Gays to Die in Iraq While US Watches

Hello Readers! Another tragedy is about to unfold in Iraq! According to the UK Gay News group that, among other things, keeps a watch on gays and lesbians at risk of persecution in third-world countries, the latest gays to end up on death row come from our new ally IRAQ!

"More than 100 prisoners in Iraq are facing execution. Many of them, says an underground gay rights organization in the country, are believed to have been convicted of the 'crime' of being gay, the UK-based Iraqi-LGBT group revealed this afternoon.

According to Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week. There is, said Hili, at least one member of Iraqi-LGBT who are among those to be put to death.

And the London-based group, which believes that a total of 128 executions are imminent, is calling on the UK Government, international human rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to intervene "with due speed" to prevent "this tragic miscarriage of justice" from going ahead."

I don't know about the rest of America, but this gets me extremely angry. I cannot believe that our young men and women died to free a country that is now supporting an elected government that is actively executing gays and lesbians.

Those Republicans who screamed about overthrowing Hussein due to his atrocities should join me and speak up about this pending Iraqi tragedy. Where is your anger? We need to do something about it, especially since we helped free their damn nation.

I hope you all agree that we should not permit them to commit these atrocities while we die to defend their freedom. We shouldn't allow it! President Obama and the US Government needs to act and STOP the killings. We have a right to interfere as long as we're helping them.

Please, get angry and help me. Join me in calling (202.224.3121 Capitol Switchboard) or writing to your representatives and ask them to get involved to save the lives of those people. I must admit, the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. We have the power and influence to save them. We need to try.

Tuesday's OUTRAGE - a VERY ANGRY Michael

Update: Senator Boxer's office responded requesting the source of the news. They said they intend to contact various critical parties to do whatever they can to help. Thank you Senator Boxer and staff! Michael

Obama Must Go After Bush Lawbreakers

Good Morning Bloggers - I was going to write about the lack of regret shown by George - "I never made a mistake as president" - Bush at this morning's official final press conference, but something else caught my eye that made me even more upset. So, after my rant about choosing Warren to speak at the inaugural, I now offer my second RANT against Obama.

Unlike Republicans, we're not afraid to criticize our leaders in public.

The Internet is filled with snippets of Barack Obama's interview on ABC with George Stephanopoulos yesterday, which I missed because I do try to get away from political news in favor of a life outside on weekends. I can't believe it, but Obama said that Guantanamo Bay is not a priority for him, and even more disturbing is how he doesn't seem very concerned about the crimes committed by the Bush administration.

"We have not made final decisions, but my instinct is for us to focus on how to we make sure we're moving forward, we are doing the right thing. That doesn't mean that if somebody has blatantly broken the law that they are above the law, but my orientation is going to be moving forward," Obama said. THERE IS PLENTY OF EVIDENCE ALREADY THEY'VE BROKEN THE LAW, so what the hell is he talking about? Start talking about BRINGING THEM TO JUSTICE!

Now, I'm aware that we have an economic crisis that needs to be THE priority, but that doesn't mean that his Justice Department is unable to begin investigations into the crimes of the past eight years. The statement worries me a great deal. HE NEEDS TO MAKE IT A PRIORITY TOO.

We understood how he might have avoided the issue during the election, but what is preventing him from letting justice take its course now? NOTHING! There will be a grassroots DEMOCRATIC PARTY UPROAR if the Obama Justice Department doesn't do their job of going after the lawbreakers of the past eight years. Core constituents will be VERY ANGRY!

Numerous human rights and civil liberties groups are calling for senior Bush administration officials to be prosecuted for a series of alleged abuses, and OBAMA KNOWS IT. There are too many to list, but a few major ones include lies related to Iraq, war profiteering, the illegal detention and torture of terrorist suspects, domestic spying, destruction of White House records, lying before Congress, obstructing justice, and on and on. There are Congressional Reports that clearly state where the lawbreaking occurred, and OBAMA KNOWS IT!

Obama criticized Vice President Dick Cheney for his public defense of "extraordinary" interrogation methods used against top terrorism suspects, including waterboarding. "Vice President Cheney, I think, continues to defend what he calls extraordinary measures or procedures when it comes to interrogations and from my view waterboarding is torture," Obama said. "I have said that under my administration we will not torture."

TALK IS FINE, but they broke domestic and international laws so GO AFTER THEM AND THROW THEM IN JAIL! If you don't do it Obama, then I believe the international community should do what we're obviously too pathetic to do ourselves. Unfortunately, that would be worse, and make us look very bad.

I will do everything I can to give future President Obama every benefit of the doubt, but we elected him to do many things at the same time, and that includes restoring real justice. So fix the economy while REESTABLISHING JUSTICE in the country. WE WANT INDICTMENTS, PERP WALKS, TRIALS, and CONVICTIONS! It is not negotiable. My message to the Obama team is that justice is not optional. Do the job we hired you for, and restore the nation to its former glory. Equal justice under law is its cornerstone.

Monday's Political Rant #1 - Michael