I don’t know about the rest of you, but this actually made me cry. Voter suppression is disenfranchisement, and disenfranchisement is criminal.

This is not the America anyone should stand for.

“I am proud to announce a new Equal Access to Housing Rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT individuals and couples have the right to live where they choose [...] If you are denying HUD housing to people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, actual or perceived, you’re discriminating, you’re breaking the law, and you will be held accountable. That’s what equal access means, and that’s what this rule is going to do.”

The new rule makes several urgently needed changes to current federal housing and housing-related programs including: prohibiting owners and operators of federally-funded or federally-insured housing, as well as lenders offering federally-insured mortgages from discriminating based on gender identity or sexual orientation;and clarifying the definition of “family” to ensure that LGBT families are not excluded from HUD programs.

Read the whole article. Honestly, when i first started doing advocacy around trans issues, I didn’t expect to see these kinds of rules put in place by 2012.

Oh, yes.

& love without power is sentimental & anemic.

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice

& justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

- Dr. King

Found here.

Or, as my friend Dylan posted on Facebook:

Spend this day in reflection.

Put no words in Dr. King’s mouth and make no assumptions that he would be on your side if he was alive this day; dead men can neither dispute words nor defend deeds. Create no saints where there was only a brave, fragile human who spoke for justice at his peril and ultimately to his demise.

Above all, remember the work that must be done tomorrow, for while Dr. King gave us momentum there is still so much left to do, so many challenges yet to come. May we share his strength and bravery as we act justly in the face of injustice, and in doing so honor his legacy more than any statue or holiday could attempt.

Indeed. That last bit would make a lovely start to any meeting, or any day.

How on earth this could be considered appropriate for any politician’s Facebook page is beyond me. Really, I’m staggered by the bad judgment, the treatment of violence against women as funny, and the violence against a public figure as funny, plus torture as funny.

I understand that someone out there finds this entertaining, which horrifies me even more.

Jesus not only preached about but a lived a message of radical inclusion. He saw God’s realm as including everyone — and especially those who were despised or downtrodden or oppressed.

That’s why we and many other Christians believe that our values are best expressed when all people and all families are treated with fairness and loving support.

It was written in response to a letter from Appleton Taxpayers United which appeared a few weeks ago, which I won’t honor by quoting. It’s lovely to read Christians who sound like Christians.

He was an inspiration to me, and I’m glad I had a lovely conversation with him many years ago at one of his readings.

His turn toward conservative in these years since 9/11 echoed a similar turn of one of my other favorite writer-heros, John Dos Passos. They weren’t such poor company, really: both of them so in love with the US in some ways, and so deeply critical of it in others.

I’ll miss you, Hitch. I’d say Godspeed but he was the most ardent of atheists, for which I loved him too.

I may not actually be in Wisconsin right now, but I’m happy to see some good reports coming out of the recall effort, like this one, about where the signatures – and donations – are actually coming from.

People drove up to sign petitions who had actually voted for Walker in the 2010 election; but seeing the effects of his policies on their neighbors, the loss of jobs, and the power he now holds, felt compelled to sign the petition. One woman, signing with her adult daughter, stated ”…this isn’t what I voted for.”

These stories are being repeated all over the county, and indeed, the state. They are being told by a community of people who understand, whether Republican or Democrat, that as a society we have an obligation not only to the people we see every day – but to the strangers who may be the weakest and neediest among us. The word-of-mouth stories from neighbor to neighbor are becoming the most powerful message in the recall battle. No amount of money can overcome a factual accounting of the negative impact Scott Walker is having when conveyed by a familiar and trusted friend.

It looks like they will have more than enough signatures to withstand the scrutiny these petitions will receive, too.