Obama Rally Sunday In Dallas

For you Obama supporters out there....

Sunday February 17, 3:00pm

Fair Park - Hall of State
3939 Grand Ave.
Dallas, TX 75210

There will be lots of supporters there, so wear your Obama gear and bring signs. Barack Obama will NOT be at this event, however the media will.

Hope to see you all there.

Major Union Endorses Obama

The Obama campaign got another major endorsement today. The 1.9 million member Service Employee International union endorsed Obama Friday afternoon.

“We have an enormous amount of respect for Senator Clinton, but it's now become clear members and leaders want to become part of an effort to elect Barack Obama the next president," said SEIU president Andy Stern.

Superdelegates Move To Obama - John Lewis Joins The Obama Camp

One of my heroes, Representative John Lewis has switched his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. Why is that important? Well Lewis is a Superdelegate and as such can sway a lot of power during the primary. He joins a growing number of African-American superdelegates who are moving into the Obama camp after the way Clinton has handled herself in South Carolina.

"In recent days, there is a sense of movement and a sense of spirit," Lewis told The New York Times. "Something is happening in America and people are prepared and ready to make that great leap."

My sentiments exactly!

Judge Wants Answers - Justice Department Wants No More Questions!

Seems the Bush folks just can’t have enough secrecy, even when the cat is out of the bag. Those destroyed tapes showing CIA torturing detainees are in the news again. A federal judge ordered the White House to tell him whether the tapes that were destroyed were relevant to a case before him. The reply from the White House, or in this case the Justice Department?

Stop asking questions!

According to the Washington Post, the Justice Department has encouraged judges not to seek information about the tapes. US District Judge Richard Roberts is not impressed, and has ordered the Justice Department to turn over evidence. The deadline was yesterday, and the DOJ has asked for an extension of the deadline.

Such petulance to give evidence suggests guilt to me. No surprise since the administration has consistently tap danced around these issues from the beginning, first denying torture, then admitting it. Sounds like at least one judge wants a real answer.

Victim Of Hate Crime - Now Brain Dead in LA

If you ever needed an example of how hate can destroy people, consider the case of 15 year old Lawrence King of Oxnard, California. Lawrence often dressed in effeminate clothes and wore make up occasionally as well as feminine jewelry. His gender bending did not go unnoticed, and he was often taunted by schoolmates. That al culminated in an argument with a boy at the school. The result was Lawrence being shot in the head and back as he was sitting in the school’s computer lab. He now lies in a hospital on a ventilator, clinically brain dead.

Lawrence was open about being gay, and for some students that was just too much. His assailant has been apprehended by the police and will now probably be charged with a hate crime and first degree murder.

Hate has destroyed not just the victims life, but that of his assailant and both families and friends. Like a virus, hate infects everyone it touches and the results are often tragic. Perhaps the people who preach hate will consider the long term effects evident in this case before continuing to encourage people in their prejudices.

Litany Of Lies - The Bush White House - Video Proof!

Condi Rice - Consummate Liar! Amazing Video As She Lies To Congress Again & Again

Want to know how many lies the Bush White House told before the Iraq war? 935+ is the total sighted by Congressman Robert Wexler in hearings today as he questioned Condi Rice. Yet, she sat there and denied that she lied, even when it was quoted to her again and again. I guess Rice believes that if you keep saying it, it will eventually be true. I think she will have to say it a whole lot more for that to work.

Watch it and be amazed by her hubris and blatant lying!

McCain Approves Use of Waterboarding - Votes Against Torture Ban

John McCain, former “maverick” of the GOP now marches in lock step with the Bush Administration. He voted against banning the torture known as “waterboarding”. His vote, a strange on coming from a former POW shows how much he has fallen in league with Bush. First he wants to stay in Iraq for a hundred years and now torture. What’s next John?

US Court of Appeals Throws Out Texas "Dildo" Law!

The most ridiculous law to grace the books of the State of Texas in quite a while has been tossed out by the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The infamous “Dildo Law” making possession of 6 or more “obscene devices” a crime has been declared unconstitutional. By a vote of 2-1, the appellate court holds that "the statute has provisions that violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

The majority opinion follows:

Because of Lawrence, the issue before us is whether the Texas statute impermissibly burdens the individual's substantive due process right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing. Contrary to the district court's conclusion, we hold that the Texas law burdens this constitutional right. An individual who wants to legally use a safe sexual device during private intimate moments alone or with another is unable to legally purchase a device in Texas, which heavily burdens a constitutional right.

What it means is that boutiques and adult stores can now legally sell sex toys without having to hide them behind the guise of “for novelty only” or calling them as one store actually called them, “cake toppers”.

Bush Administration Shuts Down Website Tracking U.S. Economic Indicators

I have been reading the book, Censoring Science, about the attempts by the Bush administration to stifle James Hansen’s work on global warming . It is a telling tale, that shows an administration who fears truth whenever it differs with what they “believe”. An example from the book is when NASA or GISS or NOAA found bad news about the climate and CO2 emissions, the government would censor the reports. When they could no longer do that they often cut off funds and just stopped reporting all together.

Now Bush and his cronies are trying the same tactic with the economy. Economic indicators show us sliding deeper and deeper into a recession, so the Bush administration tries cutting off funds and stopping the reports. The web site http://www.economicindicators.gov/ , once awarded a “Best of the Web” award by Forbes Magazine is being shut down as of March 1. If the news is bad, just stop the reports seems to be the prevailing attitude in this administration.

This site is maintained by the Economics and Statistics Administration and combines data collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, like GDP and net imports and exports, and the Census Bureau. It includes valuable information like retail sales and durable goods shipments. Now all that information will be unavailable on-line.

Let’s face it, the Bush administration has taken the example of Joseph Stalin when it comes to information. Control the flow and you control the country.

New TV Ad For Obama

Burnt Orange Texas Progressive Blog Endorses Obama

I rarely reprint press releases, but this one is worthy!

The editorial staff of the popular Texas political blog, Burnt Orange Report announced on their website Monday that they will endorse Senator Barack Obama for United States President. The full text of their endorsement is below, and may also be found on their website - http://www.burntorangereport.com/:

Our hope for our country is that people will once again believe that government can be an instrument of good.

Our hope for our country is that people will set aside their fears of progress to see that we are all capable of good.

Our hope for our country is that people will remember that though we are many voices, we are all one body and one spirit, united in the common pursuit of an American dream where there are no limits to what we can achieve when we work together for the good of each other.

Senator Barack Obama understands these hopes. He believes in these hopes, and he is mobilizing a nation to achieve these hopes together. Burnt Orange Report endorses Senator Barack Obama for United States President, and the hope he brings to our country.

President Bush - a fellow Texan - has led our country down the wrong path. He lied to us, spied on us, and divided us. His mark on the Office of the President is not so much a footprint, but a long spur-treaded line splitting our country into millions of single units for his own control, his own failed ideas, and his own power.

President Bush turned this country against itself, and the first thing that must be done on January 20, 2009, is for the American people to realize that we can become one again. Senator Obama will make that happen.

Senator Obama's message of hope and change has given all of us something to believe in. Voters are coming to the polls in record numbers not because there is an African-American on the ballot, or because there is a woman on the ballot, but because they see change on the ballot.

The change we desire is meaningful. Trading Republican lobbyists and insiders for Democratic lobbyists and insiders is not change. Putting "me" before "we" in a discussion about who can best lead the country is not change.

For too long, Americans have sought out and voted for "leaders" who do little more than provide technical fixes to complex solutions. A technical change cannot heal our country.

The change we need must be adaptive. It must be a change that challenges Americans to look at the loyalties in our lives and, more importantly, the loyalties in the lives of those around us. It must be a change that looks into the hearts and minds of the American people, brings all the factions to the table, and helps us remember how to work together. It must be a change in how we define Presidential leadership.

Presidential leadership requires not a singular individual in the Oval Office, but an entire country mobilized behind an idea.

Presidential leadership is more than a vision; it is a system of actions that deliversprogress for everyone. Presidential leadership must bring everyone together to believe that YES WE CAN provide health care to every American, YES WE CAN solve the crisis of climate change, YES WE CAN live in a global world where America is the ally, and not the enemy, of our foreign neighbors, and YES WE CAN dream again of an America we are all proud to call our home.

Our next President must demonstrate the leadership to show Americans and the world that YES WE CAN believe in the best of each and every one of us. Senator Barack Obama is that leader, he will make that change possible, and he is the candidate we endorse for the next President of the United States of America.

P.S. A poll of Burnt Orange Report readers show over 75% support for Barack Obama.

Writer's Strike Ends!

Members of the Writer’s Guild of America overwhelmingly approved a new contract with producers and return to work today. The 100 day strike put many TV shows on hold and some may not return until next year. Other shows are rushing back into production to try to finish out what’s left of the season.

The strike ending also means that the Academy Awards will go on as scheduled. That program was in doubt had the strike continued. Few if any actors were willing to cross picket lines to attend, and without the star-power the show would have been pretty dull.

Next contract up for negotiations in Hollywood is that of the Screen Actors Guild. Many of the same issues that faced writers will be facing actors, including "new media" or internet delivery of programs.

Spielberg Pulls Out Of Beijing Olympics

Steven Spielberg had hoped his involvement with the Beijing Olympics as artistic advisor could lead to positive action on the part of China’s President Hu Jintao in Darfur. China holds a great deal of sway in that region and their economic and military contributions could give them a real opportunity to enact a policy change there.

Spielberg’s withdrawal from the Olympics will tarnish China’s star as it heads into a final period of preparation for the event. As China takes the world stage with the Olympics, it has hoped to sweep any human rights issues and foreign affairs problems under the rug. Several groups have been pushing for action ranging from protests to outright boycotts of the games.

Clinton Axes Another Staff Member

Now the Deputy Campaign Manager for Hillary Clinton’s campaign has left. This on the heels of her campaign manager being forced out following the Obama sweep of the last few primaries.

These are not the kind of moves a winning campaign makes when it is winning. Hillary now concentrates on Texas and Ohio. The problem is that Obama has momentum and he is very successfully eating away at Hillary’s base. That is good news for the Obama camp and personally I am delighted!

Obama Wins Maryland & DC!

Watching Obama speaking on CNN after winning DC and Maryland. He speaks like a president. He talks to the hearts and minds of voters and that is why he is the right person for the job. I watched a few minutes of Hillary’s speech in El Paso and she is just not anywhere near the presence Obama is. She gives laundry lists of problems and solutions while Obama gives ideas, hope and inspiration. That’s what our country needs. He has solutions, but he has heart as well and that is the strength of his campaign.

Obama Takes Virginia - CNN Calls It

The polls just closed in Virginia and CNN is calling it for Barack Obama! More later. I expcet to see Barack Obama win all three primaries tonight. Interesting note, Obama got 51% of the white vote in that state, a surprise to the Clinton campaign.

Oh yes, and McCain and Huckabee are fighting it out in Virginia. Too close to call.

Time For Hope - Living In A Historic Time

I just wiped a tear from my eye. I was crying because I sincerely believe I am about to see a very historic day. A day when our country, languishing in the grip of irrational fear and the politics of hate, is standing up and demanding that things change.

What stirred me was reading the text of a speech delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Day. It brought back memories I hadn’t recalled in several years. At the risk of being overly nostalgic, I’ll share them with you.

I remember sitting in the den of my home as a young boy. I was home because it was summer, but I was inside because I had been having one of my many bouts with asthma. I was seated in front of our black and white television, watching the news. Even as a child the events of the day fascinated me, and since I was to be soon entering middle school, knowing current events was important.

My family had a housekeeper who came once a week to help my mother with ironing and cleaning. She was a wonderful woman named Clara, who worked not only for my family, but for my grandmother, uncles and aunts. I had known her most of my life and she played a big part in my childhood. Clara was African-American, though she called herself “colored”.

That morning Clara was ironing clothes in the den watching the news with me. It was August 28, 1963 and the news that morning was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his amazing “I Have a Dream” speech that day and I remember seeing Clara cry as she listened. Before it was over, I was crying, too. I knew I was watching something historic.

Here is the text of the speech delivered by Barack Obama January 20, of this year. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me. If you find yourself waxing nostalgic, you are not alone. That nostalgia was for a period of greatness in our country, when American’s began standing up to the climate of fear and institutions of racism. Today, I am grateful that much of that oppression is behind us, but the climate of fear has ruled our nation for the past 8 years. Now it’s time to give hope a try.

High School Student Stumps Karl Rove - Now If The Press Would Start Asking These Kinds Of Questions...

So the question is, “If a High School student can see the flawed logic in anti-same sex marriage laws, why can’t the rest of the American public?”

At a speech Choate Rosemary Hall prep school in Wallingford, CT, former White House “Svengali” Karl Rove found he couldn’t answer a question by a thoughtful student. She asked him, “to explain how giving gay people the right to marry would endanger other people.” Rove tried tio move on to other topics, but Marla Spivak, a senior at the school, pressed on “You never actually answered, how does it threaten anyone?”

Rove asked, “what's the compelling reason to throw out 5,000 years of understanding the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman?”

"What," Spivak countered, "was the compelling reason for society to allow interracial relationships when they had once been outlawed."

Then Rove invoked the Declaration of Independence before Spivak interjected that its reference to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" seemed to support her claims.

Rove could only end the uncomfortable moment with an attempt at humor, “When do you plan to run for political office?” he quipped.

The whole incident shows me two important facts. One that our press in this country does not ask politicians tough enough questions, since this obvious line of questioning has not been raised by the media. Two, there is hope for our nation if we are raising high school students who have the guts to stand up and speak truth to power like Marla Spivak.

Log Cabin Republicans And Other Myths

I was reading a story about Log Cabin Republicans and I decided to look at the GOP platform for the State of Texas. After reeling from the array of mean spirited and discriminatory planks in this document I have to wonder what kind of pathology affects gay and lesbians who identify as Republicans? The platform states in clear black and white that the Republican Party of Texas wants nothing to do with GLBT people and absolutely wants any rights taken away.

For my GLBT brothers and sisters who are still living in the fantasyland that is the Log Cabin Republicans, here is a direct excerpt from the 2006 Texas Republican Party Platform.

Marriage Licenses - We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple.

Homosexuality - We believe that the practice of sodomy tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, recognition, or privileges including, but not limited to, marriage between persons of the same sex, custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

Texas Sodomy Statutes - We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.

Now what part of that do you not understand? Meanwhile, I invite recovering “Log Cabinites” to join the Democratic Party which not only welcomes you but is working to defend your rights. We Democrats really do have the Big Tent!

Huckabee Courts Falwell's Church - Falwell Endorses From The Grave!

It’s good to know the radical fundamentalists can be counted on for interesting quotes. Now comes this one as Jerry Falwell endorses Mike Huckabee from the grave. "My father supported Huckabee before he was number two in the polls," Jerry Falwell, Jr. announced in November. Now the chosen candidate is stumping in Falwell territory and telling listeners that, “There are only 10 basic laws that we need ….” Referring to the 10 commandments.

Huckabee went on to say our country needed less laws, alluding to his statement in Michigan back in January when he stated that we need, "to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Huckabee was appearing at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia home of the late Jerry Falwell. After his speech, he played bass guitar with the orchestra. His appearance is part of his campaign push in the GOP Virginia primaries this Tuesday.

Obama Music Video Spawns Parody! Watch It.

The viral music video that is sweeping the internet for Barack Obama has spawned an imitator and it’s choice. I think the same folks did this one but to the words of McCain. Watch it and laugh, then watch the original and get motivated to work to change our country. Yes we can!

The Original!

Obama Takes More States Over Weekend

The Obama movement moves into the Potomac region after a triumphant weekend in Democratic caucuses and primaries in Maine, Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tuesday contests in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia are also looking like Obama prizes. His momentum should carry his campaign well into Texas and Ohio in March, where the deciding battle for delegates is shaping up.

For us here in Texas it’s a strange position. In the past it was all over but the shouting when the Texas primary came around. The pig surprise is that even after so many states pushed up their primaries, that Texans votes will make a difference.

Personally, I am working for an Obama sweep, but I know Clinton will campaign hard here and her voice rings with Hispanic voters. My hope is that Obama will make some appearances here to try to sway a few more Latino votes.

Right now the Clinton camp is shaken, and has changed campaign managers. I suspect we will se some tougher tactics from her side soon.

Clinton Campaign Manager Is Ousted

After Obama has taken Maine it seems that the Clinton Campaign has blinked. The seemingly unwavering Clinton machine has hit a snag and is changing leadership to try to revive things. Patti Solis Doyle has stepped down as Senator Clinton’s campaign manager and will be replaced by Maggie Williams, a senior Clinton adviser.

From my experience campaigns do not make these kind of changes unless things are not going well both in public and behind the scenes. Stay tuned, I think it’s going to get exciting.