The Garab Chronicles

Dear Santa,

I wish I had something witty to say, but in light of the fact that a room full of Senators listened to this speech and then voted against marriage equality, I'm just...speechless.

Please consider my request to blackball the offending Senators by placing them on your permanent naughty list and revoke their Wii privileges, effective immediately.

Also, I'd like a pony.

That's all. 

Hope XIX...

Meanwhile, way across the pond and down south...

 

All hope that the Khamenei government had that it had effectively squashed the Opposition movement was, well, squashed on November 4th. The day marks the anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis at the American Embassy in Tehran, and  like Al-Quds day earlier this year, has traditionally been used as a celebration of the Islamic Revolution and an opportunity to put on an anti-Western, and particularly anti-American orgy of nationalist solidarity.

In light of this year's government crackdown by Iran's current leaders, and the resulting political rift across many sectors of the population, Opposition protesters took to the streets by the thousands (though some reports have put the number in the tens of thousands), despite government warnings of yet another crackdown, and the heavy presence of police and armed pro-government militia forces.

In what can only be dubbed Censorship Fail, Iran's rulers once again disrupted cell phone and internet service to ensure that nothing contradicting the official party line got out. Clearly, China owes the Iranian government a massive refund for all the jamming equipment it sold the Ahmadinejad regime in the lead up to June's still disputed Presidential election.

More videos and news at NIAC.

...it springs eternal.

Coming Up, New Jersey

Corzine's defeat in New Jersey does complicate things a bit, especially since incoming Republican Governor Chris Christie has reportedly vowed to veto any legislation that legalizes gay marriage in the Garden State.

That said, Corzine does have until January to make something happen. It's a stretch, but there are a lot of people who could use the help, sooner than later.

Still Reeling

Maine remains a bitter pill to swallow, though there's THIS, via Andrew Sullivan, which offers some perspective, and THIS, about the backlash against the Catholic Church by many of its own members who were aghast at its heavy political involvement on behalf of the Yes On 1 campaign.

In related news, NOM's "celebrity" mouth piece has just been forced to drop her $1 million lawsuit against the Miss America Pageant after her sex tape hit the web.

Who knew? TMZ is good for something, after all.

Stirred and Shaken

The great state of Maine joined the great state of California yesterday, where voters went to the polls and declared to the world that getting high is more important than ensuring equal protection under the law for all citizens.

NOM (no, I'm not providing a link to their website - but you can Google them if you must) is celebrating, though not too much, thanks to Hoffman's NY defeat marking the first time that Congressional district hasn't gone conservative in over a 100 years. 

Virginia was no big surprise, and neither was New Jersey, especially given the corruption and political scandals that recently made The Sopranos look like reality television.

I'm all for fuming and screaming at the tops of our lungs at the injustice of the whole thing, but I'm making no plans to move to Canada anytime soon. I'm staying right here with all my fellow out homos and the many people who love us, wondering how I can apply for tax exempt status too.

I survived Prop 8. Nothing phases me now.

C'mon Maine...

Show California and the 26 states that passed constitutional amendments to "protect" marriage that you know better.

Come Tuesday, the Garab will be holding his breath.

Clear and Present Bigotry

I'll say it again: Anyone who claims that DOMA or Don't Ask Don't Tell have nothing to do with bigotry and outright hatred hasn't had to watch his civil rights put up for a vote, over and over, and over again. And let's be very clear about this, marriage is a civil. fucking. right.

The next time you find yourself at your local Walmart, Ralph's, Kroger, Crate and Barrel, Target, or Best Buy, take about thirty seconds and count the number of straight couples wandering the aisles. If you find yourself, as I often do, wondering what the hell any of them see in each other, or how disfunctional, violent, and sad their breeder lives might be based on the dead expressions on their faces as they go about their mundane shopping, remember three things:

a) it's none of your fucking business.

b) the look on that pre-homicidal woman's face about to take the Martha Stewart frying pan off the rack to weaponize it across the back of her boyfriend's head probably has more to do with a caffeine deficiency than anything you saw on Lifetime this week.

c) every single one of these heterosexual couples, regardless of state of mind, employment status, criminal record, or mental health is allowed to get married if they choose to.

I, like most gay people in most of the country, can't.

Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, and California are the only exceptions. Come November, I hope I don't have to strike Maine out of that sentence too.

Anti-Hope

Unconfirmed reports out of Iran earlier this week sadly appear to have been true. Khamenei's judiciary has sentenced at least three people rounded up in post-election unrest to death.

While this was neither unexpected nor without precedent by Iran's ruling clerics, it does stand out as an interesting existential problem for a regime struggling to maintain its grip on power while simultaneously attempting to strike a balance between fending off international pressure over its questionable nuclear program, and soothing domestic resentment within large swaths of the local population.

Iran's youngest, and potentially its most productive citizens, have been the targets of violence perpetuated by a fanatical, and largely volunteer police force in the form of the Basiji militias, who report directly to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Allegations of torture, rape, and murder swirled long before the most recent show trial of more than 100 dissidents who currently face the hangman's (or as they do it in Iran, the crane operator's) noose. At the same time, the country's presumed President has traveled the globe, denying the acts of well documented past genocide, while dismissing criticism of his government's most recent human rights abuses as Western propaganda in the same breath. This, of course, impresses no one, least of all Iran's staunchest allies, who are put in the uncomfortable position of trying to justify their dealings with an openly violent and hypocritical regime.

This becomes even more dangerous for the Khamenei government when Iran's representatives attempt to convince the outside world that its secretive nuclear program is aimed not, as the most vocal advocates of direct military intervention have asserted, a nihilistic threat against a nuclear armed neighbor with second strike capability, but is designed - in secret mountain bunkers housed on military bases - for benign civilian consumption. Iran's clerics have thrived in the past by stoking fear among the masses, shaping it into a sort of feverish, demented nationalism caged in notions of holy war against outsider infidels. The problem those same clerics now face is that the masses have begun to realize that the infidels have been among them, disguised in turbans and wizened beards, hiding behind copies of holy books long-sullied by the actions of their owners.

Whether or not Khamenei and his cronies actually follow through with the execution of protesters remains to be seen (at least on paper, the condemned have the right to appeal to Iran's Supreme Court). But if the perception of election fraud resulted in the kind of civil disobedience that hearkened back to the beginning of Iran's Revolution and the removal of the Shah, one can only imagine what Iran's rulers are set to unleash.   

More on this here, and here, and more about the trial of dissidents here.

Now This Is How You Clear a Room

Dinnerjacket spoke at the United Nations this evening, at which point everybody left:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

My guess is they all went home to watch Glee (also known as the best thing on television right now):

Hope XVIII - The Snub

Via Andrew Sullivan* and NIAC**:

Eid El Fitr, like every Muslim holy day that at least I'm aware of, is a period of celebration, reconciliation, and brotherhood. This three day period is of particular importance to observant Muslims as it commemorates the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and atonement that offers an opportunity to begin the year anew and discard past grievances.

If you get to the mosque only one day out of an entire year, it's to commemorate Eid El Fitr, marked with a communal prayer that takes the ideas of equality and harmony taught in the Quran, and puts them into symbolic practice. Men (and women, praying in separate quarters for traditional reasons I've never understood) stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer before God, regardless of social standing, ethnicity, or economic means.

This idea, that even a king shall stand next to a pauper, is sacred. It is at the heart of many Islamic teachings.

Thankfully, sanity prevails over tradition every once in a while, and the courtesy afforded to a beggar off the street is not extended to a murderous dictator who's overseen the murder, detention, and rape of his own citizens - all while publicly denying the most atrocious, well documented act of genocide of the 20th century.

The video below shows Dinnerjacket in line for this year's Eid El Fitr prayers. And then it shows several senior clerics doing everything they can to avoid standing next to him, despite the best efforts of the ushers who attempt, in vain, to have them do otherwise.

 

#neda #iranelection

*The Daily Dish, by Andrew Sullivan: One of the best blogs covering events in Iran, as well as the fight for marriage equality, sanity in the health care reform debate, and the cynical political debauchery of the Palin

**niacINsight:Regular updates from Iran, on one of the most consistent blogs about the subject since before the unrest that followed the 2009 June election.