They're not two of my favorite California Congresswoman. But their leadership on repealing don't ask don't tell comes to a head with a hearing today, chaired by Davis.
Democrats in Congress hope to ignite a drive to reverse the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy Wednesday with the first hearing on the subject since 1993, when President Clinton said gays could serve in uniform if they kept quiet about their sexual orientation.
Without this hearing, said former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman John Shalikashvili, "you will never repeal the law. It's a great idea." He is among more than 50 retired generals and admirals who have said it is time to rethink the policy [...]
Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee tried to have a hearing on the policy in April 2007, but opposition from conservatives in their party sank the idea.
Since then, "There's another year in the war," says Rep. Susan Davis, a California Democrat who chairs the military personnel subcommittee. "We want to start a conversation" that could put the issue on a front burner again.
Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California, the lead sponsor of a bill to repeal the policy, said she knows what military leaders would say if they testified.
"The military leadership will tell you that this is the law they've been given to operate under and that's what they do," she says, "which is a very different question of off-line and off-the-record, 'Personally, admiral, what do you think?' That's the only way they could answer ... differently."
The Pentagon may be ducking this hearing, but they can't hide from public opinion. Over 75 percent of Americans would like to see DADT repealed. The arguments about "unit cohesion" have been shown to be ridiculous, and the case of Arabic translators being fired for being gay have highlighted not only the absurdity of this policy, but the national security harm it's actually doing.
The most fitting part of all of this is that Larry Craig supports Don't Ask Don't Tell. Yeah, he would, wouldn't he? I'm sure he'd love to change the title to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Just Tap Three Times," but then...
UPDATE: Rep. Patrick Murphy (from my hometown) had a great hearing. He kicked a little butt today. Video on the flip:
I don't like to use exclamations in my titles, but I felt this deserved one. A friend of mine emailed me a PDF foretelling a ruling in In Re Marriage Cases from the Supreme Court's website. So, tomorrow is the judgment day, the day we will learn if, in California, we all really do have equal rights to marry the one we love.
The decision is scheduled to come out at 10am. The Supreme Court has all sorts of interesting documents, audio, and other stuff related to the case at a special "High Profile Cases" page.
A few stories of interest that I wanted to pass along:
Chris Lehane and the Fair Election Reform Group are calling for an investigation into the funding of the Dirty Tricks Initiative. Lehane and others allege possible violations of federal election law.
The Humane Society is gathering signatures for an initiative to regulate factory farming practices. "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act provides basic protections requiring that animals be able to turn around and extend their limbs. It will prevent the use of inhumane factory farming practices such as keeping animals confined in small crates or cages—specifically, veal crates for calves, battery cages for egg-laying hens, and gestation crates for breeding pigs."
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has some ideas for balancing the budget. According to Bill, they are just ideas and he doesn't necessarily endorse them. Good thing, too, because one of his "ideas" is totally cutting off the UC system from state money. Brilliant idea, there. You know what else we could do? Charge the kiddos for public school, that would free up billions!
LA might need to pass a replacement phone utility tax if the current law is struck down in court.Villaraigosa is trying to get the measure declared an "emergency" to allow passage with a simpple majority.
LGBT organizations across the country are decrying Speaker Pelosi's decision to exclude the transgendered from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. I've heard that the Speaker, and her staff, have been getting in earful here in the district as well. Almost all organizations are standing together saying that they will not leave part of the community behind, except, that is, the Human Rights Campaign. I guess they need some achievements to justify that building they own by Capitol Hill. Too bad any passage of ENDA without the entire community would be a complete sell-out of those who they were supposed to represent.
Washington (Pony Express Press): As the War between North and South rages on, President Arnold Schwarzenegger has again announced his intention to veto a bill that would emancipate the slaves throughout the American territories, based on the fact that the practice of slavery has been ratified in the states of the Confederacy in the past.
"It would be wrong for the people, and by people I mean wealthy landowners, to vote for something and for me to then overturn it," Schwarzenegger said. "So they can send this bill down as many times as they want, I won't do it."
This is the second year in a row that President Schwarzenegger has vetoed the emancipation bill from the Congress, refusing to offer a proclamation of his own. The bill would set free millions of colored Americans from the bonds of slavery. Some have suggested that the people actually voted for the legislators who drafted the bill, but the President, in the midst of shuttling back and forth to Gettysburg for updates on the fighting, dismissed this.
The situation was made all the more intriguing by the fact that the President's chief of staff is currently a slave. Abolitionist activists have called on the chief of staff to resign.
Well, did Todd know that there were Republicans in there? Check out the article on Hillary's fundraiser in The Laguna Beach Independent:
Among the guests... were several Republicans. "They have said to me point blank, 'she may have swayed me'," [Clinton Campaign's Southern California Finance Committee Member Terry] Baker said. "They couldn't wait to get in line to get their picture taken with her."
Host Stevan Gromet, a self-described conservative Republican and like Clinton, a Yale law school graduate, surprised guests with his introduction. "I am looking for pure, transcendent, charismatic leadership," Gromet said... "And what I heard from Hillary was an earnest and serious discourse about our country's political ailments, cast in terms and concepts that went beyond party politics... So if Hillary and I are two separate dots, her talk last week was definitely a connection between those dots with a bold line."
So what is it that's swaying Republicans to Hillary's side? And is it in any way related to the reasons why many progressive Democratshave turnedagainst Hillary? And is winning the hearts and wallets of big Orange County donors enough to help her win California, and win the nomination?
(OK, I FINALLY finished uploading all these photos! I hope you enjoy them! ; ) - promoted by atdleft)
Laguna Beach has always had a special place in my heart. Perhaps it is because Laguna is so unigue among the beach cities here. Or perhaps, it is all the natural beauty. Or perhaps, it is the flavor of the town itself. Or perhaps, it is all of this and more...
But what happens if all of this is lost? What happens if my beloved Laguna is lost as it gets sucked into the surreal circus of MTV? What happens if Laguna loses its own self and gets lost into the unreal "reality" of its neighbors?
This is why I wrote my letter to Laguna. Follow me after the flip to see more (including more photos!)...
(My word, that race is getting nasty. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
As the Orange County special election approaches, the Republican Party is becoming desperate. The Democrats have united behind Former Assemblymember Tom Umberg, while the Republicans remain divided. We Democrats are working our patooties off, hitting the streets to talk to our neighbors about the need for us to have an ally of working families on the OC Board of Supervisors. Meanwhile, the Republicans feel that the only way for them to pick up a Supervisorial seat is to resort to fear and gay-baiting.
On Monday, I posted about a new effort that I'm working on to vote no on William McGuiness. I've got a website up and going at NoMcGuiness.com. I must say that Blogger is quite convenient for these type of things. I wanted to cover some more on the subject, because this election, we have an opportunity to push back at the Right. In a very real way. Well, at least if you are in the First District.
But some background on William McGuiness. You can find a profile here. He was appointed to the Appellate Court in 1997 by Pete Wilson after serving in the Reagan Justice Dept. and a Superior Court Judge for a long time. Now, I don't have any problems with his qualifications. I think he's very qualified. That's not the issue. William McGuiness made a terrible decision in In Re Marriage Cases, a decision that says that separate but equal is jolly ok with the California Constitution. A decision that denies equality for a substantial segment of Californians. That is not ok.
In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger said this to Sean Hannity:
I think gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Looking past the obvious inanity of the statement, you see a deeper discomfort with gay relations. It's a bit odd considering that he worked in Hollywood for so long, where gays are always present (perhaps not openly though). Well, at some point Schwarzenegger is going to have to take a hard position on gay relationships; one that isn't fuzzy and relying on the courts or other decision makers. The Court of Appeal case brought the subject to Dan Walters' column, which we'll go into on the flip.
Follow me to the flip for more details on the demographics and a couple of comparisons and why we need a better gay rights infrastructure.
Arnold Schwarzenegger headlined the Log Cabin Republicans annual fundraising dinner. This group of self-loathing gays heard Arnold deliver that they were darn close to being just as human as heterosexuals. And they deserved most, but not all, of the rights:
Schwarzenegger spoke at a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans, the first time he's addressed a gay and lesbian audience since becoming governor. Some in the audience hailed his record on gay rights and cheered as he took the stage, chanting "Four more years!"
Critics in the audience said they wanted to hear why they should support a politician who vetoed a same-sex marriage bill and who has promised to veto another high-profile bill that would add gay and lesbian history to California's public school curriculum. (SF Chronicle 6/30/06)
Yes, why indeed? Is there a reason that you would support a governor who rejects your relationships? Well, the Governator didn't have much to say on that front:
But the governor said relatively little during the speech, mostly thanking Log Cabin members for their work and saying they were his friends and he loved them. He did address gay rights, though not directly.
"In our society, we need a higher level of understanding, not a lower one. And we need an understanding of tolerance that is stronger, not weaker," the governor said. He never mentioned his veto of the same-sex marriage bill beyond saying that he and the group might not always agree, but they share the same values.
Ah yes, the same values, except the one about equality of our relationships. That one...yeah he doesn't share it so much.
