Quick note from John

I think we have ourselves a ready-to-go campaign for Tuesday. Call the Senate and find out if your two Senators cosponsred "S.Res. 39, Official Title: A resolution apologizing to the victims of lynching and the descendants of those victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation."

Don't let them get away with telling you it passed the Senate tonight, we know that. We want to know if your two Senators were cosponsors or not of the resolution - yes or not. And if they weasel and can't give you an answer, tell them you're reporting back to the blogs, we're making a list, and we want an answer. I'm serious. We can report back as the day goes on.

Having said that, we know already that these 60 Senators cosponsored (i.e., said they'd support) the resolution (but there were 20 more who also cosponsored it, bringing the total up to 80, we just can't find an up to date list anywhere). So don't call the 60 Senators listed below, unless you want to call and thank them, that's of course quite welcome:

Cosponsors of SRes 39:
Sen. Daniel Akaka [D-HI]
Sen. Wayne Allard [R-CO]
Sen. George Allen [R-VA]
Sen. B. Evan Bayh [D-IN]
Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE]
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA]
Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS]
Sen. Richard Burr [R-NC]
Sen. Robert Byrd [D-WV]
Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA]
Sen. Thomas Carper [D-DE]
Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-NY]
Sen. Thomas Coburn [R-OK]
Sen. Norm Coleman [R-MN]
Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]
Sen. Jon Corzine [D-NJ]
Sen. Larry Craig [R-ID]
Sen. Mark Dayton [D-MN]
Sen. Jim DeMint [R-SC]
Sen. Christopher Dodd [D-CT]
Sen. Pete Domenici [R-NM]
Sen. Byron Dorgan [D-ND]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Sen. John Ensign [R-NV]
Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
Sen. William Frist [R-TN]
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]
Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE]
Sen. Thomas Harkin [D-IA]
Sen. Daniel Inouye [D-HI]
Sen. James Jeffords [I-VT]
Sen. Tim Johnson [D-SD]
Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA]
Sen. John Kerry [D-MA]
Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI]
Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D-NJ]
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Sen. Carl Levin [D-MI]
Sen. Joseph Lieberman [D-CT]
Sen. Blanche Lincoln [D-AR]
Sen. Richard Lugar [R-IN]
Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D-MD]
Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA]
Sen. Bill Nelson [D-FL]
Sen. Ben Nelson [D-NE]
Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]
Sen. Mark Pryor [D-AR]
Sen. Harry Reid [D-NV]
Sen. Ken Salazar [D-CO]
Sen. Richard Santorum [R-PA]
Sen. Paul Sarbanes [D-MD]
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]
Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME]
Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA]
Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow [D-MI]
Sen. Ted Stevens [R-AK]
Sen. James Talent [R-MO]
Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]

Senate phone number: 202-224-3121 Read the rest of this post...

Which Senators wouldn't support the anti-lynching measure?

The NY Times wants to know, too:

Although the Senate garnered praise on Monday for acting to erase that stain, some critics said lawmakers had a long way to go. Of the 100 senators, 80 were co-sponsors of the resolution, and because it passed by voice vote, senators escaped putting themselves on record.

"It's a statement in itself that there aren't 100 co-sponsors," Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said. "It's a statement in itself that there's not an up-or-down vote."

Thomas, which is a legislative service of the Library of Congress, lists the sponsors of SR 39. They have 60 named...others probably joined on in the past couple days. Thomas is usually a day or two behind. We'll keep checking.

Think about this one. In the year 2005, Senators would not go on record issuing an apology for lynching. If there weren't so many gay bashers and advocates of using violence against judges on Capitol Hill, that might be a surprise.

But, they should have the gonads to publicize their positions instead of hiding behind a voice vote. And the press shouldn't let them off the hook on this one. Read the rest of this post...

Mwaaaaaaa... Mommy, the civil rights group called me a bad name!

Actually, they called the religious right a bad name. That name would be "extremist" and "hate group," and they compared them to the Ku Klux Klan. Ooh, hate when that happens.

From the Family Research Council, one of the lead religious right hate groups, run by a man, Tony Perkins, who gave former Klansman David Duke over $80,000 in the mid 90s. Gotta love that. No hate there. Nothing to see. Please move right along.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization historically devoted to fighting racial discrimination, has decided to brand the entire pro-family movement as "hate groups" and "extremists," like the Ku Klux Klan. Yet it seems odd to apply the label "extremist" to a majority of Americans, since their lengthy article (titled "Holy War") admits that in 2003 "opposition to gay marriage had climbed from 53 to 59%" and that a "majority of Americans, 55%, now characterized gay sex as a sin." Be assured that the Family Research Council will continue to stand, with a majority of Americans, where we have always stood--against violence toward homosexuals, but also against celebrating a behavior that is harmful to those who engage in it and to society as a whole.

Ah, another day, another violation of the 6th (or 7th, depending on your religion) Commandment by the FRC. You see, the Southern Povery Law Center isn't chastizing the religious right for being against gay marriage. They're chastizing the religious right for acting like a bunch of Nazis in the way they attack gays and try to demonize them out of existence. Of course, that kind of nuance is lost on the holy-rolling knuckledraggers of the radical right.

Anyway, it's true - one of the lead voices of the civil rights movement, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has for the first time branded some religious right groups "hate groups." This is a monumental occasion, I'm really serious. And it's obviously freaking the religious right out that more and more mainstream civil rights advocates are correctly putting them in the same category as the Klan and Aryan Nations.

SPLC has a new report on anti-gay hate here, the one the FRC is so upset about. There's a lot in the report. I'll be going through it over the next few days and reporting back. I've already glanced through it, there are some JUICY things in that report that are quite embarrassing to the religious right. Read the rest of this post...

Memories of lynchings, etc

Atrios has a copy of an old racist ballot from the south. Geez.

Isn't it nice that AP totally ignored the fact of the controversy that over 12 Senators are refusing to support this thing and THAT'S why the apparently just passed it tonight by a voice vote (i.e., there's no recorded actual vote, so you can't see who opposed it). Congrats to AP. And congrats to the Senate for taking the memory of lynching, and, well, tainting it again with bigotry. Woo woo! And we thought the gays had it bad. These bastards can't even agree to get their act together about lynching. Read the rest of this post...

Friends of the Federal Marriage Amendment

An email I just received:

Hello, I am 16- a sophmore in highschool. I am just writing on how I think your plan on protecting marriage between a man and a woman in ingenious! If this amendment is passed, it won't be to long till we can move even farther then we are now to rid of this disease of homosexuality. Banning same sex marriage is just the start, you'll can work on requiring all homosexuals to be instituted into a facility to be cured from this disease and even more- just exterminate them or ship them all away off our beautiful land. My family and I are all for the anti-gay movement and are here to tell you that we fully support your movement, although it may take time, but none the less, gays and lesbians will pay the toll for their sinning and plague they are spreading across our land and will burn in hell as they all should.

Read the rest of this post...

Over a dozen US Senators refuse to sign on to anti-lynching resolution

UPDATE: They passed it by voice vote, to hide the bigots. And AP totally missed the real story.

I just heard this on ABC News. They're apparently holding the vote late tonight so they won't have to have a real roll-call vote (i.e., individual Senators won't have to vote up or down). The reason? So they can hide the 12 or so Senators who apparently think it's bad politics back home to sign onto a resolution that apologizes for not passing anti-lynching legislation sooner. Apparently, southern Senators fillibustered efforts to pass such legislation for years.

I don't care if they're Democrats or Republicans, I want to know who isn't supporting this legislation. We have a right to know, and to know why anybody in either party would permit the basically-secret vote to take place this evening in order to his who these bigots really are. Read the rest of this post...

Interesting email from an Ethiopian reader

An email I just received:

I am writing this after seeing what happened to the Ethiopian opposition and protestors on TV, that AID IS NOT THE ONLY ANSWER TO AFRICA.

As majority of Ethiopians, I hoped the recent elections there would bring a viable mature opposition who can work as partners with the ruling party. But that was a delusion like most countries in Africa where so called leaders and ruling parties think every opposition is bad and unnecessary.

I feel depressed when people like Museveni, Meles Zenawi or leaders who holds power for more than 10-15 years as emerging stars of democracy. I think aloud what make them different form Mugabe, Sani Abacha, Mubarak, Idi Amin Dada or Mobutu? Of course there was no difference; all of them were clinging to power forever.

So I wondered if Mr. Tony Blair or Mr. George Bush demanded the following that there may be future for Africa

1. No leader in Africa should be in office or power for more than 8 years or so.
Surely out of 800 million or so people one can get as many as needed leaders or 'emerging stars of democracy'.

2. Demanding African leaders on their state visits to Europe or America to bring along several opposition leaders.

3. Ensuring the safety of journalists who are 'bad' or 'good'.

4. Demanding that parties rid of ethnic politics.

5. demanding that african countries shouldn't have more than 50,000 soldiers and police.

Unless these things are demanded by western countries, we Africans will continue like before watch hated leaders who repress their population for more than 15 years being hailed as 'emerging stars of democracy'.

And like before we'll just watch governments and their leaders who are feared like God or Satan pocketing any aid or loan in the name of poor, hungry, sick and homeless people.

I was dreaming of my Ethiopia with several opposing parties who could sit and debate the country's woes. But I guess I was dreaming ahead of time and I am sure that every single penny in AID to Ethiopia will make a differece for our leaders, not for us.

Read the rest of this post...

Michael Jackson found not guilty

Not that I really care, but ugh. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

So have YOU talked to any porn stars today? :-) Read the rest of this post...

American Family Association promotes known "hate group"

I'm a bit surprised that even someone as hateful as the American Family Association would tie their name to a known hate group like the Family Research Institute. As you may know, the Southern Poverty Law Center, that monitors groups like the Klan and white supremacists like Aryan Nations, recently add the Family Research Institute to its list of like-minded hate groups.

So the big message for President Bush and Karl Rove is, why do they associate with people who are pushing hate groups on America?

In any case, do check out the links above. The AFA is now trying to say that gays die 20 years younger than straights. And how do they know? Because the hate group did a study of current gay obituaries in gay papers and the average age of death was 50 or something. Uh huh. And that proves, what? That the average obituary age of death is 50. Yeah, so? And now they're trying to claim that the CDC did a similar study. I highly doubt it. They probably did a study of the average age of death of people with AIDS who die, or something similar. But I seriously doubt there's a study of the average age of death of gay people, as there is no accurate sample of how many gay people there are. And I know that one from the experts.

But hey, when you're a hate group equated with the Klan and Aryan Nations, logic isn't exactly a pre-requisite.

Wonder if the black community is aware that AFA promotes known hate groups? Read the rest of this post...

Porn star Mary Carey holding press conference to show off her dress for dinner with President Bush

UPDATE: You can read about what happened at the press conference, and see video of it, here and here and here and here.

Love this woman's publicist. I am so going.

Media Alert

Porn Star Mary Carey to Reveal
What She’ll Wear to President Bush’s Dinner!

Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Coyote Ugly Saloon
717 6th St. NW (at G Pl. NW)

Event: Mary Carey Pre-Presidential Dinner Fashion Show/Press Conference

Who: Porn star and former California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey will be joining her boss, Kick Ass Pictures president Mark Kulkis, in attending a dinner with President Bush on Tuesday evening, June 14. Kulkis was invited to attend the event by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is organizing the event. Kulkis serves as an Honorary Chairman on the NRCC’s Business Advisory Council. His company produces hardcore adult videos with a guarantee of “No Fake Boobs & No Condoms.”

What: This press conference will cover several topics.

* First and foremost, Carey will put on a mini-fashion show on Coyote Ugly’s bar, displaying the outfit she will be wearing to the President’s Dinner later that evening.

* Kulkis & Carey will reveal what happened at their luncheon with Karl Rove a few hours earlier.

* Kulkis & Carey will discuss how the president of a porn company and his contract superstar were invited to attend a Republican fundraiser, and why they accepted. (Kulkis has said: “Republicans bill themselves as the pro-business party. Well, you won’t find a group of people more pro-business than pornographers. We contributed over $10 billion to the national economy last year.”)

* Carey is expected to officially announce her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of California in 2006.

Contact: Jef Hickey
Office: (323) 981-1700 x16
Cell: (323) 377-5565

Read the rest of this post...

Bush: Don't Waste Our Money By Refusing To Do More In Africa

Bush was pulled kicking and screaming into Blair's plan to provide debt relief for Africa. But as others have pointed out, the $40 billion package amounts to about $1.5 billion less a year in money these countries will pay. That, of course, is a pittance. Blair's goal is $50 billion more a year in aid PLUS serious free trade reform (remember when Republicans liked free trade?) that will allows African farmers to compete on the world market by lowering the trade barriers the US and other countries have in place.

The LA Times makes this very point in its lead editorial.

U.S. foreign aid in general has been pathetically small for decades. When Bush took office, it amounted to just a tenth of a percent of national income. So when Bush touts his record — a tripling of aid to Africa, a $15-billion commitment to fight HIV/AIDS, etc. — it has to be put in perspective: It's better than nothing, but it's still kind of measly....

Nobody is calling for a blank check. The Bush administration and others are rightly trying to tie aid to economic reform and good governance, but some of the unmet needs in sub-Saharan Africa — vaccines, mosquito nets, schoolhouses — are so basic that they transcend politics. It also doesn't help these nations that the U.S. and other rich countries don't engage in fair trade for farm goods, and the G-8 needs to recommit itself to ending those subsidies that victimize the developing world.

At best, we've taken a tentative first step in putting Africa on its own two feet, but Bush will be throwing that money in a hole if he doesn't take advantage of this opportunityThink of Africa as a critically ill patient. If you want to cure them, you need to insert a feeding tube, defeat the disease and then focus on rehab. All we've done so far is insert the feeding tube. And that isn't enough. Read the rest of this post...

Support for war in Iraq crashing

For years I the GOP loved to make fun of Democrats, telling anyone who would listen that the Democrats lost touch with the people. With this latest poll out showing that Americans are fed up with the mess that Bush created, when are we going to hear the Republicans accept that they screwed up and have made a mess of our foreign policy? Bush and the GOP are way outside of the American mainstream and it's time the Democrats quit whining about Dean and get a spine and go on the offensive against the GOP.

So who is not listening to the people out there, or does the GOP know better and the American public is just stupid? Read the rest of this post...

Christian Coalition leader wants gays to wear warning labels, cites research from known hate group

The only label I'm wearing is Hugo Boss. From 365gay.com

The leader of a conservative Christian lobby group says that gays should be required to wear warning labels.

"We put warning labels on cigarette packs because we know that smoking takes one to two years off the average life span, yet we 'celebrate' a lifestyle that we know spreads every kind of sexually transmitted disease and takes at least 20 years off the average life span according to the 2005 issue of the revered scientific journal Psychological Reports," said Rev. Bill Banuchi, executive director of the New York Christian Coalition.

The journal regularly publishes articles described by many mainstream psychologists as misleading and faulty. The homosexuality morbidity study was conducted by the conservative anti-gay Family Research Institute.

In fact, the "study" in question was done by Paul Cameron, the head of a hate group - literally, the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Cameron's group a "hate group" - Cameron was thrown out of the scientific profession twenty years ago for his hate research. But that doesn't stop the Christian Coalition from using hate literature and proposing Nazi solutions to brand gays. Read the rest of this post...

Now Republicans Say Guantanamo Bay Should Close

Senator Mel Martinez of Florida is the first top Republican to join the chorus of people who say Guantanamo Bay must be closed.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post makes an important point: closing Guantanamo Bay is a good symbolic step, but it will be meaningless unless the US also takes further steps.

The first step must be to impose legality and outside control on the most shameful part of the detention system -- which is not Guantanamo Bay but the secret network of detention facilities maintained by the CIA. The dozens (at least) of prisoners in this network, including the most important terrorist leaders, are being held without any legal process, outside review, family notification or monitoring by the International Red Cross. Moreover, the administration has declared that such prisoners may be subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment, such as mock executions and simulated drowning, even though the United States has ratified an international treaty prohibiting such practices. It also insists on the right to transport these prisoners to countries where torture is practiced, again in contravention of international law.

All of these prisoners should be held in facilities operated by the United States and visited by the Red Cross; the grounds for their detention should be subject to regular outside review. When possible, they should be charged and tried. As is the case for all other detainees in American custody, treatment that would violate the U.S. Constitution should be illegal.

In other words, treat prisoners the way we have ALWAYS treated them in the past, stay true to the values of America and a decent society and stop using the fight against terror as a reason to embrace the tactics of terror. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

What's the news today? Read the rest of this post...

Microsoft to join alliance of censorship in China

This is pretty sad to see Microsoft joining the other weak-kneed tech giants Yahoo! and Google who are going along with the Chinese government to censor "dangerous" searches such as "democracy", "freedom", "human rights", "demonstration" and others. If the government there wants to censor, let them do their own dirty work. They already have the resources to do it so why help them? Read the rest of this post...

National Academies standing up to US Taliban

I can't even believe that such debates are even debates but these are some strange times indeed. The US National Academies have launched new pages on their website to combat the growing (40 states and growing) battle between evolution and non-scientific religious beliefs. Read the rest of this post...

This is why we [heart] Howard Dean

From WLS Chicago:

"My view is FOX News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on FOX News," Dean said. That was in response to vice president Dick Cheney calling Howard Dean "over the top" on Fox News on Sunday.

Doh! I think Cheney's balls are aching right about now. Read the rest of this post...