Color me angry. The Senate is about to fail to pass even the compromise version of legislation to improve background checks for gun purchases.
Sen. Joe Manchin tells me "we will not get the votes today" expanded background checks to fail in Senate. Try again he says.
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) April 17, 2013
So as a sort of follow-up to my "10 Things That Are More Regulated Than Guns" post, I decided - on this day of the Senate vote on a compromise, bi-partisan, non-universal background check bill - to take a look at some things that are as popular with Americans as universal background checks for gun purchases...
Well it turns out that the Republican-led Great Voter Suppression Effort of 2012 was a spectacular failure, in every way. Not only did most of the laws get struck down, but it also fired more minority voters to go out and vote who otherwise would have stayed home. The schadenfreude is delicious with this one...follow me below the fold....
No more friggin' political ads. No more robocalls. Actually, we may have a few more hours of those. For those people who inexplicably have yet to decide.
Follow us below to the live-blogging action, and the results contest (yes, you could earn your very own YBGP t-shirt if your prognosticating skills are up to snuff).
Some of you may have just heard that there is an election tomorrow. Others, like me, have been obsessively following this election since the last election ended. Still others have taken a casual interest in the election, paying attention only when something truly noteworthy is in the news. Any which way, it's all coming to a close tomorrow night. And the biggest question on everyone's mind is, at what point can I go to bed? I'll give you some early signs to let you know which way the election is breaking, below the fold...
On the eve of the last presidential debate, the national polls have President Obama and his opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Romney running neck and neck. If Obama does falter and loses his re-election bid, these would be the top three reasons why:
If there is one thing that is frustrating me the most about this election, it is the fact that people seem to be perfectly comfortable making voting decisions based on superficial factors.
As I mentioned after the first debate, a lot of the blame for this lies in the way the media is covering politics. Which is to say: the media are collectively being lazy bums about politics.
So I've neglected my woman warrior duties because of the interesting twists and turns in the campaign over the last few weeks. But as promised, in The War on Women, A Primer: Part One, I am back to talk about more of the many ways the Republican Party has been going after us ladies like there's no tomorrow.
And I have to give a big thank you to Mittens for helping me find my way home. Governor Romney said: "There’s no legislation with regards toabortionthat I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda," on Tuesday, to The Des Moines Register. [Emphasis mine.]
Two of my favorite states, Maine and Maryland, could vote to allow gay marriage in a few weeks (Washington, also a great state, could do the same).
If you live in Maryland, please vote for equality, vote for Question 6.
I am a happily married straight girl with kids. But this issue is personal for me - as it is for so very many people - because I have many gay friends, gay family friends I consider family, and because I believe in marriage.
Marriage is good for kids. It helps provide stability - and the lawyer in me feels obligated to tell you that if things go wrong, civil marriage provides legal protections for everybody involved - particularly kids. And while I respect the right of religious institutions to determine the boundaries of marriage for their religions, I do not respect people trying to outlaw families based on their gender. As the synagogue near me so eloquently puts it: "Civil Marriage Is a Civil Right."
I'm happy to talk more about it, on the issue itself. But today what I want to focus on is the evolution of gay marriage as an issue, and particularly how I see this election, this proposition, is being handled in Maryland.
Ayanbadejo
If you've heard about the gay marriage referendum in Maryland, it's probably because of the kerfuffle over Baltimore Ravens player Brendon Ayanbadejo speaking out in favor of gay marriage, and a conservative African-American Maryland state delegate, Emmett Burns, Jr. writing a letter to the Ravens' owner suggesting that he muzzle Ayanbadejo on the issue. Ayanbadejo is a thoughtful, respectful guy, and Burns really hurt his cause, to say nothing of seeming to forget about the First Amendment briefly. Then NFL Player Chris Kluwe spoke up to defend Ayanbadejo, in both explicit and clean open letters to Delegate Burns. And while the whole thing was engaging, that's not the real story about what's going on in Maryland.
1. Maryland's Political Establishment Is On Board.
Governor O'Malley Celebrating the Signing of our Gay Marriage Law
We have had a gradual, building, movement towards a law allowing gay marriage in Maryland.
The Legislature: After several failed efforts to pass a bill, Maryland's House of Delegates approved the bill by a 72–67 vote on February 17, 2012 (with the help and guidance of House Speaker Michael Busch), and the Senate approved the bill by a 25-22 vote on February 23.
Local Leaders: Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has come out in support of gay marriage, and has actively campaigned for Question 6.
Maryland religious leaders (and Al Sharpton) who support gay marriage
2. Maryland is has a lot of religious people who support gay marriage. Maryland has a long tradition of religious activism and religious tolerance. Our state was founded by Catholics, and we had the first religious toleration policy in the Colonies. There are many people of faith in Maryland. And lots of them support gay marriage. This is progress - there are a lot of congregations and religious groups who have come out vocally in favor of Question 6.
Marylanders for Marriage Equality has "partner" congregations and organizations that include:
Catholics -
Catholics for Marriage Equality
Emmaus Faith Community of The Old Catholic Church
MD Catholics for Equality
Episcopalians -
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
St. George’s Episcopal Church
Jewish groups -
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
American Jewish Congress- Maryland Chapter
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation
Bolton Street Synagogue
Chevrei Tzedek Congregation
Columbia Jewish Congregation
Howard County Board of Rabbis
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Jews United for Justice
Temple Emanuel
Temple Micah
Temple Oheb Shalom’s
Union for Reform Judaism
Lutherans -
St. Marks Lutheran Church
Mormons -
Mormons for Marriage Equality
Presbyterians -
Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church
Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church
Govans Presbyterian Church
The First and Franklin St. Presbyterian Church
Quakers -
Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run
Homewood Friends Meeting (Quaker)
Little Falls Meeting of Friends
Unitarians -
Cedar Lane Unitarian Church
First Unitarian Church of Baltimore
Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation Social Justice Council
Towson Unitarian Universalist Church
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville
Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Harford County
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland
United Church of Christ -
Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ
Grace United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ- Central Atlantic Conference
United Church of Christ- Seneca Valley
Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ
Veritas United Church of Christ
And a Lot of Others:
Christ Congregational Church
Columbia United Christian Church
Luther Place Memorial Church
MD Faith for Equality
Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC)
New Light Metropolitan Community Church
Rockville United Church
St. Sebastian Independent Catholic Community
Unity Fellowship of Baltimore
Religious lobbying has been a big part of the strategy on how to pass gay marriage in Maryland. It has also been a part of the strategy of NOM (the anti-gay marriage group that has found such success in thwarting gay marriage in referendum after referendum all over the country). More on that in a minute. First, let me say that religious people all over Maryland have really spent time making calls, speaking, and advocating for gay marriage here.
4. Maryland is the kind of state where Republicans support gay marriage.
The Republican Party has pretty much been against gay marriage - as a party. Most of its leaders have been vocal in their opposition to gay marriage and even civil unions. Hopefully, as younger folks move up in the Party, that will change. Here in Maryland, we have a tradition of socially-liberal Republicans (the late Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias being a prominent one). And part-time Marylander Dick Cheney and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman (who came out in 2010) lobbied in support of the same-sex marriage bill in Maryland.
5. Personal Politics.
One of the things I have appreciated so much about the campaign for marriage equality here has been how personal it has been. I don't want to appropriate pictures, but if you go to the Marylanders for Marriage Equality Facebook page, you'll see hundreds of pictures of Marylanders, who've written on a white board why they support marriage equality. There are also many videos of Marylanders talking about their own beliefs and stories.
This personal approach, I believe, has made a difference. It helps that the President took a prominent lead, too. And while NOM is planning to put 2 million dollars into Maryland, to try to drive people to vote on fear, I am encouraged by the recent polling numbers:
Marylanders for Marriage Equality today released a new poll showing voters approve of marriage for loving, committed gay and lesbian couples by a 14-point margin (54% to 40%). The poll was conducted by Hart Research last week.
“We continue to have the momentum,” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality. ”Voters are having conversations on marriage around the dinner table and are agreeing that people should be treated fairly.”
African-American voters, the survey noted, are virtually evenly split between supporters (44%) and opponents (45%) - a shift from just few months ago when opponents were up by nine points. The change is largely due to increased discussion of marriage equality following the endorsement of the issue by President Obama and the NAACP.
Just one more video, because I think Al Sharpton underscores perhaps the most important point - if two gay people want to marry, much as when two straight people want to marry - it's really none of our business.
Come on Maryland, make me proud. Make us a leader in freedom. Show the people who are standing in the way of marriage equality that their winning streak ends here. Move forward. Show the country how it's done when we support each other's families, each other's equality. Vote for 6.
So I'm most of the way through drafting a Friday Follies about Unions and the NFL. And then I see this video (caution: there is swearing - obviously, if you've read the title):
...And just like that, I decided to change my post.
Now it's about funny viral videos from this election. I picked the funniest five I could find. So send the kids or your boss in the other room.
As Emily noted yesterday, Mitt Romney's campaign appears to be foundering,
much earlier in the election cycle than normal. The polls generally agree that
Mitt is following further behind. In purely anecdotal ways I can also tell that
many people feel that defeat for the Republicans is nigh. My conservative
friends and family have stopped posting about the presidential race on
Facebook. In some cases they have given up talking about the election until
after it is already over. In contrast, most of my more liberal friends have been in
full political frenzy, sharing posts, photos, and writing screeds for Obama.
Even some of my less politically engaged liberal friends have been doing this.
So the outlook seems gloomy for Mitt. But I think it is very premature for
Obama supporters to start celebrating a victory party quite yet. Mitt still
isn't that far behind in some polls. And given the nature of politics in the
United States, he still has plenty of time for a comeback. Follow me below the
fold to see how Mitt can still win this thing...
First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
...Or at least that seems to be the stance of the GOP,
according to disgraced former Florida Republican party leader Jim Greer.He stated in a recently released deposition
that, “I was upset because the political consultants and staff were talking
about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting,” and that “minority
outreach programs were not fit for the Republican Party.” This is the same Florida renowned for it's voter roll purges, so unreliable that they once listed the governor himself as dead.
Okay, so generally I'm not for using only one source on anything. But Rachel Maddow has been covering what has been going on in Michigan in a very thorough, useful way, and almost nobody else in the national press is covering this series of stories (here's Ezra Klein from the Washington Post referencing Maddow's work, here's the AP on the lawsuit over the Emergency Manager law). So I'm putting up a few clips, the ones I think best summarize the situation in Michigan. More people should know about this.
Clip #1 - March 2, 2012 - On the Emergency Manager Law, generally, and about how it undermines local democracy in Michigan - particularly in African American communities; and on the beginning of a citizens' repeal:
Mandi: Ok, so I know that it is crass to ask this question, when we are all celebrating freedom, love, tolerance and whatnot, but from a purely political perspective, what has Obama gained by coming out so firmly in favor of gay marriage? I can’t help but think of LBJ, pushing through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after which he is said to have remarked, “We [Democrats] have lost the South for a generation.” Did Obama gain any voters that he would not have already had? I think he may have lost a tiny number of votes from the anti-gay crowd that he may have gotten otherwise, but not enough to make much of a difference.
I know by taking this “courageous” stand, Obama now looks decisive, and he can employ the weak flip-flopper meme against Romney to greater effect, as that is one charge which seems to have stuck against Romney. The questions from reporters on this subject before the President spoke about it were unusually harsh, and they seemed to be building up to labeling Obama as the flip-flopper. So he neatly evades that, and thanks to the Romney bully story, also manages to make Romney look like a raging homophobe loon to boot, as a bonus.
