Citizen of the World

Last night, I asked Matt, "How does one bring down someone like Sarah Palin? How do you take her out of running for president before she gets to the point to start her campaign?"

He said, "Doesn't she look tired?"

"Ah! The Doctor Who Solution!!" I replied. Then it clicked.

I went onto Facebook this morning and "Liked" her page so that I could comment on her posts and wall. I've peppered "Doesn't Sarah look tired?" on as many posts as I could. When I posted, "Glenn Beck is a Mormon! http://www.glennbeckmormon.com/" to her wall, within 5 minutes, the comment was removed. When I posted a link to the Project for the Old American Century, it was removed in 2 minutes. They're onto me!

Sarah actually pays a person to sit and watch the comments on her FB - and remove counter comments. It's fascinating how she spends her money - that people give her freely!! I just don't get why people just hand her $225 for a ticket to her beer bash with Glenn Beck in Alaska on Sep. 11. Just to have a meet-and-greet with her and him. It's disgusting. And they're both laughing all the way to the bank.




Quotes (lifted directly) from people who follow Sarah Palin on Facebook:
1: "sarah,i think you are great i read going roguh,was very supprized,you era quite a womanthis is a 71yr old that appreats you."
2: "So my dear, What..may I ask, is your oppinion on Medicianal Marijuwana?"
3: "Acorn is subsized by the govmnt to work the friends for Obama on Facebook like they registered dead people to vote."
4: "Hey I have made a group "Sarah Pailin for president," because you would be the best right now for the job. I feel you have all of your values right and you know what needs to be done with country. Also I feel everyone would love your decisions, and look you have how many fans of you on facebook only. All else i could say is you should consider running for president in the next election."

We've been boycotting Sonoma County, CA, for months by not buying wines from there (not easy to do!) because of the mistreatment of an elderly gay couple. The court case was finally settled on July 25th with pretty good results, but the entire outcome for the couple (who'd been together for 20+ years) was so sad. Not sure if our and others' boycott of Sonoma County products was helpful in the process, but we like to think it was. We are lifting our boycott of Sonoma County wines due to the fruitful outcome of the settlement. BTW, "the settlement also prohibits the public guardian's office from moving people against their will."

However, now Target is supporting opponents of the LGBT Community and specifically opponents of gay marriage, which, as everyone that knows me knows we support same-sex marriage (the terminology is unimportant, but the equal civil rights and federal & state benefits are important). We'll be boycotting Target now.

The substance of the issues that sprung up in Sonoma represent the need for same-sex marriages or civil unions (whatever they end up being called) across the country. A business that supports candidates that oppose same-sex marriage should not be financially supported by the LGBT community.

Out of the 308 million Americans estimated by the 2010 census bureau, there are roughly 5 million Americans (using 1.5% as based on earlier estimations) who acknowledge themselves as LGBT. If every one of the 5 million people spends $100 a month at Target, then we are supplying Target with $500 million per month to spend as they like. If, however, we decide to boycott any specific company, like Target, and remove that $500 million we spend with them in a month, we send them a distinct message that we don't like how they're using our money!

Just so companies realize, the US Gay Buying Power is estimated at between $732 and $734 billion for 2010. Wake up people! Money talks!

America is now, at the hands of Republican Supreme Court Justices, a fascist regime, which comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology. The new American Fascist government is (now, thanks to the Supreme Court) ... repressing criticism or opposition.

Corporations now have no limits to their spending on political adverts, campaigns, and candidates in general. Corporations are now considered individuals with the same spending rights as individuals for their selected political candidate. When Barney Frank (love/hate relationship with him, btw) mentioned what he - as the leader of the Finance Reform Committee - was going to do "when congress was back in session" was begin to select people to come up with a plan to construct a bill to present to the House. That all represents at least 9-24 months of work to get around this issue and put forth corporate law legislation!!

By that point, political constituents detrimental to the true, hard-working American way of life will be in office installing legislation that already combats that legislation because they all will be bought and paid for by other corporations - for instance, Citgo, Opec, Istithmar, or any number of Chinese corporations to choose their candidate. AND that candidate MIGHT FRONT AS REPUBLICAN, but be something worse than any kind of party member we've known yet. I mean, Scott Brown, an Independent, ran on the Republican ticket.

Who's to say that a true, deep-rooted fascist won't run on the Republican ticket for any public office? If they're backed by the right corporation with the right amount of money and the right amount of corporate media power, they'll be in power. Lickety split, no questions asked - because it's legal.

And the conservatives thought we, the Left Wing, were ushering in fascism. Welcome to "Bait And Switch", the Republican Way!!

I lived in socialist countries and studied - at great length - the rise and (bloody) fall of fascist regimes. A fascist in Austria, for instance, was ousted by the EU simply based on his ideology. NOW, we as Americans do not have that power! Our legal system has - for the moment - insured that we have no recourse.

My rant goes well beyond the possibility of seeing politically slanted and very conservative depictions of the politicians I love in office. I cherish the thought of seeing the "other side" of things to understand the depths of bad education in our country. I will still fight - as much as I can - against these decisions and help where I can (with a LOT more research and fact-digging) - to rectify this situation.

Right now, I do not trust our Legislative Branch in the least. I do not put my faith in "Justice Being Served" in our country because our Supreme Court Justices have certainly made us all unwisely take four steps back in our growth as a nation. We have almost now been propelled, against our will, as a nation, 60-100 years backwards.

Today, I am truly sad for my country.

Kevin Jennings is the ground breaker who founded GLSEN in 1990 and was appointed by Obama as the "Education Czar" in 2009. The Right Wing HATES this guy because he's not a Christian and he's battling (uphill in the snow both ways) to make sure that schools have anti-bullying standards. The Right Wing has launched a broadening smear campaign against Kevin Jennings. I think Jennings' work is commendable. He's gay, he's forward-thinking, he's against gay bashing, and he's scaring the crap out of Republicans. YAY!

My father forwarded me a note yesterday that contained references to Kevin Jennings and Mr. Jennings' efforts - spewing with overblown statements and misguided judgments. Part of me got perturbed about getting such an email - especially from my dad - but he's 85 and simply forwards sensationalistic things around, which he thinks will incite someone to do "something" - right or wrong. Whereas I don't believe 5/6ths of what the email says (and rightly so, because it is a lot of fear mongering - "The Sky Is Falling!"), the email got me to research and find out about Kevin Jennings, which is GREAT! He's an interesting guy.

As I looked him up online, I came across a myriad of ultra-conservative, Fox-News-loving websites that projected so much hatred toward the gay community because of "our agenda". "Our agenda" is equality. "Our agenda" pushes against all hatred and hopes for a world where little girls aren't ostracized because they like other little girls and boys aren't beaten up on the corner of the playground because they like other boys. "Our agenda" promotes understanding that we're not queer by choice; who would choose to be outcasts and hated?? People choose all the time to fight against who they really are, deep down inside (e.g. Larry Craig, Jim McGreevy, etc.) and live lives that destroy others' lives because they're not living honestly and following their souls' truth.

These uncovered sites include (be aware that there are a lot of lies and hatred on these sites; if you're not ready for it, don't read much on them. It's important to understand where the "other side of the issues" is coming from):
The American Thinker (headed up solely by men)
Liberty Action
Atlas Shrugs
Saving Common Sense (another unsubstantiated claim against Kevin Jennings)

Sadly, I even found a posting on an AARP site about the whole thing from this email already. When all the truth comes out about the reality behind the lies, I hope that these people have enough dignity and integrity to issue apologies. But, then again, the Right Wing never apologizes for hateful things they do or spreading biased lies and sensationalism.

Here's the email I received (sorry it's so long, but it's behind the cut for those who don't want to read it):

( Subject: Jennings calls for 'queering' elementary schools )

In order to be taken seriously by truly thinking folks, it would help the Right Wing's cause to find the reasons behind the things these folks do. Do an ounce of fact checking. People don't just get up out of bed and think, "Oh, I want to collect my friends ashes and spread them on the White House lawn today. I think they would have appreciated that!" Why did those folks do that? Because when no one listens to you speaking, your actions have to speak louder! "Actions speak louder than words" - so true!!!

Kevin Jennings (growing up in Winston-Salem, NC) must have been bullied in elementary school because he was "different" or "a fag", as I was. He must want other children not to have to face those kinds of ordeals and hope for safer schools for children, as I do. Schools where kids can attend classes without the fear of getting beaten up by kids whose parents foster homophobic fears. Homophobia, much like racism, is taught; it's not inborn. Kevin Jennings is combating that where others fear to do so.

This is an article that appears in Newsweek (as noted below). My partner and I picked up the magazine after I had read these informative and well-conceived perspectives on the "Gay Marriage" discussion. This article provides good, sound points for all who care to join in on the religious (Christian and possibly Jewish, mostly) perspectives on the discussion (Something went wrong with my original post, so I re-posted - sorry for the extra post).

Our Mutual Joy

Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.
By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK
Published Dec 6, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Dec 15, 2008
( Read article )

( Extra caveat )