Organizing Equality Under Obama, No Better Than Being Under Bush?
As I stated in “Marriage Equality Through A Netroots Nation Looking Glass,” I was at Netroots Nation, a progressive conference, this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. My partner, David Badash, and I took part in quite a few panels/caucuses/and discussions about the LGBT movement and where it should/could be heading.
After listening to the panelists for the forum, “Organizing the Equality Movement in the Obama Era,” which was hosted by Rick Jacobs from the Courage Campaign, and included Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend, Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry, Arshad Hasan, the training director for Democracy for America, and Thomas A. Saenz, the President for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Equality Fund (MALDEF), I don’t know what I should be feeling.
The view of this panel seems to be as diverse as the number of issues that we must fight for every day. I understand that is what it means to organize equality. It is about every issue, not just marriage, not just immigration, ENDA, or DADT. It is all about equality on each and every issue.
Spaulding talked more generally about rights but ran over DADT quickly, while Wolfson hit on marriage and its importance to the movement in general. Hasan basically talked about the LGBT and progressive movements and how they are NOT in line with one another, and Saenz brought on his view of immigration.
The lack of focus and the huge number of issues that we must fight for is making our movement and our fight seem less important within our own community. How can we focus on all these issues? How can we come together and fight as a united front and not as a divided group? The thing here really is that the percentage of people that are fighting for our rights in the first place is smaller then the majority, so splitting up that small percentage into even smaller ones by not sharing common goals or a shared focus makes our movement obsolete. I believe that all these fights need to be fought, but honestly we can’t fight all of them all the time.
We need to start supporting the people that support us. Reward those fighting for equality by backing them with money, support, and votes. We also need to let those who do not support us know that we are watching and we will fight back. We need a strong ally in the White House. We need allies in Congress, local governments, and in our neighborhoods.
If you look back and see what we have gained during the presidency of George W. Bush and the year and a half we’ve dealt with our proclaimed ally and defender Barack H. Obama, you will notice… not much. Throughout Obama’s campaign it was “I promise ‘this’,” and “We will fight for ‘that’,” but really we’ve seen very little significant action. So how is this any better? I understand that there are things that are better. Small things are beginning to change, but I don’t see any advocacy from the man in charge. (He can talk but fails to deliver.)
Now on the upside, I am encouraged that we are finally getting together to talk. Bringing the minds together to ask questions and to share ideas. However, I feel we don’t do this enough. That we don’t build relationships within our ‘family.’
So really, how have things changed?
In 2006 America voted to CHANGE the house, and in 2008 America again voted to CHANGE, this time it was the presidency and the way the country was to be run. To CHANGE the ‘issues’ that we focus on, or at least the way we look at them.
But where is that change?
Granted, Obama has done quite a few little things for us as progressives and as LGBT. He signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He’s signed a couple executive orders when he entered office. One was for the withdraw of troops in Iraq, another to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, he also reduced the security given to presidential records. Nominating Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
So I’m not saying he hasn’t done anything, I’m just saying it hasn’t been what he promised…for example: when will Guantanamo Bay actually close? When will our troops be out of Iraq? I also know he didn’t promise marriage for the LGBT community, but overall I thought his election would have meant a bigger ally in the White House.
We need to hold all in Congress, the White House, and local Government accountable to their constituents and their promises.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”
“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.
Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).
The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.
A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.
“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.
“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”
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Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”
In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”
Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”
“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”
The original video is here.
See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.
Caution: the video is disturbing.
Ole Miss taking care of business. pic.twitter.com/JiL9hs2pHz
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 3, 2024
READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.
While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.
But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.
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“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”
The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.
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NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.
“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”
Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.
“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”
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“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.
“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”
One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”
Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”
Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.
“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.
“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”
Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.
READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
News2 days agoCongressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
News2 days agoNoem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
News3 days agoRFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties