Alright, that’s it, I’ve had it! I cannot take one more awful, sensationalized, CAPITALIZED headline from you HuffPo.

I held out as long as I could. I even held on when you cashed out to the tune of $315 million on the backs of mostly unpaid, grassroots, local bloggers.

Ultimately it was your painful lack of copyediting, lack of pertinent details on important stories, and your sensationalized headlines that pushed me over the edge. Goodbye Huffington Post.

For anyone else looking to take the leap and find Huffington Post alternatives, here are the sites where I have ended up, in no particular order:

• Truthdig

• Salon.com

• BuzzFlash

• Mother Jones

• The Nation

• The Raw Story

• Media Matters for America

• The Daily Beast

• Truthout

• AlterNet

• The New Republic

• Talking Points Memo

• AMERICAblog

• Crooks and Liars

Well, it’s that time again.  Election time!  I think that the excitement I feel for major elections is very close to what I felt as a kid for Christmas.  Yeah, seriously.

So, in my past life I gave lots of money to causes that I now detest (Focus on the Family, American Family Association, etc.) and over the last 4 or 5 years I’ve tried to make up for my previous mistakes.  I had my misguided Ron Paul phase back in 2007 and inexplicably gave enough money to his campaign to actually show up in donor searches.

Now that I’m on the right (Left) side of the issues for good, and after giving everything I had to the Obama campaign back in 2008, I’m supporting our 2010 candidates where I can.  I’ve been wanting to see exactly how my giving breaks down so I created this pie chart.  It’s probably only interesting to me, but since I worked on it for so long I thought I’d post it anyway.  I recommend clicking on the image to see a sharper, easier to read full size version.

(View Full Size)

As for who I’ve chosen to support (and there are so many more I wish I could support), here’s a bit about them and why I support them.  Clicking on their name will take you to their campaign web site.

• John Flerlage – John is running for Congress in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.  I have worked with John since the early days of his campaign serving primarily as his Internet social networking guy.  John is an incredible man, a proven leader, and has the sort of character we all wish our elected officials had.  If you have the means, please support John.
• Betsy Markey – This is an easy one.  Betsy defeated the awful, despicable, hate-filled Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District back in 2008 in what I considered to be one of Colorado’s and the country’s gay community’s greatest victories.  Marilyn Musgrave was known for such discriminatory legislation as the Federal Marriage Amendment which she repeatedly introduced.  I also have a special place in my heart for CD4, since I spent my first year and a half in CO in the city of Fort Collins.  Would really hate to see this seat fall back into Republican hands.
• Tarryl Clark – Two terrifying words: Michelle Bachmann.  I don’t think I need to say anymore, but Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District really, really needs to do the right thing and stop subjecting the nation to Bachmann’s special brand of crazy.  Oh, and just for fun check out michelebachmannsaidwhat.com.
• Joe Sestak – I started donating to Joe Sestak back when he jumped into the race to challenge fake Democrat Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Senate primary.  Thankfully he defeated Specter and now he’s got a tough fight to beat tea bagger Pat Toomey.  Really hoping he pulls this one out.
• DCCC – The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, committed to electing and keeping a Democratic house.  I trust them to put my money where it will be useful.
• Rob Miller – Remember that jerk Joe Wilson yelling “You lie!” at the president during his speech to a joint session of Congress?  Well, Rob Miller is the guy who is going to take his job and the first candidate I signed up for monthly contributions to.  Joe Wilson is bad for South Carolina’s 2nd District and he’s bad for America.
• Charlie Melancon – Charlie Melancon is a pretty moderate Democrat, but compared to the destructive right winger he’s running against, he’s beautiful!  David Vitter represents my home state of Louisiana in the U.S. Senate and does an extremely poor job at it.  Does an affair with a prostitute make an individual unfit for office?  No.  If that individual gets elected on a hypocritical “family values” platform, should he be re-elected?  No.
• Stan Garnett – Back when Congress passed and the President signed historic legislation to prevent insurance companies from dropping your coverage because you got sick, or from making being a woman a pre-existing condition, etc. our Attorney General here in Colorado decided to sign us all on to a wasteful, misguided lawsuit against the federal government in opposition to the healthcare legislation.  Immediately Democrats started looking for a candidate to take him out in what would have otherwise been an easily re-election.  Buzz started that Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett would make a great candidate and I actually started a “Draft Stan Garnett” Facebook group.  A week or so later he was in the race.  Can’t wait for him to win this one!
• Mary Jo Kilroy – Mary Jo Kilroy won Ohio’s 15th District narrowly back in 2008 and is a major target for Republicans this year in a rematch with her 2008 polling.  This is one where the Republicans see a real opportunity and losing Representative Kilroy would be a real blow.
• Paul Hodes – Representative Paul Hodes is running against anti-gay, pro-life, tea bagger Kelly Ayotte for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire in what is considered a toss-up race.  I love the state of New Hampshire’s independence, but there really is no question as to what the right thing to do is here.
• Jerry Brown – California is the country’s most populated state and is currently in financial crisis after 8 years of being represented by a celebrity Republican Governor.  Now Californians are given the choice between Jerry Brown and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.  Aside from being a hypocrite on illegal immigration and employment, Whitman is now nearing the $150 million mark of dollars she has spent on her own campaign.  She bought the primary and now she’s trying to buy the Governorship.  Jerry Brown, while sometimes eccentric, is a good ol’ liberal and I have no doubt would lead California in the right direction.  During his first stint as Governor he appointed more women and minorities to office than any other previous California governor.  That’s someone I can get behind.
• Jack Conway – This is a very clear example of me trying to make up for past mistakes.  Ron Paul’s son, Rand Paul, is running against Jack Conway for U.S. Senate in Kentucky and I fear the havoc would attempt to wreak if he were let loose in the Senate with his tea bagger ways.  Jack Conway supports the health care overhaul and is pro-labor.  He’s exactly what Kentucky needs after being stuck with Jim Bunning.
• Bill White – Let’s be honest here, politically Texas is an embarrassment to the nation.  After screwing us with 8 years of George W. Bush, I’m hoping that the time has come to turn the state around.  Rick Perry is the longest serving governor in Texas history and has done everything in his power to keep it closed-minded, gay-hating and very, very red.  Bill White is the former mayor of Houston and has the opportunity to take Texas in the right direction.
• Bernie Buescher – I donated to Bernie Buescher’s campaign for re-election as Colorado’s Secretary of State because for a while there he looked like he might be in trouble.  Things seemed to have evened out now and it’s looking like Bernie will be re-elected.
• ActBlue PAC – ActBlue is an organization that raises money for Democratic candidates.  Through it’s website it has raised over 150 million dollars for many Democratic candidates who would otherwise not have a Web fundraising presence.  My donations to ActBlue come from a percentage tip for the site that I agreed to add on to other donations.

Finally!  11 years after Matthew Shepard’s death, the legislation bearing his name has finally made it through Congress and on to the President’s desk.  The Republicans, of course, fought it all along the way but despite their best efforts America has arrived in the 21st century.  It saddens me that Senator Kennedy isn’t here to see this come to fruition, after all of his years fighting for it.

I do wish that the bill could have been sent through Congress on its own accord, but attaching it to a defense bill was the safest bet for getting it through and the Democrats did the right thing in doing so.

Matthew’s parents Judy and Dennis have worked tirelessly to see this happen and I have enormous respect for both of them.  I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Judy at a Soulforce event protesting Focus on the Family and their hurtful, dangerous rhetoric.  She was incredibly sweet and genuine and my heart broke all over again for this women who was thrust into a role that no parent would ever wish for.  Hate took her son from her she chose to go on and fight that hate,  She is my personal hero because of it.

Today as I watched the above videos I stumbled upon this great video which contains the statement that Dennis Shepard gave during the trial of one of Matthew’s murderers.  The audio is from the movie “The Laramie Project”.  It is incredibly moving.

I just happened upon this video and it’s very fitting when considering my previous post.  We must work harder to create safe havens for LGBT individuals around the world, until that day when all people are loved, accepted, and safe in their home.

I’ve been haunted lately by the images of teenagers Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni as they wept and waited for their execution, pleading for their lives.  There are questions about their case, and whether or not they were executed for their consensual homosexual acts or not, but regardless, hundreds of people are executed in Iran and other places for simply being who they are.

There are people and organizations working to make change around the world.  Please consider joining up with Amnesty International and making a recurring donation.  When atrocities like these and in many other categories appear around the globe Amnesty is always there fighting for justice, peace, and human rights.  I have the utmost respect and gratitude for Amnesty International, and if I’m lucky maybe someday I will work for them.

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here but something happened tonight that is just the kind of thing that gets me to blog.  I recently met a guy named Alex and tonight when we were talking I found out his story.  He’s 27, has lived in Colorado for 3 years and is from Peru.  He’s gay and is out here but is not at a point where he feels he can tell his family or anyone back home.  He’s living here illegally; he overstayed a work visa.

I used to be a right-wing crazy who would go nuts over this kind of stuff, then I became a very conflicted and confused “moderate” who didn’t know quite what to do about these things but still strongly felt “they” should all go back and do it legally.  Now I’m a bleeding heart liberal who wants us to throw open our arms and our borders and actually live by “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 

Why does Alex want to live in America so badly?  He wants to fall in love and be able to live openly and without fear in a same sex relationship.  As we spoke tonight he sadly told me about a close friend of his that was arrested for his immigration status almost 3 months ago.  His friend is from Morocco and is desperate to stay here because he can be jailed for his sexuality if he is sent back home.  He applied for amnesty based on his sexual orientation and was denied.  He appealed and was in the middle of the detailed and exhaustive process when he was was picked up and taken to jail for his illegal status.  He was shipped to a jail near Colorado Springs and remains there almost three months later.

I know we must have immigration laws; I understand that reality, but this is not the answer.  This man is in jail and will likely be sent back to a very unfriendly country where he may be imprisoned for who he is and we don’t consider that important enough for him to stay.

This system is broken, but how do we fix it?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/divorce

Ken Starr, who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton, filed a legal brief last month — on behalf of the “Yes on 8″ campaign — that would forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.

Watch “Fidelity” and sign our letter to the state Supreme Court. Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr’s case, and let loving, committed couples marry. DEADLINE: Valentine’s Day.

76,283 people have signed the letter (as of Sunday, February 8). Will you add your name now?:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/divorce

“Fidelity” used with permission from Regina Spektor and EMI Records.

Monday, January 19th, 8:00 AM EST – We Made It!  Gaithersburg, Maryland
Well, this update is coming several days late, but we did make it to our destination!  I drove the final 4 hours or so and we arrived at about 8:00 on Monday morning.

 
We made it!

We’ve had a lot of great experiences since arriving on Monday and I will cover those in their own posts.  This post will be retired now that the drive is over.

Monday, January 19th, 4:30 AM EST – Beau Street, Pennsylvania
We’re currently in Pennsylvania after briefly traveling through West Virginia.  So far, so good.  The weather has calmed down and it’s clear and cold.  We happened to pass a Beau St., which I was very surprised to see.  We tried to get a photo, if any of them came out okay I’ll post it

I’m going to keep this post short because I’m about to get behind the wheel.  We have 200 miles to go, about 3 and a half hours!  We’re gonna make it!!!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day everyone.  One of my favorite days of the year, and I cannot imagine a better place and time to celebrate it than in D.C. for Barack Obama’s Inauguration!

Monday, January 19th, 1:00 AM EST – Columbus, Ohio
After lunch in St. Louis we hit the road with me behind the wheel again.  Everything was going splendidly: birds were singing, the car was handling well, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie were all sleeping peacefully.  Well, that didn’t last long.  It started raining in freezing temperatures and the Interstate turned into an ice rink.  It took me about a hundred yards to come to a stop when traffic in front of me stopped due to a car going into the ditch.  Within the same half mile stretch two others also went off the road, but we fortunately kept our tires on the road.

I woke Steve up and he took over driving until a few minutes ago when Matt jumped behind the wheel.  We’re currently at 389 miles remaining until our destination!  Woohoo!

Sunday, January 18th, 2:00 PM EST – St. Louis, Missouri
Great news; the laptop is back in action!  We finally stopped at RadioShack and found a power inverter that works, so blogging can resume and I can start loading up my pictures.

Lewis, Clark, Fido, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Beau

The arch was absolutely stunning and we all really enjoyed ourselves.  The museum was great and the scale of the arch from outside is just overwhelming, much less going inside and riding to the top.  Here are the photos I have from the amazing experience.

[View As Slideshow]

Sunday, January 18th, 9:36 AM EST – Danville, Missouri
Well, Matt made the right decision to relinquish his crown as driver; he was just too tired and the vehicle on the road was starting to behave eerily similar to a game of pong.  We pulled into this lovely rest area in Danville to make the swap.

I’m pretty sure you forfeit your soul when you do something like this.

Missouri is a pretty state.

The tell-tale signs of the stresses of a never-ending road trip are starting to show.

I’ve been awake for 28 hours at this point but am feeling fine, so I’ll be taking over the driving from here.  We’re headed to St. Louis, this should be great!

Sunday, January 18th, 8:00 AM EST – Odessa, Missouri
So much for buying all of the geekware we needed to fix everything. I bought a $100 power cord for my laptop and Steve bought a $50 power inverter. Well, the computer takes too much juice and shuts off the inverter, so until we figure something out or can get to a RadioShack I’ll be blogging by phone. I’ll add pictures in later.

We’ve finally switched drivers, now Matt Hirsch is driving and Steve is getting some much needed rest. He was getting louder and crazier the longer he stayed awake, so this is a good move. Missouri is pretty so far, I’ll update when we get to the arch!

Sunday, January 18th, 3:35 AM EST – Hayes, Kansas
Well, it wouldn’t be a road trip without a few bumps along the road. Very shortly after my first blog post my laptop battery died. I expected this, but we have a power inverter onboard so at our first pit stop (Hayes, Kansas) I took apart our delicately constructed mountain of luggage to get to my suitcase at the bottom.

Problem: I apparently didn’t pack my power cord. PAUSE for momentary freak out.

What?!? Forgot the power cord, the number one item on my “Do Not Forget” list?!? Yes, that would appear to be the case. PAUSE for second freak out.

Problem 2: Amid my anger over my rookie mistake Matthew decided to charge his mp3 player. What’s wrong with that you ask? Oh nothing except the power inverter worked for a glorious two seconds.

Apparently Steve decided that it would be a good idea to try to use it to run a vacuum cleaner earlier today. It apparently only had moments of glory that time too. PAUSE for helpful tip of the post: Don’t do that!

Good News: My irritation at myself for forgetting the power cord is softened a bit by the knowledge that even with my power cord I’d be without a power source.

We’ll be stopping in the morning to stock up on necessary geek gear. Once that happens I will being adding photos to the posts.

Unrelated Unfortunate News: Steve decided to buy and rapidly consume a foot long super, mega, ultra, platinum edition convenience store burrito. Focus on the prize Beau, just focus on the prize.

God help us.

Oblivion is bliss.

Sunday, January 18th, 12:53 AM EST – Bennett, Colorado
Well, our long journey to President Obama’s Inauguration in Washington D.C. is finally underway. I’m making the trek with my friends Matthew Farrell, Matt Hirschinger, and Steve Hulsberg! We all worked together on the campaign turning Arapahoe County, Colorado bright, bright blue!

We’re in Steve’s Hybrid Toyota Highlander and so far the trip is going well. Steve, the IT geek, set the car up to be it’s own WiFi Hotspot. I will post updates and pictures as we go!

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24027845-2703,00.html

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE 01/16/2009: Khadr likely to leave Gitmo soon after Obama inauguration.

Marylin Musgrave has been the target of my posts before, but this time she’s really outdone herself.

It appears that two weeks after the election where she lost by a glorious twelve percentage points, she is still refusing to concede the race and congratulate her opponent, Betsy Markey.  I’ve known for a while that this woman is shameless and just plain mean, but this is even surprising to me.

Marilyn now has the honor of making national news, as she was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show.

Furthermore, she has been listed on Newsweek’s The Dignity Index as a 78 out of 100.  Newsweek had this to say: “Despite losing her re-election bid by 12 points, Colorado GOP Rep. Marilyn Musgrave refuses to congratulate her opponent or even concede the race,”

This woman has been an enemy of my right to happiness and equality, and I am filled with much joy that the fair-minded people of Colorado’s 4th Congression District have spoken loudly and have boldly silenced Marilyn’s fearmongering and hatred.

“Stay classy Marilyn Musgrave.”

This past Saturday, November 15th, people from across the nation nation came together at over 300 rallies to protest Proposition 8 in California, Florida’s Amendment 2, a similar ballot initiative in Arizona and the anti adoption amendment in Arkansas.

I was one of the Marshals for the event and it was an amazing time.  The Marshals arrived about an hour and a half before the rally and people started showing up not long after we did.  There were over 1,500 in attendance at the rally and about 1,200 of them marched with us down 16th street mall.

As a Marshal my responsibilities were primarily crowd control.  As the crowd grew at the rally, we ran out of space and people were starting to move into the street in front of the Denver City & County Building.  The street was still open to traffic, so we had to do out part to avoid accidents.

Once we started marching, we kept the group as together as we could.  The line was too long to be seen in its entirety, much to my surprise and excitement.  The Marshals would leapfrog and hold the traffic at the different intersections.  Understandably, there were a few pissed off commuters, but we had a permit to be there and I personally find my rights being denied to me a bit more inconvenient then being stuck at an intersection for a few minutes.

As Marshals, we also kept the crowd chanting.  I would walk up and down as much of the march as I could and lead them in chants.  I started losing my voice about halfway through and recruit fellow marchers to help me out:

“What do we want?”  “Equal rights!” “When do we want them?”  “Now!”

~~

“Gay, straight, black, white – marriage is a civil right!”

~~

“Love, Not Hate! Love, Not Hate! Love, Not Hate!“

~~

About three fourths of the way through the march, people were getting tired and my voice was all but gone, but we pushed forward and I reminded the marchers that as tired as we were, the opposition was far from tired of denying us our rights.

Most encouraging to me were the straight couples with their children who came out to support us.  They were scattered all over our rally and just as passionate about equality as the gay community.  I was also encouraged by the employees and customers of the different stores along 16th Street Mall that came out on to the sidewalk to cheer us on, some even joining us in our march.

We finally made it back to Civic Center Park, but the group did not disperse as I had expected.  People picked up and led their own chants, others just smiled with tear filled eyes amazed at the spectacle they were witnessing.  I finally climbed to the top of the nearby stairs and thanked everyone for coming, implored them not to let their passion and their work end here, to contact their elected officials and hold them accountable, vote in the future and stay involved in the movement.  A cheer went up, a group of High School students resumed their cheers, and we Marshals were surrounded by grateful marchers who hugged and thanked us for our work.

It was an inspirational experience that I don’t anticipate matching anytime soon.  After 4 months on the Obama campaign I was apprehensive and very slow to sign up to work this event, but I am thrilled that I ultimately did.

Equality will come, that much I know.

~~

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