Campaign Trail Mix:
The Official Stonewall Blog
« September 2005 | Main | November 2005 »
October 26, 2005
Nicole Kidman is Not a Terrorist
Riding the Metro yesterday, I noticed suspicious activity at the Cleveland Park station. A group of burly men were dressed in all-black wearing combat boots, taking pictures and donning ear pieces with wires running to concealed walkie talkies.
As they nervously shifted back and forth, the group was too out of shape to be counted as military of police personnel. After internally debating it, I headed up the subway escalator to ask the station manager if he was aware of the group. At that point, one of men darted down the steps towards me with a menacing look. He reached for a holster underneath his coat, quickly removing a...light meter. At that point, I figured they must be a film crew, so I jumped back on a train.
This morning, the Washington Post revealed that Nicole Kidman was shooting a scene at the stop for an upcoming movie. It was just an Aussie, not Al-Quaeda.
Posted by John at 09:24 AM | Permalink |
October 19, 2005
GI Joe Congressman
Our friends at Air America have teamed up with the Daily Kos to to highlight Democratic military vets who've decided to take another step in public service and run for Congress.
Each Tuesday night, Air America's Majority Report will be joined by Markos Moulitsas of the DailyKos.com to profile a Democratic veteran now running for Congress. The two have also developed a Fighting Dems website which is currently spotlighting four veterans of Iraq who are now running for elected office.
Take a moment to check out these candidates, as well as one of our favorite Democratic veterans - Bruce Roemmelt. Roemmelt, a Vietnam veteran, is running to replace the corruptive Bob Marshall in Virginia's 13th Delegate District. Marshall has delivered little for his district, instead choosing to focus on advancing Quixote-ish anti-gay legislation.
Read More: Fighting Dems
Read More: Elect Bruce Roemmelt
Posted by John at 09:53 AM | Permalink |
October 13, 2005
Juneteenth with George
Nothing marks the emancipation of Black Americans like White babies in flower pots. That was the greeting card Harriet Miers chose to send then-Governor George Bush in 1996 for inviting her to his Juneteenth celebration. The card was among over 2000 pages of correspondence between Miers and Bush released this week by the Texas State Library.
Dear Governor and Laura,Thank you so much for including me in your great Juneteenth celebration. I found the dishes delicious and the company most enjoyable. Someday, if I ever cook again, I will try some of the recipies! You were most thoughtful to include me.
Fondly,
Harriet
If you are a White, suburban, evangelical, middle-class woman - you most likely will recognize the card as part of the Anne Geddes series (the artist famous for photographing babies in flowerpots and other garden apparatus). Anne Geddes was a central fascination of suburbia before the debut of Desperate Housewives.
There is nothing wrong with liking Anne Geddes - or being a White, suburban, evangelical, middle-class woman. It just seems the demographic forms a large part of the circle that surrounds George W. Bush. That would be fine, except that George W. Bush rarely goes outside his circle for input and advice.
I spent a lot of time in my early-twenties working on race relations within the evangelical community after a friend and I initiated an effort to bring racially-segregated congregations together to worship. We soon discovered that the obstacle that prevented greater participation between churches wasn't racism, it was personal comfort. People tend to gather with others like them. And unless there is something that propels them to experience life as someone different lives it, they will simply settle into their comfortable pattern alongside familiar faces.
President Bush relies on a tight, inner-circle. However, when that circle largely looks, thinks and act likes you...it might be time to branch out. Before nominating Miers, the White House sought the counsel of a diverse group of anti-gay activists and social conservatives. The Bush Administration did the same before announcing its support of an anti-marriage constitutional amendment. The administration has still failed to meet once with an LGBT organization to discuss issues important to our community. Yet, they continue to make policy, and nominate judges, that have a disproportionate impact on our families.
Personal comfort is just that - comforting to the individual. It might serve the George W. Bush the person, but it fails him as a leader.
Posted by John at 09:41 AM | Permalink |
October 07, 2005
Pimpin Ain’t Easy: The New Face of the Black Church
“We're not just a church, we're an international corporation. We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You've got to put me on a different scale than the little Black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering.” Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, August 2005.
The sad thing is, he's right.
Today's New Black Church is the offspring of the civil rights era but can easily be identified by its debatable and sometimes laughable theology, superficiality, greed, materialism, heavy involvement in politics, tricked-out arena sized church, ten thousand or more member congregation and of course, its superstar pastor.
Plainly put, today's Black church is not your grandma's church.
No longer content with selling baked goods and holding parking lot sales that bring in few dollars, today's New Black Church hosts revivals that cater to thousands and produce blockbuster movies that bring in millions of dollars. From old school nurses boards to new school communications director's, the New Black Church now employs hundreds of full time professionals each year and looks more like a Fortune 500 company, than the little Black that's only “baptizing babies.” The Black church has gone from the motto “for us by us” to soliciting and accepting corporate sponsorship and support all within the span of a few years. Refusing to be courted by politicians during the election season only, the New Black Church has cut out the middleman and has become a force to be reckoned with by dealing directly with the White House.
Having descended from being the visionary voice and leader for millions of Black Christians, the New Black Church has reached out and made new and bold alliances. And I am not just speaking about the surge of Black pastors broadcasting on radio and television stations like Trinity Broadcasting Network, but of the newfound love between today's Black pastors and President Bush.
After being cajoled by controversial conservative Lou Sheldon, dozens of superstar Black pastors declared their support for President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative at a special summit of Black religious leaders in Los Angeles last February. At that meeting, they chose Lou Sheldon, a white religious conservative leader to speak on their behalf, even though they were Black pastors who had assembled at a Black church in Los Angeles to talk about messaging to Black people.
So exactly who's pimpin' who?
Understanding the weakness of today's superstar pastors, that being greed, President Bush's Faith Based Initiative has successfully solicited and co-opted Black pastors. He has single handedly paved the way for the wooing of Blacks over to the GOP camp under the guise of protecting moral values. Protecting marriage, allowing prayer in schools and eliminating abortions for women has indeed created a moral panic within Black America.
With federal dollars up for grab to Black pastors willing to sell out their community to an Administration that at most, is in direct disagreement with needs of Blacks, today's New Black Church has become a pimp for Bush's agenda for Blacks.
Yet, however blatant Long's comments are, they, like many other superstar pastors comments and actions continue to go unchallenged by the rest of Black America.
When it was revealed that former America's Black Forum commentator Armstrong Williams was being paid to tout Bush's No Child Left Behind program all hell broke loose in Black America. Williams was taken to task for being used by the Bush Administration to peddle a program that would further harm Black children. Essentially, he had sold out and in the worst way.
But in comparison, there's not much difference between Williams' actions and today's superstar pastors who have for all intents and purposes, handed over the Black vote to Conservatives on a silver, no make that, gold platter. While Williams uses the media to deliver Bush's message, the superstar pastors are using the pulpit to deliver his message to millions of Blacks each week.
“…But I do think that the vote is up for grabs in a way that it has not been traditionally. And so, we have often suffered from the Democratic Party, who assumed that they had our vote, and the Republican Party, who assumed that they couldn't get our vote,” Bishop T.D. Jakes on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, February 2005.
Bishop T.D. Jakes' comments perfectly illustrate the severity of the crisis in the New Black Church. With an obvious zeal for the Republican Party, who do you think Jakes is telling his flock to vote for?
Obviously fearful of losing the support of the New Black Church, Black Democratic officials and civil rights leaders continue to be silent on this issue and have offered no opposition to the New Black Church.
Meanwhile, Bush continues to refuse to meet with Black civil rights leaders, but has met with the superstar pastors on more than one occasion.
In February, civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson while speaking at Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union held at superstar pastor Eddie Long's church, cautioned Black pastors to not be distracted by “non budget, private morality issues.”
Having conquered the media, entertainment arena and now the White House, superstar pastors are poising themselves for their greatest challenge yet, running for political office. With the right support, timing and enough money to back a successful campaign, it's not that far fetched of an idea to see a superstar pastor catapult themselves into public office, as a Republican.
With no real sense of the separation between church and state and having lost it's soul, the New Black Church has sold their congregations votes to the highest bidder, in this case the Bush Administration. Blacks including Democratic officials and civil rights leaders cannot continue to keep silent about this newfound relationship between Bush and Black pastors lest we see a repeat of the 2004 Presidential election in 2008.
Posted by Jasmyne at 07:16 PM | Permalink |
October 06, 2005
WOW!...CHECK OUT THE RACKS ON
THAT ONE!
By Mike Shea
Cleveland Stonewall Democrats
In my line of work (magazine publishing) there is always, without fail, someone out there who doesn't like a particular band that we put on our front cover at Alternative Press. Some holier-than-thou punk kid doesn't like Fall Out Boy or some Hot Topic fan can't stand Coheed & Cambria. Blah Blah. The punk rock fight over "integrity" is never-ending.
SO.... what happens is that they protest that particular issue by moving it around on the magazine racks so it can't be found. They'll shove it in the back row under Hippies' Tunes Digest Monthly or they'll take a copy of another magazine they prefer and place it over ours to hide it. Happens all the time, believe me.
SO- when i was in my supermarket last night I noticed that where they usually had TIME slotted at the check out line it was buried underneath a mish-mosh of other magazines. They were all smashed in the TIME slot. I pulled them out and, behold, there was this week's TIME cover of "Gay Teenage America." Promptly and completely covered up so no one would notice it was there.
SO- keep that in mind when you're out and about. Look for this week's TIME and make sure it's not buried, covered up, moved into the black holes that exist on newsstands.
We're here, we're Queer, stop shoving EBONY on top of our issues...bitch...
Posted by Mike at 11:59 AM | Permalink |
October 04, 2005
No, But...Yeah, But...No!
Watch Vicky Pollard spin like gay Republicans!
The days following Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of marriage equality had sent gay Republicans into a tizzy. To be fair, the national Log Cabin Republicans took the opportunity to criticize their model "pro-gay" official. However, other gay Republicans are spinning like Vicky Pollard - the defensively guilty character from the BBC's crossover hit Little Britain. (A cheap plug here for the artwork of a friend-of-a-friend...simply because he does the best Vicky Pollard impression out there).
Like Pollard (who often rebuts her wrongdoing with "No, but...yeah, but...da thing is...No!), gay Republicans are trying...but failing to offer a credible defense of the veto. And why should they? It was the wrong thing to do.
Yeah, but...Schwarzenegger should be excused because Democrats weren't nice to him (according to BoifromTroy). No, but...Gay people don't deserve marriage protections anyway, it is a privilege that straight politicians should be allowed to decide for us (according to GayPatriot). You see, but...Schwarzenegger is really trying to trick social conservatives to think he is less of an "ally" than he really is (BlogCabin). Da thing is...Schwarzenegger should be given a pass because signing the bill won't help his career (NorthDallasThirty). Even normally mild-mannered Malcontent (the Clark Kent of conservative gay bloggers) states that the veto isn't as important as more minor bills signed that day.
I have long been a defender of gay Republican friends from charges that they are simply self-loathing homosexuals. Being a gay Republican doesn't qualify you as self-loathing. However, some actions taken by gay Republican bloggers sometimes do.
Posted by John at 07:48 AM | Permalink |
October 03, 2005
PARTY OF NUMB
We are THAT close.
I mean it; we are THAT close to going over the edge.
What Bill Bennett’s most recent politically-Turret statement about aborting black babies to bring down the crime rate in the country has done is really expose the basic strategy behind Rovian Republicanism. We have seen it in action over the past five years in various forms; smack the hornet’s nest of the most scared and vocal of all of the population, tell them the world is going to end unless they vote for your guy, and if they don’t, they’ll end up living in a socio-political reversed-apartheid America, with foreign-speaking neighbors on one side of them and lesbian parents on the other. The key in all of this is how you go about continuing to smack that hornet’s nest election cycle after election cycle in order to keep the hornets swarming.
And that’s where guys like Bill Bennett come in handy. And Bill O’Reilly. Sean Hannity. Ann Coulter, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.
Their official roles are to push the political-correctness of the 1990’s back into the closet, except, this time, for good. And how they go about doing that is, well, simply put, by being rude. We call it “rude,” but they call it “as a matter of fact.” And when they recently spoke of African-Americans in this country, the poor ones, the ones that, as Bill O’Reilly stated recently, who wouldn’t “go out and educate themselves” so that they wouldn’t live in the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans, well, they don’t give much positive criticism at all.
Instead, their voices bellow, their eyes pop out, their anger flares and they describe this nation’s minorities in just about every way except the one way they want to describe them as.
You see, all Rovian Republicanism has done has pushed this country to about THIS close to making it okay to call African-Americans “niggers” once again. And if you watch and listen to these guys on television and on the radio, you can hear it in their voices. You can see it in their eyes. They are just on the verge of saying it. It started with Bill O’Reilly’s “shut up” and has progressed to the sort of statements that Mr. Bennett made. And instead of just apologizing, these “jerks”, cuz that’s what they are when you come down to it, defend what they said, and blame the Liberal Media and just about anyone else that criticized them. Except the White House, of course.
It just goes to show you how out of control this has all gotten. I don’t even think Bush intended it to get this crazy for he probably had no clue as to where this was all going to lead in the first place. Ultimately, I think that even the Genius Boy Karl Rove has lost control of this ship for it appears that there is just no way that these hornets’ nests are going to calm down anytime soon. All of these angry, white Americans who ARE calling African-Americans “niggers” again are pushing thru concealed-weapon laws to protect themselves from the rioting hoards that they fear are just on the verge of exploding out of the decaying urban metropolis’ and into their gated, bubbles of homogeneity. We’ve only seen the beginning of all of this insanity- this loss of reason. And they are not going to stop. At least not right now. Or in the near future. These people are on the warpath after feeling like we have assaulted them for the past decade or more. And now it’s their turn to fight back.
Or is it ours?
PS- I got one question for all of the LGBT PoliQueer groups in DC: the gay marriage issue is sorta like our community’s Iraq; not all of us wanted to be here, but now that we are, we have to deal with it. So, now that all of us are running around making marriage our fight issue, our #1 issue to push- what happens if our next Democratic presidential candidate won’t endorse gay marriage but only civil unions? Are we going to still endorse this person? Because, if after all of this work getting behind this marriage issue over the next three years, if the LGBT PoliQueer groups DO endorse a non-gay marriage candidate, I’m going to be really, really pissed off.
And I probably won’t be the only one.
I quote Matt Bai’s piece on Senator Clinton in Sunday’s NYTimes: “Clinton is very much a Southern Democrat like her husband (or, for that matter, an Eisenhower Republican like her father) and less of a social liberal than she is often portrayed. When she talks about her opposition to gay marriage, her preference for abstinence or her disapproval of violent movies, she means it.”
Food for thought, food for thought.
Mike Shea
Cleveland Stonewall Democrats
Posted by Mike at 11:20 AM | Permalink |
