History lesson for conservatives

This article was written back in 2004, but it might just resonate even more so today. Republicans, and conservatives who pander to them, need to realize they are on the wrong side of history, and people will rightly associate them with their legacy of hate. Be sure to read this article, while reflecting on how far we've come, yet how far we still have to go.

Anguished voices have a way of echoing beyond the grave. And at times in Washington the spirits of bygone politicians are suddenly recalled to life. Like ghosts in Dickens, such figures bear witness to the causes of their downfall in a tone that should make their mortal counterparts take heed.

So it is this summer as Republicans try to bludgeon Democrats with same-sex marriage. Bush’s jibes against “activist judges” (just not the ones who took his side on vote counts from the Sunshine State), and GOP vows to stand in courthouse doors rather than admit committed couples, resurrect memories of the foes of civil rights like axe-wielding Georgia Governor Lester Maddox. Similarly, in a throwback to McCarthyism, the Bush-Cheney campaign is threatening to warp gay nuptials into weaponry for drawing Democratic blood.

This strategy brings to life the story of a little-known U.S. senator from Wyoming named Lester Hunt. His death 50 years ago speaks volumes about the sadism that lurks beneath appeals to family values.

When it comes to civil rights there is no middle ground. You are either with us or against us. Conservatives have won some battles, but we are going to win the war. Every politician needs to ask themselves, "What side of history do I want to be on?" Read More...

Reserve Officers organization rescinds previous call to maintain DADT

This is significant. No, they didn't come out for a repeal, but they did rescind their support for the ban. That's important. It's a step in the right direction. And it shows that supporting the ban isn't exactly the popular thing nowadays, even for organizations and individuals that were historically conservative. Read More...

Pope to hold 'sex abuse summit' in Ireland

The Catholic Church is hopefully going to take some time out from blaming the LGBT community for all their problems and hold a "sex abuse summit" in Ireland.

Another letter, signed by two of Ireland's most prominent abuse victims and sent directly to the Vatican in time for the summit, chides the pope for not cooperating with the most recent investigating commission. It asks that he write to the people of Ireland "accepting fully the harm" caused by the culture of priestly abuse and cover-up in Ireland.

The Murphy report examined the cases of more than 320 victims of priestly abuse in the Dublin diocese from 1975 to 2004. Among its many findings was that one priest admitting molesting children more than 100 times. Another said he molested children at least once every two weeks for 25 years.

The report found that church officials routinely ignored complaints from children and their parents about abusive priests, concluding that all the Dublin diocese cared about was "the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets."

The Pope needs to stop blaming "the gays" and start taking some responsibility for the church leadership's disgusting and depraved behavior regarding the sexual abuse of children. Read More...

Cheney today said it's time to end DADT. Obama admin officials today said let's wait a few years.

As Joe noted below, former vice President, and arch-conservative nemesis of the Obama administration, Dick Cheney said today that he thinks the ban on gays serving in the US military will be lifted, and he thinks it's time. That means the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress now having Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mullen covering their backside on this issue. So what do they do? Do they push for a repeal now, strike when the iron is hot, take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime momentum that has developed around this issue in the past two weeks?

No.

After two weeks of no direction whatsoever from the White House as to whether we even should proceed with the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell this year, more unnamed administration officials are telling AP that they won't touch the repeal for years to come. (Apparently, according to AP, they want to give the troops time to "get used" to the idea, gentle souls that they are.)

Unnamed sources, you say? Fine. Let the White House, today, with a named source named Barack Obama tell the American people that he wants Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed this year. If not, then the White House agrees with the unnamed sources. It's as simple as that.

It's frustrating to watch the Democrats dither. And I hate to use that word, but how else to describe people who are afraid to defend and promote the agenda they were elected on. As Joe just wrote on AMERICAblog Gay:

So, let's review: 75% of the American people (including 64% of Republicans) are on board with gays serving openly in the military. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs indicated support for repeal. The Secretary of Defense is for repeal. Colin Powell wants the law repealed. And Dick Cheney is on board. But, Democrats at the White House and on the Hill are still fretting because they think this issue is too controversial. Ridiculous.

There is no leadership from the Hill and no leadership from the White House. We have a plan that would permit DADT to be repealed this year, while momentum is on our side, with a delayed implementation to give the Pentagon time to "get used" to the notion. But for some reason, our leaders are afraid to move forward. And as I've written before, if we don't repeal DADT this year, I don't thinks it's going to be repealed for years to come.

Democrats are good at battles, Republicans are better at wars. We excel at short term blitzes, they excel over the long haul. Health care reform was a good example of this last year. No matter how good our hand, no matter how just our cause, the more time we gave the GOP to fight back, the more effective they were at tearing us down and turning the public against us. We have been fighting for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell for 17 years. The polls show the public overwhelmingly on our side. We gain nothing by dragging this out another year. Our opponents gain everything.

There is another imperative for acting now. In an off-year election, when the party controlling Congress also controls the White House, it's generally expected (though not guaranteed) that the majority in Congress will lose some seats. Last month, we saw how the loss of just one Senate seat in Massachusetts, leaving Democrats with "only" an 18 seat majority in the Senate, threatened to imperil Democratic resolve across the board. We don't need the uncertainty of the fall elections adding to our troubles when we know we can get the job done now.

And one final point. We now have Colin Powell (Republican), SecDef Gates (Republican appointee), Chairman Mullen (Republican appointee), Dick Cheney (Republican), Ted Olson (Republican), and the torture twins (Republicans), better than the Democratic party on this paramount gay civil rights issue. For years, we've been able to laugh in the face of gay Republicans who claimed the GOP was a viable alternative for gay Americans seeking their civil rights. No one is laughing any more. The Democratic party needs to wake up and realize that its political homophobia is losing it a constituency. Read More...

Even Dick Cheney thinks it's time to end DADT: 'I think the society has moved on.'

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was the guest on ABC's "This Week" today, mostly to attack the Obama administration. He did, however, indicate his support for ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Like almost everyone else, Cheney heard Admiral Mullen say it's time for the policy to end. Here's the transcript:

KARL: OK, "don't ask/don't tell" -- you're a former defense secretary -- should this policy be repealed?

CHENEY: Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of "don't ask/don't tell," when I was secretary of defense. I think things have changed significantly since then. I see that Don Mullen -- or Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has indicated his belief that we ought to support a change in the policy. So I think -- my guess is the policy will be changed.

KARL: And do you think that's a good thing? I mean, is it time to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military?

CHENEY: I think the society has moved on. I think it's partly a generational question. I say, I'm reluctant to second-guess the military in this regard, because they're the ones that have got to make the judgment about how these policies affect the military capability of our -- of our units, and that first requirement that you have to look at all the time is whether or not they're still capable of achieving their mission, and does the policy change, i.e., putting gays in the force, affect their ability to perform their mission?

When the chiefs come forward and say, "We think we can do it," then it strikes me that it's -- it's time to reconsider the policy. And I think Admiral Mullen said that.

Society has moved on. But, most of Cheney's fellow GOPers haven't. Nor has the Obama administration, according to AP. AP tells us that "unnamed sources" in the administration want to wait "years" for DADT to be repealed. John has more on that.

In DC, there has been a lot of parsing of Mullen's testimony. Same for Obama's State of the Union speech. But, in the real world, people think DADT is going to end. That's what people heard Obama say in the State of the Union. I hope the team at the White House, (led by Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina according to Politico) understand that there's an expectation that the President will actually deliver. And, it's important to remember that the President plays a key role here. He can include the repeal language in the budget recommendations for the Defense Department that he sends to Congress. It wasn't in the initial budget, but there's still time to do that. If Obama doesn't send the repeal recommendation to Congress, then, he's not serious. Members of Congress take the path of least resistance on every issue. If Obama doesn't push repeal in his budget, members will view it as a signal from the White House and nothing real will happen. We'll have gotten some nice speeches, but no action.

So, let's review: 75% of the American people (including 64% of Republicans) are on board with gays serving openly in the military. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs indicated support for repeal. The Secretary of Defense is for repeal. Colin Powell wants the law repealed. And Dick Cheney is on board. But, Democrats at the White House and on the Hill are still fretting because they think this issue is too controversial. Ridiculous. Read More...

K.D. Lang sings at Olympic Opening Ceremonies

What better way to show how more progressive the neighbor to the north is than to feature K.D. Lang singing "Hallulujah" in the opening ceremonies. Canada appreciates it's LGBT citizens so much they actually celebrate them and treat them as equal citizens. When will the United States catch up with Canada?

I might also add the opening ceremonies to the Olympics were just incredible, even with the slight malfunction of the Olympic flame in the arena. And Gawd, that K.D. Lang can sing... Read More...