Endorsements!

While I understand that many political crackheads have already submitted their ballots for the November election (I submitted mine almost a week ago), the elections are coming up. But you probably already knew that, unless, of course, you have been living under a rock for the past few months.

Here in the Land of Fruits and Nuts, we have a super-sized ballot full of ballot initiatives and statewide candidates for office. To help you make sense of the madness, allow me to give you some brief advice on your ballot.

GOVERNOR- Arnold Schwarzenegger
My endorsement absolutely goes to the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has a brilliant record on Gay rights and the economy and has proven his moderate credentials. Phil Angelides is a hack that would overtax the state and drive business away without providing any substantial improvements on Schwarzenegger's social policies.

Lt. GOVERNOR- Tom McClintock
What does a Governor Lite do anyway? Since this is a post primarily concerned with waiting for the real governor to leave the state, die, or otherwise vacate his office, it is hard to come up with a good reason to have a Lt. Gov.

A harder question to answer is who is Garamendi? McClintock is a proven conservative. While I definitely disapprove of his views on Gay rights, he is a fiscal watchdog that would do a fine job...if that had anything to do with the office of Lt. Gov. I will endorse him anyway because I really don't like the idea of a no-name Democrat keeping the seat of the Governor-in-Waiting warm.

ATTORNEY GENERAL- Chuck Poochigian
I have already posted on the reasons I am not supporting Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown for Attorney General. Despite the impact the office can have on Gay issues in California, Brown won't be tough on crime. Poochigian would be. It's that simple.

SECRETARY OF STATE- No Endorsement
I heavily considered giving my endorsement to Bruce McPherson, but he doesn't excite me. After former SOS, Kevin Shelley screwed up and was forced into resignation from office in a cloud of shame, McPherson stepped up to the plate to be appointed SOS. Well, sort of.

I think somebody forgot to tell him he was named Secretary.

His term was marked, well, by nothing. Granted that Secretary of State is not the most exciting office in Sacramento, but he seems to have kept things going as business as usual without any remarkable innovation.

Bowen, on the other hand, is a rebel rouser that seems to want to go totally back to paper ballots. While it is good to have a healthy fear of electronic voting machines, her fear of technology borders on paranoid.

CONTROLLER- Tony Strickland
Who would be a better person to elect as the official fiscal watchdog of the state than the man who successfully sued Gray Davis? Strickland was the youngest person to ever serve in the Assembly, was a powerful force in YAF, and would be a strong leader to preside over the Board of Equalization. And his opponent? Some Democratic unknown.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER- Steve Poizner
I won't even pretend to have a rationale for why I am endorsing Poizner. Really, I just have a great disdain for Cruz Bustamante and his greedy ways. Cruz has spent the greater part of his adult life "earning" a paycheck in elected office. In his most recent gig, he didn't even have to do anything to keep making six-figures except wait around for a Governor to leave office...and he managed to do a poor job at that! Even more recently, Bustamante got caught taking large amounts of money from insurance companies in the form of campaign contributions. While this normally wouldn't be a big problem, he is running for a job that's sole purpose is to oversee regulations on those same companies. If that doesn't reek of impropriety, I don't know what does.

US SENATE- Dianne Feinstein
DiFi is one of my favorite politicians alive today! Sure I hate her history on gun rights and dislike her position on abortion, but she has managed to carve herself a niche as a pragmatic problemsolver. She has been a great representative of California in the US Senate to date, and I expect her to have several more good years in office. This Republican proudly supports DiFi for office.

Pooch!

Pooch!

I am probably the only Gay man in California actively supporting Chuck Poochigian. Granted Poochigian doesn't have a stellar record on Gay rights (ok, his record on Gay rights sucks), he is still the best candidate available for Attorney General. Moreover, Jerry Brown is a kook that should be kept away from politics for good!

Granted that Poochigian seems to be running an abysmal campaign right now, he has a remarkable history when it comes to public safety and criminal justice. Before serving in both houses of the California Legislature, Pooch served in Governor Wilson's administration to appoint justices to the bench. Later, he worked to establish stronger criminal penalties for violent crimes and has tirelessly promoted sensible public safety reforms.

His opponent, Moonbeam, had a job where he appointed judges, too. His most famous appointee, Rose Bird, was the key justice responsible for overturning the death penalty. Despite the public outcry, Brown packed the California Supreme Court to ensure that the death penalty would be stopped. He is the reason notorious murderers like Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan are still alive today. After his term as governor, he called on Governor Wilson to allow the Freeway Killer (aka William Bonin) to live.

As I mentioned earlier, Poochigian tended to favor the Republican party line on Gay Rights legislation. He certainly doesn't earn many points in my book for his record on failing to support the GLBT community. Brown, however, deserves no respect in this regard either. While the Knight Amendment, Prop 22 defined marriage in California as a union between a man and woman, California law had already been amended to deny our community the right to marry. In 1977, Governor Jerry Brown signed California's first openly homophobic bill into law. Prior to Governor Moonbeam, California law defined marriage as a relationship between two "persons." Thanks, Jerry!

Another issue that is important to me is gun rights. Supporters of the Second Amendment have a friend in Chuck Poochigian. In a state where the right to bear arms is severely impeded already, Poochigian has attempted to preserve the rights of Californians to safely and legally possess firearms with sensible restrictions. Brown would have you believe that Pooch wants to arm every man woman and child with .50 caliber Browning Machine Guns. This couldn't be further from the truth. The vote Brown refers to in his attack ads is in regards to a ban on .50 caliber rifles. Already, .50 BMGs are banned in this state as are all assault weapons. Firearms larger than .50 caliber are made illegal by federal law. And, frankly, .50 caliber rifles are too big, heavy, and cumbersome for most people to use at all. Californians are in practically no danger from being shot with a .50 caliber rifle. In fact, we are all at a much greater risk of being shot and killed with a .22 caliber round fired from a handgun.

Brown opposes the Second Amendment. He doesn't believe that law abiding citizens should be allowed to purchase, own, and use firearms for our own protection. While I doubt he would support an outright ban on firearms in California, he has yet to meet an anti-gun bill he didn't like. But as we all know, laws restricting firearms only affect the people who follow the laws. Criminals, by definition, do not abide by the law. Murderers do not care whether the gun in their hands is legal or not. While Brown has attempted to restrict firearms in Oakland, along with other measures intended to fight crime, the murder rate has increased dramatically. The only people he is disarming are the good guys!

While I certainly have my issues with supporting Poochigian given that the Attorney General will likely be representing California in some important Gay Marriage cases in the next few years, Jerry Brown is the absolute worst person to elect. Frankly, I care more about public safety and criminal justice more than I do about same-sex marriage. That is why I am supporting Pooch for AG.

For Pete's Sake!

For Pete's Sake!

I had plans tonight to write a short recap of last weeks glorious victory against Oregon, a preview of this week's football game, a political opinion piece on .50 caliber rifles, and why we should all support Chuck Poochigian over Jerry Brown. Unfortunately, you will all have to wait for those posts.

Tonight, I was told to check out the KGO radio archive and listen to Pete Wilson's radio show. Unfortunately, KGO archives its shows only for 24 hours, so I am unable to provide a link. If the particular show I am interested in is podcasted elsewhere, I will give you a link later.

Today, Wilson (not to be confused with former Governor Pete Wilson), started his show with a discussion of Bevan Dufty and Rebecca Goldfader's new bundle of joy, Sidney. Unlike most local media that have congratulated the two coparents on the birth of their daughter, Wilson criticized the two in a bigoted tirade regarding their sexual orientation and marital status.

Best friends for more than 10 years, Dufty and Goldfader are both homosexual. The two plan to live side-by-side in a duplex that they plan to purchase. They intend to raise their daughter, Sidney, together in the duplex.

While it is now common in San Francisco for same-sex couples to raise children together, it is apparently taboo for two opposite-sex individuals that happen to be gay to raise a child together, or so says Wilson. The radio talk show host expressed his outrage that the two would have a child together by calling little Sidney "a potential travesty."

While it is true that the ideal situation for raising a child includes two married parents that both love and care for the child in a stable environment throughout the child's development, such situations are frequently unavailable. For example, gay couples are barred by law from marrying which can lead to partnerships that are less legally binding than a conventional marriage. Further, many children are born to single parent homes or may otherwise lose a parent prematurely. Such arrangements are so commonplace in our society that one hardly gives a second thought to a single parent caring for children. Certainly, these situations do not merit specific discussions on radio talk shows. Frankly, nobody cares when two straight people decide to have a child together and not marry each other.

However, when two gay people of the opposite sex decide to have a child together and not marry, it is apparently an outrageous affront to society. While Wilson unapologetically claims that Goldfader and Dufty's child is being treated as a toy instead of a new human being, he fails to recognize that this child of a popular San Francisco Supervisor and a Nurse Practioner will be extremely well cared for and loved by two parents that have remained close for more than a decade. If only more children could be so lucky!

I won't go so far as other bloggers and call for the resignation of Pete Wilson from KGO radio. He should, however, try to remember that the newborn he claimed could be a "serial killer" is a real human being with a real family who loves her. His comments and reactions were hurtful, not only to Dufty and Goldfader, but to many others in the San Francisco Queer Community.