A fierce Democratic donor writes

Dear DNC,

I truly "support" Democrats being elected in 2010 and 2012. I am a "fierce advocate" of the Democratic Party after all. I know that I have promised you my support over the past few decades and have done my best to follow through.

Even now I am "working towards" a financial donation to the Party. I do have to ask for your "patience" though, because as a gay man, my family and I are still second class citizens and are having to funnel our resources towards causes that protect and honor our basic civil rights. "We have a lot on our plate."

We are "proceeding" towards lifting the denial of funds to the DNC and are "developing a strategy" that will get us there by the end of Obama's time at the White House. As a matter of fact, my family has planned several "meetings" to discuss these very important donations and will be sending out a press release shortly to announce our "cocktail party" celebrating Democracy.

Thanks for understanding. And hang in there!

Sincerely,
Liam Read More......

Obama considering indefinite detention of some Gitmo detainees

AP:

The White House is considering whether to issue an executive order to indefinitely imprison a small number of Guantanamo Bay detainees, concerned that Congress might otherwise stymie its plans to quickly close the naval prison in Cuba.

Under the proposal, detainees considered too dangerous to prosecute or release would be kept in confinement in the U.S. or possibly overseas, two administration officials said Friday. Otherwise, the White House could get bogged down for months seeking agreement with Congress on a new legal detention system....

Underscoring the difficulty of where to send the detainees before Guantanamo closes, a senior Defense official said some detainees who were picked up as enemy combatants cannot be charged with war crimes or terrorism even though they are believed to pose a threat. If no country volunteers to take them, traditional law of war authority allows the United States government to hold them until the end of hostilities, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

I still find it odd that Republicans, and now Democrats too, feel that our criminal justice system somehow isn't up to the challenge of trying dangerous terrorists. How do we try criminals? How does the world try war criminals? How did the world try the Nazis? And Milosevic? I simply don't buy this notion that terrorism is something new and of such unimaginable evil that our system of justice just can't handle it.

Personally, I got a chuckle out of the notion of the Obama administration having the gaul to even consider charging anyone with "war crimes," after refusing to investigate the same charges against our own country's leaders.

And finally, there's the notion that it's all right for us to hold prisoners indefinitely because under standard rules of war you can hold the enemy's prisoners until hostilities end. So, during the Cold War, did that mean we could hold Russian spies indefinitely, until the cold war ended? Considering that terrorism will likely never end, then what is the finishing point of the "war on terror"? And how do we justify holding "dangerous" terrorists in perpetuity, without trial, but we don't hold American criminals - really dangerous ones - forever? Some of them we know are dangerous and are just going to commit the same crime when they're released after having done their time. So why not suspend the Constitution and hold them too?

I just find these exceptions we make for "terrorists" - and the fact that Senators refuse to have a terrorist incarcerated in their state - to be a telling sign of just how wimpy many Americans really are. We like to talk tough, but man, when the going gets tough it's fascinating to see who crumbles. Read More......

SLDN protested against DADT at the White House today

According to press pool reports, President Obama was at the White House today. I hope he heard the noise from the protest organized by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). The group collected 265 buttons, symbolizing the 265 servicemembers who have been discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell since Obama took office, for delivery to the President.

As we all know, the President committed to ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeatedly during the primaries and general election. But, it hasn't happened. Nothing has. As Obama said on his campaign website:

America is ready to get rid of the Don't Ask, Dont Tell policy. All that is required is leadership.

Leadership. Yes. It is needed.

It's really quite sad that SLDN has to protest to get the attention of the White House. But, we are where we are and this White House needs pressure. If you haven't called yet, the number is 202-456-1414. Tell Obama to end the DADT policy -- he has the power. Yes, we want a legislative repeal, but Obama can stop the discharges NOW. He is the leader.

Here's a video with several scenes, too:
Read More......

NYT: Little Hope for G.O.P. to Support Health Bill

The Democrats are right to seek a bill that is bipartisan, but not one that has a large number of Republican congressional supporters. There's a difference. Remember, self-declared Republicans are only 20% or so of the population. To get a large swath of them, a health care bill would have to be absurdly right-wing. The Democrats fool themselves when they think Republicans in Congress are somehow proxies for half the nation. They're not. Get a bill that is endorsed by a majority of Americans, not anywhere near a majority of Republicans, and that will be true bipartisanship. Read More......

Democrats and Political Homophobia

Merriam-Webster defines homophobia this way:

Irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.

We all know practitioners of homophobia -- mostly Republicans, right-wingers, Catholic leaders, etc.

There is, however, a version of homophobia that is much more insidious: Political Homophobia.

Political homophobes aren't gay-hating in the traditional sense. In fact, publicly, most are strong supporters of LGBT equality. But, behind closed doors, many Democratic leaders, consultants, Hill staffers and the rest will vociferously argue that there is no political benefit to actually supporting LGBT rights. Political homophobia is rampant among some Democrats. In some ways, it's worse than blatant homophobia, since we think most Democrats are on our side. And outwardly, they are.

Political homophobia dictates policy in DC more than we'd like to think. I believe it's happening in the West Wing right now. I've been told by several people that while the president's chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, isn't a homophobe in the traditional way (he always voted the right way when he was in the House), he is always the first person to suggest that his colleagues (and now boss) avoid gay issues. He'd rather not deal with them because he thinks they're bad politics.

Now, maybe in 1993 that was true. But Rahm, if he truly is the problem behind the throne, doesn't grasp the change in society over the past two decades. He also doesn't understand that the American people think Obama is a different kind of politician -- one who will do what he says because it's the right thing to do.

The West Wing's political homophobia is not only damaging relations with the LGBT community, it's damaging the Obama brand. And even a politician obsessed with "bad politics" knows that this isn't good. Read More......

Irony alert: Obama to ignore law he doesn't agree with

No not the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act. No, not Don't Ask Don't Tell. No, not the immigration law (he's already ignoring that one). But provisions of the new war spending bill that the Obama administration, instead of going to court to litigate the matter, unilaterally decided that they find the provision unconstitutional.

Remember, President Obama won't even do what is legally in his power to do with regards to providing gay federal employees health benefits, opposing DOMA in court, or issuing a stop-loss order to halt the two-a-day discharge of gay US service members - all things that are legally in the president's power to do under US law. Team Obama's logic? The law is the law, and they won't challenge US law, lest they look like the lawless Bush administration that preceded them. But when it comes to outright ignoring US law, claiming the law is unconstitutional and not even going to court to prove their case, then the Obama team is happy to ignore the law - provided the law has nothing to do with those pesky homosexuals and their inconvenient human rights.

And you thought someone had turned the light at the tunnel back on. Read More......

Greetings from Stockholm

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake and I were invited a while back to attend an annual political gathering in Sweden that takes place next week on the Swedish island of Gotland, somewhere in the Baltic sea. Basically, every year all the political parties get together in the town of Visby, on a Swedish island just west of Estonia, and they hold hundreds of political panels and discussions and speeches. Jane and I were invited to talk about blogging, American style, and how blogs were used in the election and the aftermath. We're in Stockholm at the moment, just got here, and head to Visby on Monday.

This is my first trip to Stockholm, and it's a beautiful city. Wonderful vibe too. It's hard to describe, but for me at least, some cities have vibes and others do not. NY has a vibe. So do Paris and Chicago. Stockholm definitely has a vibe. Below are a few of my photos I took last night walking around the city at dusk - of course, dusk here goes from about 7pm until 10:30pm - then you get twilight, which lasts from 11PM until 3AM, then it's dawn. It never gets fully dark this time of year.



The sun is hugely important to the Swedes. They bask in it every chance they get (including a few wonderful neighbors across the way from our hotel who just love to bask on their balconies - I wont be sharing those pictures :-)



Just a building in Stockholm.



A view of the river cutting through downtown Stockholm.



A waterfront bar. Lots and lots of people out and about everywhere in this city.



Some cool window reflections. I was struck by the use of color on buildings, very reminiscent of Rome (the yellows, oranges, and reds you see everywhere in southern Italy).



Just some train tracks. Anyone who's ever been to St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) - at least for me, sometimes the sun, the buildings, evokes St. Petersburg.



More sun.



Just a neat building.



More reflective windows.



The memorial to the Iranian students. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Today, the poem of the week is an anonymous poem from Iran, starting:

Friday the 19th of June, 2009
Tomorrow, Saturday
Tomorrow is a day of destiny
Tonight the cries of Allah-o Akhbar
Are heard louder and louder than the nights before

On a completely different subject, I'm training for another marathon. This will be my sixth. A couple years ago, I developed tendonitis in my left knee, which was another annoyance. However, I got some great advice and tips from my friend and trainer, Pete McCall. His wife, Monica, had the best spinning class ever. I used to be a bit overweight and way out of shape. I always credit Pete and Monica with turning me into an athlete in my 40s (an athlete in my own mind, at least.) I ran my first marathon at 42. Pete has moved on to a big job at the American Council on Exercise in San Diego, but he's started a blog, Training the Every Day Athlete. If you want some good basic advice, follow Pete's blog. He did wonders for me.

Okay, I'm out for a run before it gets too hot. Read More......

Are AMERICAblog readers the best or what?

And I'm not just saying that either. I've had the good pleasure to meet a few readers in person, even over here in France. This week, one of our readers from San Francisco contacted the blog and said he was a musician, would be playing in town, and if I was interested, he had some tickets for the show. I love music so it sounded great. Joe Gore was such a nice person over email so Joelle and I were pretty excited to see him play last night and then have a few minutes to chat. It turns out, he's the guitarist for Tracy Chapman. Joe (and Tracy) turned out to be great - as expected - and was so much fun meeting after the show. During the show there was an emotional cover of "I'll be there." He is passionate about politics and we discussed a few of the important issues of the day.

Here's a YouTube bootleg video from one of his other concerts earlier in the week. He's playing guitar and wearing a hat. Up above is Joe without his very cool glasses taking a minute for a photo with Joelle and me. Damned nice guy and glad he's part of the AMERICAblog family. (And on a side note, Joelle looked especially great last night.)


I don't especially like the choppy video but a great tune back in the day. Last night's version was something special as well. Read More......

Fake issue creates new distraction in France

This is as phony as invading a country. I've mentioned before that I find the burqa very repressive, I don't see where stirring up more divisions in an already racially divided country helps. It looks like another ugly attempt to divert attention from the real problems such as where the hell the economy is going or how France is going to bridge the social divides that exist. It's fair to say that Sarkozy has done more than other politicians on the right or left (the Socialists blew it when they had power) to introduce non-white males to the ruling structure. He's backed off in his latest cabinet shuffle but this move is a step in the wrong direction.

At home, Joelle and I have discussed this since it's been forced into the news. Both of us feel pretty much the same on the burqa (it's repressive) though she's leaning more in favor of removing the burqa for this reason whereas I believe it will only force even more repression if they are banned. Joelle's point is that if women are not allowed to wear it, the women will have to get out for shopping or whatever so that will help move that process. I don't see that happening at all and think this will only force women to be stuck at home without the liberty of movement. The Guardian:

This week, France plunged into another bitterly divisive national debate on Muslim women's clothing, reopening questions on how the country with western Europe's biggest Muslim community integrates Islam into its secular republic. A parliamentary inquiry is to examine how many women in France wear full Islamic veils or niqab before a decision is made over possibly banning such garments in the street. More than 50 MPs from across the political spectrum have called for restrictions on full veils, called "degrading", "submissive" and "coffins" by politicians. Yet the actual numbers of niqab wearers in France appears to be so small that TV news crews have struggled to find individuals to film. Muslim groups estimate that there are perhaps only a few hundred women fully covering themselves out of a Muslim population of over 5 million – often young French women, many of them converts.

That such a marginal issue can suddenly take centre stage in a country otherwise struggling with major issues of mass unemployment and protest over public sector reform shows how powerful the symbol of the headscarf and veil remains in France.

Human rights groups warned this week that the row over niqabs risks exacerbating the growing problem of discrimination against women wearing standard Muslim headscarves. Five years on from the heated national debate over France's 2004 law banning headscarves and all conspicuous religious symbols from state schools, there has been an increase in general discrimination against adult women who cover their heads.

In the end this only inflames existing racial tensions. It's an aggressive action that relates to very small numbers - hundreds, perhaps - so there are much bigger fish to fry. It almost makes me believe that the politicians see trouble ahead economically and are trying to start the diversion now before that takes over the news. But then again, I'm a bit cynical after the events of the last few years. Read More......

Dubai is the future

It sounds dreamier than ever! Maybe the US and UK bankers who are so sure of their self worth ought to be moving there with their families so they can get a feel for some good old fashioned capitalism. They always want to drift back to those oh-so-glorious days of pre-regulation so let them have at it there. It's flashy, the way they like it, but there may be a few little bumps in the road if their business goes south. No matter though because that could certainly never happen since they're all so clever. (hat tip, Cat.)

Mr Ford said his decision was made quickly. As his business's debts began to spiral and creditors started to threaten him, he talked to his wife about giving up on Thursday of last week.

He has written an open letter to the city apologising for not paying the money he owes his creditors.

"There is a very stark reality in doing business in the UAE which unfortunately results in the most horrible decisions having to be made," he wrote.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, they were on a plane to Britain with their three children, aged four, two and one.

At least he apologized. No such luck from Wall Street and we're still stuck with them. Read More......

One third of sharks now threatened

The commercial fishing fleets are yet another industry that never quite knows when to say when. They drag up half of the ocean regardless of whether it was intended or not. Over this way, the Mediterranean is a wasteland with few of the previous tuna or swordfish left. At one time is also used to be full or sharks including a few of the largest ever caught but those days are long gone.

As a kid I loved fishing but as I grow older it bothers me to chase fish that are in such heavy decline. Sharks used to annoy me when fishing or make me nervous when in the sea but the more encounters that I've had with them in the sea (especially off the coast of southern Africa) the more I've come to appreciate them. It's not that I don't get a jolt seeing them under water where they look larger than they actually are, but they're amazing creatures. In Cape Town I swam in the shark tank with a few ragged tooth sharks that weighed hundreds of kilos (sand tigers in America, I think). I sat on the bottom of the tank and was in awe of their sleek design as they glided by a few feet above my head.

A day later I went in the tank with an old fashioned copper helmet and the experience was completely different for both of us. They didn't really care when I had scuba gear but with the copper helmet they were attracted to the radio inside the helmet so they kept swimming up to me to investigate. I think my heart stopped beating the first time they approached but again, they are really something to see in the water. Later in Mozambique I bumped in to a few other sharks including the wild looking guitar shark. Onto the disturbing news.

Overfishing threatens to drive a third of the world's open-ocean shark species to extinction, say conservationists. Hammerheads, giant devil rays and porbeagle sharks are among 64 species on the first ever red list for oceanic sharks produced by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Sharks are vulnerable because they can take decades to mature and they produce few young. The scalloped hammerhead shark, which has declined by 99% over the past 30 years in some parts of the world, is particularly vulnerable and has been given globally endangered status on the red list, which means it is nearing extinction. In the Gulf of Mexico, the oceanic whitetip shark has declined by a similar amount.

Scientists estimate that shark populations in the north-west Atlantic Ocean have declined by an average of 50% since the early 1970s.

Read More......