Month: January 2008

Obama and The Gays

If you’re a Democrat, it isn’t really a contest. We all know the record of the Clintons on gay equality. In the words of Melissa Etheridge, they "threw us under the bus" when it was politically expedient for them (after they’d bled the gay community financially dry). Here are a few YouTubes of Obama’s public, proud and often risky defenses of gay and lesbian equality – in front of non-gay audiences and not prompted by questions. The Ebenezer sermon, when he called on black congregants in MLK’s church not to condemn or ostracize their "gay brothers and sisters" (after the 9 minute mark). The AU speech (around the 9 minute mark again). His stump speech, "Countdown To Change." Obama was the only Democratic candidate to mention gay and lesbian equality in his announcement address. In South Carolina, he spoke of the importance of gay outreach to religious voters.

I’ve had two core principles in my own work in defense of gay equality: supporting the simple equality of gays and straights under the law; opposing the toxins of identity politics and a balkanized gay identity. The way Obama transcends his own multiple identities, the way he both embraces his difference and yet seeks a common political discourse: this is the model that makes the most sense to me. Neither denying difference nor being defined by it is a path all minorities would be better off pursuing. And Obama’s call for self-empowerment rather than self-defeating victimology is particularly apposite for gays and lesbians.

Meanwhile, In War News …

The president is quietly letting the world know that he has no intention of removing any non-surge troops before he leaves office, maximizing the enmeshment of the US in the occupation of the Middle East. He also intends to keep his plans to build major permanent military bases there, whatever the Congress or the American people think. We know the latter because of a signing statement just issued:

One section Bush targeted created a statute that forbids spending taxpayer money "to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq" or "to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."

The Bush administration is negotiating a long-term agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The agreement is to include the basing of US troops in Iraq after 2008, as well as security guarantees and other economic and political ties between the United States and Iraq.

The negotiations have drawn fire in part because the administration has said it does not intend to designate the compact as a "treaty," and so will not submit it to Congress for approval. Critics are also concerned Bush might lock the United States into a deal that would make it difficult for the next president to withdraw US troops from Iraq.

Bush is doing all he can to make the occupation of Iraq a permanent feature of global politics for the rest of our lives. It’s his legacy and he’s determined to make it the next president’s as well.

More Edwards Thoughts

By not endorsing Obama, Edwards is effectively aiding Clinton. This comment on a TPM discussion thread stood out:

By withdrawing from the race, Edwards changes the dynamic in Congressional Districts with odd numbers of delegates. It used to be that just about wherever he cracked 15%, Hillary and Obama would split the same number of delegates (1-1, 2-2, etc.) and Edwards would walk away with a single delegate. Now, in an odd numbered district, the winner will always take more delegates.

So do the math. Edwards is most likely to crack 15% in heavily-white, largely poor areas. Who gains a delegate there? He was least likely to draw threshold support in heavily-black areas. So who does his withdrawal fail to benefit?

I wish it were otherwise. But the bottom line is that 15% of the vote for Edwards almost always helped Obama more than adding that same 15% of the vote to his own tally.

Of course, focusing the entire Super Tuesday on a clear Obama-Clinton choice might also rally all the anti-Clinton feeling behind one candidate. I’d be lying if I said I had a clear idea what will happen.

Live-Blogging Kenya Update

Kenya5  
Anne Holmes continues to provide invaluable on the ground reporting:

Violence erupted Thursday in Nakuru and has spread east to Naivasha and seems to be heading further on to Nairobi. There are accounts of groups of people moving east across the country toward the capital, instigateing organized ethnic cleansing. In Nakuru, countless died and were injured in clashes between the Kikuyus and Luos and Kalengins. A new displaced persons camp was opened in the stadium for a group of Luos fleeing violence by the Mungiki sect. Saturday afternoon nearly a thousand men, women and children were taken by the red cross to hide in the stadium after the Mungiki sect murdered 6 people the night before. Police presence was heavy after the first day of fighting and things cooled down dramatically on Monday when people could be seen returning to work and shops opening up for business again. The hospital on Friday evening, however, was a horror scene, with over 60 wounded mostly by machete, stoning and arrows.

Naivasha, a Kikuyu stronhold, was extremely difficult to manage and virtually impossible to photograph after Sunday’s epic violent clashes wherein Kikuyus killed and wounded an unkown number of Luos, and sent those remaining running for their lives with their belongings in their hands the next day. The security situation has prevented the press and aid agencies from ascertaining the magnitude of the death and injury count, and gangs continued to gather in the city center, setting up road blocks, and looting. This morning when I left, there were many houses set aflame. For the last three days, the Lake Naivasha Country Club hotel’s front lawn has been a refugee camp for a group of Luo families who have not eaten anything since they arrived. In the meantime, out front, a large gang of Kikuyus gathers around the clock with makeshift weapons, aiming to kill those Luos hiding inside. It was terrifying to see such a thing and recalls harrowingly the scenes in the movie Hotel Rwanda.

Late last night I started to receive messages that leaflets had been dropped in the estates along the road from Naivasha to Nairobi, ordering all non-Kikuyus to leave immediately. Sometime around 4 in the morning and ODM MP was assassinated in his home in Nairobi. The situation is not looking good.

Hat tip: Wired