Obama on 60 Minutes via Think Progress:

That sounds like a change from A Small Clique Of Legal Extremists…

And that may put to rest some of the idle speculation from the inside the Beltway cocktail weenie enabler circuit.

For now we can only hope.

Near the end of the Q & A period when Dr. Terrence Jones’ spoke to the West County Dems, an audience member asked if there was any chance of getting rid of the electoral college:

And, finally, Jones commented on the difficulty of convincing CEOs that universal health care makes good economic sense. After his remarks, an audience member offered an interesting idea for phasing in universal health care.

Jones’ response to the woman’s idea was that he doesn’t know enough about health care policy to comment. He said that if people keep asking questions about a topic on which he’s not an expert, then by, say, the fourth question, they’ll get beyond the realm of his knowledge.

That last questioner had done so. But that’s all right. Regardless of whether he could comment, it was an idea worth hearing explained.  

Via our friend, skippy (the typesetting is in skippy’s own inimitable style):

…my research partner and i are studying the uses and uses of online sources for political information. we’ve conducted online surveys in 1996, 200 and 2004. would you be willing to give us a link on your blog to our 2008 survey?

http://survey.utk.edu/mriweb/m…

we’re specifically looking for liberal/progressive respondents.

we’re not affiliated with any agency and so do not have funds for an advertising campaign. we appreciate your assistance. the survey will be open until nov. 26th

thank you

barb kaye, ph.d. university of tennessee

tom johnson, ph.d. texas tech

Here’s the survey link.

Our previous coverage in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Early rally attendees took up spots on the north side of 47th Street, facing a handful of pro Proposition 8 pickets across the street.

Pro civil rights pickets on the north side of 47th Street.

This was the second group opposing the civil rights rally. They showed up right before the scheduled start, they took up positions on the south side of 47th Street, and stayed through the end. The first group, from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, left before the rally started.

Missouri State Senator Jolie Justus (black scarf, center left) listening to an early speaker. She later addressed the crowd.

There was a substantial amount of supportive horn honking from passing traffic. The people on the picket line would cheer enthusiastically for each honk. This driver had been leaning on her horn in the traffic stopped for the signal. She turned to happily take a picture of the picket line.

Polyester. Sometimes the necessity of protest is the mother of sarcastic picket signs.

This should become a habit.

A friend of mine sent me this photo and caption:

OBAMA IS ALREADY SITTING DOWN WITH AN UNPOPULAR, AGGRESSIVE WORLD LEADER–WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS.

Earlier today, I headed down to Saint Louis’ historic Old Courthouse (the first Dred Scott trial was there, as well as the first case involving a woman’s right to vote back in the 1870s), where over 1,000 rallied against California’s recently passed Prop 8. My overall impression – well, I’ll quote Andrew Sullivan quoting myself:

Wow! For a community that keeps getting kicked in the gut, the vibes were very positive today in Saint Louis. Over a thousand people showed up on the first bitterly cold day of winter to hear the mayor, the president of the Board of Alderman (who gave a particularly good speech that I will send you if I can find a video or transcript), state representatives, activists, and ordinary citizens speak up for equality. There was anger, yes, and a tinge of sadness, but hope really seemed to rule the day in each of the speeches, and in the mood of the crowd.

Thinking back on it, regardless of how Obama feels about gay marriage, his campaign and election definitely infused the entire afternoon with hope. One speaker appropriated Obama’s “Yes we can!” (which Obama himself borrowed from others), and another compared the sight of the First Family-elect walking across the stage on Election Night with the hope that one day, a same-sex couple could make that same walk.  A fellow St. Louis blogger took the stage and told the story of how when she was a young girl, her father used to tell her she could get whatever she happened to be begging for that day “whenever a black man becomes president.”

It wasn’t a banal, “Obama’s president and now we can get whatever we want” kind of hope, either. One speaker called us all community organizers. Practically every speaker mentioned the need to turn this anger and sadness into defiance and action, the hard work of convincing others of the correctness, the justice of our point of view.

Out of all the elected official who made an appearance (which unfortunately did not include Jeanette Mott Oxford, the first openly gay member of the Missouri Legislature), I thought Lewis Reed made the most powerful speech. State Senator Joan Bray gave an impassioned speech that cited Missouri successes in the face of anti-gay sentiment before, and Mayor Francis Slay gave a workmanlike speech that spoke of his commitment to equality, but Lewis Reed, elected last year as the first African-American President of the Board of Alderman in Saint Louis history, managed to meld both the personal effects and the abstract principles of politics. He noted that as a black man married to a white woman, he could have been arrested in some US states 40 years ago, as could have Barack Obama’s parents. And a close friend of his, whose same-sex partner died after 12 years of living together, had to watch as the family of his partner walked into his home, picked up whatever they wanted, including the deed to his house, because the law did not recognize same-sex commitments. Reed went on to quote from our founding documents to illustrate that we are not living up to the ideals on which this country was founded when we deny a class of citizens rights to which all others are granted. Like I said, it was a good speech, and I hope to get a video or a transcript.

All in all, it was strange, yet perhaps fitting, that a rally organized in response to a defeat turned into something of a celebration.

More pics below the fold.

At 12:30 p.m. today in Kansas City there was a rally at the J.C. Nichols fountain at 47th Street and Main near the entrance of the Plaza in opposition to the passage of California’s Proposition 8 in the recent general election (removing the right of marriage for many in the California Constitution). Approximately four hundred people attended the rally. The local NBC affiliate reported that two hundred people were in attendance. There were also a few people who were in opposition to those at the rally.

There were a few opposing pickets across the street from the rally site before it started.

I spoke with Timothy Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church:

Show Me Progress: So where are you all from?

Timothy Phelps: We’re from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.

SMP: Okay. You came out here today to…

Timothy Phelps: To, uh, show a little bit of truth in this so called debate that’s going on about the, whether or not homosexuals should have the right to marry. Um, and by that I mean it’s not really a debate going on. The two sides are two sides of the same coin. Neither of them properly understand or properly respect the word of God. So, we’re laying that message out.

SMP: Okay. I noticed by your sign that you’re not, uh, very fond of the president elect.

Timothy Phelps: You mean my sign that says “Fag Lover Obama”?

SMP: Right.

Timothy Phelps: That’s just a statement of facts. It’s not anything to do with my fondness for him. It has to do with, uh, the reality that it’s a foregone conclusion in his administration that this issue’s settled. This issue, amongst others, is settled. [wind noise] He’s going to be the foremost advocate for the rights, you can put that in quotes, these filthy beasts, not only in the United States, but worldwide. And it’s gonna be under his regime that there’ll be laws against people even preachin’ the Bible. In this nation. About what these beasts do. That’s what were headed under his regime, so that’s what this sign means.

SMP: …Thank you for your time.

Timothy Phelps: Thank you.

This is what the rally opponents faced across 47th Street before the rally started:

The Westboro group left rather hurriedly as the rally across the street near the fountain started to get underway. They were replaced by another group on the south side of 47th Street.

There were several speakers, including Dan Winter (ACLU) and Missouri State Senator Jolie Justus. The sound system was not adequate for the size of the crowd – most of the time it was difficult for anyone not within a few feet of the speakers to understand what was being said.

This individual started haranguing the crowd about fifteen minutes after the rally started. For the most part he was ignored. At one point he ran around the perimeter of the crowd.

A lady saw my media identification, approached me and said, “You tell people that there are mothers here today.” She then walked away. I followed and asked her if I could talk with her:

Show Me Progress: Why are you here today?

Jean Hoover: To support gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and transexual rights. Because we need to make people aware of the humanity and the equality of all people.

SMP: You mentioned earlier that you’re a mother.

Jean Hoover: Yes I am.

SMP: And so you’re here as a mother?

Jean Hoover: I’m here as a mother. I have, uh, a gay son who’s been with a partner for ten years. So that means I have two sons. And I have several adopted sons in the group.

SMP: Thank you…And where are you from?

Jean Hoover: I’m from here, from Kansas City.

SMP: Thank you for your time.

Jean Hoover: Oh, thank you. And where is this going to be?…

After the rally most of the crowd made it back to the picket line facing 47th Street. Some individuals mixing in with the opposition on the south side of 47th Street.

Bonny Russell (left) and Jan Garbosky (right)

I spoke with Bonny Russell and Jan Garbosky after the rally:

Show Me Progress: You’re all from California.

Bonny Russell and Jan Garbosky: From San Diego, yes.

SMP: And you came out here…

Bonny Russell and Jan Garbosky: We actually came out here to see my family and then when we, we’ve been activists in San Diego in working on No on Prop 8. And so we, when we heard that a rally was going to be here we decided we had to be here.

We’re here because Bonny’s brother, who’s 85, couldn’t come to our wedding six weeks ago in San Diego. So we came to him, and his wife.

SMP: So, so you got married …

Bonny Russell and Jan Garbosky:…six weeks ago today…

SMP: …in California and now it’s in danger.

Bonny Russell and Jan Garbosky: Now we believe we’re still married and that if there’s a lawsuit needed to, uh, make sure that that’s the case that’s so what’s happening, But, everyone we know believes we’re married. We were married in our church in front of almost thr
ee hundred people. So, we feel married.

We’ve been together twenty years and, uh, you know, we have lots of support from all of our children and grandchildren and, uh…

…You know, so, we’re really blessed and the support of everybody and, uh, our church. Jan’s the president of our church. And so, you know, we feel so fortunate. And then when we have to see all the hate and all the ugly things that go on it’s very sad. It’s very disappointing.

And to think that we have had this precious love for twenty years and now married for six weeks and that anybody could think that our love is wrong or immoral…

…or less than…

…is, is such a deep hurt.  Because we, um, have, are retired educators. We’ve given to, uh, working for racial and ethnic, ethnic justice in our schools in San Diego. And, uh, this is very hurtful, uh, what our friends and neighbors have said about us and people like us.

SMP: Well, thank you for your time…