Month: July 2008

"Given the ongoing furore over FISA, I’m enjoying contemplating an election in which Mr McCain’s base consists exclusively of disgusted Democrats, Mr Obama’s of disgusted Republicans," – the Economist’s US blogger.

As is his wont, Michel Gondry takes the concept to a new level – in space and time:

Even McCain’s official blog writes more about the opposition than McCain.

Ryan Lizza studies Obama’s Chicago roots:

Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them. When he was a community organizer, he channelled his work through Chicago’s churches, because they were the main bases of power on the South Side. He was an agnostic when he started, and the work led him to become a practicing Christian. At Harvard, he won the presidency of the Law Review by appealing to the conservatives on the selection panel. In Springfield, rather than challenge the Old Guard Democratic leaders, Obama built a mutually beneficial relationship with them. “You have the power to make a United States senator,” he told Emil Jones in 2003. In his downtime, he played poker with lobbyists and Republican lawmakers. In Washington, he has been a cautious senator and, when he arrived, made a point of not defining himself as an opponent of the Iraq war.

Like many politicians, Obama is paradoxical. He is by nature an incrementalist, yet he has laid out an ambitious first-term agenda (energy independence, universal health care, withdrawal from Iraq). He campaigns on reforming a broken political process, yet he has always played politics by the rules as they exist, not as he would like them to exist. He runs as an outsider, but he has succeeded by mastering the inside game. He is ideologically a man of the left, but at times he has been genuinely deferential to core philosophical insights of the right.

From the very start, it was this very practical aspect of Obama that appealed. What was always impressive about his campaign from the very beginning was his actual interest in winning. And his political genius has been his ability to bridge different worlds and different ideologies. This is different from the polarization of the last two presidencies. And this is the change he substantively offers.

A reader writes:

Last year I was in Lima, Peru. I took an 1 1/2 hour flight north to the city of Chiclayo. From there I drove for 10 hours, 4 of which were on dirt roads, to the town of Chachapoyas in the Andes. I had made this effort to explore some archaeological sites in the region.

One evening after dinner I wandered the town square and came upon an internet cafe which was teeming with local teenagers. There was a line of kids waiting to take any computer as soon as it became available. I walked around the cafe. These kids were gaming, chatting, researching homework, and yes, looking at pictures of scantily clad women.

It boggles the mind to think that a man who could be president of the United States is less comfortable on the internet then rural Peruvian teenagers who are a 10 hour drive from the closest thing that could be called a city.

Bainbridge is worried.

It sure has buzz. But if my email in-tray is any indicator of anything, it isn’t good. I still see it as satire, and the notion that most Americans are incapable of seeing that strikes me as excessively paranoid and a little condescending. But here’s one reader’s response:

The New Yorker might just as well put in a drawing of Obama planting watermelons in the rose garden. Yes satire.  But also an image we don’t want out of a careful context.  Spike Lee even in his piece of genius "Bamboozled", felt compelled to preface the film with Webster’s definition for the word "satire", and with film, it’s much easier to keep the context and tone of its content clear.  The people who read the New Yorker understand what it is.  But we all know these things escape their audience and context and take on a life of their own too.

Here’s what’s going to happen.  Fox News is going to have a whole day where they talk about nothing but this and repeatedly show the image just like they did with Wright. Then Limbaugh will be saying "Well look, these liberals can make drawing like this and we call it harmless satire, so why did they give me so much grief when I played the song Obama the Magic Negro on my show.  It’s liberal hypocrisy I tell you!".

John McCain doesn’t know how to use the Internet. He doesn’t know what he’s missing:

A 16-year old Indian boy falls afoul of caste bigotry.

The vote is imminent. Groups are rallying:

We, the undersigned organizations, write to voice our strong support for Section 305 of the Tom Lantos & Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731).  This important provision removes the statute which permanently bans people living with HIV/AIDS from entering the U.S. or obtaining legal permanent residency and restores authority to HHS to determine, based on sound medical and public health reasoning, whether HIV status should be grounds for inadmissibility.  We strongly urge you to oppose any attempt to remove this critical provision from the legislation.

Congress first adopted this policy in 1987 through an amendment directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to add HIV to the list of medical conditions barring visitors and immigrants to the United States.  In the early 1990’s, when, after careful consideration of the public health consequences, HHS sought to loosen these restrictions, Congress reacted by codifying the ban in our nation’s immigration laws.  To this day, HIV is the only medical condition listed in the Immigration and Nationality Act as a basis for inadmissibility.  By contrast, the admissibility status for any other disease is left to the discretion of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, based upon the risk the illness poses to the public health.

This draconian policy has negative consequences for our nation.  Health care professionals, researchers, and other exceptionally talented people have been blocked from the United States.  Since 1993, the International Conference on AIDS has not been held on U.S. soil due to this policy. In addition, the United States is out of step with the international community and most other countries.  The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, produced jointly by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS, state that “there is no public health rationale for restricting liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status.” 

In June of this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to discriminatory travel restrictions based on HIV status.  The U.S. is one of only 12 countries – the others being Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen – to have such harsh travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS. Removing this discriminatory ban from our nation’s statutes is a crucial step towards strengthening our nation’s leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS – an important goal of the PEPFAR program.  We understand that the manager’s amendment includes an offset for this provision ensuring that no additional costs will be associated with its inclusion in the legislation. We strongly urge you to reject discrimination and stigma towards people living with HIV/AIDS by ensuring that this important provision survives Senate consideration of PEPFAR reauthorization fully intact.

Sincerely,

ACT UP, Philadelphia, Paris
Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House
African American Health and Social Services
African Services Committee
AIDES (France)
AIDS Action
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families
AIDS Alliance for Faith and Health
AIDS Charitable Trust of New Mexico

AIDS Foundation of Chicago The AIDS Institute
AIDS Project Los Angeles
AIDS Services In Asian Communities
AIDS Services of Austin
AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland
AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition
AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition
Alliance for Microbicide Development
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Civil Liberties Union
American Jewish World Service
American Medical Students Association
American Psychological Association
ANERELA+
Austin Health Center of Cook County
Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations
Being Alive People with HIV/AIDS Action Coalition
BIENESTAR
BiNET USA
Boston May Day Coalition
Boston Rosa Parks Human Rights Coalition
Breakthrough: building human rights culture
Bronx AIDS Services
Cable Positive
California Council of Churches IMPACT
Cascade AIDS Project
The Center for HIV Law and Policy
Central Illinois FRIENDS of People with AIDS
Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services, Inc.
Charleston AIDS Network
Chicago Foundation for Women
Chicago House and Social Service Agency
Clinicas De Salud del Pueblo, Inc.
Colorado Anti-Violence Project
Coloradans for Immigrant Rights
Compass, Inc.
Emerson Rojas-Project Coordinator
Empire Justice Center
Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services
Eternal Hope Community Development Corporation, Inc.
Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative Gay Men’s Health Crisis
Global Action for Children
Global AIDS Alliance
Global Campaign for Microbicides
Global Fight Against AIDS, TB and Malaria
Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS
Haitian Centers Council, Inc.
Health GAP (Global Access Project), New   York City
Hema Diagnostic Systems HIV/AIDS Services for African Americans in Alaska
HIVictorious
HIV Law Project
HIV Medicine Association
Hope and Health Center of Central Florida
House of Joseph II
Housing Works Human Rights Campaign
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Immigration Equality
Immigration Law Project, Fordham University School of Law
In This Together, Inc.
INdetectable
Interaction Law
International AIDS Empowerment
International AIDS Society
International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS

Integrated Minority AIDS Network, Inc.
International Rectal Microbicide Advocates
International Women’s Health Coalition
Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Kentucky Equal Justice Center
Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group

Khush DC
Jamaica Plain Rapid Response Network
Lambda Legal
Latino Commission on AIDS
Lexington Fairness
Liberty Research Group
LIFE Foundation
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
Lowcountry AIDS Project
Mendocino County AIDS Volunteer Network
Metrolina AIDS Project
Michigan Equality
Michigan HIV/AIDS Council
The Ministry of Caring
My Brothaz Home, Inc.
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Association of People With AIDS
National Association of People With AIDS (Nepal)
National Center for Transgender Equality

National Council of Jewish Women
National Health Law Program
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Minority AIDS Council
New Mexico AIDS Services
New York AIDS Coalition
New York Trans Rights Organizations
Night Ministry (Chicago, IL)
Oklahoma State University Physicians
OneAmerica
Open Door Clinic
Open Society Policy Center
P.A.C.- Positive Advocacy Coalition
Parents, Famililes and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative
Physicians for Human Rights Pierce County AIDS Foundation
Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project
Political Asylum Project of Austin
Power Inside, Baltimore, Maryland
POZ Magazine Project Inform
Project SMART
Public Health Division, City of   Portland Maine
Queer People’s Health Collective
RESULTS USA
Richard’s Place
SafeGuards LGBT Health Resource Center
San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
San Mateo County AIDS Program Community Board
Search for a Cure
SisterLove, Inc.
South Asian Americans Leading Together
South Asian Network
Southwest Community Services, Inc. Spokane AIDS Network
Tahirih Justice Center
Terrence Higgins Trust
Title II Community AIDS National Network
Treatment Action Group
Triad Health Project United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society
Vermont CARES
Victorian AIDS Council
Voices of Hagar HIV/AIDS Health Ministry
The Wall Las Memorias
West Alabama American Red Cross
West O’ahu Hope For A Cure Foundation
Weingart Center Association
Whitman Walker Clinic Who’s Positive Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Disease
The Women’s CenterThe Woodhull Freedom Foundation
YWCA USA