LEARNING FROM IRAN or SILENCE=DEATH

Iranians are protesting the elections and the opposition candidate, Mousavi, is calling for a re-vote. Their SUPREME leader is saying no, but they are not backing down.
8 years ago we did not speak up when our candidate, Mr. Gore, quickly conceded and we accepted our SUPREME court decision to side with Bush. All the protesting we did afterwards was to no avail, our SUPREME president did what he wanted anyway.

In the US we have the right to assemble, march and protest. Our politicians know we seldom do these days, so they go on with their plans as if. Are we too busy living our lives and staying above water? Compared with other countries we still have a very high standard of living and in general the basic needs covered. Still. Are those of us who have more than the basic too busy maintaining to care about the less fortunate?. Perhaps the race to provide for ourselves and our loved ones has turned us too complacent, lazy and spineless. I am myself guilty as charged.

Unless we want to be stuck with major reforms that will shape our lives for years to come -or with pseudo reforms that will not really change the status quo- it behooves us to get out there and peacefully express our opinions. Short of joining a demonstration, letters and e-mails, even a phone call to the white house (202-456-1111) will do to make sure we express our opposition - or support- of the different policies being considered right now = Health Reform, Wars, Energy, Economy, Equality.

Whether we voted for Obama or not, we have the duty to voice our opinions. These are very important times in domestic and foreign policy. We are again in a position of exporting American values to the world, a world much more receptive to us, as we have regained their respect by electing Obama. What are American values, you may ask? Equality under the law, access to quality health prevention and care not connected to employment, free education and peace for all are the basic ones in my book. But only by having those guaranteed at home, can we expect anybody else to follow our example. Do as I do, not as I say I do.

We paid a high price for not raising our voices against past injustices; perhaps we can learn from the people of Iran. They seem ready to die for the right to express themselves. As more and more people fall through the cracks loosing their jobs and not being able to afford health care, our silence may equal death.

EQUALITY - LIKE CHARITY - BEGINS AT HOME

As the US goes around the world promoting democracy and equality for all as the basis for a world in which ideas and ideals flow freely, it harbors within it's borders a group of second class citizens.

Obama took a big stand in the case of torture, declaring it amoral in the face of the US exporting fairness as a policy... how can we be credible if we torture? Well, I say, how can we be credible if we oppress?

Campaign promises apart, Mr. Obama, I may be disappointed at you , but I'm not dropping the ball and I call for equal rights under equal taxation. We do pay for the paper on which the marriage licenses denied to us are printed, for the schools where the kids we can't adopt go to learn, for the pensions and health benefits that our spouses are unable to enjoy, and some of us fight in the military for our country's freedom but are not free to express who we are. No more I say!

I am very sorry to discover that the candidate of Hope and Change is becoming more and more the politico of the Status Quo. People say that to govern is very different than to campaign, but I am not buying it as a rationale for the current state of affairs. It is too early in the process to judge, some others offer as yet another justification. But the tone is being set, and trying to be all things to all people ends up being not enough for anybody.

As I watch the president on the news, being followed every minute of the day, taking every opportunity for the proverbial photo op, I can't avoid meditating upon the traps of power. As it propels you to the higher echelons of society (money and domination), does it make you forget of your days as a representative of the marginalized and left behind? (community organizer)

Obama caved in during the campaign when he abandoned the church he favored, for the possibility to bring change to society as a whole. We did accept it back then because we agreed that what he did showed that the greater good was bigger than his private believes. Why give the foes standing in the way of a revolution the fodder to cut it off before it could happen?. And happen it did; Obama was elected president, and the historical moment resounded around the world. But is the first "black" president of the US turning into yet another crusty, status quo upholding, standing in the way of social progress "white" politician? Do we accept his caving to the forces that want to keep things from changing as also necessary for the greater good? (War, healthcare, banking anyone?)

The march of time can't be stopped, and the ideals that brought him to power are still in play; mainly the believe that all people are equal and deserve the same treatment under the law.

Compared to other countries and regimes around the world, people say, US homosexuals have it really good. It is true we are not persecuted, jailed nor killed for our sexual orientation. However, and because of that, it is our responsibility to erase the dividing lines and make it clear to all that we will not stand anymore for being thought as equal but separate.

All great changes in the world were the result of struggles against the accepted official version, the way things have always been. To continue to accept marriage and all it's social and economic benefits as the province of the heterosexual, because it's been like that for hundreds of years, does not cut it anymore. Having time on it's side does not make something right. (the world is flat, slavery, women's voting rights anyone?)

Like Mr. Churchill famously said "You can always count on americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else".

For a long time I've tried everything to convince myself to buy into the accepted view of things; but the time has come for me to take responsibility for being the change I want to see happen. I will not stop myself short by accepting "olive branches". It's not charity I'm asking for, but it begins at home.