A big day for Petey, the dog

Today, PETS-DC held its 16th Annual Pride of Pets Fun Dog Show in Dupont Circle. PETS-DC is a non-profit "dedicated to improving the health and well being of people living with HIV/AIDS or other disabling conditions and their companion pets." It's a great organization.

Boomer, my previous dog, wasn't one for dog shows. Petey, on the other hand, seemed like a natural. So, Carlos, my partner, entered him in a couple of categories -- and it was for a good cause.

I don't want to brag -- but, Petey cleaned up. He came in second in "best tail wagging." He won the category of "Most Adorable" medium size dog. And, he was the first runner up in the people's choice for "Best in Show." Not bad for a little dog from the pound. He really had the crowd pulling for him.

It was a very fun event benefiting a great cause -- well, absent that bomb scare, which caused police to clear the circle for a half hour.

Right now, Petey is sacked out. He had quite a day and I'm pretty sure he won't let the fame go to his head. Petey really is a great little dog and a very worthy successor to Boomer.

Here's Petey with his tail wagging ribbon. He got ribbons and trophies for the other two.
Read More......

Paul Begala and Meghan McCain on Bill Maher

Excellent. Read More......

Dems imploding on health care

Joe and I so called this. And guess who's undercutting Obama? DiFi, of course.

DKos reports on the newest polls showing wide-spread public support for a greater government role in health care. Read More......

The day I quoted Malcolm X

UPDATE: Here's a Facebook group organizing the protest at the DNC gay fundraiser this Thursday.

In a million years, I never thought I'd be quoting Malcolm X. But after seeing this on Pam Spaulding's blog, it's hard not to agree.

"Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn't kill him, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said."

Pam Spaulding posted this video of Malcom X on her blog today, following the leaked news that the White House has suddenly decided to throw a big gay party for the A-listers who putatively run our movement. It's a chance for our leaders to get used by the White House, just by showing up, then get used again when they leave and tell the world how all the champagne and caviar proves that the President really does love us, in spite of that pesky incest and pedophilia thing, and those two gay service members a day he's still discharging, even though he doesn't have to.

The biggest betrayal of all? Our leaders are going to the White House to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. Irony is not lacking in this White House.

But we got cake! (And a gay band in the parade!)



Mike Signorile and Pam Spaulding weigh in today on the party, and on Jonathan Capehart's Washington Post article I linked to earlier. First Signorile on the party:

This is pretty outrageous. In the midst of all the anger from LGBT people over the DOMA brief and the inadequate response -- so far -- by the Obama administration, gay lobbyists, executive directors and assorted others who comprise what is identified as the gay leadership apparently have been invited to a party at the White House thrown just for them.

It's another photo-op in which everyone -- the president and the gays -- can look happy and like they're having fun, but more so, it's a way for the White House to wank off the gay leaders a bit while still not delivering. None of them should fall for it -- and that means they should not attend this event -- least of all the Human Rights Campaign. We don't want cocktails for high-paid gay and lesbians lobbyists and executive directors looking to schmooze and feel important. We want action on our rights, and at this point it means DOMA and DADT....

[A] cocktail party? No, that's not business -- it's schmoozing and sucking up, and it's all about buying off gay leaders by seducing them, very cheaply, so the White House can help get the money coming back in, since the DNC gay fundraiser for next week is collapsing. The response so far has only been about the money and it's not nearly enough.

What we need now is real action. Not these crumbs, whether it be the census inclusion or some benefits for federal employees. We need something big, and until then, the DNC fundraisers should continue to be threatened, and nobody among the gay leadership should be partying with this president.

And Pam on Capehart:

[W]here does [Congress] get its cues from -- the White House. Come on, we're not stupid. We've heard apologists say that Obama's rogue DOJ issued that brief wihtout anyone in the WH knowing. Gee, when Bush was in the White House, we sure nailed the fact that Alberto Gonzales was working hand-in-glove with Dear Leader's constitutional wrecking crew at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. So which is it people? I'm tired of the excuses, and bad ones at that.

It's also confusing as to what [Jonathan] Capehart's role is here -- is he speaking as a gay man writing in his capacity as a reporter for the WaPo (and who sits on its ed board), or speaking as a prominent member of the LGBT community? The line is very blurry; I tell you, this is also tiring because of the pious barbs thrown at citizen journalists/bloggers for expressing opinion in their writing/reporting. At least we're clear and honest about our advocacy and what we are representing.

And our good friend Jane Hamsher, who's now an honorary gay after this post, reminds us there's that little matter of the DNC gay fundraiser that some of our leaders have still refused to pull out of. Read More......

Senator Max Baucus, insurance industry lackey, has had taxpayer financed benefits for most of his adult life

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is one of the most important players in the health care reform debate as the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He's screwing it up.

Baucus is also the biggest beneficiary of insurance industry money:

As Sen. Max Baucus has taken the lead on health-reform legislation in the U.S. Senate, he's also become a leader in something else: Campaign money received from health- and insurance-industry interests.

In the past six years, nearly one-fourth of every dime raised by Baucus, D-Mont., and his political-action committee has come from groups and individuals associated with drug companies, insurers, hospitals, medical-supply firms, health-service companies and other health professionals.

These donations total about $3.4 million, or $1,500 a day, every day, from January 2003 through 2008.

They've got Baucus doing their bidding.

From various sources, including congressional websites, I've figured out that we've been paying for Baucus's benefits for decades. Baucus graduated from law school in 1967. Since then, Baucus has been on government payrolls almost non-stop. He practiced law for a couple years in Montana, but besides that, taxpayers have been funding his health care benefits. And, the federal government has good benefits. Today's Washington Post explains that one good reason to work for the federal government is the "generous" benefits (to which members of Congress have access). On health care, the Post tells us:

The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program offers the widest selection of health-care plans of any U.S. employer. Federal employees also have access to vision and dental plans, life insurance, flexible-spending accounts and long-term care plans.

That's what Baucus has had access to since he entered Congress over thirty years ago.

This guy has no idea what it's like not to have health insurance or to be tortured by one's insurance company. I'm sure Baucus hasn't spent too much time wondering about co-pays or hitting his maximum for drugs. No.

So, Max Baucus is willing to screw over health care reform and, in turn, and the American people. But, no worries for Max. He's got big-time financial backing from the insurance industry and health care paid by taxpayers. Read More......

With poll numbers like this, why are Democrats caving?

Why bother to have elections if you're not going to use the authority that voters delivered? When a winning campaign is based on the theme of change, then change, dammit. The Democrats want to buckle under to the status quo special interests and win over Republican support. To hell with that folks. Look at the numbers which leave little doubt about which direction Americans want. More on the NYTimes/CBS News poll:

The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.

Yet the survey also revealed considerable unease about the impact of heightened government involvement, on both the economy and the quality of the respondents’ own medical care. While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.

That paradox was skillfully exploited by opponents of the last failed attempt at overhauling the health system, during former President Bill Clinton’s first term. Sixteen years later, it underscores the tricky task facing lawmakers and President Obama as they try to address the health system’s substantial problems without igniting fears that people could lose what they like.

The only tricky task is locating a spine either in Congress or the White House. What part of "72% support" are the Democrats missing? Read More......

When crumbs suffice

Jonathan Capehart writes in Sunday's Washington Post:

"Under normal circumstances, all of this [Obama's mini health care benefits memo he signed last week for the gay partners of federal employees] would have been big news in the push for gay and lesbian civil rights. Instead, it has been derided as too little, too late. As if any of this would have happened with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the White House. I'm all for holding an ally's feet to the fire. But to not recognize and celebrate victories, no matter how "small," is maddeningly shortsighted in the long march to full equality.

"If gays and lesbians want big victories, such as the repeal of DOMA and the "don't ask don't tell" policy, they should focus their fire where it belongs: on Congress. Each bill will take 218 votes in the House and 60 in the Senate to reach the president's desk, and the votes aren't there yet. Saying no one is going to hand gay men and lesbians their rights, Berry told me, "We have to get out there and fight and get those votes." That won't be easy. But if last week's announcement is a sign that Obama will be vocal, persistent and public in his support, the fight can be won."

It's not. Last week also brought the announcement that we are akin to incest and pedophilia.

Under normal circumstances, a Democratic president in the year 2009, who was himself the product of a forbidden union in some parts of the country, who won in a landslide, who had a great approval rating, whose party had control over the House and the Senate, wouldn't slowly-slowly start backing away from his commitments to a minority, as if that minority were somehow a diseased pariah. Under normal circumstances, that president wouldn't have compared that minority to incest and pedophilia. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't defend a law that he'd called abhorrent, that he said he'd help repeal. Under normal circumstances, he'd have at least issued a stop-loss order to cease the two-discharges a day that are ruining the lives of patriotic gay service members. (Obama just defended Don't Ask Don't Tell in court too: "The bar on gays serving openly is 'rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.' ")

Yes, under normal circumstances, if you give me a quarter, I'll say thank you. But if you kick me in the balls and then give me a quarter, don't expect a goodnight kiss.

I know Jonathan and like Jonathan, but you're witnessing the problem with our community's leadership, first hand. They, and so many of us, have been beaten down for so long that we expect the beatings. Pain and disappointment have become the new normal. We expect to be treated like second-class citizens. We expect to be slapped in the face and knifed in the back by our friends because, we tell ourselves, the other guy is even worse.

And like the good beaten spouse, we always come back for more because it's all we know, and at least it's something. Read More......

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Iran and health care appear to be the topics du jour.

John "bomb, bomb Iran" McCain gets two opportunities to push his view that the U.S. should do more (even though most experts seem to think that would backfire in Iran.) No doubt, McCain's lackey, Lindsey "the sinner" Graham, will echo his words.

On health care, maybe some of the Senate Democrats can explain how they're going to stop screwing up real reform.

Here's the lineup:

C's "This Week" — Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; former Sens. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard Lugar, R-Ind.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and McCain; Reps. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Read More......

Imagine

After a heavy downpour yesterday afternoon, the weather cleared or at least was dry for our garden party. We ended up having over 80 people ranging from just under a year to 86 years old. The food disappeared in seconds and we only managed to go through 40 bottles of wine. As it cooled off in the evening people crammed inside and our friend Alex played guitar and sang a few songs including Imagine. Our sweet 86 year old neighbor, Madame Borot sat next to Alex and soaked up the atmosphere as everyone sang along. What a fun time. The cats were in hiding but returned minutes after the last guest went home. And now there's the cleanup. Bugger. At least it's a sunny morning to help wake us up. Read More......

More protests, more deaths in Iran

Following the bloodshed yesterday, Moussavi is calling for supporters to stay home and not go to work. The is becoming much more forceful in their response to protesters and are calling for a partial recount from the election, though recounting 10% is worthless. CNN:

A stream of videos posted on social networking Web sites depicted scenes of chaos -- the sound of gunshots and helicopters whirring overhead and graphic images of wounded men and women being carried away.

Unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 150 on the seventh day of post-election protests. Sources at one Tehran hospital confirmed 19 deaths Saturday.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said numerous protesters who had been beaten and injured by security forces were arrested and detained when they sought medical treatment in hospitals. It said fear of arrest had reportedly driven injured protesters, some in serious condition, to seek care at foreign embassies.

One woman, Shahnaz, said riot police used batons and water hoses to keep her and about 300 other people from reaching Revolution Square in central Tehran. She said she saw helicopters hovering and then she saw tear gas.

Read More......

Tony Blair sought to keep Iraq investigation secret

The bid for the EU presidency takes another hit for the egomaniac. Blair is right up there with the most cynical politicians who was so sure he would be the new Churchill after cruising to an easy victory. We heard tall tales of doom if we did not go to war but it was all part of the plan to glorify Blair and Bush, if it panned out. The Indpendent:

It is understood that Mr Blair did not ask Mr Brown directly but through intermediaries, who asked Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, to urge the Prime Minister to hold a secret inquiry.

Downing Street sources were quoted last week as saying the Prime Minister had considered holding it in public, and Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary and a close ally of Mr Brown, said he backed a more "open" inquiry.

The revelation will raise further questions over Mr Brown's authority and suggests how keen he is not to upset Mr Blair and his allies. It came as Mr Brown told The Guardian yesterday that he could "walk away from all of this tomorrow", in a sign of the intense pressure he is under.

Supporters of Mr Blair, meanwhile, said there was a fear that the former prime minister being hauled before a public court would end up with him falling victim to "mob justice".

As opposed to mob rule with getting into the war? I distinctly remember the thugs forcing this war and smearing anyone who questioned it. The Blair "mob rule" was worse because it was all about finding a way for the posh-talking huckster to sell the invasion of a country and killing innocent people. The mob rule that he's upset with today is about saving his own political future. Next thing you know he will try to hide his history if raising a hundred million dollars by working for the same global banks that destroyed the global economy. Nothing is ever enough for this guy. Read More......

'Shocking' report on rape in South Africa

South Africa has come a long way in terms of at least discussing it's trouble past of race relations. Unfortunately they're still struggling to get serious about rape but maybe with a horrifying study like this, the debate may start to change. During my time in South Africa I had to stop reading the newspapers due to the ugly stories of rape, often related to false HIV cure myths or gang rapes. As much as I loved the country, the reports were beyond anything I ever read anywhere.

Nearly 28 percent of men interviewed said they had forced a woman or girl to have sexual intercourse against her will, according to the survey. It said that 14 percent said they had raped a former or current girlfriend; 12 percent said they had raped someone who was not their partner; and 10 percent said they had raped both a stranger and a partner.

The research council survey said that nearly 20 percent of those who admitted sexual abuse had the AIDS virus — only slightly higher than the 18 percent infection rate among men not involved in rape.

It said that 17 percent of the men surveyed admitted to attempted rape, and 9 percent said they had taken part in gang rapes. In all, 42 percent of men surveyed said they had been physically violent to an intimate partner (current or ex-girlfriend or wife), including 14 percent in the past year.

"Our study suggests that the pathway which leads to these ideas and the practices of rape and other forms of violence toward women starts in childhood," said Jewkes, head of the research council's gender and health unit. She said the results backed up findings of earlier research among younger men.

Read More......