Tag: california

Jun 09 2010

Election Results: Arkansas is Hopeless, Nevada Boots its Gov, eMeg wins her bid

I’m listening to the Primary election results on television and watching on the internet.  Here are the current leads or projected winners for some of the races nationwide.   The polls closed in CA an hour ago.   HuffPo also has a header banner up with this http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

First, the biggest suck disappointment of the evening-  Democrat Senate Plantation Blanche over Bill Halter in Arkansas ,   52 to 48%.  

Blanche Lincoln (D, “there isn’t going to be a public option” Walmart, Koch Oil, Arkansas)

Bill Halter

There’s been a lawsuit filed over the closing of polling places, but Halter has conceded.

May 12 2010

Help urgently needed: Stop anti-democratic Prop 14 in California!

On June 8, Californians will vote on several referendums, in addition to primary races.  One of those referendums, Proposition 14 (aka the Top Two Primaries Act), could hugely change how those primary races are conducted, and it would definitely not be for the better.  As if to add insult to injury, but it could take down a public campaign financing measure along with it.

Prop 14 was put on the ballot through the backroom dealings of State Senator (not Lt. Gov.) Abel Moldonado, the very last holdout on the budget this year.  He used the budget crisis for his own profit and one of his demands was to put this measure on the ballot.  Now, his reckless action is being opposed by every political party in California and numerous electoral reform groups, groups ranging from the NAACP to the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition.

But big business wants this to pass because of the control it could give them over elections (explanation below the fold).  So your help is needed – $5, $10, $100 – whatever you can chip in to prevent California from descending further into a mess of broken government.

Apr 14 2010

We know the health insurance bill was insufficient. So what’s a DFH to do?

The health “care” – really insurance – bill that passed is far from a perfect bill, in large part because it leaves a system intact that is the source of a ton of the problems that were used to create support for it, and it is not actually universal health care.

To get any kind of actually universal coverage we’re going to need to turn to the states.  Clearly those thousands of lobbyists are too powerful in DC to really challenge the powers that be in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.  So the good news is that there are state-level campaigns for single payer, and they’re gaining a lot of momentum in states like California and Pennsylvania.

Mar 25 2010

Green gubernatorial campaigns to watch in 2010: IL, MA, CA, NV, OH

Originally posted on Green Party Watch

Several Green candidates have launched campaigns in their states’ races for governor in 2010.

The Green Party of California will have a contested primary election for the gubernatorial race, with Laura Wells and Deacon Alexander competing for the nomination, to be decided on June 8.

In recent years, gubernatorial races in some states have given Green Parties high enough percentages to achieve or maintain ballot status and determine the outcome of the election.

In 2006, Rich Whitney and his fellow Greens overcame an attempt by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to keep the Green Party off the Illinois ballot. Gov. Blagojevich spent about $800,000 to block the Green Party. Mr. Whitney drew over 10% of the vote on Election Day 2006 and will be on the ballot in 2010.

Some Green gubernatorial candidates to watch:

RICH WHITNEY, a civil rights attorney based in Carbondale, is running again for Governor of Illinois. At a time when Illinois is experiencing devastating cuts to education and social services, Mr. Whitney is the only candidate in the race who refuses to accept such cuts as inevitable. He has set forth a comprehensive plan for restoring health to the public sector and fighting for “a full employment economy,” at “a living wage, or better.”

“It may surprise some people to hear a candidate talk about expanding public employment at a time when the media keep pounding into people’s minds the notion that government is ‘too big’ and ‘we can’t afford it.’ We have to recognize that the corporate-dominated media have an agenda and that there is a reason why we have been hearing this propaganda steadily for over 30 years. We also have to realize that when the opinion leaders in the corporate media keep telling us that ‘we’ can’t afford it, what they are really trying to tell us is that ‘they’ – the wealthy owners of corporate America – don’t want to afford it,” said Mr. Whitney.

“They don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes needed to maintain the most basic functions of government. And thus the illusion is created that in the richest, most productive nation in the world, we as a society somehow can’t afford quality public education, quality health care for all, quality employment opportunities for all and decent retirement security for all.”

Rich Whitney proposes creative measures for dealing with the state’s fiscal and economic crises, including creation of a state bank, and imposing what he calls the real “sin” taxes — a financial transactions tax on speculative trading and a fee and dividend system to combat global warming and promote sustainable energy, transportation, and energy efficiency.

Web site: http://www.whitneyforgov.org

See also: “Rich Whitney, Green Party Governor Candidate, Releases Budget Proposals” (The Huffington Post, March 11, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/11/rich-whitney-green-party_n_495664.html)

JILL STEIN has launched an exciting grassroots campaign that is posing an unprecedented challenge to business as usual in Massachusetts. She is building on the 350,000 votes she received statewide in her race for Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2006. Given the emerging lineup that has her facing three CEO-insider politicians with nearly identical positions on the key issues, the race may actually be won with as little as 26% of the vote. With her 18% in her last statewide election, and the anti-insider fever that’s gripped the state, this could put a win in actual striking distance.

As Dr. Stein explained at a recent gathering, “A government run to benefit lobbyists and insiders has given us double digit unemployment, skyrocketing health care costs, predatory home foreclosures, crumbling schools, unaffordable higher education, counterproductive crime and drug laws, regressive taxes, unending and costly wars, and a climate crisis that threatens our economy. We can do better. It’s time to put solutions on the table that give us a secure green future in which there is both prosperity and justice.”

Since her February 8 kick-off, Dr. Stein has given numerous radio and television interviews and put together a strong campaign team. “Doors are opening as never before for a Green candidate,” Dr. Stein says. “This could be our breakthrough year.”

Web site: http://www.jillstein.org

S. DEACON ALEXANDER is one of two candidates competing for the California Green nomination for governor. A sixty-four year old retired union carpenter, many of Deacon’s ideas for a better society are from his father, bricklayer’s assistant and political activist. As a long-time social advocate and former Black Panther, Deacon Alexander worked to acquit all charges against Angela Davis in 1972 and joined Latino immigrants to fight for Los Angeles’ South Central Farm.

“I run for Governor because Californians must do better. We must educate, not incarcerate. Growing affordable housing and local business are in my plan to invest in basic infrastructure. Abolish the death penalty, the prison industrial complex, racism against immigrants and all people of color. I support jobs which empower our youth, rebuild inner cities, and reduce global warning,” said Mr. Alexander.

“My gubernatorial campaign is simple. We will go Poor-to-Poor, up and down the State of California . My first act as candidate was on Skid Row in LA with the homeless, the disenfranchised, the down and out. These people have been excluded, denied and rejected for far too long. I pledge to bring them into my campaign for Governor, register them as Greens, and fight for their rights.”

“Both my gubernatorial primary opponent, Green Party candidate Laura Wells, and I fully support Ten Key Values and platform of California Green Party. Our differences lie not in substance, but in our priorities. A party and candidate which put the rights of the least of us first, is one which can proudly represent all Californians.”

Website: http://www.deaconforgov.com

LAURA WELLS is also running for the Green Party’s nomination for Governor of California. Ms. Wells ran for State Controller in 2002 and 2006. In 2002, she received over 400,000 votes, the highest vote total of any Green Party partisan statewide race in California.

“I ran as a candidate for State Controller with the motto ‘follow the money’ to understand what’s happened in California. Now it’s time to fix the money,” said Ms. Wells. “Prop 13 was passed in 1978 to keep people, especially seniors, in their homes, but like a bad pharmaceutical, the side effects of the tax policies have been disastrous especially to our younger generations. The Titanic Parties will not touch Prop 13 because likely voters love it, but I am touching it. I sent a valentine saying, ‘Prop 13, I love you, but honey, you’ve got to change!’”

“There are solutions: we can institute a State Bank for California and invest in California not Wall Street. We can have great schools, healthcare, a wonderful environment, and golden job opportunities.”

The Laura Wells campaign has printed 10,000 copies of a newsletter leaflet listing the “13 Ways Prop 13 has been Unlucky for California” on one side and “FAQs: State Bank for California” on the other. The campaign is distributing them at rallies and meetings all over the state. Leafletting began with the March 4 Day of Action, when thousands of students from universities, community colleges, and high schools walked out of class to demand a re-ordering of priorities in the state’s finances.

For more about Prop 13, the State Bank, and other information about Laura Wells and her campaign, visit her web site: http://www.LauraWells.org

DAVID CURTIS is running for Governor of Nevada.

“Fellow Greens have been asking me to run for office for more than five years. I do not enter into this lightly,” said Mr. Curtis. “Extreme economic events of the last two years in Nevada convinced me that I needed to take a more direct role in the leadership of my native state. I am running to help rebuild the Nevada economy. I want to make the state a viable place to live for my family and the citizens of Nevada.”

http://curtis4governor.com http://www.apparatusLV.com

DENNIS S. SPISAK is the Green Party of Ohio candidate for governor in 2010. Mr. Spisak is running with the goal of bringing renewable energy jobs, single-payer health care for all, and clean fair elections to Ohio.

“I am running for governor because I believe we must send a representative to Columbus who will address the issues facing regular citizens, not lobbyists or corporate PACs. My campaign will focus on the issues that Ohioans care about: affordable health care, economic fairness, quality public education, and bringing renewable energy manufacturing jobs to the state. I am not afraid to call for health care for all Ohioans, economic justice, and nothing less than a renewal of Ohio’s sense of community and promise of equal opportunity for all Ohioans,” said Mr. Spisak.

“The people of Ohio are tired of politics and government controlled by the Democrats and Republicans. They want straight talk and straight answers to the problems facing them and their children. The Green Party has the answers to their problems.”

Web site: http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Green Party Elections web page: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Mar 24 2010

Legal Pot on CA Ballot this Fall, if LA Comes Thru, Cops Not Happy

Today is the deadline for Los Angeles County, CA to turn in their lists of valid signatures for the November elections, and the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult personal use is expected to qualify.  It’s the “Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.”  pdf here of proposed law: http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachmen…

Huffpo here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Look at the statistics quoted here in this Stephen Gutwillig story, and tell me that the continued persecution of marijuana use, isn’t authoritarian right wing make work, waste money, government scheming done because law enforcement needs something to do –  because pot is so easy to grow, nobody would have to go without if it were not illegal:


Unthinkable carnage in Mexico has claimed 15,000 lives since the Calderon government declared war on drug cartels three years ago. Our government estimates the cartels generate at least 60% of their profits from marijuana alone. Following the murders of several U.S. consular workers, Secretary of State Clinton returned to Mexico this week, acknowledging that demand in the U.S. dominates these markets. But she didn’t acknowledge that rampant violence is not a byproduct of the cannabis plant itself but of the prohibition that creates a profit motive people are willing to kill for.

/snip

With this cultural transition underway, you might think enforcement of our marijuana laws would reflect their unpopularity. Sadly, quite the opposite is the case. Arrests for marijuana offenses have actually tripled nationwide since 1991. In California, which decriminalized low-level possession in 1975, arrests have jumped 127 percent in the same two decades the arrest rate for crime in general fell by 40 percent. Police made nearly 850,000 marijuana arrests across the country last year, half of all drug arrests and more than all violent crime arrests combined. No law in the United States is enforced so widely yet deemed so unnecessary.

Worse still, marijuana laws are enforced selectively with racist results. In California, African Americans are three times more likely than whites to be arrested for a marijuana offense despite comparable or even lower rates of consumption. An expose by the Pasadena Weekly found that blacks, who represent 14 percent of that city’s population, accounted for more than half all marijuana arrests in the last five years.

The LA Times yesterday, if the issue makes it to the ballot:


http://www.latimes.com/news/lo…

That will once again make California the focal point of the long-stewing argument over marijuana legalization, a debate likely to be a high-dollar brawl between adversaries who believe it could launch or stifle another national trend.

The campaign will air issues that have changed little over the years. Proponents will cite the financial and social cost of enforcing pot prohibition and argue that marijuana is not as dangerous and addictive as tobacco or alcohol. Opponents will highlight marijuana-linked crimes, rising teenage use and the harm the weed causes some smokers.

But the debate also will play out against a cultural landscape that has changed substantially, with marijuana moving from dark street corners to neon-lit suburban boutiques. In the months since the Obama administration ordered drug agents to lay off dispensaries, hundreds have opened, putting pot within easy reach of most Californians. Whether voters view this de facto legalization with trepidation or equanimity could shape the outcome.

The measure’s supporters hope that this dynamic will shift the debate, allowing them to persuade voters to replace prohibition with controlled sales that could be taxed to help California’s cities and counties.

“They already accept that it’s out there. They want to see a smart strategy,” said Chris Lehane, a top strategist for the initiative.

What suburban boutiques?  We had a faux – Libertarian Republican Neocon run here in CA 04 supposedly in favor of legalizing pot, McClintock, and instead post election all the local Republicans are fighting tooth and nail against siting any medical marijuana dispensaries in the local counties in the district.  Oh, wait, he doesn’t live in the district.  My county just spent 4 million on a surveillance helicopter. nevermind.


But John Lovell, a Sacramento lobbyist for law enforcement groups, said he believes that voters will reject that argument.

“Why on Earth would you want to add yet another mind-altering substance to the legal array?” he asked.

Because, it’s cheaper, it works, it doesn’t have harmful side effects, and people can grow it themselves without having to pay for insurance, co pays, and prescriptions, which is going to cost them $10,000 a year or more.  In 2004, California voters legalized medical marijuana.  Since then, a majority of voters (at least 56%)  have come around to supporting further freedoms.  Because pot is also a multi billion dollar crop, the thought of collecting tax revenues on it if it were legal, when the state is dead broke and throwing college students out of schools for lack of funds, instead of wasting money busting people, during a severe economic recession, is becoming more appealing.

“Bong politics” he called it.  Here’s John Lovell. http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Lo…     And here’s the groups he lobbies for:   http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Lo…

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS 01/01/2009  start date

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH UNDERWRITERS 01/01/2009

CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONAL SUPERVISORS ORGANIZATION INC. 01/01/2009

CALIFORNIA NARCOTIC OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION 01/01/2009

CALIFORNIA PEACE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION 01/01/2009

CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEFS’ ASSOCIATION 01/01/2009

CHARITY FIRST FOR CALIFORNIA, INC. 01/01/2009

EMS CONSULTING 01/01/2009

LOS ANGELES COUNTY POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION  01/01/2009

About those law enforcement clients of Lobbyist Lovell’s …..


http://www.ucimc.org/content/p…

Any vote would take place in a state where attitudes toward marijuana border on the schizophrenic. Last year, the state made some 78,500 arrests on felony and misdemeanors related to the drug, up from about 74,000 in 2007, according to the California attorney general.

Seizures of illegal marijuana plants, often grown by Mexican gangs on public lands in forests and parks, hit an all-time high in 2009, and last week, federal authorities announced a series of arrests in the state’s Central Valley, where homes have been converted into “indoor grows.”

Even if each arrest and subsequent legal action only cost $1000 per incident, that’s $78,500,000 or over $78 million the state of CA is throwing away per year. The true number surely must be over a billion dollars, if each arrest and legal fallout cost in total about $12,000.   20% of all prison incarcerations are for drug offenses and the CA average cost per year to keep them there is going over $40,000 per year.  http://www.mercurynews.com/bre…    No, it won’t fix the $21 billion dollar plus CA budget deficit to legalize pot, but at least it wouldn’t be adding further to the insanity.

As a recreational user of the California State and public forests and parks, why should we be seeing park rangers and maintenance personal hour’s cut, layoffs, hiring freezes, parks shortening their hours, cutting back vital services like restrooms, or even being closed, and the Governor of the state threatening to SELL SOME OF THEM, all to “save money during a budget crisis”  just so these law enforcement types can run around playing Horticulture Police State ?

You want to get pot plantings out of public lands ?  LEGALIZE IT.  

Let’s take a closer look at one of the other groups Lovell lobbies for, Charity First for CA.  pdf filing with state   http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/PD…  Do you know what they do? They lobby for Bingo Parlors.

We can’t have pot and bingo in this state at the same time ?

What is CAHU, the CA Association of Health Underwriters up to, lately ?  They are supporting another ballot initiative for non partisan primaries.    http://cahucapitolrap.blogspot…

This was written by John Lovell, who says this trade association for the health insurance industry supports screwing up primaries by making them totally open.


With an open primary, party won’t matter. Everyone gets to vote and the top two candidates face off against each other in the Fall. That means that in a safe Democratic district, Republican voters will be the decisive factor in determining what type of Democrat goes to Sacramento. In a safe Republican district, Democratic voters will have a similar influence.

And what this means is that the entire Legislature will move to the center. CAHU does very well when we can speak with centrist Legislators – be they Democrat or Republican.  

Earth to Lovell –  it’s not all about your clients.

 

Mar 08 2010

Schoolkids Beaten by Cops for Protesting Fee Hikes

This is a followup piece to my diary about the MSM noticing that on March 4, 2010 college kids all over the country were protesting the drastic tuition and fee hikes they are facing in order to try to continue their educations.

“It did get a bit disruptive”

https://www.docudharma.com/diar…

Here in CA the state is raising tuition 32%,  while cutting funding to state colleges and universities by a total of 1.4 billion dollars.  Community colleges are also facing drastic cuts in funding for classes, meaning that there ARE no classes for 200,000 students.  

 In that diary I had a bit of a time getting a short little video to embed of protesting students in Oakland, who had marched several miles then got up onto the 880 freeway, which showed a view of the freeway, shot from above and at a distance out of somebody’s apartment window, with the cars stopped in the distance and the protesters were huddled up on the exit ramp below by the police. (thanks to Edger for fixing it)  

Mar 05 2010

“It did get a bit disruptive”- MSM admits there were protests

Is hell freezing over ?

I look at the Sacramento CrapBee this morning, and it’s got a front page color photo of a cop trying to taser a student protester.  WTF ?  Slow news day ?  You aren’t printing whitewash for the Republican Party today ?

I look at the weather, and it’s got a link to a KCRA Channel 3 video on the students protesting at UC Davis yesterday, which is taking about a year to download for me, so I may as well write this up while waiting.  

The embedding has been “disabled by request” so here’s the YouTube link and my transcript below.

http://fwix.com/sac/share/b137…

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…


News anchor intro: “More protests could be on tap today. Another big story not only in California but nationally. California’s struggling school systems certainly here in the spotlight.  It did get a bit disruptive. A group of UC Davis students are threatening more demonstrations after an already busy day of actions”

Reporter on the Scene, standing in the pre dawn dark on deserted street:  I just got off the phone with police, they have not had any official word that anything is planned for today, but they are still on standbye  in case something does erupt.   We’re on CA Ave right now, where you can see nobody is here but hundreds of students marched down the street yesterday  (she then describes the protests yesterday instead of having the video show it, so presumably somebody saw it other than the hundreds of student protesters )  The students made their way to the entrance ramp of I- 80 where they were met by a 100 police officers

Video finally shows cops firing pepper balls and using batons as students walk together down the street, as reporter says

“You can see it got a little violent there for awhile”

As a very small, limp blonde student is being dragged down the street by cop, voiceover continues  

“Davis students were amongst thousands across the nation standing up to cuts in public education, while others found the protests did more harm than good ”

Gets anti protest quote from somebody named Deji Aiyedojbon that just is one chopped off sentence “I mean like is this whole movement just to lower our tuition ?”  And an Andrew Koper “I think it’s a waste of money we have graffitti all over the streets.”  (ARC note:  Okay, you can run back to your parents for extra spending money now. )

Reporter: Police do have a plan if students protest again and at 2pm the UC Davis Student body association will meet to discuss how to move forward.

____________

I have had the pleasure of interacting with many students and graduates of UC Davis, which is an agricultural college which has one of, if not the best, veterinary schools and equine clinics on the West Coast.   Davis, CA, the town, also has a thriving Farmer’s Market and is just one of the nicest, most laid back places.

If you’ve lost UC Davis, you have a problem.  Go Student Protesters!  

Feb 17 2010

DiFi Does a Pombo on Salmon, Jobs Bill Amend Guts EndSpecAct

Dianne Feinstein is doing a Pombo on the Endangered Species Act, with an Amendment to gut it in an upcoming Democratic “Bipartisanship Enhanced” jobs bill.  

Like Salmon ?  Too bad !  McClintock’s in on it, too.

Hey, this even makes the Kansas City Star.  Everything’s up to date in Kansas City.   Dead silence at a certain other “Democratic” blog.

http://www.kansascity.com/400/…      Feinstein plan would loosen Endangered Species Act to pump more water    2/11/2010

Yes, our northern CA based Sen. DiFi thinks Billionaire Business Water Brokers in Kern County of Southern CA Who Donate To Her Campaign Are More Important Than Salmon.  So Does Tom McClintock.  

She intends to put an amendment that says we can ignore the Endangered Species Act, onto the upcoming jobs bill to let more water be pumped out of the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta.   Why does this matter ?  Because at certain times of the year, the nursery fish need the water to swim and feed in.   And the West Coast salmon runs are at the brink of going away. Forever.


{{{  “This came as a bit of a shock that she did this,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

He represents California’s North Coast, which has been hurt by two years of bans on commercial salmon fishing stemming from collapsing salmon stocks.

“If this were to go through, it would have a devastating impact on Northern California and other jobs and other economies in the state,” Thompson said.  }}}

 

Where the hell have you been, Blue Dog Rep. Thompson ?   Didn’t you notice the real reason so many people up here in northern CA 04  DIDN’T WANT Carpetbagging Tom MCCLINTOCK of Southern CA pimping for these Southern CAL business sharks to take water out of Norcal and kill off our agriculture and wildlife ?    He’s running the exact same playbook that former Republican Rep. John Doolittle ran with Dick Cheney and the suckerfish up in the Klamoth river drainage.  

Jan 28 2010

Prop. 8 Trial – Part One: Background

There’s no possible way to fit all of this in one post. I’ll start here and write a series summarizing the trial and what I predict will happen. I’ll start with some background for the trial.

First let me make clear, I’m not a lawyer. I’m just an interested gay person who thinks this trial will affect all our lives. I don’t even live in California. I’m pretty inquisitive and if I say something, I’ve researched it quite a bit, but that doesn’t mean I’m not wrong. I’m not completely confident that I’ll get all the legal aspects right and if anyone wants to comment to correct errors, please feel free.

Two gay couples in California, one male couple and one female couple, attempted to get married in California, but were denied a marriage license since Prop. 8 had passed, limiting marriages in California to one man and one woman. They decided to combine their cases and sue the Governor and the Attorney General, along with a few others in federal court. Kristin Perry is the name on the case, so it is called Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Jan 27 2010

Wherein we witness the destruction of anti-gay arguments

It’s awkward times for bigots these days. With Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal Prop. 8 trial, it’s clear that the way gay issues are discussed is changing for the better. Homophobia is on trial.

Even the words we are using are different. There’s a well-known gay marriage campaign called “No H8.” No hate. The name itself implies that opposing gay marriage is hateful. This is where we are now in this country. Homophobes are required to define their positions and then defend them through facts, logic and empirical arguments.

This is not working out so well, to say the least.

Finally, when forced to confront their beliefs, witnesses have either dropped out, relied on dated stereotypes not based on facts, or converted mid-cross-examination.

Witness this exchange from a few minutes ago (Please excuse the length of this, it’s needed to explain the questioning:)

Here, “Boise” is Boies. The livebloggers are typing so quickly so forgive their typos. DB is Dr. David Blankenhorn, defense witness.)

Boise. Are you aware of any study that shows that children of gays and lesbians have different worse outcomes than straight?

B: No. May I add?

Boise: It is not okay for you to volunteer any information. You can give speeches when your counsel has you.

Boise: Have you given a lot of thought to DPs?

B: Yes.

Boise: I asked you whether it was your view if DPs contribute to deinstitutionalize marriage? Yes, No. I don’t know.

B: Yes, they could.

Boise: Let’s try to get your view regardless of what you said before.

B: I believe it’s possible they could do so.

Boise: You say it’s possible. Anything is possible. Do you say it’s likely that they do so?

B: I believe

J: Counsel is entitled to an answer to his question. There’s a question and then an answer. That’s the way the process works.

Boise: Do you believe that DPs that are open to opposite sex couples are likely to speed deinstitutionalize of marriage.

B: Yes.

Boise: How about only open to ss?

B: Significantly less likely to do so.

Boise: Opposite sex couples over 62?

B: Significantly less likely.

Boise. You know that ss couples are raising children?

B: Of course!

Boise: Hundreds of thousands?

B: I don’t know.

Boise: Did you attempt to find out how many?

BLB: Yes.

Boise: Approximately how many?

B: I don’t know.

B: I believe that adoption of ss marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and their children.

Jan 15 2010

Civil rights and election fraud: New study asks, ‘Was Prop 8 straight?’

Today, the BRAD BLOG is reporting that there’s a fair chance Prop 8 was not decided by bigoted voters, but by “fraud or gross errors” in the election.  From WasProp8Straight.org:

A new analysis of independent exit polls conducted in L.A. County at the November 2008 election indicates significant likelihood that the official vote counts are incorrect. It is indeed possible that the California state constitution was amended to strip marriage rights of some of the state’s people as a result of vote counts that were incorrect and possibly even fraudulent.

A “no” vote for Prop 8 meant that you wanted marriage equality.  In some places in Los Angeles, the difference between the official vote totals and this study were a not so alarming 2%, but in other places they approached a shocking 18%.  Just to clarify, this study is saying that in some places the actual votes that people cast differed from what was recorded by the state by nearly 18%.  And Prop 8 passed by a margin of less than 5% of the vote.

Jan 12 2010

Proposition 8: Marriage Equality Day 2 (Up Dated)

The second day of testimony challenging Proposition 8 will begin at around Noon EST. The first day seemed to go well for the plaintiffs who are saying that Prop 8 violates their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

There is live blogging from Rick Jacobs at Courage Campaign’s Prop 8 Trial Tracker and by Teddy Partridge and David Dayen at FDL

Here are some highlights and observations from yesterday’s opening statements and testimony.

Judge Vaughn Walker questions defense attorney Charles Cooper’s contradictions

   Walker: If the Prez’s parents had been in Virginia when he was born, their marriage would have been unlawful. Doesn’t that show a TREMENDOUS change in the institution of marriage? doesn’t that show evolution? Isn’t that correct?

   Cooper: Racial restrictions were never a feature of the institution of marriage. (laughter in our courtrtoomm)

   Cooper: These restrictions were loathesome, and a detail. “Man and woman” has been universal, across time and all societies.

   walker: Is the evidence going to show these racial restrictions are different than the restrictions imposed by Prop 8?

   (like a bug pinned to a piece of wood)

   Cooper: Naturally procreative instincts….

   Walker: Only purpose?

   Cooper: Basis of marriage is procreation. It is a pro-child societal institution.

   Walker: Many things attend marriage, will your evidence show that those are all secondary to procreation?

   Cooper: This is about deinstitutionalizing marriage…

   Walker: Yes, you say that. But will your evidence show that?

Up Date From FDL h/t to Dayen

Gay Rights Groups Praise First Day Of Testimony, Call On Obama DoJ To Submit Amicus Brief

Geoff Kors, the Executive Director of Equality California, which led the opposition to Prop. 8 in November 2008. He was excited about the first day of testimony, particularly the words of the four same-sex partners who took the stand, the first time in a federal trial that same-sex couples have testified. “Their testimony was really moving. You heard them say that marriage is not just about rights and benefits but about love and commitment.”

Kors also singled out Ted Olson’s opening statement as the conservative case for marriage equality. Olson said that allowing certain couples a separate status despite similar rights and benefits creates a stigma without a compelling rational basis for doing so. “To have a conservative legal scholar take that position is very powerful.”

Before the trial began, Kors released a statement calling on the Obama Administration’s Justice Department to issue an amicus brief in favor of their position in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.



   “The time has come for elected leaders to empower all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Once again, we call on the Obama administration to join Equality California and others in urging the federal courts to strike down this grossly unjust law. In doing so, we will bring our nation one step closer to realizing its promise of equality for all. Our country’s bedrock principles of democracy and freedom are at stake.”

Kors elaborated on that after the first day of testimony. “This is the civil rights trial of the decade,” he said. “We’re asking the Justice Department to weigh in on a basic principle. This doesn’t only apply to the LGBT community, but all minorities. And to be silent is unacceptable.”

(emphasis mine)

I’m certain Kors isn’t holding his breath

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