mccain's little girl

these are ideas i can get behind. a republican christian conservative that feels strongly for marriage equality. i'm starting to wonder if we did the wrong thing, voting in obama?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Meghan McCain
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Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage

i like when meghan says blogging won't make the republican party cool for the younger generation, that the republicans need to focus on the message. wait... you mean to tell me that medium is not more important than the message?

this is the sort of opinion i'm trying to find for my one minute for marriage program.

question, where am i going to find these people? blogging doesn't seem to be the trick.

this could be the twilight of the big fight for marriage equality. the young people have reviewed the facts and they are voting yes on marriage equality. the fight is drawing to a close but that does not mean it is time to let up. i would like to see the community step it up a notch and burn all that extra wind we've been saving up. now is the time to sprint that final stretch before the finish line.

edit: i also like when she says she doesn't want to practice what she herself can't preach. actually, i think she flubbed it intentionally. but whatever... =)

help the fight for marriage equality

i want to put together a couple high quality power viral videos for equal rights washington's one minute for marriage program. if anybody out there knows of anybody that would be a compelling and willing subject, please forward me their information.

i have already made many videos but i want to step things up a notch and do something more appropriate for broadcast news quality personal profiles or human interest stories.

ideal subjects would be:

1) proud parent who must confront conservative values in accepting gay son/daughter and ready to illustrate the irony in the struggle between family values and keeping the family together.

2) same sex partnership who want to raise family together. maybe they have kids or simply want to adopt. directly challenge the white picket fence 2.5 children atomic family.

3) libertarian intellectual who believes in marriage equality because the government has no business legislating morality. ideally, this person is a conservative christian who draws a line between personal faith and public law. this person may even have personal issues against the lbgt community but cannot compromise values of personal liberty.

please don't be afraid to contact me with your opinions. i would love to hear your ideas about the cause or about my strategy. we should all be strong advocates for communication and openness.

i would like to do something a little more like this:

one minute for marriage is often too much to ask

rule number one of interviewing people: prepare yourself to ask the right questions and prepare your subject to answer them. you can't just stick a camera in someone's face and expect them to perform like a trained monkey. people are generally shy and don't have any idea how to communicate their ideas on a mass market.

i am no exception to that rule.



i am in charge of this project.

when i tell people about what i do, i always talk about this project. in conversation, it always perks people's interest. it is more compelling to them than street musicians or bruce bickford or anything i have done in the past and yet the project gets so little attention from the internet.

this might be more telling of my previous work than it is for the one minute for marriage project. the truth is, i don't think people really care to talk about it anymore.

if i want to create compelling content for one minute for marriage, i need to focus on three stories and tell them with care and precision.

as a local seattle videographer, i cannot rely on businesses and non-profits to give me work. i have to generate work for myself and make proposals based on what i feel are my strengths and skills. granted, i have no interest in running a non-profit but i might have to step it up a notch and make things happen on my own here.

he could talk for hours, nobody listened

the one minute for marriage videos continue. to tell the truth, you can better see the videos from the youtube profile page here.

the problem here is that you don't have enough time to watch every video. you probably don't have enough interest to watch any of the videos. and i don't blame you.

we might care about the cause but the subject matter is not intellectually stimulating enough to hold the attention of people who are not directly invested. to a large extent, people take human rights for granted. there is a natural flow of things towards enlightenment, toleration and equality.

this is not my fight, so i remain somewhat detached from the issues. i am flexible and ready to change the rhetorical strategy but i am also foreign to the issues and unfamiliar with the history.

i want to put together a one minute broadcast news style personality profile or human interest story of the gay community or people in support of marriage equality. the ideal person would have a unique and compelling point of view but also the people themselves would be interesting and able to hold the camera.

i cannot rely on the subject mater alone to promote the cause. a good model to go by is the prop 8 musical comedy staring jack black. take a look at this thing if you had not already.

my videos would follow in the same vain as my tommy dean show footage but less hobo music and more interviews.

most people i talk to think that gay rights can be won on the discrimination argument alone. many of the one minute for marriage videos will show that. i don't agree with this philosophy because to simplify an already boring issue will not improve it.

stick to the emotionalism and you will polarize hearts. take the time to actually develop a sound argument and you will win minds.

being gay is as natural and not a choice. this could be demonstrated in a number of ways but would be most effective coming from a concerned parent. especially if conservative family values are challenged and redefined.

gay people both understand and desire relationships of commitment and stability. building a strong argument might require some humility and a sense of humor. but also, a willing to expose one self and speak openly and poetically about notions of commitment and love.

politics are lame

i hate polarizing issues. i suppose it is the rebel white person in me that wants to say 'who cares' when so many people feel so passionate about them. or perhaps the solution looks so obvious to me, i don't see any reason to argue.

if you were to argue against marriage equality with me, i think i would just stare you down.

if you were to argue for marriage equality with me, i think i would just shut you off. that conversation would be boring.

i have yet to witness a good debate regarding marriage equality. perhaps because there is no such thing. these issues are playgrounds for the common people.

i am certainly not (sardonic snobby voice) common!

let the gays get hitched

one of my internships is with equal rights washington and i am responsible for maintaining this video campaign. i hope everyone who reads this blog goes on to make their own video and submits it to the website. not only would that make me look good but i believe in the cause.

things get complicated for me when i watch the videos. most people don't have anything to say on the subject that has not been said before. everyone knows the argument against it and most people are familiar with the campaign for it. you get bonus points if you can argue, from a conservative point of view, why marriage equality is essential to maintaining freedom and liberty.

however, most people don't want to spend more than five minutes on the subject. there has to be something else to grab me. a human interest or personal profile story for example, might help. no tear jerking stories of the terminal ill or the people who love them. no. stories about people we might know. neighbors and teachers and co-workers we might not even suspect as marriage equality supporters.

i want to see people who you might not even suspect because they might not even be gay or even liberal. they might be christians or jews or muslim.

i wish i had my own camera gear.