Nomadsplanet

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about all of the discussions for and against the Bush tax cuts.  And I have come to my own conclusion about the subject.  Honestly, my opinion and thoughts about the subject will more than likely make you upset and disappointed with my conclusions; they are however my thoughts and opinions.

• The Tax Cuts need to be allowed to expire – for all parties involved.
  Let’s really think about this for a moment..  Have you calculated out how much the tax cut actually benefits you?  Are you any better off with your additional $20-$40 per pay period?  What can you buy with that additional money?  In a month you bring home an extra $40-$80.  What does this do for you?
• The Tax Cut added $4 Trillion dollars to the deficit
  The cuts if added together for equal somewhere around $4 Trillion Dollars (roughly the total for both the middle and upper class cuts).  What could the country do with an additonal $4 Trillion dollars?  Well, we could work on a massive infrastructure upgrade that has been decades in the making.  The History Channel had a compelling special called “The Crumbling of America“.  In this special the show speaks to the issue of how much work and money is needed to bring America back from a grade of ‘D’ to a ‘B’.  The costs of said infrastructure upgrades – $2 Trillion Dollars.
• The very un-American way of going to war with Iraq and Afghanistan.
  Look, the wars in the Middle East have cost America dearly in both personal and financial costs.  How many American’s have died, will die and will be injured by these “unjust wars“?  If we have spent $2 Trillion Dollars on both the cost of war and the promised money for rebuilding their infrastructure then why can’t we spend this money rebuilding ours?  For anyone that reads or at least has an appreciation for history will know that Bin Laden knew that you couldn’t beat the US with war itself but that we could be defeated financially.  Wasn’t there a reason the World Trade Center was attacked?  Wasn’t that the center of the US Marketplace?

The American thing to do is to realize that we need to accept and embrace change.  This type of change will involve changing the way we do business as usual.  American’s need to take more pride in ourselves and the type of life we want to live.  What happened to the “American Dream?”  Our roads are crumbling, our schools are faultering, our economy is in shambles and people need work.

I don’t have a background in economics, nor am I an economist.  I am rather a person that takes time to read, research and come to my own conclusions on what (in my humble opinion) needs to be done.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
-Gandhi

I’m working on posting again to the site.. In the meantime however, I had to upgrade MySQL server, WordPress as well as the plugins that I use. All is better now

Please take a look at the PDF file and read first hand how RACIST some Oklahomans are.  This is a pdf print from the Oklahoman (newsok.com).

Election night on 19^th Street in Oklahoma City on November 4^th, 2008 was filled with emotion, excitement, trepidation, joy, fear and a sincere hope for better days.  We gathered with friends and watched the election results come in.  Obama wins Vermont, McCain wins West Virginia.   The night started out slow with few projections being aired and a noticeable lack of “exit polls”.  This election felt like we got it right by not showing the “polls” 15 seconds after the polling place closed. 

What became apparent by 8:45pm CST was the fact that Barack Obama was indeed going to be elected our next President.  The excitement continued to build through the evening when at 10:00pm CST California, Oregon and Washington were called for Obama; effectively giving him 284 electoral votes and making him the President-Elect.  The networks did an amazing job of letting the public excitement tell the story of this historic win.  ABC News and MSNBC decided that the only narrative that needed to be said was that of the electorate around the country.  In a matter of 8 hours the world took a collective sigh of relief and shared in our historic vote.

Pundits were divided that the so-called “Bradley effect” could happen again this election cycle as people may have felt that they couldn’t really state who they were going to vote for.  That people felt that in order to save face and make it appear that they were indeed voting for Barack Obama when they had decided to do otherwise.  Thankfully this election proved once and for all that you can do anything and achieve whatever your mind and heart desires.

Then at 3:45am CST November 5, 2008 it hit me; the election of 2008 did indeed show the death of the “Bradley effect” but it gave birth to the “Jim Roth” effect.  For my non gay friends and viewers let me give you some background information on Mr. Roth.    Mr. Roth was the first openly gay man to serve in a state wide office.  He had moved up and through the political ranks pretty quickly, especially for a conservative state like Oklahoma.  He was appointed to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission by Governor Brad Henry (D) and was running for the completion of the term in which he was filling.  You’re asking yourself by now; “What the hell is Damon talking about, or where is he going with this?”  Well, it’s simple.  Election night 2008 showed that hate is alive and well in the United States and that for the for seeable future Gays and Lesbians will continue being the punching bag for politicians and religious groups hell-bent on legislating hate.

My examples are unfortunately many and reach across state lines but I feel that they show why the “Roth” effect is real.

1.)    Jim Roth lost a race that was his to win.  Dana Murphy (the Republican challenger to Roth) had been rumored to be working with rural churches to spread the fact that Jim was gay and that he was accepting out of state money to run his campaign for advancing the “Gay Agenda”.  There were I’m sure “robocalls” being used in targeted areas to help paint Roth as a partier and someone that couldn’t do the job.  Polls leading up to the election indicated that Roth was winning the race.  Hell, the “Oklahoman” even endorsed Jim.

2.)    Oklahomans overwhelmingly re-elected Sally Kern as a State Representative.  You will remember that she is the person that stated “Gays are more dangerous than terrorist”.  No, really…she said it!  There are video after video on YouTube showing her distain for the GLBT community.  How can so many people in her district indicate that they are upset with her and yet vote her back in?

3.)    Arkansas passed the ban on Same Sex adoption.  Polls leading up to this election indicated that they had a 36% approval rate for this ban.

4.)    Arizona passed (on the second attempt) the gay marriage ban

5.)    Florida passed the gay marriage ban (polls again had indicated that the ban would fall just short of the 60% to pass.  In fact polls as of 11/4/08 had the ban at 55%)

6.)    And finally..  California’s Proposition 8; the gay marriage ban.  Polls had been all over the place during the past couple of months.  Some polls had it up, some had it down but the last poll had the ban failing by several points.

The point to this rant is simple; we were lied to by our friends, family and people whom we thought supported us.  They outright lied and stabbed the GLBT community in the back and they will feel no remorse over this.  Friends and Family, if there has ever been a time in the gay movement to stand up in solidarity and demand better and fair treatment then now is that time.  We have to demand more from our elected leaders and supporters.  We have to get MORE involved with our new President-Elect and help bring about the Change that OUR community so desperately needs. 

So it is with better sweet irony that I say:

 “Yes We Can!”
-President Elect Barack Obama

Thanks and God Bless the UNITED States of America,
Damon

Need I say more?

It took just under an hour to vote… But it’s done and history will be made tonight! Barack Obama our next President!!!
Damon

Good God! I had a brain fart and forgot that my last name started with a “H”! LOL.

Long lines but not as long as I was hoping for.

7:48am

Pulling into polling place!