One can say the same about blind people who vote Republican. There are some
extremely right wing blind people. They write extremely negative posts about
what they call, "big government", government workers, bureaucracy, and
inefficiency in government services. Many of them are government employees
or retired government employees. They attended state schools for the blind,
benefited from rehab services, and use NLS. These are the people who have
been bitching and complaining on the BARD Talk list about BARD being down.
When the Washington Post article indicating that the whole Library of
Congress system is down because many of its components are outdated, and I
tried to point out that this relates to lack of funding for government
services, and that people should be complaining to Congress about lack of
funding rather than just complaining about the government. some folks
responded to that suggestion very negatively. One person responded that the
Republicans had to do what they did because we have too many immigrants
taking jobs from Americans and because too many Americans are too lazy to
work. I truly don't understand how so many blind people can be so naive
about their position in society. They obviously don't understand the reason
for the original formation of NFB. They must live in a very protected world.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 12:42 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uncertain future of Log Cabin Republicans
Chuck, people often vote against their own interests because they have been
lead to believe it is in some sort of bigger picture on some grander scale.
I live in a working class inner city neighborhood and I suspect that at
least 1/2 of my neighbors will vote republican given the chance for the
aforementioned erroneous reasons.
Franks
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Charles Krugman
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:59 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uncertain future of Log Cabin Republicans
it is shocking that there are a number of Republicans in the LGBT community
even though it goes against their interests. I think many of them have
wishful thinking and support Republican doctrine based on foreign policy
issues as well as their view of the size and nature of government.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Vieni
Sent: Monday, September 7, 2015 2:55 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uncertain future of Log Cabin Republicans
I never understood what they were doing in the Republican Party. The parties
are so alike these days. One of the few differences is their social and
cultural values. Republicans have tended to be right wing when it comes to
religion and they've never welcomed diversity. These days, they're father to
the right than they've ever been.
Miriam
________________________________
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Charles Krugman
(Redacted sender "ckrugman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2015 5:35 PM
To: Blind Democracy
Subject: [blind-democracy] uncertain future of Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans' Uncertain Future
The Log Cabin Republicans strive for legitimacy within a party that worked
tirelessly against marriage equality. Can they replicate past successes
battling "religious freedom" in red states?
Image: Javarman/Shutterstock
<http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/imagecache/stories/a-lonel
y_cabinx400.jpg>
Image: Javarman/Shutterstock
A mention of Log Cabin Republicans in some queer quarters will elicit a
response similar to the invocation of Jews for Jesus or Uncle Tom: a
derisive snort. Or worse.
LCR celebrated nationwide marriage equality with the rest of the LGBT
community, after having worked hard to bring it about. But the party to
which it pledges allegiance has pitched a rearguard action against marriage
for years, surrendering no ditch without a skirmish.
The GOP and the greater conservative movement sometimes seem to want little
to do with LCR. To wit: While some GOP presidential contenders have met with
LCR, they all condemned the United States Supreme Court's marriage equality
decision in June, some in floridly apocalyptic terms; most immediately
seized the banner of the next battle, "religious freedom." LCR finally
attended the GOP national convention as a recognized group in 2012, yet
anti-LGBT rhetoric peppered the party's platform, and LCR was still denied
full inclusion at the influential Conservative Political Action Conference,
settling this year for participation in a single panel with no booth on the
floor. LCR was disinvited from June's Western Conservative Summit, its $250
deposit returned. And last year, the Texas GOP denied LCR's chapter a booth
at the annual convention, citing an obscure rule that Texas LCR chairman
Jeff Davis says is routinely overlooked for others.
Yet LCR soldiers on for both LGBT rights and Republicanism, seemingly immune
to the humiliation of such rejection. With marriage equality legally
settled, and with the ban on transgender participation in the military on a
path similar to that of "don't ask, don't tell," one main issue confronting
LGBT political campaigners, including LCR, is whether they can successfully
head off or defeat "religious freedom restoration acts" (RFRAs) coming out
of red-state legislatures and statehouses.
LCR has scored victories in the past. The group was founded in California to
combat the ultimately unsuccessful 1978 Briggs Initiative, which would have
barred gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools. The organization
helped quash the Federal Marriage Amendment, introduced in Congress in 2004
and endorsed by President George W. Bush. And in 2010, a California federal
judge ruled DADT unconstitutional in a lawsuit filed by LCR; many political
watchers credit that victory with paving a path to DADT's repeal.
But can LCR replicate its political successes against RFRAs? And does it
want to?
The establishment of such RFRA policies is unlikely at the federal level, or
in blue states like California. The assault will come from the South and the
Midwest - and what LCR can do there is unclear. One problem is the absence
of chapters in critical GOP-leaning states, including Mississippi, Arkansas,
Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Idaho, Montana, North
and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas. LCR's Alabama chapter shut
down sometime after 2010, the year of the last entry on its Facebook page.
Nevertheless non-Republican advocates in conservative states with LCR
chapters view the organization as a valuable ally.
"Within the Texas legislature, they are an incredibly effective voice," says
Equality Texas's Daniel Williams. He credits LCR with helping head off
certain anti-LGBT bills in the latest legislative session.
Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams (no relation) says that "LCR
have been instrumental in establishing relationships with both Governor Gary
Herbert and his predecessor Jon Huntsman."
LCR is "going to be important to move the needle," says Equality North
Carolina executive director Chris Sgro. But the extent to which local
chapters depend on the national organization's health is uncertain.
Jimmy LaSalvia founded the now-defunct Kentucky LCR chapter in 2004, later
served at the national level, and ultimately left LCR to found GOProud, a
since-disbanded Republican LGBT group. LaSalvia quit the GOP last year. His
book, No Hope: Why I Left the GOP (and You Should Too), comes out in
October.
LaSalvia claims LCR is "hanging by a thread," that the national office once
had seven employees but is now down to executive director Gregory T. Angelo
and an intern, and that membership has fallen since around 2004, which he
calls the group's "heyday."
________________________________
http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2015/08/31/log-cabin-repub
licans-uncertain-future
