San Francisco Green Party

As we approach the much loved San Francisco Gay Pride Parade June 29-30 the controversy surrounding the election of Bradley Manning as Grand Marshall continues to boil. 

On April 25^th, several newspapers (here and here) reported that Army Private First Class Bradley Manning was chosen by Pride’s electoral college as Grand Marshall for the 2014 Parade.  However, the next day (April 26^th) Pride board President Lisa Williams released a highly controversial and widely criticized missive attempting to annihilate the electoral college’s decision not only from Pride's parade process but from history itself.  In harsh words which have been characterized as unseemly and authoritarian, Lisa Williams refused ‘even the hint’ of support for Bradley Manning as a whistle-blower and assured that any person involved had been ‘disciplined.’ 

This lead to an outcry by many organizations who support the actions of the Nobel Peace Prize nominee Manning, actions, which while illegal, brought to light incredible crimes of war and crimes against humanity perpetuated by the US Military.  Due to the protestation of many activists, a hearing was scheduled by the Pride board for May 7^th to discuss the selection and swift removal of Manning as Grand Marshal.  That meeting was cancelled and the board met privately, much to the chagrin of interested parties.

Recently Pride Inc emailed a message saying that no hearings would be held until after the parade to protect the ‘safety and security’ of everyone at the event (here and here).

In an age when the President of Hope has done more to crackdown on whistleblowers than all of the previous presidents combined and the government is actively creating an atmosphere of fear around telling the truth, it is worrisome to many to see Gay Pride falling victim to this intellectual malfeasance.    

There is no violence in holding a hearing; there is no lack of security in allowing people to voice their opinions.  When a group like Pride Inc implies that the concerned citizens protesting the closed door reversal of a popular decision is a threat to security we must begin to worry for them. 

This week Congress has shown its usual inability to work on behalf of the American people.  President Obama, knifing his supporters and non-rich Americans in the back, offered extremely big cuts in Social Security and Medicare – cuts experts think are BIGGER than those the Republican plan calls for – only to be rejected by the Republicans.  No matter how far they all move away from the best interest of the American people they still can’t agree.  

At almost the same time and in the same week, Congress had no trouble rolling back some provisions of the 2011 insider trading ban.  Remember in 2011 when 60 Minutes did the big expose uncovering the little known fact that Congresspeople were not subject to the same insider trading laws as the rest of the country and both the House and Senate whipped up a quick law to keep Americans happy?

Well now they've found something new to agree on: Quietly and quickly, working with efficiency they can’t find when it comes to funding the government or working on behalf of the people, Congress moved to take some of the elements out of that popular and necessary legislation, giving their staffers more freedom to make money off of their insider knowledge.

Is it any wonder that the Republicans and Democrats in Congress are collectively less popular than lice? 

While the liberal press obsesses over President Obama's recent gaffe regarding Kamala Harris, there has been little coverage of his proposed 2013 budget.

Obama is now openly promoting cuts to Social Security in the form of "chained CPI" -- a measure of inflation that assumes that if real food becomes too expensive, the poor will simply survive on something cheaper, such as cat food.  Although this has been dismissed by many in the press as a mere "tweak," the real consequence will be a cut to Social Security benefits of between 5 and 10%, depending on the age of the recipeient.

Obama's proposed budget also includes deep cuts to Medicare (beyond even those proposed by Tea Party Republican Paul Ryan), as well as tax increases on the middle class.

Obama's statement mourning the late Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan is yet another indication of how far the spectrum of mainstream US politics has moved in just a few years.