Justice Department Intervenes In Gay Rights Suit For First Time In A Decade

By GottaLaff

This is a good example of why it matters who you support/vote for in any election, and why it is vital that you vote, period:

Yesterday, for the first time in a decade, the Justice Department intervened in a gay rights suit. In August, an openly gay 14-year-old student named Jacob — with the help of the ACLU — sued the Mohawk Central School District in upstate New York because officials “did not appropriately respond to relentless harassment, physical abuse and threats of violence” that Jacob received because of his sexual orientation. NPR reported on some of the harassment to which Jacob alleges he was subjected.

The heartbreaking details are here.

So are the heartening ones, including:

Under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has had a dramatically different focus than it did during President Bush’s terms. While the Bush Justice Department was focused on installing political cronies, going after mythical voter fraud cases, and the suppression of minority voters while looking out for the voter disenfranchisement of whites. The Obama Justice Department, by contrast, recently announced that it would also start aggressively going after “banks and mortgage brokers suspected of discriminating against minority applicants in lending.”

"It doesn't matter if I vote. The candidates are interchangeable. Someone else will cancel out my vote anyway." Wrong.

This boy's life was changed because of who Americans elected. He knows the ObamAdministration is looking out for him. He won't feel quite as alone and helpless any more.

He may even feel optimistic that change is in the air, no matter how incrementally, and that there's reason for hope... all because enough people exercised their right to vote.

As frustrated as some of us may be with Obama, this is one time we can come together and unite behind him.

5 Reasons Even Republicans Can Love Health Reform

By GottaLaff

John Aloysius Farrell has a blog post up over at U.S. News and World Report. Here are the bare bones:

1. The United States of America remains a proud capitalist country. Forget the "first step" toward "creeping socialism" nonsense. [...]
2. Your stock portfolios are fatter. [...]
3. We are getting a grip on costs. [...]
4. You won a round on abortion. [...]
5. The cocklebur states will make out like bandits. [...]

So cheer up, wingers. In defeat, your base is happily outraged and united. Despite victory, the liberal base is sour and divided. And the public's memory is short. It won't be long before your House and Senate office staffs are winning you thousands of votes helping grateful constituents claim the benefits of this evil law you've fought so bitterly. In a few years you'll be defending it, like Medicare.

The rest is here.

My knee jerk reaction is to accept this passage as a victory, especially if the Rushpublics are this apoplectic over it. I have the same issues with the bill as many of you do, but I see it as a springboard.

My health care PMS is still lingering, but this has been a gigantic accomplishment, getting both houses to pass something. Can you imagine a McCain/Palin administration version of health care reform?

I fervently hope there will be improvements, and eventually, a final bill that we can live with more comfortably. And again, this is a long, tough process. There will be tweaks and twists and turns in the months and years to come.

So I choose to remain optimistic and defy my PMSitude today. Despite the setbacks and bitter disappointments, it's a step. Doing nothing was more destructive, IMHO. I'm still waiting to see what comes out of conference before I commit to full on celebrating or tantruming.

In the meantime, I'll pop a health care Midol, grab a conference heating pad, pig out on chocolate, and hope for the best.

In last-minute stunner, Obama changes plans to attend final day of Copenhagen talks

By GottaLaff

I like the sound of this:

A couple of hours ago, the Obama administration announced a startling shift in plans: rather than stop by the Copenhagen climate talks on Dec. 9, Obama will be going on the 18th, the final day of the meeting—a notable increase in commitment (and political exposure) from the administration.

The first week of every COP meeting consists of posturing, speeches, protests, and NGO reports. Everything of significance to the treaty is announced late in the meetings, often on the last day, after a flurry of last-minute negotiations. Coming to Copenhagen at the climax of the talks, specifically to push negotiations “over the top,” as the White House statement says, is a risky move for Obama. He’s got skin in the game now; he’ll look foolish if he rides in at the last minute and fails to broker an agreement.

If he’s willing to stick his neck out like this, Obama must be pretty confident that he can get a deal. [...]

[I]t marks the first time developed countries have collectively committed to a package of climate aid for the developing world.

Momentum is finally on the side of an international agreement.

I'm on pins and needles waiting for Barbie McLipSchmutz's ghost blogger to post a Climate Birther Deather Denialer rant about it!

More here.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Obama artist Shepard Fairey admits to wrongdoing in AP lawsuit

By GottaLaff

Hopeless:

Fairey said in a statement issued late Friday that he knowingly submitted false images and deleted others in the legal proceedings, in an attempt to conceal the fact that the AP had correctly identified the photo that Fairey had used as a reference for his "Hope" poster of then-Sen. Barack Obama.

Well now, that's disappointing.

He added: "I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family who have supported me in this difficult case and trying time in my life."

Fairey's statement said he regretted that his actions would distract from the issue of fair use for artists. "Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same," he said.

Not going to go there

Screw you Limpballs. I've got a line up FULL of nasty and negative, but it can all wait until tomorrow. Suck on some hope there butterball. Just two years ago, this young man made a speech.

AP Wants Credit and Compensation for Iconic Obama Image

Methinks that horse has left the barn. Wonder if they'll go after the Obamicons.

NEW YORK- On buttons, posters and Web sites, the image was everywhere during last year's presidential campaign: A pensive Barack Obama looking upward, as if to the future, splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.

Designed by Shepard Fairey, a Los-Angeles based street artist, the image has led to sales of hundreds of thousands of posters and stickers, has become so much in demand that copies signed by Fairey have been purchased for thousands of dollars on eBay.

The image, Fairey has acknowledged, is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees.

President Obama: Words for How We Feel Now

Too cool. h/t C&L.

HOPE sculpture pays tribute to Obama

Let's hope this one doesn't go into overkill like the LOVE sculpture did. It was freakin' everywhere.

The pop artist best known for his LOVE word sculpture has created a similar public art installation that spells HOPE -- in celebration of President-elect Barack Obama.

The Robert Indiana work was unveiled Thursday at a Manhattan gallery.

Indiana's publicist says the artist raised more than $1 million for the Obama campaign by creating HOPE prints, posters, T-shirts and other items.No decision has yet been made on where the sculpture will be permanently displayed.

Obama's election inspires blacks in Latin America

A refreshingly hopeful moment in a day that is just ticking me off right and left.

BELMOPAN, Belize -- Dean Barrow doesn't look like the faces on his country's dollar bills. Nor does he resemble its previous leaders -- he is this Central American nation's first black prime minister.

By winning the post in February, Barrow broke through a glass ceiling that has existed in the Americas since the slave trade first brought people from Africa five centuries ago.

The sad reality in countries with large black populations, such as Brazil, and those with tiny communities, such as Mexico, is that Afro-Latinos have typically been relegated to the sidelines of politics and high finance.

But when it comes to race relations, the United States is once again casting its shadow on the Americas -- this time in a positive way, with the election of Barack Obama as president, according to politicians and experts in the region.

'It has to mean there will be a great opening up of minds and opening up of opportunities. It will make any sense of `the other' much less pronounced,'' Barrow said in an interview in Belize's lush capital. ``How can there appear to be anything strange about somebody of color making great strides politically in Latin America when a person of color is the president of the most powerful country on Earth?''

Compassionate Progressivism: Biden feels "badly for Bush"

By GottaLaff

"Compassionate" conservatism, you had your chance, and you failed miserably. You want compassion? Here's your compassion:

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden said in an interview that while “it’s presumptuous to feel sorry for another man,” he does feel “badly” for President Bush, especially after an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the president earlier this month.

Biden said the incident was “unfortunate” and “uncalled for” during an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live set to air Monday night.

I have to disagree. It may have been unfortunate for Bush, but it wasn't uncalled for. BushCo is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. I think this degree of anger is absolutely called for. I'm no proponent of violence, to say the least, and Shoe Guy should have refrained, but I can't seem to muster up any compassion for the target.

“I think President Bush and, unlike Vice President Cheney, is, upon reflection beginning to acknowledge some of the serious, if not mistakes, misjudgments that he made,” Biden said.

Oh-h-h, suh-nap! Take that, Big Dick.

Biden also said in the interview that international expectations for President-elect Obama's administration are “overwhelming.”

Biden said he is not as worried about the “exceedingly high expectations” for Obama domestically as he is internationally.

“I have been contacted by so many world leaders,” Biden said. "Their expectation for Barack's presidency is overwhelming. They are hungry to have an American leader who they think has a policy that reflects our stated values as well as one they can talk to.”

International scorn for the current president is in such stark contrast to the high hopes for the future one. No wonder Biden feels "badly" for Bush.

Valerie Jarrett: Realize the promise

By GottaLaff

Those damn community organizer types! Accentuating the positive, realizing the promise, who do they think they are:

Valerie Jarrett, who has been selected to be a senior adviser to President-elect Obama, got back to her Chicago roots by reaching out to community organizers at a roundtable event at the Washington Hilton yesterday. “Realizing the Promise,” a forum designed to give the transition team input on solutions from the grassroots level, showed Jarrett in a light similar to the president-elect, rallying the masses with a message of hope.

“Yes we can!” she cheered, stirring up the crowd. The audience, filled with nearly 2,500 community activists from around the nation stood to their feet as she entered the room.

[...] She relied on rhetoric about how optimism and unification are the keys to the success of the new administration.

“Our future is bright, and there’s nothing we can't do if we can come together as one,” said Jarrett. “The challenges are daunting ... but [we can] hold hands and follow the vision of President-elect Obama's campaign, which is let's not talk about all the issues that divide us, let's talk about what we have in common.”

Melody Barnes, the soon-to-be director of the White House domestic policy council, echoed Jarrett about the importance of community effort in setting the policy agenda.

[...] Jarrett continued the plea for outreach from the ground level, suggesting that town halls and forums are the best way to brainstorm during the transition.

“We can count on you to advise us,” said Jarrett. “You know better than anybody else what your community needs in order to improve your neighborhood.”

Publishers: Obama is "Hope we can bet on"

By GottaLaff

First it's Chicago profiting off of our president-elect, now it's publishers. The man is generating his own Obamanomic upturn:

The publishing industry is betting on Barack Obama like no president in decades. Since Election Day alone, more than half a dozen book deals have been signed to exploit Obamania. [...] Two dozen books in the works range from the serious to the silly.[...]

With few exceptions, the books share a tone of celebration and optimism, and a view of Obama as hero. To borrow from the president-elect, perhaps some hope-mongering is afoot. In contrast, President George W. Bush, who reportedly is having difficulty finding a publisher for a book he hopes to write, has been savaged in many recent tomes.

Tsk, tsk. What goes around, eh Georgie?

“The American reading public appreciates great stories. They like heroes, and they like villains,” said Gail Ross, a top political literary agent. As for Obama, “at least for now, he's a hero. Bush books worked when he became a villain.”

Snidely Bush. George Whiplash? And, of course, Barack Do-Right.

If these are hard economic times, they are especially difficult in the literary world. [...] But publishers are gambling that the interest in all things Obama will boost sales now and have literary staying power, because many of the new titles will not hit bookstores for a year or more.

“Every time an editor picks a book, they are making a bet,” Ross said. In a nod to Obama’s campaign theme, she added: “Instead of hope we can believe in, it's hope we can bet on.”

It's nice to bet on a sure thing once in awhile.

Obama Book Rockets Up Charts

Good, maybe we can finally have some adult topics discussed in this election. I've added a link to the right for the book, as with all our Amazon links we get a couple pennies when you buy anything thru those links.

The new campaign book from Sen. Barack Obama, Change We Can Believe In, is on Amazon's bestseller list the first day it's available.

The book outlines Obama's "vision for change in our country, and lays out in detail Barack's plans to fix our economy, make health care affordable for all, achieve energy independence and keep America secure. It also contains the full text of seven of Barack's landmark speeches."