THE SHOT — The scene just moments ago inside the rotunda at the Capitol Building, where eight GetEQUAL demonstrators were quickly cleared from the floor as they demanded Nancy Pelosi move on ENDA. [via]
the shot
GetEQUAL Demonstrators Take Tour of Capitol Building’s Rotunda In Search of Nancy Pelosi
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Clint
Yes! haha I love them.
Marcus Lieb
Don’t these paid drama queens have anything better to do? Now, LGBT persons are just seen as stupid pests. Last week Pelosi said that action on ENDA would come after DADT because of a deal she made with Senate leadership.
Do these children believe holding up some signs will change that reality? Who pays these idiots?
JamieMcG
These people are not getting paid. These are activists who are fighting for your rights while you sit around complaining about what they are doing. Pelosi is not hired so that she can make deals with our rights. It is ridiculous to assume that our elected representatives can only deal with one gay thing at a time and if we sit back and accept the things we are told by our elected representatives regarding our civil rights, you can bet that you’ll be sitting back for a real long time.
I applaud these volunteer activists for their courage and their dedication to all our freedoms.
Marcus Lieb
@JamieMcG: You’re an idiot – Pelosi HAS to make deals with the Senate leadership to coordinate votes on Bills. These GetSTUPID children don’t know anything about politics.
It’s simply childish to believe that a few drama queens holding up some signs accomplishes anything. It just makes us look stupid.
I wish GetSTUPID would just go away. Everybody is laughing at them.
JamieMcG
@Marcus Lieb: /AndrewW – What is it YOU recommend we do? Should we just write some more checks to our favorite democrats who are doing nothing? Do you really think playing nice and staying quiet is going to win us our rights?
What have YOU done for our equality other than run around trying to demean those who are fighting for you from behind your safe little computer screen? Seriously, would love to know.
Scott NYC
This is stupid, Pelosi is on our side. I’m embarrased.
Marcus Lieb
@JamieMcG: I didn’t say I had a plan. I just said these drama queens make us look stupid.
They must be your friends, so could you please get them a babysitter so this won’t happen again?
JamieMcG
@Marcus Lieb: Well until you come up with a plan, why don’t you stop attacking those who have one? I’m sorry you’re embarrassed by people who are fighting for you. Until you actually start doing something for us, you should STFU in my opinion.
@Scott NYC: No one is saying Pelosi is not on our side. This week in her speech at Netroots she said we have to “make” her bring this to a vote. How do you propose doing that? Obama is also apparently our friend…or so he says as he defends DOMA and DADT in courts…you know – those pesky little policies he promised to repeal while he was taking our money and our votes. Where are they now? DOMA won’t be touched for YEARS and DADT, even when it passes, is giving complete power back to the Pentagon once it gets through the legislature. This is an era of people HAVING to stand up for themselves. If you don’t, someone else’s topic will be the priority and frankly, I’m done waiting to have equal rights.
Marcus Lieb
@JamieMcG: You just don’t get it, do you? We don’t have enough votes in the Senate. How is Pelosi supposed to change that?
Stop lecturing people that see these childish stunts as a waste of time and embarrassing. These idiots aren’t “fighting” for us – they are EMBARRASSING us and making us look STUPID. Grow up.
JamieMcG
@Marcus Lieb: According to many, we DO have the votes in the Senate. This is absolutely NOT a case of not having enough votes, it’s a case of our leaders being too afraid to take something like this on before the midterm elections. And even if (as you say) they DON’T have the votes now, what on earth makes you think they are going to have them after the potential November Democratic bloodbath? You think we’re going to have the votes when we lose the majority? Good thinking. You’re right. Let’s put it off. Thanks for all the work you do – with your course of action, maybe we’ll have equality in 2050.
Scott NYC
@JamieMcG: How old are you 12? This crap is childish and makes us look like morons.
JamieMcG
@Scott NYC: One more time, what are YOU doing to make equality happen? Other than attacking those who are working for it? Put some energy towards doing something about your 2nd class citizenship instead of bitching about the people who are doing something. Or is that too much to ask?
Marcus Lieb
@JamieMcG: Wait, “MgH” – you’re Robin McGeHee posting about your own organization.
I knew there was a reason you were insulting everyone. Rude is your game.
JamieMcG
@Marcus Lieb: Just like being wrong about sitting back and waiting for your rights to happen, you’re also wrong about that. I’m Jamie McGonnigal (thus JamieMcG) and I have nothing to hide. google if you like. Just someone who is supportive of standing up for our rights the way GetEQUAL is doing it. If you were doing something towards equality instead of bitching about it anonymously on websites, then I’d probably support you too.
Clint
When are these publicity hounds going to run out of money?
Robin and Kip are the ones with the $90,000 salaries – where are they today? They’re the ones that should be criticised because they sent these people in their with signs.
I agree with the comments above. Enough of this trying to humiliate our political friends. What do you want us to do next? Vote for Republicans? GoAWAY.
ThomasCamp
I’m with JamieMCG on this one.
Until you are the one standing up and doing something, you really have no place attacking those who ARE getting things done.
And defending our “friends” has done us no good.
check out just how long we’ve been waiting for ENDA to happen:
http://getequal.org/2010/07/enda-timeline-broken-promises/
Time to stop waiting and start yelling, imho.
Cam
@Marcus Lieb: said…
“Pelosi HAS to make deals with the Senate leadership to coordinate votes on Bills. These GetSTUPID children don’t know anything about politics.”
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Funny you would say that, because BOTH HRC and the White House said that there would be no movement on DADT this year. HRC’s leadership even sent out that now infamous memo telling gays that basically we had no right to complain about anything Obama did on gay issues for 8 years, until he was out of office.
Get Equal on the other hand, did sit in’s in Pelosi’s office, HRC called them names and Barney Frank Attacked them, yet what happened? Pelosi suddenly because our real “Fiece Advocate” and shoved the repeal bill down the congress, and the White House’s throat.
So who knows less about Politics, HRC that hasn’t managed to really get any of their issues done over decades, or Get Equal, who have existed for around a year and in that one year, got something through Congress that both HRC and The White House said would not happen? Sorry, but your agenda is showing.
I used to Act Up
@ThomasCamp: I was very active in ActUp during the 80s and 90s. We had a crisis and people were dying. Our stunts got attention and results. But, that was 20 years ago. I just don’t think that in the world of instant news cycles and the internet that protests like this do any good. They do look silly.
I applaud these people for believing they are doing something good, but it won’t be noticed and it won’t change anything in the Congress. Nobody is going to change their vote because the gays are upset. Nobody is afraid of us. So, all this high-profile bitching is just seen as a nuisance.
Cam
Oh, and by the way, Marcus is from HRC. His comments are all HRC talking points. “You jsut don’t get it, you don’t understand, it’s all about the votes, we don’t have the numbers” etc…
Funny, they said we didn’t have the votes on DADT too didn’t they?
I used to Act Up
@Cam: Are you on the GE payroll? Your comment is insane. Nobody has paid any attention to these little protests. GE had nothing to do with DADT Repeal and they protested against it. I think Dan Choi did too.
I guess you think Pelosi is scared. A few people chanted with signs above their heads and now she’s afraid, right. Every day hundreds of people march around DC chanting and bitching. Nobody cares.
ActUp made sense because we had an epidemic. These un-noticed protests don’t do anything.
I used to Act Up
@Cam: Dip shit – DADT has been voted on in the Senate. Maybe it will. We probably don
t have enough votes to beat a filibuster (you can look that word up).
You need to do your homework. You must be on the GE payroll because you don’t make any sense – just like them.
MikeReynolds
@I used to Act Up: You’re actually wildly incorrect about this. Speaking as someone who works inside the beltway, I can tell you firsthand, that especially in an election year, everything makes a difference. everything is a soundbyte that can be used for or against someone going in for re-election. pelosi is real scared about her party losing in november and i can guarantee you getequal and dan choi played a big part in the DADT movement, and may play some part in ENDA as well. not this session, but these little things that yall get embarrassed about actually do make a difference.
I used to Act Up
@I used to Act Up: ** hasn’t been voted on in the Senate. (Old fingers)
I used to Act Up
@MikeReynolds: Idiotic. You think people are afraid of the gays? That’s very funny. So, after this little display Pelosi is going to tell the Senate what to do?
Crazy. Look, I used to hit the streets to get some attention. It doesn’t work anymore. It just doesn’t. That’s why nobody shows up when we have a protest or a march. 8 people doesn’t make any difference. It makes us look weak. During ActUp we had thousands of people – 20 years ago. Even PETA gave up protesting and now they do compelling media campaigns that make people laugh or cringe, but they are effective.
These little attempts to get mentioned on TV don’t change any votes. I bet the tour guides were laughing along with everyone else – including Pelosi.
Devon
Nice idea, wrong target.
Instead of pissing off confirmed allies like Pelosi, wouldn’t it make more sense to go after those conservative (alleged)Democrats who consistently work against, stall, and then forcibly compromise the everliving shit out of anything that could even vaguely be considered progress on gay rights?
MikeReynolds
@I used to Act Up: you couldnt be more wrong. i was there today. i work in government. i see what happens on a firsthand basis. i was present for the conversations about dadt after the protests occurred. they may seem small to you, but the ripples do get big here in DC, in the rep’s offices. again…i’m here to hear it, you’re clearly not.
additionally, you apparently missed the national equality march where “nobody” showed up. just a little crowd of over 250,000. the problem is not the protest’s effectiveness, it’s the apathy of our community. i’m not saying that protests are an end-all be-all, but you are downright naive to think they don’t make any difference.
and check out your papers – peta had a protest in times square yesterday.
Cam
You know how you can tell that Marcus, and “I used to Act Up” are all on the HRC payroll?
Because look at the incredible anger at anybody who dissagrees. Normally if people dissagree with something that two groups are doing there might be discussion on it here, but the foaming at the mouth name calling is usually reserved for the screaming fans of Adam Lambert who come in here guns blazing if they feel that the site has said something nasty.
The fact that you guys are attacking, name calling, etc… shows that this isn’t merely an opinion to you, you definitly sound like you have a dog in this fight. Pretend all you want, but if you work for HRC, I don’t need to tell you how their donations are drying up, and your actions here and the attitude of your organization of “Attack anything that isn’t us” is a major reason why.
Let's Get Pelosi Thrown Out of Office
I am afraid these GetARRESTED wingnuts will get weapons and try to kidnap the Presidents daughters. Somebody needs to tell them that if you are going to protest someone you need a BUNCH OF PEOPLE, not 8.
GotEMBARRASSED again.
Cam
@Let’s Get Pelosi Thrown Out of Office: said..
“”I am afraid these GetARRESTED wingnuts will get weapons and try to kidnap the Presidents daughters. Somebody needs to tell them that if you are going to protest someone you need a BUNCH OF PEOPLE, not 8.
GotEMBARRASSED again.”
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Again, attacking them, mocking their name, comparing them to assasins, etc… all in the HRC playbook. You guys REALLY seem to get pissed when you think somebody else is trying to play in your sandbox don’t you?
Vote Republican
I agree with GetEQUAL and I am now going to support Republicans. The Democrats have been lying to us and now I think we should give the Republicans a chance to disappoint us, too.
I think we have a much better chance if we simply switch teams. Thank-you GetEQUAL for helping us see the light. You deserve to be paid – you people are brilliant.
reason
When people get attacked it piss them off, take the arguments on this article for example. Get Equal is not winning any allies by attacking the very people that are trying to help them. There is a lot of vindictive people out there politicians included “Joe Lieberman.” It may not even be the speaker but someone in her caucus that decides I’ve had enough of these people attacking my party, I not going to vote for their rights no matter what. A congressperson on the fence watching the speaker get attacked may just decide that the community is loaded with animals that deserve what there getting. Even the President was baffled after being strafed by Get Equal, wondering why a group of gay people would be working so hard to derail any legislation that might benefit them. Fox News is using it as red meat for there drooling base, claiming that the left wing loons are so crazy that their cannibalizing their own. They claim the gay community is out to destroy everything in America including the ones that are boorish enough to empower them. Get Equal is doing nothing but damaging our much needed allies and smearing the entire community in the process.
Cam
@reason: said..
“When people get attacked it piss them off, take the arguments on this article for example. Get Equal is not winning any allies by attacking the very people that are trying to help them.”
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Since when? The Administration FIRED Shirley Sherrod because they were afraid of attacks.
Pelosi was attacked by Get Equal, and went from a bystander who was not pushing for DADT repeal to the champion of it who forced it down the White House’s throat. You can’t change facts because you don’t agree with the method.
Vote Republican
@Cam: You are an idiot. Pelosi didn’t force anything down the “White House’s throat.” SLDN and HRC negotiated a compromise with a few Senators. Then, it went to the House. Pelosi wasn’t involved in that and she certainly isn’t afraid of GetCRAZY.
I know you agree with GetCRAZY and their childish actions. I will agree they are helpful – to Republicans. Please piss on Democrats, PLEASE.
Devon
Robin McGehee fired Kip Williams last month. He threatened to “take down” GetEQUAL so they’re paying him $50,000 a year to be quiet. That won’t last long. Have another drink, Kip?