Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

~ Who watches the Watchers?"~

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? This a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, variously translated as: "Who watches the watchmen?"

"Who watches the watchers?"... "Who will guard the guards?"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quis_custodiet_ipsos_custodes%3F

H.R. 3017, Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009: Rep. Frank's Testimony

Discrimination is Immoral and UnAmerican

A New Book of Poetry and Art Work by E. Lewis Evans

Beneath the See

A Journey Within

By E. Lewis Evans

Book Preview

Our Greatest Strength is Also Our Greatest Weakness

Why should the birthright of equality for tens of millions of GLBT American citizens first depend upon getting a majority of people to stop hating them? There would be a tidal wave of blood flowing in the streets and entire cities set ablaze if any other minority' s rights were put up so callously for majority approval by a lynch mob disguised as a so-called "public referendum".

The concept of a Bill of Rights and a Federal Constitution which originally guaranteed inalienable equality and unimpeachable rights is truly dead in America. Human equality and civil rights in the United States now mainly depends upon how popular you are with your local neighbors who have been, for the most part, brain-washed by the various perversions of the Christian religion into hating you -- that is, if you just happen to belong to the GLBT community.

As I stated before, the most primal, gut-level reaction to that kind of invidious injustice would be to understandably strike out with fury and outrage against your oppressors. Yet, like millions of other civilized people before us -- witness the millions of Jews who walked meekly into the concentration camps, and to their deaths, in Nazi Germany-- we too are victims of our own civility.

Ironically, the gentleness and the Christ-like benevolence of the GLBT community is our greatest virtue -- but, sadly, it can also be our greatest weakness too.

[By the way, the photo above is an early wooden crucifix of Christ carved by another famous homosexual by the name of Michelangelo. I suspect that there are far more homos in heaven than homophobic bigots. Just remember JC's own words: "That which you do unto the least among you, you do unto me." ....hmmm, ol' Satan must be stoking hell's fires in anticipation of the YES on Discrimination voters in Maine tonight, and all of the other perpetrators of hatred against their GLBT neighbors across the world. So, be sure to stock up on some suntan lotion and bring a cooler with you -- you'll need it.]

Comments and Inquiries Can Be Directed Here...

If you wish to contact me concerning either my writing or my artwork -- or in regards to acquiring original works of art or posters; comment on something on my blog site or leave feedback relating to any of my articles found on various other websites, then you can write me at the following email address: bud.evans.kc@gmail.com

Gays in Prime Time Soaps (NOT SITCOMS, NOT CABLE, NOT DAYTIME!!!)

Another example of how slow and back-ass-wards the United States is in getting around to honestly portraying same-sex love in the television media.

Marriage is the Constitutional Right of All Adult, Non-Closely-Related, American Couples

In June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Mildred and Richard Loving in a unanimous decision, dismissing the Commonwealth of Virginia's argument that a law forbidding both white and black persons from marrying persons of another race, and providing identical penalties to white and black violators, could not be construed as racially discriminatory. The court ruled that Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute violated both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In its decision, the court wrote:

"Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."

The Supreme Court concluded that anti-miscegenation laws were racist and had been enacted to perpetuate white supremacy:

"There is patently no legitimate overriding purpose independent of invidious racial discrimination which justifies this classification. The fact that Virginia prohibits only interracial marriages involving white persons demonstrates that the racial classifications must stand on their own justification, as measures designed to maintain White Supremacy."

Despite this Supreme Court ruling, such laws remained on the books, although unenforced, in several states until 2000, when Alabama became the last state to repeal its law against mixed-race marriage.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

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MY TAKE ON IT

by Bud Evans

I Remain Hopeful…

Even if individual state DOMAs (the federal DOMA is still problematic) are held constitutional based on the so-called “Public Policy“ exemptions, they can still be struck down because they violate the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the US Constitution.

As marriages are considered contractual agreements and not the result of court proceedings (such as adoption -- which clearly fall within the scope of the Full Faith and Credit Clause), then the best approach to overturning DOMA would be to challenge it on Due Process and Equal Protection grounds.

The decision in Loving -v- Virginia, in which the US Supreme Court overturned interracial marriage bans in various states, was based on the aforementioned protections guaranteed in the US Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment, and not on the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

I think that approach would be best, and it could lead to striking down all other existing laws that discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.

By the way, in Lawrence -v- Texas, this could have already been accomplished if the court ruling, which struck down the sodomy laws across the US, was based solely on a strict interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and not on some convoluted reading of the ambiguous “Liberty Clause“ of same amendment which gave the court wiggle-room on not expanding the rights of homosexuals to be on par with those of heterosexuals in all things -- without exception. Although, there could have been unintended consequences if Justice O’Connor would have prevailed in her argument that it was an Equal Protection case . Apparently, she was still trying to justify her vote in upholding the sodomy laws earlier in Bower -v- Hardwick.

If O’Connor's argument would have won over the court we still could have sodomy laws (as long as it applied equally to both heterosexuals and homosexuals) and, ironically, forced recognition of same-sex marriage in all fifty states. What a legal nightmare that would have been. For example: you could be legally married in Texas as a same-sex couple but you would not be able to consummate the marriage without breaking the state law which could still outlaw sodomy (as long as it applied to both heterosexuals and homosexuals) -- leaving, of course, homosexuals with no physical expression to their intimate relationships at all.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, because the court limited the ruling to just the sodomy statues and then declared that those sodomy laws (as regards to consenting adults) were unconstitutional, and not in just their application to a certain group or groups, then that still left open to constitutional review all other laws that discriminate against homosexuals such as in Housing and Job Discrimination, DADT, DOMA, and a host of others equal protection arguments.

Now, we need a concise and final determination from SCOTUS that asserts that all Americans, regardless of Religion, Gender, Political Affiliation, Nationality and Sexual Orientation, etc., are entitled to the same, unabridged, constitutional guarantees and protections by the same degree and equal application of laws that pertain to all citizens of the United States of America -- without exception.

I believe our day will come. Common human decency has a way of waking up from its sleep of complacency and doing the right thing when you least expect it. In spite of everything, I have faith in what is still good in people -- as strained as it is from time to time.

…So, I remain hopeful.

© Bud Evans

Blogspot: http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

"One in Spirit"

This Original Serigraph is available as a high quality fine art print at ImageKind. Just click on the photo to go there:

Pam's House Blend: Where is the apology, President?

Please click the headline below to read a very good essay...

Pam's House Blend:: Where is the apology, President "Fierce Advocate"?

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We need more than just a few angry voices; we need a thunderous roar that cannot easily be ignored. Never underestimate the power of your own voice -- especially if you let your heart speak for you. You can never go wrong then.

Yesterday, I was very disappointed in President Obama’s token response to our civil rights concerns via his issuance of a “memoranda”, not even an Executive Order mind you, but some kind of quasi-official “suggestion” that certain federal agencies provide relatively non-consequential perks to the “domestic partners” of some federal employees.

No matter how they pretend to try, they just cannot take us seriously. We are cash cows for the Democrats during DNC fundraisers and a reliable crop of votes to harvest in a close election; other than that, we are nothing more to most of them than the rich crazy old aunt that must be keep hidden from view in the attic when respectable people come over for a visit.

A viable third party is our only option. Maybe not on the presidential level, just now, but on the congressional level. Just ten percent of the seats in Congress held by a truly liberal, socially responsive, third party could shift the balance of power. That third party could decide to caucus with either Republicans or Democrats and put either one in the House Speaker’s post and/or in the Senate Majority Leader’s chair. A third party could insist that progressive legislation is addressed or it could threaten to hand the gavel over to the party out of power.

Joe Lieberman, who ran as an Independent after losing in the Democratic primary in his home state, won back his seat as an Independent in the Senate. He threatened to caucus with the Republicans (hence returning power to the Republicans) if the Democrats did not make him chairman of certain powerful Senate committees, and also help him advance his own pet legislative proposals.

So, you see, if one man can be a powerbroker and tip the balance of power, imagine what a handful of liberal independent legislators could do originating from a Third Party not beholding to either the Democrats or to the Republicans.

Think about it…

(C) Bud Evans 2009

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

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Obama: Sugar-Coated Segregationist Views from a Slick-Talking Bigot in the White House

"(Obama) essentially told them (the American people) discrimination on sexuality is wrong and, like them, he would prefer unions."

~ That is what James Withers from 365gay.com wrote in his column.

(http://www.365gay.com/blog/060509-obama-insists-hes-an-ally-to-the-gay-community/)

....HA! HA! That’s rich!!! Hmmmm...President Johnson, who pushed for, and signed, the 1964 Civil Rights Act for Blacks (even though he knew the Democrats would suffer grievously at the polls and would lose the South as many would defect to the Republican Party because of it)...Johnson would not have defended segregation like Obama.

In an interview with NBCs Brian Williams, Obama noted marriage was a state issue that was not the providence of the federal government, and talked a little bit on how he would fight discrimination.

Well. gosh, marriage was a state issue too when his own, interracial, parents’ marriage was outlawed in all of the Deep South and in many other states until 1967 when the US Supreme Court (Loving -v- Virginia) stated very clearly that marriage IS a constitutionally protected FEDERAL right.

Hmmmm… And you were a constitutional law professor, Mr. Obama? I would say that would be hard to believe if I didn‘t already realize how being a politician transforms so many people with weak moral fiber into seasoned liars.

I have no doubt that if Obama was Johnson, in the mid sixties, and if he was White, he probably would have come out in favor of allowing Blacks to sit at different tables just a little bit closer to the Whites in public restaurants -- and then joyously proclaimed himself to be a great Civil Rights Champion of the era.

Johnson did everything to make sure that even that kind of intolerable bullsh*t segregation (Obama would call it an “acceptable” compromise) didn't even see the light of day in the Congress. And let’s not forget that, before President Johnson, Harry Truman desegregated the military in 1949 when the vast, vast majority of people were against it in America -- unlike today, sixty years later, how +70% of the public are FOR lifting that immoral and unconscionable ban which prevents Gays and Lesbians service personnel from serving openly, with dignity and honor, in the US Armed Forces of 2009.

So what do we get from Obama, even when all of the major public polls demand an end to discrimination -- NOTHING! Such first-class leadership from our current "fearless" President -- even when the polls are FOR ending discrimination. Obama is not a paragon of justice and virtue. It is all packaging. It is all hype. Even the Kool-Aid drinkers are beginning to see that he is no portrait in courage. He is no agent of “change you can believe in“. It is all an illusion created by a parasitic mass media dining on mass gullibility.

Obama is no man of vision and courage. He is nothing but a self-serving bigot and a moral coward of the vilest kind. He is NO different than the Dixie-crats in the Democratic party of the Deep South, in the 1960s, who made all kinds of promises to Black people about ending discrimination just to harvest their votes, and then did absolutely nothing after elected to office. Instead, they used the same familiar language, such as: It’s just not the right time for it…we have a war going on (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc.)….White people aren’t ready for it…there are other more important matters you know…don’t be selfish…don’t rock the boat…blah…blah…bs…bs…blah.

So, we'll see if the tens of millions of voters in the GLBT community give this homophobic assh*le a pass again in 2012. And please don't give us that hackneyed old crap about how Republicans would treat us sooooo much worst. Any comparison is like saying: Well, after all, the Republicans beat the Queers up and Democrats don't -- they just either turn their heads the other way or watch with indifference, unless, of course they are Southern Democrats (DINO -- Democrats in Name Only) who join gleefully in on the bashing with the Republicans.

Also, don’t forget who gave us DADT and DOMA in the first place. If it was just the Republicans it would not have passed with a veto proof majority. Democrats were in control of the Congress in the first half of Clinton’s first term when DADT was passed, and significant numbers of Democrats were still in Congress, in the second half of Clinton’s first term, who gave their unqualified support to DOMA. And even if both bills passed without his signature and Congress overrode his veto, Clinton could have still vetoed those noxious discriminatory laws as a matter of principle. History would have honored him for it.

So, a plague on both their houses -- both Republicans and Democrats. When you have to choose between the lesser of two evils, guess what, you still end up with EVIL. That is not acceptable to anyone with a modicum of human decency.

Likewise, if Obama thinks that we in the GLBT community should fight our battle for equality all on our own (unlike the support that Blacks got from President Johnson and the liberals in his party)…then fine, let him and the majority of Democrats get elected WITHOUT our help. F*ck them all!

But that doesn’t have to leave us without representation. If a liberal Third Party could capture at least ten percent of the seats in the House, and even a few seats in the Senate, they could be powerbrokers and control the agenda; keeping both major parties in check. It is far past time to start thinking about THAT option seriously. No more free rides from the GLBT community.

Earn our votes or do without them. It is a simple equation.

© Bud Evans, 2009

Gay Men, Straight Women Have Similar Brains

Photo: Gay Men, Straight Women Have Similar Brains

Activity within the brain's amygdala—an almond-shaped structure inside each brain hemisphere that is associated with processing and storing emotions—were compared between homosexuals and heterosexuals of both genders (above).The results showed that the brains of straight men and lesbians as well as and straight women and gay men share similar characteristics. Image courtesy of National Academy of Sciences, PNAS (copyright 2008)

For the full article, clink on the link below:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080616-gay-brain.html

Famous Quotes:

Abe Lincoln once said: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

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"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

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Mahatma Gandhi on Homosexuality

Two gay Englishmen came to Gandhi in the 1930s and asked him what he thought of their relationship. The Mahatma asked some questions and for a short time fell silent. Then he said, “The greatest gift God gives us is another person to love.” Placing the hands of each man in the other’s, he quietly and with a smile asked, “Who are we to question God’s choice?”

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Thought for the day... June 1, 2009

~ Jonathan Swift ~

"May you live every day of your life."

Bud Evans ~ 1998

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California Supreme Court, to its Everlasting Shame, Promotes Hate and Upholds Discrimination

The Third Reich is Alive and Well in the Morally Bankrupt State of California as Propostition H8 is upheld...

Anyone notice how conveniently President Barack O’Bush timed the announcement of his SCOTUS nominee to steal attention away from the California Supreme Court Prop 8 decision in order to hog the press coverage for himself? I’d wager that was not a coincidence.

Apparently, Barack O’Bush diverted enough press attention away from the GLBT Equal Rights issue to stifled a lot of questions about how little our beloved Bigot-in-Chief, Obama, is doing to make good on his campaign promises to advance the civil rights of the only minority left in the United States against whom it is still legal to discriminate. Even Rachel Maddow devoted most of her MSNBC program to the Supreme Court nominee, and very little to her own people’s civil rights struggle. Pretty sickening really.

Incidentally, I grew up in the 1960s and I can assure you that if this had happened to Black people there would be a tidal wave of blood in the streets and dozens of major cities would be set ablaze if a similar anti-Black Prop 8 was passed — by the so-called “will of the (privileged) people“.

Anyone remember Watts, and also what happened after Martin Luther King was assassinated? White bigots are terrified now of Blacks. They would never again attempt to oppress them. But, no one is afraid of the wimpy homos because they can count on the “sissies“ not to hit back.

Fear = respect. It is a fact. If you cause enough disruption in society, and if the cost of f*cking with you becomes too great a hassle, they will back down eventually and make nice. Not to mention all of the bad press the US government receives from abroad regarding its own Human Rights record. Just like what happened to Blacks in the 1960s.

Boycott!!!! Demonstrate!!!! Sit-in!!!!! Civil Disobedience!!!! Never give up!!! Never give in!!!!

Without that, our road to equality is going to be a very, very long one indeed. In order to overcome oppression you have to stand up to your oppressors, and not be afraid to get knocked on your ass occasionally. Only then will many others see the authenticity of your cause and join you.

But we’ve learned a painful lesson as well — don’t count on other minorities who have since become used to the comfort of being in the Status Quo. Most in the Black and Hispanic communities have proven themselves to be the vilest hypocrites and are not worthy of the blood that was shed on their behalf from the millions of GLBT who fought for the rights of racial minorities fifty years ago.

Shame on them all. Their 70% vote for Prop 8 speaks volumes about the Black Community’s total lack of morality regarding social justice. Martin Luther King would be repulsed by his own people’s bigotry demonstrated by their support of Prop H8. What little they care for their brothers and sisters who are also GLBT.

I am disgusted that so many white liberals helped bring equality to Blacks and Hispanic only to have their own GLBT children, a generation later, oppressed by the very same people they helped to liberate. Disgust is actually too mild a word to describe the pampered minority status the Black community wraps itself in as it kicks in the gut any other minority community struggling for their equality as well.

Shame on them all.

But what do expect when Obama himself has proven to be the public face of that same insensitivity and ingrained homophobia. The tens of millions of GLBT Americans made it possible that a Black man could become president. Now he rewards us with his indifference and turns a blind eye to our continued suffering. This treacherous political whore disgraces the office he now occupies. Obama is an anomaly who now cloaks himself in conformity in order to garner greater “acceptance“ in the community at large. In other words, what we political radicals of the 1960s used to call —

a “Sell Out“!

Just as the Radical Right continually refers to patriotic Gay men and women in the Armed Forces (who only wish to serve their country’s military openly with pride and honesty) as a “Social Experiment; so too we must also now consider Obama just a aberrant “Social Experiment” that went terrible wrong. He must not be re-elected.

Obama in 2012? No way in Hell!

(c) Bud Evans, 2009

Bill Would Give Benefits to Same-sex Partners of Federal Workers

by 365gay Newscenter Staff05.21.2009 9:28am EDT

(Washington) Legislation has been introduced in the the House and Senate to provide benefits for same-sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits.

Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act is sponsored by Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House and Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in the Senate.

The benefits would include participation in applicable retirement programs, life and health insurance benefits, and family and medical leave.

“This legislation would allow the federal government to keep pace with other top employers,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

To read the rest of this article, click on the following link:
http://www.365gay.com/news/bill-would-give-benefits-to-same-sex-partners-of-federal-workers/

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MY TAKE ON IT...
by Bud Evans

I can see the cobwebs already forming on this bill (like the DADT repeal bill). After all, President Barack O'Bush is too busy doing more significant and daring things like: giving pro-abortion commencement speeches at Catholic Universities (how brave) and sponsoring Def Jam ethnic poetry readings at the White House (how stereotypical).

So, why would he (or the Democrats in Congress) want to waste time on civil rights legislation when they are too busy passing laws that allow drunken tourists to carry loaded weapons in our National Parks (like Yellow Stone and the Grand Canyon National Park, etc)?

Just look at the math so far: 2008 Democrats (plus) Barack O'Bush (equals) 1990s Democrats (plus) Bill Clinton (multiplied by) “F*ck Off…shooo… get out here you pervs and pests!” to the GLBT community (equals) a bunch of dumb-asses who will believe anything they‘re told.

Are we just going to bitch and whine and accept our fate like a bunch of whimpering boot-lickers?

No?

Solution: A massive shift to a third party by the tens of millions of very active voters in the GLBT community would shake up the treacherous bastards for sure. If they lose another round to the Republicans let them know if was because they cannot count on our support until they have earned it.

Tell them, in no uncertain terms: Do not rely on us, if we cannot rely on you!

Now, as far as the Republicans being back in power-- who cares, what have the Dems done for us other than give us false hope and then laugh in our collective faces as they pull the rug out from under us again? The guys with the big bucks still get to write the laws in Washington DC on Health Care, Credit Cards, Civil Liberties, and…well, hell, just about everything else. It’s business as usual as the Democrats and Republicans just play musical chairs in Congress each election cycle. More reason than ever for a grassroots, truly liberal, Third Party which, with just ten percent of the seats in Congress, could be power-brokers and control the agenda without the usual Puppet-master Corporate Overlords pulling all the strings in DC .

As a former life-long Democrat, I feel more disgust for a friend who betrays me than for an enemy I knew hated me all along. At least the latter doesn’t steal your trust and then stab you in the back. At least, with an honest bigot, you can see it coming.

The majority of the Democratic Party (especially in the circles of power, i.e. Sen. Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Obama) are either apathetic towards us (except during a presidential election year) or outright contemptuous of us -- including all Dixie-crats, Conservative Democrats, Spineless Liberals and Barack “I don’t believe in gay marriage” Obama.

They will take advantage of you every single time -- if you let them. The Jewish, Black and Hispanic Community have learned that lesson, and the Democrats are truly scared sh*tless of screwing with them.

So why haven't we woke up to the fact that we have power too? But power is nothing unless you have the guts to use it. So…use it already!

Stop being an Obama-bot…stop being a dependable and “useful” fool for the Democrats…get ANGRY and stay that way until we have achieved our liberation.

Politicians (like most of us) live in fear also. They, of course, live in constant fear of losing an election because of screwing with the wrong people. So… let them fear us for a change. Let them know that they cannot automatically count on our votes -- which they will always need, and beg for, in a close election. Let them know that if they are going to be political whores to all of their other constituents, then either put out for us too, or give us our money back and don‘t waste our time anymore.

Please GLBT community, get off your knees for a change, and remember…you are only as weak or as strong as you are willing to be. Don’t let others define you.

So….

!!!WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!!! ….please.

The future is ours -- OWN IT!

© Bud Evans 2009

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

Martin Luthur King's Legacy....

Martin Luther King's Legacy....

“Gay and Lesbian people have families and their families should have legal protections. A constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is a form of gay bashing and will do nothing at all to protect traditional marriage.” --- Mrs. Coretta Scott King


Jack O'Dell, former Southern Christian Leadership Conference activist & aide to Dr. Martin Luther King states: "Dr. King would have fully supported Gay Marriage."

...Coretta Scott King agreed.

* Listen to Lea Gilmore's interview about Black & LGBT CivilRights @ OUTTAKE VOICES™ NO BISHOP GENE ROBINSON ON HBO INAGUARATION View Our Short Trailer on Gay Marriage
posted by Charlotte Robinson at 7:52 AM

Supreme Court Prospect Draws Criticism from Gay Groups...

The Associated Press 05.15.2009 8:32am EDT

(Atlanta) Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, considered a potential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, has drawn criticism from gay rights groups after announcing plans to join a think tank whose founder is an outspoken opponent of gay marriage.

Jeff Graham, executive director of the gay rights group Georgia Equality, said Sears' decision to join the Institute for American Values is "something that's very troubling, concerning and at the very least disappointing to me."

State Rep. Karla Drenner, the state's only openly gay legislator, said she felt "betrayed." ..."I don't understand her committing her energies to an organization that doesn't believe in equality for everybody," Drenner said.

...In 2006, Sears joined a unanimous decision that upheld Georgia’s same-sex marriage ban.

For the full article, click on the link below:

http://www.365gay.com/news/supreme-court-prospect-draws-criticism-from-gay-groups/

=============================================

MY TAKE ON IT...

by Bud Evans

Sorry, Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears sounds like a potential fellow segregationist -- like Obama.

Such irony that a formerly oppressed minority would take the side of upholding the anti-christian, high moral crime of discrimination and favor keeping a fellow minority "in their place".

To paraphrase Jesus “what-the-hell-are-they-doing-in-my-name“ Christ:

What does it profit one to rule the world by upholding the special privileges of the status quo only to lose your soul?

In regards to Obama, most of us in the LGBT community thought that we were voting for Superman when, in reality, we just replaced Lex Luthor with his evil twin. I think I’d rather have the real thing than some viper who lures you in closer with lies just so it can strike with less effort.

Let’s just take a look at Obama’s record so far:

* Obama now supports George W. Bush-style Military Tribunals for foreign war detainees (he was against them as candidate Obama).

* Obama has expanded (not limited) Bush-style warrantless wiretapping; adding special guarantees of government immunity and expanding his “special powers” (without Congressional Oversight) of the Executive Branch.

* Obama has stifled government investigations into Torture and the Human Rights Abuses of the former administration.

* Obama gives away hundreds of billions of tax-payer’s dollars to Wall Street, and then he just turns his back on the union workers who supported him in the Auto Industry.

* Obama allows his minions in Congress to conduct hearings on Heath Care Reform where they invite profit-driven vultures and profiteering extortionists from the Insurance Industry to sit at the front of the table when formulating Health Care Reform -- while they simultaneously arrest and expel single-payer National Health Care advocates from the hearings.

* On civil rights, Obama has de-prioritized repeal of DADT which has destroyed the military careers of over twelve thousand loyal, patriot Americans (even as Candidate Obama campaigned to push Congress to overturn that odious Jim Crow-style affront to human dignity).

* Obama (and Pelosi/Reid) have expressed no interest whatsoever in overturning DOMA so that those of us who are legally married (or partnered under some other kind of quasi-marriage-like legal arrangement) can receive federal benefits -- as Obama promised.

* Obama’s apologists say that he is too busy trying to save the nation and the economy and jobs -- so, then why isn’t he pushing for job equality and protections (ENDA) for the tens of millions of GLBT citizens who do not have the same level of job protections as ninety percent of the population?

In the final analysis, the Democrats and, especially Obama, are NOT “The Change You Can Believe In“! As bigoted, odious and villainous as the Republican Party is, at least they are upfront about it. Whereas, the Democrats, along with their lying segregationist, bigoted demagogue, Barak Obama, are master deceivers who troll the GLBT community for money, political volunteers, and votes -- only to slap us all in the face with either that tiresome mantra of “the time is not right” excuse or just an outright “get out of my face” avoidance of us after an election -- that is, after they have exploited us repeatedly in order to grab political power.

The Democratic Party un-official line: “Hey, just because they took us to the prom, it doesn’t mean we have to dance with them -- right?”

….Well, that is their attitude. And we are expected to gleefully accept that? But what do you expect when all we get from our fearless “leadership” in the GLBT community is to watch them smile and plead: "may-I-have-another-punch-the-gut-sir” and (while bending over to kiss the feet of their heterosexual overseers) “will-you-please-kick-us-in-the-ass-again-master“ ? The subservience from of our masochistic, fan-boy GLBT, Democratic fund-raising, political social clubs and toadies in Washington is sickening.

Fortunately, amongst the deluded millions of Obama sycophants who initially supported this dishonorable bigot, there are millions now who are finally starting to see the light.

It will be a third party ticket for me and my spouse next time -- unless the Segregationists Democrats in Congress and the Bigot-in-Chief in the White House get the message. I am sure many millions in the GLBT community will also express a similar outrage at the ballot box. Maybe then "our friends” on Capital Hill, and in the White House, will finally get the message that when you barely win an election, with a desperately cobbled together coalition of minority voters, you don't dare betray your constituents by ignoring their fundamental demands for equal rights after you are in office.

If things don’t change, and quickly, I’m ready to:

!!! Ditch President Barack O'Bush in 2012 !!!!

© Bud Evans

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

Live a Good Life

Marcus Aurelius:

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid."

~ The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Born 26 April 121 - Died 17 March 180 (aged 58)

~ The Not So Liberal Democrats Who Eat Their Own Step-Children ~ by Bud Evans

Many in Bill Clinton’s own party (as personified in the poison-toad embodiment of former Sen. Sam Nunn — once nefarious head of the Armed Services Committee) joined with the Repugs and opposed Clinton on lifting the ban on gays in the military.

Yes, Bill Clinton could have shown some guts and vetoed both DADT and DOMA — even when Congress had the votes to override his veto — because at least he would have gone on record as standing up for what was the right thing to do.

And yet, no liberal Democrat who voted to lift the ban lost re-election. Oddly, most the Dems who lost re-election in the mid-term elections were those backstabbing Blue-dog Democrats (also known as conservative Dixie-crats…also known as Republicans in drag).

And what did the sore-loser Dixie-crats blame for their defeat? Well, of course, the issue of DADT. Boo-hoo!

The fact of the matter really was that they actually lost the very crucial support of their Liberal Base because they acted like Republicans and joined with the Republican Goon Squad. A fact that many conservative Democrats still refuse to acknowledge, and who still foolishly believe that true Conservatives put them into office in the first place. In a close election when you really need your base, that kind of delusional thinking can lead to political suicide. Now, Obama seems to be heading down that path.

As Pres. Truman once said (paraphrasing here): If you are a Democrat running as a Republican don’t be surprised if you lose to a Republican. After all, why would any conservative vote for you when they can get the real thing.

Obama is a coward (even more so than Clinton) because he wont even give the appearance that he is fighting for our equality. He is nothing but a fraud with good speech-writers. Other than that he is an empty suit with no soul.

Obama is for Obama. He is more interested in his legacy as the first sort-of-Black president than by actually sticking his neck out to do the right thing. His lack of bravery will only guarantee him a place in history based on the irrelevant fact of his race — but certainly not for any great act of political courage on his part.

Just remember, for all their faults (and even in spite of their other positive accomplishments) Truman will be forever remembered for desegregating the military when the vast, vast majority of people in the US were against it; Johnson will be forever honored for his steadfast advocacy of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — even though it cost him and his party their previous political dominance of the South.

And Obama’s historical contribution for minority rights?

….well, after all he was the first mixed-race President. Other than that — not so much.

That, of course, is contingent upon him either following his current trend of apathy regarding the institutionalized bigotry imposed upon the GLBT community or actually standing up for “Change You Can Believe In“. You remember that now hollow-sounding mantra of those increasingly false and hypocritical presidential campaign promises -- don't you?

If nothing changes, then Obama’s civil rights legacy — concerning the only American citizens (the GLBT community) who are still fighting against legal, government sanctioned, discrimination — will be a big unforgivable failure on his part. That is what future generations will remember regarding Obama’s callousness, his inaction, and his lack of leadership in the social justice arena. That will be far more relevant to history that the insignificant issue of Obama’s mixed race heritage.

Sadly, I’d be very surprised to see this political opportunist change his spots. His primary self-serving interests seem to be restricted to a “not rock the boat“ political philosophy, and also confined to just creating a high profile for African Americans who no longer suffer legal, government mandated, discrimination. He doesn’t represent all the people — he is just for those who are most useful to him or for those who are most like him.

What a disappointment. What a shame. What a tragedy for all fair-minded Americans.

© Bud Evans, 2009

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

"Religion is the Crack Cocaine of Humanity" ~ by Bud Evans

Even in the face of a multitude of attacks which the LGBT community has suffered in the last several years under the dictatorship of der Fuhrer Bush and the RepubliNazis; regardless of these cretins' desperate and cynical machination by making same-sex marriage equality a wedge issue by which to goose their spiteful lynch-mob into a frenzied stampede to the polls on election day; notwithstanding the Democrats cowardly "playing it safe" official national policy of standing for absolutely nothing until the polls say it's ok to do so; despite it all, my bubble of optimism remains unbroken.

The tide of history is rising at our side. It is just a matter of time before we are free. Nothing will prevent it; nothing will deter it. It is far past time that the phrase, "Liberty and Justice for All", means something in the USA. Soon it will, and all of the homophobes can go put keffiyehs on their heads and immigrate to Saudi Arabia if they want the law to impose their religious lunacy on those who do not wish to live their kind of hate-filled lives.

The horrors that are committed in the name of any alleged "god" makes one wonder if there is anything in any religion that is worthy of even the slightest degree of spiritual or emotional investment. Organized religions are either private clubs; political caucuses or lynch mobs. Far too many are simply a curse on humanity.

Someone once told me that it isn't religion that does these things, it's the people. To which I responded: Yeah, that's kind of like the simple-minded mantra of the NRA which moronically claims, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" -- as if no contributing relationship or association exists. Nope, sorry that wont wash anymore.

Furthermore, religions often provide a twisted justification for violence --they always have. This is especially true when you have people in the Protestant Evangelical Cults; in the Catholic Klan, and in the Muslim Mob who constantly belittle, persecute, and attack the hundreds of millions of Gays and Lesbians in this world. Anything that threatens their limited world view, based on their irrational obsession with superstition, must be controlled, altered or destroyed -- according to them.

I ask all people of “faith” to give me one rational reason; just ONE carefully thought-out and intelligent justification for the maltreatment and the limitations on the civil rights of Gay and Lesbian citizens around the globe. But they can't give you one.

That is why these hate-filled despots turn to the superstitious mandates of religion in order to justify their evil acts. None of the powerful, of any faith, can hold the moral high-ground -- especially when self-styled "Christian" and militant Muslim leaders encourage and incite violent anti-social knee-jerk reactions in their adherents through their perpetually demeaning rhetoric and their pathological behavior towards Gay and Lesbian human beings.

As I've always said, religion is the last refuge for the scoundrel. It will always be that until people respect the humanity in their fellow man and woman, and not try to force people to be just like them. Nothing is more destructive to one’s sense of individuality and to the human spirit or to one’s pursuit of happiness than imposing one group’s beliefs on another -- either through legislative action or through force of violence.

If the old maxim: "I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll fight to the death for your right so say it", could be amended to include, "I may not agree with the choice of what kind of non-related, adult human being you choose to love in a monogamous relationship, but I’ll defend your right to make that decision for yourself." Then, if only people could mind their own business and not try to take away from others the rights they so easily take for granted for themselves….well, then it would be a safer and a more respectful world for millions more.

There is hardly a mole-hill of good that religion has done compared to the mountain of evil that most Abrahamic religions (extreme Orthodox Judaism, Fundamentalist Protestantism and current Catholic Christianity -- as well as militant Islam) have directly and indirectly perpetuated by forcing their tenets on others who do not bend a knee willingly to these retrograde expressions of tribalism. Yet some people say that organized religions have performed some good functions. By comparison, yes, some people can legitimately admire Hitler because his socialist policies helped to get the German people out of the Great Depression. But do we forgive him for all of his atrocities because he did some good too? I think not.

Likewise, in light of all the bad that has been done in the "cause" of religion, wouldn't we be better off without any of it? Just like we’re better off without Communism and Nazism. Wouldn't humanity function better and grow more creatively and be more productive in a secular, rational society where the individuality is more encouraged than blind conformity to a herd mentality that make a virtue out of ignorance and superstition?

If you can't be a good person and teach the ethics of right and wrong and proper social behavior to your children without beating some religious dogma into their heads, then you are a bad parent. Reliance on superstition is a poor substitute for reason. Religion most often relies on stifling curiosity about the natural world and about life's great mysteries– and that makes religion very dangerous and extremely detrimental to human advancement.

Many religions have so much in common with communism and fascist regimes which have created similar cult messiahs, such as: Stalin, Mao, Jerry Falwell, Fidel Castro, Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan, Ayatollah Khomeini, Adolf Hitler, James Dobson, Osama bin Laden, many former Popes, especially the current one, etc. And similar demands are made by them regarding mindless conformity for "the greater good" of society. In other words, to quash opposition to their despotic grip on power.

Communists, Fascists, Muslims and Christians all burned books when so-called "dangerous thoughts or ideas" were promulgated in them. Moreover, similiar brainless "religion-based" censorship often targets art and even music, and attempts to suppress all forms of non-conformity to their cults as well. It is so obvious that religion is antithetical to human development. It retards rather advances mankind. It is a millstone that we should no longer have to endure.

"Religion is the opiate of the people," Karl Marx used to say. Too bad ol' Karl substituted one form of totalitarianism and self-delusion for another. Although, regarding one thing he was right -- it’s about time most of the planet heads to the Betty Ford clinic and gets detoxed off from organized religions of all persuasions. It would be a far, far better world if they did.

(c) "Bud" E. Lewis Evans

New York Gov. Paterson Asks That Same-sex Marriage Equality Bill Be Introduced

(illustration credit: Mirko Ilic)

NY gov. calls for gay marriage vote
By 365gay Newscenter Staff04.09.2009 1:07pm EDT

(New York City) New York Gov. David Paterson wants the state Senate to vote on gay marriage, even if there currently are not enough votes to pass marriage equality legislation - a position that puts him at odds with his own party’s leadership.

Legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in New York State passed the Assembly in 2007, but the Senate, controlled by the GOP at the time, refused to take up the bill.

Democrats now control the Senate, but State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith (D) has said he does not have the votes to pass marriage equality legislation and will not bring the bill to a vote.

Both Smith and Paterson have been outspoken supporters of marriage equality, but while Smith wants a “go slowly” approach, the governor said a vote should be held this session.

Paterson told an Ithaca radio station that he intends to submit a bill to the legislature in advance of the annual lobbying day by Empire Pride Agenda set this year for April 28.

“Why can’t a bill just be on the floor and lose?” Paterson told WHCU-AM, adding “if you have the votes later on to pass it, bring it back.”

For the rest of the article go to: http://www.365gay.com/news/ny-gov-calls-for-gay-marriage-vote/

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MY TAKE ON IT.... by Bud Evans

I disagree with the sentiment, by some in the GLBT community, that: "...it may stop our momentum if we force a vote too soon."

They didn’t have the votes in Vermont to override the Governor’s veto at first, but they tried again anyway -- and they won. What if they would have just folded their tents and said that it was a lost cause and went home? In that case, Vermont would not be the fourth truly free state in America.

We are now down to several apartheid states in the US and far too many despotic states where loving same-sex couples are forced into a pernicious classification as being legally estranged from one another -- even when they live under the same roof and have been mutually supportive for decades.

But the tide is turning in our favor. As more states come on board, eventually the “good faith and credit” clause of the US Constitution will have to be invoked and DOMA (both federally and state adopted) will ultimately be challenged in federal court. And even if Congress repeals the federal DOMA (not likely), state DOMAs will still have to be challenged as well.

Sadly, all that the anti-marriage-equality state amendments and federal anti-gay legislation (like DOMA and DADT) are accomplishing is just to erode the US Constitution’s once unimpeachable Bill of Rights. They have made it appear as if this universal declaration of civil liberties is not worth the parchment it was hand written on. The Constitution was created to protect each and every one of us from the whims of the mob. Birthrights were established that were meant to be inalienable. That is not a reliable promise anymore.

Obviously, the US Constitution has had to be amended to allow the same rights of citizenship to be extended to racial minorities and to women who were intentionally excluded -- but same-sex oriented citizens never were explicitly excluded as the aforementioned groups apparently were. The US Constitution is the only thing of value which the United States offered in the form of a civilizing contribution to human society, and even it is still subject to threats of evisceration then it does not conform to group prejudices and religion-based bigotry -- i.e. the so-called Defense of Marriage Amendment.

Sure, seeking legislative relief is risky business -- nevertheless, it is still a viable legal option open to us. But to imply that demanding legislative action “may stop our momentum” is like saying if I fall off a horse I’m trying to learn to ride, then it would be better if I just come back in a few weeks or months or years later and then maybe try again after the horse decides to be tamer. No, you actually lose the “momentum” when you give up trying. Never give up and never relent for a moment. You're only defeated when you run out of hope, and the desire to take advantage of each and every opportunity that presents itself.

Yes, we must start to weed out all of the hypocrites who take our money and our votes. Likewise, we must actively campaign for the genuinely caring politicians who actually have earned our respect and our support.

I say go ahead with the vote -- come what may. If we lose, then we throw those bums out who lied to us; if we win, then we reward our supporters. It is a simple proposition, because eventually we will win. History is on our side, and people in power are starting to think about their own contribution to this last great civil rights struggle in America. Will they be on the winning side of history or on the losing side? Believe me, they’re thinking about their legacy too.

Our rights are not (as Obama's Secretary of Defense, Gates, implied -- no doubt echoing Obama's own repulsive apathy towards us) something that you can put off indefinitely, or as Gates actually said: "...let's just kick that can down the road a while."

Imagine, our equality is nothing more than just a rusty old tin can that needs to be kicked out of the way whenever possible. Uh huh, "change you can believe in" alright. So for all of you who insisted that we chose between the lesser of two evil, well you got your wish -- more institutionalized evil for the sake of political expediency with loyalty only to its own ambition.

We have been told, even by some of our political “friends”, basically not to look to Washington for solutions to “our problems” anytime soon. So, be sure to remind them not to look to us on election day in 2010 and 2012 either. There are always third party alternatives. Only ten percent of congress in control of a liberal third party could swing things in our favor as both Democrats and Republicans vie to caucus with that third party for legislative advantage.

Other than that, it looks like we’re on our own, kids!

The state by state strategy is starting to look like a good approach so far. But we must still keep the pressure on Congress for federal recognition of the marriages rights we have won. So now, more than ever, we must take advantage of the fact that the train has left the station -- so, get on board or stand out of the way. There is no other choice, because sitting on our hands and just watching while others fight our battles against those who would turn back the clock is not an option anymore.

@ Bud Evans, 2009

Obama: Not an Agent of Hope and Change -- Just Another Lying Politican

If the USA is ever to be united as one country, we must end any modern equivalent of the odious "Jim Crow" laws in America.

Separate is Never Equal.

Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats exploit and enable varying degrees of mob-driven bigotry; capitulating too often to this hate in the guise of religion. They have allowed to exist this false premise that exclusions from one's birthright of full equality is somehow justifiable in America -- that is, if one does not belong to an "approved" group.

But bigotry is never acceptable -- in whatever ugly form it finds personification. And it will never be justifiable as long as the American Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution continues to stand for anything at all.

So what does Obama do? He throws raw meat to the very same wolves who would have our bones (and his) for breakfast. And there are still so-called "Liberals" who would support this hypocrite because Obama doesn’t have a problem with members of the GLBT community sitting at the back of the bus -- as long as the GLBT community knows their place. Jeeez!

From a White House statement:
“The President respects the decision of the Iowa Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage. Although President Obama supports civil unions rather than same-sex marriage, he believes that committed gay and lesbian couples should receive equal rights under the law.”

I never thought I'd live to see the day that a formerly oppressed minority would get all "Jim Crow" on another minority, and then be so proud about it. "Separate but (un) Equal" indeed -- how shameful.

Some "liberals" call us selfish for wanting the same rights they take so easily for granted. Selfish like Martin Luther King who fought for the civil rights of his people when there was an even bigger war going on in the 60s. Remember Vietnam anyone?

And then there was President Johnson who sacrificed the Southern vote in order to ensure equality for Blacks by pushing for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Johnson confided to his intimates, at the time of the signing, that because of his support for racial equality, the Democrats would lose their political domination of the South, but he sincerely believed it was the right thing to do. What would Obama sacrifice for us?

While I am concerned about the federal courts -- the arena where our Constitutional rights will ultimately be re-discovered -- I am convinced that Obama will do nothing for us while in office; neither will a Democratic-controlled congress -- which almost immediately after election goes into a re-election mode.

© Bud Evans, 2009

Musings for Today - March 19th, 2009

God

loving figment of your imagination
or dangerous delusion?

... you decide.

now discuss it amongst yourselves
-- without the guns and knives.

~ Memorable Quotes from "Bud" E. Lewis Evans


(c) "Bud" E. Lewis Evans, 2009

From Our Commander & Chief Hypocrite

(click on the images below to enlarge them)...

...When a state senator he went on record as fully embracing marriage equality for Gays and Lesbians. When running for national office, Obama opposes marriage equality for Gays and Lesbians. Will the "real" Obama please stand up!

Can you say: Flip Flop Obama, anyone? IS this just another typical political whore who will say anything to any constituency in order to get elected?

Q: Is this the "CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN" promised by Obama?

A: Yep, if anything, Obama is "changeable". What a scumbag!

From Our Commander & Chief Hypocrite …

Twelve years ago Obama answered a questionnaire regarding his political positions when running for state office in Illinois. On the questionnaire, Obama emphatically stated his beliefs and told what he would do in regard to civil rights legislation for the GLBT community.

Click on the link below and read what he said. Pay close attention to question number six. Click on the photo to enlarge it. Then please tell us all in the GLBT community how virtuous and irreproachable this man is.

For the full story go to:

http://www.queerty.com/obama-supported-gay-marriage-12-years-ago-today-not-so-much-20090113/

~ "Bud" E. Lewis Evans

"The GLBT Community Desperately Needs a New Stonewall" by Bud Evans

For all who are absolutely opposed to aggressive protests, I must remind you that the decade in which civil rights legislation was finally passed that guaranteed the Black community its full and equal citizenship under the law was filled with violence. I lived though it, I was a teenager then. It was the 1960s.

So, what event happened that ultimately brought equality to Blacks? It wasn’t Martin Luther King’s laudable march to Selma and his peaceful protests — which usually ended in him being set upon by police dogs and put in jail. No, it was the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, and the weeks of rioting nationwide that ensued, which scared the holy sh*t out of the White supremacists in all branches of government and in all walks of life. They finally realized that this dog bites back and that you kick it at your own peril.

The billions of dollars in property damage nationwide, coupled with a tsunami of sudden fear and insecurity felt by White people, forced the White majority to respect the rights of the 13% of Americans who were Black and who were also fed up at being treated like dirt; forced to conform to second class citizenship, and even murdered — kind of like the GLBT community today. So, in that instance, peaceful protests did not work, but fear of retaliation from the oppressed did work.

I hear time and time again from the nervous Nancys and appeasers in our community about how we should all be on the “down low” or else we will face the fearsome “backlash” –such as the sweeping anti-marriage inequality amendments of the last fifteen years throughout the United States.

But ask yourself this: If there would have been violent riots, by the GLBT community, in the first state to have passed such a vile amendment, how eager would the rest of the states have been to pass them? If there would have been massive civil unrest on an enormous scale, thousands of times larger than the Stonewall Riots across the nation, how could they ignore us then?

Just look how everybody, worldwide, knows about our little uprising at the Stonewall tavern in New York in the late 60s. They even have a civil rights group called “Stonewall” in England — and it wasn’t even their riot. So why is Stonewall remembered and not one damn “peaceful” protest celebrated or even recalled in our movement?

Why? Because Stonewall was transitional and transformational. And not because it was peaceful, but because it was a violent rejection of the presumed privilege of a heterocentric society and its defenders. We finally stood up to the bullies. And bullies usually only pick on people which they are confident will not fight back. What a shock Stonewall must have been to them

Bullies, like bigots, are cowards and will often back down if you push back. Be pro-active. Organize sit-ins and join national boycotts (it worked against Coors beer — remember?). Target the states who have added anti-gay amendments to the their so-called “Bill of Rights” i.e. State Constitutions. Encourage others to not vacation in those states or to purchase products made in those states. Make it clear what you are doing and also make it very clear that you will work actively against any politician (including the current president) who is not working on what we also elected them for — our civil rights.

To be certain, sure remember and celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Stonewall this year, but let’s make our own Stonewalls today as well.

Also, really ask yourself this: What the f*ck have we done since then? Isn’t it far past time that we do something historical again?

© “Bud” E. Lewis Evans, 2009

Martin Luther King Would Be Ashamed of Black Folks Today

Martin Luther King Would Be Ashamed of Most People in the Black Community Today in America ...by E. Lewis Evans

According to CNN News exit polls: a staggering 70% of Blacks (Male and Female) voted YES on Proposition 8 which - in effect - removed the recently established fundamental constitutional right of same-sex couples to wed in California. The Black community was the largest minority voting block to take away this right from a fellow minority group. This was larger than any other racial minority who voted on the controversial proposition. Second to that was the 54% of Latino men and 52% of Latino women who voted YES on Prop 8. In contrast, a slim majority of Whites, 51%, voted NO on Prop 8 and against writing discrimination into the state constitution. Likewise, 61% of young people (18-24) voted NO on Proposition 8, as well as 59% of 25-29 year olds voted NO on Prop 8.

In view of this outrage and assault on human equality, I feel compelled to remind the Black Community in the United States, who voted with the 70% of their kind to deny the GLBT community its equality, to remember what historical Civil Rights Anniversary it will be in America in 2009.

The irony of this coming year is that it is the fiftieth anniversary of Brown -versus- Topeka Board of Education and the US Supreme Court decision which desegregated public schools and struck down the hideous institution of racial apartheid in the United States. In view of this, I believe that it could also be a wonderful landmark year for the GLBT community if Prop 8 in California is overturned on this historical anniversary?

Upon another ironic (albeit both forward and backwards stepping) milestone, it is also worth noting that we have just elected a pro-segregationist Black man as President of the “not-so” United States. A president who believes that it is perfectly acceptable to treat fellow Americans as second class citizens as long as that treatment is limited to the GLBT community. Of all people to have ascended to the presidency, we, in the United States, are now ruled by a member of a formerly oppressed minority who is a bit too comfortable rationalizing a so-called "Separate, but Equal" official policy of treatment towards another disfavored minority in order to maintain the status quo.

Even in view of this, I still have hope that eventually common sense and decency will prevail. I sincerely believe that we in the GLBT community are on the winning side of history. Regretfully, so many of our fellow travelers along the road to social justice have forgotten that we in the GLBT community are still forced to endure so many of the same injustices from which they, and their children, have since been liberated, with the full support of the GLBT community, when they most desperately needed it. So now where is their support for us?

Instead, they who once were persecuted now join hand-in-hand with the persecutors. How utterly shameful. History will remember that as well. That is their dishonorable contribution to the continuing legacy of liberation whose fruits they once voraciously reaped, but which in returned, they now selfishly deny to others who are still starving for freedom. Moral reciprocity is something that should be expected and it should have been forthcoming, but the Black Community’s lack of empathy towards the suffering of another oppressed minority says lot about the collective conscience, or lack there of, by this formerly subjugated group in our society.

Still, kudos for California State Attorney General Jerry Brown who refused to defend this repugnant state constitutional amendment on behalf of the bigots who voted for it. It is refreshing to see allies who have nothing to gain from our struggle other than the gratification of being part of an ongoing effort to uphold the concept of equal justice for all. Unlike Obama, Attorney General Brown is not an equivocator on human rights. He does not weigh on the "Scales of Justice" his own political ambitions balanced against the equal rights of his fellow citizens. So, as rare as it seems, there actually are a few politicians in America who do have a modicum personal integrity.

(c) "Bud" E. Lewis Evans
homepage: http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

Americans are NOT stupid? - WITH SUBTITLES

Sad...very sad indeed. Even some of the older people are as stupid as the younger one. So much for the better state of education fifty years ago.

Sean Penn Wins Best Actor Oscar for "Milk"

*********************************************

Sean Penn's performance in "Milk" was inspirational. The GLBT community desperately needs its own version of Martin Luther King. Too bad we lost Harvey Milk.

Gay Americans are the ONLY minority against which it is legal to discriminate in the United States of America.

Another shameful legacy for America's children to have to correct; passed down by, hopefully, the last generation of legislatively supported bigots this country will ever produce.

Someday soon this vile disease of group-hatred will forever die out in America. On that day, America's unfulfilled promise of "Liberty and Justice for All" will actually stand for something more than just pernicious hypocrisy and meaningless rhetoric.

Hopefully...someday...soon.

(C) Bud Evans, Feb 2008

When Is Our Turn Coming?

I remember, when I was a kid growing up, we had several black families in our neighborhood. I recall how most of the little black girls on our block played with white baby dolls -- there were very few black dolls in the major department stores at that time. Also, there were no black Barbies for the older black girls. No black GI Joes for the boys either. In fact, very few black people at all were even seen on TV as well -- except for maids, chauffeurs and, of course, “Amos and Andy“.

It was controversial back then to be seen catering to the Black community. Many of the “mainstream” manufacturers of toys (and of most other products in general, too) did not see much profit in selling race-specific products nor even advertising directly to Blacks. Many business also feared losing the patronage of white folks who objected to such overt associations with Blacks.

But things changed.

We too could see more products specific to the GLBT community (and we will someday) when we become full incorporated (others say assimilated) into American society. When the social cloak of imposed invisibility is finally lifted from our lives; when we can celebrate each other, our community, and our loved ones openly -- then, we will become a more viable market for all purveyors of commercial products. Even the simple gesture of creating a “wedding card” for our niche market is a good start if it helps to integrate the GLBT community into the mainstream of society with all of its banalities.

I live in the town (Kansas City) that is Hallmark’s corporate headquarters. It is one of the largest employers here. My brother worked there for many years. A great many people in the GLBT community in KC is, and always have been, employed there. I’m glad that they had taken this tentative baby step (albeit not widely known nor distributed) by including our community in their product line. But this new “gay friendly” outreach has not always been the case with Hallmark.

I’ve known how homophobic they used to be -- even in view of the fact that there wouldn’t have been much of a Hallmark if it wasn’t, in large part, due to the contributions of their GLBT employees -- especially on the art staff. They used to be very openly hostile to any Gay person who wasn’t in the art department. A friend of mine was in management and almost got fired when he was seen going into a gay bar next to the dinner playhouse his boss was attending with some company big wigs. He was told by his boss the next day that just because they had to tolerate the “queers” in the art department that didn’t mean that they would put up with any “fags” in management.

As I said before -- things change. It’ll happen. The next generation always looks back with disgust upon the previous generation’s shameful prejudices. Our day in the sun will come too. And when it does, the ramble-rousing, group-hate exploiting politicians -- along with the poisonous profiteering theocrats -- will join the KKK in the dust bin of history. And the world will be a better place for it.

Oh, and by the way, to those who have stated incorrectly that the GLBT is a infinitesimal part of the commercial market, please read the Wall Street Journal (no friend of the GLBT community) whose own research, over many years, has concluded that the GLBT community generally outspends all other minority communities in the marketplace -- especially as related to home furnishings, automobiles, real estate, luxury items and travel. So please, don’t “undersell” the GLBT community nor underestimate their essential importance to the economic health of the United States. To business owners, I suggest that if you ignore the GLBT community you do so at your own peril during these financially uncertain times.

(c) Bud Evans, Feb 2009

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

Obama's Swings His Wrecking Ball Against the Wall of Separation of Church and State

Where there are state or local laws prohibiting hiring choices based on sexual orientation in the federally funded portion of the programs, Obama has said he would support those being applied.

Uh, that means in about thirty or so state then it would be LEGAL to discriminate against GLBT in hiring. Yep, Change You Can (’t) Believe in alright -- but business as usual when it comes to the homos.

To those commentators who said that we can’t have charitable programs without church involvement - a big BS to you. If you really want federal money to flow back to the community, without church/state issues, then open up secular government food pantries and shelters throughout the country and hire anyone qualified for employment without discrimination of any kind. Keep the goddamn churches away from our tax dollars.

The leadership in the Democratic Party believes that the Republicans had hijacked religion; now they think it is their turn. But ask yourself, how well did that work out for the Republicans in the last election, eh?

As to Rev. Obama, and his not-so-subtle wrecking ball approach to breaking down the wall of separation between church and state, we should all now bow our heads collectively and pray that Thomas Jefferson doesn't completely turn to dust while spinning in his grave.

Amen


(c) Bud Evans, Feb 2009

Supporters of Gays in Military Urge Obama to Move Quickly

By 365gay Newscenter Staff02.04.2009 2:07pm EST

(Washington) Supporters of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” are calling on President Obama to stop dragging his feet in ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

President has said that he supports repeal of the ban, but reports indicate he has called for a study that could take up to a year to determine the effect of allowing gays to serve.

“Let’s be clear: A commission or a study group is not about change. That’s business as usual. We do not need another report to tell us what we already know and what earlier reports have long since concluded: the sexual orientation of a service member is irrelevant. What is relevant is how well he or she does the job,” said Aubrey Sarvis, the Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network on the SLDN Blog.
A retired Brigadier General for the U.S. Marine Corps who already has studied the effect of ending DADT agrees.

“There’s been enough studying throughout the years,” said General Hugh Aitken. “Creating a new study will not change the facts.”

....For the rest of the article, visit 365gay.com and click on this link below:

http://www.365gay.com/news/supporters-of-gays-in-military-urge-obama-to-move-quickly/

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MY TAKE ON IT
by Bud Evans

If White America can get over its prejudices and elect a Black man president, then heterosexual America can get over its ignorant stereotypes and acknowledge that there are already tens of thousands of brave Gay sailors, airmen, soldiers and marines in Arlington National Cemetery who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this ungrateful and undeserving nation.

It is far past time to no more serve in silence in order to preserve and to protect, with one’s life and limb, the rights and freedoms of others while being denied the most basic freedom of all -- the right to simply be who one is; without intimidation or oppression.

How pathetic that someone like Obama, who has become the beneficiary of a nation that protects all others, except for members of the GLBT community, from invidious discrimination, is so slow to show moral outrage towards the inhumane treatment of this last minority which is still denied the full benefit of American citizenship.

Shame on Obama; shame on Congress and shame on America. This is not a country of free men and women; this is a country of bigots, hypocrites, and oppressors. This is not a country of religious freedom, this is a country where religion has become the whore of politics and visa versa. This is not a country that values wisdom and peace, this is country that makes a virtue out of ignorance and still makes war a rite of passage into manhood and dominance.

There may still be hope that America can live up to her high sounding ideals and her overwrought platitudes of Liberty and Justice for All. But for more than two hundred years her people have been a dismal failure at achieving those goals except through either violent upheaval or by excruciatingly slow increments -- such as, the civil war and the civil rights movement in the US.

You’d think that America would have had plenty of time to learn to believe in its own self-aggrandizing rhetoric of egalitarianism by now. The GLBT community is the most diverse minority which is represented in every race, religion, social status and ethnicity in America. Without remedying the injustices which are incessantly heaped upon our community each and every day, this America, this self-appointed bastion of liberty; this guardian of democracy’s eternal promise rings increasingly hollow.

Its far past time for the not-so-United States of America to either put up or shut up!

(C) Bud Evans, Feb. 2009
http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

A Short Movie Presentation of My Artwork by "Bud" E. Lewis Evans

~ Click on the arrow to play this movie ~

An Artist's Statement by E. Lewis Evans M.A.

The product of an artist's life demands notice, just as an author's stories beg to be told. That is the nature of all storytellers. I believe that art is both feeling and knowing; it is part history and prophecy; it is both legacy and change. Thus books are written; stories are told; sculpture and painting abound to chronicle the artist's journeys within, and to share his reflections with those who will not or cannot traversed their own mind-scapes. I believe that an artist is supposed to be, by both nature and design, especially equipped to thrust his consciousness into the very fabric of his being. He must be free to labor and to give birth to the amalgam of his heart and intellect -- with no need to justify it and without ever having to reason why. Art is what defines him; it is who he is, not just what he does.

~ "Bud" E. Lewis Evans, M.A. (Studio Art)

Below are a few examples I compiled (along with my Agnostic commentary) as to why we should all take the Bible literally.

THESE ARE ALL ACTUAL BIBLE VERSES (well, the first part anyway):


______Greet one another with a holy kiss. (1 Corinthians 16:20)

Especially Catholic Priests when greeting Altar Boys.


______Women should remain silent in the churches. (1 Corinthians 14:34)

Yeah, because men are so much more rational when it comes to expounding on superstitious nonsense.


______Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. (Leviticus 18:22)

I don’t…I lie with a man as one lies with a man. Try it sometime. Oooo, baby!! That’s delectable.


______Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. (Leviticus 19:19)

We are all Doomed!!!!


______If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

Wow! A hefty fine and a shotgun wedding for rape. What kind psychopaths wrote this holy crap? …Oh, I’m sorry, “uneducated straight men” -- of course. The reason why those same poisonous fairytales persist today across the globe. Go figure!


______Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (Genesis 9:6)

Watch out war-mongers -- it’s not good for the “image“. Last time I looked in the mirror, God looked like he was getting fat. I need to go on a diet.


______Sell your possessions and give to the poor. (Luke 12:33)

You hear that Republicans, and especially Pat Robertson; Dr. James C. Dobson (from Focus on the Phony), and all of you other sinfully rich bitches? Cough it up, Paris and Britney! Now!!!


______Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work (Exodus 20:9-10)

So close down all of those heathen hospitals; immoral police precincts and blasphemous fire departments on Sunday immediately you “disrespecting the Sabbath Day” sinners!


_____If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head (1 Corinthians 11:6-7)

Wow! That must be confusing to Orthodox Jewish people and cowboys -- but understandable for nuns.


______If a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him (1 Corinthians 11:14)

Uh…I wonder if Jesus read this one? Maybe his hair just looks longer in those pictures. And what about Samson? In the Old Testament, it was a sin to cut your hair. I'm confused.

______If you are married -- do not seek a divorce. (1 Corinthians 7:27)

John McCain, shame on you! Well, actually fifty percent of you other formerly married heterosexuals out there too -- shame on all of you! Yes, you're a testament to the sanctity of marriage everywhere. Carry on!


______Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:42)

Hmmmm…the US Treasury‘s bailout of Wall Street?

______Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. (Proverbs 31:6-7)

Ok, let me get this right. That’s Budweiser to nursing homes and Chardonnay for the rest of us. Works for me!


______Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves. (Leviticus 19:28)

Ouch! Again, millions are doomed! :


______A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. (Deuteronomy 22:4-5)

Well, considering how everybody wore dresses back in the day when this was written, I am confused again. Are bathrobes ok?:


______I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes (1 Timothy 2:8-9)

All of the Fundies; the hair saloons, Tivol’s, and Cher won’t like this one.

______Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh (1 Peter 2:18)

This used to be the motto for KKK. But I think most people today believe that it should only apply to the GLBT community in the modern age -- seeing how America is more civilized nowadays.

______As the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:24)

This one is not too popular with N.O.W. (National Organization for Women). I wonder why?


Well, there you have it. The Bible is the “literal” word of God. The above are just a few examples of those asinine tidbits. It is amazing that the misogynistic, racist, homophobic, misanthropic, chauvinistic, tribalistic, fashion police who concocted that odious Bronze Age alternative to Miss Manners still have fans. Will wonders never cease? It’s a anachronistic testimony to the persistence of ignorance. Sure there are a few good pearls of wisdom (although women can’t wear them), but, in reality, the unHoly Bible is truly in dire need of a “do over“.


© Bud Evans, 2008

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

Bishop Robinson's Untelevised Pre-Inaugural Presidential Invocation

The Bishop Robinson Pre-Inaugural Video That HBO and The Obama Team Didn't Want You To See...

The inspirational invocation by Bishop Robinson was shamefully cut out of the televised broadcast of the pre-inaugural events Sunday Jan 19, 2009 by HBO which the Obama Team gave exclusive rights to present. Shame on HBO and Shame on Obama's henchmen for excluding it!

Attribution for this video, as well as its original site, can be found at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4

Of Bishops and Penguins & Cannibals and Kings...These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

(photo attribution: http://www.peacockshock.com/index.html )

Gay bishop to kick off Inauguration events

By 365gay Newscenter Staff01.12.2009 9:48am EST
(Washington) Gene Robinson, the Episcopal church’s first gay bishop, will deliver the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18 - the formal kickoff leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Obama.

For the entire article go to: http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-bishop-to-kick-off-inauguration-events/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

MY TAKE ON IT ... by Bud Evans

NEWSFLASH -- Just in… it seems that Roy and Silo, the two Gay chinstrap penguins from the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan are to be reunited and flown to the South Pole after officials on the Obama transition team gave them permission to hold a pre-inaugural ceremony and prayer for Obama in Antarctica.

These Gay love birds have been carefully chosen to be joint Masters of Ceremony at this glorious celebration commemorating our new Fuhrer. And like Bishop Robinson‘s egg-hunt at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, this event will also be held several days before the “real” inauguration, and far enough away, so as not to generate too much press attention and stress for the incoming Obama administration.

The theme of this occasion, as well as the Ball following it (which was generously arranged by the HRC at the South Pole) will be titled: “Out of Sight; Out of Mind In Our New Obama Nation”.

Rainbow-colored leg-warmers and sequined purple parkas are being furnished, free of charge, by Uncle Tom’s Fashion Wear; while the US Military has volunteered to fly in and to air-drop guests at the event (parachutes, of course, are optional).

Entertainment will be provided by Ellen DeGeneres doing her famous “Step ‘em, Fetch it” dance routine to be taped and telecasted later for her post-menopausal hetero plantation mamas; while music will be furnished by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir which will be handing out magic underwear and free “sexual re-orientation” tickets to heaven after the event.

Finally, refreshments will consist of good old fashion Jim Jones Kool-Aid -- complements of both the Democratic and Republican Members of the House and the Senate.

A great time is expected to be had by all.

(End of Update)

…Signing off…

… your reporter for "The Rainfish Chronicles" …on Jan 2009

~ Bud Evans

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

(C) Bud E. Lewis Evans