this is what hypocrisy looks like
You know, I am sick and fucking tired of these so called leaders of the gay community whining about the passage of Prop 8 in Califorrnia. It’s not bad enough that they want to try to scapegoat other groups like the mormons for their own self-destructive support for a homophobic dirtbag, but they have already begun to turn on those in their own community when they justifiably ask the African American community to explain their complicity in this travesty.
The backlash is upon us, and it’s going to get uglier unless our organizations step forward and say something. The desire to scapegoat blacks for Prop 8’s defeat has exposed the now not-so-latent racism in our movement.I have already blogged a lot about why the lack of effective communication (and I’m not even talking about outreach on gay issues to socially conservative blacks) between white people in general and people of color. That dearth of understanding and mutual respect for difference, and lack of desire to seek common ground through personal relationships ultimately leads to what we are seeing here.
No, what leads to what we are seing here is homophobia, plain and simple. And I’m not prepared to give any group a pass on that, no matter what their race, color, religion, etc. To do otherwise would be discriminatory. Pam believes that we should blame ourselves for not being nice enough to conservative blacks. Well what about her lack of outreach to the mormon community? Shouldn’t we avoid scapegoating them because, you know, the gay community hasn’t tried to reach out to them either. This type of double standard is insulting and indicative of the internalized homophobia in people like Spaulding. This did not happen because of racism in the gay community. African Americans who claim that this is due to lack of outreach from gays are rationalizing their own homophobia. It is also a typical crutch that we’ve seen over and over of crying racist whenever anyone asks certain members of the AA community to take responsibility for their actions. In this case the stripping of basic civil rights from gay people. Pam even has the nerve to link to a DK diary that tries to say that we should ignore “the math” that AA’s in California voted 3 to 1 for the measure. According to them, the exit polls lie, and over represent black voters. These are the same people that used exit polls to paint whole states like West Virginia and Kentucky as racist hillbillies.
But Pam isn’t content at scapegoating her own (gay) community for this situation. See, she has no probem casting blame, just as long as it is not aimed at black people.
Hypocrisy much? The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints is unhappy about the fact that the media spotlight is trained on its participation in making Prop 8 happen…
The people protesting the church’s significant role in an another state’s democratic process — members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave millions of dollars to remove the civil rights of human beings — are merely exercising their right to free speech to highlight that role.
Hypocrisy much indeed. So let’s break this down. If a religious community supported this bill it is OK to heap on them blame and white hot hate. If the black community does the same, we should blame ourselves for not reaching out to them. Oh, and I guess for Pam money is more important in a democratic election than votes. Guess she typifies what happens when you support a man who made his way to the top by buying people off, and accusing his opponents of racism. What a load of hot steaming…..
But of course Pam was also one of the people who wanted to throw the transgender community under the bus when it came to passing ENDA. Although she said she supported the inclusion, she argued that both sides of the issue (inclusion of T’s or not) should have a voice in the debate. I’m sure her desire to keep her blogging gig at AmericaBlog had nothing to do with her muted support…Bigots like her see equality as a heirarchy. Apparently African Americans are at the top, gays somewhere in the middle, and religious groups down in the mud. Pam, you’re never going to get any rights until you recognize that everyone’s rights are equal, and they are equally sacred. You are a shameful disgrace to not only the gay rights movement, but to civil rights in general.
***UPDATE*** I found this video on youtube which I think is a good first look at homophobia in the black community.
This was one of the first comments left for that video:
Black homosexuals are race traitors. Homosexuality is a European thing, and If you are gay in Africa, your faggot ass is going to jail. The white Media is manipulating blacks into homosexuality as a form of population control. They destroy the black family and confuse little children. Fuck homosexuality. I might not vote for Obama because he is a faggot lover. And dont EVER align homosexuality with Black struggle.
That sounds a lot like Obama’s pastor to me.
And finally, until Pam can find something as offensive as this about African Americans by the gay community, she can STFU.
Oh, and despite how hard I tried, I couldn’t find any mormons singing about murdering gays, just sayin’….
November 9, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Pam wants so much to be part of the “in crowd” that she overlooks the simple fact that when she backed Obama she was selling herself to someone who had never once demonstrated that his idea of “unity” did not include the gay community. He never once went out of his way to ensure that at anytime he supported gay rights but wig wagged his finger at the hip hoppers whose pants hung below their waists as an example of his ability as a “transformer”.
The gay community will take awhile to connect the dots overall since they have yet to take off the blinders and point their finger in the right direction. Their new leader Obama. But in all honesty, he never did give them reason to believe otherwise. Ferreting out those who aided and abetted his agenda in a craven attempt to court votes was apparent to us. Now the wait is on for them to catch up.
November 9, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I was blissfully unaware of the homophobia in the AA religious community before this wonderful election season. Yet another unpleasant eye-opening experience.
It seems like a very human thing to do, that once you feel like a second-class citizen, you try to become a first-class citizen by making others feel as bad as you do. This year it was the AA community that decided everyone else could be stepped on in order for them to advance.
When you hold on to your victimhood at all costs, you will never overcome. Should Obama’s presidency be a failure, you can bet the poor, disenfranchised AA community will be blaming r*cism.
November 9, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Oh, puh-leeze! White hets have no idea, zero, zip, nada, of the anti-gay sentiment in the black community. Lots of Dems were willing to throw gays under the bus for the sake of Obama. (I mean, at least Obama’s not a Republican, right?)
Then I see that some gays are willing to throw the transgendered community under the bus because it’s cool to support Obama, and the transgendered can just wait a while longer.
Now there are gays blaming others for Prop 8 passing, as if the Morons single handedly passed it themselves and AA’s had nothing to do with it.
I mean what the F@ck?
Are we now seeing a schism in the LGBT community?
I guess you have to live and work with AA’s to understand that they are just as prejudiced as any other group. Gays are prejudiced too. I’ve been called a heifer and a breeder etc. by gay people. But let’s at least quit lying about the purity of any one “group.”
Obama has a lot of bigoted supporters, and the young people who naively voted for him do not understand the depth of anti-gay sentiment in the AA community because they only hang around with people their own age. My nieces smugly tell me that race and sexual orientation are not important to their generation. Like all young people, they ignore the larger world around them.
November 9, 2008 at 12:32 pm
hey guys! This has been more than I can take. first the passage of prop 8, and now the whole obamanation, including the gay community, has the chutzpah to say that it is our own fault. not for supporting obama, but because we are racists. The most repugnant part is that even that were true, it still wouldn’t justify the bigoted action of so many in the AA community. payback is not an excuse to to the wrong thing. but that is the new obama code. the end always justifies the means. The gays deserved to be punished. this is scapegoating pure and simple, and people like pam should be ashamed fo themseles for trying to guilt trip gay people into apologizing for bigotry against themselves
November 9, 2008 at 12:34 pm
One of the comments in that article you linked to showed “the math” to prove that it nothing to do with the AA vote.
The argument is just plain wrong–wrong premise, bad math.
Simple subtraction tells me the measure passed by 510,591 votes.
Some other commenter pointed out that conservatives, religious and the elderly also voted for it and asked why we aren’t blaming them? Speaking only for myself, it’s because I expect conservatives and religious to vote that way. I did not expect Democrats to vote that way.
November 9, 2008 at 12:37 pm
arabella, you are right. there is bigotry in the gay community. And if we as a group were responsible for enshrining that bigotry in a state constitution I would be the first to cry foul. In fact I was outraged that groups like HRC would ignore the rampant misogyny of Obama and endorse him. And although the gay community and women have been close allies, many gay men are just as misogynistic as any straight man. I used to cringe when Charles Lemos would feign disgust at women’s bodies on the confluence. I regret never calling him out for that, but oh well. You will find plenty of examples of gay leaders, bloggers and media decrying that kind of behavior. I have yet to see anyone from the gay or black community address this issue other than to blame it on racism in the gay community, and I think that’s a load of bullshit.
November 9, 2008 at 12:38 pm
gary – You stand strong! I love you man, and I can’t imagine what you’re going through. Keep speaking out.
Let me know what I can do to help.
One million hugs,
Love,
Arabella
November 9, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Well when these dolts followed Obama over the cliff they didn’t stop to realize he had stepped aside to let them over the edge while him and his minions just watched.
November 9, 2008 at 12:41 pm
BTW Gary — how are the meds working out. Are you getting used to them yet?
November 9, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I’ve been well aware of the bigotry in African American churches for years now. How? I was an AIDS educator. We tried and begged those churches to allow us to outreach to their communities through the churches but have been rebuffed many times because “teaching safe sex was condoning the gay lifestyle”. It has only been recently that we have made any inroads through the education of the African Ameican community as they have been ravaged by AIDS. It took alot of hetrosexual contagion before we were allowed in at all. Pam and her ilk, Towleroad for instance has their head up their asses as they look for scapegoats to expalin the passage of these discriminatory amendments. Lets look also at Florida where 70% of the AA vote went for passage of Amendment 2 which not only bans gay marriage but also civil unions. I didn’t see too many Mormons down here working for its passage but I heard quite a few surprising remarks standing in line for 3 hours while waiting to vote. They mostly consisted of pastors telling theoir flocks to get out and vote for Obama and Amendment 2. Plus, how can they overlook statements made by Obama and Biden that gay marriage was wrong wrong wrong!!!!! Instead of marching against mormons, why don’t they approach the President Elect for help and support. Oh, I forgot, he doesn’t beleive in gay marriage either.
November 9, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Gary — that math should also include the Hispanics that voted for Obama. They also voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8 and others like it.
November 9, 2008 at 12:43 pm
sophie, and if all of those voters had stayed home, obama still would have carried california by a wide margin. He risked nothing by campaigning against it. The only explanation is that Obama himself is a hateful homophobe…like I needed further proof. People like Pam are so invested in pinning all their hopes for equality on this empty suit that they will never see the truth. Mark my words, Obama will do nothing about DOMA, ENDA, or DADT. He used us and they still want to come back fo rmore. the problem is that they know that if they admit that the democrats don’t care about us at all, we don’t have anywhere to go. Well I’d rather take my chances on my own.
November 9, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Gary – Yeah, charles lemos really tried my patience.
I have it easier than some because I’m middle-aged, white and married. So I’m invisible, but acceptable to most people. After a certain age, you lose your sexual identity and men stop ogling you. I love being a crabby old woman.
I can hide in plain sight, so to speak.
I’ve been our of work since August, and the process of finding a new job has been bery painful because of age discrimination. I have an interview tomorrow and I’m psyching myself up for it. The thing about age is that it will get us all eventually. So I guess everyone will suffer from that form of discrimination sooner or later.
In the meantime, I am who I am!
November 9, 2008 at 12:48 pm
SOD, I agree with your point, any minority who voted for Prop 8 should be held accountable. My point is that there is a very concerted effort–within the gay community no less–to deflect any criticism of the AA community, astonishingly, back onto the gay community itself. That is unacceptable. As for the meds, I’m still dealing with the headaches….
November 9, 2008 at 12:50 pm
This is the type of thinking that made many of us run for the hills when we were admonished for not taking “joy” in the election. The same constituency that stood around with “tears streaming from their eyes” at this “historical event” was the same group who overwhelmingly denied the rights of others in their quest to elect a black president.
The incredulity that this brought forth will never overcome the ignorance of proclaiming this win as historical. It was brought about by nothing more than identity politics which in my mind is not enough to take pride in electing the most unelectable candidate to survive scrutiny. Had those white voters paid more attention and were not so determined to look upon this race as a referendum of white guilt, then the issues may have taken precedence. Instead we are saddled with the most divisive and ill informed man to set foot on the national stage.
Will things “change” as a result? No. We are still the same stupid, ill informed, celebrity driven assholes we have always been. For me, I see this as an open season on gays and gay rights. I just “hope” that no one gets physically hurt in the interim.
November 9, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Arabella…good luck tomorrow! sadly, age discrimination was on full display by Obama supporters this year too. The level of selfishness and bigotry in this country is sometimes overwhelming.
November 9, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Good morning gary – I came here last night and early this am to see if you had noticed Pam’s tortured logic.
I just got off the phone with an old friend from Oklahoma (we met 354 years ago when founding the first gay/lesbian political organization in OK) and he is wound up and pissed off. I am not sure where he reads/blogs but he is furious that the conversation does not include any pointing at Obama or Obama’s campaign for the passing of Prop 8. Obama (AAs) are getting a skate while the GLBT community seems to blame only Catholics (Latinos) and Mormons (2% of the CA pop.).
I will send him a link to your blog. Thanks for all you do. I appreciate and support your anger.
November 9, 2008 at 12:57 pm
The level of “free pass” handouts for this creep has left me speechless even now. The locus of control has been set so far from Obama’s reach by these morons that they will be grasping at any and every scapegoat they can get their hands on to placate the guilt that will replace their white guilt as Obama continues to disappoint with impunity.
November 9, 2008 at 12:58 pm
..oh, and the rest will just rely on the old standard attack known as the race-card.
November 9, 2008 at 12:59 pm
You said it, Pat! How could anyone suggest a joyful reaction to the election of an unqualified sexist, anti-gay candidate?
Glenmc – Yes! How many men in the AA community living on the down low did not have access to safe sex education? It was not until the spread of HIV to the heterosexual community that the AA community was forced to take notice.
Yet Rev. Wright would have us believe that AIDS is a plot by whitie to kill off the AA community. That attitude, combined with the refusal of the community leaders and churches continues to allow the spread of AIDS.
November 9, 2008 at 12:59 pm
We have all been called many things this election season. We have all been the butt of many accusations.
But there is only one person to date that I know of that has been called and accused of being “Creepy”! Obama, Obama, Obama …………
And, that’s from the media that was sooooooooooo in love with him!
CAROL HAKA
November 9, 2008 at 1:07 pm
As long as I have my books and my pals in the blogosphere, I will not lack for consolation. And dare I even say, entertainment?
I am thankful for the blessings of the written word, and for good company.
I am not above mocking Michelle Obama’s wardobe, so there’s always that.
November 9, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I have canceled papers and mags, turned off the the news, and am seriously considering shutting down the blogs in order to clear my mind and cleanse my senses. Too much time has been spent trying to make sense of this whole mess. Perhaps going into seclusion for awhile may help to some extent but my blood boils nonetheless.
He has yet to assume the oath and we are already looking at 2012 starting as of now. After almost 2 years of non stop coverage I have had more than my fill. It would have been so much easier had they announced last year that this was to be our puppet president, get used to it, save your time and money, do not get excited, and stop reading the tealeaves, most of us would have at least found peace in that we would have fully embraced that there was not a goddamn thing we could do about it.
Instead, we continued to hold out hope, looking for a miracle or at least a modicum of commonsense. We inflated our sense of fair play where none existed and the result did not change.
Pretending that we have sway in “holding his feet to the fire” is a pipedream. Won’t happen. This administration is bent on doing things their way and whether it is good for us or good for the country plays no role. It is all about them.
It is going to take a massive “revolution” or a precipitous happening before this country is set once again on the right track. I am tired of pretending any longer. We have all been let down so repeatedly that it is no longer good for one’s outlook to protest. In the end, it is what it is. God awful!
November 9, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I just updated the post with some videos I found on you tube. the second one is called “I kill faggots” it is a disturbing example of homophobia that is tolerated. I dare say that you tube wouldn’t let a video stay up for nearly a year if the same hate was directe towards other groups. The video is disturbing, but this kind of hate must be exposed.
November 9, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Pat, I find it helpful to withdraw into seclusion from time to time. I never give up hope, though.
I’m a clinically depressed pessimist, but I chose to be contrarian about it.
For me, optimism is the only choice, even in the face of contradictory evidence. I live to fight one day more.
November 9, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Pat said:
I feel that way myself. I don’t feel like we have much, if any, power. The MSM is huge, well-funded, connected, and completely untrustworthy.
On the other hand, smarter people than me have said that one always has power. So, the trick would be to find out where that power lays (lies?) and to use it to the best of our ability.
November 9, 2008 at 1:42 pm
“This is the type of thinking that made many of us run for the hills when we were admonished for not taking “joy” in the election. The same constituency that stood around with “tears streaming from their eyes” at this “historical event” was the same group who overwhelmingly denied the rights of others in their quest to elect a black president.”
My favorite line, repeated over and over in “man [and woman] in the street” interviews was exaltation that “Now ANY child can grow up to be President of the United States!”..as long as the child has a penis.
Few things have angered me more in this election than the claim “Well the ONLY reason you are not voting for Obama is you are racist!” as if I’d have been thrilled to vote for a first-term white senator with virtually no background and basically just his own two autobiographies to rely on as his “history.”had that been my choice against McCain.
November 9, 2008 at 1:44 pm
bb has declared that Hillary will not chair a subcommitte on Health Care. Teddy will let all of the credit go to BO.
To Senator Clinton:
Congratulations Hillary on bringing it to all of us!
You and Bill did your best to elect this “Creepy” narcissistic megalomaniac under threats of destroying your career and your place in history. Well, I predict it will be written in stone when he “fucks” us all. Leader is not just a word but implies positive action – you took a pass!
Why, someone explain to me why?
CAROL HAKA
November 9, 2008 at 1:49 pm
“Arabella…good luck tomorrow! sadly, age discrimination was on full display by Obama supporters this year too.”
Oh yeah, the whole Obot claim of “What would YOU know, you’re OLD ha ha ha!” Well…we’ve seen how this sort of thing plays out maybe? I asked one friend why she was for Obama and her answer was “He’s got the youth excited!” About what? Well, all tha hopey-changey stuff ya know.
I’m not at all sure having more “youth” voters is helpful if they are just into their candidate as the kewl flavor of the month. I’m sure some younger voters did due diligence, and some may have decided that “kewl” wasn’t enough but, for those who just went with the herd because he was the latest hot item..sorry, who needs more voters like that?
Same with many of the “new” black voters, I live in a state with a large AA population, and watched again and again as the local news talked with AAs in their 50s, 60s, 70s, who had never voted before, and I had the same thought: more people voting for the wrong reasons.
November 9, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Carol,
I’m looking for the answer to that question, too.
November 9, 2008 at 1:54 pm
“I am not above mocking Michelle Obama’s wardobe, so there’s always that.”
(Okay..I”m whispering here since it’s OT but w I made the mistake of looking up for a moment the other day and..what WAS that thing with the giant red blobs she was wearing that night anyway? if she’s trying to channel Jackie O, she sure missed m by a mile on that get up? Doesn’t HER mother ever say “You’re not going out of the HOUSE dressed like that are you?” as mine always did? )
November 9, 2008 at 1:58 pm
One of our best friends grew up on the Gulf Coast and eventually worked as a pediatrician at Harlem Hospital in NYC. He is white, his (now former) SO is a black man, an actor/dancer who grew up in New Orleans. In the mid-1980s, they left NOLA for NYC to begin a life together. Both of them came back to visit NOLA fairly often, but almost always separately. Our white friend always stayed with us, while his partner stayed with family across town. Only once did the black partner stay with us, too, and that was because his family wasn’t aware he was in the city. In the late 1990s, our white friend was offered a terrific job as director of a large department at Tulane U Med Center. He wanted to take the job, but didn’t. His partner refused to move back to NOLA. The latter had told me on more than one occasion that he would never return to NOLA because it was so racially prejudiced (never mind that it had become 70 percent black). However, I had long ago surmised that the real reason he would never return was the black community’s extreme homophobia. I’d almost guarantee that the black partner’s family had never been told about the longstanding gay partnership with our friend. All those years, the black partner had been living a lie. He probably still is.
So yah, I’ve known about homophobia in the black community for a very long time. Prop 8 isn’t exactly a surprise.
November 9, 2008 at 2:02 pm
“I just updated the post with some videos I found on you tube. the second one is called “I kill faggots” it is a disturbing example of homophobia that is tolerated. I dare say that you tube wouldn’t let a video stay up for nearly a year if the same hate was directe towards other groups. The video is disturbing, but this kind of hate must be exposed.”
I have never understood why hatred of gays was not just tolerated, but in so many areas promoted, while AAs have a special need for protection” that results in idiocy like “The n-word” circumlocution, though I blame that on good old Judge Ito. I’ve never, ever, an any court, seen a witness (or lawyer) allowed to use a circumlocution like that.
Since I”m not sure what limits Gary might have on hateful words, I’ll just say that it seems any slur towards gays is allowed, as are “jokes” that are All in fun, where is your sense of humor anyway?” and Obama supporters can bop around in t-shirts that call Pailin a cunt, no biggy….but somehow, “the n0-word” will make us all dissolve into a puddle of piss or some such if its’ spoken or written out, THAT one word gets some strangely exalted but forbidden status.
I say that they are all ugly and hateful terms, but either all should be “allowed”..and I”m for allowing them, its’ free speech, and i like to know who people do hate…or none.
It’s hard to see where much of Obama’s success has not been based on people’s fear of benign considered racist though…I mean come on, had anyone hung BO in effigy from their roof, the media would STILL be screaming about lynchings, but Palin…somehow, that was just a “boy swill be boys” Halloween prank.
I just despise double standards.
November 9, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Rima, they had (had anyone hung BO in effigy) and they did (the media would STILL be screaming):
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/racial_incident_rattles_george.html
A site I generally disagree with exposes the hypocrisy here:
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/30/obama-hung-in-effigy-liberals-freak-out/
November 9, 2008 at 2:17 pm
What is saddest about all of this goes to the singular premise that Obama is a transformational leader. He isn’t. Transformational leadership is the newest vogue in leadership theory and one that has a high q value. A transformational leader, contrary to common definitional phrases, is a leader who has a vision and espouses values of a greater human calling. Through their leadership they lead by painting a vivid picture of what that world would look like, they stand out front on issues and are counted as symbolizing all that is right and good.
Often the biggest traps of transformational leadership are that passion and confidence can easily be mistaken for truth and reality. I would submit what Obama and his handlers have done is sell charismatic leadership (another leadership construct) as one of transformational leadership. Charismatic leadership is built around nothing more than an individual and is as temporal as that leader’s ethos is.
Without so much as a whimper of looking at these claims through the MSM’s complicity, the country has been sold a set of ginsu knives. A belief of Obama’s transformational leadership isn’t true at best and tragically cataclysmic at worst. Where is the vision? Where are the values? What is the truth? What will the reality be?
Regrettably, Prop. 8 and the Rahminator give us the first guideposts at what the near future will resemble. The recrimination, lack of vision and absence of values exemplified by Obama is what we have ahead of us on a myriad of issues. Expecting them to flow from Obama is a movie scored with Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence.”
November 9, 2008 at 3:00 pm
This is what all the “second guessing” did for us. We assumed incorrectly that some deal was hatched when Hillary and Obama met for an hour at Dianne Feinstein’s house that established her campaigning for him in exchange for her UHC policy. Wrong again!
She probably, in all due respect, apologized for standing in his way for so long by insisting the primaries reach their course. What has she gained? Nothing. As a result, she could have stood for the PUMA movement and all the misogyny that made us sick to our stomachs. She choose her own path. And although I admire her many accomplishments without doubt, I honestly have no idea where her head has been since May 31st. They cheated her, they demonized her, they dismissed her outright. If she did this for the “sake of the party” then I am at a loss as to what she supposedly gained.
This for me is the biggest disappointment of all. Where were the Clinton’s when it was time to stand up and take a position that could have mattered? Stumping for the one man we all know is the biggest phony and liar to have ever gained as much traction. I cannot view this any other way. If they chose to ignore us than how about Chelsea’s future in a country that celebrates sexism? As hard as she worked, she let us down. Plain and simple. They folded. Shame on them both.
November 9, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Hillary is an operator. I don’t blame her for doing what she had to do to keep her political career alive. She’s my senator and I’m glad she is. She knows the uses of adversity. You can’t win every battle.
November 9, 2008 at 3:12 pm
new AP headline:
“Obama to Use Executive Orders for Immediate Impact”
“PERHAPS reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas. ”
“There’s a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we’ll see the president do that,” Podesta said.”
November 9, 2008 at 3:19 pm
any guesses on the use of executive authority?
November 9, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Understand that I am not denigrating her achievements, accomplishments, her tenacity in the uphill battle that she faced. For these alone she has my utmost admiration. But this country cries out for leadership. Begs for fair play. Implores someone with such standing to break the mold and stand tall even at the cost of a career. For what does it matter in the end that you played it safe and gained nothing.
If the risk was the possibility of losing a seat in congress then so be it. The admiration toward someone who stepped out of the Kool Aid conga line would have been far more refreshing as it displayed integrity and genuineness. To listen to pundits and politicians who know better trumpeting The One, knowing full well the outcome of this support, is one I find difficult to overlook.
Her chances in 2012 are nil. Her Senate seat is more than likely safe. Being unfairly labeled and reduced to eating crumbs from the table set by the DNC and Obama should have been enough reason to speak out against the onslought. Instead they championed his election for self interest.
I am looking for a leader not excuses. Excuses, and the willingness to look the other way, have brought us to this. An infamous “historic” victory that most of us are ashamed occurred. It may have easily been undone if capitulation was not the name of the game.
November 9, 2008 at 3:30 pm
The complete dismantling of FISA? Don’t hold your breath.
November 9, 2008 at 3:32 pm
“Rima, they had (had anyone hung BO in effigy) and they did (the media would STILL be screaming):”
Thanks Sophie, I missed that. Always nice to see one’s point proven though..I guess…:(.
I don’t favor Palin’s politics in the least and am amazed that some seem to have convinced themselves she’s some sort of moderate, but misogyny is misogyny whether the target leans left or right, or to loop back to the topic somewhat, straight or lesbian. (And it seems that attractive female candidates become super sexualized Barbie if not Barbarella (sorry Jane) caricatures, while those not so attractive are of course, whispered to be lesbians.
November 9, 2008 at 3:34 pm
“Often the biggest traps of transformational leadership are that passion and confidence can easily be mistaken for truth and reality.”
Wow. Nicely and succinctly put.
November 9, 2008 at 3:42 pm
My best and kindest f guess re Clinton is that she put the interests of her party over her own interests, without considering that maybe the country’s interests were really at stake here.
My own take was I’d had it with my party put up losers of various stripes but ones that I still felt would be “less bad” then the Rep running against them..this time, my (former perhaps) party put up a man I truly could not make myself vote for, while teh Reps put up about the only Rep I could vote for as the “less bad” choice.
I’m still dealing with the cognitive dissonance as I suspect many of us are, where I loathe Obama, and yet…if I wish him ill, I’m also wishing my country (not to mention my Amazing Shrinking Retirement Account) ill.
The only good thing about all this is that until recently, I didn’t get network television, so I’d never seen “House,” or “NCIS.” and I’m sure there are some other programs I might like that I’ve never seen, that can fill any empty air (and brain” time that used to be filled with 24/7 news. I’ve already asked some reliable friends to let me know when BO is gone.
November 9, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Pat J. – Your comments today are profound! Thank you! I would love to see you write a post, an article in summary of this whole rotten experience. Just please don’t leave us!
November 9, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Lakota: My views would be considered blasphemous at this stage. My mood is one of mild depression when I view the total lack of leadership that has been exercised during the last almost two years. And that lack covers all fronts, media, political, punditry. There is such a vacuum that exists out there that one tends to believe that it never existed. That much of what we thought was happening simply did not pertain.
I get so tired of the rational. The “wait until 2012″, that will show them! The “she only does what she needs to do for her career” meme. Where does it say that a career politician is an acceptable reason? Where is it written that the seat you currently hold is yours for as long as you desire? Who the hell knows where any of us will be in four years that we must sit on our hands and wait on the ephemeral possibility?
Standing up and raising your voice once in awhile is greeted with cheers as so many choose not to. And all for the sake of their blasted careers.
I have supported Hillary. I will continue to cherish her accomplishments. But to sit here and pretend that this is all part of some “divine plan” to exorcise her place in history is much to overreaching. Giving everything and everybody a pass simply because of past deeds is shutting down the argument. We should never be fearful of calling out the party involved over some misguided attempt to hold onto our own fantasies.
Having said that, I would not be in good stead with those who cling to those beliefs. Theirs is a much a right to uphold them as is mine to question.
November 9, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The Obama gang is banking on the belief that the “mainstream” LGBT and black communities will rein in (subdue and destroy) those of us who dare call out their race-baiting and homophobia. Pam Spaulding, Arovosis, the HRC, NOW, Michael Eric Dyson and so many others are betting their future political prospects on our compliance and silence.
“Silence = Death” used to aptly convey the importance of knowing all we could about the truth about HIV transmission in order to battle the homophobia surrounding treatment and discrimination. Now, our silence and inaction is the key to providing those LGBT and black apologists for bigotry a ticket to Obamaland were they will sit quiely until they are called to attack with lies, once again.
November 9, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Oh it gets better. Have you seen this?
No-on-8’s White Bias by Jasmyne A. Cannick
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-cannick8-2008nov08,0,3295255.story
Sappocrat at Lavender Newswire blew a gasket over this.
Who Dropped Acid in Jasmyne Cannick’s Coffee?
http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2008/11/08/who-dropped-acid-in-jasmyne-cannicks-coffee/
November 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Laken: I am not gay but I am fearful of the backlash that could result in this atmosphere. By stripping the gay community of its rightful civil rights it may possibly inflame those morons who see this as a reason to attack gays without repercussion. After all, if these rights have been judged by the voters to be harmful, what is a few beatings and outright discrimination now and then to beef up that mindset.
When one group is disenfranchised than all groups need to be on guard. They are pushing you underground once again and I am quite fearful. Hate reared its ugly head during this primary and was quietly sanctioned by those who chose to remain either unaware or silent. If you can proudly wear a shirt sporting the name “cunt” there is nothing to forbid the wearing of a shirt declaring “I hate faggots”. The slippery slope is just gotten a little easier to slide.
November 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Rima: Obama was in the business of selling racial indulgences to white liberals like Terry Gross. Now that they have their get-out-racism-free cards, they’ll go back to sleep while women and gays clean up the mess. Fuckers.
November 9, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Pat – I think you’re right. Obama’s campaign was all about providing “feel good” moments along with “I’m not a racist” passes. America loves this kind of insubstantial fare the same way it loves refined sugar and empty calories.
November 9, 2008 at 4:23 pm
oops = sorry! I meant to say that I agree with ugsome. (But I agree with Pat on a lot of things, too!)
November 9, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Think of what a difference it may have made had someone stood tall and insisted that the vote counting may have been skewed? Think of the effect it may have had is someone raised the issue of the possibility of turning against gay rights? Think of the dialogue it would have endgendered if someone had declaimed outright the horrible treatment suffered by Hillary and Palin by the misogynists who acted with impunity?
Would any of this had changed the landscape? Who knows but the questions would linger, the outrage may have been tapped, the feeling of helplessness we all feel now may have been lessened had there been one meaningful voice, one politician or one journalist, who called the bluff. Instead no one of substance took up for us.
We feel helpless right now because this is what we have been issued. Journalists must heed their corporate masters. Politicians need to maintain their seats. Give me a break! If all that matters to you is yourself and your place then whistle blowing and speaking truth to power have all been erased. This is what sticks with me. That there really and truly is no one out there who has the guts to call it for what it is. And this is what rendered Obama. Who do I thank for this?
November 9, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Before this election cycle, I read so many LGBT, black and black/LGBT blogs and was hopeful that our diverse backgrounds would provide our chosen candidate with a wealth of support based upon our many experiences. One by one, I ended up removing them from my daily must-read lists because they became apologists for the race-baiting, the homophobia, the misogyny, the RBC theft, the press and for the general unruliness of the Obama supporters.
Now, they are willing to give up any credibility they once possessed to shut down the people who saw through them earliest. They are not stupid people and many of them are very talented which must make it even harder for them to degrade themselves this way. Their personal issues, however, would be best served by some self evaluation as to why they believe that bigotry is the ticket to any person’s “freedom”. Such evaluation should also be done in private, perhaps with a very patient therapist. The last place to do it is all over ones blog but there they are, spewing bigotry so that the world is able to see that they have what it takes to be an Obot.
November 9, 2008 at 4:41 pm
“I am not gay but I am fearful of the backlash that could result in this atmosphere. By stripping the gay community of its rightful civil rights it may possibly inflame those morons who see this as a reason to attack gays without repercussion. After all, if these rights have been judged by the voters to be harmful, what is a few beatings and outright discrimination now and then to beef up that mindset.”
Well until this sort of thing rolled along, constitutions were written to guarnatee rights to all, not to select some who are not entitled to rights that others enjoy.
I’m also straight, but I tell all my gay and lesbian friends “Why should YOU be spared the joys of divorce court?” My own take is that frankly, there should be two kinds of marriages: one, a civil contract administered by the State that allows two people to enter into a partnership with certain rights and duties involved, and then if you and your partner wish your partnership to be sanctified as part of some sacrament, you just find a church that will do that for you. If this doesn’t matter to you, fine. (Not to be overly cynical, but it seems to me a lot of folks show up in church only for some big fancy wedding, with no guarantee the shindig will have been paid for before the couple are in divorce court, and are really more interested in the lovely setting than any real religious significance involved.)
That said, I just don’t’ see what some gay or lesbian couple being allow to marry would have to do with the success or failure of my own marriages.
November 9, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Rima: Exactly, like I made a “success” of mine too. I think what rankles is that this dismissal sends a message to gay people that they do not count. That somehow they carry a taint that should go unrecognized in society. That their whole being is wrong and therefore must be relegated to a non status.
I propose the next referendum to include the exclusion of blond haired, blue eyed voters. If we are going to take the issue to those extremes of denying others equal right then we need to seek out those annoying people as well. Fair is fair. We need a standard in this country to be set.
Out with the blue eyed blonds! Nothing is going on in their heads anyway as we have all been advised. Think Paris Hilton.
November 9, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Obama does not even care about blacks. They just seem to think he does.
I can understand the fear gays might feel. I feel frightened just by the misogyny that has been unleashed.
It even occurred to me that there was a conscious effort to use and encourage the anger many blacks, and other groups for that matter, feel. Two reasons: I have never seen so much animosity (I believe it will get worse); and, Obama ‘tutored’ under J. Wright. That is a liberation theology church. When that first came to light, my black friend told me what it was about, that it was not good because it gets the people angry and worked up with no constructive outlet.
The misogyny and gay bashing (the video made me feel sick) seem to go together.
November 9, 2008 at 5:14 pm
“Obama does not even care about blacks. They just seem to think he does. ”
My own take, based on nothing more than conjecture and reading his first book, was that he found it useful to his purposes to stress his black half over his white half, (not to mention his white family that actually raised him.)
Does anyone here really think he had the grades to get into Columbia if they used blind admissions? Or Harvard Law, or to make it onto the Law Review in the first place? I know that even bringing this up in some circles is an invitation to the cries of “RACIST!” but it’s simple truth.
He just uses whatever group he needs to win his next election. It was both sad and funny to see Melissa Etheridge in that “Parade” magazine today saying how all the pols wanted her in the primaries because she “has a constituency” but as son as the generals were in the offing, they told her to get back in the closet.
All right, this election is NOT a total loss, I just found one “good” thing to say about evangelicals…at least they are honest about their distaste for and unease with homosexuality.
November 9, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I apologize if someone has shared this already or have seen it elsewhere. Pat, I thought of you and of course, Gary. (Don’t know how to paste the link.)
Lynette Long has issued a call for writers. In part:
“Call for Writers
Contributors wanted for upcoming anthology Forever Changed: Tales from the Campaign Trail, edited by Lynette Long and Joan Lipkin.
The 2008 presidential race and resulting election of Barack Obama galvanized a nation and changed the lives of those who were involved. It is essential that our stories be told, especially since many of them were overlooked or misrepresented in the mainstream media.
Please consider submitting a piece about your experiences or perceptions.”
November 9, 2008 at 5:22 pm
While I certainly have been baffled by Hillary’s behavior over the last few months, I’m willing to wait and see WTF. She always talked about the bigger picture and I suspect that the view is different from where she sits (meaning that she sees pieces of the puzzle that we don’t). I’m not famous for my patience, but I am curious. I will say now, though, that if she made a deal with BO and trusted him to uphold his end of the bargain, that would pretty much do in my respect for her. (And I have an ENORMOUS amount of respect for her–just ask all of my friends–errr, now Obot ex-friends…)
November 9, 2008 at 5:27 pm
New thread folks. And I’m off to feed parrots myself, and avoid the evening news..I think there are back back back episodes of “House.”
There were “west Wing” marathons before election day, and I did love dropping back into that world, until someone pointed out that Matt Santos was supposedly based on BO. My OWN take is the flip side…I think BO based himself on Matt Santos and played his role all too well.
November 9, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I don’t think Hillary made a deal with Obama. Obama is out to destroy her and her husband. I think Hillary has her back to the wall and is waiting him out. If Obama and his supporters do like the ancients did and destroy all graven images and writings about the Clintons they would.
November 9, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Pam Spaulding has been as big an asshole as Aravosis is. That’s why she’s is “sub” when he’s gone traveling out of the country.
November 9, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Pat – being a blue-eyed blonde, you are correct. We all all stoopid!
Obama/Palin 2012!
November 9, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Carol: Then I rest my case.