April 10th, 2010 was filled with chants of "Si Se Puede" (Yes we Can!) and "Reforma Inmigratoria, el tiempo ya llego!" (Immigration reform, the time is now!), each of these phrases perfectly embodied the atmosphere around Downtown Las Vegas. It was a beautifully sunny day as I was talking towards the rally, you could see the cars on Las Vegas Boulevard lining up to park for the event, you could hear the chants already echoing through the Downtown area, and the excitement was bubbling.

As I approached the main stage area, I was handed a sign that read "Reform Immigration For America" and I took it proudly. Activists and speakers took the stage for the first hour of the demonstration, riling up the thousands of people in attendance. Stories of hardships, of struggle, and of tragedy are the usual suspects when you think of immigration reform, but at this rally it was something different. The speakers and activists that took the stage spoke instead of their determination to fight for equality and justice rather than present their cases for pitty before the jury of the people; making their stories even more powerful.

One story that truly made waves with the audience was that of a young girl as she retold the story of how she would help her mother clean houses in order to pay the bills after her family was torn apart by the deportation of her father. It spoke to the core of what that day was really about, keeping families together through the passage of CIRASAP (Comprehensive Immigration Reform As Soon As Possible), legislation in the House that would place immigration reform on the center stage. Another young girl made an amazing case in explaining her sense of activism, she told a story of marching with the late leader, Cesar Chavez with her mother when she was just a child. She then went on to thank her mother and every other mother and father in the audience that was brave enough to fight for what they believed in. One delightful note was the many ordinary people that came to support the day's demonstration, neighbors shaking hands and talking about how everyone that they know was there at the rally. The sad part is that those stories won't get published in the papers, they never do.

A woman that I knew was there at the rally who's husband had been deported last year while they were still living in California, I'd met her a few months ago at a different event in the city. She was there with her young child wrapped in the American Flag and shouting at the top of her lungs "Si Se Puede"! I ran into another man who had came to stand next to me, I greeted him and we got to talking. His name was Jose Barrios, a naturalized citizen from Los Angeles, he had driven to Las Vegas to support the rally. He told me that his wife was caught in a raid and deported whie being 8 months pregnant, he then told me that he hadn't seen his wife in two years and in turn that he had never met his now two year old son. He told me that it's important for people to understand that our immigration system is tearing families apart, and that even after going through the proper channels, he has still gotten nowhere. He let me know that he was waiting for his son to be a little older before he tried to buy their passage through a coyote or people smuggler. He said the trip was too dangerous for his son to make until he was older.

It was nice to see the several different union groups out in support of immigration reform! It was also great to see the Stonewall Dems Chair, Derek Washington, at the demonstration in support of the movement. I'm going to tell you honestly that I was a little disappointed that I didn't see the usual suspects/Democrats out at the rally. I can understand that it's hard to rally behind a cause if you don't feel that it directly affects you, but I wish people would understand that if they can do it to one of us, they can do it to all of us. Although I noticed the lack of those strong Democrats, I was overjoyed to see my dear friends, Sandy Eddy and Simone Simpson wearing candidate apparel (Paul Murad t-shirts), and then I also met up with Paul Murad as I was walking away from the stage. I had friends at my side and I became energized and ready for the rally!

Then Ruben Kihuen took the stage, letting people know that his success story was one that everyone in the crowd could be proud of, being the first Mexican immigrant to be elected to the Nevada legislature. Another young man took the stage right after Ruben, but this young man had an even more powerful story to tell. He was an Iraq-War Veteran, having served his country, having to return from duty as a permanently injured soldier. He told the crowd that it gave him great pride to fight for the people of Iraq and the United States, but that he couldn't understand how he could be asked to lay his life on the line for a country that won't let him vote because he was an Indian living in America, not an Indian-American/American citizen. Michael Flores from RIFA was on the stage most of the time leading the masses in cheers and chants, warming them up for the real heavy hitters that were getting ready to take the stage. Being Southern Nevada's favorite Congressional Representative, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley came onto the stage and shared the story of her grandparents being immigrants to this country, not being able to speak english. It's always great to hear her speak because you never know what she's going to say! Then she created a buildup for the next speaker, however a slip of the tongue lead to the Congresswoman introducing CongressWOMAN Luis Gutierrez, a mistake that she immediately tried to correct, LOL. The crowd ate it up and laughed right along with her and the CongressMAN. He took the stage with grace and won the crowds over with his pledge to fight for immigration reform.

Then we hit the main event, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the stage, and the thousands in attendance went wild! With cheers of "Harry! Harry! Hary!", Senator Harry Reid was greeted by an overwhelming fanfare. Reminding those in attendance that immigration reform will happen this year, that he will continue to be a champion on this and many other issues, siting comparisons between the recently passed and embattled healthcare reform legislation and immigration reform that has yet to reach the Senate. Calling the case for immigration reform was as much a fiscal responsibility question as it was a moral question. Immigration reform is the right thing to do for our country, and Senator Reid assured us that he was going to fight and win for us! The Senator let everyone know that he only needed a handful of Republicans to cross the aisle in order to get the legislation off the ground, and that it was the responsibility of those in attendance to help Senator Reid acheive that.

Senator Harry Reid left us all with high hopes for a better year, he left us with a new sense of urgency and determination for the case of immigration reform. With shouts of "Se ve, se siente, el pueblo esta presente" (you can see it, you can feel it, the community is present) and the timeless "Si Se Puede" wrapped up the day's festivities and encouraged everyone to go home and work harder for reform.

Everyone that was present had their own reasons for attending, some had a husband or wife torn from their side by hideous raids that criminalize hard-working people, others had mothers and fathers that suffered the same fate, but I was there representing my cousin who was recently deported. His residency status was revoked after being accused of a crime that had no evidence against him, I was at the rally for his wife and his newborn son, because no family should be torn apart like that. A thought that will stay with me was the thousands in attendance representing the millions in the shadows.

Nevada needs comprehensive immigration reform, The United States needs comprehensive immigration reform, doing nothing is not an option.

If you look around lately, Nevada's starting to look like a burlesque show straight out of Pahrump with all of the antics and drama brewing around the GOP, we've got showgirls everywhere on the right it seems.

We've got some strong opposition to our state's US Senator Harry Reid, and one of the loudest voices against the senator has been Chuck Muth for some time, if you don't know this delightful man, you're lucky. His blindly conservative rants and harsh opinions of everything Harry Reid have been taking aim against the Senator's 2010 re-election bid, (the fact that a good portion of the republican party in this state support Harry Reid apparently doesn't register in his world) The latest story is the fact that Muth has set up a PAC or a Political Action Commitee that violates a big portion of the laws in place for creating a PAC... Chuck Muth's response to this? “I broke the law, but I don’t care ‘cause I don’t like that law.” in an interview with Jon Ralston from the Las Vegas Sun.

If I don't like a law, can I just ignore it too? That's it, I'm running all the lights that I can from now on, and I better not get any tickets for it either, because I don't like that traffic law. Wait...

Harry Reid's camp filed a complaint with the FEC (Federal Election Commission) that basically pointed out all the violations that Muth's PAC made, and they want the committee to follow the law like every other PAC. Of course people on the right are starting to say that this was a hit job on the Senator's part, but if you don't know how to cross your "t's" dot your "i's" you won't have a leg to stand on. Whatever though, that's fine... since when do people follow the law anyway?

Next.

John Ensign is ever the colorful character, isn't he? Can I sign up for a 96K payoff too? I'd settle for like 20K John! Well it seems that the senator is holding onto his seat for the time being, but you'd be surprised at the big amounts of support that he's getting from his colleagues... oh wait, yeah there isn't much there either. Have you heard of a lady named Sue Lowden? You should have heard of her, because she's currently running the GOP in this state... it's good to know the players on the other side. Well, she tried, unssuccessfully mind you, to build support for Ensign from other GOP members, but she was left holding the bill after about half said they didn't want a part in it. In this day and age where the numbers game is so crucial, you can't build a defense for a US Senator... this is great news!

Should Ensign resign? Sure, why not? His hair kind of creeped me out, and he's awkwardly tan, so sure... vote him out.

Wait, you wanted to hear something a little more concrete and substantial? Sure... lets talk the C Street gang and how creepy/cultish that all is, lets talk about how hypocritical it is for a person to preach to the choir when they're sleeping with the piano player. Then lets talk about the "gift" that his parents gave to his campaign staffer, then lets talk about the fact that both the staffer and her son "resigned" from his camp when this all broke out. Good enough?

I still don't like his hair though.

Why can't we elect normal people to office? Do normal people exist? Then again, if we elect "normal" people, who will the bloggers and political writers have to report on? Nevermind, lets keep the circus in town so that I can have more material to play with. I thought that South Carolina had the showgirl market all wrapped up, but it looks like Nevada's looking to come up from behind. The Silver-State underdog, always a safe bet.

God bless America.

The month of August started off rocky for the LGBT community as 3 young people were murdered in Tel Aviv after an attack on an LGBT community center.

Lets get to the have beens...

-We were all entrenched to our eyeballs in healthcare reform, everywhere you turned people are talking about reform pro's and con's. We're not going to get away from this one for quite a while so I'm also including this one in the should be's and will be's... fyi.
-The great debate over Sonia Sotomayor came to a close with her being confirmed to the Supreme Court... the conservatives had little to say once they knew they lost this one. Great day for women and minorities everywhere.
-Bill Clinton was making headlines again after his rescure of two journalists from North Korea's grips.
-The Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America (ELCA) voted to allow gays in commited relationships to serve as ministers!

On to the should be's...

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's senate race is ratcheting up against him, Nevadans should take a close look at how or why they should support Harry Reid's bid in 2010.
-Talk about the equality march with all of your friends, because it's a big deal and it should be treated as such!
-On the lighter side, you should check out the episode of Family Guy that's being talked about with Rush Limbaugh... what a jokester that rush. :(
-Keep an eye on Iran, because the people rose up this summer so there's bound to be more trouble ahead.
-Like I said earlier, talk about healthcare because everyone else will be!

Finally to the will be's...

-I've looked into my crystal ball and I see more talks about healthcare reform, should we overhaul the entire system or just make the proper adjustments?
-Look for possible ways that the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy will affect that debate on either side of the aisle
-We're all going to be talking about gay rights! Support your brothers and sisters by attending the Equality March this October!

Those are my thoughts this time around, let me know if you disagree or if you think I missed something.

Citizenzero

P.S.
I get the feeling that we're all going to start thinking locally again when it comes to entertainment, dining, and politics so get informed on what's cool, what's good, and what's going on.