Tag Archives: politics

NAACP Chair Addresses Human Rights Campaign

Posted on by
Reply

NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond spoke Sunday evening at a gathering of Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization, in Los Angeles.  In his 25-minute speech, he eloquently compares the push for gay marriage rights to the struggle for civil rights for people of color.

As you may or may not be aware, there has been a lot of friction within the gay community since the passage of Proposition 8 in California, over the way that pro-gay marriage campaigners failed to effectively engage the communities of color, including gay and lesbian people of color.  In the days after Proposition 8 passed, there were nasty attempts to pin its passage on the members of black churches who turned out in record numbers to vote for President Obama.

It is against this backdrop that the words of Mr. Bond are especially important to listen to.  This is a man who has been involved in the struggle for civil rights and who has joined his gay and lesbian friends as they push for equality.

Get To Know Us First

Posted on by
10

Borrowing from the entry in Chris Crain’s Citizen Crain blog, news about GetToKnowUsFirst.org, a non-profit organization that created and is distributing a series of public service announcements about marriage equality.

The first round of PSAs, embedded below, ran during the broadcast of the inauguration ceremonies in the 42 California counties (out of 58) that had a majority vote in favor of proposition 8, the initiative that took away the right of same sex couples to marry.

One hitch along the way: KABC, the ABC-owned TV station in Los Angeles, refused to air the ad, saying it was too controversial to air during the inauguration, when many families would be watching.

After a meeting between GetToKnowUsFirst, KABC, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the station apologized for any misunderstanding, revised its previous statement, and has worked to find high-visibility slots for the ad starting this weekend.

Here’s the most notable thing, though.  Throughout the No on 8 campaign, one thing that was noticeably absent was the g-word.  All of the advertising skirted the issue of gay and lesbian people, instead framing it simply as a matter of hate or equality.  This managed to keep the No on 8 campaign from bringing a human dimension to the issue, leaving that ground to the Yes on 8 campaign and its campaign in which little Suzie returns from school and announces that she learned that when she grows up, she can marry a princess.

These are each thirty second spots.  Take a look and let me know what you think.

Xavier & Michael

Sonia & Gina

Miguel & Ru

Diane & Robin

 

BBC: Airport Protests Called Off

Posted on by
20

As of 7 pm Bangkok time Tuesday, the BBC was reporting that the protests that have closed the Thai capital’s two civilian airports for the past week, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers, has been called off.  Here’s the BBC report:

Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok’s airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to leave.

Passenger flights from the main international airport are to resume on 4 December, say correspondents.  Protests had shut down Thailand’s two main airports for more than a week.

The deal follows a court ruling that forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down over election fraud and disbanded his governing party.

The constitutional court ordered Mr Somchai’s governing People Power Party and two of its coalition partners to disband. The parties’ leaders were also barred from politics for five years.

The ruling came after months of protests led by the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that have crippled the political process in Thailand.  They had vowed to continue their protests until the entire government stepped down.

They accused Mr Somchai’s administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and too close to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

If this proves to be true, I’m greatly relieved the protesters have come to their senses.  I’m confused, though: based on everything I have read locally, the constitutional court’s ruling was fully anticipated, the date of the ruling was fixed well in advance, and the chain of events – court ruling followed by government dissolution – was widely expected. 

If this is the case, then why didn’t the PAD simply allow the court to act, following due process?  Why didn’t the PAD let the wheels of justice – wheels they knew were already turning in their favor – turn on their own rather than do untold damage to their country and fellow citizens?

Anyone have any good answers?

 

Putting a Smile On It

Posted on by
15

An update: The airport is still closed.  The anti-government protesters attacked a police checkpoint and confiscated ten vehicles and the riot gear inside.  But, in a telling twist, the protest leaders also had a face-to-face meeting with the police, asking for their increased protection.  This after a bomb was thrown at their protest at Government House, injuring fifty people, four seriously. 

Airports of Thailand, the semi-public company that runs Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang airports, reached an agreement with the protesters to allow pilots from the various airlines to ferry the 88 airplanes that are stranded at the airports, out of the country. The protest leaders agreed to this because they didn’t want to be responsible for any vandalism that might happen to the planes.

Pro-government protesters gathered in front of Bangkok City Hall and they promise to take back the airport if the police can not or will not.  There are calls for exposure of who is actually supporting the anti-government protesters, suggestions that they must be supported by very influential members of Thailand’s elite if they are allowed to act with impunity for so long.

Much seems to hinge on Tuesday’s Constitutional Court verdict in a case about voter fraud.  Three parties, including the government majority party, the PPP, are facing dissolution.  This might pacify the anti-government protesters who might then clear the airports.  But the pro-government faction sees a potential “coup by court” and is already saying they will fight any miscarriage of justice.

Can it continue?  Many observers say it will have to come to an end by Friday, December 5th – His Majesty the King’s 81st birthday.  But who knows what will really happen?

But that’s just the headlines.  The real story is what’s happening with the tens of millions of Thais who are not protesting.  A poll published this morning shows that 92% of Thais surveyed think both sides should put their differences aside for the good of the country.  76% see it as “a national shame”. 

A few days ago, Ajarn Yai, the former director of the school where I volunteered as an English teacher, called Tawn.  She wanted to convey her apologies to me on behalf of the Thai people, but was too embarrassed to call me directly.  She said that if I had any guests in town, I should bring them down to Samut Songkhram province and she would entertain them.

Ajarn Yai (“Ajarn Yai” means “big teacher” in Thai) asked whether Trish was still in town.  She was relieved to hear that Trish had made it out in time and said that if Trish was still in town, she would have offered to have Trish stay with her for a few days, to take the burden off of me.

That’s sweet, isn’t it?  And very telling.

Bangkok Post 1

Here’s the top-of-the-fold story in this morning’s The Nation, one of the two English-language papers here in Bangkok.  They say a picture says a thousand words and in this case, it is probably more like a full novel about Thai culture.

What you see is a traditional Thai dancer (Tawn is pretty sure she’s a he, though) entertaining crowds at U-Tapao Airport.  U-Tapao is a miltary base about 190 km (two hours’ drive) southeast of Bangkok, built by the Americans during the Vietnam War.  It is being used for some flights to get stranded foreigners out of the country, but it has no commercial facilities and can only handle about 40 flights a day compared with Suvarnabhumi’s 700.  They’ve had to bring in porta-potties so the crowds can relive themselves.

Passengers are checking in at one of the hotels in town, the Centara Grand, and are being bussed to their flights.  They have to check in at least five hours before their flight.  THAI Airways, as you can see, is making an effort to make the experience a little less painful, by providing some entertainment for the crowds.  A story in The Nation also told about how THAI employees are pitching in to help with the chaos at the hotel check-in area, with flight attendants comforting passengers and employees’ mothers making food for the ticketing agents, who can barely leave their posts.

Tawn had to laugh when he saw the picture in the papger.  “That’s very Thai,” he said.  And it is true.  It says so much about Thai culture.  First, to their credit, the Thais are very gracious hosts.  They try to make every experience pleasant and so by trying to entertain their guests and show some beauty, they are making the best out of an improbably difficult situation.

The flip side to that, the one that can make non-Thais jai rone (hot headed), is the sense that in a completely out-of-control situation, effort is being expended on some window dressing rather than actual solutions.

I’m an optimist, though, so I see things through the first point-of-view.

That said, Boon and David had to fight a chaotic crowd to get out on a flight at U-Tapao yesterday, Markus had to take a 10-hour van ride to Phuket to catch a special Lufthansa charter to Frankfurt, Anthony and Francis are still uncertain if they’ll be able to leave this evening on their re-scheduled flight, Brian is still stuck in Hong Kong and Ken is stuck in Chicago, both unable to return, and I personally know of at least eight people who have cancelled trips here.

Tawn and I agreed that if the airport is still shut down on December 18th when we are scheduled to fly to the US, that we’ll change out ticket to one-way out of the country.

 

Suvarnabhumi Under Seige

Posted on by
5

Airport 1 Tuesday evening a group of several thousand protesters – members of the PAD, or People’s Alliance for Democracy – set their sights on a new target: Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok’s gateway to the world.  Already during the week they had shut down the city’s domestic airport and were protesting elsewhere in the city for the Prime Minister to resign and dissolve the government.

Right: PAD members at the departures level of the airport.

But now we have a truly international mess: thousands of tourists and business people stranded, unable to arrive at or depart from the airport.  We have images of protesters acting like thugs and terrorists – a group of six or more protesters surrounded a motorcycle taxi driver, beating him and holding a knife to his throat before letting him go.

Airport 4 It is as if in their pursuit of their political goal, they are willing to drag the entire country down.

“All this will go away if the Prime Minister just resigns,” the PAD says.

Holding an entire country hostage isn’t politics; it’s blackmail.

Prediction: a year from now, Thailand’s economy will be even further in the dumps after foreign investors have decided that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Tourism will have shriveled another twenty percent or more.  Suddenly Malaysia is looking like a better choice for a tropical holiday.

Food for thought: the PAD is largely composed of members of the upper- and middle classes.  Groups that are more insulated from the effects of their seige of the airport.  Pity the poor member of the working class (who most likely voted for the elected government) and are caught up in this storm, unable to make a living.

Photos from the NY Times.  Full album here.

Now that Dixville Notch has voted

Posted on by
12

Now that Dixville Notch, New Hampshire has voted (and selected Senator Obama by a 15-6 vote), I feel safe sharing my prediction with you.  This is the prediction I made on October 9th.

Election Prediction   

Sort of interesting that my map is mighty similar to the map from the Washington Post’s The Fix political column:

NPR’s Ken Rudin doesn’t seem quite as optimistic for Obama although still sees him winning:

NPR Prediction

We will see how it all turns out.  Wednesday morning at 9 (Bangkok time) the Roadhouse BBQ will be open, a special breakfast on the menu and all TVs tuned to election coverage.  I’ll be there.

 

Caught up in the PAD march

Posted on by
12

Despite Prime Minister Samak’s being removed from his post by the courts, despite former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra being convicted in absentia and sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion, the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) continues its protests. 

It seems they will only be satisfied when the current government is disrupted and new elections are called – assuming they were sincere when PAD leaders recently dropped their demands for a parliament that was contained a majority of appointees, resulting in a government that would be (ironically, given their name) not democratic.

Another big PAD rally and march occurred today, heading down Phloenchit/Sukhumvit Road from Siam Square to Phrom Phong.  (Come to think about it, this could be called the Mall to Mall March.)  Originally, the march was to terminate at the British Embassy on Wittahyu Road but it looks like they kept on going, stopping only once heavy rains commenced.

As I left my Thai language class with Khruu Kitiya, the head of the protest was just arriving at the Asoke Skytrain station.  Caught up in the excitement (and lack of policemen in their mob control gear) I decided to risk life and limb to bring you, my readers, the story.

P1100885

Above, the head of the marchers, underneath the Asoke Skytrain station heading into the Asoke-Sukhumvit intersection.  The crowd looked to be about 5,000 – 10,000 strong but the rains about thirty minutes later cut that to just a few thousand.

P1100891

Above, looking from Asoke station eastwards towards Phrom Phong station (where Emporium mall is located).  By the time the crowd had passed the intersection – a good fifteen minutes – the traffic backed up on Asoke reached a solid two kilometers to Phetchaburi Road and beyond.

P1100934

Above, a close-up from the previous vantage point, showing the crowds already down several blocks,

After taking the train into town to pay my electricity bill, I stopped at Emporium on the way back for a bite to eat, where I caught up with a rain storm and about two thousand remaining PAD members, who sought shelter beneath the Phrom Phrong station, stopping traffic on both sides of the street, below.

P1100991

Security guards at the BTS Skytrain and the Emporium mall watched nervously, hoping that crowds would not turn against them.  All in all, the demonstration was very peaceful – other than causing massive gridlock in a city that already has terrible congestion.

Above: Here’s ninety seconds of footage I edited together so you could get a fuller sense of the scope of the protest.

 

Message from a Big Person

Posted on by
29

In the past few years, I’ve read a lot about how the proliferation of media – especially online – is balkanizing us.  Instead of giving us access to more information and a broader range of perspectives, we are self-selecting sources of information and groups of people who mirror our already-held beliefs and values.

News of this disturbs me because I think one of the greatest strengths of globalization and the internet is their ability to break down barriers and make us more understanding of others’ concerns, feelings, values and perspectives.  On an increasingly interconnected planet, we need to understand each other more, not less.

My experiences on Xanga have sometimes illustrated this balkanization: some people seem really unwilling to hear different perspectives and their responses are more defensive (or offensive, really!) than thoughtful, more attagonistic than trying to understand.

That’s why I want to acknowledge that in the entry I wrote two weeks ago about California’s proposition 8, in the midst of a lot of back and forth, there were several people who really rose above the fray and were able to disagree and debate ideas without resorting to insults and invectives.

Several people contacted me privately and had many encouraging words.  Some of them agreed with my position that proposition 8 is wrong and should be defeated.  Others disagreed with me but shared messages of respect and appreciation for the opportunity to have a dialogue on the issue.  And others shared with me how their opinion had changed because of the opportunity to hear other perspectives.  Here is one such message:

I have been thumbing through your site and am really blown away.  My wife and I have never really given major thought to the whole gay marriage (sorry if that sounded so blunt).  I do like to think that I am an open minded person, and my wife as well.  She is a very religious person but day by day living here in California acceptance and new ideas are always around us, and in the same subject we asked ourselves tonight that if we were on y’alls end of the stick and someone told us that we could not get married even though we love each other, and ultimately it is an expression legally of how we feel about each other… I also have really been intrigued with a lot of your other writings and would like to add you as a friend.  I wanted to send you this message to ask you if that would be alright, since I did come onto your site and threw a lot of bigotry out in the first couple of lines. I would like to apologize for not being open to the subject for debate from the get go, the proposition does not affect me or do me any harm, I know that you should be able to express yourself just as my wife and I do. Thank you for replying to my silly posts and I would love to hear more from you.

It take a mighty big person to be open to new ideas, to challenge his or her own beliefs, and to evolve his or her world view.  Speaking from my own perspective, I know exactly how hard being open-minded is.  Many times I fail despite my attempts.  So I have tremendous respect for people who are big enough and confident enough to recognize the opportunity to learn and grow from others.

To all of you who participated in that discussion, or who have otherwise promoted civilized, thoughtful debate in the virtual and real worlds, thank you for your contribution to dialogue and understanding.  And thank you for being a big person.

 

Help me and Tawn get married

Posted on by
292

Tawn and I need your help, please.  Just a few minutes of it.

On November 4th, Californians will vote on Proposition 8 which will explicity take away the right of gay men and lesbian women to marry.  Tawn and I, now together for almost nine years, are planning on getting married when we are back in California this December.  We need your help to get the word out to Californians to vote NO on Proposition 8.

No On Prop 8

Outside of the issue of equal rights, this would represent a frightening precedent of the rights of a minority being taken away after they have been won.  This is a disturbing example of Alex de Tocqueville’s “tyranny of the majority”, whereby majority opinion is allowed to trample the civil rights of the minority.

Here’s how you can help me and Tawn:

Contact the people you know in California – let them know about me and Tawn and that if Proposition 8 passes, we’ll be unable to marry in December.  Ask them to vote no on the proposition and to talk with their friends, family and fellow citizens, too.  

If you are a Californian, talk to people who think differently from you – it is easy to “preach to the choir” but the ones who need to hear form you are the undecided voters, the ones for whom a personal story will make all the differentce.  Studies have shown that personalizing the issues makes people more supportive of equal rights.

If you are a registered voter in California, remember to vote – right now the proposition is slightly ahead in voter support.  To defeat it, we will need ever supporter who is registered to vote to actually get out to the polls.  Your vote will count!

Consider contributing to the “No on 8” campaign – They are being outspent by 2-to-1 by donations from outside the state, 30% of which have come from the Mormon Church.  I have already made a donation and hope you will join me.  Even if you donate just $10, you will help buy valuable television airtime so our side of the debate can be heard.  Click here to donate at Equality California’s secure website.

I know that we are ready for the political silly season to be over.  Hang in there and help me and Tawn out for this one last issue!  We’re looking forward to sharing your marriage with you this December, but we can’t do it without your support.  Vote NO on Proposition 8.

Thanks for your help.

Sarah Says Obama is a Racist

Posted on by
18

Interesting back-and-forth going on between me and another Xangan.  This featured post on Revelife (Christian Xanga) was about John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as VP.  The author surmised that perhaps she was chosen specifically because of her conservative Christian and anti-abortion position.  The author posited these questions:

“If you are pro-life, could you vote for a candidate who was pro-choice?  If you are pro-choice, could you vote for a candidate who was pro-life?”

“I guess I am also wondering, should abortion be the only factor deciding our presidential elections?”

 

Among the responses was this one from Big_Esh.  (Emphasis mine)

Well, he might support pro-life, and he might want that quality in his running mate, but I seriously doubt a veteran politician as he would choose his second in command based on one moral value.  The media, as I am sure everyone out there knows, tends to be liberal in how they portray everything that goes on in this nation, and of course they are going to pick McCain apart. 

Nevermind that Obama comes from what looks like a racist background and has no real clue how to “change the face of politics” (see his speech at the DNC for proof of that)…let’s attack McCain because of one value that his running mate happens to have. 

 

To which I responded:

Huh?  Obama comes from a racist background?  With a Kenyan father, a white mother from Kansas, and a very diverse extended family?  How do you figure that as a racist background?

 

To which she responded:

I am, of course, referring to that awful pastor who is so blatantly racist it makes my teeth hurt.

Say what you will, but if you sit and listen to a man spew out such hatred, and continue to show your support by your membership of his congregation, then you are in essence showing support for what is being preached.  People leave a church when they are offended enough, and this clearly didn’t bother him enough to leave.  I know he “denounced” such hate, but actions speak louder than words, and Obama continues to support that man.  Red flag…not to mention his wife said she had never been proud of America until Obama became a candidate…where the heck has she been living?

Being of a diverse background does not give someone a get out of jail free card for racism. And being black, or another minority does not give someone the right to be racist towards whites, although that seems to be more accepted these days.

 

I’m not sure where Sarah (the name Big_Esh gives in her profile) lives, but felt it was worth addressing some of her – what I preceived as – slips of logic: 

Thank you for responding.  Would you agree that Senator McCain’s “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” (sung to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann”) would not be an accurate or fair way to encapsulate his foreign policy positions? 

Would you agree that even though Governor Palin doesn’t disown her daughter after it turns out she’s engaged in premarital sex, that it would be out of context to construe the Governor’s continued support of her daughter as an endorsement of her actions?

If you agree that we should try to judge candidates by considering their words in their original context rather than out of context, if you agree that it is okay for people to support those they are close to, even if they don’t agree with their words and actions, then I think you and I will agree that labeling Senator Obama a racist because of out of context comments his minister and his wife made, really isn’t a sound way to make decisions. 

Much in the same way that, even though I’m not a McCain-Palin supporter, I don’t think that Senator McCain is chomping at the bit to bomb Iran and I don’t think that Governor Palin’s support for her daughter is an endorsement of unwed motherhood and premarital sex.  Although I do have to chuckle, now that we have a good example of why “abstinence only” education isn’t so effective.

 

I’m wondering what her response will be or if she will have one at all.  It is frustrating that in this election, people seem to form their opinions more from pundits than facts.  I’m curious if she ever watched (or read) the sermons in context?  Surely we can agree that we need to have more substantive discussions.

Interesting quote that I came across while preparing this entry.  In the May 5, 2008 edition of the Huffington Post, Lara Cohen, news director at Us Weekly, which is regularly lambasted because of its focus on supermarket tabloid concerns, turned the criticisms back on the mainstream media and their coverage of the Reverend Wright controversy:

“The true hallmark of sensationalized journalism is ginning up controversy to drive sales, and for the mainstream news media Wright was a tailor-made tabloid icon. With newspaper sales at record lows, network news ratings tanking and 24-hour news channels desperate to fill up all 24 hours, Wright’s outbursts were the mainstream media’s equivalent of Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch—a train wreck no one could turn away from. And so they milked it, regardless of the impact on the very race they were supposedly covering objectively.”