Mercury and Venus Over Paris. Violet is off in some far far away galaxy. Me, I prefer the Ile de Cite in Spring thank your very much! Click on the photo for more pictures of the day from NASA. Today's shot is the Belt of Venus over the Valley of the Moon in California. Such beauty in the world should be appreciated.

I’m not actually with her in person. Just in spirit. For some perspective, check out NASA’s photo of the day. Now THAT’s the kind of work I like to see my tax dollars doing. I just absolutely LOVE the National Aeronautical and Space Administration.

Tiger Woods didn’t win the Masters. Yay!

Train passengers in Italy were suffocated by mud. Shudder.

obama pulls his support for a hyper-competent woman for an important job, even though there were 60 solid votes for her nomination. Jackass.

Hillary gives a warning. Watch out!

On the Pumasphere blogs, Puma Eyes has a funny video; Uppity’s out for pirate blood; and Cinie makes good on her threat to make sense.

What’s on your mind this Monday, Pumas? Post links to what you’re reading or what you’re NOT reading.

Update for anyone who’s interested: I’m almost done with the porch. Perhaps if I set a deadline of posting a pic of the finished product by this evening then I’ll actually get it done. Promises, promises.

Have a great day!

MSNB(for Barack!)C is “Shocked, I tell you!” to learn that obama is as subject to the force of gravity as the rest of us. Sorry Mika! Here, have a cupcake; it will make you feel a lot better!.

** PROWL **

The median salary for a flight attendant in the United States is $55,000 a year. A typical flight attendant can expect to also pay about $7,000 a year out of her paycheck to buy health insurance for herself and her family. (and it will probably be craptacular health insurance at that, but I digress.)

The salary for a United States Senator is $174,000 a year. A United States Senator can expect to pay about $3,000 a year out of his paycheck to buy Federal health insurance for himself and his family. (and it is FABULOUS health insurance coverage at that.)

Charles Schumer is far from the richest member of Congress, but he’s still worth somewhere between $400k and $1,000,000. A lot more than your average flight attendant. So when Senator Charles Schumer calls a flight attendant a bitch for doing her job, that makes him a Class “A” JACKASS.

Let him know by contacting his office today. Copy and paste the message below and paste it into an email to Senator Jackass HERE (use this address on the web form: 60 Madison Avenue, Suite 1026 New York, NY 10010): http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm

Dear Senator Schumer,

You may think you’re better than a lowly flight attendant who’s simply doing her job, but calling her a Bitch, makes YOU a Jackass!

Wake up — Americans are paying attention to the United States Senate, and we are REALLY LOOKING forward to seeing you ALL on the Unemployment Line with the rest of us peons ASAP!

Sincerely,

Your Name
Puma PAC Member

http://pumapac.org

**

In other news, via Nicholas Kristof, an excerpt from a new speech by Jimmy Carter.

“The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views and set a new course that demands equal rights for women and men, girls and boys.”

What an odd phenomenon to watch these prominent men (like Kristof and Carter) who seem to be singly focused on ending, or at least protesting, women’s oppression. Remember Carter’s break from his church last summer? And Kristof appears to be genuinely devoted to this one cause. How unusual for a man, or men, to take on this issue on its own, and not as part of some other supposedly “larger” or more “universal” goal (like pacifism, or climate change, or HIV prevention). Far be it from me to spend more than a sentence or two praising their efforts, but I WILL note that they may be actually unique in the history of man(and I do mean MAN)kind.

In other news, I never fail to be mortified by the AWESOME BLOGS I forget to put in the blogroll. I know roofingbird as a sometimes commenter at The Confluence. I should have known by the brilliance, insight, and compassion of her comments that she is also a top notch blogger. Dang.

Also great are: Puma Eyes (that’s Puma -SF), lightpond, and  AfroCity Brown. Check them out. And do your Prowl. It’s good for you, like vegetables. And exercise.

Skipper casts her first vote for a woman in the Massachusetts Senate primary this morning.

Every few weeks, whether by design because it gets damn difficult to write thoughtful commentary once a day or more, or by accident because it’s, well it’s damn difficult to write thoughtful commentary once a day or more and sometimes we repeat ourselves, someone in the Puma/Disenfranchised Dems/Under-the-Bus-Liberals camp writes a blog post about the death of Puma, or the need for a NEW movement, brand (a term I loathe in this context, by the way), conference, committee, organization or SOMETHING to make everything all better and finally be THE “change” we’ve all been waiting for.

It’s enough to make a person just want to stay in bed and give up on the whole idea of being part of or trying to direct in even a small way an ACTUAL grassroots (messy, disorganized,un-or-hopelessly-under-funded, happening all at once with very little or no structure and absolutely no PREPLANNED structure for goodness sakes (the grass doesn’t grow according to an ORG CHART or by following the dictates of a TO DO list generated by a brainstorming session; the grass just GROWS.) ) movement to counteract the venality, the corporate ownership, the divisive lies, and the relentless misogyny of American national politics.

To borrow a metaphor from Twisty, I wasted WAAAY too much time yesterday on the event horizon of a Misanthropy Black Hole (and yes i DO mean that in a man-hating way) HERE.

The mug-shots remind me of August Sanders’ masterpiece: People of the 20th Century, but better because they are a deconstructed 20-FIRST Century masterpiece: The images keep updating and making themselves new in a not-quite unique way, like waves mindlessly beating themselves upon the shore, the same but different the same but different the same but different over and over and over again, except once in a while holy ficking smokes, run for your life.

Certain French feminists of the 20th century claimed that women write in White Ink or Mother’s Milk or Invisible Ink or what have you; that our authorial existence, what we say and do, is some sort of Zen Not Exactly Being In a Unique and Memorializable Way. Our words, thoughts, writings, are like waves beating mindlessly on the sand, the same but different the same but different, consensual, colloquial, concordant, and, above all, contributing to nameless sisterhood and faceless justice.

Please. The lord knows I love France, but what a bunch of hogwash. But, I digress.

And the torpor bogs down even deeper. Posts about process lead to very intelligent, on-point, often thoughtful, sometimes even very witty debates about VERY fine points.

I tune out.

But then, lo Tuesday morning breaks sunny and cold and it’s Election Day in Massachusetts. My third grader and I pull into Town Hall to vote for the first woman Senator from Massachusetts. Skipper is wearing a pink sweatshirt by chance. The ballot is pink. She marks a big “X” next to Martha Coakley’s name and I snap her picture.

I think as we drive back home that Martha Coakley will win and she’ll be the first woman senator from Massachusetts, and Skipper will be able to vote for her first re-election, and she will REMEMBER this morning. She will remember that it MATTERED. Something about this morning will stick in her head that says: Vote for a woman not because SHE is a woman but because YOU are, to paraphrase Robin Morgan.

And then, to make things even better Violet Socks has a clip from Shannon Drury, the president of Montana NOW,

“I am OVER compromise. I am DONE with bipartisanship. I will NO LONGER be told I have to take my health care medicine like a good little girl.”

and, how did I miss this?!? from Cathy and the Pumas:

I dutifully cast my vote for Hillary in the DFL caucuses, one of very few people to do so in my madly, wildly liberal south Minneapolis neighborhood. Barack Obama put a twinkle in even the most hardened pinko’s eye, it seemed. Come June, when Obama officially sewed up the nomination, I felt a little bad for my pantsuited sister, but I wasn’t terribly disappointed. I liked this “hope” and “change” stuff, too. I really liked it! Hell, yeah! It felt great to be a LIBERAL in my country again!

I found it a little weird that the National NOW PAC decided to give Obama-Biden their official endorsement, but I accepted the argument that they had to come out swinging against the lipsticky lady from Alaska who, while admirably female, remained staunchly pro-life.

But a lot of women didn’t like that. They didn’t like the NOW endorsement, for they didn’t like the way Obama treated Clinton in the endorsement race. They were outraged by her treatment in the press. Worst of all, they didn’t like being told that they had to silence their concerns for the good of the Democratic party. How did they respond?

Party Unity, My Ass!

Oh, how the PUMAs were mocked. They were vilified as a bunch of old gals who didn’t understand this too-cool third wave that was washing them to sea. They roared back, growling that we young cubs didn’t know half the shit they went through back in the day–because of them, I was recognized by my own name and not Mrs. Matthew, among other things. The PUMAs were fed up with the “post-feminist” generation, these ladies, women, and girls who acted like being able NOT to choose a woman candidate was a good thing.

Then we all got Stupaked.

And riverdaughter lays it out real good this morning as well.

The torpor lifts.

Elinor Ostrom, 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

What’s on everyone’s mind? Health care? Deflation? The fact that Al Franken did something very good for women in America? Excitement about the first woman winning the Nobel Prize in Economics? (Her main area of study is actually quite fascinating and acessible — it’s about how people use common resources (like fishing ponds and grazing meadows). It ties in very neatly with feminist social critique. . .

Please bear with me as the site undergoes changes — some of them by choice, others by circumstances beyond my control (as in traffic is waay up and Wordpress is pretty buggy, leading to problem days like today). 

p.s. While you’re being patient with me, you might as well read pretty much everything Uppity Woman’s been writing recently. It’s real good.

SUCCESS SEEMS LARGELY TO BE A MATTER OF HANGING ON AFTER OTHERS HAVE LET GO.

It’s not easy being a Puma this month. This is like Mile 9 in a marathon — we’ve come a LOOONG way but there is still so far to go; we’re not halfway there yet; and the possibility we might not make it to the finish line is very real.

Riverdaughter has gone from listening to econ podcasts to watching pretty girls expertly apply makeup to help her get to sleep at night. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I hate the feeling of makeup on my skin, but living with a skilled painter who learned how to transform her face with a makeup brush when she was all of four years old, I understand how fun and even subversive it can be to temporarily change your face.

Also, I totally understand her need to disengage somewhat, whether temporarily or not. I love to read her posts, so I hope she doesn’t go into permanent hibernation with her headphones and her mascara wand.

Speaking of writers I love to read, Uppity reminds us that today is Rapture Day! Have a great time, wherever it is you’re going you crazy cats who are going to disappear into thin air today, leaving us behind to fight the monstrous beasts with our bloodied bare hands. Also, Egalia at TGW gives us a sneak peek at Joan Allen playing Georgia O’Keefe.

Joe Cannon points out the hypocrisy of most of the liberal establishment with regard to their support of obama’s health insurance mandates:

“Of course, during the primaries, the Obots demonized Hillary when she suggested mandates, even though she had no enforcement mechanism. (The currently-discussed plans do.) From the Medical News of February, 2008:

The Obama campaign last week distributed a mailer that said, “Hillary’s health care plan forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can’t afford it … and you pay a penalty if you don’t” (New York Times, 2/4).

Why, that’s…that’s...awful! 

Just for fun, let’s sample the kinds of things progs were saying back then. Here are some HuffPo commenters in April of 2008:”

Now only if Clinton can start pull magic rabbit out of her huge rump and win the nod. Then she can start criminalizing the working poor maybe have Halliburton build forced labor camps to help Clinton’s corporate over lords.

Humph. Speaking of B.S., looks like some people are finding out that when you alienate everyone in your lifeboat you’ll soon find yourself all alone, up shit’s creek without a paddle. Or something like that. Anyways, you’ll soon realize that unity is waay better than divisiveness. 

Quick! Everybody stamp your foot and stick your tongue out at everybody else and scream, “I’m right and  you’re wrong!!” There, now that we’ve got that out of our systems, don’t you just feel a whole lot better?

Bad news abounds. I hear of new illnesses, turns for the worse, and sudden deaths every day it seems. Advice for the day and the week: TAKE IT EASY. On yourself and on everyone else.

Cinie hates everything and everyone, but I like her a lot.

Which reminds me, I wish Persephone would get back home soon, but on the other hand I don’t want her vacation in Paradise to end.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a pretty damn good book, but I don’t think I’m going to buy the sequel.

Which reminds me, I’m glad the porn and drug spam has slowed to a trickle, for my own mental health as well as DWP’s. If you have a blog, you know what I’m talking about. If not, be glad you don’t have a blog.

If you could know the answer to ONE unknowable question, what would it be? I would want to know what it feels like just before you die.

For less depressing, but still imponderable, questions, click HERE.

And here’s a Happy Song:

(h/t stephen mather)

Iowa steaks, burgers, pork and all manner of good things carnivorous on the menu tonight, not to mention fresh, organic veggies, cold beer and MOJITOS mixed up by FLBarbara and Dragonfly just for us! Simofish is justly proud of her work in the backyard and has invited all Pumas over to her and the Mrs.’ place tonight. I can personally attest to their gracious and exuberant hospitality, AND the stupendousness of the Mrs.’ cooking, so a good time is sure to be had by all!

Another thing Simo has to be proud and happy about is that as part of her job she is in charge of awarding college scholarships to LGBT high school students. She mentioned it in comments late last night, but I didn’t get a chance to give her a “Hell, yeah Sister” then so, “Hell Yeah, Sister Simofish!”

And, in addition to the scrumptious offerings on the table, here’s some of the other kind of food — food for thought — to chew on tonight as the buzz builds. I was commenting today on THIS intriguing thread over at Cinie’s place and I think we can and should talk more about the many issues Cinie brought up. 

I continue to stand by and promote my definition that Feminism is the human experience as lived by women, and that therefore ALL women and girls are feminists — simply by virtue of being born as girls. So my views are borne from that premise. It leads me to very interesting (to me at least LOL!) questions and conundrums, such as:

Imagine if fully 40% of African Americans either didn’t support or were actively and vocally opposed to the Civil Rights Movement? (I’m not talking about the universal Civil Rights Movement, which dances pointed out many African Americans are NOT supportive of (i.e. their support of Prop Hate and their unwillingness to expand the definition of “civil rights” to include lesbians and gay men)).

I’m talking about the classic, old-school anti-racism, full equality and opportunities for black people Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. and their descendents. What if fully 40% of African-Americans were opposed to THAT Civil Rights Movement?

What would that mean for the Movement? Would it be forced to rethink its premises? Would it be obviously and automatically de-legitimized? 

Another thought that I chew on is related to Justice Bader Ginsburg’s view that “There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that had changed their abortion laws before Roe [to make abortion legal] are not going to change back. So we have a policy that affects only poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don’t know why this hasn’t been said more often.’”

How vulnerable is the movement for women’s full political freedom in this country to being divided along economic lines? Will women work to defeat an injustice that only affects poor women, especially if many of those poor women are self-described pro-lifers?

Hmmmm . . . . 

LOTS to think about. I need another mojito. 

And we ALL need some dancing music for the end of a LOONG week!

Good takes on Palin’s announcement HERE and HERE. See, BOIZ, you really CAN write about Sarah Palin, even if you dislike her politics, without using sexism or misgyny. Martin does a good job and Greta is always excellent. I think Greta had absolutely NOTHING to apologize for to that jackass Greg Jarrett on Fox News and should take her mea culpa back. And it’s so encouraging to see that Greta is on a hair-trigger toward media types willing to use sexism against public women. Even if Greta DID jump the gun on Jarrett, big deal. Let that be a warning shot: Just STOP with the never-ending Palin Derangement Syndrome and sexist onslaught. Just stop. I plan to link to Greta every damn day to show my appreciation to a mainstream journalist who is trying to put her foot down consistently and adamantly. Go Greta!

Riverdaughter is the first Puma to the keyboards with a cogent and responsible reaction to the Palin announcement:

“Now there is  a woman who has the potential to split this huge potential voting bloc of women.  The “Creative Class” has ditched millions of women whose votes are now up for grabs.  The Democratic party has turned its back on union women, poor women, vocational women, older women, retired women, women with health problems.  These women were reduced to non-persons who weren’t entitled to participate in their own government.  They were degraded, demoralized, dehumanized by their own party.  And here comes Sarah Palin, ready, willing and able to scoop them up in a third party run if she wants it.  She can distance herself from the Republicans and run as an independent if she chooses.  If she’s as tough as I think she is, she might be the crusader who takes on the media and beats them at their game.  I’ll be behind her 110% if she decides to do that.  I don’t have to vote for her in order to support her efforts against the media, something the so-called Naomi Wolf feminists should have been doing last year.”

SARAH PALIN ALL ALONE IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE

I’m taking it a step further. If Sarah Palin runs for President as an Independent I will not only vote for her, I will WORK my ass off for her. The ONLY thing that could stop me from supporting Palin is if she goes hard right and embraces a truly misogynistic platform. HP and Pers and I saw “The Stoning of Soroya M.” yesterday. Face it women, there are MILLIONS of women and girls in the world right now, today, (this very moment while we celebrate our freedom and independence as full American citizens), who are ENSLAVED in horrible and horrifying conditions. Persephone shared some ideas over vodka cocktails after the film about ways we can fight this slavery but I can’t talk about them on the blog. Stay tuned for more info.

In her upcoming speeches and books Palin has to make it clear to us she will champion the freedom and rights of ALL American women. I want to hear more about her support of contraception in the public schools (yes, BOIZ, Palin SUPPORTS contraception and thinks public schools should help kids from fundamentalist families get access to it. Sorry, BOIZ but though you keep trying to turn Sarah Palin into a “fuckable” version of Phyllis Schlafly (sorry, that slipped out — my anger is showing), reality confounds you every damn time. You may forget this, but Palin was significantly MORE LIBERAL than John McCain OR as it turns out barack obama about making contraception affordable to teenagers and poor women. Palin is anti-abortion but is on record as believing the U.S. Constitution includes an inherent right to privacy. She also supports abortion if the mother’s life is in danger. So, Palin’s abortion views are NOT the same as mine and I want her to change them, but I’m more than willing to wait and see on this issue. As Violet Sox has consistently reminded us, Palin NEVER forced rape victims to pay for rape kits. That was a lie and smear too.

The politics of Christian fundamentalism are anathema to any American who believes in democracy and celebrates FREEDOM on this most important of American holidays. America is NOT a Christian nation. Read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We are a SECULAR, representational democracy and we ENSHRINED personal, individual LIBERTY in our founding document. 

And let me add this statement to hopefully put some developing confusion to rest about the idea of Pumas supporting women candidates simply because they are women. I’ve never changed my view since February 2008, on the eve of the New Hampshire primary when I realized that the “Hillary the Cry Baby” attack meant that the media and the powers that be WERE NEVER GOING TO LET CLINTON even TRY TO WIN. On that day I realized that for a woman to win she would have to combat the monsters from Swamp Misogyny and no woman can do that alone. She will NEED THE REST OF US to keep the monsters at bay and either make a bridge over the Swamp or guide her around it. That is our JOB.

• I want a woman president of the Untied States before I die. Preferably before I’m even all that old. I am single-mindedly DEVOTED to that goal. It’s why I started Puma PAC. What happened last year made it OBVIOUS that unless women organize around that one, beautiful and inspiring idea we will NEVER see a woman in the Oval Office. Swamp Misogyny is too noxious and huge to ignore. We have to UNITE  and STAY UNITED with a single, unambiguous goal.
• I have never objected to the fact that black Americans overwhelmingly supported barack obama for president. I’ve always understood and pretty much approved of their unity as a voting bloc. I was one of those who said my favorite thing about obama is that he’s black. Of course that didn’t protect me or any Pumas from being dismissed as racists. The only quibble I have is with their willingness to embrace an UNQUALIFIED black candidate, but who the hell am I to disapprove of their motives or political goals. I also empathize with the disappointment and disillusionment so many African-Americans are in for now that the Black Betrayer is in office. I would bet a million dollars that barack obama will do PRETTY MUCH NUTHIN to improve the quality of life or opportunities for black Americans during his tenure. 
• What drives me batshit insane is that women will never face the conundrum of supporting an unqualified woman candidate for ANYTHING. For crying out loud there are qualified women by the THOUSANDS for every office and job in the land, from Supreme Court justice to CEO to President. It is EASY for American women to support women candidates simply because they’re women, all things being equal, because when it comes to women’s qualifications, all things ARE EQUAL!! It’s not like we have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find highly successful and competent women of integrity. Women like that are a dime a dozen.
• You bet your ass Puma PAC supports women running for office simply because they’re women. YES WE DO!

One more thing. Expect LOTS of hand-wringing, name-calling, and high emotions to be flying in the upcoming weeks as Pumas jostle with what Palin’s announcement means to us. First off, Puma PAC is a Palin Derangement Syndrome Free Zone. No surprise there, but I think we’ll have to work extra hard to keep the “Crazy Bimbo” talking points at bay. We’re also a Party Ideology Free Zone. And that includes, most vehemently, our objection to Christian Republican Talking Points as much as it does Democratic Hate Talking Points. We’re also not the Hero Worship types. True, many of us love, love, love Hillary Clinton. But we never did, and we still don’t, blindly worship her the way so many Obots adore their Messiah. Our political goals are bigger than Hillary Clinton — always have been and always will be. So leave the Palin Worship at the door please too. It’s not helpful and it limits our ability to openly talk politics and the media.

On the other hand, I’m not ashamed to admit that I am drawn to Sarah Palin and her seemingly authentic image. I really am sort of inspired by the idea of a national woman candidate who does yoga by the lake in the morning. By a national woman candidate who is a very young grandmother just like my own mother was.

So, Sarah Palin, show us who you are. Run as an Independent and 50 million American women will follow your every move. We will watch and listen and learn with open minds and hopeful hearts. Show us you can be the woman who can unite enough of us around a common platform that includes as many of us as possible, and WE WILL SUPPORT YOU. Even Hillary Clinton wasn’t as liberal as I am. She was publicly opposed to same-sex marriage. She invoked God and her faith more often than I like, and she was somewhat squeamish about declaring herself a feminist. She was, in the end, too bound to the Democratic Party. I still love her and I still think she won the Democratic Primaries, would have beaten McCain easily in the general, and would have been stupendously better at the job of president than obama is, but my point is this: For a liberal woman like me, NO CANDIDATE is going to perfectly embody my ideal politician and think exactly as I do. I didn’t expect that from Clinton in order to support her and I won’t hold Sarah Palin to a higher standard than I held Madam Secretary. 

Run, Sarah, run.

(oh, and p.s. a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a special young man who makes his Gram as happy and proud as can be every day of the year!)

• Still feeling the GLOW from last night’s success? Well, if you’re one of many who are not satisfied with Letterman’s personal apology to Governor Palin and her family, there is a protest planned for tonight outside the CBS studios in NYC. I agree that Letterman’s apology, though obviously sincere, only goes part of the way toward undoing the damage. I think the Palin Family should be personally satisfied, but the rest of the American viewing public is still waiting for an apology to us.
• The Revolution WILL Be Twittered? Somehow something about this smells FISHY.
• LadyBoomerNYC emerges from a hiatus in FINE FORM! I hope she doesn’t mind my quoting at length:

“So what is it about Obama’s failure to have principles that “liberals” don’t understand?

Every assessment that PUMAs called upfront, where we said:

• Obama is without principles and cannot be trusted.
• He contradicts himself and talks with forked tongue.
• He has risen to power with questionable moves.
• He has failed to create a voting record on purpose.
• He is a misogynist and a homophobe.
• He is a conservative, with a dictatorial more than a liberal mentality.
• He is a narcissist and more concerned with being adored than actually governing.
• He favors Arabs and Palestinians over Israel.
• He cannot be trusted to end the wars.
• He is naive about the economy, foreign affairs, history, and 9/11.
• He lacks a sense of real compassion.

Every one of our assessments is proving to be true as he sells out his campaign promises one by one.

Obama promised and has failed to:

• End the war in 16 months (I will start bringing 1 to 2 combat brigades home per month as soon as I’m elected (h/t madamab). Hillary voted for the war.)
• Close Gitmo, release photos of illegal torture. (Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes.)
• Support Israel. (Stop with the emails, I’m not a Muslim. My name means blessed. Some of my best friends are Jews. AIPAC, June 4, 2008.)
• Fix the housing market and the economy that wasn’t his fault. (I’ll create jobs and boost the economy by helping the environment. John McCain will make the country bankrupt and reward the rich. Look how many houses he has.)
• Support gays and women. (”I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA].”h/t taggles and garychapelhill.
• End warrantless wiretapping. (I’ll end Bush’s program.)
• Reverse Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (That silly ole President Clinton just didn’t know what he was doing way back then—unlike my hero in all things: Ronald [Ketchup is a vegetable; what Iran-Contra? trickle down economics; let the air controllers union and mentally ill people eat cake.] Reagan.)

// ]]>

Hope/Change how Washington works. (Those lobbyists are dirt. My administration will not hire them. Come on, Congress, can’t we all get along? No more pork barrel projects.)

Sign the Freedom of Choice Act. (This act would have made it illegal to deny any woman birth control or a procedure that she asked for.

Make government more open and transparent. (The public will have 5 days to look at bills and be allowed to comment on them before they are signed into law.)”