Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in The Fair Witness' LiveJournal:

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Thursday, November 13th, 2008
9:30 am	You've got friends As the press is noting of late, something big has been happening in gay rights since the passage of Prop 8. The marches, the protests, etc. Dan Savage has a great explanation of why even “out” gays are inclined not to rock the boat due to haunting memories of avoiding high school bullies. Aside from why this didn’t happen before, and aside from wondering what the F*CK is wrong with HRC and the other gay elites that want to run a war by remote control and focus groups)… Oh right… aside from that… Here’s the point… This time it is not just gays and lesbians pissed and hitting the streets (a la ActUp in the 1980s)… this time they’ve got friends… lots of them (probably about 50% of 90% of Americans… do the math). Many straight people have told me they are turning out for these marches and protests. As mentioned in previous posts, that’s what’s going to bring this over the finish line. I think these same straight people were sympathetic before but they didn’t think gays really needed the assist. They are finally coming out because they themselves are sick of hearing and seeing politics and religion used against gay rights. "Enough already!" But, many of them are waiting for an invitation. It must feel a bit like inviting oneself to a friend’s dinner party… you aren’t really sure if they want you there. (And I have to admit that Gay Pride events aren’t very inviting to outsiders not interested in thongs or gold lame… We ought to switch to an annual Gay Civil Rights March until this thing is done nationwide… no floats… no booths selling timeshares… just good old fashioned outrage and hope.) Well… straight people... consider your very own self invited. And please invite the straight people you know too... they just need to know it is okay to care about this and people won't assume they are gay just for showing up (especially if they bring the wife/husband and kids). There are protests all around the country this Saturday, so you can invite people from all over even if you aren’t in the same city. (Again, the schedule is here http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/.) If you are gay or lesbian, get on the e-horn and cell-horn and start doing some inviting personally too. If you live in SF but have a straight friend in Nashville who is thinking of going, you could offer to connect her/him with your other friend(s) in Nashville so they can meet for coffee before the protest and then go together. Let’s make them feel at home and follow up with a "thank you" note if they attend! Finally, if you want some evidence about who's winning this argument in the media give this a click… the last 30 seconds are the best: It's time to ActOut! -TFW * (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
10:15 am	Time to ActOut on Nov 15! One of the slightly frustrating, yet awesome, things about the No on Prop 8 protests is that they are so grassroots and organic that it's been hard to keep track of when and where protests are. This last weekend alone there were protests on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in San Diego... each by a different set of people at different places... sometimes with changing start times, formats and locations. It's hard for TFW to keep track of the multitude of protest groups on Facebook! So, TFW was happy to see someone's put together a nationwide digest of many of the different protests coming up this Saturday (Nov 15). It's all at jointheimpact.wetpaint.com. TFW readers are encouraged to share this website with everyone they know, especially straight people. As mentioned in this blog before, the straight people are the key... we need them to come out of the closet on this civil rights issue so we can put this to rest once and for all. Finally, score one for great protest signs used so far: "Do you really want me marrying YOUR daughter?" Just classic. I think any Christianist faced with the prospect of gay people marrying their straight sons and daughters en mass would rather let us marry each other. It's the whole NIMBY thing and that's where we've got to direct their thinking. -TFW * (Comment on this)
Monday, November 10th, 2008
3:35 pm	Hope again I posted this video before but it is worth a repeat in light of Prop 8. This is an inspiring speech given by SF Supervisor Harvey Milk 30 years ago about the importance of "hope" in trying to defeat the anti-gay Briggs' Initiative (CA Prop 6) that appeared on the November 1978 ballot (it did lose). When you watch the video below, think about the irony that, 3 days after CA voted to approve Prop 8 (and FL approved Prop 2 and AZ approved Prop 102), it was the 30th anniversary of CA voters unexpectedly rejecting the Briggs Initiative, and on the 27th of this month it will be the 30th anniversary of Harvey Milk’s hate-fueled assassination by Dan White, another member of the SF Board of Supervisors. You can learn more about Harvey Milk and the Briggs Initiative on Wikipedia. And actor Sean Penn and director Gus Van Sant are bringing Harvey Milk’s life story to the big screen on December 5 (30 years and 8 days after Milk’s assassination) in a film titled MILK (it opens earlier, on November 26, in selected cities). Let's play a game: How about we all go see it and take two straight friends with each of us? If those friends voted for Prop 8 or generally don't get why this all matters so much, even better. -TFW * (Comment on this)
Friday, November 7th, 2008
9:22 am	Happy Dance Fearful Californians, Arizonans and Floridians may have been able to strip gays and lesbians of their right to marry the people they love this week (and the right to adopt the children they love in Arkansas this week as well, not to mention the existing same-sex marriage bans in 39 other states and in federal law, and the existing 20 states and federal law where it remains totally legal to fire someone for being gay or lesbian), but they can't take away our right to dance. I still believe that a day will eventually come when the human family will be able to dance together. Wouldn't it be nice if our churches worked on making that happen rather than judging and evaluating people they fear? P.S. Matt's dancing video has nothing to do with being gay. I just think it presences the possibility of humanity united. -TFW * (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
7:38 pm	AtoneFor8.com I was in a parking lot yesterday and a woman parked next to me had a "Yes on 8" bumper sticker. I felt like walking up and yelling at the old lady, but realized that was of no use for many reasons. So, all I could do was scowl at her. I'm sure she had no idea why. That's why I love the idea behind the AtoneFor8.com website! It beats Christianists at their own game by showing them how they've sinned against Jesus. Here's how it works: The website has a leaflet that you can print out and then distribute for times just like the one I described above. You can put the leaflets on cars, put them on the front doors of people who had "Yes on 8" yard signs, or mail them to people and business who donated to the Yes on 8 campaign (there are online databases of donors that have that info). It's time for Proposition 8's supporters to realize they've lost sight of the very thing in which they claim to believe (God's unconditional love) and that their community is watching and praying for them. Check it out and pass it on! -TFW * (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
6:39 pm	A Cold Play I had planned to do an hour's worth of work this morning as I flew back to San Diego from San Francisco on Virgin America (Sorry to my old friend Southwest... Virgin has you beat hands down in the high-tech in-seat entertainment, comfort and price departments, so I'll be flying them from now on even if I have to pay a little bit more). But, I just couldn't get any work done. Last night in the Castro exhausted me emotionally. It was, of course, a bittersweet evening in the end. There I stood with the 1000s of other people who had filled the closed-off streets to watch Obama sweep to victory on a projection screen erected above the bed of a flatbed truck. Music, dancing and joy as erupted after CNN's announced Obama would pass 278 electoral votes. And there I stood, alone among the same 1000s of people, watching the Proposition 8 vote tally on the Secretary of State's website from my iPhone. No one else around me seemed to know Proposition 8 was failing but me since CNN wasn't covering the story and few people knew to surf directly to the CA SOS website for the real-time results. The few people with whom I shared the unfolding results mostly discounted them and said I shouldn't tell other people since it was too "early" in the vote counting. We all know how that ended now. Finally, around 11pm when the results of Proposition 8 became clear, the music stopped and people just went home. No riots. No outrage. Just some boos and the crowd was gone with a mere whimper. So, here I sit on the plane home unable to work when Coldplay's almost-too-bouncy "Viva La Vida" iPod classic comes on Virgin's sweet in-seat radio system. Something about its mood seemed to capture the elation I was still feeling from Obama's win. But as I listened to the words more closely for the first time, I heard themes of once being on top of the world followed by a great fall, and those reminded me of the six month arc of Proposition 8: from the Supreme Court's ruling for equality in May, to actually getting married in August, to being deemed less deserving of rights than California's farm animals today. Reading too much into it? Perhaps so in my melancholy. But feel free to watch, listen and read the lyrics for yourself: I used to rule the world Seas would rise when I gave the word Now in the morning I sleep alone Sweep the streets I used to own I used to roll the dice Feel the fear in my enemies eyes Listen as the crowd would sing: "Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!" One minute I held the key Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castles stand Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror my sword and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can not explain Once you know there was never, never an honest word That was when I ruled the world Ohhh It was the wicked and wild wind Blew down the doors to let me in Shattered windows and the sound of drums People could not believe what I'd become Revolutionaries wait For my head on a silver plate Just a puppet on a lonely string Oh who would ever want to be king? I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror my sword and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can not explain I know Saint Peter won't call my name Never an honest word And that was when I ruled the world Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror my sword and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can not explain I know Saint Peter will call my name Never an honest word But that was when I ruled the world Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh It certainly feels like the Roman Cavalry and their missionaries have won this battle.... but anyone with patience knows they have already lost the war. Still, it hurts. -TFW * (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
5:22 pm	Churning Point Dearest reader, if you were only to ever read one TFW entry, this would be the one. The results of today's elections are going to be a turning point for our country in many different ways, one way or the other, for better or worse. In California in particular, we are going to find out exactly just how many people want to strip same-gender couples of their civil right to get (and stay) married, and how many people want to preserve that civil right. Personally, I can tell you that it is stomach-churning to worry that one could wake up tomorrow morning to find one's marriage dissolved by a mere simple majority of one's neighbors. The feeling is probably not unlike being a contestant on Survivor waiting to find out if one was voted off the island, except that California's gays and lesbians might not have a home to return to once this tribe has spoken. While I've occasionally toyed with the idea of getting a divorce when my relationship has hit rough patches in the past, I'd really prefer that such a decision be solely in my hands, rather than in the hands of people like the 30,000 attendees of this all-day Yes on 8 prayer rally in San Diego on Sunday: As scary as Proposition 8 (and its proponents) might be, I cannot help but feel that Proposition 8 also represents an amazing opportunity for both gay and straight Californians to discover who we really are for each other and for what we really stand. Why? As I learned in the personal development seminars of Landmark Education, before every breakthrough there must first be a breakdown. The bigger the breakdown, the bigger there is an opportunity for a bigger breakthrough. A similar sentiment was uttered by John F. Kennedy in 1959, "The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word "crisis". One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger-but recognize the opportunity." While the all-knowing Wikipedia casts doubt on the technical accuracy of Kennedy's off-quoted point, its spirit is undeniable. The very existence of Proposition 8 on today's ballot (not to mention that it may pass) represents a major breakdown for gays and lesbians both in California and in America. But, I have seen with my own eyes that we are on the verge of an amazingly huge breakthrough because of it. In the last week, I have seen ostensibly-straight people standing on street corners in my deeply suburban neighborhood with No on 8 signs (whereas before I only saw the Yes on 8 supporters), seen them with No on 8 bumper stickers and overheard their opposition to Proposition 8 in Starbucks. Consider that, even if Proposition 8 passes, America's Christianists have succeeded in doing something California's gay community could never do on its own: They've gotten non-gay Californians to examine their own beliefs about civil rights for gays and lesbians. And many of those straight people are "coming out of the closet" to stand up for these civil rights in amazing numbers. The importance of the support of the majority for the civil rights of minorities cannot be understated. Americans live in a fantasy that we have some inherent and inviolate civil rights somewhere inside of us, or out there in our government. But this is an illusion. We merely have words on paper. In practice, we only have the civil rights that the majority of us agree we have (though sometimes it takes much less than the majority to create such agreement when the minority has a disproportionally large amount of power and/or resources... think of America's black slaves who potentially outnumbered whites in the rural South but who had no civil rights because they had no power). It is without question that the civil rights of black Americans would not have been earned without the courageous leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the black citizens who fought beside him. But black Americans only sealed the deal in the eyes of the law when the "majority" got behind the effort (like when my mother and people like her began to join marches for black civil rights in the late 1960s). The minority's efforts are necessary but never sufficient. So, I don't really worry when I hear that there seem to be more straight people than gays and lesbians visibly involved in the effort to defeat Proposition 8 outside of California's large gay ghettos (though gays and lesbians could always do more). I see this as evidence that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of that fight. The only remaining question is how long it will take to reach that end. In several hours we will have a better sense of the answer. Twenty years from now, regardless of how Proposition 8 fared, I believe that we will see that Proposition 8's supporters set in motion an irreversible tide of support for the full civil rights of gay and lesbian Americans. For that, I say "thank you" to the people who unwittingly placed Proposition 8 on today's ballot. -TFW (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
1:12 pm	"We can kill two birds with one stone..." This is that prank call made on Palin by a purported "French President Nicolas Sarkozy". It's really a hoot to hear her when she thinks she's talking to a real world leader... and the bit on hunting about two minutes in to the call is side-splitting! -TFW (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
12:37 pm	Do it for the troops Last night, I sent out a note to the 50 or so Obama volunteers in my local area about our "down ballot" races. At the end of my email, I briefly mentioned the importance of the No on 8 issue. I was worried people would see my email as spam since I pilfered their info from the local Obama organizing emails I get, but then I got this reply that I’ve copied below (and several other ones of thanks). This gal’s situation, that her partner is overseas fighting for America right now so they can’t get married before Tuesday’s election, demonstrates why all Californians must vote to defeat Prop 8. We need to do it for the troops (and I say that without any sarcasm whatsoever believe it or not). No this [email] was not unwelcome. It is so hard to live in north county [San Diego] right now. At least for me it is, the stupid Yes on 8 crap is all over the place. On Saturday I had to drive past a "Yes on 8" group, they tried to get me to honk my horn or cheer, I just shook my head and said no, one guy from the group started to boo at me and said I suck. What I really wanted to do was pull my car over tell him to look at me, and remember my face when he cast his ballot because it would be my right he would be taking away. What frustrates me is that my partner left for a 6 month deployment right when the CA supreme court overturned prop 22 and said we could get married, because of timing she was already out to sea when we could have been married, now there is a good chance that we will not have the chance to get married when she gets back. In reality we wanted to wait until she retired so we don't even want to get married now but we do, one day... To make things even more challenging, I found out that my step-mom is voting yes on 8, I think this weekend made me feel a bit defeated, if I can't influence my step-mom to vote NO how could I get a complete stranger? Anyway my whole point is, thanks for your e-mail, it helps to see that not all of North County is closed minded. -TFW (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
2:34 pm	A Nightmare on Election Street A nightmare woke me up in a cold sweat this morning. Amazingly, I've managed to export a video of my dream through a new Windows XP utility and here it is: Scary stuff, eh? Go create one of these videos with your friends' and family's names at www.cnnbcvideo.com so this nightmare doesn't become a reality! -TFW (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 25th, 2008
8:03 am	No crying over spilt Milk on November 5! Speaking of Prop 8, I came across an inspiring speech (it sounds a lot like Obama to me) that SF Supervisor Harvey Milk gave 30 years ago about the importance of "hope" in trying to defeat the anti-gay Briggs' Initiative (CA Prop 6) on the November 1978 ballot. When you watch the video below, think about the irony that, 3 days after CA votes on Prop 8 (and FL votes on Prop 2 and AZ votes on Prop 102), it will be the 30th anniversary of CA voters unexpectedly rejecting the Briggs Initiative, and 20 days after that will be the 30th anniversary of Harvey Milk’s hate-fueled assassination by Dan White, another member of the SF Board of Supervisors. I wonder how far CA has come in 30 years? Meanwhile, you can learn more about Harvey Milk and the Briggs Initiative on Wikipedia. And actor Sean Penn and director Gus Van Sant are bringing Harvey Milk’s life story to the big screen on December 5 (30 years and 8 days after Milk’s assassination) in a film titled MILK. If CA's Prop 8 does pass, my guess is that there are going to be a lot of very ashamed gay and straight Californians after they see the Milk movie (ashamed because they didn’t fight hard enough against Prop 8 or ashamed because they voted in favor of it). If only every CA voter could see this movie before the election, might that be avoided? -TFW (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
9:21 am	Sensory overload It's been a while since my last posting... and I'd like to share a little bit about why. Certainly, I've been busier at work. But I could find the time to write if I really made the effort. I think the issue is that I'm in a political funk. My nerves are shot. Seriously. I've got some bizarre combination of optimism and despair: 1. I know the Big O is way ahead and things are looking good... but I never underestimate "The Man" from being able to take it away from him (from us)... whether it be by some crazy born-again, mega-church get-out-the-vote effort in the South, by dirty tricks like f'ing with the balloting process, or by a bullet. 2. Then there is Palin. There is so much to say about the danger of her in the VP slot even now. But take the $150k spent on clothes brouhaha. It seems so petty to me, and there are just so many of these things to tackle with her it is hard to keep up. Sullivan pretty much just reposts his older (and wise) posts about Palin's lies because no one has addressed them! I can't blame him for not spending hours rewriting them in new and interesting ways when the original questions still stand. I think that's actually part of McCain's strategy. He's picked someone so wildly unqualified that all the scary facts about Palin just become noise. And I worry that other voters are numb to her faults too, and maybe some on the more conservative side will think she's not that bad and pull the McCain lever as a result. 3. Finally, there is the Prop 8 take-away-my-right-to-stay-married craziness in CA. I live in deep suburbia and my city streets are lined with Yes on 8 signs. It's just depressing. I tell myself that the Yes on Prop 8 supporters are just better at putting out signs than the hidden masses of people who will come out to defeat the measure in 2 weeks... but I doubt it. Am I the only one who sees it's just beyond insanity to even have a vote on something like this? Why isn't that the topic itself in public discourse? If we had a vote today on if interracial marriage should be banned, it would pass in most of the states! So, what? We don't vote on things like that in America, do we? Yesterday, I was in a restaurant where the parents of 3 children pretty much ignored their screaming baby for 10 minutes while the ear drums of surrounding patrons shattered. When do I get my chance to vote on whether or not they deserve to be a family? So, there it is. My nerves are shot. Of course, I am still voting and still donating what little money I have, but I feel like I should be doing more because this next two weeks is not a time for resignation and/or complacency. Anyone else feel the same? -TFW (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
7:13 pm	Don't answer the red phone! Wonder what the Palin presidency will be like? This is a hoot... click around... have fun! www.palinaspresident.com -TFW (Comment on this)
Monday, October 13th, 2008
8:00 am	America's Illiteratti Remember that older woman at a McCain rally on Friday that started to go on about being afraid of Obama because he’s an Arab? The rally where McCain finally interrupted the woman and told her she was wrong about Obama? Two reporters jointly interviewed that woman right after the rally and you can watch it (and read a full transcript) here. This woman, 75 year old Gayle Quinnel, has been volunteering at McCain's campaign offices in MN, where she and some of her like-minded friends have been sending out their own personal letters to voters they find in the phonebook detailing Obama’s hidden Arab plot to take over America. It’s clear to me that this woman is truly scared of Obama and his "Arab” roots, and that she truly believes what she is saying about him is factual. So, I have empathy for her desire to save us all from the terrible mistake of voting for Obama. But, her facts are all wrong and she’s just further spreading untruths (albeit innocently and ignorantly) which only serves to make more of the “illiteratti” out there even more afraid of Obama. Here’s just a small (and edited) sample of this woman's mindset: Reporters 1 and 2: You called him an Arab terrorist? Is that correct? ... Why do you think he is an Arab? His father was Muslim, and he’s a Christian. Quinnell: Yeah, but he’s still got Muslim in him. So that’s still part of him. You see, the Muslim is in his blood! It’s like some kind of sleeper terrorist DNA that has been directing Obama towards the Presidency, where he can then destroy America. Is our country that full of loons? Have people been watching too many episodes of Alias? Jesus, please save us from ourselves and some of your followers! -TFW (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
5:41 pm	Jesus F’ing Christ indeed! As spotted on Andrew Sullivan's blog today, a courageous journalist named Max Blumenthal has pulled Palin’s terrifying and apocalyptic religious background together into an objective, short and powerful mini-documentary. After watching this, my biggest fear is not that we have to deal with Palin now in 2008, but that we are going to be seeing more of her (and people like her) in 2012 and beyond. This election is turning out to be about more than just voting for Obama... It is about voting for the future of America's soul because Palin and her ilk are not people of reason who merely have differing political beliefs from most of us on how to best make America a place of greater equality, freedom and opportunity for all. They are on a not-at-all-secret mission to bring about the end-times for humanity itself… and if they get a hold of our government and our military any more than they have already, the only option we may be left with is a real life civil war to take it back. Suddenly, those MadMax-like movies about a post-apocalyptic world seem completely and chillingly plausible. -TFW (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
10:02 am	McCain's withdrawal speech Most of us have seen and heard the increasingly incendiary words and tactics from the McCain/Palin campaign about Obama. The rabid and desperate people attracted to their rallies eat this jingoism up, working themselves into a frenzy shouting words like traitor, terrorist, etc. They are becoming a lynch mob… perhaps literally many of us fear. This dynamic has been well covered in the blogosphere (Andrew Sullivan has done a great job in particular) and today the story has broken into the mainstream media as seen on CNN: Rage Rising on the McCain Campaign Trail. I was chatting last night with an Israeli friend who said he was worried because it felt to him like the political environment in Israel that lead to a right wing Jew assassinating Yitzhak Rabin (who was their Prime Minister and taking steps to bring peace with the Palestinians). The scary thing is that my friend hadn’t even seen the blog posts from other Israelis saying the same thing. He saw this on his own, and to me that is more than enough independent data points to tell me that this really is a really dangerous situation we have on our hands. Given the above, and that McCain’s going down in flames with all but the least sane parts of our electorate as a result of his tactics, I have to ask myself what is McCain’s end game? Unless something amazing happens, McCain is going to lose to Obama anyway, and lose big. He is going to lose in such a way as a result of his scorched-earth tactics that he won’t be able to return to the Senate with any shred of self-respect. The only future McCain will have after losing will be to either disappear from public life entirely or to go around making speeches to groups of the then-disaffected far right nuts about how they need to take back America a la David Duke. Somewhere deep inside, he’s still got to be the McCain of 2000 and when this is all over he is going to want to drink himself into oblivion when he sees what he’s done to his principles and to his country. The only transformative solution I see is that McCain must withdraw from the race and endorse Obama on live television, perhaps during the last debate next week. Yes, to save himself, McCain must make the ultimate sacrifice. It’s both very Christian and very Zen. To make this easy on McCain, I’ve written his final speech for him: My friends, I am so honored to be a candidate for President and to have a worthy opponent such as Mr. Obama to run against. But I have come to realize lately I have been swallowed up by my own hunger to win at all costs. Advisors told me to go negative and I did. Advisors told me to spread lies and half-truths and I did. Advisors told me to pick a running mate that would rile up our base (even though I dislike most of her political views) and I did. None of these things were my idea but I agreed to them all because I thought that only winning mattered. These last few days and weeks my campaign has helped stoked the fear in some Americans that Mr. Obama is not American, not patriotic, not safe. I’ve watched and listened as my supporters got angrier and angrier at him, and I justified the risks of unleashing that anger on America by telling myself it would help me win the Presidency. And it might. But I don’t care. You see, my friends, I really do love America. After 5 years in those POW camps, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and encourage Americans to become as cruel, intolerant and violent as my former captors. And that is what I see happening now. I would rather lose this election than lose myself or lose the America I love. Therefore, I am announcing tonight my endorsement of Barack Obama for President. My name will remain on the ballot, of course. But please do not vote for me. Please do not vote for my party. We are bankrupt and need a few years to figure out what we have to offer this country other than fear: fear of change, fear of the "other", fear of looking at ourselves for solutions. To all the people who already voted for me in early voting, to all the people who donated and volunteered to my campaign, to all the people who supported my in the primaries and before that even… I profoundly appreciate your support and your belief in me. I am honored that you put your trust in me. I know you may be disappointed with my choice today, but if you really support my vision of a great America, then you know this is the right thing to do. Lastly, I want to say something about the future safety of Mr. Obama. Looking back, I can see that I have helped create a situation in which some Americans feel threatened by the very idea of his presidency, and not just because of his race, to the point that there is concern for Mr. Obama's safety. My campaign's role in fostering this is something of which I am deeply ashamed. If any American should ever do something to hurt Mr. Obama, I want you to know that I will hold myself and my campaign accountable for setting those course of events into motion and my promise to you is that I will take my own life shortly thereafter. I know that sounds dramatic, but I could not live with myself, or with America itself, if such an unthinkable thing ever came to pass. We must never become that kind of country, for to do so would be the loss of America’s very soul. My friends, Mr. Obama is a good man, a smart man, a patriotic man and, I dare say, few candidates have ever been more qualified to be President. That is why I will be voting for Barack Obama on November 4 and I hope you will too. He has earned it and deserves it. Let the history books show John McCain ultimately decided to put country first. Good night. -TFW (Comment on this)
Friday, October 10th, 2008
5:40 am	Bad news There is a story in the New York Times today that exposes fraud among the Obama campaign donor list. Apparently, some people have been donating money on Obama's website using fake names (like "jdjdjsdjasfd"), addresses, etc. and that's illegal. Many are done with multiple donations that exceed campaign finance limits for individuals too. I don't doubt that such fraud exists, but why isn't the media asking the hard questions here rather than focusing on the sensationalism of "donor fraud"? For example, here's what I want to know when reading these stories: 1. On just about every online store, there is an address verification (AVS) done during the purchase step to make sure the address given matches the address on the credit card bill. Is AVS being used by Obama for each online donation, and if not why not? Additionally, is McCain? Is anyone? What's normal in the campaign world? 2. Why isn't the website donation system comparing credit card numbers in donations to past donations? Wouldn't that expose the same credit card number being used by different fake names and addresses? 3. Have the fraudulent donor addresses and names been tracked back to the credit card holders specifically? If not, why not? Wouldn't that allow us to locate the donors and ask why they are spoofing their names and addresses? Did they realize what heartache they would cause Obama when they did that? There are lost of other good questions that the media should be asking like the ones above. But let's see those first? Rather than these stories making it seem like there is some giant plot to make donations to Obama, this is probably just a result of well meaning but clueless donors taking advantage of a bare bones e-commerce system that doesn't do the basic industry credit card purchase integrity checks like it should. Let's get to the bottom of it New York Times? -TFW (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
8:05 pm	Bad air in that data mine Apparently, McCain needs to scrub his supporter database a little better. My husband opened his mail to find this a few days ago: If you are like us, you may have just thrown up a little in your mouth. Come to think of it, this may become a collectors' item years from now... McCain/Palin who? -TFW (Comment on this)
3:13 pm	God's waiting room Once again, I find myself sitting at a Starbucks (they have all the basics: coffee, donuts, restroom, WiFi and air conditioning) trying to get some contract drafting work done for a client and what did I just hear from the table of old farts that I find here too every day? "Did you see that Michelle Obama on Larry King last night? Sheesh. What a hideous looking woman she is!" Moments later, one of them says something about her having a big ass. (If it matters, these guys are somewhat wealthy retirees that live in the nearby upscale retirement communities just north of San Diego.) There is just so much one could say about people like this and their opinions... but some things are just better left in the unsaid. -TFW (Comment on this)
12:00 pm	Give Florida to Cuba Since I slammed those yokels from Appalachia yesterday, I thought it only fair that I dig up another gem from another state. This time, Florida. Unfortunately, I can't embed this video (CNN only embeds with JavaScript and my blog host doesn't like that approach). But, I assure you that this is worth the click! Watch it on CNN here. And, hey, isn't muslin a fine cotton cloth? Wikipedia seems to think so. At least they aren't accusing him of being a polyester blend! -TFW (Comment on this)