matthew shepard died 13 years ago today

Politicususa: … On October 7th, 1998, Matthew Shepard accepted a ride from Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson … they drove Matthew into the country, tied him to a fence post and beat him severely … they attacked Matthew because he was gay. They left him there in the cold dark, bleeding and unconscious until a cyclist found him, almost 18 hours later. Matthew died from his injuries on October 12th, 1998…

Eleven years after Matthew’s death, President Barack Obama signed into law The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Act … this bill makes it a federal crime to assault people based on their gender, sexual orientation and gender identity … Judy Shepard had visited President Obama in the Oval Office and he had made her a promise that this day would come. By signing The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Act into law, President Obama kept his promise to Matthew’s family.

…. I asked many people to share their memories of Matthew Shepard with me, including Captain Stephen Snyder-Hill … the Army officer who was booed at the Republican debate…

Joshua Snyder-Hill: … A year later I was taken to DC for my first equality event. I was still not out to my family or friends. The one thing I remember most were the people picketing the concert hall cheering Matthew’s death and celebrating it as a victory. I remember all my fear of coming out melted away. I had spent three days in DC seeing nothing but hope and activism until that moment; it was then and there I decided, I had to be part of the fight for equality. Matthew’s death and the energy behind it, made me want to be proud of who I was and show love conquered hate.

Full article here

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 2009:

Rest in peace, Matthew Shepard

good news is no news

Politicususa: Last night Fox News released a new poll that revealed President Obama’s job approval ratings have swung a net 13 points and increased to 55% in the past month.

The poll has Obama’s job approval rating at 55%, which is an 8 point increase over the last month. Obama’s disapproval rating has declined by 6 points from 47% to 41%….

…Liberals approve of how Obama is performing as president, 78%-17%. Moderates also approve of the Obama presidency, 72%-24%. As expected almost 2/3 of conservatives disapprove of Obama, 33%-64%….

These job approval ratings for Obama are his highest in the Fox News poll since June of 2009. Even before the capture of Bin Laden an improving economic picture had the President’s approval ratings trending upwards, and now it looks like they have taken off.

….The media won’t tell you this, but Barack Obama isn’t in that much trouble. The popular media narrative is that this president’s political future is in jeopardy. Gloom and doom sells…

When even the Fox News poll shows growing Obama approval ratings the media may just have to face the fact that this president is fairly popular, and a whole lot of Americans are going to vote for Barack Obama in 2012.

Full post here