Friday, November 14, 2008

Prop 8- Blame the Black Folks ?




A black heterosexual's musings...

So much for that racial harmony everyone was going on about in the wake of the Obama election. On Nov. 4th, while Obama won handily, several initiatives were passed throughout the nation that discriminate against the gay community. Key among them, in California Prop 8 won by a narrow margin of 52% to 48%--banning gay marriage in the state. The reaction from much of the gay community--specifically the white gay community--has been an eye opener for those of us of color on the progressive left.

It seems, according to an exit poll conducted by McClatchy newspapers, that a whopping 70% of black voters in California voted for Prop 8. And armed with those numbers, some have gone on the offensive. The mostly white-faced LGBT community accused blacks of "betrayal." Who even knew we had a treaty? Blacks were declared "bigots," en masse. Because what happens in California speaks for black people everywhere it seems. The news media pushed the narrative: an oppressed group after gaining power (allegedly through one man) had turned into the oppressor. Even the normally sensible types like John Stewart, Bill Mahrer, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann didn't deviate far from the storyline, though some cautioned about playing the blame-game. Once racially harmonious liberal blogs turned vicious, as white gays bitterly complained they had just done blacks a "favor" by electing Obama. Seems the gay white community wasn't choosing the right guy for the job, or someone that better suited their own interests, but just being charitable to ungrateful black folks. Black people, the black community, black puppies and anything generally black were dissected for their blind religiously based homophobia. Log-cabin-Republicans (that' a political identity problem for another post) who had crossed over to Obama like Andrew Sullivan, brazenly attacked black America and was cheered on by white gays in an almost lynch mob type atmosphere. Things became so out-of-control that a white gay blogger proudly claimed he had informed his father he was no longer a "nigger lover."

It seems that some have decided that though they don't like people scapegoating gays in California--it is okay to scapegoat an entire race of people when things don't go your way. And in the midst of all the finger-pointing, very little sensible discussion has taken place. What follows below are a few thoughts I have been pondering on...

Political analyst David Binder has compiled yet-to-be-released statistics on the vote for Proposition 8 based on ethnicity and found that the percentage of black voters who approved the amendment is smaller than originally thought, Minter said. A CNN exit poll indicated that about 69 percent of black California voters marked “yes” on Proposition 8, but the new data indicates that about 57 percent of black voters approved the amendment, he said. The revised statistic would be similar to what exit polls showed for voting patterns for other ethnicities, such as white and Latino voters.


source: http://www.washingtonblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22632

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Georgia's Blunder





Georgian missile batteries firing on South Ossetia


Lost in all of the Obama glory last week was a major news story from the Nov. 6 New York Times. Turns out that the war in Georgia--which erupted this summer and set off a "new Cold War" between the US and Russia--may not have started precisely as we've all been told. The official story from Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili was of an unprovoked Russian attack on his small country. Russia however charged that it was the Georgians who attacked the separatist region of Ossetia, killed Russian troops and hundreds of civilians--to which they reacted (or perhaps overreacted). Now, months later, turns out that the truth of the entire sordid affair is coming to light. And Saakashvili is looking less than David facing off Goliath, and more like the boy who cried "wolf."

Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression. Instead, the accounts suggest that Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.


While not conclusive in this game of "he said, she said," the Times article does call into question Georgia's motives and the painting of themselves as a defenseless innocent against a bullying Russia. Whatever the larger designs of Russia's increasingly autocratic Putin, it is looking more and more that it was Georgia who kicked off this crisis. And given the current state of Russian-Western relations, this has embarrassing implications for Georgia's biggest financial and military backer--the US. For certain, this is a full scale bi-partisan blunder, which had leading American figures like George Bush, John McCain, Joe Biden and (yes) Barack Obama, all rushing to the defense of Georgia, and proclaiming Mikheil Saakashvili the "George Washington of the Caucus."

The question now is, how will this all play out in an Obama presidency, which has (sadly) already cozied up to Saakashvili. Joe Biden has a "special relationship" with Georgia second probably only to John McCain. Georgian diplomats were "special guests" at the Democratic National Convention. What's more, some of those surrounding the president-elect are best described as old Cold War Hawks who are still obsessed with the "Russian threat." And Obama, in a serious lack of good judgment, has previously made statements about Georgia joining NATO. Yet allowing Georgia into such a military alignment would do little more than intensify Russian anger with the West's broken promises regarding NATO expansion, and turn the small country into a flashpoint of conflict--a literal "Kashmir of the Caucus."

About the only promising statement out of the Obama camp regarding Georgia, was his call for "restraint" on both sides during the conflict (which was derided by his detractors) and his preventive assertions long before, that international peacekeepers needed to replace the Russian troops in South Ossetia. Let's hope that kind of good sense prevails in the months and years to come, because (unless you're talking Outkast), contrary to Sen. McCain, we are NOT all Georgians. And the risks of antagonizing an already disgruntled and nuclear armed Russia over Saakashvili (a reckless leader with, at best, pretensions of democracy) is not in this nation's best interest--or anyone else's.




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Monday, November 10, 2008

The War the World Forgot




In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it. This is Congo, and the reason for the conflict - control of minerals essential to the electronic gadgetry on which the developed world depends - is what makes our blindness to the horror doubly shaming. This is the story of the deadliest war since Adolf Hitler's armies marched across Europe - a war that has not ended. But is also the story of a trail of blood that leads directly to you: to your remote control, to your mobile phone, to your laptop and to your diamond necklace.

So reads the intro to a 2006 article in The Independent, which provides an informative look at this crisis.

The conflict in the East of Congo has flared up--again. Rebels backed by Rwanda are killing indiscriminately and executing civilians. Refugees are fleeing the fighting, only to end up in camps ravaged by disease. UN peacekeepers stand by, uncertain of what to do. In a sea of what has become both dismal and tragically routine, the only glimmer of hope is that this time it is actually making the news. It is war that has left millions dead, and claims 45,000 lives a month--yet, until quite recently, this horror has gone all but unnoticed on the world stage. The question is, will it remain so? Will it mean the world is finally ready to act?

In a rare bit of hope, the President-elect has actually been attuned to the Congo. In 2006, Barack Obama sponsored a bill to provide relief and promote democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was signed into law in December 2006. In October of 2007, he wrote Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice personally, "expressing his concerns about the growing number of systematic sexual assaults against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)." Of course, it will take more than hope to fix the Congo. And it will take more than a President Obama. But perhaps it's a start.

And there's no better time than NOW, for us to try and do something, and get this out as one of the top foreign policy issues of a new administration.

Tell the new Obama administration, the Congo should be a top priority at Change.gov.



The Independent article below the fold.

See also, Friends of the Congo.


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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Obama Day One



What most needs repairing


Before my innate cynicism kicks in (as I'm sure it will), still going to bask in the glow of the good things about having a Democrat--and most specifically this Democrat--in the White House. Today, the Washington Post pointed to a series of things that even the most jaded progressive has to admit are steps in the right direction:

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

Now that's some hope I can believe in.

The entire article here.

More snippets below the fold.

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Saturday, November 8, 2008

Three Important Reasons to Be Thankful




Glenn Greenwald over at Salon.com pointed out three immensely important things to be thankful for about the outcome of this presidential election. And even a cynic like me, who will no doubt be critical of an Obama presidency as much as anyone else's, has to admit that Greenwald is spot on.

Want to see the three immensely important things?

Check beneath the fold.













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Friday, November 7, 2008

Simple and Important Victories




In all the celebrating and the shock… I'd forgotten about the many simple but crucially important victories this election would mean. And then I went to The Nation, and read this peice by Barbara Crosette:

In the Senate, Obama and Joe Biden have been supportive of programs for women--Biden co-authored the Violence Against Women legislation--and the ban on UNFPA is expected to be lifted early, along with what is known as the "global gag rule" introduced at a population conference in Mexico City in the Reagan administration that prevents US aid to any organization worldwide that condones abortion.

Just this past April, I wrote a blog about the Global Gag Rule, how it is leading to maiming and death, and what a change away from right wing reactionary politics in the White House could mean to millions of poor women worldwide. Nope, Obama ain't perfect. And there'll be a lot of pushing to get him on the progressive track, but the repealing of the GGR is a definite victory.

And for that alone, we can be thankful.

Below the fold, Barabra Crossette takes a look at a few more.

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Global Newspapers Cheer on Obama



The Courier-Mail Brisbane, Australia

One for the ages...

More newspaper headlines below the fold.





Kleine Zetung Graz, Austria




De Standaard Brussels, Belgium




O Povo Fortaleza, Brazil




EXTRA Rio de Janiero, Brazil




Dnevnik Daily Sofia, Bulgaria




Corriere Canadese Toronto, Canada




The Beijing News Beijing, China




Lidove Noviny Prague, Czech Republic





Die Tageszeitung Berlin, Germany




Hajdu Bihari Naplo Debrecen, Hungary




Morgunbladid Reykjavik, Iceland




Anandabazar Patrika Calcutta, India




Indonesia celebrates




Jam-e-Jam Tehran,Iran




Irish Examiner Cork, Ireland




Yedioth, Ahronoth Tel Aviv, Israel




La Repubblica Rome, Italy




An-Nahar Beirut, Lebanon




Liechtensteiner Volksblatt Schaan, Liechtenstein




Verslo Zinios Vilnius, Lithuania




Star Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia




The Namibian Windhoek, Namibia




AD Amsterdam, Netherlands




The New Zealand Herald Auckland, New Zealand




Dziennik Polski Krakow, Poland




Publico- Lisbon Edition Lisbon, Portugal




Jurnal Bihorean Oradea, Romania




Al-Riyadh Riyadh, Saudia Arabia




Politka Belgrade, Serbia





SME Bratislava, Slovakia




The Times Johannesburg, South Africa




The Dong-a Ilbo Seoul, South Korea




El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona, Spain





Dagens Nyheter Stockholm, Sweden




Basler Zeitung Basel, Switzerland




Apple Daily Taipei, Taiwan




Olay Bursa, Turkey




The Guardian London, UK




Gulf News Dubai, United Arab Emirates




El Universal Caracas, Venezuela


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