Obama's Agenda and The People Who Hate Him For It

The Agenda

Each President is confronted with new and unique challenges. Learn more about the Obama-Biden Administration's positions on everything from health care and the economy to alternative energy and foreign policy.

Neocons and Christofascists hate change - unless the change is in their direction - usually in reverse.We knew that organizations like the Family Research Council run by James Dobson's toady, Tony Perkins would jocky for position to shoot down absolutely everything President Obama proposes. The thing that scares the Christofascist Right is that Obama is working exceptionally fast to undo eight years of mismanagement, cronyism and corruption. Yes, the administration is using a steamroller and the Right was off guard licking Sarah Palin's wounds while Obama's transition team segued seamlessly into the next generation of Americans.

I've annotated Perkins' latest "frantasy" (frantic fear mixed with delusions of an America that never was)

(From Tony Perkins and The FRC, Jan. 22, 2009)

Alhough the Obama administration is a little over 24 hours old, the new President has already set to work undoing years of pro-life and pro-family policy. Minutes after Obama took the oath of office, the transfer of power was made complete on the White House website. The page, once home to a host of family values (1), now welcomes an extreme collection of anti-life, anti-woman,(2) and anti-family agendas(3). Under the caption "civil rights," Obama pledges to fight for nationwide civil unions (4), repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, homosexual adoption(5), the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (6), expanded "hate crimes,"(7) and over 1,100 costly same-sex benefits (8). He promises to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"(9) as well as block a federal amendment to preserve marriage(10). In exchange for the support of groups like Planned Parenthood, the abortion business is also due for a rich payoff from the 44th president, including his support of abortion-on-demand(11), more funding for "family planning" programs, embryonic stem cell experiments, and tax-funded abortion(12).

1. "Family values" in this case would be George W. Bush's family of big business and old cronies.

2. Anti-woman? President Obama and Vice President Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work. Oh, right, tha'ts sooo anti-woman.

3. There's nothing in the Agenda that is anti-family. Perkins: go look somewhere else.

4. Obama bent your way, Perkins, when he could have gone all-out gay marriage and infuriated you. The attack aginst civil unions only makes FRC and its supporters look like right-wing bigots (which, of course, they are).

5. Perkins still dreams of "Leave it to Beaver" as the model for all American families. Get over it, Perkins! Loving, caring, nurturing families can be made out of single parents, and diverse pairings of couples and groups.

6. This act merely extends the laws of discrimination to the LGBT community. Again, Perkins just looks hated-riddled and homophobic.

7. Hate crimes are hate crimes, for God's sake. They could (and should) be expanded to be inclusive of everyone who is a group which is specifically targeted for violence. Perkins has blood dripping from his fingers from this one.

8. "Costly" to whom? Perkins wants to shield big business, that's all.

9. "Don't Ask Don't Tell" weakened the military because it helped to kick out some very valuable military men and women. Gays can't help it if they were better trained to do some things, like translating Arabic - something which military dimwits didn't think about and now are babbling pidgeon-Urdu, Arabic and Farsi to people who laugh at them.

10. "Preserve Marriage" - that was DOMAs silly job. You and Rick Warren are one-note hate-mongers with your Marriage = One Man One Woman for 5000 years. This is total bullshit that you're feeding to the unwashed masses (esp. unsuspecting trailer trash).

11. "Abortion on Demand"? Huh? Nothing like that in the Agenda.

12."Tax-funded" abortion. The small amount that the government gives to programs like Planned Parenthood is usually portioned to programs other than abortion. By the time you get down to it, "tax-funded abortion" is practically nothing!

And so with this little guideline, boys and girls, we can see that Christofascists all over the country are opining for the "good ole' days" that never were. And they'll stoop the lowest and stop at nothing to achieve their own AGENDA.

Just a thought.

Ab-O: The Program That Keeps Failing and Failing and Failing

TEENS: Abstinence Is Cool!!
"HUH"?!?!

(Nina Funnel - Sydney Morning Herald)

In the US and Britain, girls as young as 10 are being invited to attend dances known as "purity balls" where, escorted by their fathers, they sign contracts promising to remain virgins until their wedding nights. In return, the fathers also sign a contract, pledging "as high priest in the home", to protect and provide for their daughters, on the provision that they remain virgins.

For thousands of years, telling teens to abstain from sex is talking to the proverbial brick wall. How dense do some people have to be to stop from banging their heads against that same wall? And how stupid are parents who think that their teenagers will stick to abstinence-only programs, take "The Pledge" and rely on their parents to tell them all they need about sex? When will we get to the point that, the day after the wedding the bride's father exhibits the bloodstained sheet in the public square?

In her book Princesses And Pornstars, the feminist author Emily Maguire claims that by bowing to economic pressure, many US schools may end up mortgaging the health and safety of students.

Citing numerous studies, Maguire argues that while there is no evidence to suggest that abstinence-only programs succeed in reducing the likelihood of teenagers having premarital sex, there is significant evidence to suggest these programs reduce the likelihood of sexually active teens practising safe sex.

The problem is that students given the "abstinence-only" line often miss out on vital information regarding contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Not only does this place teenagers at a much greater health risk but it also contributes to a culture of ignorance and secrecy about sex.

Sounds a lot like the United States, where rates of teen pregnancy were dropping steadily until abstinence-only sex ed became all the rage. Now study after study shows that while such programs may help kids put off losing their virginity for a little while, it makes them much less likely to use birth control when they do start having sex, thus increasing the risk of pregnancy and the spread of disease.

I'll have more about Rick Warren and Africa in the next post.

Nation or America. What's The Difference? Answer: the Difference between Black and White, Between Global Reality and Hubris

And The Difference Between Brilliance and Stupidity

When I created a "wordle" out of President Obama's Inaugural Speech, a funny thing happened: it showed an enormous difference between today's speech and George W. Bush's "Farewell Address" to the country. President Obama is a careful orator: every word and nuance is studied again and again. Bush's speeches always seemed slap-dash because he so desperately wanted to seem just like one of the back-slapping "good ole boys". As I've written before, he hoped he could channel Will Rogers. Even in formal speeches, like the "Farewell Address" a vague off-hand manner persisted. This was truly a cowboy who, aw shucks, just couldn't cotton to real formal speechifyin'. At least that was what he wanted people to think about him. Thankfully, reading between the lines of its country's president has been a well taught subject in America.


Perhaps the most striking thing about the outgoing speech and the incoming speech is the use of the words NATION and AMERICA. First of all, they are reverse in importance. In Bush's speech, AMERICA is the largest word (due its being said the most times). In Obama's speech, NATION was the larger of the two. How is this significant? Bush's doctrine of global imperialism places AMERICA outside the rest of the speech and far away from other ideologies. Wasn't this Bush's concept of America? It was obvious that Bush never knew anything about other countries. He would spout the buzz words Karl Rove had told him to: freedom, liberty, equality, free elections, democracy. And there were times he looked positively baffled at who these people were. His worldview is a commonwealth of sorts paying homage to the king - America.

With Obama's speech, NATION gives equivalence to other countries. He avoids hyperbole when referring to America's greatness. His speech is, therefore, much more diplomatic. That is to be expected.

With George W. Bush, America tried to lead the world. With President Obama, we are at last one with the world.

Just a thought.

Click on each Wordle for a large, more readable version.

The Importance of Being Barack Obama.

He May Not Be A King, But...

January 20, 2009

Today is a day of celebration for millions of Americans. Some would say simply, for America. For beneath the sigh of relief that will be audible to everyone (especially those in Washington) there will be hopes and dreams. All resting on ONE MAN.

Oh, he'll have help, for sure. He knows that he won't be alone. Well, not quite alone. But the next four years will be liberally peppered with "He didn't do this" "He could have done that" "Why didn't he do this?" "Why did he do that?"

He will be asked questions for which he has no answers. He will be in the world's largest and most vulnerable bubble. He will need to delegate constantly, conscientiously and wisely. At times, he will need to seem superhuman, at other times plainly human and humane. He will have to answer to the left, right and center. He will need to beg, plead, cajole yet seem like he is not doing any of those things. He will be held to account for more things than any President before him. He will need to know that every day will start and end with scrutiny by Washington and by the country. He will never sleep soundly for the next four years but must look as if he has.

He will always need to remind himself that he campaigned for this position.

When we see him taking the oath of office for President of the United States, remember that Barack Obama is an extraordinary man, not a benevolent king or superhuman. The man, his family, his administration are NOT the New Camelot.

But the country will sleep better thinking that they are.

Welcome, O King Arthur Barack Obama!

We can all hope: Bush Will Be As Free As A Bird. (A Jailbird)

Even If...

If you think I'm going to just walk away from it all concerning George Bush, guess again. When a man batters our country relentlessly with inane neocon programs, lies to its people, lets soldiers die for his cause, and deregulates with impunity for eight years, he's must to come to terms with justice. Walking away from the presidency free as a bird is a slap in the face not only to our country, but to the rest of the world.

He should be hounded... He should hunted...Consistently.

Even if just one soldier had died...
Even if just one detainee had been tortured...
Even if just one person had been killed by Katrina...
Even if just one person had been illegally wiretapped!

Bush probably hopes and prays that the new administration will forget him. After all, "time heals all wounds." The problem is, his wounds were near fatal: to the military, to Gitmo detainees, to New Orleans, to privacy, to marriage equality, to the environment, to the economy. The country barely survived simply because Bush and Cheney were such bad shots. And they didn't count on the intelligence of their victims. (Which, according to the last polls were 78% of the country - meaning a lot of people smartened up since 2004)

(From the Washington Independent)

The consensus seems to be growing that, despite his oft-repeated desire to “look forward rather than backward” when it comes to the Bush administration’s authorization of the use of torture on detainees in American custody, President-elect Barack Obama is going to have to open some sort of official investigation of Bush-era war crimes once he takes office.

Salon’s Glenn Greenwald laid out the case in his blog on Sunday, arguing that it’s no longer optional. Given that the United States is a party to the United Nations Convention on Torture - a treaty signed by President Ronald Reagan –- and that the U.S. Constitution holds that international treaties are the highest law of the land, the United States really doesn’t have a choice: “U.S. law requires prosecutions for those who authorize torture,” writes Greenwald.

If this were another era, we would be able to watch Bush and family fleeing in a white Ford Bronco down freeways all the way to Paraguay.

Oh, for the beauties of justice!

Just a thought.

Today Is The Day: The Ultimate Sigh of Relief!

Inauguration Day. The day that few people will regret.

And those few? Let's take a look at the ones who'll be snarling at TV sets or even asking "What Inausguration? They are the 22% who still think that...

...George Bush did a marvelous job.
... he kept us safe.
... he appointed the best people for high administrative positions.
... he listened to all of his advisers.
... there are still weapons of mass destruction hidden in Iraq somewhere.
... he spoke to the common man.
... he knew what he was doing.
... he can read.
... Barack Obama is a Muslim (or A-Rab)
... it's okay to shout death threats at campaign rallies.
... Sarah Palin would have made a great President.
... Joe The Plumber is intelligent.
... The Christian Right really is right.
... Armageddon will come when Israel annihilates all the Palestinians.
... Hummers are sexy.
... The National Enquirer is a newspaper.
... Bill Clinton was the country's most immoral President.
... Ann Coulter is a nice person.
... they have to dress up to go to Wall Mart.

22% of the voting population is approximately 26 million people.
Now think of 26 million people who can't think.

Just a thought.

What We REALLY Think of Rick Warren

The reason Rick Warren's not wearing an Hawaiian shirt is because it's a bit chilly and it might seem a bit silly. He should also read the invocation backwards to symbolize his constant and consistent back-pedaling.