Thursday Open Thread [5.29.14]

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Some evil conservatives and crazy Republicans and Libertarians want to reimpose property restrictions on the right to vote, in that you must have to own some kind of property in order to vote. Such a desire is just further evidence that these conservatives, Republicans and Libertarians do not believe in democracy or live by democratic principles. Well, Professor Alexander Keyssar, Stirling Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard University lays the historic and constitutional smackdown....
Are Progressive Politics Being Redefined?

Are Progressive Politics Being Redefined?

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There's a great article in Vox magazine about Andrew Cuomo -- Governor 1 Percent -- the Governor of New York who is seen in many circles as the future of the Democratic Party. What this article does well (I think) is show the strategy of the so-called moderate Democrats -- fight for socially liberal causes and values, but spend your legislative time and energies catering to the 1%. This glances by the question of whether these Democratic politicians who are proudly Blue for marriage equality, but looking to provide tax cuts and special subsidies to the 1% are actually becoming the face of what passes as progressive in this country.
Wednesday Open Thread [5.28.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [5.28.14]

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Yesterday, I posted the Gallup poll showing that Americans now support marriage equality by 55 to 42%. Digging deeper into that poll, we find a massive generational gap. Basically, the old people are just plain bigoted towards gays. Once they die off, we are all going to wonder why this was ever an issue. We are going to laugh at those opposing marriage equality the same way we mock opponents of interracial marriage. Indeed, 61% of younger Republicans support marriage equality, according to Gallup. So that means that soon, within the next 10 years, the GOP platform and all GOP candidates will be pro-marriage equality as well. If they aren't, not a single Republican anywhere will win an election. Well, maybe in Utah... So, the war is lost for the radical Christianists who seek to turn America into a theocracy. Or is it?
#YesAllWomen

#YesAllWomen

104 Comments
This is the twitter hashtag that has been trending since Elliott Roger's violence spree and since his misogynistic writings and videos came to light. It is worth spending time reading through them (there are some people -- men -- who refuse to take this seriously and some are angrily trolling the hashtag, but in the main, these tweets documenting the misogyny that women live with Every.Damn.Day are powerful and heartbreaking. Some will make you angry and others will make you sad. It is an amazing ourpouring from women all over the world making sure that everyone knows that misogyny like Rogers' is something women need to constantly be prepared for -- including the violence. There are a few Storifys of these tweets (and if you know of better ones, please post them up):
The 62 Project: #’s 20 and 42

The 62 Project: #’s 20 and 42

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John Kowalko's pluses: A true progressive, unafraid to take unpopular stands, willing to be a public gadfly when needed, almost always a dependable vote for progressive principles, and a willing sponsor for progressive legislation. Bob Venables' pluses: A good Bond Bill chair who understands that capital investment in roads and schools is a good thing, first to really blow the whistle on the cost of prison expansion and minimum mandatory sentences, a genuinely nice person.

Tuesday Open Thread [5.27.14]

3 Comments
That's a real sign, not a fake one you often see on the Internet. An Anglican priest from Australia put up the sign in response to the conservative government in Australia. In America, support for marriage equality has increased yet again in the Gallup poll to 55%. Meanwhile, we have some new Senate polls that paints an optimistic picture for the Democrats.
The 62 Project!

The 62 Project!

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Yes, it still exists, although it's been in limbo for awhile. For those of you who were too young and/or didn't read this blog religiously or atheistically at the time, the 62 Project is/was designed to rank all of the legislators based on their effectiveness, accomplishments, and progressive principles. These are/were career rankings, not simply snapshots of a given period. Clearly, those with longer careers have more of a track record, for better or for worse, and are less subject to major changes in the rankings. I now realize that there's no way that I can continue to write the type of extensive profiles I've been doing, and complete this project by (my newest deadline) the September primaries. So, I will write shorter profiles that I hope capture the reason for each legislator's ranking. Let's first recap those I've already ranked.....
Is a demographic solution to American gun mayhem inevitable?

Is a demographic solution to American gun mayhem inevitable?

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Twenty years ago it would have been hard to imagine the our country's present acceptance gay marriage. In 1994, the year in which The American Medical Association first opposed treatments intended to cure homosexuality, if you had predicted that homosexuals would be a protected class and that it would be illegal to fire a person for being gay in 2014, you would have sounded like a crazy person. But times have changed. Old, angry a-holes die off by the day and they are replaced by younger people with, by and large, a more mature and less terror-filled world view. So it is fitting to wonder what might our gun mayhem situation be like 20 years from now.