Just a disclaimer:  I'm kind of sick while I write this, so if it's completely nonsensical I blame the fact that my head is swimming.

So, I recently came across this post by Sullivan and it really struck a note in me.  I am sick of the 'gay issue' getting shoved into the backgroud by Obama's administration.

The thing is that Obama ran on a platform of change.  Now, I can see that change is slow and it's hard to actually enact things in Washington.  However, I think that the really telling thing is that two of the greatest movements of this year, the push for gay rights and for the legalization of marijuana, have been completely ground up and given the cold shoulder by the administration.  Change, really?

One thing about Obama is that he inspires strong emotions.  I think that it's just a quality that he has.  Unfortunately, this is not the first time he's inspired actual rage and disappointment in me.  His silence on the issue tells me that he cares much more about his political capital with social conservatives than equal rights.  And why not?  As long as he plays the middle ground, he doesn't lose anything, although there is going to be a slow erosion as his aversion to meeting the issue head-on becomes more apparent.  Just like the invitation to Rick Warren to speak, he's sending a message that his standing among bigots is more important than justice.

I realize that I am rather partial on this issue, as I'd have to be.  As far as I'm concerned, DOMA is a blatant violation of our constitutional rights and I'd be in favor of an immediate supreme court ruling on this issue.  However, I see how strategically that would be a bad idea.  Seeing as how most Americans have no idea what the judicial branch is here for.  You know, ruling on laws that violate the constitution...  But, you know those liberal activist judges

Now, Don't Ask, Don't Tell...this is what really has me worried.  There is absolutely no excuse that this debacle hasn't been repealed yet.  It's wildly unpopular and based on premises that are blatantly false.  The only possible reason that it hasn't been approached yet is that Obama is afraid to open the big closet stuffed full of the gay issues that have been ignored by this country's leadership for so long.  However, every state that approves same-sex marriage adds more pressure, and there is a sea change in public opinion going on right now.  Eventually the issue will be unavoidable.  I only hope that Obama will start to become the advocate of gay rights that he pretended to be when he was campaigning.

All right, I'll get off my soap box now.  I hope the rant actually made some sense.  In any case, it's time to lay down and have another cup of tea.

PS I also just started watching the third season of Battlestar Galactica.  CRAZINESS!!!!  For example, did they just kill who I think they just killed?  And my only consolation for the fact that they made my favorite eye candy into a fatass is that they added new eye candy that's way cuter and less self-righteous.

UGH

I know it has no impact on his ability to give an invocation, but seriously, Rick Warren, REALLY?



Note that towards the beginning he stopped himself from saying "Christian" marriage in reference to all valid marriages. Let's face it, he is a bigot, and apparently, has absolutely no idea what Supreme Courts are for. Good to know that minority groups should all be subjected to oppression by the majority and that the Courts should have no ability to overturn unconstitutional laws. I think that it's a travesty that a secular right should be legislated by religious views.

Also 2% of the population is gay? Really? Maybe that's the portion brave enough to speak out on a survey, but I'm pretty sure that any reliable study shows that the proportion is quite a bit larger than that.

I'm so sick of the religious right's fear-mongering. I'm also getting sick of Christianity's overreaching impact on politics, but that's a whole other rant.

Intolerance sucks

Several people I know have linked to or commented about this video, so I thought that I'd jump on the bandwagon and share it here:

Keith Olbermann may be crazy, but he's my kind of crazy.

Anyway, I'm clearly upset about the passage of Proposition 8, as well as the existence of many other state laws and constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.  Not to mention the idiotic restrictions on adoption, when we have countless children needlessly floating around the foster care system.  As far as I'm concerned, the people that argue that a child needs a mother and a father are saying that single parents should have their children taken away from them.

I know that every generation has been progressively more tolerant, but I think that it's ridiculous that we should have to wait to enjoy such a basic human right.  Especially when it doesn't affect straight people IN ANY SINGLE WAY.  Grr.  This Saturday, I'm going to be joining the nationwide coordinated protest, and while I realize that this won't directly accomplish anything at all, hopefully it'll send a message about the widespread outrage that so many people feel about this issue.

Is McCain bipolar?

Well, in true style, McCain has apparently flipped his positions AGAIN.  After his horribly failed attempts at a smear campaign, all of a sudden he's playing Mr. Nice Guy.  Seriously, who is running his campaign?  He's floundering like a fish on the deck of a boat, and it's getting to be a bit sad to watch.

The funny thing is, I think that it was his base that totally ruined it for him.  There might have been some merit to his smear-campaign strategy, but if you'll notice, it turned his audiences into raging mobs.  He aimed at seeding doubts in the minds of moderates, but ended up just inflaming the negative sentiments of the right.  I think that he underestimated the nastiness that people are capable of, and I think that if he'd continued along the path he started, he'd end up appearing angry, hateful, and possibly even racist.

I am SO ready for this election to be over.

McCain vs. the media

I am finally feeling at least a little bit comfortable in saying that I think that Barack Obama is going to win the presidential election. It's not because the polls have been leaning towards Obama lately, polls are generally inaccurate and can change quickly. It's not even because McCain is getting blasted over his economic policies, although that helps quite a bit.

It's because John McCain doesn't get one simple fact: the Media (yes, it has now become a proper noun) holds a hell of a lot of power. First of all, his campaign cried 'sexist' when people tried to take a close look at Palin's life. That doesn't quite work when your entire base (who probably are sexist) ridiculed Hillary for saying the same things, with a great deal more cause for it.
Secondly, he has everybody seething about the fact that nobody can speak to Sarah Palin. And to be honest, that may be the smartest move for him. Her big interview before was a DISASTER. And besides, he doesn't want anybody to actually know her. She's a crazy book-banning creationist who thinks that the Iraq war is a mission from God. But you can't hide away your VP candidate, especially when they're a complete unknown like Palin.
Then came the big one: when pressed on the matter, he struck back, bitching about the liberal media and calling the NY Times an Obama advocacy group. He's actually created antagonism where there really wasn't much. I do realize that a lot of the media really is pretty liberal, but they at least usually try to stay unbiased.

Well guess what, they're done trying. And I'm convinced that this is what's going to eventually sink McCain, if his economic policies don't do so first.

I can't take this anymore

Holy crap, how is McCain doing decently in the polls? People actually LIKE Sarah Palin?!?!

The woman doesn't know what the Bush doctrine is. When asked about Bush's foreign policy, she floundered for a bit then spouted gibberish about Islamic extremism. And this is after her supposed crash-course on foreign policy. I'm not even going to get into her religion-inspired policies, which border on violating the separation between Church and State. I'm really hoping that she gets destroyed in the VP debates, or at least shows the public how crazy and ignorant she is.

The fact that she could end up in the White House scares the shit out of me. Besides the fact that I suspect that she would paint it pink

The more attention I pay to this election, the more terrified I get at the potential results, and the less respect I have for the American public, who have a tendency to take way too much at face value. Now I'm gonna get off my high horse and retreat to my studying and video games so I don't have to worry about this crap anymore.