Steve’s Weblog
One Week to Make History in Texas
Texas state law allows for in-person early voting for any reason. You may do so until 5:00pm
Friday. Supporters of GLBT issues must make their voices heard at the ballot box. Please
vote. Thank you for helping make history.
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 30, 8:32 PM ET
STATESBORO, Ga. – President Bush has for months cast the midterm elections as a choice about just two issues: taxes and terrorism. Now, with polls predicting bleak results for Republicans, he is trying to fire up his party by decrying gay marriage.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples must be given all the benefits of married couples, leaving it up to the state Legislature to decide whether to extend those rights under the structure of marriage or something else.
One alternative, civil unions, is an idea Bush supports. But he ignored that on the way to portraying the New Jersey decision as the kind of thing America should do without.
Here’s a reminder…
(it’s really so simple though… the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that homosexuals are entitled to the same legal rights as heterosexuals under our Constitution. How is that activism?)
General Wes Clark, retired four-star general and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Europe, has endorsed Mary Beth Harrell for Congress.
General Clark said he is endorsing Mary Beth because she “has taken a strong stand on the Iraq War and will never support any exit strategy that squanders her son’s service in Iraq nor dishonors her husband’s long service to our country. She will stand for crafting and implementing an exit strategy that protects our national interests and brings our soldiers home as soon as possible by setting achievable benchmarks for the Iraqi government.”
And General Clark noted that Mary Beth “will also ask the tough questions. The Bush Administration said that the Iraq War would be paid for by Iraqi oil. The newest budget presented to Congress calls for half a trillion dollars to pay for this war.”
“Harrell will be a strong voice in Washington to clear up these discrepancies between rhetoric and reality.” – Gen. Wes Clark
You know that Mary Beth’s opponent has called the Iraq War “a huge success” and has been a rubberstamp for failed policies and failed civilian leadeship.
“Sending Mary Beth Harrell to Washington, D.C. will guarantee that mainstream values are once again represented in Congress. MaryBeth Harrell represents the best of everything America is. She will make our country proud,” said General Wesley Clark.
Strong words of praise and support from General Wes Clark, a career soldier who has served his country with extraordinary distinction and honor.
Z’Tejas to open in Avery Ranch
Austin Business Journal – 2:17 PM CST Monday
Austin restaurant Z’Tejas will add some flavor to Avery Ranch when it opens there next year.
According to the restaurant, the success of the Z’Tejas in the Arboretum and the growth in Northwest Austin led to plans for the new location, which is scheduled to open in August 2007.
100 Americans die in Iraq during October
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq – At least 80 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Monday, including 33 victims of a bomb attack on laborers lined up to find a days work in Baghdad’s Sadr city Shiite slum. The U.S. military announced the death of the 100th service member killed in combat this month.
Go get it now.
2 hours, 51 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – Most Americans can get a chance at an extra hour of sleep this weekend; clocks fall back to standard time. It’s the last time this will happen in October.
Because of a law passed last year, daylight-saving time will start earlier and end later beginning in 2007. It will last from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
AP via Yahoo News
Mary Beth Harrell picks up Statesman endorsement…
U.S. House District 31
Republican incumbent John Carter, a former Williamson County district judge, is running for a third term from this district that meanders from Williamson, Bell and Coryell counties through Milam, Falls, Hamilton and Erath counties.
Carter has stumbled, his gruff and arrogant manner not going down so well. He took hard shots when he held up approval of the Voting Rights Act and argued for English-only ballots. His comments about racism being behind us betray either naivete or denial.
Carter’s Democratic opponent is Mary Beth Harrell, a Killeen lawyer, military wife and mother. Carter has refused to debate her, saying she hasn’t earned the right to face him. With two sons in the military and one serving with the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq, she has earned that right.
Harrell is a moderate Democrat who has good ideas on the Iraq war and health care, and sensible positions on immigration and federal spending. District 31 voters should send a message to Carter about arrogance and insensitivity and elect Harrell.
Esquire Endorsements
This month’s general election is an epic fight for the future of our country. 504 races. 504 decisions. We make a choice in every race.
Races I care about in Texas:
GOVERNOR
Rick Perry (R)
Chris Bell (D)
Kinky Friedman (I)
Carol Keeton Strayhorn (I)
We love a good joke as much as the next guy, but we’re sorry, Kinky, we just can’t. How to describe the incumbent, Rick Perry? We’ve got it: Not as smart as George W. Bush but much better hair. Our pick for the excellent people of Texas is the former congressman who had the guts to get the ethics investigation of Tom DeLay started.
Esquire endorses: BellSENATE
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)
Barbara Radnofsky (D)
Texas has produced some of the giants of the Senate. Think Lyndon Baines Johnson, Ralph Yarborough, John Tower, Lloyd Bentsen. Not to mention Sam Houston. Is Hutchison really the best Texas can do? Sadly, the answer is yes.
Esquire endorses: HutchisonDistrict 31
John Carter (R)
Mary Beth Harrell (D)
Carter believes we should go back to requiring voters to submit to literacy tests (i.e., proficiency in English), which the Voting Rights Act would kinda frown on. His opponent has two sons on active duty, one in Baghdad.
Esquire endorses: Harrell
By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago
TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey’s highest court opened the door Wednesday to making the state the second in the nation to allow gay marriage, ruling
that lawmakers must offer homosexuals either marriage or something like it, such as civil unions.
N.J. court opens door to gay marriage – Yahoo! News
Analysis of political implications of the decision from Glenn Greenwald, posted at Crooks and Liars:
(1) There is nothing new here. The ruling today is almost identical to what the Vermont Supreme Court ruled seven years ago, back in 1999 — namely, that the state constitution requires that same-sex couples have the same rights and privileges as married couples, but it is up to the democratic processes (the legislature) to decide whether to allow gay couples to “marry” (as opposed to enter civil unions).
(2) Today’s decision is very limited in scope and reach. After the Vermont ruling, the Vermont legislature enacted a domestic partnership bill (signed into law by then-Gov. Howard Dean) in order to comply with the court decision. That bill gave full rights to same-sex domestic partnerships but did not legalize gay marriage, and it thus had no impact on anyone other than Vermont residents. That is almost certain to happen here.
(3) The decision today is entirely consistent with the democratic will of New Jersey residents. The New Jersey legislature already enacted a domestic partnership bill two years ago which recognizes, and grants a whole array of marital rights to, same-sex couples. But the way the laws were written, some rights were still assigned only to “married” couples. The court decision today simply requires that those same-sex partnerships have all of the rights which are given to married couples. But New Jersey voters, through their representatives, already approved of recognition of same-sex relationships two years ago.
(4) Finally, a majority of Americans have long (since at least 2004) approved of civil unions of the sort which this decision mandates. The decision is purely within the mainstream of American beliefs. It is those who oppose not just gay marriages, but also civil unions, who are on the fringe. Polls even show that the anti-gay-marriage referenda which Republicans placed on the ballot this year in states such as Virginia and Wisconson have far less support than they did in the past. The ability of Bush followers to distract from their ineptitude and corruption by demonizing gay people and exploiting the gay marriage issue is rapidly diminishing.
It’s time for a change.
Bush: I won’t change strategy in Iraq
By DEB RIECHMANN and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writers 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – President Bush conceded Friday that “right now it’s tough” for American forces in Iraq, but the White House said he would not change U.S. strategy in the face of pre-election polls that show voters are upset.
Bush: I won’t change strategy in Iraq – Yahoo! News
Had enough?
Hope I don’t forget what the house looks like… we’re heading off to Tokyo tomorrow morning for a few days vacation, then home for a day before I have to travel for the first of three weekends of ACM Regional Programming competitions, the first being in NY. I’ll be home for a day again before heading off to Pittsburgh for recruiting events at Carnegie Mellon. Hmm, who do I know in Pittsburgh that I should drop in on while I’m there? Clem? Clancy? 
Second weekend of ACM Regionals for me is in Illinois, and the third in Riverside, CA. Sheesh, and I usually don’t travel that much for work… 
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
8 minutes ago
NEW YORK – With the New York Mets on the brink of elimination, John Maine pitched a game to remember. The rookie dominated the
St. Louis Cardinals with the poise of a veteran, Jose Reyes sparked the offense with a leadoff home run and the Mets rock ‘n’ rolled at boisterous Shea Stadium to beat St. Louis 4-2 on Wednesday night and force the NL championship series to a decisive seventh game.
By Steve Holland 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush signed a law on Tuesday allowing tough CIA interrogation and military trials for terrorism suspects, triggering bitter election-year denunciations from Democrats.
Bush signs law authorizing harsh interrogation – Yahoo! News
Tuesday October 17, 4:35 pm ET
By Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer
IBM’s 3Q Earnings Jump Nearly 50 Percent: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance
2 ordered not to discuss Gitmo claims
By MIRANDA LEITSINGER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 4 minutes ago
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press, lawyers and a military spokeswoman said Saturday.
Bush keeps revising war justification – Yahoo! News
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 14, 4:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON – President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq, moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilization stakes now.
Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader’s weapons of mass destruction or from selling them to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.
But 3 1/2 years later, with no weapons found, still no end in sight and the war a liability for nearly all Republicans on the ballot Nov. 7, the justification has become far broader and now includes the expansive “struggle between good and evil.”
Good riddance… oh, but wait! This convicted criminal isn’t slinking away, he’s going to stick around for one more session of Congress!
Rep. Bob Ney Pleads Guilty to Bribery
By PETE YOST
The Associated Press
Friday, October 13, 2006; 11:33 AM
WASHINGTON — Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty Friday in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation, the first lawmaker to confess to crimes in a scandal that has stained the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration.
Standing before Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, Ney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements. He acknowledged taking money, gifts and favors in return for official actions on behalf of Abramoff and his clients.
The 52-year-old lawmaker faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Huvelle said prosecutors had agreed to recommend a term of 27 months, and said federal guidelines suggest a fine of between $5,000 and $60,000.
Despite his guilty pleas, Ney did not resign his seat in Congress. His lawyer, Mark Touhey, told the judge he would do so before sentencing on Jan. 19. Under the Constitution, he’ll be gone before then. His term expires when the new Congress is sworn in at noon on Jan. 3.
From Peace Action:
As you have no doubt heard, North Korea conducted a small nuclear weapons test over the weekend. Read Peace Action Education Fund’s press release responding to this event.
While we do not believe this is in any way a threat to the United States, it is a threat to international peace. Moreover, it is yet another indictment of the Bush Administration’s horrific foreign policy and their complete inability to conduct diplomacy in any way.
Today is National Coming Out Day a project of the Human Rights Campaign in the United States.
HRC (Human Rights Campaign), in partnership with PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), is proud to launch our first-ever resource specifically for friends and family — A Straight Guide to GLBT Americans. The guide is a resource that helps map some of the emotions straight people feel when someone first comes out to them; walks people through myths and facts about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans; and outlines ways straight people can demonstrate their support. Download your copy today to share with your friends and family.
Bad Behavior has blocked 11 access attempts in the last 7 days.
