Election 2008--CLOSED

[jack]

i spent a couple hours on a quiet street corner in ft myers this afternoon.  i had a tiny hope that a tv station just up the block would find a lone protestor a bt of an oddity and swing by, but no such luck.

one other gay man from nearby naples stopped by to see if there was any action, a couple of seriously tanked drunks wanted to debate the idea, and a car with a couple youngsters and a mom gave me smiles and a thumbs up sign, and that was my demonstration.

maybe nobody knew i was there, but i did. 

when i can get the pic off my phone, i have a shot of me and my sign.

[fritzkep]

Thank you, Jack, for your participation.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

i spent a couple hours on a quiet street corner in ft myers this afternoon.  i had a tiny hope that a tv station just up the block would find a lone protestor a bt of an oddity and swing by, but no such luck.

one other gay man from nearby naples stopped by to see if there was any action, a couple of seriously tanked drunks wanted to debate the idea, and a car with a couple youngsters and a mom gave me smiles and a thumbs up sign, and that was my demonstration.

maybe nobody knew i was there, but i did. 

when i can get the pic off my phone, i have a shot of me and my sign.

That is so cool.

[CANSTANDIT]

   Hillary Clinton is certainly qualified to be Secretary of State.  But I could also think of 3 other cabinet posts where she would make an even stronger impact:

 - Health and Human Services, or whatever the Department is that would oversee health care reform.  Her expertise in that area is second to none.

 - Department of Defense.  Yep.  She was gutsy enough to say if we stopped protecting the Iraqi leaders in the Green Zone, they'd have more reason to make the compromises necessary
   to stop the slaughter in Baghdad.  And very clearly stated our policy should be that if we are attacked with nuclear weapons or even dirty bombs from rogue groups within a sovereign
   state, we would consider that the same as that state initiating an attack and respond in kind.  Meaning, clean up your internal terrorist cells, or else.
     She would also have the guts to reverse the politicalization of the officer corps and stare down anyone not on board. 

 - Attorney General.  Wow.  Imagine the fear and loathing as she arrived to de-politicize the Justice Department, oversee excesses of the FBI, and restore credibility in rule of law.

     I really think she'd be wasted at State.  They should bring back Madeleine Albright, who ruled with an iron fist AND some very funky and disturbingly seductive outfits.  Could that woman
wear a hat, or what?  Even Yassir Arafat was disoriented.

Hi Tony,
I do love La Madeline!
Always loved her outsized shoulder brooches!
What a woman.

But I'd rather see her as an advisor.

I'm wondering what function John Kerry is being slated for.
I mean, he deserves something for giving Obama his first national platform.

I would like Bill Richardson to have a gig as well, except that he is SO obviously
overly ambitious. Tamp it down a bit, big Bill.

I think Janet Napolitano has the inside track on Attorney General.
Or so I've been hearing.

hi, Rose..I'd hate to lose Napolitano, but I'd be proud, too. I think she is destined to leave the Desert Wasteland at some point..

[CellarDweller115]

a ton of people showed up in NYC.  Posted pics in the "Gay Marriage" thread.

[BayCityJohn]

Linda and I just got home from the demonstration in San Francisco.

I might post some pics and comments in the "Gay Marriage" thread.

[jack]

and, with a little help from a friend, i got my demonstration pic posted.

[michaelflanagansf]

and, with a little help from a friend, i got my demonstration pic posted.

Thank you Jack.

It is in the places that we are most undrepresented that we count most.

You rock.

[WhenPigsFly]

i spent a couple hours on a quiet street corner in ft myers this afternoon.  i had a tiny hope that a tv station just up the block would find a lone protestor a bt of an oddity and swing by, but no such luck.

Jack,
You are the bee's knees!

[Jer009]

I tivo'd CNN and they had a few reports--just from the big cities: NY & LA. It's competing with the world econ summit and the CA fires. Personally, I think it should be a bigger story, but I think a lot of straight people don't really care what happens to us.

I came home from the protest in Miami all fired up. When I turned to the evening news on NBC, they somehow found time for a report on a domino flipping record, and another report a a fellow who paints portraits of people involved in our current financial crisis. Not a single word about protests going on in 50 states and internationally for equal human rights and marriage . If a person doesn't have cable, and they rely on NBC for news and footage of the protests, they would be out of luck.

CNN was much better. They showed footage of the protesters, and they had a round table discussion about gay marriage.

But I really DON'T think that a lot of straight people care what happens to us. They don't equate our protest over Prop 8 with a genuine civil right issue. But of course it is...equal rights for all.

One of the most clever signs I saw was carried by a man, and said "Do you really want me to marry your daughter?" Anyone who's seen BBM knows the domino effect of misery that causes. Let people marry who they want to marry, honestly and proudly.

[janjo]

 I think a lot of straight people don't really care what happens to us.

Remember though Dave, that a lot of us do care, and care deeply!

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

JFK:  The Way He Was

A little break to look into the past -- This is MY column in today's Dallas Morning News, if y'all have a chance give it a click to boost my volume? 

This subject is dear to my heart and I am thrilled to have it in the paper!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-central_raff_16edi.State.Edition1.2734c5d.html


Here is my new fave JFK quote:

"The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war," Mr. Kennedy said. "Confident and unafraid, we must labor on – not toward a strategy of annihilation, but toward a strategy of peace."

(From a Kennedy speech in June, 1963)

thanks all

[fritzkep]

Thank you, Ellen. Would that the current administration had followed his lead.

[jack]

i have been thinking...

it is true that events have been ignored, or at least buried by other "pressing" news items, BUT...

if we KEEP up the demonstrations, and the interviews, and the "happenings" our voices will be heard and recognized, if only by their sheer volume and insistency.

if we are on the streets EVERY day, if MORE well known gays and supporters come out and give interviews, if MORE politicians and jurists take a stand, the tapping on the door will become a knocking, and the knocking a hammering, and if necessary the hammerin can blow that door down.

the 7 weeks to equality plan has merit.  let it be known, that NOTHING goes back to "normal" until this injustice is addressed.  maybe it time, or past time, to dust off our civil disobedience handbooks.

what happens if a thousand, or 5 thousand, or 10 thousand activists lay down on a busy city street?

perhaps its time the KofC got a taste of their own medicine, and the LOYAL ORDER OF HIBERNIANS as well.

if these numbers continue to press, and if these numbers continue to swell, the squeaky wheel WILL get greased.

nothing can go back to the way it was BEFORE prop8.     

[BayCityJohn]

what happens if a thousand, or 5 thousand, or 10 thousand activists lay down on a busy city street?
  

I don't know what happens when that many people do it, but here's what happened in San Francisco yesterday:

March to the Castro

The rally was followed by an impromptu, festive march toward the Castro by about 1,000 people. When police turned the marchers back at Church Street, they walked to Union Square, snarling traffic on Market Street.

A small group of protesters, separate from the main march, were arrested when they briefly closed the freeway off-ramp at Octavia Boulevard at around 1 p.m.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/15/BAIA145AQ9.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1

This is a pic of those protesters about 15 minutes before they got arrested.  Pete did NOT get arrested, we left just before the police showed up.



You can also see how traffic was stopped at Market and Van Ness in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-b9O3LxQD8

I'm all for civil disobedience, but I think it can get counter-productive sometimes. The people who got caught in the traffic jams yesterday probably voted against Prop H8 by 70% or more.