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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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Lobby for Increased
We must act now and immediate redouble our efforts to increase Title I and Title III funding levels for FY'99 over the House-passed levels. This is our last chance to make a push at the critical Subcommittee level. Your urgent personal action can -- and will -- make a meaningful difference. What You Can Do: Call the Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and ask tem to support an increase of $105 million for Title I for a total of $570 million and an increase of $36.7 million for Title III for a total of $113 million. What to Say: "I am calling to ask you to support a minimum of $570 million for Title I of the Ryan White CARE Act and a minimum of $113 million for Title III funding for Fiscal Year 1999. The $105 million increase for Title I allows cities to keep pace with the increased cost of care to new clients and the growing number of HIV positive people living longer, seeking doctor visits and medical tests required by federal guidelines. The $36.7 million increase for Title III will respond to many of the medical needs of almost 100,000 Title III clients seeking early medical care and anti-HIV drugs in the poorest urban and rural communities in the country. Increasing Title I to $570 million and Title III to $113 million in FY'99 is the humane and responsible thing to do. Thank you." CALL: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education
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Contact Cities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief with any information from
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The Reverend James Dobson
In an apparent effort to raise its visibility and increase its involvement in the volatile political debate over gay right, Focus On The Family has hired two people who are former practicing homosexuals to work in its public policy department. Amy Tracy, a former press secretary for the National Organization for Women, and John Paulk, a former male prostitute, are key players in Focus On The Family's efforts to counter homosexual activism. Paulk is the "homosexuality and gender analyst" for the Colorado based Christian ministry founded by James Dobson, also a popular radio talk show host. Tom Minnery, the ministry's vice president for public policy, acknowledged the new hires were intentional. "Nobody speaks more knowledgeably about homosexuality than does John Paulk," said Minnery, who added that Tracy was hired for her media know-how. (With a bit of luck this asshole will take his supporters, split (i.e. weaken) the Republican Party and fall flat on his face like Pat Buchanan did!) Tyron
Starr Gazing: Has anybody remembered what Starr is investigating? It's not Monica, but Whitewater. And what's the link between Monica and Whitewater? Good question. It's supposed to be that if Clinton lied about Monica, he might have lied about Whitewater too. Hardly persuasive reasoning, and would probably be rejected as positive evidence in court -- it certainly would here in Australia at any rate. So basically Starr is pursuing a tenuous character link with Whitewater that is probably inadmissible in court anyway. What is going on here? Has the USA gone completely nuts? The history of great leaders shows that almost without exception they had serious character flaws. They lied, they cheated, they sent people to their deaths for a greater good, they were philanderers. Yet we persist in looking at their greatness as leaders and overlooking the rest. FDR is a good example, as is Jefferson and Eisenhower and a host of others. Maybe history should tell us that leaders should largely be judged on their work as leaders, not whether they also qualify for sainthood. And I know that the issue with Clinton is perjury, not adultery. But put it in perspective, guys, and ask yourself whether most people haven't lied about about something intimate and personal like this. I can understand why he did it, even if I wish he'd been gutsy enough in January to admit it. We are probably right to ask for high standards from our leaders. But we are probably wrong to condemn them as virulently as we condemn Clinton if they transgress from time to time. It seems to be an occupational hazard with being a leader.
Ozzie Send Your Pen Point to: gaytoday@badpuppy.com |
Ryan White 
The Rev. James Dobson 
FDR, for example, lied to the American people throughout 1941 about the lengths to which he was involving the USA in World War Two, including agreeing to guard British convoys as far as Iceland, and allowing US warships to attack German submarines. Was he wrong? He was lying to the people, breaking the law by going behind the back of Congress, playing a dangerous game with the lives of US sailors that in other times would have seen him impeached. Yet I'm sure that all of you have learned that he was probably the greatest US President, and justifiably a war hero of WW2. Yet he lied, cheated, deceived and put US lives at risk without any legal sanction. So, was he a hero or not?
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