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War President, indeed

When President Bush calls himself a "war President" he's talking about his so-called war on terror, but he could just as easily be talking about the war against LGBT Americans that is raging in this country. It is a war he condones, an attack on a group of citizens that is politically expedient for him.
Right now in Michigan, anti-gay petitioners are claiming to have the required number of signatures to get one of the most divisive, mean-spirited, and damaging ballot measures the LGBT community has ever been up against on the Nov. ballot. At issue is whether or not to amend the Michigan Constitution to ban not only marriage for same-sex couples, but to also ban civil unions and strip LGBT families of domestic partner benefits. Bush and his supporters couldn't be happier. For him, it means higher numbers at the polls, same-sex couples and LGBT families be damned.
After all, we're not his base. Our families have become political cannon fodder for a campaign that relies on the public mistaking support of Bush and his policies with patriotism; a public willing to sacrifice civil liberties under the guise of safety; a public that does not pay attention or ask hard questions.
Thankfully, there are some people who are paying attention, and who are outraged at what they see.
One of those folks is Michigan native Michael Moore. His new film "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing look at the Bush Administration, could not have hit theatres at a better time. Though it is being attacked by the right as full of lies, Moore's film is getting a dialog going in this country that our corporate-owned media wouldn't have given air time. "Fahrenheit 9/11" was the top grossing movie this past weekend, beating out the much publicized "White Chicks," even though "Fahrenheit 9/11" was playing on less than half the number of screens.
On June 24, Michigan HIV/AIDS activists joined a nationwide protest effort to bring Bush's global AIDS policies to light. AIDS, like education and national security, has received much lip-service from Bush with promises of big bucks, but in reality little of the money pledged has materialized.
In the 2000 election, George W. Bush ran on the message that he was a "compassionate conservative," a message that was convincing enough to nab him twenty-five percent of the LGBT community's vote nationwide. But now, after the broken promises of AIDS funding, his outspoken support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, the wholesale destruction of environmental regulations, the lies about the war in Iraq, the prisoner abuse scandal, the Halliburton ruse, his appointment of extreme right-wing judges, his administration's handling of 9/11, his Medicaid prescription drug gift to pharmaceutical companies, the largest deficit this nation has ever seen due in part to tax cuts for the richest people in the country, etc., one has to wonder just what Bush's definition of "compassionate" really is.
One thing we know for sure – if you're LGBT or care about someone who is, his definition does not include you. Any judges he appoints to the Supreme Court will have as much compassion for you and your family as he does, and they will inevitably make the decisions that impact LGBT rights, and all civil and political rights, for decades to come.
Get registered to vote and get active. The countdown to Nov. has begun.

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