As we noted before, 64 Democrats voted against women's right to health insurance funded abortion procedures. Many of these Democrats have claimed the ultimate fallacy: That proponents of forced pregnancy shouldn't "pay with their tax money" for abortions because it infringes on their civil liberties. As if anti-war activists and pacifists could claim the same when it comes to funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and any other wars they oppose.

Yet I'd like to focus on the "hispanics" that voted against women's rights. Long-time readers now that even though I am a proud  Puerto Rican and blatina, I've never been one to shy away from writing about the ugliness and even atrocities perpetrated by Latin Americans. It should come as no surprise my willingness to call out these so-called Hispanics and Latinos of dubiosity. Particularly since in Latin America and the US Latino community we have to still wrangle with the social and political consequences of the machismo and marianismo myths that permeate the cultures of Latin America.

Am listing all seven members of the Congressional Hispanics Caucus for a variety of reasons: If you are not looking closely, some of these votes do not make sense given the previous voting record of people like Costa ad Rodriguez. After all, wasn't Ciro Rodriguez a darling of the netroots? And yet when you look closely at their lists of donors, their votes actually become not just sinister but cynical as well (as in the case of John Salazar). So we can't just blame it on the fact that all of these guys happen to be Roman Catholics or members of the Blue Dog Coalition. It's those donors lists for 2008 and 2010 that really paint a clearer picture of their "conservatism".

Last but not least, compared to the Congressional Black Caucus, the CHC delegation voted atrociously : Artur Davis was the lone member of the CBC who voted for Stupak. Why couldn't the CHC conjure such discipline when voting a measure that would basically kill women's right to an abortion? Or are their votes exactly correlated to the 2007 "whore" scandal that rocked the CHC thanks to John Baca's leadership in disrespecting the women of the caucus?

Let's take a quick look at the faces of Los Siete Infames (the infamous 7) :
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January 19th, the day we celebrate Martin Luther King, jr. and his dream, and the day before Barack Obama takes office as President of the United States, Democrats around the country are declaring a day of service to America. What a cool way to show your patriotism the day before Obama is sworn in! I want to highlight some events around the country where people can give back to their local community. I posted this as part of an earlier diary but realized that since the diary was aimed at people in Washington, D.C., no one who would be interested would see it. So, if you live in Washington, D.C., you can find some community service events for January 19th here. But if you live in Arkansas, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Wyoming or Washington State, read on:

Democrats Work connects Democratic volunteers with visible, tangible service projects in their communities – cleaning up neighborhoods and parks, supporting schools and teachers, planting trees, sponsoring soccer clinics, and working at food banks. Democrats Work has events on Jan. 17th-19th in:

* Arkansas: Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock

* Colorado: Denver Rescue Mission; Canned Food Drives in Denver with House District 5 here, here, or here (all on January 17th); Serve Lunch at The Crossing in Denver; Food Bank of the Rockies; Jeffco Action Center; Cleanup Tollgate Creek in Aurora

* Florida: New Smyrna Beach Cleanup

* Virginia: Clifton Road Cleanup

* Washington State: Work at the Northwest Harvest Foodbank in Kent; Restore Cheasty Greenspace in Seattle; Planting at the Duwamish Riverbend Hill in Tukwila (January 17th)

* Wyoming: Help at Interfaith-Good Samaritan in Laramie

America is about to enter a new era, leaving the Bush fiasco behind. Start this new era by reconnecting with your local community.

I got this from the National Jewish Democratic Council:

Please join the National Jewish Democratic Council and other Jewish groups on:

Monday, January 19, 2009
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Rd.
Bethesda, MD

for an afternoon of giving back to the Washington, DC community in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.

Participate in a variety of service projects including:
decorating placemats for the Children’s Inn at the National Institute of Health, making cards for soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, making 1,500 bag lunches for area homeless shelters, a bone marrow drive, and much more!

To learn more and to register please click here!

If you have any questions regarding this event please contact Abby Bruell at 202.216.9591 or at abby_at_njdc.org.

What a cool way to show your patriotism the day before Obama is sworn in.
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Well, I think 21 states is about my limit. Was considering trying to put together West Virginia and Oklahoma pages, but I think the following are all I can do before election day rolls over us. Look for your state. I cover whatever caught my attention from school board and port authority up to Governor and Senate races. It is compiled from Progressive Majority, INDN List, Daily Kos efforts and my own research. The only controversial one I endorsed was in Washington State, and you can see the contrary comment in that section (from a Republican with a chip on his shoulder, but still with a valid point). So here they are, the 2008 Culture Kitchen Twenty-One State Endorsement Roundup:

NORTH CAROLINA ENDORSEMENTS

MINNESOTA ENDORSEMENTS

ALASKA ENDORSEMENTS

MONTANA ENDORSEMENTS

OREGON ENDORSEMENTS

COLORADO ENDORSEMENTS

WYOMING ENDORSEMENTS

VIRGINIA ENDORSEMENTS

NEVADA ENDORSEMENTS

OHIO ENDORSEMENTS

IOWA ENDORSEMENTS

PENNSYLVANIA ENDORSEMENTS

WISCONSIN ENDORSEMENTS

MICHIGAN ENDORSEMENTS

WASHINGTON STATE ENDORSEMENTS

MISSOURI ENDORSEMENTS

NEW JERSEY ENDORSEMENTS

CALIFORNIA ENDORSEMENTS

ILLINOIS ENDORSEMENTS

ARIZONA ENDORSEMENTS

TEXAS ENDORSEMENTS

Please forgive me if I skipped your state or skipped candidates in your state. I am just one person!

Betsy Markey is running against Bush Republican Musgrave...and has pulled WAY ahead.

The latest ad from Betsy Markey for Congress:

Markey is endorsed by Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., Senator Ken Salazar, Rep. John Salazar, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Rep. Mark Udall, and others.

Here is a candidate endorsed by the Indigenous Democratic Network (INDN List):

Senator Suzanne Williams
Candidate for Colorado State Senate, District 28
Enrolled Member of Comanche Nation

Senator Suzanne Williams is seeking re-election in Colorado’s State Senate District 28. She is a citizen of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma and the only enrolled tribal member in the Colorado state legislature.
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This comes from the great community service organization, Democrats Work:

Tornado Cleanup in Greeley

When: Saturday, July 19th 2008, at 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Where: Meet at the banners across the street from the State Farm Regional Office
1555 Promontory Circle
Greeley, CO 80634

Info: Join the Weld County "Democrats in Action" and Democrats Work as we help with tornado recovery efforts in Weld County.

Volunteers will help remove debris, cut down trees and begin to clear a key entryway to the City of Greeley known to locals as “Treasure Island”.

Please wear work gloves, hats, as well as sunscreen and bring any tools or equipment that might be useful including wheel barrows, hand saws, gas powered chain saws, small tractors with buckets or backhoes.

If you are unable to do the physical labor involved, but wish to help, then donations of bottled water, snacks and lunch items are gratefully accepted from 8:00 a.m. until noon.

We will meet at the site which will be marked by banners, across the street and northwest of the State Farm Regional Office, 1555 Promontory Circle, Greeley, Colorado, 80634.
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