Mormons donated more to California's Prop. 8 campaign than they'd previously copped to

Mormon church reports $190,000 Prop. 8 expenses.

Mormon church officials, facing an ongoing investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Friday reported nearly $190,000 in previously unlisted assistance to the successful campaign for Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

Now there's a huge surprise.

Up until Friday, the Mormon church had denied any direct financial support for the campaign beyond a reported $2,078 spent for bringing church Elder L. Whitney Clayton to California.

Church officials complained that Karger's complaint was full of errors and that the church had "fully complied" with California law.

The report filed Friday contained few details about how the money was spent.

[...]

While the deadline for the report, which covers the period from July 1 to Dec. 31, is Monday, many campaign contributions by major donors and independent committees must be reported within days after they're made.

The final reports are due today, because U.S. District Judge Morrison England late last week refused to exempt the yes-on-8 campaign from making their filings today.

If the Prop. 8 campaign was exempted from disclosure because of reports of harassments of individual donors, said Deputy Attorney General Zackery Morazzini, the same case could be made for any controversial initiative. Courts would have to "keep the entire California electorate in the dark as to who was funding these ballot measures," he said.

England agreed.

He noted that some of the reprisals reported by the Prop. 8 committee involve legal activities such as boycotts and picketing. Other alleged actions, such as death threats, mailings of white powder and vandalism, may constitute "repugnant and despicable acts" but can be reported to law enforcement, the judge said.

Even if there have been illegal reprisals, that would be insufficient reason to grant a wholesale exemption for a multimillion-dollar initiative campaign, England said. He also rejected the Prop. 8 campaign's argument that the $100 disclosure limit established in 1974 should be increased for inflation, saying some states require reports of contributions as low as $25 and the Supreme Court has never invalidated them.

[ref:Prop. 8 campaign can't hide donors' names]

Interesting to see what comes out today that the yes-on-8 campaign was so anxious not to have come out.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out! Buh buh bye, George!

You taught me the meaning of "preemptive strike."

US Presidents - George Washington to Barack Obama

US Presidents - George Washington to Barack Obama




44 US Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama morphed to the music Boléro by Ravel

Must admit that I don't really know what each and every president looked like.

James K Polk was a surprise. He had a sly grin look about him. Reminded me of Baryshnikov somehow. Also reminded me of the They Might Be Giants song.

James Monroe I couldn't've picked out of a crowd.

And then there were the "He's on the $xxx bill" presidents.

John Tyler. Had I ever seen a picture of him that wasn't in a heads-of-all-the-presidents poster?

Grover Cleveland looked like a well-fed beermeister.

Entertaining.

gekko talked about the smiling/not-smiling aspect of the morph. I was more fascinated by the facial hair. Chester Arthur. Whoa.


[hattip to gekko, who posted this link on Usenet but I'm using a link to her blog instead of a link to that post.]

eightmaps -- oh, my Prop 8

eightmaps

A mashup of pro-Prop8 donations and Google maps.

Want to know if your neighbors donated to the Yes-On-Prop8 campaign? Here's your click.

(None of my neighbors donated according to this site, but then I live in a very not-Republican sector of town ...)

(Oh. Here's a student who donated $500 to the yes-on-8 campaign. Gosh. I wish I'd had that kind of money when I was a student.)

End Bush (Tuesday January 20, 2009. 9AM)

Event coming UP! all San Franciscans and those near enough to:

Inauguration Day 2009.

You could be at the Main Library at 100 Larkin Street in the Koret Auditorium watching the live telecast.

OR

You could be at End Bush at Bush and Presidio (Tuesday January 20, 2009)

Meetup and STREET PARTY! at the corner of Bush and Presidio at the END BUSH sign.

Melissa Etheridge: The Choice Is Ours Now

Melissa Etheridge: The Choice Is Ours Now

Melissa Etheridge on the Rev. Rick Warren.

[...]

On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection.

[...]

She tells everyone to chill.

[...]

Maybe if they get to know us, they wont fear us.

I know, call me a dreamer, but I feel a new era is upon us.

I will be attending the inauguration with my family, and with hope in my heart. I know we are headed in the direction of marriage equality and equal protection for all families.

Happy Holidays my friends and a Happy New Year to you.

Peace on earth, goodwill toward all men and women... and everyone in-between.

Obama logo ideas that weren’t chosen | Logo Design Love

Obama logo ideas that weren't chosen | Logo Design Love

Interesting information and links re the design of the Obama '08 logo: how it was chosen, how it evolved.

This is our moment. This is our time.

I'm a huge fan of Paul Madonna and his ALL OVER COFFEE work in the Sunday Chronicle.

Got this note from him today (that would be me and the zillion others on his e-mail list):

I've had an overwhelming response to this week's "Obama:Progress" All Over Coffee piece. Since the original sold within the first few hours it was published, (including a backup waitlist) I decided to make a fine art limited edition print of this particular strip to honor this momentous time in history.

The full-color print is 16x22 inches, signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100, at $195 each. Produced by the fabulous printer SF Electric Works, these prints are of the highest quality.

Follow this link to both view and order.

If you missed Sunday's Madonna, check it out. If you don't know ALL OVER COFFEE or Paul Madonna, check him out.

Pin the Tail -- Patterns, Land Use

Pin the Tail -- Patterns, Land Use

Interesting blog post from Sophia Travis @ Pin the Tail comparing red/blue voting patterns in the south for the 2008 presidential election and cotton production in the same region in 1860.

What does this mean? All those old plantation owners' heirs and assigns are Democrats?

[via tweet fr Tim O'Reilly]

The court will overturn Prop. 8

The court will overturn Prop. 8 by LaDoris H. Cordell. (op-ed in today's San Francisco Chronicle)

I was reading this commentary in the Chron this morning -- a commentary I agree with totally, btw.

LaDoris Cordell was a Superior Court judge in the south bay back when I lived in the south bay, so I was surprised when she mentioned she was lesbian.

That's odd, I thought. I knew she was a woman judge, not all that common, and a black woman judge at that, even more uncommon, but I hadn't realized she was a lesbian black woman judge. Huh. What do you know? Had I just not been paying attention? Was it just not important? Had I forgotten? (I've forgotten a lot of things.)

But then, I went to college, then to law school, opened a law practice in a black community, became a law school administrator, and then went on to a successful career on the bench. Along the way, I got married and had two wonderful daughters. I was perfect. And then one fine day, as these black voters would have it, I chose to simply throw it all away - to become an Untouchable? Ridiculous. I did not choose to be gay anymore than I chose to be black.

Ah. Penny drops. Cordell was married with a family when I knew of her, so I knew of the black woman judge aspect of her life but at that time, the lesbian side wasn't front and center. I didn't know and, frankly, had I known, wouldn't have cared.

Good commentary.

I also liked Keith Olbermann's commentary on Proposition 8 but for Pete's sake, he can sure over-emote, can't he? Easier to read his commentary than to watch it.

Maureen Dowd - Bring on the Puppy and the Rookie

Bring on the Puppy and the Rookie

Worth the signing on for.

[...]

The Obama girls, with their oodles of charm, will soon be moving in with their goldendoodle or some other fetching puppy, and they seem like the kind of kids who could have fun there, prowling around with their history-loving father.

I had been amazed during the campaign — not by the covert racism about Barack Obama and not by Hillary Clinton’s subtext when she insisted to superdelegates: “He can’t win.”

But I had been astonished by the overt willingness of some people who didn’t mind being quoted by name in The New York Times saying vile stuff, that a President Obama would turn the Rose Garden into a watermelon patch, that he’d have barbeques on the front lawn, that he’d make the White House the Black House.

Actually, the elegant and disciplined Obama, who is not descended from the central African-American experience but who has nonetheless embraced it and been embraced by it, has the chance to make the White House pristine again.

I grew up here, and I love all the monuments filled with the capital’s ghosts. I hate the thought that terrorists might target them again.

But the monuments have lost their luminescence in recent years.

[...]

Well said, Maureen Dowd. Well said.
Read the whole thing.

Patrick Moberg's 04Nov cartoon

Patrick Moberg's 04Nov cartoon

Succinct. (Can a cartoon be succinct? Perhaps I should say, To the point.)

Obama, however, will probably be grey too by the end of his terms.

Check out patrickmoberg.com

Name the New White House Puppy!

We were watching Obama's acceptance speech and he was talking about Sasha and Malia and I said to his nibs, "And they get a PUPPY!"

... the next thing Obama said was, "and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."

Well, now there's all the yammer about what =sort= of dog they should get and whether it should be a pound puppy or not.

What to name the puppy? is the next question.

Well, here are some ideas from the New Yorker, including "Checkers":

I think they should name it "Chesapeake" and call it "Chess," as a fitting counterpoint to "Checkers."

Exceptionally disappointed in San Francisco voters

Exceptionally disappointed in San Francisco voters, though.

With Obama, Prop 8 (and eleven other state propositions), twenty-two city measures and assorted supervisor/congresscritter/&c. decisions, the Registrar says

of the 477,651 registered voters,
237,843 ballots were cast.

49.79%.

That's pathetic, and doesn't even take into account those folks who couldn't be bothered even to register, let alone vote.

There's never been anything false about hope.

I watched this whenever I felt like it was all an impossible quest.



Thank you, will.i.am.

Proposition 8 Passes. On to Plan B.

Election Results - November 4, 2008 - California Secretary of State [map showing how the state voted, county by county. Illuminating!] Update: The CASoS has taken down the map, alas. The above link now points only to the text results. Update: The map is back

Proposition 8 passes.

95.7% of the precincts partially or fully reporting as of 7:49A. Yes:52.1% No:47.9%

Update: 96.4% precincts partially or fully reporting as of 9:23 a.m. Yes: 52.2% No: 47.8%


I can't tell you how disappointed I am. The only saving grace is that Prop 22 passed in 2000 by 61.4% to 38.6%. Saving grace: the gap has closed as much as it has in eight years. Now written into the state Constitution, the only way to un-do the amendment is by a similar vote by registered voters. The Legislature can't undo a Constitutional amendment (not that they could even rescind Prop 22 when they tried -- Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill).

Could voters come to their senses and reversed the amendment when some more time passes? If we cut the difference from 12.8% to 4.1% 4.4% in eight years, could we bring this to the ballot again in five years and have it pass?

Maybe.

Seems funny to me that amendments to the Constitution take only 50% +1 of the vote but raising taxes takes 2/3ds approval. Perhaps Constitutional amendments should also have that threshhold, but please not until we've rescinded this mean-spirited, unfair and wrong amendment some time in the future.

Or, alternatively, we can go to Plan B, as soon as everyone's regrouped.

Plan B: Change state law so that all legal schmegal dealing with joint tax filing, hospital visitation, inheritance, health benefits, time off for sick family, adoption, &c. for couples is based solely on civil registration at City Hall or the county courthouses.

Let churches marry whom they please, and let it be solely between a man and a woman, if that's what the church deems, but church marriages will not be valid registration for the government benefits accruing to couples. Only a civil partnership registered at City Hall or the county courthouse will have legal status, and civil partnerships will be available to heterosexual and homosexual couples.

My bets on the election ...

OK. So it's only a bet in Huffington Post's "guess the election" contest, but this is what I tossed in the mix. (Wishful thinking may be in play. ...)

Huffington Post was asking for electoral college breakdown (by numbers), popular vote breakdown (by percentages), House and Senate breakdowns (by numbers) and (as the tie-breaker for the woo-hoo! contest winner), the percentage breakdowns in the Minnesota Senate race.

My bets:

Electoral College: Obama 340 McCain 198

Popular Vote: Obama 54.1% McCain 42.2% Other 3.7%

House: Dem 246 Rep 189

Senate: Dem 59 Rep 39 Other 2

Minnesota Senate:
Franken 45%
Coleman 42%
Barkley 13%

Wife of former 49er Young voting No on Prop. 8

Wife of former 49er Young voting No on Prop. 8

You GO! Steve and Barbara.

Interesting. Has there been any fallout?

Interesting. Has there been any fallout? asks Sour Grapes, in response to my Vote NO on Proposition 8, redux. post.

My answer?

The biggest fallout is Proposition 8.

Attempts to make the anti-marriage-equality stance part of the state Constitution were already in motion after San Francisco authorized gay marriage ... only to have those marriages halted and then voided the same year because of the existence of the legal language brought into play by Proposition 22.

San Francisco and other proponents of marriage equality took the matter to court.

Question: Was Proposition 22, passed in 2000, to define marriage as between a man and a woman unconstitutional?

Well, said the anti-marriage-equality wing, even before the judges decided the matter. Let there be no question. Let's change the Constitution and put the definition of marriage there (instead of in the legal code) and that way it will be constitutional!

But a move to put the Constitution amendment on the ballot had slowed until the Sanders turnabout shocked the right wing of the Republican party. If even a true-blue anti-gay-marriage Republican could change his mind ...

The shock of it energized the folks who wanted to put the matter to the voters ... again. Proposition 8 is the fallout.

***

On the front window of our older son's house is an Obama sign and a hand-lettered sign.

The hand-lettered sign says:

SAVE OUR MARRIAGE. VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 8!

(Axel the window dog [ed. Axel is a big dog that spends each day sitting on the window seat waiting for the guys to come home and has become something of a neighborhood mascot] says JOINT FILING MEANS MORE MONEY LEFT AFTER TAXES AND MORE DOGGIE TREATS FOR ME!)

Our older son and his husband (yes, they got married =again= after the state courts legalized marriage equality in June) would like to stay married this time.

Make it so. Vote NO on Proposition 8.

t r u t h o u t | McCain, Obama and the Psychology of Decisions

t r u t h o u t | McCain, Obama and the Psychology of Decisions

Long, interesting article about the candidates and their respective ways of handling decision making and how their backgrounds, their relationships with their fathers, affect who they are today and how they relate to others.

Far from psycho-babble. Thoughtful.