Friday, May 18, 2012

WHO are the Job Creators???

Hat tip to my pal David in Newport for this one, from the MSNBC website. This occurred at the TED Conference in March. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Shameless Self-Promotion Part MMXII - Reminder

I have been invited to join David McLaughlin this Sunday night from 6:10-6:30 on KudzuVine, an online radio show discussing Southern politics from a Democratic perspective.

You can listen to the show at this link, and can call in if you like at the number listed at the link. I look forward to this, and hope that you will as well!

UPDATE: if you missed it, you can listen at the link above.  I wasn't bad.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

On the subject of marriage

David Waters, the terrific religion writer for the CA, got the reactions of several ministers to yesterday's announcement by the President that he now supports marriage equality.

I was struck by this response by Chris Altrock of the Highland Church of Christ:

If we want to have a civil discussion about the status of homosexuals in our culture or about the legal privileges afforded to homosexuals, let’s do so by all means. Jesus would urge us to love our neighbor, heterosexual or homosexual, and to create a cultural climate in which all neighbors are treated with justice and mercy. But let’s leave marriage out of this discussion. From a Christian perspective, marriage has nothing to do status or stability. Marriage between a man and a woman exists to reflect the world-changing love between Jesus and his bride.
With all due respect, Reverend, I must take issue.  Marriage is not the sole propriety of the church, and this is why my gay friends seek marriage EQUALITY.  Marriage may well be a covenant, but what is a covenant? An AGREEMENT, and what is another name for agreement? CONTRACT.

You see, the state governs contracts, not the church. If the Supreme Court of the United States were to rule that gay marriage were legal, all that would mean is that gay couples could not be denied marriage licenses by their County Clerk.  If that couple were to bring their license to your church, sir, you and your congregation would have every right under your guaranteed freedom of religion to politely explain that such marriages were against your beliefs and that you could not honor their request.

But it would still be a MARRIAGE license.  And MARRIAGE, not civil union, is what gives not only legal protection, but EQUAL STATUS in this great land of ours.  To not grant the right of MARRIAGE to gay people is to deny them EQUALITY.

And that is a civil rights issue, ladies and gentlemen.  I support civil rights for all regardless of race, creed, origin, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, even though I am a straight white male.  Civil rights should be the birthright of all human beings, and last I looked, gay people were human.

So, Rev. Altrock, while I appreciate that your response was not homophobic, (and, frankly, much more open and welcoming than some of your fellow ministers in the article), I must gently remind you and all ministers, regardless of faith, that MARRIAGE belongs to all, not just the church.

Civil rights is civil rights.  NEVER forget that.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Foamy The Squirrel has the proper perspective on gay marriage

Even if North Carolinians do not.


Kennedy Day is coming!!!

Speakers are not known yet, but we'll have that here soon.


The Shelby County Democratic Party is pleased to announce its Kennedy Day dinner.
June 8th from 7 to 10 pm
Balanise Ballroom
330 N. Main, Memphis, TN.
A VIP reception will also be held that evening from 6 to 7 pm.
Tickets for the dinner are $100 per person or $1000 for a table.
Tickets for the VIP reception are $50.
All can be purchased online here.

Monday, May 07, 2012

How do you steal $53 Million in a town of 15,000?

The City Comptroller for my birthplace, Dixon, IL, is accused of embezzling $53 million dollars over the last few years, and she apparently just got caught!  This has been amazing to watch; it is a town of 15,000 people, and I never thought there was ever THAT much money in Dixon at any one time in my life.  Here is a report from WQAD of Moline, which used to be a sister station to WREG: I hate that this happened to Dixon, but to those of you who think Memphis has problems, realize that a small town like Dixon can have just as big a problem with crooks, because everyone assumes that something like this could NEVER happen here!

SCDP Happy Hour This Thursday

Liz Rincon sent this to me and asked me to inform all of you about this event, which is from 5 PM-7:30 PM this Thursday, May 10:

Come join the Shelby County Democratic Party for our bi-monthly happy hour. We are excited that Mollie Fontaine's Lounge is having our group in their amazing space! Drink specials and good political talk. See you there!

Friday, May 04, 2012

Go read Newscoma. NOW, please.

The best writer I know is having a rough week, and I think you should go read her now.  And while you are at it, kick a little in the Paypal over there while you are at it, if you can, because for some reason while Republicans support their own financially, Democrats do NOT, well, most of them, anyway.

Seriously, she writes, she sends out the terrific DAILY BUZZ every morning (and if you are a lefty, you should sign up if you have not already done so) and she is trying to stay afloat as best she can.  When she wrote about this other day, she was attacked by Freepers.  I took this as a sign that she is being wildly successful at bring ALEC's evil to light, so they sicced the Freepers on her.

In short, we need to rally behind her now, and fully support her fight, because it is OUR fight, too.

Go read her and appreciate her, because she is badass and fighting for US.