apparently it’s ok for churches to take an active part in bigoted oppression, spending time and money promoting hatred and division, instead of championing social justice. apparently it’s ok for the church to take political stands in clear violation of federal tax laws, despite the scriptures stating to honor the laws of the land. apparently it’s ok for them to declare people with alternative sexual preferences as abominations, despite the fact they should deem themselves abominations because they trim their beards and eat fish and swine and don’t throw their wives out of their house every month when they’re on their period.

so, to these churches and to the people who support their policies i say this sincerely: fuck you. your oppression is your own doing. pull your heads out of your hypocritical asses and realize this: you are the problem with society, not them. maybe if you spent more time reading and focusing on the parts of scripture that teach you how to love, you wouldn’t have enough time to spread all that hate. gay people and even homosexuality in general are not your problem, YOU ARE. grow up and grow a pair, and confront your leaders when they speak out in bigotry and hatred. speak out for social justice and the human rights of others, or you will only stir up more hatred against yourselves.

stand up, grow up, and act right, or any oppression that you may face will be your own doing, and will be for the cause of hatred and evil, not for god. i promise you that.

-h

tonight, i encourage you all, whoever you are, however you voted, and whatever you may have heard and/or decided about our newly named president-elect…

please, let’s join together as americans, and walk forward in peace. this last 8 years has brought incredible division in this country, defining us as red states or blue, as real americans or anti-americans…

tonight, we are all americans.

let’s work for peace, to end war and in-fighting amongst ourselves. for equal rights for all americans to health care, to education, to love and marriage and family. let’s work to innovate, to end our dependence on oil and create new, cleaner technologies to provide for our children a future with a clean environment and a prosperous economy.

let’s send a message both to our next-door neighbors and to those we affect overseas via our foreign policy: we will fight no longer, but we will work together to make not just america, but this world a better place for all of us.

YES, WE CAN.

-h

so i ask of you, please, take 15 minutes this evening before you go to the polls tomorrow to watch the video above.

consider, like i did:

• …that voting for a republican with a stated pro-life agenda will likely never bring about an end to abortions, as republicans have held the presidential office for 20 of the last 28 years, and still have not accomplished anything to that end.
• …obama’s stance on preventing the need for abortions and how that will positively impact our communities.
• …that a woman’s right to healthcare privacy should be something we support, and that there is no biblical directive to force upon others our own interpretations of how they should live their lives. i was particularly impressed by obama’s VP nominee joe biden when he was interviewed on meet the press(see this clip for the whole dialog), and how he talked about the intersection of his own faith and his political agenda, and how the two are separate. holding pro-life religious views and voting pro-choice are not mutually exclusive.
• …that even though obama has a record of attending the same christian church for 20 years, mccain’s supporters still make the claim that obama is muslim, while mccain himself very rarely attends church, and yet he is being touted by pastors and evangelists as god’s candidate, as seen in the clip below:
  
• …the impact of criminalizing abortion while the church still does little to nothing to raise the orphans already in society. consider that occurrences of child neglect and abandonment will rise exponentially, especially without efforts to reduce illegitimate pregnancies(and not relying on using abstinence-only education) and also promote adoption and make the adoption process easier for anyone interested(not just married christian families).

consider for yourself the motivations that religious leaders have for supporting the candidates that they do. consider for yourself that what makes this country great is its religious freedom - the same freedom that god gave you - and that elections are not contests to prove whose religion is better than every one else’s, but are a new chance for us as a country to come together to affect positive change and new directions for our common future.

remember that you can disagree with me and those candidates/causes i stand for, but that doesn’t make me anti-american or even pro-babykilling. let’s come together this election for a candidate who works to break down those barriers for ALL AMERICANS. so tomorrow, please…

Join me in voting for Barack Obama. -h

“If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations,” Palin told host Chris Plante, “then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.”

clearly she has no idea what our rights are. like the right to free speech, and the right of a free press to tell people what is actually going on: that she is running a negative campaign… or my own right to blog about her comments today and remark that i think she is ignorant, completely inept in matters of constitutional law, and that i think she must be stupid to think that the press is infringing on her rights. what’s next? is she going to lead a campaign to take away americans’ right to a free press so she can say whatever she wants without being questioned?

sorry, that was mean. maybe i’m just trying to make a point about how liberties are taken, not given, and maybe i’m taking the liberty to say let’s raise the bar in washington, and vote for someone who brings experience, KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSTITUTION, wisdom and discretion under attack, and hope for real, positive change both at home and abroad. let’s cast our votes this week for barack obama.

vote early, vote often.

-h (p.s. happy halloween!)

personally, i’ve found that in trying to verbalize support for barack obama, it is often much easier to resort to speaking out against the negative aspects of the mccain campaign. while that is occasionally necessary, as mccain and palin try to frame the ongoing debate and campaign dialogue with their demonization of obama, it is important to speak out in terms of why i support obama just on the issues alone.

i hope because:

• i believe america should end the war in iraq. this has nothing to do with raising a so-called “white flag of surrender”, but rather, bringing a responsible end to the criminal behavior that got us there in the first place. to date, this criminal occupation has caused the deaths of over 1 million iraqis, over 4 thousand american troops, and over 60 thousand injured. these numbers rival those of the mass killings of the last century, and exceed the 800-900 thousand believed killed in the rwandan genocide in 1994. my older brother alex is serving in iraq, and i want to see an administration that will bring him home honorably, restoring honor to our foreign policy, and allowing the iraqi government space to rebuild and restore their country. i believe barack obama’s plan for iraq will accomplish that.
• i believe the best way to bring about homeland security is with the use of diplomacy as described in obama’s foreign policy. mccain may give obama flack for meeting with foreign heads of state without preconditions, but i believe that shutting our eyes and ears to those who may oppose us while shouting threats of “bomb, bomb iran” is entirely irresponsible. more war is not the answer to security, and it will only weaken our economy even more. being a world power isn’t about being the world’s bully, but about showing the world we can also be a force for peace and diplomacy.
• i believe that america should be a leader in environmental conservation and development of green technologies, not a country that burns off more than 25% of the world’s oil with only 3% of its population just because it can. i believe that america can and should eliminate oil imports from the middle east and venezuela, not by finding new sources of oil to burn, but by reducing our oil consumption altogether, developing greener energy sources and technologies that create new jobs here at home and products we can export to the rest of the world, strengthening our economy and restoring our environment. i believe that barack obama and joe biden’s energy plan will accomplish that, giving our country and its children hope for a brighter future.
• i believe that america should spend its money for homeland security on things like education and health care for all americans, and i believe obama has great plans in place to accomplish those things. while mccain will distort this plan as “marxism” and “socialism”, his own plans are what i consider to be the worst form of socialism, which is the kind that only benefits the rich and doesn’t do anything to create jobs or benefit the average american. the american dream has always been about a free market, and the opportunity to succeed that is equal for all men and women, regardless of location or race or even disability. when the poor and the uninsured in our country cannot afford health care because a single doctor’s visit can cost them $1,000 or more, the american dream is no longer equally attainable by all. socialist policies have abounded in america for decades, from the roads we build, to the schools our children attend, to social security, medicare and so on, but the government spending on these programs should be able to be used by all americans if they need it. i strongly believe that obama’s plan will make the american dream possible once again.
• i believe that america needs a new economic plan that will promote fiscal responsibility in government, encourage corporations to keep jobs here in america, that will responsibly regulate the banking and insurance industries(especially in terms of predatory credit card and mortgage lending), that will stop giving never-ending tax cuts to the largest corporations while doing little or nothing for small business, ensure workers’ rights to organize unions, protect striking workers, and raise the minimum wage. our government should support working families, not limit their opportunities to make a decent living. let’s stop spending $10 billion a month on war, and let’s spend that money at home, creating jobs and investing in our future.

I HOPE BECAUSE CHANGE IS POSSIBLE.

i believe that, over the course of this campaign, barack obama has proven himself as not just an adequate, but an exceptional candidate for becoming president of the united states. i believe that his focus on the issues, his calmness while under attack, and his resolve to bring about positive change through negotiation and diplomacy is not just what i want in a candidate, but what america needs in a president. while even obama doesn’t embody all of my core beliefs, i believe the quote at the top of this post and the clip below show barack obama at his best: that he can withstand the smears of a campaign, the attacks of his enemies, the hatred of racists, and still maintain that this country still deserves something better - if only we will all work together, accepting the responsibility that comes with freedom.

to me, this isn’t socialism, it’s american spirit - proving that even through war, economic hardships, lack of proper health care and education, and increases in unemployment that all americans can come together and create a new direction to make this country better. not just better than the last 8 years, but better than ever before.

-stephen h, 10.27.2008

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA. VOTE FOR CHANGE.

from the article:
Evan Knappenberger served one year in Iraq with the Army 4th Infantry Division working as an intelligence analyst. “We are responsible as soldiers, we are murderers of over one million Iraqis,” a visibly shaken Knappenberger said. “I participated in burglary, trespassing, knowledgeable negligence, criminal assault and battery, rape by association, and gangsterism, I am standing here today as a criminal — in a sense of the word that only someone who has worn the uniform can understand…. “in Iraq,​ I did many thing​s,​ but nothi​ng for freed​om”

read the whole story here.

Video preview of The People Speak from Voices of a People’s History on Vimeo.

also, check out the following recent interview with author howard zinn.

he was a good bartender, could cook up a great breakfast, and i enjoyed our conversations, not to mention seeing him play blues with his band there at the tavern a couple times. when i took this picture, i was working on a collection of portraits for a project i was trying to get off the ground, and he was gracious enough to let me take this photo one day in the bar. after i took the photo, i gave him an enlarged copy for his own use, and had mostly forgotten about the photo. at the time, i had no idea he would only be with us a few months longer.

the memorial today was held at the tavern, and i was able to meet some of his friends and family. there were lots of memories shared, the food was good, and some of his band mates played a blues tribute set. when i arrived, i was pleasantly surprised to see that they had framed the photo print i had given him, and used it as the cover image for a CD of his music. many people commented on the photo, and i think it connected with many of us because that’s how we remember him - always with a friendly look, and usually sitting at the end of the bar on his usual perch.

anyhow, i was also very happy to see a very crowded bar at the memorial today.
KC will definitely be missed.
-h