President Jimmy Carter Endorses Marriage Equality

The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, has given an interview to Huffington Post where he explicitly endorses civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. Like our current President, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (albeit well after his Presidency) and is a Christian, a Southern Baptist. The 87-year-old Carter is the author of dozens of books and his latest is a treatise attempting to answer difficult questions from a Biblical perspective.

Joe.My.God highlights the key responses Carter gives in the interview:

A lot of people point to the Bible for reasons why gay people should not be in the church, or accepted in any way. 

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.[emphasis added] 

I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring by law that churches must marry people. I’m a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs. So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them to.

Unlike our current President, Carter is clearly not a graduate of Harvard Law or a constitutional law professor because it would be a very obvious violation of the First Amendment for any law to require a church to marry any individual or force a church to accept someone as a member.

Carter joins the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, as the only two living ex-presidents to endorse marriage equality. There are two other living ex-presidents, both with the surname Bush, but surprisingly(sic) they have not done the same. Clinton and Carter are Democrats...

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin & Abraham Lincoln!

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)	Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Today, February 12, 2012 is the 203rd anniversary of the day that both Charles Darwin's and Abraham Lincoln were born!

February 12, 1909 is also the day the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was incorporated.

Do The Math: We Don't Know Who Won Iowa 2012

On the first official presidential contest of 2012 on January 3rd the mainstream consensus was that Mitt Romney had "won" by 8 votes (out of nearly 120,000 votes cast) ahead of Rick Santorum. This was such a ludicrous claim that I didn't even blog about it, deciding to wait until the official vote tallies were released. 8 votes out of  120,000 is a MUCH smaller margin of error than the margin between Bush and Gore in 2000 (an alleged 437 votes out of 5.8 million). No voting system that we currently use has the capability to resolve that kind of margin (.00005%).

Well, now the official final vote tallies from the 2012 Iowa caucuses are in and they are:

Mitt Romney 29,805
Rick Santorum 29,839

Curiously, now Republican officials are coming around to mathematical realities and calling the results a "split decision" or tie. This is what they should have done at the very beginning! DO THE MATH. The point here is that, no, Romney did not win the first two nomination contests, he tied in the first and won in a state where he owns a house and was Governor of its largest neighboring state.

Whether this new information will be enough to stop Romney's supposed inevitable momentum to the Republican nomination for the presidency we will see. Also, this is an ominous sign that the 2012 presidential election may be as close as the 2000 election, and I really don't think we want the Supreme Court deciding two elections of the last four, do we?

Obama Campaign Raises $222 Million in 2011

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign announced that it raised $68 million in the 4th quarter of 2011, bringing its total for the year to around $222 million dollars. The $68 million includes $42 million for Obama-Biden 2012 and another $24 million for the Democratic National Committee.

Obama’s campaign collected $750 million in 2008, prompting speculation that it could top $1 billion this time. [Obama-Biden 202 campaign manager Jim] Messina said the lofty figures have created “a challenge that keeps coming up. Too many Obama supporters think we don’t need their money or they don’t need to give now.’’

However, Messina said, “The billion-dollar number is completely untrue.’’

Obama, facing no primary opponent, has stockpiled a large campaign bank account, but Democrats expect parity with Republicans once the party chooses a nominee.

Note that last phrase: "Democrats expect parity with Republicans once the party chooses a nominee."  With Super PACS and the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United decision do you really think the 1% are going to allow the 99% to out-raise them in the battle for the highest executive office in the land? Come no, now!

It is interesting that Messina also said that the average donation to the Obama campaign was $55 (98% below $250) and that in 2011 they received donations from 200,000 people who had never given to Obama before.





In 2007, Hillary Clinton raised $118 million to Obama's $104 million. In 2011, Mitt Romney raised a total of $56 million.

Santorum Would Annul All U.S. Same-Sex Marriages

Rick Santorum, the ex-Senator from Pennsylvania who is one of the biggest religious-based homophobes now running for President (although that is a hotly contested title!) made news over the weekend for two reasons: he has surprisingly surged into the Top 3 in polls for tomorrow's Iowa caucuses and he said that he thinks that all same-sex marriages in the United States should be invalid.

I don't really care about the first item (I am confident that President Obama will be re-elected for a second term in November) but the second item needs further attention.

Here is what Santorum said exactly (to MSNBC's Chuck Todd):

SANTORUM: I think marriage has to be one thing for everybody. We can’t have 50 different marriage laws in this country, you have to have one marriage law…

TODD: What would you do with same-sex couples who got married? Would you make them get divorced?

SANTORUM: Well, their marriage would be invalid. I think if the constitution says “marriage is this,” then people whose marriage is not consistent with the constitution… I’d love to think there’s another way of doing it.

This statement demonstrates an astonishing ignorance and misunderstanding of federal law and marriage law, especially for a former United States Senator. Then, again, there's a reason why Santorum has been declared (by a fellow Republican who served as Senator John McCain's top aide for decade) as the dumbest United States Senator of the last twenty years:

Ron Paul may be the wackiest candidate in the GOP field. But for pure, blind stupidity nobody beats Santorum. In my 20 years in the Senate, I never met a dumber member, which he reminded me of today.

There are many reasons why Santorum's statement is so stupid but I will just list a few here

1. There is no precedent for invalidating any legal contract which was legal when it was entered into (i.e. even when Proposition 8 passed preventing any future marriages all the previous marriages entered into before its enactment are still legal and recognized in California).
2. The regulation of marriage IS a state issue and has been that way for centuries in this country; it is precisely that history (as well as the clearly defined animus against homosexuality that the law represents) which makes the so-called Defense of Marriage Act so constitutionally dubious, and this legal point will probably be settled within the current calendar year when the 9th and 1st U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal finally issue rulings on the matter.
3. The only way to "have one marriage law" would be to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution and there is absolutely no way that there are 2/3rds majorities in both houses to destroy the marriage rights of fellow U.S. citizens in the 6 states (and District of Columbia) where it is now legal.

This is really about Rick Santorum trying to burnish his heterosexual supremacist credentials with Iowa Republican caucus-goers. There is no way that he would ever be in the position to be able to enact his theocratic version of law into reality.

SCOTUS Aiming To Be Factor In 2012 Elections

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced some decisions recently which indicate that they will be a major factor in the 2012 presidential election. They announced they would decide three politically fraught cases: the constitutionality of the health care reform law, the constitutionality of Texas's congressional redistricting map and the constitutionality of Arizona's wildly xenophobic immigration law SB-1070.

Obama Declares "Beginning Of the End To AIDS"

President Barack Obama spoke at an event today marking the World AIDS Day with President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton in attendance where he declared the "Beginning of the End to AIDS."

Below is a snippet of the speech (thanks to Joe.My.God)



Here is the full text of his speech:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                           December 1, 2011

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

ON WORLD AIDS DAY

George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

10:27 A.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you, Sanjay.  It is an honor to be with you today and to follow President Kikwete and President Bush.  To Bono and Alicia, to the ONE campaign, thank you for bringing us together.  Because of your work, all across Africa there are children who are no longer starving, mothers who are no longer dying of treatable diseases, fathers who are again providing for their families.  And because of all of you, so many people are now blessed with hope.

We’ve got members of Congress who have done so much for this cause who are here today, and we want to thank them.  Let me also thank President Bush for joining us from Tanzania and for his bold leadership on this issue.  I believe that history will record the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as one of his greatest legacies.  And that program -- more ambitious than even the leading advocates thought was possible at the time -- has saved thousands and thousands and thousands of lives, and spurred international action, and laid the foundation for a comprehensive global plan that will impact the lives of millions.  And we are proud that we have the opportunity to carry that work forward.

Today is a remarkable day.  Today, we come together as a global community, across continents, across faiths and cultures, to renew our commitment to ending the AIDS pandemic once and for all.

Now, if you go back and you look at the themes of past World AIDS Days, if you read them one after another, you’ll see the story of how the human race has confronted one of the most devastating pandemics in our history.  You’ll see that in those early years -- when we started losing good men and women to a disease that no one truly understood -- it was about ringing the alarm, calling for global action, proving that this deadly disease was not isolated to one area or one group of people.

And that’s part of what makes today so remarkable, because back in those early years, few could have imagined this day -- that we would be looking ahead to “The Beginning of the End,” marking a World AIDS Day that has gone from that early beginning when people were still uncertain to now a theme, “Getting to Zero.”  Few could have imagined that we’d be talking about the real possibility of an AIDS-free generation.  But that’s what we’re talking about.  That’s why we’re here.  And we arrived here because of all of you and your unwavering belief that we can -- and we will -- beat this disease.

Because we invested in anti-retroviral treatment, people who would have died, some of whom are here today, are living full and vibrant lives.  Because we developed new tools, more and more mothers are giving birth to children free from this disease.  And because of a persistent focus on awareness, the global rate of new infections and deaths is declining.

     So make no mistake, we are going to win this fight.  But the fight is not over -- not by a long shot.  The rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but it’s not going down here in America.  The infection rate here has been holding steady for over a decade.  There are communities in this country being devastated, still, by this disease. 

     When new infections among young black gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in 3 years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter.  When Latinos are dying sooner than other groups, and when black women feel forgotten, even though they account for most of the new cases among women, then we’ve got to do more.

     So this fight is not over.  Not for the 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV right now.  Not for the Americans who are infected every day.  This fight is not over for them, it’s not over for their families, and as a consequence, it can’t be over for anybody in this room -- and it certainly isn’t over for your President.

     Since I took office, we’ve had a robust national dialogue on HIV/AIDS.  Members of my administration have fanned out across the country to meet people living with HIV; to meet researchers, faith leaders, medical providers and private sector partners.  We’ve spoken to over 4,000 people.  And out of all those conversations, we drafted a new plan to combat this disease.  Last year, we released that plan -- a first-ever national HIV/AIDS strategy.

     We went back to basics:  prevention, treatment and focusing our efforts where the need is greatest.  And we laid out a vision where every American, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic status, can get access to life-extending care.

And I want to be clear about something else:  Since taking office, we’ve increased overall funding to combat HIV/AIDS to record levels.  With bipartisan support, we reauthorized the Ryan White Care Act.  And as I signed that bill, I was so proud to also announce that my administration was ending the ban that prohibited people with HIV from entering America.  (Applause.)  Because of that step, next year, for the first time in two decades, we will host the international AIDS conference.  (Applause.)

So we’ve done a lot over the past three years, but we can do so much more.  Today, I’m announcing some new commitments.  We’re committing an additional $15 million for the Ryan White Program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country.  We want to keep those doors open so they can keep saving lives.  We’re committing an additional $35 million for state AIDS-drug assistance programs. 

The federal government can’t do this alone, so I’m also calling on stategovernments, and pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments.

This is a global fight, and it’s one that America must continue to lead.  Looking back at the history of HIV/AIDS, you’ll see that no other country has done more than this country, and that’s testament to our leadership as a country.  But we can’t be complacent. 

I think this is an area where we can also look back and take pride that both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have consistently come together to fund this fight -- not just here, but around the world.  And that’s a testament to the values that we share as Americans; a commitment that extends across party lines, that’s demonstrated by the fact that President Bush, President Clinton and I are joining you all today.

Since I took office, we’ve increased support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  We’ve launched a Global Health Initiative that has improved access to health care, helping bring down the cost of vaccines, and over the next five years, will help save the lives of 4 million more children.  And all along, we kept focusing on expanding our impact.

Today, I’m proud to announce that as of September, the United States now supports anti-retroviral treatment for nearly 4 million people worldwide.  (Applause.)  Four million people.  And in just the past year, we’ve provided 600,000 HIV-positive mothers with access to drugs so that 200,000 babies could be born HIV-free.  (Applause.)  And nearly 13 million people have received care and treatment, including more than 4 million children.  So we’ve got some stuff to be proud of.

But we’ve got to do more.  We’re achieving these results not by acting alone, but by partnering with developing countries like Tanzania, and with leaders like President Kikwete.

Now, as we go forward, we’ve got to keep refining our strategy so that we’re saving as many lives as possible.  We need to listen when the scientific community focuses on prevention.  That’s why, as a matter of policy, we’re now investing in what works -- from medical procedures to promoting healthy behavior. 

And that’s why we’re setting a goal of providing anti-retroviral drugs to more than 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women over the next two years so that they have the chance to give birth to HIV-free babies.

We’re not going to stop there. We know that treatment is also prevention.  And today, we’re setting a new target of helping 6 million people get treatment by the end of 2013.  (Applause.)  That’s 2 million more people than our original goal.

And on this World AIDS Day, here’s my message to everybody who is out there:

To the global community -- we ask you to join us.  Countries that have committed to the Global Fund need to give the money that they promised.  (Applause.)  Countries that haven’t made a pledge, they need to do so.  (Applause.)  That includes countries that in the past might have been recipients, but now are in a position to step up as major donors.  China and other major economies are in a position now to transition in a way that can help more people.  

To Congress -- keep working together and keep the commitments you’ve made intact.  At a time when so much in Washington divides us, the fight against this disease has united us across parties and across presidents.  And it shows that we can do big things when Republicans and Democrats put their common humanity before politics.  So we need to carry that spirit forward.

And to all Americans -- we’ve got to keep fighting.  Fight for every person who needs our help today, but also fight for every person who didn’t live to see this moment; for the Rock Hudsons and the Arthur Ashes, and every person who woke us up to the reality of HIV/AIDS.  We’ve got to fight for Ryan White and his mother Jeanne, and the Ray brothers, and every person who forced us to confront our destructive prejudices and our misguided fears.  Fight for Magic Johnson and Mary Fisher, and every man, woman and child, who, when told they were going to die from this disease, they said, “No, we’re not.  We’re going to live.”

Keep fighting for all of them because we can end this pandemic.  We can beat this disease.  We can win this fight.  We just have to keep at it, steady, persistent -- today, tomorrow, every day until we get to zero.  And as long as I have the honor of being your President, that’s what this administration is going to keep doing.  That’s my pledge.  That’s my commitment to all of you.  And that’s got to be our promise to each other -- because we’ve come so far and we’ve saved so many lives, we might as well finish the fight.

Thank you for all you’ve done.  God bless you.  God bless America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END                10:41 A.M. EST

WATCH: Mitt Romney Will Say Anything To Get Elected

Godless Wednesday: Americans' Discomfort With Atheist President

The Friendly Atheist has a great post up today discussing the new poll results from the Public Religion Research Institute which demonstrate that Americans would be more uncomfortable with an atheist President than a Mormon President or a Muslim President!

Friendly Atheist takes a closer look at the graphic above and provides the following analysis:

67% of all voters would feel somewhat or very uncomfortable with an atheist president.80% of all Republicans, 70% of Democrats, and 56% of all Independents feel the same.So Democrats would be more uncomfortable with an atheist president than a Muslim president.
Republicans — not surprisingly, a higher proportion of them than Democrats — would be equally uncomfortable with both an atheist president and a Muslim president.
Overall, though, a non-theistic presidential candidate has a bigger hurdle to overcome than a person of any faith at all. It’s unbelievable that in this day and age, America still has this much of a hangup over a leader who would put more weight in evidence and logical thinking than in an imaginary god and ancient books.

Hear, hear! Friendly Atheist also notes that 31% of Americans would be somewhat or very comfortable with an atheist president while 33% of Americans would be somewhat or very comfortable with a Muslim president.

His suggestion to change these numbers is to encourage more people (and people who run for office) to come clean about their lack of faith and their belief in free-thinking instead of wishful thinking.

This is my first post in what is hopefully going to be a weekly series focusing on atheism and agnosticism and the foibles and failures of faith. I'd love to hear feedback from readers about Godless Wednesdays. Suggestions for a better title would be welcomed!

OBAMA 2012: "What If?"

Another Promise Kept: Obama Ends Iraq War

Obama Well Ahead Of Rivals In 2012 Money Race

It should also be noted that these amounts shown here raised by the 2012 presidential candidates do not include the nearly $28 million more President Obama raised that went directly to the Democratic National Committee. None of the money raised by the Republican candidates is going to the Republican National Committee. In the previous quarter, President Obama raised a record $86 million ($47 for his own campaign and $38 million for the DNC).

Joe.My.God posted the numbers shown above before the Bachmann and Gingrich campaigns had filed their reports.

Herman Cain Leads Latest NBC Poll

Black Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is now leading the polls for the Republican nomination, breaking out of the single digit pack.

Cain also leads putative frontrunner Mitt Romney in recent polls in Florida, South Carolina, and Iowa..  Surely, a Black man could never be elected President of the United States, right?

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

WATCH: Obama Addresses HRC Dinner

Herman Cain Wins FL Straw Poll

Wowsa! Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder in the Republican presidential nominating contest, comes  this:

Herman Cain: 37.11%
Rick Perry: 15.43%
Mitt Romney: 14.00%
Rick Santorum: 10.88%
Ron Paul: 10.39%
Newt Gingrich: 8.43%
Jon Huntsman: 2.26%
Michele Bachmann: 1.51%

Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's pizza and only person of color in the crowded Republican field, placed first in the Florida straw poll. Michele Bachmann, a notable homophobe, placed dead last, with stupid AND homophobic Rick Santorum placing 4th, behind Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Interesting!

White House Statement on DADT Repeal

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 20, 2011

Statement by the President on the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Today, the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is finally and formally repealed.  As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love.  As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.

I was proud to sign the Repeal Act into law last December because I knew that it would enhance our national security, increase our military readiness, and bring us closer to the principles of equality and fairness that define us as Americans.  Today’s achievement is a tribute to all the patriots who fought and marched for change; to Members of Congress, from both parties, who voted for repeal; to our civilian and military leaders who ensured a smooth transition; and to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who showed that they were ready to move forward together, as one team, to meet the missions we ask of them. 

For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America’s promise to all our citizens.  Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans.  Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation’s founding ideals.

###

DADT Ends Today!

The United States Army published the above letter (reproduced above) which announces the welcoming of all soldiers regardless of sexual orientation into the Armed Forces, i.e. the end of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

The letter begins:

Today marks the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The law is repealed. From this day forward, gay and lesbian Soldiers may serve in our Army with the dignity and respect they deserve. Our rules, regulations and policies reflect the repeal guidance issued by the Department of Defense  and will apply uniformly without regard to sexual orientation, which is a personal and private matter.

The letter was signed by John McHugh, Secretary of the Army, General Ray Odierno, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and Raymond F. Chandler III, Sergeant Major of the Army. The end of the policy goes into effect at 12:01am on September 20, 2011. It went into effect on December 21, 1993.

Michele Bachmann's Newsweek Cover

This is why they call her "Crazy Eyes." Here are the out-takes that Newsweek considered.

UPDATE 08/10/2011 8:37AM:
Another reason they call her crazy is her endorsement of people who say crazy things like "Slavery, as it operated in the pervasively Christian society which was the old South, was not an adversarial relationship founded on racial animosity. In fact, it bred on the whole, not contempt, but, over time, mutual respect."

CA Joins Plan To Kill Electoral College

This is excellent news! Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill to add California's 55 electoral votes to an interstate compact which says that the state's electoral votes will only go for the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Once states with 270 electoral votes have enacted this legislation, it would effectively make the electoral college irrelevant.

This would have the effect of making every vote of every person in the country have
equal weight, since each vote equally affects the outcome of
the national popular vote, which would determine the winner of
the presidential election.

With California's addition, there are now states with 132 electoral
votes in the interstate compact, about half-way to the needed total of 270.
Anything which makes sure we never have another Bush v Gore situation I am in favor of!