This is just so fucking stupid I want to eat my own head.
Part of the reason that we have had a faith outreach in our campaigns is precisely because I don’t think the LGBT community or the Democratic Party is served by being hermetically sealed from the faith community and not in dialogue with a substantial portion of the electorate, even though we may disagree with them.
And you know, Atrios takes apart the know-it-all-ness of it, the condescension, but you know what I’m damn well tired of? Being told my concerns as a Democratic voter in a Democratic primary aren’t as important as those of “independents” or “centrists” or whatever it is we’re calling assholes who can’t make up their minds these days.
I’m getting really fucking sick of being told my concerns are out of reach because addressing them might piss off some whiny pussy who thinks it’s just too much for her to think about, the whole “equal protection under the law” thing, who equates co-existence with having something “shoved down my throat,” who thinks “other people might be uncomfortable” is a legitimate reason to refrain from letting right be done.
Good God. I am so TIRED of being second to these assholes, all the time, I am so tired, dead tired, and maybe this is my absolutely brutal hangover talking, but I am so fucking fucking fucking tired of coming in second to that constituency, to the caution, to the fear, to the equivocation, to the hedging, to the consultation and the achievable and the electable and the politically realistic, and if I could through the haze of my headache just offer the Obama camp (and the Clinton one while I’m at it, and everybody, really, running in this race) some advice right now?
YOU’RE IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
TRY GETTING DEMOCRATIC VOTES.
Try doing things that appeal to passionate, involved, activist Democrats.
Instead of making out with the fence-sitters, with the centrists, with the people who believe their ambivalence about the direction of the country makes them morally superior, instead of snuggling and braiding the hair of the jackasses who think their feelings of vague discomfort about the idea of buttsex and pride parades justify a betrayal of our country’s ideals through discrimination, why not give your winks and nods to the constituency that is going to get you fucking votes in Iowa and New Hampshire and yes, even in South Carolina, which I’m betting is just thrilled at being thought of as the home of bigoted hicks. Why not appeal to the people who are going to give you the nomination?
You want to wink and nod at a constituency? You want to send a message to people that they should give a flying fuck about you becoming their standard-bearer? Try that constituency, that message, because we’re getting damn tired of being told to lie back and take it and then give you your change.
A.
137% agreed w/you.
But we have to continue to send our own message back. And we have to get louder and better organized. In kind of a hurry.
I posted this a.m. about this piece from the Guardian: Democrats are hocking their agenda as if they were at a fire sale, which points out the following:
The Democratic candidates, meanwhile, seem embarrassed by their own supporters. Although they are perennially absent from anti-war rallies, they will show up at black churches, trade union fundraisers and the occasional gay event. But when it comes to articulating support for those causes or communities, they lose their voices.
But if the Democrats have an abusive relationship with their supporters, their supporters are complicit in that abuse. Democrats overwhelmingly support troop withdrawal from Iraq yet back candidates who favour keeping troops in the region indefinitely. The gay community continues to give the main candidates huge amounts of money even though all of them oppose gay marriage.
I hate to say it, but in response to what virgotex said, that’s the problem with the two-party system.
You either vote Democrat, or you vote Republican. And the difference between them is sometimes hard to see…
You know, I’m pretty sure Fred Phelps and his ilk have done a fine job of making sure no one in America is “hermetically sealed” off from their positions. But I’ve yet to see them open to this ‘dialogue’ of which he speaks. Perhaps Obama could explain why he thinks the problem is our unwillingess to reach out and talk to them, rather then their unwillingness to listen to people whose very existence they condemn.
You either vote Democrat, or you vote Republican. And the difference between them is sometimes hard to see…
or, you commit to your agenda, not to “your” party.
And that will cost pain all round, but really, what else is the choice? To continue to participate in, and further, an increasingly empty exercise that speaks to an ever-narrowing group of constituents?
Here’s an I D E A:
take your own poll.
I for one am not calling HRC “inevitable.”
I think her “evitability” is what we need.
The PRESIDENCY is NOT a family heirloom.
Let’s get some new blood in the White House.
New thinking in the Congress.
Somebody with a fracking clue how their constituents see the issues.
They pay you enough that they get change back?
Man, I gotta change my rates. 🙂
Maybe Obama should open a dialog with the KKK. They seem to be hermetically sealed off from the benefits of dialogging Obama too. Has anyone noticed that Obama seems to want to kill off his candidacy as soon as he raises enough money to have made it all worthwhile?
Hoppy, I’ve been defending him to Mr. A who has always thought he’s an empty shirt, but this is just … inexcusable. It reinforces the idea that his so-called new politics isn’t about anything more than making himself out to be superior to the very process he’s taking part in, and that pisses me off.
A.
A, Yes he lifted his pant legs a bit, and his feet definitely seem to be made of clay! It took me about two months to get over the loss when I realized he wasn’t what I thought he was. But, Pinocchio was able to change, so maybe he will someday too.
THAT was an excellent rant, you should be hungover more often. I love the way b. HUSSEIN osamabama speechifies as opposed to the chimpamoron that’s in office now, but he is SO fucking vague, with the platitudes and all that.
I liked him too, for awhile.
Back on the unelectable Kucinich bandwagon for me.
Oh, and if our two choices end up being Giuliani and Hillary, then I will be staying home on election day…in Canada!
fuck the middle. this is the PRIMARY. and this is time to go for the TRUE BLUE democrats. grab the other when they are actually paying attention after the fucking convention.
all i want is a real democrat to stand up. a FDR. a truman. a fucking fighting bob la follette!
Surprise, surprise, Sen. Obama and everyone! Really and truly, there are lesbian and gay people of faith. I have exchanges with them every single day. What is Obama talking about? They are not cut off from the rest of the world, nor from the church, nor from the rest of the Democratic Party, although they are often badly treated by the world, the church, and the Democratic Party and by you, Sen. Obama.
I don’t know. To me the choice is…
Obama, progressive policies + conservative rhetoric
vs.
Clinton, moderate policies + liberal rhetoric
…I just know how Obama has legislated in the past and it’s NEVER been anything but progressive. Clinton, not so much. Obama could call me a three-toed tree sloth who smells like turnips and I wouldn’t give a shit because the record shows Obama’s legislates and governs on behalf of everyone in defense of fairness, justice, and economic security – including sloths. I might not smell like turnips but I’m not going to sweat it if it enables all the yummy goodness of actually governing as a progressive which I trust (yes trust) Obama will do. It’s not blind faith, I’ve checked the record and the record is good. No pandering in Obama’s IL State Senate record, all substance and progressive pragmatism. Obama to me is Sandra Day O’Connor of the left. Unpopular among a small vocal subset who accuse him of not being ideological enough but hugely popular to most if given a chance. Bill Clinton gave the left rhetoric (health care, universal college loans) and the right legislation (welfare reform, NAFTA). I’d prefer the opposite arrangement.
why i prefer edwards. fuck the teevee gnews.
to: joejoejoe
Why not Edwards? I still don’t get why Clinon and Obama are so presumptively the nominee for so many people. Take a look.
mr badcumble – I like Edwards. I just can’t get past the Iraq War vote in ’02 with any candidate. I couldn’t in ’04 and supported Dean and I can’t now in ’08. Maybe I’m too stubborn but that’s how I am.
That said, I do think Obama has a lot going for him and would be a fantastic president. He reminds me of the guy you barely know at the office who seems distant and aloof but when you actually work with him gets a lot accomplished, works well with others, and just gets things done.