Equality: it belongs to you and me

There are some people in Bessemer and really, everywhere, that need to see this.

My friend Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend has shared this video of Coretta Scott King speaking at the 1996 Atlanta Pride Festival.

Some people do not understand that equality belongs to everyone. She, and her husband, certainly did.




I certainly tried to make that point in my book, Those Others, and a review that came out yesterday recognizes that. Read it here.

Look for my upcoming article on the Prop 8 overturn in Noise Magazine. I'll let you now when it comes out.

I'm not going to post the videos and rants from those who disagree with the Judge's opinion because there are no valid arguments against it. His perceived sexuality has nothing to do with it. The misinterpretation of the Bible has nothing to do with it. The constitution and our founding documents are about equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere do those documents (nor the Bible) say "for straight people."

"Justice is indivisible," Mrs. King said. "The church burners and the gay bashers drink from the same poisonous well of hatred..."

I would add that some of the church leaders drink from that well of poison as well. And some talk radio hosts. And the "professional right."

For Mayor

There are five challengers hoping to unseat the current mayor of Bessemer, and of the six candidates, only one has the qualifications and the vision necessary to lead us into a new era.

Eight years ago, the people of Bessemer decided a change was in order. Our city had been declared "past the point of no return." As we look around we don't see evidence of the change we were promised. Oh we have a shiny new shopping center out Eastern Valley Road and a theater
and some nice restaurants. The same can be said for the Academy Drive area.

But our neighborhoods are crumbling, trash is piled in our alleys, and crime is as bad or worse than it was a decade ago.

The people of Bessemer do not feel good about their city, and they are not inspired to work with each other, or to support the city council, because of the lack of leadership and lack of evidence that the mayor and council are doing anything to help our city progress.

I proposed a list of qualifications that the next mayor of Bessemer should possess. One candidate met these standards and agreed with all these qualifications.

The Progressive Bessemer Coalition has endorsed Ken Gulley for mayor.

Ken Gulley kicked his campaign off in March. Here are Bob Pennington, Gulley, Otis Smith and Hank Tyler at that event.

Image courtesy the Western Tribune

In a conversation with the candidate he said this about the list, "All those things can be summed up; we want good government."

The list included taking control of the budget (in a transparent way), having a vision for the city and a plan to get us there, a person who can get along with the council and share information with the city, be committed to transparency, must be squeaky clean, must be committed to addressing our crime problem, and must live in Bessemer and support Bessemer in everyday living.

The Gulley family

Supporting Bessemer is something Ken Gulley has done all his professional life. Not long after receiving his degree in business management from Alabama A & M University he began working in Bessemer city government, so he has a foundation in how government works, and how the city is organized. After he left city government, he continued to contribute to Bessemer by serving on several community boards and organizations including the Red Cross and the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce.

His vision for the city includes "sound fiscal management, structure and accountability, a state of the art school system, a clean and beautiful city, promoting more tourism and new businesses to our city."

He also says that he will "work to unify the relationship of the mayor and council, so that we can work together to attract more residents, businesses and tourism."

He has promised to treat city employees fairly, and will work to make their salaries comparable to surrounding cities.

He will find funding for youth and senior citizens recreational programs.

He will work to restore the Bessemer Home Rehabilitation Program, which assisted qualified elderly residents who needed renovations to preserve their homes.

He also will examine the status of the First Time Buyers Program. Under this program approximately 50 homes were built, giving those that did not qualify for home ownership under regular conventional methods the opportunity to enjoy the American dream.

These are just a few of real and reachable goals of the Gulley administration.

Vote for Ken Gulley on August 24.

You can find out more about Ken Gulley at Voteken2010 (click on "On the issues") or by attending the Mayoral Candidate Forum on Tuesday, August 17 at 6 pm. the event is free to the public, and all 6 candidates are expected to speak and answer questions. The forum will be at Bessemer city High School.

The City Council and School Board Forums will be on Thursday, August 12 (Districts 1, 2 and 3)and Monday, August 16 (Districts 4, 5, 6 and 7) at 6 pm. More on these later.

Boies and Olson continue to persuade

Get used to it.

I mean, I could get used to looking at pictures of people solidifying their commitment.

The right to marry the person you love has always been in our constitution, and we are now moving toward the recognition of that right.




These pictures of loving couples are courtesy of a google search.

David Boies and Ted Olson did a super job in the courtroom in tearing down Prop 8, and they convinced Judge Walker of the validity of their case.

They are now doing the same with the public, on Fox News and on CBS, on the Sunday talk shows.

Chris Wallace, Fox News, "I gotta say after your appearance today I don't understand how you ever lost a case on the Supreme Court sir."

Watch the entire interview, it's just 6:38 long.




Meanwhile, his legal buddy David Boies took on Tony Perkins on CBS and Face the Nation.



So here's the deal. We've said for years that the key to Equality is coming out, talking to our neighbors and co-workers, and that when people know us, and understand the discrimination on a personal level, their attitudes, and their degree of support, changes.

That is true.

But now this case has become a teachable moment, or a lot of teachable moments. Unless you read the ruling (which was pasted on this blog a few days ago) or followed the case as it was developing, you missed out on the personal aspects of it and how the plaintiffs were affected.

But you cannot miss the legal truths that have been revealed, and the explanation of those truths, which can be found in the 138 page ruling, or heard by listening to the successful attorneys. And every time one of these guys is on TV, more people are made aware of the constitutionality of the ruling, and minds are changed, and public opinion moves more in the direction of Equality.

Now, enjoy a few more pictures.

Quiz time

Well here's a talking points buster from today's Parade magazine, which comes in our Sunday paper.

There is a quiz regarding government spending, you can take it here.

But here are the highlights.

1. Whose administration oversaw the biggest decrease in defense spending?

Three Republicans and Jimmy Carter are the choices. The truth? Eisenhower, Nixon and the first Bush reduced defense spending more than any of the Dems from 1952 to 2008.

Democrats are not weak on defense.

3. The national debt grew fastest when: Dems controlled both houses? GOP controlled both houses? Control of Congress was mixed? Answer: National Debt as a % of GDP decreased when either party controlled congress and increased when Congress was split.

So we need to maintain Democratic control of both houses to control the debt.

6. This was a question about gross domestic product (GDP) and how today's GDP compares to 1950's GDP. Half? Same? 3X? 10X? Answer: We produced three times as much stuff per person in the US in 2008 as we did in 1950.

So all the jobs are not overseas, it seems.

Those are just a few of the questions and answers and you may be surprised at the others as well.

Now, lets go eat some Dreamland ribs.




Here's Mary Chapin Carpenter's song, Dreamland:

Prop 8: the ruling

You gotta love the 14th amendment of the U. S. Constitution.

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

That clause should mean that my partner and I shall be able to marry, just like all three of my brothers have, to the person I love.

It may take a few years, but that will be the law of the land in Alabama before its over with.

Yesterday, Judge Vaughn Walker wrote:

"...Prop 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation."

And more.

Here is the entire ruling (I'm having a hard time loading the whole thing here. Come back if you can't see it now).

Prop 8 Ruling

I love it when people express their feelings.

Here's Sam Harris.




Remember, I posted a video by Sam after Prop 8 was passed. He expressed his feeling at that time also.

Anyway, the ruling is a huge victory, if you are interested in Equality and Liberty. I will be writing more about this for a magazine!

The confirmation of Elena Kagan today is a great thing, as well.

Let's not forget: Crime!

I've not heard the mayor of Bessemer making claims about crime being down lately, but it's probably only because I haven't been listening to him. After what we've heard him say, and then looking at the facts, it's been easy to see that he is either blind to the truth, delusional, or putting the politics of getting elected above the safety of the citizens of Bessemer.


He has said on more than one occasion that crime in Bessemer is just a "perception." In a newspaper column last year I wrote about the "perception" statistics, from which it could be seen that the mayor is full of baloney when he says crime is down.

We have another year of statistics (provided by the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center) to look at.


Remember, when looking at trends, we would like to start with the year 2002, because that is when Ed May was elected mayor. But our city did not report crime statistics to the state that year, for some unknown reason. So we go back to 2000.


Last year I also wrote about clearance rates, and showed how the clearance rates in Bessemer compared unfavorably to other cities our size. Clearance rate, you will recall, is the number of crimes cleared divided by the number of crimes recorded. A crime is considered cleared when enough evidence is gathered to charge a suspect or take one into custody.


In the report last year, for instance we saw that clearance rate for rape dropped from 38% to 15% between 2000 and 2008. In 2009, there were 24 rapes, and 6 were cleared, so the clearance rate showed an improvement - 25.



But don't break out the champagne yet. Compared to both 2000 (when there were 5 homicides) and 2008 (6 homicides), homicide in Bessemer increased in 2009, to 10 (with only 3 cleared). Robbery is up in 2009 (209) compared to both 2000 (174) and 2008 (193). Burglary is up in 2009 (1170) compared to both 2000 (802) and 2008 (1046). Total crimes were up in 2009 (4381) compared to both 2000 (4176) and 2008 (4295).


So far in 2010 there have been at least 6 murders in Bessemer, as seen in this map of murder locations in the Birmingham area.

The clearance rate for all crimes in Bessemer is 15% and this is an improvement. The police are doing a better job of solving crimes, it seems, in the face of more crime.

And as long as we treat crime as a nebulous "perception" rather than a serious problem, it will continue to grow.

It takes more than telling your neighbors about Jesus to solve the crime problem of Bessemer. Maybe some new ideas, some new strategies, police substations that are open on weekends (seriously), police getting out of their cars and walking the neighborhoods, getting to know the folks. A new mayor.

Today's Western Star poses a question.

Why?

They want to know why hundreds of Kenneth Gulley signs are disappearing.

I have a theory. We've seen people selectively taking up signs on our block. They even reached in over our fence and took a sign.

But signs, even "Re-elect Ed May" signs, do not equal votes. In my neighborhood, as I was walking to the track today, I noticed that Ed May operatives had been through. Lot's of flyers. But, I also noticed that the people must not be too impressed because the sidewalks and yards were littered with the things where people had thrown them down, probably in disgust.




The flyers have been tossed aside, just as the mayor should be.


A lot will be said before the election on August 24. But no one can deny that crime is still a problem, not a perception, and that crime rates that are either increasing or remaining virtually the same are not acceptable and are not progress. And we want progress!

Town Hall meetings

This is a letter that I sent to the Western Star in Bessemer, that they elected not to publish. But you will still get a chance to read it, because I'll put it on Bessemer Opinions:

Dear Editor:

The more I think about it, the more I consider the inappropriateness of Mayor Ed May’s Town Hall meetings. I have not attended many of them recently, but I used to attend them all when he was first elected eight years ago.


The modern concept of town halls brings to mind large meeting rooms like the auditorium at City Hall, or the auditoriums in the numerous public schools in our city.


The mayor chooses to conduct his Town Hall meetings in the security of a church, and the meetings bear some resemblance to the service one might hear on a Sunday morning.




At a recent Town Hall meeting in a local church we heard how the recent pattern of scattered thunderstorms, for instance, was pre-determined by God. That didn’t bother me too much, as someone’s uneducated belief about the weather doesn’t concern me, unless that person is the one in charge of issuing tornado warnings, for instance, the paths of which I think are determined by natural forces and not the hand of God taking aim at certain ones of us.


But at a meeting three years ago after the tragic death of 14 year old Josh Hughes the mayor offered a solution to the crime problem in Bessemer that does affect me as well as the rest of Bessemer’s citizens.


The solution to violent crime, according to the mayor, rather than increased police protection would be for each one of the audience members, to tell another resident about Jesus and for that resident to do the same, until all of Bessemer had converted.


The recent murder of 23 year old Maurice Thomas at a Bessemer club shows how well that strategy has worked.


Conducting Town Hall meetings in churches is exclusionary because not all citizens feel comfortable in a particular church, or any church, for that matter. Government should be separate from religion, and combining the two, even on this level, is dangerous and inappropriate.


We have plenty of public buildings throughout our city where this type of meeting could be held, and in buildings that are paid for and owned by the citizens, we would all feel welcome.

(PS - Disclosure: I have no control over the ads that appear below the posts. I mean, which ads. I don't necessarily approve or endorse the products or politicians or whatevers that may appear.)