(Originally posted to Queer at EraBlog on Wed, 11 Feb 2004 23:48:38 GMT)

George W. Bush, after months of hinting that he would support the Federal Marriage Amendment, has endorsed it. He's desparate­ly trying to change the subject from whether he was AWOL from the National Guard in Alabama.

The Human Rights Campaign is urging everyone to oppose this. They provide a sample letter to send to your rep­re­sen­ta­tives, but I threw it away and wrote my own (below), which has been sent to my rep­re­sen­ta­tives, via the HRC Action Center.

The Bush Ad­min­is­tra­tion pisses me off on so many levels. I'm par­tic­u­lar­ly infuriated about Bush's support for the Federal Marriage Amendment. …continue.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Wed, 11 Feb 2004 06:08:52 GMT)

From my email. Origin obscure.

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today:

1. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a con­ser­v­a­tive radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. res­o­lu­tions against Iraq.
3. "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
4. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national cor­po­ra­tions can make …continue.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Tue, 02 Dec 2003 08:32:12 GMT)

I sign a lot of petitions. Here's one that I wrote a custom letter for.

First, the background.

From: "John - THE LIST" <john@gayad­vo­ca­cy.com> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 6:24 PM Subject: THE LIST: Action Alert - Free Ruslan Sharipov THE LIST - Special Alert for Gay Torture Victim

Washington, DC December 1, 2003

Ruslan Sharipov, a journalist in Uzbekistan, is being imprisoned and tortured because he's gay. His government captors have threatened to rape him with a bottle and inject him with AIDS. But there is talk that the government may soon amnesty a few political prisoners. Let's make sure he …continue.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Sat, 18 Oct 2003 06:46:45 GMT)

I just read an interview on BuzzFlash with Bob Beckel. Beckel is a longtime Democrat political consultant. He's now gone into the business of exposing the right wing's dirty tactics at his website, BobBeckel.com.

We’re in the business of exposing their tactics, some of which I’ve had used against me before -- like mailing official government-looking stationery to blacks in precincts in the South, telling them if they vote in the wrong place, they’ll get a $5,000 fine and a year in jail. It obviously drove down black turnout. That’s one that Jesse Helms’ thugs used against Harvey Gant in NC. …continue.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Thu, 14 Aug 2003 06:40:32 GMT)

Good article on how the Bush ad­min­is­tra­tion is using language to influence public opinion.

Some examples:

Civil service reform means "flex­i­bil­i­ty" to replace civil service protection with cronyism and patronage.

Pri­va­ti­za­tion justifies the notion that cor­po­ra­tions are more likely to serve the public interest than publicly owned utilities, schools and prisons.

Support the troops, a brilliant concept, suggests that if you question foreign policy or war policy, you have the deaths of our finest young men and women in uniform on your hands. Objective: to stifle public dissent.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Sun, 27 Jul 2003 02:22:19 GMT)

I found an in­ter­est­ing piece about what makes a political con­ser­v­a­tive.

Four re­searchers who culled through 50 years of research literature about the psychology of con­ser­vatism report that at the core of political con­ser­vatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and that some of the common psy­cho­log­i­cal factors linked to political con­ser­vatism include:

• Fear and aggression
• Dogmatism and in­tol­er­ance of ambiguity
• Un­cer­tain­ty avoidance
• Need for cognitive closure
• Terror management

This was linked to from the Dean Blog's copy of Howard Dean's July 25th speech, The President Has Misled Us.

(Originally posted to Iraq at EraBlog on Wed, 23 Jul 2003 06:25:56 GMT)

[Found in my email. Original author unknown.]

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ('AP', played by John Cleese) walks down the street carrying THE IRAQI INVASION (played by an empty parrot cage). He walks into THE WHITE HOUSE (played by a cheesy storefront) and addresses COLIN POWELL ('CP', played by Michael Palin).

AP: Excuse me... boy!

CP: (turns around and stands up) What d'you mean, 'boy?'

AP: I'm sorry; I have contact lenses. At any rate, I wish to register a complaint!

CP: Sorry, squire, I can't talk to you now. It's Code Orange! (he hastily starts to put up a sign)

AP: Never …continue.

(Originally posted to Politics at EraBlog on Thu, 12 Jun 2003 06:47:24 GMT)

I detest George W. Bush and his ad­min­is­tra­tion. The war, the economy, the en­vi­ron­ment, the judicial battles. I loathe just about everything that comes out of the White House. I want that man gone.

I've been following the Democratic pres­i­den­tial candidates with some interest for the last few months. Right now, I feel like I'm a yellow dog Democrat. I don't care who wins in 2004, just so long as it's a Democrat.

That's not really true, however. I'd much rather have a candidate that I have some enthusiasm for, rather than the lesser of two evils: …continue.

(Originally posted to Iraq at EraBlog on Mon, 24 Mar 2003 06:56:07 GMT)

A friend of Emma's sent her a link to an article by Thom Hartmann at Com­mon­dreams.org.

The 70th an­niver­sary wasn't noticed in the United States, and was barely reported in the corporate media. But the Germans remembered well that fateful day seventy years ago - February 27, 1933. They com­mem­o­rat­ed the an­niver­sary by joining in demon­stra­tions for peace that mobilized citizens all across the world.

It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, received reports of an imminent terrorist attack. A foreign ideologue had launched feeble attacks on a few famous buildings, but the media largely …continue.

(Originally posted to Iraq at EraBlog on Fri, 21 Mar 2003 07:38:19 GMT)

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only un­pa­tri­ot­ic and servile, but is morally trea­son­able to the American public. Teddy Roosevelt, 1918

We're at war. The anti-war protests have ratcheted up, with hundreds of thousands protesting all over the country.

Emma joined the protest outside the Federal Building in Seattle early this evening. She went back to her office after an hour because her bad feet were killing her. Not long after, I arrived in downtown and followed the protesters as …continue.