America’s President

Not sure how quickly the turnover will be on the government websites, but at 12 PM (EST), the White House website should be updated to reflect the new president. You can always check out President Obama’s website leading up to the inauguration for updates, or the Presidential Inauguration Committee’s website.

Politics inauguration, Politics, potus, president

It is the night before one of the most historical moments in America’s history. Tomorrow at 12NOON (Eastern), Barack Obama takes the oath of office to become the forty-fourth President of the United States, and I get the feeling that the country is really ready for this kind of change.

Many people are sharing their thoughts in the blogosphere about what this means for them, and for the country. One blogger that I’ve recently started to read added this great post to his blog. He reminds us that while this is a day to be celebrated, we need to remember that there continues to be a number of inequalities throughout this country that still need to be addressed. As Davey writes, tomorrow is just “one step on a journey of many” and I’m proud to be here as the US begins that new journey.

In that light, there was an editorial piece in Friday’s New York Times by Mary Frances Berry (former co-chair of the US Commission of Civil Rights), who suggests that it is time to abolish the Commission on Civil Rights and create a new commission that addresses the rights of many groups, including gay people. What a great call to be making to a president that wants to bring change to this great country, and how phenomenal that this call is being made from such a strong advocate of “civil” rights in this country.

It has long been my belief that before any group can achieve equality, that group needs to work with other groups, people and communities to build support for that goal of equality. It is only through these partnerships that true and effective change can occur.

Many in the GLBT community feel that we must achieve these changes alone because it is “our” fight. I don’t agree with this, as this thinking is outdated and counterproductive to achieving the goal that we seek, and in many ways it slows down the progress that we hope to make. Tomorrow we start a new journey, and with that – I hope – a new opportunity to change the way we think. It’s time to focus on what we have in common with others, and work to bring about a united change that will see equality for everyone, not just another smaller subgroup of society.

Politics inauguration, Politics, potus, president

Thanks to a recent couple of twitter posts, I found that President-Elect Obama has launched a new website to share information in relation to the transition that will take place in January. The site can be found at www.change.gov.

One of the options you have at this site is to share you thoughts, ideas or feedback with the Obama Transition Team on any number of issues.

I submitted the following comment to the site:

As part of any immigration reform, and as a national of another country in a same-sex relationship with an American for nearly ten years, can the inclusion of the “Uniting American Families Act” (previously known as the Permanent Partners Immigration Act) be incorporated to extend the option for partnerships of same-sex bi-national couples to be recognized for immigration purposes.

While this is a personal and selfish request, it is one that would benefit a large number of relationships that exist in this country, and would reduce the number of aliens in the country who have chosen to stay in the United States of America illegally rather than tear their family apart.

There are numerous other options for sharing your thoughts and ideas, and I encourage anyone reading this blog to take some time to become more involved with what is happening in this country.

Politics

So Senator Barack Obama is now President-elect Barack Obama. There is an energy in the air since those words were first mentioned last night around 10PM (CST), actually it has been there for a while, but at that moment I felt different.

Chris and I celebrated this moment in history with friends, some good wine, and lots of political banter. We celebrated the victory of Barack Obama, and the words of John McCain. We celebrated the gains in the U.S. House, and I celebrated that the Democrats did not get the 60 seat “filibuster-proof” majority in the U.S. Senate. I’m not for blanket coverage government, and have long said that – at least in the Senate – there needs to be some accountability, and nothing provides that more than not having the “absolute majority” in that chamber.

In listening to Obama’s victory speech, like so many others, I was again impressed with his ability to talk about the future that we as a community need to work towards creating. Obama recognizes that just winning isn’t the answer, as there is a lot of work to be done to continue the momentum forward. In his speech, Obama said,

“[t]his victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.”

I, for one, am ready to see where this new journey to this country’s future leads us.

Politics election2008

Thanks to Andy for the excerpt.

*No purchase necessary, just having some fun with words.

Politics Politics

Thanks to Ed for continuing to share what Marilyn shared with him.

I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..

• If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re ‘exotic, different.’
• Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
• If your name is Barack you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
• Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you’re a maverick.
• Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
• Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well grounded.
• If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works, and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you don’t have any real leadership experience.
• If your total resume is: local sports announcer, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you’re qualified to become the country’s second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.
• If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you’re not a real Christian.
• If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a true Christian.
• If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
• If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state’s school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you’re very responsible.
• If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family’s values don’t represent America’s.
• If your husband is nicknamed ‘First Dude’, with at least one DUI conviction and no college education, who didn’t register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Politics

I’ve been thinking about making a post over the last few days, and each time I sit down to write something, I move onto something else. This morning, I read a post by danah boyd, and just wanted to post the link here. It is such a good read, and puts into words how I feel about the current state of play in politics. Do yourself a favor, and read it.

Community, Politics inspiration, Politics

I thought this news was pretty cool. It shows Google doing what I consider a fundamental function of this global company — enabling information to get out to those of us interested in the behind the scenes happenings of conventions. It also provides a strong recognition to bloggers, especially given the recent call from some people to have their media credentials revoked.

Google Inc. will help set up a two-story, 8,000 square-foot headquarters for hundreds of bloggers descending on the Democratic convention in Denver next week, and it will offer similar services at the Republican convention in September, as new media gain influence in politics.
…
Google stands to gain exposure and goodwill from 500 or so bloggers who paid $100 for access to the facility, run by a coalition of bloggers. Google’s software and services will be featured, including a kiosk in the public area of the tent where anyone can post videos on YouTube.
…
At the Democratic convention, bloggers from each state were chosen to be embedded with their delegations on the convention floor. Several hundred other bloggers will report from the Big Tent and at events and protests around Denver.

I’m looking forward to both conventions this year, just to see what happens and what is reported (on the blogs).

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