Living Liberally Blog

The Taliban are being targeted in the latest push.

A presidential code is unlocked!

July 4th will see the reopening of this national treasure.

Happy birthday, Malia!

Josh Bolotsky and I are seated in the auditorium at the Hotel Trades Council union hall, gearing up to cover the Working Families Party Mayoral Forum.

We'll be doing the live posting over at Open Left -- and you can also watch the forum for yourself at: http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/liveforum/

The rules and timeline are up; the forum should begin at 5:30pm.

Join us!

At 5:30pm today, the Working Families Party will be hosting a Mayoral Forum -- they'll be interviewing Democratic hopefuls Bill Thompson and Tony Avella, and incumbent Michael Bloomberg.

You can watch the live feed here.

Or tune back in for live blogging coverage.

• Mark Weisbrot of the Huffington Post wrote an article last night about Washington's reluctance to stand up for democracy in the wake of the Honduran military coup--while the US Government could and should be using this opportunity to overhaul its shameful reputation in the region, it instead seems to be succumbing to the same, dangerous elite-pandering it was infamous for during the last 40 years.
• The High Court in India overturned a ban on gay sex, stating that the existing law violated fundamental human rights. The historic court decision will likely fortify movements toward dissolving a 148-year-old colonial law which describes homosexual relationships as "unnatural offenses"
• A Gallup poll released today indicates that Iranians have doubted the US commitment to democracy in the region, and muses that the Obama Administration's endorsement of opposition candidates may in fact be a kiss-of-death to their movement for free, transparent governance.
• Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hopes that Obama's visit to Moscow next week will catalyze a new relationship between the former Cold War enemies, which remains on pins and needles 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall due to tensions surrounding stalled nonproliferation efforts, the construction of US anti-missle systems in Europe and a general history of distrust that needs to be reconciled before the two nations can convene and tackle important global economic and political issues.

After Mark Foley, David Vitter & Larry Craig,
the latest exploits of John Ensign & Mark Sanford
make "Republican family values" an instant punchline.

While Americans want healthcare & energy reform,
the Congressional GOP keeps saying everything's fine
...a strategy that's made them a national joke.

And every time Michael Steele opens his mouth,
Palin's on TV, or Rush pipes up again,
it's hard not to chuckle at the absurdity.

Sure the Left may have Senator Al Franken,
but it's the Right that's making us laugh.

But be careful, Dems - with 60 Senate seats,
we better see meaningful reforms out of DC
...or else, next election, the joke's on us.

Head into the holiday with reason to smile,
share that laughter as your share a few drinks
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

Last Month Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor caught the brunt of conservative criticism for certain comments made regarding race and how it factors into a judge’s decision-making. Sotomayor said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Then Monday the Supreme Court ruled white firefighters in the New Haven Fire Department were victims of reverse discrimination when the city threw out a promotion exam after minority candidates categorically tested poorly. The measure was intended to promote diversity in the workplace. The Supreme Court overturned the decision previously upheld by Sotomayor and two other judges on a panel to determine the legitimacy of New Haven’s policy.

A quick read through our headlines shows desperate need for a new understanding of bias. The Right’s stubborn faith in the myth of the American meritocracy depends on an outmoded conception on how discrimination is exercised. They argue that because official channels of slavery and segregation ended generations ago, the field is level. But only rarely is racism explicit these days.

More frequently, racism continues to be exerted through inherited disadvantage, and conversely, inherited privilege. In order to counteract racial inertia, many liberals argue the need for corrective measures which temporarily give favor to minority candidates in the workplace/schools/etc. in service of long-term equality.

It is a common myth that after Brown v. Board of Education everyone was equal. While all became supposedly “equal” under the law, whites had a head-start--better-funded schools, inherited wealth, 200 years control of government--not to mention the failure of many states to comply with desegregation.

In yesterday’s Huffington Post, Mitchell Kapor, Freada Kapor Klein, and Martha Tae-Shin Kim address the need for creativity when it comes to deracinating institutionalized and structural discrimination.

“The [New Haven] case itself, while raising complex questions about workplace bias, involved civil rights law fashioned in an era that saw far more blatant discrimination. Back then, the urgency of segregation and widespread, institutional racism did not allow for a thoughtful undertaking of more nuanced forms of bias. Now, subtle bias has become more insidious.”

Check out the full article here.

This is an issue steeped in nuance and requires compassion for all parties involved. White firefighters don’t want to be discriminated against for their race any more than black, Hispanic, or Asian firefighters for theirs. No one wants to feel indicted for something they didn’t choose. But affirmative action is not about blame. It is about starting to amend past injustices that echo still today. It is not enough to eliminate the barriers; true equality requires a cathartic process of diminishing white privilege and providing access to beneficial social programs.

Now how do we make that a reality?
Groups like Racial Justice 911, the ACLU, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice are all currently involved in projects to counteract economic and social discrimination. For ways you can get involved in the fight against racism, sexism, and class antagonism, check out their websites.

Anyone with suggestions about involvement, links to groups that do anti-discrimination work, policy ideas, here’s your chance to sound off. I’m sure you liberals out there in the grassroots, netroots, and beyond have your fingers on the pulse of some great organizations. Let’s get a list going in the comments section.

• Al Franken finally won! After months of debate and thumb-twittling, the Minnesota Supreme Court announced that Al Franken is the winner of the Minnesota senate seat. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post explains how he did it.

• Here's a scary headline: Multiple States on Verge of Collapse. You can read all about how California and others are pretty screwed. It's really uplifting.

• Wal-Mart endorses an employer mandate in the health care reform debate. You can see the full letter and some commentary here.

• A climate change bill passed yesterday with lots of ornaments on the Christmas tree. While there was creation of green jobs and clean energy industry and set a ceiling on emissions, there were also many concessions to utilities, automakers, and others.

Here's the final video from the people over at Haarm.org!

Enjoy, and pass it around!

• Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic novel Persepolis (which was released as a motion picture film last year), has come out with a new graphic novel based on the recent Iranian elections. You can download a PDF version of the novel here

• Fireworks over Baghdad—No, this isn’t Part 2 of an Outkast song. Iraqi’s celebrate “National Sovereign Day” as U.S. troops officialy move out of Iraq’s town’s and cities

• The ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has said he will return home later this week, after being forced into exile on Sunday in what President Obama has described as a “coup.”

• Read Bob Herbert’s article on an Afghanistan youth’s long six years in a Guantánamo Bay prison, and what happens after a confession through torture is deemed inadmissible.

Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, one of the first instances of gay resistance to government-sponsored repression of sexual minorities. Not only was this a time to look back at a proud moment for the equal rights movement, but a chance to analyze how far we’ve come as a country.

Standards are particularly high for one President Barack Obama, and rightfully so. After opposing Don‘t Ask Don‘t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act during the campaign, Obama’s rhetoric and action since taking office have become tepid. As Michael Rowe writes in today’s Huffington Post, the excuses granted to the administration on delaying equality are becoming tiresome.

“There is a great deal that can be done now, and if there is to be a culture war, it's an inevitable one. The quest for "bipartisanship" should not be an excuse for sacrificing political integrity, or honoring a long-overdue commitment to a long-loyal and significant voting bloc. Ignoring the problem isn't going to make it go away, nor is pointing out the obvious fact that the Republicans are no friend of the LGBT community, or that a McCain-Palin administration would have been an express train to oblivion for gay rights. LGBT Americans voted for Obama to be their president too, not just the lesser of two evils.”

Check out the rest of Rowe’s razor-sharp inculpation here.

Obama is an incrementalist, but it has been 40 years since the Stonewall Riots. His expansion of rights to same-sex partners of federal employees was commendable, but hardly daring. The President’s conflicting takes on DOMA need to be reconciled and repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell must become a top priority.
Why must we continue to meet regressive bigots halfway? Gay rights have been back-burnered too many times as it is. Equal rights now!

*******UPDATE********
President Obama responded yesterday to criticism that he has been mollifying LGBT supporters.

Said Obama, "It's not for me to tell you to be patient anymore than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half-century ago."

Check out the full article over at Alternet.