He Knew All The Words

Archive for the ‘civil rights’ tag

Elizabeth Warren. For EVERYTHING.

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This video offered without comment.

Written by David Zaza

October 10th, 2012 at 10:51 pm

Evolve Already [UPDATE below the video]

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The folks over at GetEqual used one of my tweets in a video pushing for President Obama to come out in favor of marriage equality. The last few days have seen a serious increase of pressure on the president, because of his previous statements about his views “evolving.” His arrival here in NYC today just as the Republican-controlled State Senate is turning itself into a pretzel trying to decide whether to vote on the marriage bill is causing a good number of his supports to push him harder. At the beginning of his term he asked us to hold his feet to the fire. Well, we are. The Advocate has a report on some US Senators calling on the president to get on the right side of history on the marriage question. And there will be a protest rally outside of his fundraiser tonight. I have no illusions that he’ll change his official view or announce anything new tonight. But it’s good to see the pressure build.

My tweet comes onscreen just after the 20-second mark of this video. And now the waiting for the State Senate continues….



UPDATE

Okay, so how’s June 23, 2011 gonna turn out? Let’s see what’s happened so far:
1. President Obama addresses an LGBT fundraiser and repeats everything he’s ever said — he understands our impatience, we deserve equal rights under the law, blah blah blah. Nothing new at all. He acknowledges the fight for marriage equality currently going on in Albany — and doesn’t even say he hopes we win. Then I see this tweet from a Huffington Post reporter:

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

2. Defense Secretary Gates delivers some LGBT news. He will NOT be certifying the repeal of DADT by the end of the month, when he steps down from his post. Incoming Def Sec Panetta has not given any indication of when certification might happen.

3. We are in a holding pattern, waiting for REPUBLICANS in the New York State Senate to bless us with our god-given rights. A vote may come tonight. It may not. If it does, it may pass. It may not. We’re relying on Republicans here, so, you know, you do the math…. Here’s hoping they prove me wrong.

Written by David Zaza

June 23rd, 2011 at 4:12 pm

13,500

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Since 1993, under the policy and law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” more than 13,500 men and women were booted form their military careers because of their sexual orientation. As the law now goes through the process of being repealed — once the President signs it, he and other military leaders must certify military readiness won’t be hurt, and then there’s a sixty-day transition period — let’s hope that what we’re actually seeing here is the first chip on the old urn of homophobic legislation, and that soon we can crack that ugly old thing to bits. Even in a time of waning Democratic power and increasing Republican power, the Senate came very close to passing this repeal with a super-majority (65 Senators voted aye).

No doubt, next steps such as repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, let alone actually providing marriage rights for all American couples, will be much harder than this fight. But winning this one should help to normalize the acceptance of gay and lesbian citizens in our culture.

Congratulations to all those men and women in the military who will soon be able to proudly speak of their spouses openly, who will no longer have to hide or lie about who they are and who they love. And congratulations to the military for no longer having to fire well-qualified, highly skilled individuals simply because some bozos on Capitol Hill can’t get their heads out of their asses long enough to realize it’s the 21st Century. The repeal of this odious law is a plus for everyone. Except John McCain, who has further shamed himself in the eyes of history. Heckuva job, Johnny!

Written by David Zaza

December 18th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

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DADT fails in the Senate

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Newest Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is the only Democrat to vote against it. He’s an asshole.

And even thought she voted in favor, Susan Collins (Asshole-ME) deserves no credit. Her failed negotiations with Sen. Reid (Asshole-NV) were not in good faith since she herself signed that stupid Republican letter that said they wouldn’t allow any Senate work to get done until the wealthy were given their tax extensions.

Elections have consequences, and the idiotic American electorate gets what it deserves. Too bad we all have to pay the price.

Written by David Zaza

December 9th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

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I say we stone the bigots.

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GOP’s New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has some very Old Testament ideas about “homosexuals.” And he delivers them to a rather appreciative Old Testament crowd. He says about kids, “I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option. It isn’t.” Then the CNN article that accompanies this despicable video above ends with his campaign manager telling Democrat Andrew Cuomo that Paladino’s positions are in line with the Catholic Church — so if Cuomo’s got a problem with that he should “take it up with his parish priest.”

I think, you know, since we’re getting all Old Testament up in here — and since the Constitution and not the Catholic Church is the law of the land — I say we pass a law that denying civil rights to anyone else on the basis of religion should be punishable by death. By stoning. And if that’s too radical for them we could simply restore some Old Testament laws about punishing adulterers with stoning. I wonder how Mr. “My-Mistress-While-I-Was-Married-Had-My-Child” Paladino would feel about that…. Asshole.

Written by David Zaza

October 11th, 2010 at 12:01 am

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Arkansas Assholes

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It goes without saying that all the Republicans in the Senate are assholes, especially those two dopes from Maine. So it comes as no surprise that they voted in lockstep against the military authorization bill today because of the inclusion of an amendment that might someday lead the president to authorize the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell if a Pentagon study tells him it’s okay to do so and if his Secretary of Defense and his Chairman of the Joint Chief tell him it’s okay and if magical pixie dust paints rainbows over San Francisco or something. And so I’m not going to clutter up this page with pictures of all of them because that’s just too many assholes all at once. But to have Democrats also voting against the bill simply reveals them as the bigots they are. Blanche Lincoln is a fool, and Mark Pryor is a coward. And they’re both assholes. Lincoln will be gone from the Senate as of January, because she’s going to lose her reelection bid in November. Good riddance.

Don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Democrats to start acting like Democrats again. We’re the party of equality and equal rights, including equal rights for LGBT people. If Lincoln and Pryor’s big tent isn’t big enough for gays and lesbians, then my big tent is certainly not big enough for them. Assholes.

Written by David Zaza

September 21st, 2010 at 3:45 pm

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Quick question:

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Are we going to help our fellow citizens come to their senses, or are we going to let our society devolve into fascism?

I left Ohio in 1992. I felt I needed to escape a community that displayed hatred and ignorance in a vile manner such as this:

I live in New York in 2010. I feel the need to escape a community that displays hatred and ignorance in a vile manner such as this:

I despise the those who are using intolerance and mob mentality as an election year tool. And I despise those who are standing by doing nothing or trying to reason with those who would give hatred another victory in this country. It’s time to call this sick, intolerant ignorance what it is: pure bigotry.

Written by David Zaza

August 23rd, 2010 at 11:29 pm

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The Last Time A President Got This Much Done Booze Was Illegal

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Rachel lays out just how far we’ve come in less than one-half of one term since Obama’s inauguration. And even with her appropriate nod to some liberal disappointment (raise your hand if you’re still pissed about the public option!), the list of this administration’s accomplishments is staggering.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Written by David Zaza

June 26th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Terrific Frank Rich Column on Marriage

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Frank Rich uses his Times column today to ruminate on the state of marriage in the USA. After noting the recent separation of Al and Tipper Gore and recent (4th) nuptials of Rush Limbaugh—and after sincerely wishing them both happy futures—he turns to the politics of marriage:

But there is a shadow over marriage in America just the same. The Gores and Limbaughs are free to marry, for better or for worse, and free to enjoy all the rights (and make all the mistakes) that marriage entails. Gay and lesbian couples are still fighting for those rights. That’s why the most significant marital event of June 2010 is the one taking place in San Francisco this Wednesday, when a Federal District Court judge is scheduled to hear the closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the landmark case challenging Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban. A verdict will soon follow, setting off an appeals process that is likely to land in the Supreme Court, possibly by the 2011-12 term.

I myself haven’t followed this trial all that closely—mostly out of fear of getting my hopes up. Personally I think the likelihood of the current Supreme Court (+Hagan) striking down discriminatory marriage statutes out in the states is slim-to-none. Possible, sure, but highly unlikely. A tactic of going for federal government recognition of those same-sex marriages performed legally in the five states that allow them probably would pass the Supremes. But the stated impetus behind the current case is right on, and more power to those lawyers and plaintiffs and all of us if they somehow succeed.

Importantly, Rich points out the great part of the plaintiffs argument that domestic partnerships and such that are not-quite-marriage are really no solution:

Domestic partnerships and equal economic benefits aren’t antidotes, Boies explains, because as long as gay Americans are denied the same right to marry as everyone else, they are branded as sub-citizens, less equal and less deserving than everyone else. That government-sanctioned stigma inevitably leaves them vulnerable to other slights and discrimination, both subtle and explicit. The damage is particularly acute for children, who must not only wonder why their parents are regarded as defective by the law but must also bear this scarlet letter of inferiority when among their peers.

Anyway, politics in this country have recently been rather narrowly focused—the 2008 election, the Great Recession, the two wars, the upcoming midterms, the god-damned oil leak in the Gulf that nobody can seem to do anything about. It’s really about time to get the marriage equality issue back out front and center. And I’m quite happy that it’s not in the hands of the federal government, especially given how the Obama administration and Congress together are botching their handling of the repeal of DADT. Take a quick read of the Frank Rich piece, and do me a favor—email it to a couple of people who might have forgotten that you have a personal stake (me!) in this case.

Written by David Zaza

June 13th, 2010 at 10:29 pm

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Mr. Spitzer, please shut up

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There is one man who recently elevated the progressive platform to unprecedented heights in the state of New York. One man who made promises that this was our time. He was a leader, an innovator, and a tough-as-nails fighter. He was a man who was finally going to deliver on the promise of progressive politics in the state of New York, to allow us to rival the progressive platforms that have been pushed — and which unfortunately have yet to flower — in California, Washington, Illinois, and other states. We were going to win because of this man.

And then Eliot Spitzer proved he was not up to the job.

Personally, I don’t give a shit about who screws whom, and whether it was paid for, illegal, or what. I have no moral compass when it comes to investigating and prosecuting prostitution rings and then turning around and being a client of them. I simply couldn’t care less about such matters. Except for a little concept called political reality. Eliot Spitzer made a lot of promises, and he broke every single fucking one of them by self-destructing while in the office of governor.

And now he wants to speak up and try to cast doubt on the abilities of the next best possible hope for any kind of real liberal governance of the state, his successor in the Attorney General’s office, Andrew Cuomo. Mr. Spitzer, would you do us all a favor, and shut the hell up?

Spitzer was going to get a lot of work done. He was going to change the tone of Albany. He was going to run roughshod over the status quo of power and corruption. And instead, shortly after a year of his swearing in, he was resigning from a scandal that not only painted him as inconsistent and power-hungry, but a scandal which showed him to be breaking the law.

And since then the economy has turned to shit, the culture of Albany turned even more sour than it was, the Democrats lost control of their own legislature due to lack of discipline and the powers of corruption, and every major issue dear to the hearts of New York progressives — from education to labor to gay rights — has suffered a breakdown or loss or inevitable backtracking due to the fact that Spitzer became the posterboy for all that is wrong with the state.

So when I — who still lacks the basic civil right to get married in my own state — read the bitter crocodile tears of a man who not only broke a law that is very simple to abide by but let his own actions cause his own political destruction and derail progressive politics in the state for another decade, forgive me if I sound harsh in saying:

ELIOT SPITZER, PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO CRAWL INTO A HOLE AND DIE. ASSHOLE.

Written by David Zaza

April 25th, 2010 at 12:35 am

Go Away

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In addition to helping noted artist Mark Fox get his shiny new site up and running, there are a whole slew of other sites that have been intriguing me lately. Part bookmark for myself, part desire to share with you dear readers, here’s a simple list of where I’ve been and where you’re going…

First a few new additions to the links at the right which I haven’t ever made mention of:
Information is Beautiful is site that compiles infographics from all over the place. And yes, it actually is beautiful.
– Similar information, of a more personal nature, can be graphed by anyone at the very cool site called Daytum. I’ve set up my page to graph four important measures of my life: days lived in New York v. days lived in Ohio; transportation method of my commute; cocktails imbibed; and what percentage of my Facebook status updates are my own v. those I steal from others. It’s interesting to learn that Manhattans do indeed make up 75% of my cocktail intake (expect this to shift toward martinis and negronis as the weather warms up). The graphs are also providing me with some goal-oriented feedback. I’ve always been longing for the day when my New York residency eclipses my Ohio residency (I think New York will take the 50% mark on December 8, 2015). And on the commuting front, I’d like to get the subway slice of the pie down to below the 50% mark, with biking and walking combining to take the lead. We’ll see over time.
– Check out my new friend Kenji’s movie reviews on his blog, My Life, at 24 Frames Per Second. He’s a terrific writer and a nice guy. We met through Twitter and have gone to a few movies together, with more planned.
– If you like smart pictures, good light, and a healthy natural curiosity, you’ll want to see my friend Scott’s pictures, over at, yes, Scott Likes Pictures. (He’s not in Spain and it’s not in Spanish, despite the .es URL!). I especially love his “from below” pix and the “words on photos” series, but the whole thing is worth a look.

Elsewhere on the web:
– More photography: 500 Photographers sound like a nice project. It’s just getting rolling and will be interesting to follow over the course of 100 weeks.
I Wrote This For You uses photography, but it’s really a poetry site. It’s mysterious and strange, a bit dark and oddly warm. Go back to the beginning and go entry-to-entry. You’ll get sucked in and spend hours reading the cryptic, emotional messages.
– Speaking of poetry, have I sent you here before?
Why marriage equality needs to be the law of the land.
– For a good time, spend a few hours lost in a wondrous architecture archive.
– I love New York, and and I love the way Paul Sahner loves New York.
– The Catherine of Cleves exhibition at the Morgan is outstanding.
– You all have heard about ChatRoulette by now, right? (Just in case: It’s a randomized video chat website, hooking you up via your webcam to all kinds of weirdos all over the world). Here’s a wonderful video of a talented dude singing about and to those he chats with.
– Finally, have you seen the two videos for Ok Go’s “This Two Shall Pass”? First came the live version:

Then came the Rube Goldberg version:

Written by David Zaza

April 19th, 2010 at 2:12 pm

Alternate Liberal Universe?

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Just went to the NY Times website to see what was going on in the world and I thought for a second I had been transported to some alternate liberal universe.

Student loans to be paid directly to students instead of to students through banks as a free money giveaway to banks? Yowsah!

Senate passes reconciliation bill to fix some of the biggest problems in its own health care law? Wowsah!

The military is going to (for the most part) stop enforcement of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell while waiting for the law to be repealed? Zonkers!

If passing Health Reform is going to give the Dems some spine to actually start doing some of the things they’ve promised, I may faint. I’ll faint happy, but faint nonetheless. The cynic in me says this will be short-lived, but at least for today I can be stunned and happy to see three such bits of news right at the top of the paper.

Written by David Zaza

March 25th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Civilized Countries

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Portugal makes its bid to join Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and South Africa in recognizing marriage equality. Looking at that list it’s pretty amazing to think South Africa is ahead of the US civil rights. Then again, looking at the list of US states that have marriage rights for all, it’s hard to imagine Iowa is ahead of New York and California. Sigh.

Written by David Zaza

January 8th, 2010 at 5:21 pm

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Fuck the New Jesery State Senate

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Another step backward. Cowards and bigots. That is all.

Written by David Zaza

January 7th, 2010 at 5:27 pm

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Fuck the New York State Senate

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Marriage equality was defeated one minute ago by a body of legislators who cannot even pass a budget competently. Fuck each and every one of them who voted no, especially the asshole Democrats who have no business in our big tent.

My senator, Sen. Daniel Squadron, voted for it, and spoke eloquently about it. Thank you, Senator. Please reintroduce the bill next year, and every year after that until equality for all New Yorkers is achieved.

UPDATED TO ADD THIS ASSHOLE:
New York State Senator George Onorato (Asshole-Queens)
Senator Onorato, representing big gay Astoria is a Democrat and an asshole, who voted against equality. He will be primaried out of a job.

Written by David Zaza

December 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 pm

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