Prop 8, a Campaign Based on Fears and Lies

By Bruce Bastian

Huffington Post

It's hard to believe, but there's a backlash being carefully crafted against gay Americans who are understandably hurt and angry at the passage of California's Proposition 8. Even though that narrow vote stripped loving couples of their legal right to marry, some religious leaders would have us believe that gay America is targeting religious freedom in protesting the outsized role of the Latter-day Saints Church.

There have been nationwide protests, but nearly everyone has been peaceful. In any case, how do a few isolated incidents of spray paint equate with losing a constitutional right to equality given under the law? How does one incident of white powder in one church building -- a horrible act everyone condemns -- suddenly turn gay Americans into terrorists? It does if your singular goal is to block equality for one group of Americans.

And when did the LDS Church become the victim? Is this the same church that conducted a national broadcast to Mormon chapels calling on members to organize and write checks to the Prop 8 campaign? The same church that donated more than half of the $40 million behind Prop 8, even though California Mormons represent just two percent of the state's population?

As someone who was raised in the Mormon Church and fulfilled my two-year missionary assignment overseas, I know something about LDS teachings. And I know that God's view on homosexuality as expressed by Mormon prophets and leaders has changed so many times that the Church has little credibility in this area.

Church Elders have advocated for the utter destruction of homosexuals and have not ruled out violence as a defense against someone who is gay. Today, the Elders do not condone violence. That's a relief.(Click for remainder).

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Dear Republicans: You Lost. Get Over It.

By Robert J. Elisberg

Huffington Post

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll got attention for its analysis of Barack Obama's huge popularity. But some very interesting other numbers slipped through the cracks. They point out the problems that Republicans face in their seemingly never-ending attempt to throw mud at President-elect Obama and shoot themselves in the foot..

Headlines explained that 73% of Americans approve how Mr. Obama is handling the transition, and that 67% felt "very or somewhat positive" about him.

Some Republicans, however, have tried to minimize this, dismissively contending that all new presidents have high numbers. There are two flaws with this position. The first is that Barack Obama isn't even president yet. The second is that the poll shows that while presidents do start with positive approvals, they are not generally at the elevated levels Mr. Obama has already reached.

This is where some of those under-reported figures start to come into play.

The especially-high opinion of Barack Obama has little to do with any traditional honeymoon period. Since the election, yes, 38% say their opinion of Mr. Obama has become more favorable. However, prior to Bill Clinton's swearing-in in 1992, that number was just 28%. (No comparison was available for George Bush.)

Indeed, as the WSJ/NBC poll notes, the nation "is more unified around Mr. Obama than it was for either Bill Clinton in 1992 or George W. Bush in 2000." In fact, it's double. Polls showed that 52% believe the coming year will be one of national unity. Under George Bush, it was only 27%.(Click for remainder).

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A Bullet with Turd-Blossom's Name on It

Would some please put a bullet in this jerkoff's brain?  This man has destroyed the nation, nay the world!  On second thought shooting him would be a waste of a good bullet.  Let's just get him in a room and beat him senseless with baseball bats before water-boarding him.  Then we'll leave him in the middle of the Mojave.  Prefection!  God I hate these bastards.

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Kucinich on America’s Banking System: 'Once, They Were Gods'

The deities of the American banking system are now in ruins, plunged from their pedestals into the maw of taxpayer largesse.

By Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

AlterNet

Once they were as gods, but the deities of the American banking system are now in ruins, plunged from their pedestals into the maw of taxpayer largesse. Congress voted to give the banks $700 billion, lifting them temporarily out of their sepulcher of debt, while revealing a deep truth about the condition of America's financial powers:

They never had the money they said they had as they constructed their debt-based monetary system which now lies in ruins. Their decisions on behalf of depositors, shareholders and investors were lacking in basic integrity and common sense: green gods bailing out with their golden parachutes.

There was a time when their power was real. Come with me to Cleveland 30 years ago today.

Dec. 15, 1978, Cleveland, Ohio

I awoke to find a curt payment demand that was dropped on my front step by a grandfatherly man who supplemented his Social Security delivering the morning newspaper. The headline plastered across the front page:

Cleveland Trust: Pay Up. Bank would relent if Muny Light were sold, Forbes believes.

One of America's largest banks, Cleveland Trust, led local banks in demanding immediate payment from the city by midnight, Dec. 15, of $14.5 million in short-term loans.(Click for remainder).

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Bush's Shoes

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Sen. Salazar Tapped For Interior Secretary

By 7News

DENVER -- Sen. Ken Salazar is expected to be named to President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet as Interior Secretary within a matter of days, the Associated Press reported Monday.

If the Democratic senator accepts the position, it would fall upon fellow Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter to name a replacement, until the senator's term ends in 2010.

Democrat Rep. Mark Udall would become Colorado's senior senator, even though he was elected to the Senate just a month ago.

Names floated as possible successors include Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper; Reps. John Salazar, Ed Perlmutter and Diana DeGette; Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet (whose name was being floated for possible Education Secretary) ; outgoing state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff; and former U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland, among others, reported the Denver Post.

Former Transportation Secretary Federico Pena, a close Obama advisor, could also be appointed.

Hickenlooper told 7NEWS Monday that he was going to stay focused on the city. But he did not say he would turn down the seat if it was offered.

"There are a lot of possibilities out there, and rather than engaging in endless speculation, I choose to stay focused on running the city," Hickenlooper said....(Click for Remainder).

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