They forgot one point on their list…“President Obama supports marriage apartheid.”

If Obama won’t fight for ENDA, for the repeal of DOMA or for SSM then Obama opposes our equality. Period. While Republicans smirked Obama and the Democrats refused to pass ENDA or repeal DOMA despite having overwhelming majorities in Congress.
Obama’s electioneering strategy of appealing to bigot votes with scum like Donnie McClurkin and Rick Warren, his open and unashamed sabotage of same sex marriage in 2008, and his disgusting invitation to Rick Warren (of Kill the Gays in Uganda fame) at his inaugural all show his utter contempt for our communities.
On Tuesday, November 6, 2012 vote for socialist or labor  candidates or join millions of smart voters, a third of all eligible voters, who’ll just sit it out rather than give their votes to either party of bigots. (Unless something like Prop 8 is on the ballot and do vote on that.)
 

Winning *which* future?The one where LGBT people have equal marriage, equal housing, equal employment and equal access to medical insurance and care?
Or (as I strongly suspect) the future where Obama wins a second term without having to do squat about LGBT equality?

Hear, hear! n/t

Oh, and about sitting out the vote…If you sit out the election, your stance is meaningless. If cast a write-in vote for “None of the above”, you can make your dissatisfaction a matter of record.

Wow. They launched a web page in the third year of his term.Be still my heart.

Notice the “Supporting LGBT health” sectionHIV… HIV… HIV… HIV…
Never mind that the fastest growing demographic with HIV in the United States is straight women of color, and never mind that few gay men have HIV, and never mind that HIV is generally irrelevant to Lesbians and most transgendered individuals.
What about insurance? What about access to medical care? What about hospital visitation by legal same-sex spouses, registered domestic partners and just plain life-partners? What about access to VA facilities for gay servicemembers and their families?
Crimeny, but this his the same kind of narrow-minded, short-sighted bigotry I would expect from the GOP.
Most of the other bullet points are just as irrelevant, or so vague as to be completely meaningless. Not that I am surprised.

Time to link to your New Beginning Initiative posts again, Pam.Now would be a good time to compare the accomplishments presented by the White House with the approximately 90 administrative requests of the New Beginnings Initiative chaired by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and representing 19 organizations.
The policy recommendations were outside the purview of Congress, and under complete control of the then-newly elected President Obama. They were presented to the administration’s transition team prior to the President taking office.
Sometime last year the Task Force took down the original page from their website to avoid embarrassing the President.
HOWEVER, YOU CAN FIND THE ORIGINAL LIST HERE: http://www.actonprinciples.org/newbeginning/

Winning? Will there be Tiger Blood as well? Who the hell branded this?

I can vote for ‘none of the above candidates’ in Nevada.But most people don’t have that option.
For those with principles in other states abstaining from picking the lesser bigot is an excellent way of making yourself heard.
Non voters are always tabulated and mentioned in new stories.  

Every voting jurisdiction allows to write in the candidate of your choiceIn Washington State, where I live, we do not have “None of the Above” on the ballot; that has never stopped me from voting for her.

School BullyingIs there a reason the administration hasn’t endorsed the Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non-Discriminatiom Act?

not a dime from menot a dime from me
no way, no how, no more
not a dime from me

If Obama and his two parties(the one he nominally belongs to, and the Republican Party, which he really belongs to) keep giving more and more of our economy into the hands of Wall Street and the corporations, you’ll be lucky to even have a dime.

RealityIt seems that PHB readers have accepted the propaganda put out by the Republican anti-gay crowd.  Obama is not a dictator, he is a first term president who is going to try for a second term.
By not supporting him for a second term in which he could then do many things that are not politically possible now, we play into the opposition’s game of disorganizing the pro-rights crowd.
When a president is in a second term, they don’t have to worry as much about re-election, their income will be mostly speaking engagements.  Thus controversy is a benefit.
We have to deal with reality as it is, and take the long term view.

a third of all eligible voters, who’ll just sit it out and complain are not smart.  No “party”, socialist, labor, or otherwise is going to hand over equality and freedom on a silver platter. Civics 101.

Finallysomething intelligent spoken.

If no one votes for the lesser evilwe’re all stuck with the greater one.

Thanks for hardly anything Obama WH.Myself, I want a leader who leads with policy (in this case equality under the law and not some mumble jumbo about the imaginary friend with a beard) and not a mind towards career politics.
All signs indicate that Obama needs far more time than 4 more years to evolve on his views on equality.  

I like the ideaHere’s a list of just the titles:
White House
Executive Order Prohibiting Discrimination in Federal Employment
Judicial Nominations
Executive Order and Regulations on Nondiscrimination in the Use of Faith-Based Initiative Federal Funds
Executive Order Prohibiting Discrimination for Federal Contractors
Recognizing LGBT Homeless Youth
Appointment of Fair-Minded Special Counsel
Executive Order on Procurement from LGBT Owners of Small Businesses
Adopt All Recommendations for the First 100 Days Developed by the AIDS in America Coalition
U.S. Agency for International Development
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Agriculture
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Commerce
More Accurately Include Same-Sex Couples in U.S. Census Data Collection and Reporting: Count same-sex married couples
More Accurately Include Same-Sex Couples in U.S. Census Data Collection and Reporting
Federal Agency Data Collection on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Including LGBT Seniors
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Defense
Update Medical Standard for Military Service Related to Transgender Servicemembers
Limit “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to Apply After Entering Military Service
Ensure that Information Shared with Military Doctors and Chaplains Is Kept Private
Change Definition of Credible Information in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Limit “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Discharge to Cases With Findings of Interference with Unit Cohesion
Equalize Separation Pay for Servicemembers Discharged Under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Department of Education
Federal Model Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy
Anti-LGBT Bullying and Harassment Research
Include LGBT Young People in Suicide Prevention Curriculum Standards
2010 Budget: Anti-Bullying and Harassment Prevention
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Creation of HHS Office of LGBT Health
Removal of Discriminatory “Religious and Moral Refusals” Regulations
Creation of HHS Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Steering Committee
Remove HIV from the list of “Communicable Diseases of Public Health Significance”
Remove Surgical Requirement for Gender Change on the Model State Vital Statistics Act
LGBT-Inclusive Implementation of Runaway and Homeless Youth Act
LGBT Certification for Agencies Receiving Child Welfare Funds
Federal Agency Data Collection on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Including LGBT Seniors
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Defund Abstinence-Only Programs
Recognize LGBT Persons as a “Priority Population” and Marked with “Health Disparities” for Appropriate Inclusion in Federally Funded Studies
Regulations Including LGBT Elders in “Vulnerable Elders”
2010 Budget: Anti-LGBT Bullying and Harassment Research
LGBT Representation in Health Data Collection
Expand the Definition of “Women’s Health Concerns”
Develop and Coordinate Research Programs to Address Mental Health Needs for LGBT Individuals
Include LGBT demographic data and mandate culturally competent workforce trainings in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration(SAMSHA)
Include LGBT Young People in Suicide Prevention Curriculum Standards
LGBT Representation in HHS Advisory Councils
Department of Homeland Security
Implement Training to Counter Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or Expression in All Areas of the Immigration System
Change Detention Standards for Transgender Immigration Detainees to House them According to their Self-Identified Gender
HIV Care for Detainees
Provide Needed Health Care Services to Transgender Immigration Detainees
Update Instructions for Issuing Accurate Immigration Identity Documents to Transgender Individuals
Update Instructions to Immigration Personnel to Reflect Current Law on Transgender Marriages
Privacy in Data Collection under REAL ID Act
Protocols for Treatment of Transgender Travelers
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Recognizing LGBT Homeless Youth
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Justice
Voting Rights for Transgender Voters
Anti-LGBT Bullying and Harassment Research
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Department of Labor
Enforce Nondiscrimination for Federal Contractors
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Office of Management and Budget
Collection of Gender-Related Data
“Parent” Field on Federal Government Forms
Follow Executive Order on LGBT Owners of Small Businesses
2010 Budget: Anti-Bullying and Harassment Prevention
Office of Personnel Management
Updating Federal Employment Records
Office of Special Counsel
Office of Special Counsel Should Enforce Nondiscrimination Laws and Policies
Small Business Administration
Follow an Executive Order on Procurement from LGBT Owners of Small Businesses
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services
Social Security Administration
“Parent” in Social Security Regulations and Forms
Eliminate Surgery Requirement for SSA Gender Change
Eliminate Gender No-Match Letters
Department of State
Creation and Implementation of Department of State LGBT Protection Agenda Office
Equal Benefits for Domestic Partners of Federal Employees in the Foreign Service
Gender Changes in Passports
“Parent” Field on Passport Applications
Birth Certificate Changes for Americans Born Abroad
Diplomatic Engagement on LGBT Issues as Human Rights Concerns
Encourage Foreign Countries to Accept LGBT Refugees
Implementation of Fair Workplace Policies for U.S. Companies Overseas

Department of Treasury – IRS
Gender Identity Disorder Treatment Tax Deductions
Department of Veterans Affair
Policy Memorandum on Discrimination against LGBT Veterans
Issue Nondiscrimination Regulations to Apply to Expenditure of Federal Funds by Faith-Based Social Services

Which bigot do you want us to vote for?

Civics 101 is not for the real world. It’s a scam in high school and in the real world it’s just silly.Our emphasis should be on building a mass movement and cultivating alliances, particulary with unions to compel the bigots to accept our agenda.
Voting for bigots like Obama or the Republican candidate and the bigots in Congress gets you – endless bigotry. That’s been proven without question in every election since people blundered and voted for Clinton.    
Voting for Obama was a blunder but voting for four more years of betrayals by Obama is unprincipled and dangerous. Smart voters vote a protest vote or sit it out. So do principled voters. People who like bigotry vote Democratic (sic) or Republican.  
What you said that that did make sense is that no one, especially bigots like Obama or his Republican cousins are going to give us anything.
We have to demand and insist with a campaign of non-stop mass marches locally and nationally. We have to take our equalty.  

completed (?)According to the actonprinciples site: http://www.actonprinciples.org… (date unknown)

Department of Commerce
More Accurately Include Same-Sex Couples in U.S. Census Data Collection and Reporting: Count same-sex married couples
Department of Health and Human Services
Removal of Discriminatory “Religious and Moral Refusals” Regulations
Office of Personnel Management
Updating Federal Employment Records
According to The Taskforce: http://www.thetaskforce.org/ne… (appears to be from last month)
White House
Grant Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees
Department of Commerce
More Accurately Include Same-Sex Couples in U.S. Census Data Collection and Reporting: Count same-sex married couples
Department of Health and Human Services
National Technical Assistance Resource Center
Restore LGBT to Groups that Receive Services
Lift the HIV Travel Ban
Obama administration announces recommendations to improve the health and well-being of the LGBT community
Ending Discrimination in Hospital Visitation Policies for Same-Sex Couples
Changes in Administration of Abstinence Only Until Marriage Program (AO)
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Change The Definition of Family
Equal Access to Housing in U.S. Housing and Urban Development(HUD) Programs for LGBT People
Department of Labor
U.S. Department of Labor Adds Gender Identity and Pregnancy Status to Its Equal Employment Policy
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Clarification Regarding Same-Sex Couples and Their Children
Office of Personnel Management
Include Gender Identity in the EEO Statement
Department of State
Provide Foreign Service Benefits for Same-Sex Partners
Change Passport Rules for Change of Name
Change Passport Rules to Reduce Burden of Updating Gender Marker
It seems that the Taskforce is very generous in its grading – but even with its grading, that’s 16/90 items, or 17.78%. Even if we grant the item from actonprinciples that isn’t under Taskforce, that’s still under 20%.

We’re being duped by Republicans? Really?I don’t think we’re the ones being duped. Since Obama is the most successful Republican President since Bill Clinton that hardly seems likely. It’s more like impossible.
Obama is not a dictator, he is a first term president who is going to try for a second term. I don’t think anyone said he was a dictator. Please cite a source. Obama is asking for four more years to throw us under the bus. He became fond of doing that in his first term and wants another go at it. He seems to get a big kick out of it.
Please offer any inkling of a shred of hint of proof that Obama will not continue being a bigot in his second term. Anything – we’re all ears.  

That’s your choice.I don’t even know what state you’ll be in, nor who will win the Republican primary, nor any of the other primaries that are relevant to where you’ll vote (heck, there’s a tiny chance Obama won’t win the Democratic primary). I also don’t know what factors you think are the most important in electing a President.
Personally, on the Presidential level, I’ll be choosing the lesser evil. This is because it is extremely likely that I’ll oppose some of the positions of both candidates. I am highly likely to have the choice between Obama and whoever wins the Republican nomination with no other choices.

A vote for the lesser of two evils…… is still a vote for evil.

Hospital visitation was implemented in JanuaryOr am I missing something?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog…
From the Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 223 / Friday, November 19, 2010 70844 http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/…
§ 482.13 Condition of participation:
Patient’s rights.
* * * * *
(h) Standard: Patient visitation rights. A hospital must have written policies and procedures regarding the visitation rights of patients, including those setting forth any clinically necessary or reasonable restriction or limitation that the hospital may need to place on such rights and the reasons for the clinical restriction or limitation. A hospital must meet the following requirements:
(1) Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of his or her visitation rights, including any clinical restriction or limitation on such rights, when he or she is informed of his or her other rights under this section.
(2) Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of the right, subject to his or her consent, to receive the visitors whom he or she designates, including, but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a samesex domestic partner), another family
member, or a friend, and his or her right to withdraw or deny such consent at any time.
(3) Not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
(4) Ensure that all visitors enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences.

Nope, that was my faultI was thinking that the change in policy affected only the few federally run hospitals. I see now that equal access is now a condition for Medicare reimbursement, which means that most (but still not all) hospitals are obligated to provide equal access.
The rest of my points are still valid, though.

So I should sit on my hands if I love none of the candidates?To steal a phrase from the Black civil rights movement, If you don’t vote, you don’t count. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
By modern definitions as far as Black civil rights were concerned, Lincoln was the lesser (least?) evil in 1860:
http://www.classic-literature….  
I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of [black people], nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say, in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality… So it seems to me quite possible for us to get along without making either slaves or wives of [black people]. (if you want to read the entire racist rant, click through to the original – [black people] is in place of an inaccurate pejorative, and it’s been snipped heavily) – Lincoln, LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS FOURTH JOINT DEBATE, AT CHARLESTON, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858.
Were I alive in 1860, should I have sat on my hands and not voted because Lincoln was the lesser evil?
If I never voted for what I considered at the time to be the lesser evil, I wouldn’t need all my fingers on one hand to count the number of votes I’d cast. I strongly suspect that if I’d done due diligence on those candidates, I wouldn’t need even one hand.
To me, that would just be pointlessly limiting my own political power. It’s weak enough as it is.
Nothing about voting prevents me from protesting.
Nothing about voting prevents me from calling, writing, or marching for change.
Nothing about voting prevents me from organizing for change.
I always vote for the lesser evil.

LOL….It’s so funny it’s sad…

Wow. They launched a web page in the third year of his term.
Be still my heart.

I’m a moderate…I’m only half way between both sides.
In truth, I’ll probably vote for Obama. That’s a low-investment move.
Will I campaign or donate to his reelection? No.
I’d encourage the LGBT community to recognize DADT repeal happened because we had champions in Congress, like Sens Gillibrand, Udall, Leven and Rep Patrick Murphy who pushed, pushed, pushed.
As such, the best use of time and money is to get involved at a lower level than Presidential race if you want to affect change.
For example, if we don’t pass marriage equality in New York in the next month, working on State Senate races to replace our known “no” voters could well reap better LGBT victories in 2013 than anything The White House will do.

I agreeI think that localized races are probably more important than presidential races

Do whatever you wantThe elective franchise is, by far, the most precious thing that people in a democratic republic posess. If you want to treat your vote like cheap mardi gras beads and throw it to whomever shows you some tit, be my guest. My sense of civic duty tells me to treat my vote with more respect, and give it only to those who deserve it.

If I understand you correctlyYou view a vote as currency that has value?
My apologies if I’m misconstruing your analogy, but I think we’re viewing what a vote is rather differently.

I think I seeA game-theory argument for vote withholding. Thanks; I’d never analyzed vote withholding in any edge cases before.
In a simple, 1-dimensional model, if there are two candidates, and one is fixed at one extreme, then without vote withholding, the optimal position for the other candidate is just slightly less extreme than the first candidate.
With vote withholding executed perfectly, it’s significantly further away – roughly a third of the distance between extremes.
That suggests a low bar for voting (particularly since that exact situation is presumably uncommon), but it’s quite a bit higher than no bar.
I should do more analysis with a marginally more realistic model to see if this effect is still visible.

“I always vote for the lesser evil.” Then you’re part of the problem. Socialist and Labor Party candidates are unkikey to be bigots and I’d vote for them, win or lose, rather than one of the Republican bigots, or the Democratic (sic) bigot in 2012.  
People who think we have to vote for a bigot, just because they’re ‘winnable’ are really just asking for four more years of bigotry. People who think that elections solve problems are wrong. That flies in the face of American history. Elections occassionaly validate what we win through prolonged campaings of mass action but thats all they do. Election campaings are best seen as an educational tool, a adjunct to mass organizing.    
GLBT leftists are going to continue pointing out, over and over again, that voting for bigots, warmongers and lap dogs of the rich is not only wrong, it’s deeply injurious to the fight for equality.    
You’ll never walk like an Egyptian if you vote for a rightwinger like Obama and then have to spend years protesting his bigoty, his wars and his daily tounge baths for the banksters.
Q – How is voting for Obama as lesser evil different than voting for Clinton or Bush as lesser evil.
A. It isn’t.  

Do you view a vote as having no value? n/t

Which bigot would you like to be in power?Perhaps you would like Newt Gingrich to become the next president, or maybe Romney?  That way as they haul you off to jail you can self-righteously tell everyone how you did not vote for the other guy because you did not like some of his policies.
One of two candidates will get in.  Do you want to throw out a vote against someone who will work hard to erase us from history in order to make some kind of “statement”?
Deal with reality.  

Eventually they move up. State Senators and Reps that we’re close to, that vote for us, are pretty safe bets for good additions to Federal Congress.  

um, note…

and never mind that HIV is generally irrelevant to Lesbians and most transgendered individuals.

Excluding problematic terminology, this is in error when it comes to trans folks.
Trans folks have very high rates of HIV infection. The data is buried in CDC materials because they are classified in a manner that is very inappropriate.
It is very relevant to trans folk. Especially the most disproportionately affected by various aspects of intersectionality.
How much so?  THe recent “Injustice At Every Turn” report — largest ever survey done — shows:

High HIV rates: Respondents reported over four times the
national average of HIV infection, with rates higher among
transgender people of color.

That’s higher than straight women of color in the US, (though not even close to the worldwide rate for black heterosexual women thanks to cultural issues in Africa).
And I’ll say that noting that due to the nature of the survey, it wasn’t entirely able to fully reach the deeper levels of the underground economy, so is likely understating the severity of the problem.
I know this is a long response on an off topic point to a small thing in your comment, but I felt that you’d probably like to know that the trans community is very much deeply affected by HIV, and that part of the reason for the failure to reach them with educational materials is that the materials are disrespectful of their identities and its tied to a deep and abiding mistrust of health care providers (because of very real abuse by healthcare providers).
Reference: http://transequality.org/PDFs/…
(I do a lot of work locally with providers to help make sure their materials are improved when dealing with the trans community)

For those with principles and a fighting spirit, voting for bigots is not an option.

Thank your for the informationI am on the community advisory board for the Seattle HIV vaccine testing unit; I should have realized this.

Exactly.I view it as a political instrument, not as an item of value.
That said, as I mention in the post just before this one, I see some support for your view in a toy model. I should do some more analysis to verify that this is true in more realistic models.

I don’t understand your position“…voting for bigots, warmongers and lap dogs of the rich is not only wrong, it’s deeply injurious to the fight for equality.”
Could you please explain how?

And political instruments have no value?“Value” is far more than just how much it would sell for on EBay.

Exactly.Here’s an demonstration of the theory:
Let us propose that there are two candidates in a single-issue election.
Candidates:
Greater
Lesser
Let us assume that these candidates are fixed (and, more importantly, the perception of their position is fixed) on there position of this single issue (“evil”), with their position being how much of the voting population would prefer a less “evil” candidate.
Case:
There is no one who wants a more “evil” candidate than Greater. Therefore, Greater is at 100% on the evil scale.
Lesser, on the other hand, is slightly less “evil” – let’s say they’re at 90% on the evil scale.
Alpha is a voter who is 10% on the “evil” scale. Where should their vote go to get the position that’s closest to theirs?
Option A: vote for Greater. That would increase the number of votes Greater has by 1, and increase the number of votes needed by Lesser by 1. This would increase the chances of Alpha’s position being 10% represented, instead of 20%.
Option B: vote for Lesser. That would increase the number of votes Lesser has by 1, and decrease the number of votes needed by Greater by 1. This would increase the chances of Alpha’s position being 20% represented, instead of 10%.
Option C: don’t vote. That would affect neither the vote count of either candidate, nor the votes needed by either candidate. This would not affect the chances of Alpha’s position being represented either higher or lower.
So by this sort of very simplistic model, the optimal choice for Alpha is B, even though there’s a large difference between Alpha’s position and Lesser’s.
Noting that, there are some weaknesses to this very simplistic model:
1) only 2 candidates; it’s not uncommon to have more than 2 candidates in an election
2) the position of a candidate (or at least the perception of the position) is malleable in many cases.
3) There is usually more than one issue. Even worse, these issues have different weights, and are often not orthogonal.
4) This assumes a single vote, plurality, winner-take all election. While that sort of election is common, it’s not universal.
In a slightly more sophisticated model that allows candidates’ positions to be malleable, there appears to be value in vote withholding under certain conditions.

I can see that you don’t understand the dangers of electing bigots, warmongers and lap dogs of the rich. Some people are content staring at mounds of civilian causalities and the piles of flag draped GI coffins that are the sole result of Obama’s six wars of aggression.
Some people are content with a government that hands out trillions to the banksters and ignores unemployment at depression levels. (1)
Some people are content that DOMA remains on the books and that passage of ENDA has been delayed for 15 or so years.
Those people will vote for Obama or for his Republican cousin.
(1)Unemployment and underemployment(BLS U6 rate)are at depression levels. As of May it was just under 16% and rising again. The Reaganomics rate BLS U3 rate) is over 9% and rising.
It’s far to late for Obama to do anything about that except sponsor a multitrillion, union organized effort to green the economy and infrastructure. A Manhattan Project effort like that would have ended unemployment.
He can’t even do that now – he sat in the banksters laps too long and 30 million who voted for him in 2008 deserted his party in 2010. His ‘other’ party, the Republicans control the House and the Senate is up for grabs.
Today the NY Times said:
“No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent. Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear that President Obama must defy that trend to keep his job.”
They’re right. What that means is that we may have a Republican bigot in the WH to despise next time around, not that it makes much difference.  

NP Sorry for the late response, been at the PTHC in Philly.
Its hard to internalize stuff enough that we remember to always “get it right”.  So no worries.
And should you know of an HIV organization that is having a hard time reaching the Trans community, feel free to contact me in order to help them more effectively reach such — it’s rather easy to do, but rarely obvious to many on how to do it.

Write in GillibrandSenator G is a strong ally; write her in in the primaries and maybe the Obama Campaign might get the message

Oh please: more of the Obama or Uganda” memeAs long as we keep voting for the dems when they do little for us, they will keep on doing little for us.
Except for the hate crimes act, every thing that this administration has done will be repealed by exec order on day one of the President Mitt McPalinabee administration in January of 2013.
AT least write in someone in politics who is pro-gay in the  primaries,  

Interesting ideaHowever, write-ins aren’t an option where I vote.

Sorry; that didn’t help.I’m curious as to what the six wars are. I’d guess Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya – but I don’t know what other three you’re referring to. Pakistan might be one.
As a minor note, unemployment is quite a bit below the height of the Great Depression (which topped out around 25%), but I agree that it’s at an unacceptable level.
Ending DOMA and passing ENDA are to a large degree problems with Congress; they need to pass the bills.
I agree that a large enough “green” program would help the economy immensely. I think, however, that Congress is an even bigger problem here than the administration (which is also a problem here).
But in any case, none of this really answers the question of how a vote for the lesser evil harms the fight for equality.
The best argument I can come up with is that strategic vote withholding can, in a very simplistic model, bend a candidate’s stated issues towards one’s goals. However, multiple votes have to be withheld, and then delivered (if change is made) for every vote that would flip on an issue; I think the only way that can work (outside of a simplistic model) is to have a low, achievable, broadly-applicable bar.
I’m considering if it would be useful to make implementation of DADT that bar.

If you’re not against bigotry, union busting and wars nothing will help you.I’m curious as to what the six wars are. Palestine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Libya.
As a minor note, unemployment is quite a bit below the height of the Great Depression (which topped out around 25%), but I agree that it’s at an unacceptable level.
Wrong. The 9.1% figures you accept is a Reaganomics formula that only counts those looking for work. Check out the sources I kindly provided above. The BLS 6 formula which counts total unemployment, is accurate and is well within the parameters of the earlier Depression. “If you put together those counted as unemployed; marginally attached to the workforce; and involuntary working less than the standard work week; there are still more than 25 mln who want full-time jobs and can’t find them-a number that has remained more or less constant for over a year. The average private sector workweek remained at 34.4 hours in May. Average private sector wages increased by a scant 0.3 percent to 19.43 an hour.”
“Ending DOMA and passing ENDA are to a large degree problems with Congress; they need to pass the bills.” If your point is that many Congressional Democrats are as bigoted as Obama and many Congressional Republicans I agree. But that is not a defense of Obama. Obama supports much of DOMA and his signature on a bill repealing it shouldn’t be assumed.  
“But in any case, none of this really answers the question of how a vote for the lesser evil harms the fight for equality.’
Because its’ a vote for bigotry, war and unemployment.

I don’t think we’re disagreeing on unemployment numbersI’m familiar with the difference between U3 and U6. I think we’re just using different points during the Great Depression to make our points.
I don’t think I agree on Obama with DOMA – he’s decided to stop defending it in court, which is about as strong of a position he can take without a bill getting to his desk.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/…
The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional.   Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases.
Yes, that ignores Section 2 – but Section 2 is not typically something that would be dealt with by the Department of Justice; it affects the states, not the federal government.

Because its’ a vote for bigotry, war and unemployment.

You keep repeating this, but I’m really not following it; I assume that there is something else to your argument that I’m missing. Could you explain in detail why you think this?
I put my argument above, but in case you missed it and wish to poke holes in it:
Let’s assume I’m a voter with a position on single issue, A. Candidate Lesser agrees with my position 10%; candidate Greater agrees with my position 0%.
I have three options: vote for Lesser, vote for Greater, or don’t vote.
If I vote for Lesser, I increase the chance that 10% of my position will be used.
If I vote for Greater, I increase the chance that 0% of my position will be used.
If I don’t vote, I don’t affect the probabilities at all.
To me, 10% is better than 0%. Therefore I think voting for Lesser is better than voting for Greater (or not voting).

This is not an excercise in math. It’s not about 10% of bigotry, or war, or union busting.
It’s about bigotry – Obama is a bigot because he opposes same sex marriage. You voted for him and his bigotry and that’s what we got.
It’s about Obama’s six war to steal oil and resources while murdering civilians and GIs in the process. You voted for his wars and others are dying because you helped put him in office.  
You voted for him and his anti-worker contemp and his union busting and because he was sucessful every Democrat and Republican governor in the country is gunning for the unions.  
That’s as wrong as it gets.
Change does not come from electing bigots, warmongers and union busters but by building mass campaigns to stop them in their tracks. Understanding that will be key as the global depression deepens and takes its toll. U.S. cities and even some states actually are facing bankruptcy in 2011 if they cannot find out a way to balance the budget… Those cities include New York City, the largest city in the U.S., Los Angeles, the second largest city, Washington, DC, the U.S. capital and San Francisco. Almost all US states are ready for bankruptcy.
It gets worse. A total of 25 million people are in deep economic trouble because the Obama administration and state governors of both parties are busting unions right and left. As a consequence wages are down, benefits are disappearing. The average private sector workweek remained at 34.4 hours (in May) and private sector wages increased by a scant 0.3 percent to $19.43 an hour.”
Your reliance on lesser evil political prostitutes to end bigotry, the economic crisis and their own wars or aggression is a recipe for disaster, which is what we have now.
 

I do applied math (software) for a livingSo I think of many things in terms of math. I think it helps formalize my reasoning. It also tends to make it easier for someone else to attack any defects in it.
That said, I’m not following your argument. If I follow your logic:
I voted for Obama, thus I’m responsible for everything he does that I don’t like.
I don’t agree with that.
That said, I’ve presented my argument at least twice, and I think you’ve presented your argument multiple times – I’m not certain that we can come to any mutual conclusion here.
Thanks for trying.

I wasn’t arguing so much as describing the real world role of Obama (or Palin or whoever) voters.