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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Archive | November, 2011

Queer Talk: International Transgender Day of Remembrance

By on 20 November 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

Unless things change dramatically, there will be little to no coverage of today’s International Transgender Day of Remembrance beyond LGBT related media. And that will be in spite of the fact that the number of deaths per year (counted from November to November) continues to grow. In 2009, it was 162. In 2010, it was 179. For 2011, it’s 211.

From Transgender Day of Remembrance:

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the ‘Remembering Our Dead’ web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder – like most anti-transgender murder cases – has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender – that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant – each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.

… the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

Neal Broverman at The Advocate:

On one hand, it seems inconceivable that we need such a thing as Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes those murdered for their gender identity and takes place for the 13th year this Sunday. But when you have publications like the New York Post refer to Chaz Bono as a ‘she-man,’ as it did this week, you can see where some of the intense hate directed at transgender people is born.

From the 1998 beginnings in San Francisco, the TDOR quickly became an international remembrance. Various efforts to track the number of deaths, and to remember and honor the victims, developed. One is the Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project, which reports:

In total, since January 2008 the murders of 755 trans people have been reported.

As the project also notes,

this increase may also reflect the TvT project’s intensified cooperation and data exchange with trans and LGBT organizations, which document murders of LGBT or trans people in local and national contexts … .

The update shows reports of murdered or killed trans people in 26 countries in the last 12 months, with the majority from Brazil (97), Mexico (23), Colombia (19), and Venezuela (14) followed by Argentina (9), Honduras (9), and the USA (9). In Asia most reported cases have been found in Pakistan (6), and the Philippines (5), and in Europe in Turkey (5). …

Yet, we know, even these high numbers are only a fraction of the real figures; the truth is much worse. These are only the reported cases, which could be found through internet research. In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases.

The Advocate article includes brief descriptions of just eight U.S. victims of the 221 reported international murders.

Krissy Bates

Bates, 45, was strangled and stabbed in her Minneapolis apartment in January….

Tyra Trent

After she had been missing for two weeks, Trent’s body was discovered in a vacant Baltimore home in late February. The 25-year-old was asphyxiated.

Marcal Camero Tye

Even though Tye was shot in the head in March and possibly dragged behind a vehicle by a rope or chain, Arkansas sheriff Bobby May told the press that he didn’t think the 25-year-old’s murder was a hate crime.

Miss Nate Nate

Nathan Eugene Davis, or Miss Nate Nate as she liked to be called, was Houston’s latest transgender murder victim … .

Lashai Mclean Violence against transgender women in Washington, D.C., appeared to spike this year – 23-year-old Mclean was one of the city’s victims. …

Camila Guzman

Guzman was killed in August; … she was found stabbed to death in her Harlem apartment. …

Gaurav Gopalan

Though Gopalan identified as gay, the 35-year-old was likely murdered for his gender expression – Gopalan was beaten to death in Washington, D.C. …

Shelly Hilliard

There was scant media attention when the body of a young transgender woman was found dumped in Detroit. Because of that, it took weeks for anyone to identify the murder victim as Shelly Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman who had been missing for several weeks.

Maybe the most important thing in all of this is to remember we’re talking about the lives, and murders, of real people. Using language like “she-man” tries to ignore that, as dismissive, generalized labels always do. But everyone of those identified 211 individuals was a person, not a label. So were all those not reported.

( Photo via International Transgender Day of Remembrance )

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The Hillary Effect: Barnes & Noble NOOK aps for Your PC, Mac & iPad

By on 20 November 2011

I’ve always loved Pugs and now I know why. Just love this picture.

For those of you who don’t have a NOOK, not to worry. Oh, and news when my book goes wide…

Thanks Quincy!

You can download an app. for your pc at Barnes and Noble.

…and for your Mac… or your iPad, too.

You will need to create a membership, but there is no charge for this or for downloading the NOOK ap of your choice.

Then just buy my book!

As Quincy shows in this shot, it looks great on an iPad, too.

The Hillary Effect will become available in print and Kindle through Amazon.com, as well as an eBook through iBooks, on December 15th.

Just in time for Christmas.

ps – The Hillary Effect was also included as part of the Barnes and Noble weekly email blast this week. Nice.

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Legislation Against Congressional Insider Trading Regains Traction

By on 20 November 2011

Kimberly Warner-Cohen is a New York City-based novelist and economic activist.

60 Minutes last Sunday aired a bombshell piece about members of Congress being allowed to  buy and sell stocks while using information the public is not privy to (only two out of 975 federal agencies have this privilege). For us, that’s considered insider trading and highly illegal. For those on the Hill, those laws don’t apply. Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of an upcoming book about “soft” corruption in Washington, explains:

 The fact is, if you sit on a healthcare committee and you know that Medicare, for example, is– is considering not reimbursing for a certain drug that’s market moving information. And if you can trade stock on– off of that information and do so legally, that’s a great profit making opportunity…We know that during the health care debate people were trading health care stocks. We know that during the financial crisis of 2008 they were getting out of the market before the rest of America really knew what was going on.

He also explains that Congress, despite their strong lobbying ties, do not technically have corporate interests and so have no restrictions on stock trading. In shaping the laws, they gave themselves a nice loophole. Just before the public healthcare option was taken off the table, Boehner bought a significant amount of health insurance stock. In 2008, Congressman Bachus, now chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was short selling, betting that the economy would tank.

While this unethical legality was never hidden from the public, it wasn’t well-publicized, either and this story caused quite a stir. So much so, that the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a bill brought forward in 2006 but pretty much ignored, has been reinvigorated:

The number of lawmakers backing the House bill rose from nine to 65 in the four days after the report. Two similar measures were introduced for the first time in the Senate this week.

That there even needs to be legislation preventing Congress from committing acts generally found to be illegal seems obvious and it isn’t too much to demand that this act pass.

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Progressive Notes: Hoyer Moves to Quash Progressive Sheyman, Pray for Demise of Super Committee, and Other Doings

By on 19 November 2011

Art offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist.

“Every American ought to have the right to be treated; as he would like to be treated, as one would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated.”

-JFK.

Labor is launching a great ad campaign against Republican lawmakers in key states warning they not vote to make cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Too bad they don’t hit some of the Dems pushing cuts as well…

In Illinois Rep. Hoyer (D-Md) intervenes against one of the top progressive recruits of 2012 for the “moderate” candidate. Another memo from the DCCC against the liberal grassroots:

One of the highest ranking House Democrats is intervening in an Illinois primary, accenting the widening fissure between moderates and progressives in the battle to take back Rep. Robert Dold’s seat.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer is choosing the more moderate Brad Schneider over the more progressive Ilya Sheyman in the 10th District.

A release from Schneider’s campaign inexplicably failed to include a customary quote from Hoyer, and instead included the candidate’s praise of the Maryland congressman.

Hoyer appears to line up with Schneider more on ideological grounds, but it’s still striking for him to involve himself in a race that doesn’t include an incumbent or former member.

Sheyman, who is just 25, has racked up endorsements from the liberal wing of the party, including Reps. Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva and former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean. Last week, he won the blessing of eight-term Rep. Danny Davis.

This is one primary to watch.

The stark raving mad GOP House passed a NRA backed gun bill that defies sanity. It allows terrorists to cross state lines with guns legally among other things. And 43 Democrats voted with the GOP majority to approve this legislation. See those who wasted their votes protecting the rights of terrorists here.

More folks on the Hill are rooting for the Super Committee to fail. The idea of this committee itself was a failure of intellect. Liberals are openly urging this committee go die:

Now, in sharp contrast to this summer, Democrats say they are in the driver’s seat. They note that Republicans are already vowing to torpedo the sequestration cuts to the Defense Department, something Democrats say they will not go along with.

Many Democrats would prefer the sequestration cuts over a deal that would make major reforms to entitlement programs.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who voted against the debt deal on Aug. 1, is openly rooting for the super-panel to fall short.

“I hope that they cannot reach an agreement,” Nadler told Capital New York.

Nadler favors major cuts to the military — which could happen in 2013 if Congress cannot pass a deficit-reduction bill…

House Financial Services ranking member Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said, “Rather than a bad deal from the supercommittee, I would prefer a situation in which we had the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and sequestration and we could then work those two together — use revenue from letting the Bush tax cuts expire for the very wealthy as a way of moderating the blow of sequestration.”

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, suggested recently that the panel’s failure would be preferable.

“We can maneuver those [automatic cuts] around, and quite frankly, that might be the better path to take,” Harkin said last month on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program.

The Super Committee lurches towards it’s deadline and Sen. Sanders (I-Vt) launches into both parties for their failures:

As a Thanksgiving deadline nears for action by the powerful Super Committee on deficit reduction, I hope (but doubt) that Republicans will listen to the American people and support deficit reduction in a fair and responsible way. I hope (but doubt) that Democrats will not once again capitulate just for the sake of an agreement – but that’s been the pattern.

In December — when Democrats controlled the Senate, the House and the White House — Congress and President Obama not only extended Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy but also gave new breaks to heirs of the super-rich.

In April — with a Democrat in the White House and Democrats still in the majority in the Senate — Republicans threatened to shut down the government and delay the processing of new Social Security benefits for senior citizens unless their demands were met. Democrats went along with $78 billion in cuts from the president’s budget request.

In August, in an outrageous display of unprincipled gamesmanship, Republicans put the United States on the brink of bankruptcy. Instead of invoking clear 14th Amendment powers to honor our nation’s debts, the president and most Democrats agreed to a $2.5 trillion deficit-reduction package.

That’s how we got to where we are today.

Incredibly, throughout all of these negotiations — in December, in April, in August and again today — the wealthiest Americans and the country’s major corporations have not yet been asked to contribute one penny toward deficit reduction. That is despite huge cuts in life-and-death programs for working families.

The American people have had it. The Occupy Wall Street movement is growing. A virtual popular uprising forced Bank of America to drop an unpopular $5 monthly debit card fee. On Election Day 2011, in Ohio and many other states the American people said NO to right-wing extremism and corporate greed.

Sen. Sanders thinks stalemate makes for a critical election, but I am not as sure:

What if the super committee ends in stalemate? Across-the-board, automatic cuts are set to kick in. That so-called sequestration wouldn’t start, however, until 2013. That would make 2012 one of the most important election years in modern American history.

If Democrats stand with ordinary Americans and make it clear that they are prepared to take on the wealthy and the powerful, they could win both houses of Congress. They could give Obama a fresh infusion of boldness as he enters a second term in the White House.

Somehow I recall a few years ago millions of Americans chanting, “Yes, We Can.” Now is the time to hear their voices.

There is nothing more progressive than cleaning up government and making it open for all. And now Sen. Gillibrand (D-Ny) and others senators are putting forward a bill to end the practice of insider trading- from members of congress:

The lawmakers are urging passage of a measure that redefines insider trading to include knowledge gained from congressional work. It would also require “political intelligence consultants” to register as lobbyists.

“The American people deserve the right to know their lawmakers’ only interest is what’s best for the country, not their own financial interests,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a statement.

The other seven proposing the bill were Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

“Members of Congress should not have a different set of rules, they should be treated the same as everyone else. This is not a Democratic or Republican idea, it is just a good idea that can create wide bipartisan support,” Gillibrand said.

The senators said members of Congress and their staff are not prohibited by law or by congressional rules from using private information to invest and trade in stocks.

The measure would enable the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prosecute cases of insider trading by lawmakers, similar to a bill in the House, and make it a violation of the rules of the House and Senate to engage in such an activity.

Good to see Sen. McCaskill (D-Mo) pushing this agenda. For once she is inline with Truman.

This week’s Tea Party prize of idiocy goes to a bill they are pushing into law. It makes pizza a vegetable and would help kill our kids sooner. Oh boy:

Specifically, the bill would:

— Block the Agriculture Department from limiting starchy vegetables, including corn and peas, to two servings a week. The rule was intended to cut down on french fries, which many schools serve daily.

— Allow USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable, as it does now. The department had attempted to require that only a half-cup of tomato paste could be considered a vegetable. Federally subsidized lunches must have a certain number of vegetables to be served.

— Require further study on long-term sodium reduction requirements set forth by the USDA guidelines.

— Require USDA to define “whole grains” before they regulate them. The USDA rules require schools to use more whole grains.

Food companies who have fought the USDA standards say they were too strict and neglected the nutrients that potatoes, other starchy vegetables and tomato paste do offer.

Millions unemployed yet pizza is now a vegetable!

Second prize for idiocy:

In Texas a stunning error in a bill may force a special session. The GOP was so focused on passing garbage critical bills were left to the last day of session- and thus terrible mistakes were made. :

A Texas law passed on the frantic final day of the legislative session mistakenly omitted the $200 fine for driving a vehicle without license plates, possibly jeopardizing the enforcement of related laws including a ban on false, altered or obscured license plates.

The author of the bill, Rep. Joe Pickett, has asked the attorney general’s office to determine whether the omission will be a problem when the new law takes effect Jan. 1.

House Bill 2357, approved in May, divided motor vehicle violations into individual chapters as part of an effort to reorganize and modernize much of the Texas Transportation Code. Each chapter included the penalty for violations, eliminating the need to hunt through the voluminous code for punishment information.

But the 234-page bill inadvertently dropped language setting a $200 fine from the chapter outlawing the operation of vehicles without license plates, Pickett said.

“It was just a very huge, detailed bill that we’d already rewritten three, four, five times,” Pickett, D-El Paso, said Tuesday. “This wasn’t a first draft. We made so many corrections and changes, we thought we caught everything.”

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Chilling Video of UC Davis Police Pepper-Spraying Peaceful Students

By on 19 November 2011

I can’t see any legitimate basis for police action like what is shown here. Watch that first minute and think how we’d react if we saw it coming from some riot-control unit in China, or in Syria. The calm of the officer who walks up and in a leisurely way pepper-sprays unarmed and passive people right in the face? We’d think: this is what happens when authority is unaccountable and has lost any sense of human connection to a subject population. – James Fallows


What if the powers that be simply let the peaceful protests continue without any show of force?

After the event shown in the video, what did the UC Davis chancellor do? Sent out a letter and announced a task force. A task force? What’s wrong with these people? Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi is revealing more institutional blindness and callousness, which we saw most recently with Penn State, though that was obviously on a level all its own.

You are responsible for the police violence directed against students on the UC Davis quad on November 18, 2011. As I said, I am writing to hold you responsible and to demand your immediate resignation on these grounds. – Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi

A petition is now circulating to demand Chancellor Katehi resign.

Calling Gov. Jerry Brown.

The full story is at Huffington Post.

A judge in Massachusetts had the right idea earlier this week.

A Boston judge on Wednesday ordered the city not to remove Occupy Boston protesters or their tents from their encampment in the city’s financial district without court approval, except in an emergency.

[...] Howard Cooper, a lawyer for Occupy Boston, said the protesters are living under an “imminent threat” of the impairment of their constitutional rights if police are allowed to tear down the camp without giving the protesters the chance to argue against it in court.

“You can’t get those rights back once the moment is destroyed,” Cooper said.

It doesn’t preclude police from arrests on actual crimes.

Exercising your First Amendment rights peacefully is not a crime. It certainly doesn’t require pepper spray to be used on seated, peaceful students.

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Queer Talk: About that GOP Wannabe “Forum” Tonight, and Obama, and Thanksgiving

By on 19 November 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

Tonight is yet another gathering of GOP hopefuls: “The Thanksgiving Family Forum.” Accepting the invitation were Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Paul, Perry, and Santorum. Romney and Huntsman declined.

According to 2012PresidentialElectionNews, the event, which begins at 5:00 PM ET, will be livestreamed via CitizenLink and audio streamed via Bott Radio.

There will be no television broadcast since C-SPAN reversed its decision to broadcast the event citing budgetary reasons.

David Badash, at The New Civil Rights Movement has this to say:

Streaming live, straight (and I mean, ‘straight’) to you from the First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and sponsored by Bob Vander Plaats’ The Family Leader …, you can be sure that God, Guns, and Gays, along with abortion and religious freedom will be the central topics. …

The tag line is, ‘All great change in America begins at the dinner table.’ Ronald Reagan said that.

Ah, but whose dinner table, I wonder. And who gets an invitation?

Josh Dorner, at Think Progress tells us more:

If history is any guide, this event promises to be a veritable cornucopia of attacks on gays and women’s health care and a celebration of fringe social views.

Vander Platts is the guy who came up with the “Marriage Vow,” which he wants 2012 candidates to support. From Dorner, some key points of the “Vow”:

suggesting that children were better off under slavery than they are under Obama (later removed after a national outcry) …

attacking gays as a public health risk …

fomenting the non-existent ‘Sharia’ threat to America

In a Friday press release, The Human Rights Campaign had this to say:

This debate-style forum … is hosted by leading anti-gay groups The Family Leader, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and Focus on the Family.

According to HRC, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed the “Marriage Vow.” Apparently signing it wasn’t a requirement for being invited to the “Thanksgiving Family Forum.” Or, perhaps signing the NOM’s “Marriage Pledge” was good enough, which HRC says was

… signed by almost all of the leading GOP candidates. In its Pledge, NOM calls on the candidates, if elected, to set up a McCarthy presidential commission to investigate claims of harassment against traditional marriage supporters.

You know, the kind of supporters who would get a dinner invitation from Vander Platts.

Okay, here’s where Obama comes in. Not to the forum, of course – he’d never get an invitation – but in the sense of thinking about the GOP hopefuls, and how they compare with Obama. Anyone who has read more than a sentence or two of my posts will know I strongly think we need more than the “lesser of two evils” choices, and that the Republican and Democratic parties both operate as a front for those at the top; the 1%, if you will.

I think the Dallas Voice interview with HRC president Joe Solmonese (he leaves the position in March) shows an obvious “lesser of two evils” approach, but it’s still interesting. What’s even more interesting is his explicitly expressed concerns about Obama’s re-election. John Wright, at the Dallas Voice, with Solmonese fears 2012 setback:

Joe Solmonese admits he’s ‘very concerned’ about President Barack Obama’s prospects for re-election. …

… Solmonese focused largely on the importance of 2012 elections, saying that depending on their outcome, major advances during his tenure could be all but erased.

‘I don’t think that he’s going to lose,’ Solmonese said at one point, attempting to clarify his assessment of Obama’s chances. ‘I think that if everybody does what they need to do, I think there is just as good a chance that Barack Obama will be re-elected, but I’m as concerned that he could lose.’

Solmonese said Republicans already have a majority in the House, Democrats have only a slim majority in the Senate, and ‘everything about these [2012] elections points to us having real challenges.’ …

‘If we care about continuing with the forward motion that we’ve experienced, then we as a community need to do everything possible to re-elect Barack Obama,’ Solmonese said. ‘And we can talk about and debate and press the administration on his ability to do more, and him coming out for marriage, or anything else that we want to talk about, but now is the time to sort of decouple that from all of the work we need to put into getting him re-elected. …’

That same, either / or choice, about which we’re always told we can’t do anything until after the upcoming election.

Anyway, I started wondering about a Thanksgiving Family Dinner Forum at which all the GOP hopefuls and Obama worked together to prepare the meal, and then enjoyed the feast while they had an adult conversation about the needs of “this great nation of ours.” … And then I decided it was much more realistic to watch a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and be reminded: never, ever trust presidential hopefuls to do anything but pull the football away just as we’re running for the kick.

(Photo via New Civil Rights Movement)

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Dash of Dan: Pumpkin Rice Pudding

By on 19 November 2011

The first time I made rice pudding, it was a disaster.

It was too thick, I’m sure I burned some rice, and it was pretty much inedible.

Fast forward to today…..and I’ve made a wonderful, creamy and rich fall inspired dessert. (This would be great prepared ahead of time for Thanksgiving)

Pumpkin adds a subtle sweetness to the pudding while giving it a festive color, spices are added, and you can garnish with toppings of your choice.

* Serves 5-6

Recipe:

3/4 cup uncooked white rice (short or medium grain rice works best)

2 cups milk, divided                 1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/3 cup white sugar                  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt                       1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, beaten                               1/2 cup pumpkin

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add the rice and stir. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
  2. When the rice is plump and cooked, add 1 1/2 cups of milk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir, and cook until creamy . (Put some of this warm liquid into your beaten egg)
  3. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk, add the pumpkin and beaten egg. Stir well.
  4. Remove from heat, stir in the butter and vanilla. Serve warm or as I prefer, cold.

Toppings: In the above picture I added toasted coarsely chopped walnuts, although you could buy some candied ginger and chop it up, or a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Oh, or a dollop of  some homemade whipped cream. mmm.

Also over the next week, I’ll be posting some Thanksgiving recipes on the blog, I hope you’ll join me!

It has been quite a busy week and if your on Facebook, Dash of Dan is there! You’ll find an exclusive recipe, for liking it.

This is an open thread, and there is a lot of news out there! What’s on your mind? Are you already planning a Thanksgiving menu? I’m still debating what to bring to my sisters house. Let me know!

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I am Not A Lobbyist Becoming Newt Campaign Refrain

By on 18 November 2011

It’s reminiscent of Nixon’s “I am not a crook” line, coming from an equally offensive man, though Nixon was far more cunning.

Then why did companies in the health care industry pay Mr. Gingrich’s think tank over $37 million? Or what was that word the Post used, collected?

A think tank founded by GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich collected at least $37 million over the past eight years from major health-care companies and industry groups, offering special access to the former House speaker and other perks, according to records and interviews. – Gingrich think tank collected millions from health-care industry

Then there’s the other problem:

The health center advocated, among other things, requiring that “anyone who earns more than $50,000 a year must purchase health insurance or post a bond,” a type of insurance mandate that has since become anathema to conservatives.

If that doesn’t explode the heads of Republican primary voters just wait a moment for Newt’s history to load, because this guy has got a million of them.

Newt also lobbied for (ahem) discussed end of life care, aka “death panels” in wingnut speak, which he wrote about in the Washington Post in 2009: “Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin has developed a successful end-of-life, best practice…” Matt Taibbi hit him hard on it at the time.

Coming on top of Newt’s $1.6+ million “non-lobbying” fees for Freddie Mac, one wonders when Republicans and conservatives will get a clue.

This latest Newt “non-lobbying,” while actually lobbying, story comes as the shock poll of the day has Gingrich tied, that’s right, tied with Romney in New Hampshire. They don’t call it a shock poll for nothin’.

Two things are true about New Hampshire Republican primary voters. They vote for people they know. And they love an underdog with a comeback story. – NHJournal

I’ll need more than one poll to buy into the “underdog.. comeback story” notion that Newt Gingrich can beat Mitt Romney in New Hampshire.

But if it would put the squeeze on Romney to get busy in Iowa, I’d be tempted to push it.

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Now what, Occupy?

By on 18 November 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

Prior to the Day of Action I read and heard quite a few speculations that it would be a bust. Not many people would show up. Occupy was done, was old news. It had, as one person put it, “worn out its welcome,” though from what that person went on to say, I don’t think it’s likely he actually welcomed it to begin with.

But the November 17 Day of Action was, in fact, successful. By about 7:00 PM, EST, OWS reported that police scanners estimated the crowd at Foley Square to be about 32,650. One of the favorite chants heard: “Bloomberg beware, Zuccotti Park is everywhere!”

Among those joining were unions, college students and a “kids brigade,” members of which participated in leading the “people’s mic,” including the back and forth of, “Everywhere we go / people want to know / who we are / we are the students / mighty, mighty students / fighting for justice …”

So, after this big day across multiple Occupations, the questions still come: what’s next? We don’t yet know, but I found recent Adbuster “Tactical Briefing” releases interesting. Adbusters, of course, is where the Occupy Wall Street idea originated. They aren’t “in charge” – the “leaderless,” General Assembly, concensus, spokes organization is real. But it seems safe to guess that what Adbusters says is at least a part of the community conversation.

From the November 14 Tactical Briefing # 18:

Occupy the High Ground!

The last four months have been hard fought, inspiring and delightfully revolutionary. …

But as winter approaches an ominous mood could set in … What shall we do to keep the magic alive?

Here are a couple of emerging ideas:

STRATEGY #1: We summon our strength, grit our teeth and hang in there through winter …

STRATEGY #2: We declare ‘victory’ and throw a party … a festival … a potlatch … a jubilee … a grand gesture to celebrate, commemorate, rejoice in how far we’ve come, the comrades we’ve made, the glorious days ahead. …

Then we clean up, scale back and most of us go indoors while the die-hards hold the camps. We use the winter to brainstorm, network, build momentum so that we may emerge rejuvenated with fresh tactics, philosophies, and a myriad projects ready to rumble next Spring.

Whatever we do, let’s keep our revolutionary spirit alive … .

Then, on November 16, Tactical Briefing # 19:

Our Existential Moment.

… Our movement is living through an existential, make-or-break moment. …

For many weeks we had a kind of magic going for us … we held the high ground … we stuck doggedly to our Gandhian ways and blindsided the cynical world with our optimism, our camaraderie, our nonviolence, our determination to forge a different kind of future. …

But New York’s billionaire Mayor decided to snuff us out. …

This assault has stiffened our resolve. Now begins the second, visceral, canny, militant phase of our nonviolent march to real democracy. We regroup, lick our wounds and begin our counterattack as early as tomorrow.

We will turn this winter into a training ground for precision disruptions – flashmobs, stink bombs, edgy theatrics – against the megacorps and the unrepentant 1%, a festival of resistance in the snow with, or without, an encampment that’ll lay the tactical foundation for our Spring Offensive.

I have little doubt that should the Occupied camps close, or shrink in numbers, there will be swift and disdainful judgments: the dirty, lazy, socialist, Obama front, get-a-job hippies failed, just as we predicted they would! I have equally as little doubt that such a generalized judgment will be as wrong as the others that have been made about the motives, strategies, and the persons involved with the Occupy movement.

One indication of support for the Occupiers is by way of NYC General Assembly, posted prior to yesterday’s big action, about “Housing Support.” St. Paul and Andrews Church; Judson Memorial Church; Church of the Village; St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and Riverside Church all offered housing for Occupiers. Says, the NYCGA: “Access to these spaces is all thanks to the kindness of the church! Please show great respect for the people and the space when you are there!”

At Corrente, lambert writes:

Buried deep within this Reuters story, a gem:

A couple of dozen protesters took refuge at two Manhattan churches that offered them a place to sleep. Hundreds more were put up by New Yorkers who offered their homes, [OWS spokesman Ed] Needham said. Looks like Abigail Field’s suggestion is coming true:

‘The only way to regain the power of the protest, to eliminate any shred of pretense for police state action, is to sever occupying and camping.

So how do we do that? By enabling the Occupiers to camp with you, and occupy the square in shifts. If sleeping and all the biological needs of the occupiers–can be handled in your space, the Occupiers can stand vigil in our space.

Whatever comes next with Occupy, the public spaces for the conversations which the Electeds and Elites really, really don’t want to be happening, have already been created.

( Nov.17 NYC Day of Action Crowd photo via OWS
Nov.17 NYC Day of Action Mobile Library via People’s Library )

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Woman Gets Prison Over Food Stamp Fraud

By on 18 November 2011


From Matt Taibbi:

Last week, a federal judge in Mississippi sentenced a mother of two named Anita McLemore to three years in federal prison for lying on a government application in order to obtain food stamps. – Woman Gets Jail For Food-Stamp Fraud; Wall Street Fraudsters Get Bailouts

This is about fundamental fairness.

When Wall Street bankers get off and a poor woman trying to feed herself gets jail, Occupy resounds.

ps-Olbermann’s special comment is an added bonus and for people who don’t have access to his amazing OWS coverage.


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Sarah Palin Occupies Congress in Today’s Wall Street Journal

By on 18 November 2011


One of Sarah Palin’s “foreign policy advisers” is Peter Schweizer, author of the new book, “Throw Them All Out.” She cites him in the first paragraph of her Wall Street Journal op-ed today on, of all things, Occupy. However, the title is very misleading: How Congress Occupied Wall Street.

This may not be Mrs. Palin’s fault, however. It’s likely that of the Wall Street Journal‘s title jockey’s who are so ignorant they don’t know that to Occupy means to confront. The last thing Congress has done is “occupy” Wall Street.

But reading Palin’s entire op-ed, all I can think of is how my assessment of her in my new book is right on (Sarah Palin was the first to benefit from the Hillary Effect). What might have happened if Palin hadn’t been seduced herself, but instead kept her fight against “crony capitalism” alive throughout the last years?

A snippet of her op-ed:

Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it’s easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).

The corruption isn’t confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It’s an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It’s an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.

None of this surprises me. I’ve been fighting this type of corruption and cronyism my entire political career. For years Alaskans suspected that our lawmakers and state administrators were in the pockets of the big oil companies to the detriment of ordinary Alaskans. We knew we were being taken for a ride, but it took FBI wiretaps to finally capture lawmakers in the act of selling their votes. In the wake of politicos being carted off to prison, my administration enacted reforms based on transparency and accountability to prevent this from happening again.

In her piece today, Sarah Palin proves why and how she rose in Alaska. The problem is that her lack of character and the seduction to power and money allowed her to get distracted from what once made her so attractive a politician.

The power she once had is gone and it will take a complete rebranding to get it back. It looks like she’s making a move on that today.

Who cares?

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Secy. Clinton to Travel to Burma

By on 18 November 2011

Secretary Clinton talks about flooding in Thailand, U.S. flood assistance and the role of women in the time of crisis during an interview with “Puying Teung Puying” [Women to Women] TV news program on the morning of Thursday, November 17, 2011. (State Dept Image)

According to Politico, Pres. Obama will formally announce the trip today.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Burma next month in a historic effort to bridge the decades-old divide between the United States and the Southeast Asian country, the Obama administration announced here Friday.

Clinton will be the first secretary of State to visit the country, also known as Myanmar, in more than half a century. Burma operated under military rule for decades, but as the country has begun to reform, the Obama administration has worked to improve relations. Clinton’s trip is a sign that the administration believes those efforts have been successful and that it will continue to make progress.

Secy. Clinton continues to make history, on the cusp of entering what she’s said will be her last year as Pres. Obama’s Secretary of State.

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Herman Cain Ducks New Hampshire Interview

By on 18 November 2011

“We need a leader, not a reader,” Cain told hundreds of cheering supporters inside a Nashua hotel ballroom. Some had traveled from nearby states to see him. – AP


What a colossal embarrassment Herman Cain has become. After serial allegations of sexual harassment, he also proved that thinking and answering questions about foreign policy, even recent events, is just too much for him. That goes double if an interview is videotaped.

So, if you had any doubts that his “campaign” was one big charade, give them up. Herman Cain has ditched the New Hampshire Union Leader interview. That’s not just big, it’s huge.

From Michael Calderone:

If Herman Cain stumbles on a foreign policy question during Thursday’s scheduled meeting with the influential New Hampshire Union Leader — as he did earlier this week when asked about President Obama’s handling of Libya — don’t expect to see the clip on an endless cable news loop.

That’s because Cain’s campaign has requested that the sit-down not be videotaped. And now, a scheduling matter puts the entire 10 a.m. interview in jeopardy.

Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid told The Huffington Post that “no reason was given” for the no-camera request and he “was a bit surprised” by it. So far, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum have all met with the Union Leader and allowed C-SPAN to tape the newspaper interviews for broadcast.

No reason needs to be given. Just watch Cain’s interview on Libya or better yet, Jon Stewart’s take down of Mr. Cain.

As for the video at the top, it’s via Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo and TPM’s Benjy Sarlin and ABC’s Susan Archer, all of whom picked up on a classic Herman Cain quote that is straight out of “The Simpsons,” which is shown above.

At this point Herman Cain is trying to get out of his fake presidential candidacy with his book tour and speaking hopes intact.

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Occupy Day of Lots of Action

By on 17 November 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

UPDATE 3: “7:06 pm: Police scanners estimate the crowd at 32,650 people” (from OWS)

UPDATE 2: NYC crowd reported to still be growing. Actions happening around the nation — Austin, Seattle. Apparently police about to move in to arrest in LA.

UPDATE: Estimated 10,000 at Foley Square.

Today the Occupy Movement marked its two month anniversary. Only two months. Or, two whole months. Depends on your perspective, I guess, if it seems amazing that so much has happened in only two months, or if it seems like it’s going on too long. Not surprising to anyone who has read even one of these Occupy posts, I’m in the first group. Evolving strategies and goals will have to occur. Like every other group of people, it’s not perfect. But now it’s too big, too many and too persistent to fail to get the 99% messages out. It remains to be seen, of course, what the outcome will be.

I’m not going to try to recap the actions that occurred today in NYC alone, much less in other Occupations – Dallas, LA, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco. There’s just too much, and it’s still going on. Check out OWS; OccupyWallStreet;
People’s Library.

One incident today, in NYC, at about 1:35 PM EST. This is based on my following the OWS livestream at Zuccotti Park. To say that it was chaotic is an understatement. There was no apparent reason when the NYPD suddenly moved in, with batons raised, closed off the entrance (the park is surrounded by PD barricades), not letting anyone in or out. The number of police was said to be at least as large as the number of Occupiers. PD van, multiple paddy wagons arrive. One person had a photo that shows one man injured. For a while, even those on the oustside of the barriers were surrounded by PD. Things seemed to settle down after 45 minutes or so. Someone speculated the raid was to stop the 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM actions. If that’s true, it didn’t work. Oh, it was “windy, cold and drizzly.”

Watching this and other livestreams; following the OWS Twitter feed; and checking other sources more was a bit hectic. I only say that to indicate, once again, that I’m barely scratching the surface. Today was just more obvious than usual. One thing to stress: most of today’s post is based on what I saw, heard reported or claimed. And tweets, of course, are not varified news sources. Anyway, things moved very quickly, so bear with me, please, on a somewhat disjointed post.

At the various places I watched, there was a lot of peaceful, happy celebrating and chanting. There was some anger and frustration, and some fear (all of which could be seen on the faces of both Occupiers and police at times). There were numerous reports of arrests.

There were announcements, mostly of the “people’s mic” variety – lots of logistical information, of chants, of updates. And guess what, “mic checks” were also done to ask Occupiers to help pick up any litter from the area they were leaving, before moving on to the next. Livestreaming the revolution includes clean-up details.

More tweets than usual, with hopes they provide a some idea of the busy day:

RegimeChangeUK…: Remember that Philly Police Captain who said the cops were being too violent w/ protester? NYPD arrested him at #OWS: bit.ly/rsgLwx

robotson RT @aestetix: Chants of ‘We are the 99%’ echo through the streets of downtown Manhattan. It’s like a human pipe organ.

torilife RT @Anonymous_SA RT @OccupyJapan11: Occupy Tokyo: Mass demonstrations go unreported by Japanese media goo.gl/gkomt

rylan7 RT @LucyKafanov:… for all the unprovoked acts of police brutality today many officers were also kind & courteous. Went out of way to help me film

go4stimulus RT @JohnD1967: … Girl gets dragged by her hair by the cops at #ows near the NYSE goo.gl/ekQae

NastiaNas RT @democracynow: RT @theCCR: #NYPD ‘counter-terrorism’ unit spotted at the #OWS protests

v3rsus RT @AnonMedics: At almost every #ows event, we meet someone who says ‘I came down here to see if the media was telling the real story, and they weren’t.’

raimyrosenduft … LAPD very carefully, gingerly, lifting older woman off ground, gently frisking and zip-cuffing her, and walking her away. @occupyla #ows

Kidipede RT @nyclu: Bloomberg Says Protests Illustrate Economic Anxiety – NYTimes.com nyti.ms/sKhBs7

leafymatt RT @PennyRed: … the new library at #ows -on wheels for evading police. It’s a getaway library! yfrog.com/nt2snqsj

RoseWeaver12 Wall of police; 3 layers. #OWS #owsnews Counter-terrorism units on scene.
blueduck37 RT @OccupyWallSt: Some bankers are holding signs that say, ‘get a job.’…

innerwizdom RT @FreeChildhood: I want to thank every single protester who’s out on the streets, risking assault and arrest, for those of us who can’t be there.

Rockacenter RT @LindsayFederico: If only the government enforced bank regulations and much as they enforce public park rules!

kombiz RT @LauraClawson: Arrested, my father texts me asking me to cancel his lunch plans for him. Guess he’s ok.

eurekasue48 … #OccupyDallas raid in progress. Tents being removed. Sound cannon used. Livestream: tinyurl.com/occupydallas

TWalshJr7 Days like today I wish I was a NYPD so I could mush face the shit outta some #ows protestor hippies.

jackiemoon_5 #ows I approve all #NYPD using brutal force with these deadbeats. We’re just people trying to get to work, maybe they should be doing same.

markm1962 RT @topherjensen: Thank God they broke #ows up. Protestors were about 2 start bundling bad mortgages & betting trillions on unregulated derivatives.

Finally, this is by way of Washington Post:

President Barack Obama’s spokesman is suggesting the president believes it’s up to New York and other municipalities to decide how much force to use in dealing with Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

Spokesman Jay Carney also says Obama hopes the right balance can be reached between protecting freedom of assembly and speech with the need to uphold order and safeguard public health and safety.

Carney spoke to reporters Tuesday as Obama flew to Australia. He was asked whether Obama had been following the early-morning police raid on Zuccotti Park in New York, where Occupy Wall Street protesters have camped out for weeks.

Carney said the president was ‘aware of it.’

He said the administration’s position is that each municipality has to make its own decisions about how to handle these issues.

Leadership you can believe in, as being predictably cautious and noncommittal.

(Photo via OWS Press.
Day of Action poster via OWS Nov. 17 Facebook.)

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Ann Coulter Endorses Mitt Romney

By on 17 November 2011

Alternate headline: Hell Freezes! Ann Coulter Makes Sense.

I couldn’t resist Ms. Coulter’s latest column on Townhall, mainly because it actually makes the perfect case for Romney, especially when she mentions the suburban women’s vote.

However, it’s her take down of Newt that is so delicious.

So now, apparently, we have to go through the cycle of the media pushing Newt Gingrich. This is going to be fantastic.

In addition to having an affair in the middle of Clinton’s impeachment; apologizing to Jesse Jackson on behalf of J.C. Watts — one of two black Republicans then in Congress –- for having criticized “poverty pimps,” and then inviting Jackson to a State of the Union address; cutting a global warming commercial with Nancy Pelosi; supporting George Soros’ candidate Dede Scozzafava in a congressional special election; appearing in public with the Rev. Al Sharpton to promote nonspecific education reform; and calling Paul Ryan’s plan to save Social Security “right-wing social engineering,” we found out this week that Gingrich was a recipient of Freddie Mac political money.

This scathing indictment comes the same day Gingrich tops Romney in the latest Rasmussen poll 32% to 19%, with Cain coming in at 13%. I guess Dennis Miller’s endorsement of Herman didn’t change any minds. Meanwhile, Rick Perry has crashed and burned.

Coulter continues:

The mainstream media keep pushing alternatives to Mitt Romney not only because they are terrified of running against him, but also because they want to keep Republicans fighting, allowing Democrats to get a four-month jump on us.

Meanwhile, everyone knows the nominee is going to be Romney.

That’s not so bad if you think the most important issues in this election are defeating Obama and repealing Obamacare.

There may be better ways to stop Obamacare than Romney, but, unfortunately, they’re not available right now. (And, by the way, where were you conservative purists when Republicans were nominating Waterboarding-Is-Torture-Jerry-Falwell-Is-an-Agent-of-Intolerance-My-Good-Friend-Teddy-Kennedy-Amnesty-for-Illegals John McCain-Feingold for president?)

Among Romney’s positives is the fact that he has a demonstrated ability to trick liberals into voting for him. He was elected governor of Massachusetts — one of the most liberal states in the union — by appealing to Democrats, independents and suburban women.

All Mitt Romney has to do now is convince the 99% he’s got better answers than Pres. Obama on the economy. Considering the wrong track numbers Obama’s dealing with today it’s my belief that even with Romney’s negatives, the American people will give him a chance.

In fact, against Pres. Obama there really isn’t a better Republican nominee to take him on. These guys are bookends of Democratic and Republicanism, representing the two establishment, corporate and Wall Street fueled political parties, each with their own flips and flops and marketing that doesn’t match the man.

Looking at both candidates the objective question remains Is this the best we’ve got?

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Will Today’s Tea Party Embrace Ronald Reagan?

By on 17 November 2011

Growing Republican support for raising taxes to help reduce the deficit has prompted a GOP identity crisis, sparking a clash within the party over whether to abandon its bedrock anti-tax doctrine. – GOP supercommittee members’ tax plan gives party an identity crisis

There isn’t anything good to say about what leaders have done so far to deal with America’s economic challenges. Before the 2010 mid-term elections, Pres. Obama and the Democrats didn’t even bother with an economic message, then after the elections Obama caved on his campaign pledge and Democratic economics to embrace the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest. As for Republicans, with the right in charge we’ve gotten Paul Ryan’s plan to gut Medicare, while Grover Norquist continues to have more power than logic or Ronald Reagan’s legacy that used to be the guiding light of Republicans.

Ronald Reagan wouldn’t have paid attention to Norquist or the Tea Party. Of course, he couldn’t get nominated today by right wingers who control the primary process. But let’s say he was in charge today. Mr. Reagan would have had no problem raising taxes. It’s exactly what he did in the 1980s, something Republicans conveniently forget. Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan man, whom I’ve quoted before:

Almost immediately upon enactment of the 1981 tax cut, Reagan came under enormous pressure to do something about the federal budget deficit. While his preferred approach was to cut spending as much as necessary, it was not politically possible to so. His aides began pressuring him to support a tax increase. Conservative activists were appalled that Reagan would even consider such a thing, but he eventually endorsed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. According to a Treasury Department analysis, it raised taxes by close to one percent of GDP, equivalent to $150 billion per year today, and was probably the largest peacetime tax increase in American history.[11]

This was just the first of many tax increases that President Reagan endorsed and signed into law. There were 11 major tax increases during his administration. And this doesn’t count the fact that Reagan intentionally delayed the start of tax indexing, which was part of the 1981 tax bill, until 1985 so as to capture a lot of anticipated bracket-creep for the Treasury. In fact, it was the failure of inflation to come in as fast as White House economists expected that created much of the deficit problem. I estimate that lower than expected inflation and the loss of bracket creep was responsible for about half the budget deficit in 1981 and 1982.[12] It’s also worth noting that the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was revenue-neutral in the long run, was a fairly substantial revenue-raiser its first year, increasing taxes by $18.6 billion or 0.41 percent of GDP.[13]

The right excavating, then channeling their inner Reagan, however slightly, could actually save Republicans from the Gingrich-Cain-Perry catastrophe they’re currently facing. Back to the Washington Post:

Tensions have mounted in recent days as two of the GOP’s most fervent anti-tax stalwarts on Capitol Hill — Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Tex.) — have lobbied party colleagues behind the scenes to forgo their old allegiances and even break campaign promises by embracing hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes.

If Congress can’t come up with a way to cut $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, the Budget Act will do it for them unless some sort of postponement is worked out. A look at the deadlines that must be met and what happens if they’re not:

The two conservative lawmakers have pushed the increases as part of their work on the bipartisan congressional “supercommittee” tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions by a Thanksgiving deadline. Their plan, which also addresses entitlement spending, would generate at least $300 billion in new tax revenue over the next decade by overhauling the tax code to lower rates but also eliminate deductions and loopholes.

A long time ago I was on a conference call with George Soros, along with several other progressive new media writers and bloggers. One thing he said always struck me: how important it is to have a strong, viable Republican Party, parties to challenge one another.

Democrats have failed miserably on economics, starting with not bothering to make the case for progressive financial policy.

Republicans seem hamstrung by the right wing rabble. An identity crisis may be just the thing to wake up people that Grover Norquist’s no tax extortion is killing this country and drowning it in the bathtub.

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Romneycare vs. Obamacare: ‘They’re the same f—ing bill.’

By on 17 November 2011

Right wing primary voters are not going to like this at all. Sane Republicans showing up to vote for Romney, Huntsman will not flinch. They know health care is a substantive policy issue that must be dealt with at the federal level.

The flaming quote in the headline comes from Jonathan Gruber, one of Pres. Obama’s chief advisers on ACA, who also was Gov. Romney’s chief adviser on health care. He was talking with Capital New York’s Reid Pillifant.

TPM flagged this priceless interview. Here’s the nut:

Because this is an idea, that four or five years ago, Republicans were touting. A guy from the Heritage Foundation spoke at the bill signing in Massachusetts about how good this bill was.”

He credited Mitt Romney for not totally disavowing the Massachusetts bill during his presidential campaign, but said Romney’s attempt to distinguish between Obama’s bill and his own is disingenuous.

“The problem is there is no way to say that,” Gruber said. “Because they’re the same fucking bill. He just can’t have his cake and eat it too. Basically, you know, it’s the same bill. He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he’s just lying. The only big difference is he didn’t have to pay for his. Because the federal government paid for it. Where at the federal level, we have to pay for it, so we have to raise taxes.”

To Gruber, the stakes for the court’s decision couldn’t be higher.

“Basically, this is the last hope for a free-market solution for covering the uninsured. If this fails, then you either give up on the uninsured or you go to single-payer. Those are the only two options left. And the Republicans, if they’re willing to stand up and say, ‘We give up on the uninsured,’ then great, let them say that and let the voters come to the polls and decide, but they won’t say that.

I was reticent about embracing single payer, because I didn’t think there was anyone who could sell the idea all the way to getting it into law. I knew the individual mandate was awful without a public option, which was easy to see. However, it’s clear one of the biggest mistakes of Obama’s first term was… never mind. The list is far too long.

Ironically, it may not matter, because Republicans right now aren’t offering an alternative the wider electorate will be able to stomach, with a third option, if it comes, likely to come from the right, certainly not the left.

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Progressive Notes: Houston School Board Member’s Hate Mail Spurs Grassroots into Action

By on 16 November 2011

Art offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist.

There is a major political story exploding here in Houston Texas.

I’ve been involved with a school board campaign for Ramiro Fonseca, a well respected member of the Latino community who heads the Hispanic Forum. He challenged the incumbent Houston ISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez in a very tough race. Rodriguez does not support union rights, prompting all of labor, our Mayor Annise Parker, state house members and others to back Ramiro.

On Thursday November 4th I got, from someone in the district the race was playing out in, a pdf file of a horrid mailer Rodriguez sent out. This mailer was abhorrent and you can see it here . It made Ramiro Fonseca sound like he was not normal and worse simply because he is gay.

It was the worst attack I have seen in Houston politics, and we are very open caring city with a openly gay mayor. Something had to be done, so the GLBT Caucus came out and condemned the ad. I felt it needed media coverage ASAP as the election would be Tuesday November 8th. So I called KHOU, a CBS station, November 6th. And presto, the KHOU reporter was at my home in an hour, had interviewed me and the president of the GLBT Caucus and it was the lead news story that night.

Here is KHOU’s breaking report on November 6th, Sunday.

Making matters more complex was that the Houston Chronicle in mid October endorsed Trustee Rodriguez. So we needed the Chronicle to retract it’s endorsement before Election Day. And thanks to many emails from progressives, along with the KHOU story, the Chronicle did something unprecedented: it retracted their endorsement and shredded Trustee Rodriguez’s bigoted actions. The editorial noted that:

The flier further states that Fonseca has “spent years advocating for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender rights … not kids,” and winds up with a pair of bullet points noting that he’s 54 years old with no children and has a male partner.

That’s obvious gay-bashing, of the kind that HISD rightly prohibits on the playground. It has no place on HISD’s board.

Advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights is advocating for kids. GLBT kids are among those who most need adult protection and support.

As Noel Freeman, president of the Houston GLBT Caucus notes, “GLBT youth are 12 times more likely to be bullied in schools, five times more likely to commit suicide and eight times more likely to be homeless. It is imperative that we provide a safe, welcoming environment in our schools.”

With his hateful flier, Rodriguez perpetuates the kind of stereotypes that put our kids in danger.

Read it in fullhere.

Although the Chronicle pulled it’s endorsement the day prior to the election, it sadly was not enough to stave a loss for challenger Fonseca. On Election Day, November 8th, Fonseca won the vote total. But in the early vote, before the mailer went out, Trustee Rodriguez got more votes. So sadly Fonseca LOST BY 24 VOTES. 24. And your vote doesn’t matter?

So here we are in a struggle to have justice. The HISD board approved months ago a sweeping anti-bully policy to help protect GLBT students and others. Yet here we have a board member attacking a member of the community because of what he happens to be?

This behavior by the vice president and sitting trustee of the HISD board is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated. I, and many others, have called for his resignation. Of course the trustee won’t resign, but many of us have been and will continue to pressure the school district on the matter.

Hopefully there will be more for me to report in terms of action. Dozens of Houstonians did show up, including myself, at the HISD November 10th board meeting. Why? To protest Trustee Rodriguez’s unacceptable behavior, and the message it sends for this bully who espouses bigotry, to remain on the board with no punishment.

Protestors organized and some 30 showed up, making the 10pm news, and I, among many other students, parents and teachers, addressed the board on t he shame it is to have this man sit on it and the need for him to step down or somehow be removed. In a op-ed I wrote this week, I recalled a stirring moment from the meeting. The setting was a record 350 citizens crammed into the board room with this issue popping up every 15 minutes :

A Milby High School student asked HISD Trustee Rodriguez: “Are you going to help us stop the bullying or are you going to be a bully yourself?” Parents tearfully expressed their shame and fury over this matter and asked for the trustee to resign or be removed. By meetings end some attendees became emotionally overwhelmed and were uncontrollably crying for the pain this board member’s actions had inflicted on them, their families and neighbors.

You can read the full op-ed here .

Also you can read more about the protests at the board meeting here, and ABC KTRK’s report here.

And yes, Trustee Rodriguez did “apologize” the day after the election. it did not go over well as his apology was never sent to Ramiro, nor to the GLBT Caucus. And it was half hearted at best. See the letter and reaction here.

Special thanks to Texas Watchdog who was on this story first and did great articles, interviewing all parties. Some jaw dropping comments from the trustee on the mailer as well. Oh things like this:

“It’s the truth,” Rodriguez said during a phone interview, adding that he is not anti-gay. “I am not bashing gay people.”

Uh, yeah right. This board member thinks he can get away with his actions. He is wrong.

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The Occupation has begun, and the 1% know it …

By on 16 November 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

The Occupation continues. Last night, from OWS:

This Is What Democracy Looks Like: Huge General Assembly in Progress at Liberty Square

The feeling here at Liberty Square tonight is the feeling of a movement that is rising, building, and making headway.

As I wrote yesterday, the timing of Bloomberg’s move, and that of other mayors, might not have been the smartest, as the Zuccotti action in particular simply revved up energy for tomorrow’s “International Day of Action,” and for the movement in general. A bit more on the Action plans for tomorrow later, but a few other things first, beginning with this (posted prior to the re-entrance into Zuccotti) bit of tongue-in-cheek, from OWS:

NYPD Occupying Liberty Square; Demands Unclear

The NYPD have been occupying Liberty Square since 1:00 am Tuesday morning, with the brand new occupation now set to enter its second day in just a few short hours. But will anyone listen to them when their message is so incoherent?

‘What are their demands?’ asked social historian Patrick Bruner. ‘They have not articulated any platform. How do they expect to be taken seriously?’

Critics of the new occupation allege that meddling billionaire Michael Bloomberg is behind the movement. Others question the new occupiers’ militant posture, concerned about the potential effects on the neighborhood.

‘I suppose they have a right to express themselves,’ said local resident Han Shan. ‘But I’d prefer it if instead they occupied the space with the power of their arguments.’

Humor is a survival necessity of activism.

I mentioned this story yesterday, and Taylor has a piece up from earlier today. Check it out for details. Via FDL, “Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement.” Last night and today it, and related stories, are getting a lot more attention. The mayoral conference calls are confirmed, and as Taylor’s post lays out, there’s much conversation about what else is happening. I’ve pointed out the predictable use of demeaning language generalized to the entire Occupy movement multiple times in the last several weeks. I’m bringing this up again because of a comment I saw at that FDL post, which I think probably nails at least one piece of the recent escalation:

Eclair … Probably they want to clear away the sites before Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season starts.

Business as usual – that’s the holiday, and News Years’, hopes of the Elite. From Chris Hedges, at TruthOut:

This Is What Revolution Looks Like …

(The ‘corporate oligarchs’ want us to) Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. … Run up your credit card debt. … Chant back to us our phrases about democracy, greatness and freedom. Vote in our rigged political theater. Send your young men and women to fight and die in useless, unwinnable wars that provide corporations with huge profits. Stand by mutely as our bipartisan congressional super committee … plunges you into a society without basic social services … .

The historian Crane Brinton in his book ‘Anatomy of a Revolution’ laid out the common route to revolution. …

Revolutions always begin, he wrote, by making impossible demands that if the government met would mean the end of the old configurations of power. The second stage, the one we have entered now, is the unsuccessful attempt by the power elite to quell the unrest and discontent through physical acts of repression.

While there are obviously many new aspects to this political / social moment, there is also what OWS recognizes as, “stand(ing) on the shoulders of those who have struggled before us.”

Arun Gupta, at AlterNet provides an idea of about what some of those “shoulders” were working for.

7 Occupations That Changed US History

… 1) The Great Upheaval of 1877
… railroad men sparked the first general strike in U.S. history. Following a second pay cut in eight months, workers for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad seized the train lines and roundhouse in the small town of Martinsburg, West Virginia on July 16, 1877. …

2) 1930s labor movements
The Flint sit-down strikes that began in December 1936 and won union recognition for hundreds of thousands of industrial workers are legendary. But more than two years earlier, workers flexed their militancy through forms of occupation that won wage increases and union representation. …

3) Harvard Building Women’s Takeover
On International Women’s Day in 1971, March 6, hundreds of women began a 10-day occupation of a Harvard-owned building in Cambridge, Massachusetts. …

4) Free Speech Movement
… Facing an extremely hostile political structure and media a century ago, the “Wobblies” (Industrial Workers of the World), Emma Goldman and other anarchists honed their soap-box speaking to effectively promote their causes and build their ranks. They believed in the power of workers as producers, and put their hope in the general strike and street politics. …

5)The Stono Rebellion
… On the morning of Sept. 9, (1739) … up to 100 black slaves who had covertly gathered at the Stono River in South Carolina launched the largest rebellion in pre-Revolutionary War America. Slave revolts are by their nature a secretive affair, but Stono’s Rebellion involved the occupation of public space: a procession of liberated slaves who marched toward Florida where the Spanish had promised freedom. …

6) The Battle in Seattle
The immediate pre-cursor to the Occupy Wall Street Movement is the alter-globalization movement that caused the collapse of the WTO ministerial in Seattle in late 1999. Horizontalist and anarchist, the movement occupied areas around conclaves of the ruling elites: the WTO, IMF, World Bank, World Economic Forum and NATO. …

7) Lunch Counter Sit-ins
On Feb. 1, 1960, four freshmen from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in a Woolworth store in the city of Greensboro and asked to be served coffee and doughnuts. They stay until the store closes. The next day the four return with other students, and by day four the number of protesters is nearly 300.

See, the darn dirty hippies who just need to get a job have historical models. So does some of the press, as Gupta’s quote from a March 4, 1912 editorial by the San Diego Tribune reveals, describing the Free Speech Movement occupiers:

… they are absolutely useless in the human economy; they are the waste material of creation and should be drained off into the sewer of oblivion there to rot in cold obstruction like any other excrement.

All of which provides context for tomorrow as OWS continues the tradition:

November 17th
International Day of Action

On Thursday November 17th, the two month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, we call upon the 99% to participate in a national day of direct action and celebration! …

You can find details at the link, including about the plans of Occupy Colleges.

(Photo via OWS)

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REPORT: Occupy Crackdowns Aided by Feds – Homeland Security

By on 16 November 2011


Hundreds of police officers were involved, some of them wearing riot helmets. The overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday were chosen because Zuccotti Park would be at its emptiest. The operation was kept secret from all but a few high-ranking officers, with others initially being told that they were embarking on an exercise. – After an Earlier Misstep, a Minutely Planned Raid

The ground has been laid for Occupy protests to get very bad PR. Public Policy Polling now reveals it in “Occupy Wall Street Favor Fading.”

The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.

Police in riot gear in the middle of a public park, while peaceful protests continue, tend to do that, but then it’s been planned that way. Can’t have democracy breaking out in America over something as silly as income inequality, now can we?

The right is doing their best to help.

The right is fueled by stupid.

But it’s this report yesterday by Rick Ellis in the Examiner out of Wisconsin that is getting deserved attention, because it points to the escalations we’re seeing.

Establishment forces, which include the business community, are very likely targeting Occupy protests and working hard to damage the movement, their reputation and the basic fight they’re waging, because the message is real. So, if you can’t hijack the message, damage the messenger. Make them look frightening, threatening, dirty, add your favorite negative adjective.

‘Occupy’ crackdowns coordinated with federal law enforcement officials

Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict “Occupy” protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night’s move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.

The official, who spoke on background to me late Monday evening, said that while local police agencies had received tactical and planning advice from national agencies, the ultimate decision on how each jurisdiction handles the Occupy protests ultimately rests with local law enforcement.

David Atkins writes today about a “sanitized eviction,” with the story I link at the top by the New York Times beginning the cleaning. The salient point of Atkins’ post:

This was not a clean, sanitary peaceful operation on rowdy vagrants. This was a violent assault on the civil liberties of Americans peacefully protesting a corrupt system, complete with a coordinated total media blackout.

Scary pictures and videos on TV going out to middle America, along with right-wing radio blasting the dangers of Occupy protesters, all of this is how a movement is discredited.

What’s the dangers to people if peaceful protests were allowed to continue without interruption, as is their right?

The fear is to businesses impacted by Occupy protesters presence. That freaks the establishment, with the loss of business revenue enough to inspire engagement by the federal government and Homeland Security to become involved in helping locally.

Our democratic republic isn’t what it used to be.


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