Justin's Political Corner
Former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis told ThinkProgress this week that they support marriage equality. With their endorsements, every living former Democratic presidential nominee is now on record in support of same-sex marriage.
Every other living Democratic nominee had previously made their support explicit.
The list includes:
- 1. Former President Jimmy Carter (1976 and 1980). Carter said last year “Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things — he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.”
- 2. Former Vice President Walter Mondale (1984). Mondale, who invoked civil rights legend Hubert Humphrey as he campaigned against last year’s proposed Minnesota marriage inequality amendment, said in an e-mail that he not both “opposed the constitutional amendment that would prevent legalizing gay marriage and I supported the legalization of gay marriage adopted this past week in Minnesota.
- 3. Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis (1988). Dukakis confirmed his support to ThinkProgress in a May 12 e-mail.
- 4. Former President Bill Clinton (1992 and 1996). Clinton announced his support for marriage equality in 2009 and has actively campaigned for it since. Clinton had previously signed the anti-gay 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
- 5. Former Vice President Al Gore (2000). Gore delivered a “forceful endorsement” of marriage equality in 2008, saying “gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women — to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage.”
- 6. Secretary of State John Kerry (2004). Kerry told the blog Blue Mass Group in 2008 that he “absolutely” supported civil marriage equality. He explained his evolution in a 2011 Boston Globe op-ed entitled “Politicians have the right to evolve on gay marriage.”
- 7. President Barack Obama (2008 and 2012). President Obama made his historic announcement one year ago, telling ABC’s Robin Roberts: “I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.
Former Senator George McGovern (D-SD), the 1972 Democratic nominee, also endorsed marriage equality prior to his death last year. He told the Daily Republic last May: “I’m a ‘conservative’ when it comes to marriage. I think if two people love each other, are living together and having sex, they ought to get married.”
Follow Think Progress on Tumblr at: http://think-progress.tumblr.com/
H/T: Think Progress LGBT
When Republicans appointed Pablo Pantoja to State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committee, they hoped he would be able to bridge the sizable gap that only expanded during the 2012 elections, when the state’s 4.7 million Hispanic voters supported Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by a 20 percent margin.
But after months of inaction by Congressional Republicans on comprehensive immigration reform and stiff resistance by Republican-leaning groups like the Heritage Foundation, Pantoja has had enough; on Monday, he announced via email that he was leaving the party and registering as a Democrat:
Friend,
Yes, I have changed my political affiliation to the Democratic Party.
It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others. Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.
Pantoja goes on to specifically cite last week’s revelation — that an author of Heritage’s false report on the cost of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill wrote a dissertation in which he suggested that Hispanics are at a permanent disadvantage because they have lower IQs — as the final straw in his political evolution.
Why Is Liz Warren Yelling At Bank Regulators Today? (Video)
Liz Warren came to Washington to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and she is ALL OUT OF BUBBLEGUM. Would you like to watch her tear into regulators about wrongful foreclosures? Specifically: why no one knows exactly how many people were wrongfully foreclosed on, and also, why wrongfully foreclosed upon people may have gotten as little as $300 for their troubles? Of course you would, these kinds of videos are the highlight of our week too, let us all sit back and relax and bask in the glory of Liz Warren, kicking ass at the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, courtesy of ThinkProgress.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/511691/why-is-liz-warren-yelling-at-bankers-today-video#1XW2e8Pk6ZHgE7Fr.99
(via wisconsinforward)
(via PolitiucsUSA: After Calling Newtown Parents Human Shields, Rush Limbaugh Has Got To Go)
Transcript via Rush Limbaugh:
LIMBAUGH: Now I got a guy who calls me, “Rush, are they registered lobbyists?”
“Where’s your heart, sir? What do you mean? They’re not lobbying! They’re trying to save other people’s children.” So that’s how it works. It was the president who asked for this mother of a six-year-old who died to do his speech. Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat-Connecticut) is using Sandy Hook to raise money in his e-mails. They’re trying to turn the Newtown parents into a dozen Sandy Sheehans in a way. It’s what the Democrats do, folks. They always try to hide their agendas behind women and children, and, most of all, victims. So the Newtown parents are human shields, in a sense.
The Newtown parents are out there to protect the Democrats from any criticism and to shut it down. Pure and simple.
Being controversial is Limbaugh’s gimmick. It is how he stays relevant, but referring to parents who lost their children in a horrific mass shooting as human shields goes too far. It is wrong when Limbaugh does his daily dredging through the pit of racism for ratings. It was wrong when he calledSandra Fluke a slut. Rush Limbaugh is, as a rule of thumb, usually wrong when he opens his mouth.
However, this is a new low even for him.
Since the Republican Party is too weak kneed and gutless to do anything about him, the rest of America has to take a stand. It would be nice to believe that if we ignore Limbaugh he will go away, but the left has been trying this strategy for decades, and the right wing talker’s influence has only grown within the Republican Party.
Couldn’t have said it any better.
Recently GOP released an internal assessment of losses in 2012 elections, possible causes and recommendations. Though the report did state that party has been losing base with the minorities and many other groups, the response from the party was to “deliver the message better”. It seems to me that party has not understood the root causes of their losses in elections, less favorability in the nation and declining voter base. I became a US citizen in 1986, and voted as Republican till 2004. Since then I have been increasingly dissatisfied with GOP’s relationships with the Muslims in USA. The Islamophobic rhetoric, though not exclusively restricted to Republican Party, has been consistently increasing over years.
Muslims mostly identify with GOP due to conservative values, and up till 2000 used to vote in greater numbers with Republican Party. In 2000 national elections, George Bush was endorsed by Muslim organizations and over 70% voted for the party. Many of President Bush’s supporters give credit to Muslims in Florida for the win in the state, leading to White House. Last year about 4% Muslims voted for GOP. Over 40% of American Muslims view themselves as independent voters, 7% identify themselves as Republicans and rest are affiliated with Democratic Party. Over last decade there have been more Muslim voters added, as the second generation has become adults and more immigrants have joined the pool. The Muslim voters’ ratio has dropped dramatically, but the Party has not taken any constructive steps to improve the relationships or even look into the causes.
The anti Muslim zeal increased over the last 2 years. American Muslims are becoming accustomed to bracing themselves for increasing Islamophobia during election years for political gains. The hearings by Representative Peter King (NY) on radicalization of Muslims in America were mainly airing anti Muslim sentiments. Many Muslim organization and individuals who could have given positive reports about American Muslims were not asked to testify in front of the committee. Law enforcement officials denied that there were major extremist Muslim groups in USA. Over 20 states introduced legislations, mostly Republicans to ban “Sharia law”. According to our constitution we cannot have foreign laws; the legislators very well knew that Sharia law cannot be and is not being implemented. But to appease their base and get political gains among the public they chose to waste their time and efforts on this nonexistent issue. Only thing they succeeded were in inflaming the anti Muslim feelings. According to CAIR in last 2 years 78 bills or amendments were moved in the country interfering with practices of Muslims; 73 of these bills were moved by Republicans. The voters at large did reject this message, as in last year’s election 4 out of 11 congressmen who were the most proponents of anti Muslim bias lost their seats.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), along with four Republicans colleagues alleged that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton had ties to Muslim Brotherhood. This was based on pure speculations and Islamophobia. Some Republican leaders including Senator McCain did rebuke the comments but Rep Bachmann has not toned down her Muslim bashing. Herman Cain’s comments that he would require Muslims to take” a loyalty oath” in his cabinet were an insult to all Muslims who are hard working, productive members of the society. The remark was even more disheartening coming from Mr. Cain, who himself is a minority and has known the struggles of African Americans over years. Mitt Romney gave his tacit approval to the anti Islamic message during the campaign, while jogging our memories about difficulties faced by Mormons in the past.
President Obama has been “accused” of being Muslim and even his citizenship has been questioned. General Colin Powell aptly answered to this question of him being possibly a Muslim, “So what if he was”. Every born American irrespective of his/her faith, race or ethnic background can dream of becoming US President.
![quickhits:
If a ‘Grand Bargain’ involves cuts to Social Security, liberal dems say they’ll fight it.
Over 100 House liberals tell Democratic leadership that Chained CPI is a non-starter.
[image via DonkeyHotey]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/bb62a2e09e4ec07d175f15d4295fdeaf/tumblr_mjnywlmqL11qfengno1_500.jpg)
If a ‘Grand Bargain’ involves cuts to Social Security, liberal dems say they’ll fight it.
Over 100 House liberals tell Democratic leadership that Chained CPI is a non-starter.
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, made an interesting observation on his radio show yesterday. Speaking about the confirmation of Chuck Hagel, Perkins mused about the ‘irony’ that Hagel, whom he considers to be anti-Israel, was backed by Democratic senators who are “mostly aligned with a lot of the Jewish lobby” and “enjoy the money coming from the Jewish community.” Hmmm, “Jewish lobby,” where have I heard that before?
Hagel has been savaged in recent weeks for having used the phrase in a 2006 interview. He has since apologized and said he should phrased his comments differently. In case it isn’t obvious, the ADL’s Abe Foxman explains the many problems with saying “Jewish lobby.”
Notwithstanding Hagel’s apology, Sen. Lindsey Graham grilled him about his use of the phrase during his confirmation hearing. FRC also cited Hagel’s use of “Jewish lobby” in its background document opposing his confirmation. Meanwhile over at the website of the American Family Association, which broadcasts Perkins’ show, David Limbaugh railed against Hagel’s “bigoted accusation” about the “Jewish lobby” and said he failed to provide a “satisfactory explanation for his disgraceful terminology – because there is none.”
“Bigoted” and “disgraceful” sounds about right, but don’t hold your breath waiting for conservatives to denounce Perkins’ comments.
Perkins seems mystified as to why most American Jews support Democrats, but his right-hand man thinks he knows the reason. FRC’s Executive Vice President Jerry Boykin has argued that Hitler was “an extraordinarily off the scale leftist” but “many Jews in America, for example, can’t identify with the Republican Party because they’re called the party of the Right, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.”
This is the same Boykin who was rebuked by the ADL in 2003 and believes that the “Jews must be lead to Christ.” And this is the same FRC – a certified hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center – that warned yesterday that Hagel’s confirmation may bring God’s judgment on America. So I guess we shouldn’t be suprised.
- See more at: RWW
Republicans think they’re too white. Everyone else thinks they’re too crazy.
Facing an increasingly diverse electorate that re-elected President Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney last year, Republicans on Wednesday launched a push to identify female and minority candidates to run for state and local office around the country.
The “Future Majority Caucus,” spearheaded by the Republican State Leadership Committee, intends to invest what is being described as “significant” resources to supporting and electing Republicans to down ballot posts who aren’t white and male.
“The way for the party to grow again is to elect more Hispanics and more women at the local level,” said Republican New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the party’s highest-ranking elected Latina, in a conference call announcing the project. “We need to look into the communities and make sure those elected officials look like the communities they represent.”
Yes, a big problem for the GOP is that they’re lily-white and male-dominated in a much more diverse society. But that’s not the cause of the GOP’s problem, that’s the consequence of it. Women aren’t going to like crazy-assed rape theorizing and slut-shaming from a woman anymore than from a man. Likewise, an African-American candidate who argues that Trayvon Martin got what he had coming to him isn’t going to go far either. And a Latino candidate who runs on a “go back where you came from!” platform isn’t going to have a lot of success in that community. Let’s not even talk about their problem with Muslims.
Republicans don’t have a lot of minority and female candidates because of the policies of the Republican Party and the things Republicans say. Getting someone other than white men to do and say these very unpopular things isn’t going to help any. Republicans continually fail to grasp that they have a policies problem, not a PR problem.
Sooner or later someone in GOP leadership will have an epiphany and figure this all out. But that day will probably not come any time soon.
(via silas216)
The Democratic National Committee voted Tuesday to re-elect Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida as the DNC chair. President Obama had requested that the congresswoman remain in the position, according to CNN.
h/t: TPM LiveWire
Boss Limbaugh, I’m sure that basically every lawmaker in the Democratic Party is NOT going to “confiscate your guns,” so give that NRA/GOoA/NAGR-backed talking point up. And they [Democrats/Liberals] are NOT “anti-2nd Amendment” either!
A defiant Congressional Progressive Caucus is pushing back against attempts to cut Social Security benefits.
Be a citizen signer of the Progressive Caucus statement:
Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are standing up against a proposal to cut Social Security benefits…members of the CPC will not vote for a deal that cuts the benefits that millions of Americans rely on.
Republicans are splintered, so Democrats will be needed for any deal. We’ll make sure House Democrats see the growing support for this statement so they know the public is rooting for them to fight a bad deal.
Tonight, there is confirmation that Charlie Crist, the former Republican Florida Governor and loser to Marco Rubio (R) in the 2010 GOP Primary as a GOPer and the General Election, once again to Rubio and Kendrick Meek (D), as an Independent, has officially switched his party registration to the Democratic Party from Independent.
Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist has officially joined the Democratic Party, he announced on Friday evening.The change became official at a White House Christmas reception, the Tampa Bay Times reports, where “President Obama greeted the news with a fist bump.”
Crist — Florida’s former Republican governor who relished the tough-on-crime nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” and used to describe himself variously as a “Ronald Reagan Republican” and a “Jeb Bush Republican” — on Friday evening signed papers changing his party from independent to Democrat.The widely expected move positions Crist, 56, for another highly anticipated step: announcing his candidacy for governor, taking on Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott and an untold number of Democrats who would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Crist has been registered with no party affiliation since the spring of 2010, when his Republican candidacy for U.S. Senate was fizzling against Republican upstart Marco Rubio. Since losing that race, he has been steadily inching toward the Democratic Party, first when his wife, Carole, switched her affiliation to Democrat and later when he threw himself into Obama’s re-election campaign, earning a prominent speaking slot during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist has officially joined the Democratic Party, he announced on Friday evening.
Crist, who served as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011, left the Republican Party after losing a Senate primary battle to Marco Rubio in 2010 — switching his party affiliation to independent in order to run against now-Senator Rubio in the general election. (Crist lost that race by 19 points.)
Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @barackobama! twitter.com/charliecristfl…
— Charlie Crist (@charliecristfl) December 8, 2012
The change became official at a White House Christmas reception, the Tampa Bay Times reports, where “President Obama greeted the news with a fist bump.”
h/t: Huffington Post
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama wants Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to stay on as his party’s chairwoman.
Wasserman Schultz has overseen the Democratic National Committee since early 2011. Party officials credit her in part with helping the president carry her home state of Florida, as well as leading the party to an expanded majority in the Senate and more seats in the House.
Democratic officials said Obama asked DNC members to back Wasserman Schultz when they meet in January, just after the president’s inauguration.
A mother of three and a breast cancer survivor, Wasserman Schultz, 46, has represented a reliably Democratic Fort Lauderdale-area district since 2005. Along the way she has earned a reputation as a workhorse and as an outspoken liberal happy to duke it out on television with her Republican counterparts.
h/t: Yahoo! News
