Excellent View of the Miss CA/Perez Hilton Mess from Roland Martin of CNN

A lot of folks are always saying they like to keep it real, that they want authenticity and straight talk. Yet when someone actually does it, there is hell to pay.

Welcome to the world of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who, since she answered a question regarding same-sex marriage in Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, has been savagely attacked by those who oppose what she had to say.

Leading the burn-her-at-the-stake parade is media opportunist Perez Hilton, the self-described gossip queen, and the individual who kick-started this controversy by asking the initial question as to whether the issue of same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.

It seems that Hilton, who is gay, was none too pleased that Prejean chose to actually give her personal opinion on the issue, and ripped her on his blog after the show, using crude obscenities as he continued to attack her at every turn on his media blitz.

Hey, Hilton, from a real journalist to a wanna-be who traffics in gossip: Never ask a question if you’re unprepared for the answer!

Frankly, this whole story is pretty stupid. Isn’t the whole point of asking a question to get someone’s true feelings, rather than the plastic and superficial answers we are all used to receiving?

Sure, Prejean could have gone the safe route and given one of those answers that reveal nothing and is hard to decipher — you know, the ones politicians give all the time — but no! She actually gave her real opinion, and is now being torn to shreds for it.

She opposes same-sex marriage. OK, fine. So what if she had said, “Hey, I’m in full support of same-sex marriage.” Would she now be celebrated on gay-focused blogs, magazines and Web sites? Would her detractors actually be saying how open she is and that she’s a great person?

Same-sex marriage is undoubtedly a hot button issue. And being from California, the site of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that voters approved outlawing same-sex marriage, Prejean has surely had to hear the debate go back and forth. But her remark isn’t outside the mainstream. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 55 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage, and Proposition 8 did pass in her state 52-48 percent. iReport.com: Prejean ‘should step down’

What’s interesting about this is that many of the same folks who are slamming her for her remark voted for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both have the same belief: that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that she has the same view, and it was her husband, President Bill Clinton, who signed the In Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that forbids states from having to recognize gay marriage in other states.

In other words, four of the biggest liberals in the country have the same belief as Prejean, but a beauty pageant winner is being torn to shreds. Hello, hypocrisy!

Those who criticize Prejean have the same right as she does to express their viewpoints. But enough with all the political correctness, where someone says she should have danced around the issue, smiled and move on. iReport.com: ‘Thank you, California!’

At the end of the day, we all have to be true to ourselves. Whether it’s a gay gossip writer who favors same-sex marriage or a heterosexual woman who is against same-sex marriage. The day we condemn folks for speaking honestly is the day we become a bland society.

Maybe we’re already there.

Texas – Secession Karma :)

Texas Governor Rick Perry suggested after a tax day tea party rally that his state might consider seceding from the union.

“We’ve got a great union,” Perry said. “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Texas Democrats ripped the governor for his secession talk, calling it “anti-American.”

Funny enough, the U.S. Department of State (until Friday morning) took the governor at his word. On its website listing of 16 foreign countries visited by Secretary Hillary Clinton, State had Texas right there between Turkey and Switzerland.

State scrubbed the Texas listing, but the Huffington Post has a screen grab.

You Wanna Talk Cajones? Google Kyrgyzstan…

This country is slightly smaller than South Dakota.

This country’s claim to fame is that it has the world’s largest natural-growth walnut forest.

Yet, this country had the cajones today to tell the U.S. it has 6 months to get the hell off their base at Manas. Manas is a major supply line for the effort in Afghanistan. Sec. of State Clinton has said that talks are still underway to try to negotiate with Kyrgyzstan to renew the “lease” on the base, but who knows how productive that will be? I dunno if Russian cash was involved – I’ve heard rumors of $2 billion in aid promised to K-Stan by Moscow, but of course, no one will actually come out and say that the money and the decision are linked. They are just “coincidences” I guess.

So what now for the U.S.? This comes at a rather interesting time for the Afghanistan effort, seeming that Obama just ordered another 17,000 troops to make their way over there.

Is this a real issue or is this just Russia testing Hillary’s Sec. of State muscle?

Hillary Goes to Japan

Hillary Clinton made her debut on the international stage – she went over to Asia to hang out in Japan and talk about nuclear weapons and the global economic crisis. She made some tough comments on North Korean disarmament that were pretty cool – and probably a lot more effective than just lumping them into some amalgamous mass called the “Axis of Evil.” Good job, Hillary. Keep it up. She’s gonna be stopping in Indonesia and a few other places before she comes back to the US.

Hillary Clinton Getting sworn in

Sen. Hillary Clinton appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today for a hearing on her nomination as Secretary of State.

Clinton fielded an array of non-contentious, often friendly, questions from Democrats as well as Republicans, signaling the likelihood that she will be confirmed swiftly.

The committee is currently on break. The hearing will resume at 2 PM ET.

Watch:

Read the full text of Clinton’s prepared statement here.

Clinton expressed sympathy for Palestinians in her confirmation hearing, a rare and tricky move for American politicians. “The suffering of Palestinian and Israeli civilians,” Clinton said, “… must only increase our determination to seek a just and lasing peace agreement.”

Questioned on her history of poor management skills, Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she won’t actually run the State Department — deputies will.

“This is to me one of the most important questions,” she replied. “I decided to fill a position that had not been filled although it had been created ten years ago, and that was the deputy for resources and management.”

As secretary, Clinton said, “you get consumed by the crisis of the moment.” Even “with the best intentions to deal with management,” she said, the secretary routinely spends her time on more immediate concerns, “on Gaza, or Iran, or on Russia and the Ukraine pipeline.”

Clinton said she had called on Jack Lew, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, to fill the position. James Steinberg, she said, had agreed to leave the deanship of the Lyndon Baines Johnson public policy school in Austin, Texas, to help manage the department as well.

Addressing her Senate confirmation hearing, Clinton also promised to push for stronger U.S. alliances around the globe.

“We must build a world with more partners and fewer adversaries,” said the woman that President-elect Barack Obama took for his administration’s leading diplomatic job.

“America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own,” Clinton said, “and the world cannot solve them without America.”

Borrowing a phrase meant to signal a move away from the militarization of U.S. foreign policy, Clinton said, “We must use what has been called `smart power,’ the full range of tools at our disposal,” she said. “With `smart power,’ diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy.”

She credited Secretary of Defense Robert Gates with stimulating debate about the role of diplomacy and other civilian institutions’ role in fighting the global war on terror, endorsing his call for providing the State Department with more resources and a bigger budget.

She assured the committee that if confirmed, the State Department “will be firing on all cylinders” — applying pressure when needed and looking for opportunities to advancing U.S. interests.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the committee, said in opening the hearing that he welcomed Clinton’s nomination, calling her “extraordinarily capable and smart.”

In his opening remarks, Sen. Richard Lugar, the panel’s ranking Republican, praised Clinton, calling her “the epitome of a big leaguer” who is fully qualified for the job and whose presence at the State Department could open new opportunities for American diplomacy, including the possibility of improving the United States’ image in the world.

But Lugar also raised questions about the issue of Bill Clinton’s fundraising work and its relation to her wife’s new post. Lugar said that the only way for Clinton to avoid a potential conflict of interest due to her husband’s charity is to forswear any new foreign contributions. The Indiana senator said the situation poses a “unique complication” that requires “great care and transparency.”

The Washington Independent‘s Spencer Ackerman is liveblogging the hearing.

In remarks prepared for delivery, Clinton promised to use “smart power” and push for more U.S. partnerships around the globe.

“America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America,” she said. “I believe American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted.”

Borrowing a phrase meant to signal a move away from the militarization of U.S. foreign policy, Clinton said, “We must use what has been called `smart power,’ the full range of tools at our disposal. With `smart power,’ diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy.

A team of roughly ten advisers helped Clinton prepare for the hearing, from deputy designates Jim Steinberg and Jack Lew, Wendy Sherman, and campaign policy aide Jake Sullivan to her Senate foreign policy staffer, Andrew Shapiro.

Source

Other “Lame” Community Organizers in Our History

From Bonnie Schlitz…

After watching the malicious speeches last night mocking Senator Obama, and by proxy, cynically attacking all of us who support our local communities, I thought it would be prudent to educate the Republican Party on the historical role of community organizers. For a quick reminder, let’s recap Giuliani’s snark:

He worked as a community organizer. (Laughter) What?…Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing, nada.

And Palin’s vacuous follow-up:

This world of threats and dangers, it’s not just a community and it doesn’t just need an organizer. (Laughter.)

That these bastions of the GOP would denigrate the importance of community organizers on the same night their party nominates its first female vice presidential candidate shows an utter disrespect for the people of this country and a laughable ignorance of the power we wield.  This is what community organizers do…

They change the world. Block by block, city by city, state by state, nation by nation…

So, GOP, meet community organizer Susan B. Anthony. She helped guarantee women’s suffrage in the United States by giving public speeches and uniting with fellow advocates of change.

Meet community organizer Martin Luther King Jr. He helped end racial segregation and discrimination by inspiring a nation to come together and realize their dreams.

He said, “Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”

Meet community organizer Cesar Chavez. He helped farm workers secure labor rights and fair wages. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy called him “one of the heroic figures of our time.”

Meet community organizer Dorothy Day. She helped found the Catholic Worker movement to help the poor and homeless, and promote social justice.

Meet community organizer Jane Jacobs. She helped rebuild and revitalize city neighborhoods and made people consider the wide-ranging benefits of supporting our urban cultures.

Meet community organizer Mohandas Gandhi. He peacefully led the people of India in efforts to acquire labor fairness, women’s rights, and ethnic tolerance, and he helped secure the freedom of a nation.

Then there’s this guy. Meet community organizer Jesus of Nazareth. He advocated for the poor, for the sick, for the socially excluded…and continues to help provide people solace during their “quiet storms.” His community helped found the religion known as Christianity. He said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

When you disparage community organizers, Republicans, you evince a complete ignorance of the fact that organizers do more with their words than just speak them. They remind people of their shared humanity, of their responsibilities, and of their power as a unified force to face injustice, and oppression, and inspire them to be the change they’ve been waiting for.

Meet new community organizer, Senator Hillary Clinton. She cracked a glass ceiling, and inspired 18 million Americans to recognize the worth of their lives.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up. How do we give this country back to them? By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad. And on that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice.
If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they’re shouting after you, keep going.
Don’t ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.  I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military — you always keep going.

And meet community organizer Senator Barack Obama. He worked with congregations and registered voters on the South side of Chicago to help them improve their neighborhoods and hold politicians accountable for their actions. Along with Senator Joe Biden, he currently leads the largest movement for change in the history of American politics.

If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.

So you see, Republicans, it’s never really about the organizer, it’s about the community…

Remember that on November 4th. Remember the power of the people.

Special 9-11 Edition of The Block FM

Tomorrow marks the 7th anniversary of 11 September 2001. To honor those who lost their lives, who sacrificed their lives, who were injured, traumatized, or affected in any way by the attack on NY’s Twin Towers, Tim and I are having a special edition of our radio show airing on 92.5FM KYHY in Los Angeles tomorrow at 9am (PST). You can listen online at KYHY’s website or you can subscribe to our podcast at our awesome website.

Here are the topics we’ll be hitting tomorrow:

1. 9-11 Commemoration
2. How to be a patriot? – Register to vote and mark November 4, 2008 on your calendars
3. Celebs for Obama – Streisand to headline LA fundraiser – can she break her 0-3 streak?
4. Stan Simmons the sports guy speaks with us about USC v. Ohio St., Tom Brady’s injury, Aaron Rodgers, the rise of the Dodgers, and political wagering
5. Barack Obama’s new ad campaign and his awesome interview with Keith Olbermann (see below)
6. Hillary Clinton – no way, no how, no McCain, and no Palin (the only similarity between these two is an extra x chromosome)

Hillary Speaks Out!!!

The only thing Sarah Palin shares with Hillary Clinton is an X chromosome. And that’s where it ends. Hillary – doing what she does best – inspiring, reminding, and leading.

Will the REAL Hillary Clinton Please Stand Up

…if the hope for John McCain is to get women to vote for him who otherwise supported Hillary Clinton – if anything could get Hillary Clinton campaigning in full force and fury…this is it. She likely would have campaigned hard, but it’s in Hillary Clinton’s best interest to be the leading voice for women, and the leading woman candidate for president in the future, so having another woman as the potential Vice President (and potential President) is a significant challenge to that. The Republicans just opened Pandora’s Box and brought Hillary Clinton roaring to Barack Obama’s side on the Democratic train. And Bill Clinton, too…

…Hint: some women did vote for Hillary Clinton solely because she was a woman. But most women voted for Hillary Clinton because she was a Democrat, as well as a woman, who stood for important Democratic values they seriously believed in….

-Robert J. Elisberg, “The Worst Vice Presidential Nominee in US History”

As a woman, as a progressive, and as someone who does have high hopes for one day seeing a qualified, dignified, experienced, incredible woman in the White House, I am calling the true, sincere, trailblazing Hillary Clinton to please stand up now and speak out loudly against this insulting choice that John McCain has provided for his Presidential ticket. For Sarah Palin to get on that stage and dare to even compare herself to the likes of Hillary Clinton is embarrassing. Yes, Hillary Clinton did put major cracks in the glass ceiling for us women, but Sarah Palin is NOT the one to break on through to the other side. We are not looking for a beauty-pageant winning, gun-toting, mayor of a village in Alaska to step foot in the White House for us. God, I gag saying this, but Condolezza Rice puts Sarah Palin to shame. I swear to God, McCain thinks we’re all stupid. Hillary, I’m telling you, I’m having my people call your people, and you better get out there after this RNC and start pounding the pavement teaching everyone what it means to be a progressive and qualified woman.

Barack Obama always needed Hillary’s (and Bill’s) support. Now he needs Hillary’s voice to speak out for women all over the country (all over the world for that matter) and say “Yes, women can do this job, I showed that by garnering 18 million votes, but it’s not just ANY woman. It’s the CORRECT woman. And Sarah Palin being a heartbeat from the White House is not the CORRECT choice. It’s not the smart choice, it’s not the feminist choice. It’s an irresponsible choice.”

So Hillary, step up to the plate, do what you said you would do and support Barack Obama with every fiber of your being, sister, and show the world what a truly qualified woman you are for the job of leading this country! And while you’re at it, tell the PUMA’s to get their act together.

I swear people, it gets stranger and stranger every day.

F*cking Morons

Ok so it’s taken me until almost 11pm to cool down. I have been outraged and unable to sit down long enough to gather my thoughts into one coherent message. But I’m going to try now. I’m pissed at a lot of people today. Here’s the list.

1. John McCain: Do you think all women are brain dead? Do you think they are all dumb as hell like your bimbo wife? It sure as hell seems like it. You think that just because you pick someone with a vagina that all the feminists who wanted to see Hillary in the White House will just automatically line up to vote for you? Seriously, this is the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen from a Presidential nominee. To choose someone who has NO federal political experience, who you have met only ONCE before, and who has less experience than my 14 year old sister when it comes to foreign policy is a slap in the face to educated, politically savvy women around the country. How scary would it be if McCain kicked the bucket while in office. Yeah, God forbid, but it could happen, people! He is 72 and he’s had four bouts with cancer! This isn’t some young, healthy dude. So great, imagine that. Sarah Palin taking the oath of office to be our Commander and Chief. Well, at least we know she could go to the front lines and hunt some….moose for the troops.Just because your plastic Barbie doll wife and Sarah Palin share in common the winning of beauty pageants (which still blows my mind, by the way. How did THAT happen?!) doesn’t make her fit to be the Vice President of the United States of America. And just because she is a woman, does not mean that she is Hillary. For the love of God, I can’t believe I even have to write about these two women in the same sentence. Hillary Clinton is a trailblazer, a progressive, a thinker, a stateswoman, one of the top minds in our country. Sarah Palin is Rush Limbaugh with a uterus. Sarah Palin can’t hold a candle to Hillary Clinton. So John McCain, thanks. Thanks for proving to the world that you are a f*cking moron, once again.
2. Sarah Palin: For this woman to accept the nomination for Vice Presidential Candidate for the United States of America is egoism on 157 levels. She has no experience that makes her qualified for this job. She has never dealt with foreign policy. She governs the most detached and isolated state in the US besides Hawaii. She is only in her first term as governor and her only other political experience was serving as the Mayor of an Alaskan town of about 5,000 people. I’m sorry Sarah, but I was the President of my University that had more people than that. And the budget that I oversaw was probably bigger than yours. But I’m not accepting the Republican nomination for VP of the US.She is pro-guns, pro-creationism being taught in our schools, and pro-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. She is a mother of five children, but chooses policies to adopt as her own that will harm her children’s future immeasurably. Plus, this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but the chick can’t speak the English language properly. Is anyone else irritated that every -ing word that she says she abbreviates? Huntin’, winnin’, speakin’, tourin’, challengin’, fightin’, flyin’, votin’….Sarah Palin, I have an abbreviation for you….you are a F*CKIN’ MORON!
3. P.U.M.A.: Ok seriously, I love progressives. I love people that think long-term. I love people with vision and determination to make the world a better place. I feel an affinity for the progressive agenda and its policies. Therefore, I usually vote Democrat. I don’t vote Democrat on party lines but because of issues. I don’t vote for candidates because they are pretty or handsome, ugly or too fat, too skinny, or balding. I don’t vote for candidates because of their age or their gender. I try, with all my human capacity, to vote for issues and for candidates who will lead us into the future with positive goals and inspiration. Ok, so during the Democratic Primaries, I voted for HilHil. I thought she was the best candidate for the job, but this didn’t mean that I was anti-Barack Obama. In February, on that particular Super Tuesday, I supported the candidate that I felt was the total package. I still think HilHIl would make an awesome President. But, as time went on and I learned more about the candidates, I realized that there really wasn’t much difference in the candidates in terms of their policy choices, and some of Barack Obama’s ideas really resonated with me. I was disappointed because I felt that HilHil was kind of railroaded by her own campaign. I thought her managers and staff made some really stupid decisions that probably cost her the nomination. I mean, if HilHil would have spoken and looked and acted like she did on Tuesday night of the DNC, I think she probably would have won. But c’est la vie, Barack Obama took the nomination.So I riveted myself to the tv this past week and really watched the DNC. And you know what I saw? I saw happiness, I saw hope, I saw a microcosm of America really believing that they could partake in the democratic process and look to a future where their voice would be heard and heeded. And HilHil gave an amazing speech, telling us all of her commonalities with Barack Obama and how we MUST vote a progressive candidate into office, for the safety, security and sanctity of our nation.It’s not about party unity. Screw the political parties. That’s stuff of the past. Even Barack Obama doesn’t give a crap about political parties. It’s about issues. It’s about our future. It’s about our children and their children. It’s about the rest of the world. It’s about your health and your retirement and your financial security and your personal safety and your fundamental rights as a citizen of this country.

   It’s NOT about gender. And I am SICK AND TIRED of these dumbass PUMA’s or whatever the hell they want to call themselves, threatening that they are going to vote for John McCain to “teach the DNC a lesson.” Cry me a f*ckin’ river you idiots. You think that this primary was rigged? Are you serious? Ok, even if it was, so what are you going to do? Give your vote to the party that made caging lists of Florida democrats in 2000 and stole the election in the Supreme Court? You’re going to give your vote to the party who again made a mockery of our democracy in 2004 by disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters in Ohio who would have changed the course of our history? Yeah, that’s a great idea! Go for it girls.

   You women who call yourselves PUMA’s (Party Unity My Ass) are an embarrassment to women, especially to educated women who actually use their brains to make decisions. You are just as sexist and just as bigoted as the men who wouldn’t think of voting for Hillary because she is a woman. So you’re going to throw your support behind John McCain simply because he chose a person with the correct anatomical structure for you? Are you kidding me?! This has seriously got to be some sick joke that the Republicans are pulling on us. I swear, I think that the PUMA’s really are Republican women who are trying to confuse and conspire against us. I just cannot conceive of a woman dumb enough to throw her support behind a man (John McCain) and a woman (Sarah Palin) who are anti-choice, anti-gay rights, pro-guns, pro-drilling in ANWR, pro-war, pro-nukes, anti-Islam (and any other weird religion with “brown” people in it), anti-middle class, anti-public education, anti-Social Security, pro-torture….do I need to keep going? If you want to vote for a woman, and that’s alllll you care about, fine, write in Hillary’s name if it helps you sleep at night. But for God’s sake, don’t let me read another blog on your idiotic website about how McCain is going to get your vote. PUMA’s you are f*cking morons!