marine, airman, or reservist came out. What kind of hole would that leave in our military?

Maybe the way to get DADT repealed is to come out en mass!
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Obama's Plan for Gay Rights

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Just click on the title.

Americans Who've Used Canada's Health-Care System Respond to Current Big-Lie Media Campaign

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We've probably all heard or seen reports of how horrible the Canadian "socialist" health care system is. Well, I'm here to tell you it's all a bunch of b.s. Just read for yourself about how Canadians fiercely defend their system.

Click on the link above to learn about a) Americans who have lived in Canada and used the system, and b) Canadian natives who use and love their single-payer health care system.

Then remember it the next time you see or hear an attack on the sanest and least expensive model that guarantees health care for all: single-payer.

Now, keep it in mind when considering that our president is attempting to include a "public plan" in his healthcare reform bill. He's not advocating for single-payer - although I wish he would. He's simply asking for an option that will offer healthcare coverage to people who don't have a plan, or who can't afford any plans currently being offered. All others will be able to keep the plan they have, or buy any other plan they may want.

Unless we include a public option in this package we simply won't achieve reform; for-profit insurance companies won't have sufficient incentive to trim their costs/prices. So contact your congressmember and senators and demand that they support a healthcare reform bill that includes a public option.

Let's Just Outlaw Marriage as a legal Conceit!

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Tuesday, the California Supreme Court announced their approval of Proposition 8 (some call it Prop H8). The 6-1 majority went to great lengths to argue that they were not relegating lesbians and gays to second class citizenship because they would not be allowed to call themselves married (except for the 18,000 who got married between May and November last year). They insisted that gays and lesbians have a right to all of the benefits of marriage, they just can't call it that.

So let's just stop calling any sort of legal union Marriage and then we'll all be equal. It's a pretty simple way to resolve this disagreement over the use of the term Marriage. If all can't use it, then none should be permitted to. Let's just call them all Domestic Partnerships, or Civil Unions and be done with it.

Carlos Moreno, the dissenting justice, was correct, in my view, when he said that our constitution should protect unpopular minorities from the tyranny of the majority. But the majority of the court disagreed thereby aligning themselves with the tyranny of the majority. They insisted that the word "marriage" could be reserved for heterosexual unions. In other words, separate but equal is equal. Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 55 years ago in Brown v Board of Education that separate but equal is "inherently unequal" .

Prop 8 proponents insist that they aren't discriminating against lesbians and gays; they're just protecting the holy estate of matrimony. I suggest that the best way for them to protect it is to make it a private arrangement; get government out of the marriage business. Let's just eliminate Marriage from all legal documents including the license to wed. Let's call them Civil Unions or Domestic Partnerships on all legal documents, including the county license, and see how that works.

Why I Disagree with our President About How to Deal With Torturers

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Our President has taken a middle road on the issue of Americans who torture: CIA agents who tortured will not be prosecuted because they were following orders.

Unfortunately, in this case, I believe he is wrong. I disagree with him for specific reasons:

1. The CIA is an intelligence group: Central Intelligence Agency. Get it? They should not be interrogating anybody. Their mission is to gather intelligence.

2. The FBI refused to participate in what is being euphemistically called "enhanced interrogation methods" because they were not legal. The CIA chose to do so.

3. After World War II German soldiers asserted that they had just been following orders when torturing Jews. They were convicted and some were executed. "Just following orders" was not an adequate defense.

4. Lindy England, Charles Graner, and Col Janice Karpinski did not get a pass on the torture that happened at Abu Ghraib.

5. Unenforced laws become unenforceable. If we are a nation of laws, not men, then we must uphold and enforce our laws.

6. Our President doesn't have the authority to decide whether illegal acts should be investigated. That authority resides with the DOJ. Attorney General Eric Holder should make the decision. I sincerely hope that he pursues investigation of these acts of torture, either internally or by the appointment of an independent counsel. Then let the chips fall where they may.

When the Bush Administration decided to use "enhanced interrogation methods" it did so knowing the methods were torture, and illegal. Else why would they have asked for legal opinions from political appointees in the DOJ in support of their tactics several months later? Remember, the torture began in August of 2002 at about the time Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) was captured. The memos written by John Yoo, Jay Bybee et al, were not written until the spring of 2003. It's called CYA.

As an aside, I find it rather amusing to note that Karl Rove, George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and others have asserted that the Library Tower (Bush/Cheney called it the Liberty Tower) in Los Angeles was saved from destruction, via aircraft, in the spring of 2002 by using "enhanced interrogation methods" on KSM, who promptly gave up the plot. Except that according to their own records, KSM wasn't captured until August of that year.

When it comes to the Bush Administration I recommend we apply the Regan Doctrine: Trust but verify.

Home Run, Touchdown, Three Pointer

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per Barbara Boxer. I guess that about covers it. Our president was game-on tonight and wiped out the opposition.

Bobby Jindahl's response was so bad. How bad was it? According to conservative NY Times columnist David Brooks, "Jindahl's speech was possibly the worst response to a presidential address in history."

I do have a few thoughts about Jindahl's speech:

a) if he thinks a high speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles will get him from Disneyland to Las Vegas, I hope somebody will teach him how to use Google maps.

b) he said, "Government can't help you. Look what happened after Katrina?" To that I say, Yeh, Republicans were in charge. Way to go, Jindahl.

c) if the Republican Party plans on hanging their 2012 presidential hat on Jindahl they will LOOSE. I guess I hope they do just that.

Finally, I'm very proud of our President, and of the American people for electing him. He delivered for us tonight and our job is to support him while holding him accountable.

So, my message to you? Tag, you're it.
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What Do The Republicans Get If They Refuse To Get Onboard?

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Click on link above for the answer.

Or maybe you have a better idea. I invite you to post your recommendation here.


A tip of the hat to Fake Howard Dean for this.
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The Great Debate

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Click on the link above then vote your choice via "comments" below.
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