MOMocrats

California Supremes Overturn Gay Marriage Ban

(From the SF Chronicle's Pride 2004 Wedding Album, a non-stop weep-for-joy fest. Aren't they a beautiful family?)

I melt at weddings. There's so much hope, promise, and happiness at a wedding. There's also no little amount of drama, but part of the pleasure is that the drama gets resolved pleasingly. (Mostly.) And it's often more fun to attend than it is to be one of the principle cast members, so to speak.

I got misty with joy when San Francisco legalized gay marriage and the town experienced a flurry of weddings after marriage licenses were issued at the city and county clerk's office, because a couple of friends had finally decided to tie the knot now that they could. (They aren't the ones pictured above, btw.) And I've always loved San Francisco's Gavin Newsom, aka Mayor McHottie, as fellow MOMocrat CityMama's dubbed him, for throwing open the door to people in the LGBT community who want to get married.

As you can imagine, as soon as the environmentally-correct millet was thrown, lawsuits were filed to define marriage as a union specifically between a man and a woman. It took about a month before that door was slammed shut. But recently, the Huffington Post reports that the California Supreme Court recently handed down a 4-3 decision saying that domestic partnerships are not equivalent to marriage (they are instead sort of "separate and unequal" to marriages, to borrow a phrase).

Republicans Are Starting to Get Wind of Change.

They're running like frightened rats.

This bit from the piece is particularly droll:

Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, did not go as far as his predecessor, Mr. Davis, in advising members to step away from Mr. Bush. But Mr. Cole, facing growing restiveness among Republicans about the party leadership, acknowledged the tumult in his party’s ranks and suggested that his committee would look for a change in strategy.

“When you lose three of these in a row you have to get beyond campaign tactics and take a hard look and ask if there is something wrong with your product,” he said.

Gosh, Tom, you must really be stumped.  What could POSSIBLY be wrong with the current Republican product?  (Other than EVERYTHING.)

A second cull-worthy quote is this:

“There’s no question that the results in these special elections portend ominously for House Republicans, but they will have little impact on the presidential election campaign,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking old Steve-o has somehow missed the larger picture.  No.  Literally.  He's missing the fact that Democrats have turned out in record numbers to vote.  In a PRIMARY.  The droves that will show up in November?  Are gonna make the primaries look like - well, primaries.

The Republicans need to prepare themselves for nothing less than a bloodbath.

I'm not terribly unhappy about that.

p.s. I guess, given the news of the pending Republican implosion, their statement on refusing to pass troop funding is "let's make hay before the sun slips completely below the horizon."

Go Read It: Misogyny I Won't Miss

Race and gender have gotten a lot of play in this presidential contest, but in different ways.

Plenty of outlets have discussed the inappropriateness of taking race into consideration when choosing our next president, as well as how the candidates are covered by the media.  Many haven't quite had the same qualms about playing the gender card.

In today's Washington Post, Marie Cocco in her article Misogyny I Won't Miss, gives a round-up of the more blatant examples of gender bias in the press, some that she feels even border on outright hatred. of women. 

The worst example of all?  Surprisingly, it's not the Hillary nutcracker.

Cocco feels the worst of all has been the virtual silence of the DNC and the Democratic leadership to the running anti-woman commentary against Hillary Clinton.  Next time guys, step up and speak out against all forms of bias, OK?

Thanks, Marie.

Dreams of A Mother: MOMocrats Readers Roundup

MOMocrats readers wrote passionately and eloquently this weekend in support of MOMocrats Dreams of A Mother Mother's Day tribute.  We thank all of you for joining us and encourage our readers to go check out these beautiful posts.

Aliki with some thoughts on motherhood

Mary with broken string

Maggie with dreams for our children

Urban Urchin with a mother

Amy with this mother's dream

Arleen with dreams of a mother

Tracy with dreams of a mother

Daisy with her post at compost happens

Ilinap with irony of motherhood

Diana with will dream for children

Amy with a mother's dream

Emily with alternative mother's day

Moondance with if i were a superhero

We thank each of you for joining our chorus and dreaming a little bigger this Mother's Day in the interests of our children and our planet. 

For the GOP, Yachts Trump Teachers

If you live in California, what's more important to you -- finding money in the state budget so over 10,000 teachers don't have to be laid off or allowing a multi-million dollar budget loophole for tax-free yachts?

The Courage Campaign has put out the video below to bring attention to this crazy tax advantage for the rich:

 

Need I say more about why we need fewer GOP lawmakers and more Democrats?

MOMocrat Joanne is wondering how much to spend at the grocery store this week, not how to finance a yacht, over at her place, PunditMom.  She wouldn't know where to park one in her neighborhood anyway.

A Mother's Day Card from MOMocrats & Moms Rising

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy and joyous Mother's Day 2008.

Absolutely Fabulous! This MOMocrat Wishes You Happy Mother's Day

When I'm not holding hands and singing kumbaya, I indulge in a guilty pleasure: the snarkiness of Absolutely Fabulous, or AbFab. It's sort of the World Champion of Extreme Snarkiness /Politically Incorrectness. Patsy, the tall blonde one, is a fashionista. Edina, or Eddie, is in public relations. They are literally Best Friends Forever. 

What can I say? I love funny women. Carol Burnett, I heart you; you taught me how to make a ball gown from curtain rods. Tina Fey, you rule, you Alpha Mama you. Plus, you're a brunette! Lucille Ball, forget that Cleaver lady, I vote you uber-tv mommy and work/life  balance and interracial marriage pioneer, during the 1950s, no less. Mae West, if you're throwing a party, I'm there. Margaret Cho...you ARE the one that I want. Polyamory much? Whoopi Goldberg, your characters have both broken my heart and made me laugh til my sides split. And Lily Tomlin? Yes, I would take all of you.

Go Read It: Just Post Awards for April 2008

 

MOMocrat and tireless advocate for the homeless, Jen, and a couple of her online friends, Su  and Mad dreamed up a little monthly award and roundtable discussion called "Just Posts for a Just World" some time ago.  Each month, they invite bloggers to submit posts on social justice from the micro-level of the family to the macro-level of global issues like poverty, healthcare, and the environment. 

This month, the MOMocrats were honored to have two of our posts entered into this discussion, MOMocrats Exclusive: Obama Answers Readers Questions, and And Now for Something COMPLETELY Different: John McCain Unveils His Plans for Healthcare.  We are honored to be among this month's group of talented and caring writers.

Please go on over to One Plus Two and take a look around at some of the amazing posts there.  If you're so inspired, nominate something you found to be profound, important, or inspiring in the months to come. 

Cindy McCain: Woman of the People.

(Credit to Talking Points Memo for the video.)

Cindy McCain doesn't feel it's necessary to release her tax information, because "[she's] not the candidate."

That sounds *almost* logical; except for the fact that John and she are married.  Which means that what is hers is his.  Based on common knowledge regarding how marriage works (at least among the unwashed masses types), they share everything they own.  In other words, despite their separate-filing status, he still, in all likelihood, makes use of the things that Cindy's money paid for.  Like the kitchen, and the food, and the toilets, and the beds, and the sofas, and chairs, and cars, and gardens, and serva-- uh, and the domestic help, and the private jet (because what beer baroness *doesn't* have a private jet, right?)

(ftr, I am merely speculating about the private-jet ownership by Cindy.  Who knows what she really owns, because she won't release her tax records.)

Doesn't that mean John's wealthy, too?  Where else did the man find the money to run for public office in the first place?

(This is all just me, thinking out loud, all crazy-like.  Because, lord knows, Lady Cindy has a perfect right to keep *her* tax information to her own damn self.  John's obviously planning this whole presidency business without including her.  As is typical of the extremely wealthy pandering populist kinda Republican that usually runs for the highest office in the land.

Next you'll tell me John and Cindy have separate bedroom suites in each of their residences.  Which sounds so totally like my neighborhood.  Minus the space to have one actual bedroom suite in any of the houses in my neighborhood, let alone two.  Oh, and minus the multiple-residence-having.  Also, minus the super-sweet fancy vaseline'd-camera-lense for those times when my neighbors are interviewed on national television about their stockpiled millions.  Except for all that, Cindy and John are just. like. us.)

Hannah Montana and the Politics of Desensitizing America

Last week, while the Momocrats were here celebrating our no small victory of getting a substantive blog-terview with Senator Obama, the rest of the interwebs were a twitter with the latest incident of inappropriate celebehavior, namely Miley Cyrus disrobing for Annie Lebowitz in Vanity Fair.

Now, I’m as avid a participant (though closeted, must maintain my brainy Clark Kent disguise) in the celeb-culture as the next gal. Though I would not dream of filling my home or my daily commute with any of the dozens of celeb-rags that cover newsstands in techni-colored rainbow splendor, let’s face it, there’s little as satisfying as doing the treadmill or the elliptical while voraciously snarfing down a Star or an Ok! or even a Life & Style (you can pretend to workout, and get some culture too!) So I know about Hannah Montana and Heidi Montag (except for why she’s famous?) and Gossip Girls and of course Ms. Brittney.

So when the Miley Cyrus brouhaha erupted, I was tempted to dismiss it with the usual sleight of hand that I reserve for news that isn’t news. But then this most appalling thought stopped me short: how could I, a mother of two girls, be so non-plussed about a 15 year old “role model” cavorting half-naked in a theoretically “reputable” general interest magazine? When did I become so desensitized that it no longer phased me that a girl that I could imagine my own daughters emulating was basically set up to seduce the entire world with her tousled hair, lacquered lips and bedroom eyes?

Because every day, in this life we lead, our values are getting chipped away, one little nick at a time, by those who profit by doing so.