Friday, May 11, 2012

When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite

Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual.
Prof. John Boswell, the late Chairman of Yale University’s history department, discovered that in addition to heterosexual marriage ceremonies in ancient Christian church liturgical documents, there were also ceremonies called the "Office of Same-Sex Union" (10th and 11th century), and the "Order for Uniting Two Men" (11th and 12th century).

These church rites had all the symbols of a heterosexual marriage: the whole community gathered in a church, a blessing of the couple before the altar was conducted with their right hands joined, holy vows were exchanged, a priest officiated in the taking of the Eucharist and a wedding feast for the guests was celebrated afterwards. These elements all appear in contemporary illustrations of the holy union of the Byzantine Warrior-Emperor, Basil the First (867-886 CE) and his companion John.

Read the full story @ Anthropologist Live Journal

Listen to NPR's interview with Pew Research Center's Andrew Kohut about the steady shift toward acceptance on the same-sex marriage social issue, May 11. (4:12)
President Obama announced his support for gay marriage this week after a long consideration saying his views were "evolving." The public's view of gay marriage has changed over the past several decades, with growing support.

In 1996, Americans opposed gay marriage by 65% to 27%, but today the public is more evenly split, with 47% in favor and 43% opposed.

Related:

Monday, May 7, 2012

Campaign Web Wars 2.0 - Republicans Strike Back

Raw Story

Tired of playing catch-up to the Obama Internet juggernaut, Republicans have rolled out a one-stop online shop for conservative activism which they hope will help them capture the White House.

The Social Victory Center, which launched this week and allows Republicans to do everything from distribute campaign materials to ring up undecided voters in battleground states like Ohio, has been craftily embedded in the most comprehensive social media landscape of them all: Facebook.

Call it the Republican National Committee’s newest weapon in campaign web wars 2.0, the virtual battlefield of the 2012 election. But is Democratic President Barack Obama’s huge advantage in Facebook, Twitter, digital advertising and online fundraising already unassailable?

Sunday, May 6, 2012

President Obama's Campaign Kickoff

In back-to-back campaign rallies at Ohio State University and Virginia Commonwealth University on Saturday, President Barack Obama was introduced in Columbus and again in Richmond by first lady Michelle Obama. Thousands cheered and waved signs that read "Forward" as President Obama moved to speak to the assembled crowd.


President Obama in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday

During his remarks the president called Mitt Romney a willing and eager "rubber stamp" for conservative Republicans in Congress and an agenda to cut taxes for the rich, reduce spending on education and Medicare and enhance power that big banks and insurers hold over consumers.

Romney "doesn't seem to understand that maximizing profits by whatever means necessary, whether it's through layoffs or outsourcing or tax avoidance, union busting, might not always be good for the average American or for the American economy," the president said.

Romney and his "friends in Congress think the same bad ideas will lead to a different result or they're just hoping you won't remember what happened the last time you tried it their way. Obama said his rival was merely doing the bidding of the conservative power brokers and has little understanding of the struggles of average Americans. "Why else would he want to cut his own taxes while raising them for 18 million Americans," said Pres. Obama of the Republican presumptive presidential nominee.

"When people ask you what this election is about, you tell them it is still about hope. You tell them it is still about change," he said. It was a rebuttal to Romney's campaign, which has lately taken to mocking Obama's 2008 campaign mantra as "hype and blame."

"The economy is still facing headwinds and it will take sustained persistent efforts, yours and mine, for America to fully recover," the president said. He noted that jobs are being created and urged his audience not to give in to what he predicted would be negative campaign commercials designed to "exploit frustrations."

"Over and over again they'll tell you that America is down and out and they'll tell you who to blame and ask if you're better off than the worst crisis in our lifetime," he said. "The real question ... is not just about how we're doing today but how we'll be doing tomorrow."

Friday, May 4, 2012

WTF, GOP?

Mother Jones

Hey, GOP? A bit of simple math: Women are 51 percent of the population and 54 percent of voters.

The gender gap between Republicans and Democrats, in presidential elections, has historically ranged from 4 to 11 percent; in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, it was 8 percent in 2008.

Fifty-five percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Sixty-three percent support requiring health plans to include no-cost birth control; 67 percent of independent women do. And a staggering 77 percent of Americans think a petty argument over contraception has no place in the national debate.

"Republicans being against sex is not good," one GOP strategist told Maureen Dowd. "Sex is popular."

This sanctimony is not playing as part of the genuine, profound disagreement between (and, guess what, among) liberals and conservatives about whether and when abortion should be legal.

It's playing as needlessly humiliating women with invasive procedures, as denying people the choice of when and whether to have kids, and, frankly, as straight-up slut-shaming puritanism (recall Rick Santorum admonishing married couples that it's not okay to have sex unless it's "procreative").

Let's have GOP strategist Alex Castellanos bring it home: "Republicans being against sex is not good," he told Maureen Dowd. "Sex is popular."

Not content to enrage people who like sex? Well, party of Lincoln, you've also bullied Latinos, a giant, socially conservative, upwardly mobile, and demographically growing bloc that many analysts see as key to securing the White House—and that as recently as 2004 swung 42 percent for George W. Bush. That was before GOP lawmakers spearheaded some 160 punitive anti-immigration bills in the last two years. Before Mitt Romney—whose own forebears fled to Mexico to avoid anti-polygamy laws—bent over backward to embrace such "self-deportation" measures. Before Rick Santorum demanded that Puerto Ricans switch to English. These days no more than 14 percent of likely Latino voters can see themselves casting a ballot for any of the GOP candidates. Hasta la vista, Nevada!

No one expected you to make nice with gays and their families. Ditto African Americans, Muslims, teachers, climate scientists. But cops? Firefighters? Every other middle-class independent who's watching his kid's school fire the lunch ladies? Seriously?

Read the full story @ Mother Jones

"Sen. Cornyn and Texas’ Congressional Delegation Has Met The Enemy, And It Is Planned Parenthood" @ Texas Observer by Eileen Smith

Planned Parenthood Again Prevails In Suit Against Texas Republican's War on Women

Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith agreed Friday that there's sufficient evidence the state's law banning Planned Parenthood from participating in the state's Women's Health Program is unconstitutional.

Judge Jerry Smith today let stand an injunction issued by District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin on Monday that blocks Texas from enforcing the law championed by Gov. Rick Perry and passed by the Republican dominated Texas legislature in 2011.

Smith had stayed the injunction earlier this week so he could review the law.

The law passed by the Republican-controlled 2011 Legislature forbids state agencies from providing funds to an organization affiliated with abortion providers. Eight Planned Parenthood clinics that do not provide abortions sued the state.

Texas officials have said that if the state is forced to include Planned Parenthood, they'll likely totally shutter the program that provides basic health care and contraceptives to 130,000 poor women.

When the Texas Tribune asked Texas state Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Nacogdoches), a supporter of the family planning cuts, if this was a war on birth control, he said: “Well of course this is a war on birth control and abortions and everything.”

Family planning clinics are routinely referred to by many Republican lawmakers across the U.S. as “abortion clinics” because many social conservative Republicans say contraceptive use is the same as abortion. On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and his team of state lawyers asked a federal appeals court to block U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel's Monday decision that required the state to continue funding Planned Parenthood. In his request for an emergency stay, Abbott analogized Planned Parenthood to a terrorist organization.

Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a statement:

"This case isn't about Planned Parenthood - it's about the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings, birth control, and well-woman exams.

"Governor Perry has already thrown 160,000 women off of health care for partisan political reasons - now there will be more to come. Mitt Romney would supersize what's happening in Texas and try to block women's access to lifesaving health care nationwide.

"Planned Parenthood's doors are open today and they'll be open tomorrow. We won't let politics interfere with the health care that nearly three million people a year rely on Planned Parenthood for in Texas and around the country."

Related:

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Using Social Media To Fact Check Attack Ads

The Koch brothers recently launched a $6.1 million attack ad against the Obama administration which quickly received a "Pants on Fire" rating from PolitiFact. As an example of one of the ways the Obama campaign will use the YouTube social media channel, here's how the Obama campaign responded to the Koch attack ad:

Democrats Paul Sadler and Sean Hubbard Join US Senate Candidate Debate

Texas Tribune

Tonight, the Democrats vying for Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat may finally steal a sliver of the spotlight.

Paul Sadler and Sean Hubbard, two of the four Democrats running for the seat, will join the race's four major Republican contenders at a forum in Houston starting at 7 p.m.

Though the Republicans in the race have been fighting for months and raising millions of dollars, Democrats — without a marquee candidate — have struggled mightily to attract money and attention. The party hasn't won statewide office since 1994, and the candidates so far have struggled to meet even low expectations: Sadler, who so far has led the Democrats in fundraising, reported collecting just $72,800 in the year's first quarter — an amount he called "absolutely shocking."

As the Tribune's Aman Batheja notes, both Sadler, a former state representative from Henderson, and Hubbard, a 31-year-old who recently left a sales and billing job, have made fighting the influence of Super PACs a major component of their campaigns.

Read the full story @ Texas Tribune.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

What Is The Promesa Project?

VOXXI - By Carlos Sanchez

As the November elections draw closer, discourse about the Hispanic vote is surging. Whether this voting bloc, estimated to be worth as many as 12 million ballots cast nationwide, works may depend on voter outreach efforts — often a state-by-state and even region-by-region effort.

To understand the component of one of these outreach efforts. VOXXI talks to Rebecca Acuña, deputy political director for base outreach for the Texas Democratic Party about a program called the Promesa Project.

VOXXI: What is the Promesa Project?


Rebecca Acuña, Promesa Project base outreach Deputy Political Director, Texas Democratic Party
Acuña: The Promesa Project is the Texas Democratic Party’s new approach to Hispanic outreach that’s based on two important findings: One, that today’s young Latinos are increasingly the trusted sources of political information in their families. And, two, that the Internet has surpassed television as the main source of political information for people under 30.

VOXXI: How will it work?

Acuña: The Promesa Project will use a combination of online and grassroots techniques to recruit young Latinos as the party’s messengers to their families and social networks. On PromesaProject.com, individuals will be able to give us their “promesa” that they will talk to their family and friends about voting Democratic. Through the website, they’ll have access to videos, talking points, and research to facilitate these conversations. The project also utilizes the party’s vast network of young, prominent Hispanic elected officials and party leaders by featuring them in our web videos and utilizing them as surrogates in their local areas.

VOXXI: If Latinos are the key to turning Texas blue, how long will that take? Is purple even on the horizon?

Acuña: There are 3.8 million eligible Latino voters in Texas, and one out of every four eligible voters in Texas is Latino. We know that on every issue that’s important to Latinos, Democrats are better.

The Promesa Project will increase turnout in the short-term by persuading low propensity Hispanic voters to turnout for Democrats and it will build the party in the long-term by engaging Latinos early.

VOXXI: What are the greatest concerns among Latinos in Texas?

Acuña: Latinos, like all Texans, are concerned about education and opportunity for future generations. Texas families are angry about the $5.4 billion in cuts Republicans made to public schools, which were made the first year Hispanic students accounted for more than 50 percent of students in Texas public schools.

Latinos deeply value a quality education, and know that a higher education opens the doors to opportunity. Sadly, these opportunities are being closed by Republicans who slashed financial aid for students. As a result of the Republican budget, 43,000 fewer Texas students will get state aid for college, including 29,000 fewer students getting a TEXAS Grant. Latinos, who represent half of all TEXAS Grant recipients, will be disproportionately affected.

Texas Democrats are the only ones talking about education and opportunity in Texas, and Texas Democrats strongly fought Republicans to keep them from making these cuts.

VOXXI: How do you respond to Republican criticism that President Barack Obama broke his promise to Latinos to reform immigration laws?

Acuña: Republican obstructionism is what prevented Congress from passing comprehensive immigration reform. Only three Republicans in Congress even supported the DREAM Act, which was originally written by a Republican. This was even after Democrats accepted Republican amendments in order to try and get the bill passed. If Republicans can’t even support the DREAM Act, which would let young students to earn a path to legalization if they go to college or join the military, there’s little chance Republicans would support broader comprehensive immigration.

The only way to make the DREAM Act a reality, or enact comprehensive immigration reform, is by electing more Democrats to Congress.

VOXXI: How do you explain the Obama administration’s aggressive deportation record?

Acuña: Republicans in Congress have obstructed any chance of comprehensive immigration reform, which is what our country needs.

President Obama has enacted new policies on deportation which prioritizes deporting individuals with criminal records and calls for administrative review of all pending deportation cases. He also made administrative revisions to the three- and 10-year bans that will allow many immigrants to apply for legalization while remaining in this country. These are some of the most positive, sweeping changes we’ve seen in immigration policy in decades, and are the most the president can do without Congressional approval.

VOXXI: The first Hispanic governor of Texas: Latino or Latina?

Acuña: There are many talented, energetic Hispanic elected officials in Texas, Latinos and Latinas. One thing is for certain, the first Hispanic governor of Texas will be a Democrat.

Article from VOXXI - By Carlos Sanchez

For more about the Promesa Project - Click here and click here

The video below shows the 2012 Promesa Project Fellowship Inaugural class participants. They discuss the reasons they applied to become Fellows, offer their thoughts on the reasons why young people should get involved in politics and discuss the potential effects of this project.

The Promesa Project

Politic365 by Anthony Gutierrez

Any Democratic campaign manager in Texas who isn’t including Latinos in their target voter contact universe would (or should) be quickly fired for negligence.

But knowing that Democrats need to target Latinos has never been the party's problem and in fact, when resources are focused, Texas Democrats are very successful in down ballot races by turning out Latinos.

And there’s the rub: in Texas we have 254 counties, 20 media markets and an awful lot of real estate to cover. Putting the kind of Latino turnout programs you see in swing states like Nevada or Colorado in place in Texas would carry a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars.

It’s a tough problem. But, we have come up with a theory of our own.


Promesa Project Video

Last year the Texas Democratic Party launched an innovative Latino engagement program called the Promesa Project.

Through this program, we’re asking young Latinos to give us their promise, or “Promesa”, that they’ll talk to their family and friends about voting Democratic.

That simple premise was the product of two recent findings.

First, that today’s young Latinos are increasingly the trusted sources of political information in their families. Second, that the Internet has surpassed television as the main source of news for people under thirty.

We believe that utilizing online outreach layered on top of traditional grassroots techniques will allow us to efficiently increase our vote share among older Latinos, boost Latino turnout among younger Latinos and simultaneously begin an engagement process that will build out Party towards the future.

Time will obviously tell us whose theory is correct. Our project began last year and we’ll be proud to stand by our results in November.

Read the full story @ Politic365 by Anthony Gutierreza.

Anthony Gutierrez serves as an adviser to the Texas Democratic Party and other Democratic candidates through his video production and digital media firm, Cadre Media.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Court Loss For Planned Parenthood

Just hours after U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin issued an injunction against Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s plan to revoke public funding for Planned Parenthood, a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans threw out Judge Yeakel's ruling permitting Texas to cut funding.

Judge Jerry Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush, granted the state’s request for an emergency stay. Democrats were quick to point out that it’s not the first time Smith has weighed in on partisan politics, having recently corrected some of the president’s rhetoric on the authority of the judiciary.

Smith’s ruling gave Planned Parenthood until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to respond to the state’s appeal. It’s not clear if he’ll change his mind but, if he does not, Planned Parenthood’s funding in Texas will officially go to zero, eliminating health care for over 130,000 lower income women — a dire situation that could last for months as the case makes its way through federal courts.