Maine Restores Same-Day Voter Registration

Image from source, Raw Story

Okay, so is the good news for Democrats in this off-year election just the pendulum swinging back after 2010, or is it a reaction to Republican overreach? Or does one follow from the other? Anyway, given all of the attempts to restrict various voting rights around the country, it's nice to see one that got undone.

Sidebar: I hope one of Herman Cain's accusers comes from Maine, just to set up the joke, "Bangor? I hardly knew her!"

[Excerpt]

Maine voters restore same-day voter registration


The citizens of Maine on Tuesday repealed a recently passed law requiring voters to enroll at least two days before an election.

With more than three-quarters of the state’s precincts reporting, 60 percent of voters had rejected the law, according to the Bangor Daily News. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Gov. LePage (R-Maine), MLK Day and Racial Politics

Image from source, Think Progress.
Are all Republicans turning
into turtles?

There are times when I blog about things I deeply care about, some times when I find something that is merely entertaining or amusing, and other times when I post something just because the photo struck me funny. While I'm sure this Governor LePage guy worthy of scorn, and is probably a real piece of work, I'm merely amused by his photo. It would appear that the man is either doing an impression, or actually turning into Senator Mitch McConnell!

[Excerpt]

LePage Relents, Attends MLK Day Event After Refusing NAACP Invites And Telling Them To ‘Kiss My Butt’

As ThinkProgress reported Friday, Maine’s tea party-backed Gov. Paul LePage (R) declined invitations from the NAACP to attend events honoring Martin Luther King Day today because he said he had prior commitments. When LePage was criticized for skipping the events, he fired back, saying, “I am not going to beheld hostage by a special interest group,” and telling the civil rights group to “kiss my butt. . .”

Read more at: Think Progress

Same-sex Marriage Approval by State and Age

The defeat in Maine came as a real bummer for same-sex supporters. Though state votes on the matter were 0-30, we still held out hope, but it was not to be. I hold the position that civil rights should never even be up for a popular vote, and I really wish there was more effort given to that argument.

Same-sex marriage supporters are soldiering on, attempting to get states like New York and New Jersey on board. But opponents are revved-up by their "victory" in Maine, and aim to undo all of the success that was obtained last year. The silver lining in this busybody, religion-driven dark cloud is age. As opponents age and ultimately die off, they will be supplanted by today's younger voters. And younger voters don't seem to give a hoot if I'm married to The Other Half (thanks, kids!). It looks like this thing is just a matter of time.

Source: Newsweek

A Response to Maine's Question 1 on Same-sex Marriage

Okay, I usually don't put harsh language on my "front page." If I have something racy, naughty or in bad taste, I'll stick it "below the fold" with a warning and a link. But you know what? This couldn't be worded better, and its message would be lost if I blurred out a couple of "offensive" words. What happened to gay people in Maine on Tuesday (and to the people of 30 other states since 2000) is offensive. The majority voting against the rights--in this case rights already obtained--of the minority, is fundamentally un-American. So screw propriety.

Source: http://twitpic.com/o94bu

Election Results: My Take

Okay, the big question brewing already is, were the results of last night's elections a "referendum" on President Obama? My take? Not exactly.

What we have here is a rinky-dinky little off-year election. But we all were so invested in 2008, some of us still have a bit of the bug. Gays were also especially invested because of anti-gay ballot issues in Maine and Washington. Republicans and/or conservatives are all still a little bruised by 2008, and also energized by all the 9/12er, tea bagger, Glenn Beckian nuttiness, and desperately wanted a change in their fortunes.

So did it happen? Sorta. And also kinda not. In Virginia, a Republican took the Governor slot, something that was long predicted. Bob McDonnell, the guy who won seems like kind of a creep to me, but apparently the Democrat was a weak candidate, and Virginia has a history of putting the opposite party to the President in power. Whatever. In New Jersey, Gov. Jon Corzine, the Democratic incumbent, was fairly unpopular. There was also a third-party contestant. As I type this, the winner, Chris Christie has been getting some intense coverage on FOX "News," so they must be scoring it as a big win for their side.

Perhaps the biggest news, at least among office races, was the upset in New York's 23rd district. It's a district that has gone for a Republican for like 120 years. But the Beckians and the Palinites threw out the Republican there, and installed a "Conservative Party" carpetbagging candidate named Doug Hoffman. Dick Armey called the move the tip of the spearhead of a plan to do this around the country in 2012. But they lost. Boo-hoo.

The other big news is of course, the anti-gay measures. In Maine, after the legislature approved same-sex marriage, a ballot measure was offered up to reject it. And, by all appearances at this writing, it passed. It was tight, but it passed. In Washington, there was almost an identical situation, except there it was an "everything but marriage" measure that was to be voted on. But it looks like (again, it's not 100% yet) it passed. Again, slim margin, but to the good side!

So yeah, I'm bummed by Maine. I still think this sort of human rights issue shouldn't be up for popular vote in the first place. But at least it wasn't a constitutional amendment, and it can always be tried again. The margins get slimmer all the time.

Election Day 2009: Maine and Washington

Today is an election day in some parts of the country, though not in my home state of Nevada. The two big election states in my radar are in Maine and Washington state. In those two states there are gay rights referendums on the ballot. And though I've been remiss in reporting on those two issues, I'm writing this in a last ditch effort to sway the one or two people who might happen upon this post.

In Washington, they're trying to take away domestic partnership rights for gay people. And in Maine, they're trying to invalidate marriage rights for gay people that have already been gained. The results in these sorts of elections are abysmal for the gay side. I think we're 0-for all, actually. But the main point here for me is, should rights even be up for a popular vote in the first place? I think not. If they were, most of the rights obtained for minorities and women would never have been obtained in the first place.

Many anti-gay marriage arguments allege that if only we didn't call it "marriage," there wouldn't be a problem. This is belied by the fact that in Washington the issue isn't marriage, but domestic partnership rights. This proves--to me at least--that a dictionary definition really isn't the issue. Stomping on the neck of gay people (mostly in the name of religion, which shouldn't enter into law in the first place) is the issue.

I just want to pose the hypothetical scenario to anyone in those states (or elsewhere) sitting on the fence. Suppose that I was of a religion that found your personal relationship abhorrent. For whatever reason. Imagine that I found enough people to put it on a resolution that your relationship was unworthy--in fact abominable--of any sort of legal recognition. Further suppose that we were capable of voting your rights away. Exactly how would that make you feel? And would you think that other voters had any right to make such a decision in the first place?

Jon Stewart's Gaywatch

I meant to post this Daily Show with Jon Stewart clip earlier, but was reminded while purusing Joe.My.God's blog. So, here you go!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Marion Barry
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Maine the Latest State to Allow Same-sex Marriage

Image from source, Yahoo! News

What is the metaphor for a slow avalanche? The progress made in the United States for legal same-sex marriage is sort of like that. On the other hand, politically speaking, it is actually happening pretty fast. Already this spring, we've seen Vermont, Iowa and Connecticut join Massachusetts as states allowing same-sex partners to marry. Add to that tally Maine, which just legalized it today. New Hampshire is possibly next, and legal marriages in the above states will also now be recognized--if not performed--in Washington D.C.

After all of this, if California upholds Proposition 8--or worse, does that and negates the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed there last year--they are going to look like they're on the wrong side of history.

[Excerpt]

Maine becomes 5th state to allow same-sex marriage

Maine's governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News

Gay Marriage Snowballing

This is all so weird. Last year, when the right to same-sex marriage was granted by the California Supreme Court, it was something of an anomaly. The only state to that point to legalize such marriages was Massachusetts. The Other Half and I decided to strike while the iron was hot, and got married in Palm Springs in June. We figured, better do it before they took the chance away.

Since then, California voted to overturn the decision, throwing the validity of our marriage into dispute. A decision by the California Supremes is still forthcoming. But in the mean time, same-sex marriage has become legal in Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. Progress has been made in New Hampshire, Maine and New York. Washington D.C. has decided to allow marriages performed in states where it has been made legal. Hate crimes legislation is on its way to being expanded to cover gay people. There is a virtual tidal wave of change as it pertains to gay rights. It's all a little overwhelming. And California has still not come to a decision.

After all that has happened since, California's outcome may come as a bit of an anti-climax. Here's just a few of the most current developments. . .

[Excerpt]

Strange Bedfellows

. . .The cause of same-sex marriage has made big strides in recent weeks.

The Iowa Supreme Court has legalized gay marriage in the Hawkeye State. The Vermont Legislature not only approved same-sex marriage, but overrode a gubernatorial veto.
The New Hampshire Legislature has just voted to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2004, by contrast, 21 states passed initiative or referendum measures defining marriage as between a man and a woman. . .

Read more at: Seattlepi.com

[Excerpt]

Maine Senate Backs Gay-Marriage Bill

The Maine Senate gave two nods of approval to a bill to legalize gay marriage after extended and emotional debate Thursday.

The measure now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration next week, and then back to the Senate for a third, and perhaps final, vote. . .

Read more at: Wall Street Journal

[Excerpt]

Gay marriage bill passes in N.H. Senate

The New Hampshire Senate voted yesterday to allow same-sex couples to marry, setting the state in motion to become the fifth in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. . .

Read more at: Boston.com

John McCain Speaks! And Not Very Well. . .

It's not quite a Sarah Palin interview, but a local news reporter from WCSH in Portland, Maine asked John McCain some pretty pointed questions. In my opinion, McCain didn't come off too well. He tried to change the subject with very little skill. He practically admitted that Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience or awareness. But mostly, he comes off very, very old.

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