The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to address the history and widespread pattern of irrational discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by private sector employers and local, State, and Federal government employers;

(2) to provide a comprehensive Federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity;

(3) to provide meaningful and effective remedies for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; and

(4) to invoke congressional powers, including the powers to enforce the 14th amendment to the Constitution, and to regulate interstate commerce and provide for the general welfare pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution, in order to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

(Who need convincing and what you can do after the jump!)

This desperately needed bill should not fail becuase Democrats failed to stand up for Democratic values.  This morning, I wrote to my congressman, Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) to urge him to vote for HR 2981. The other Democrats who seem to be hesitating are:

Bobby Bright (AL), Parker Griffith (AL), Vic Snyder (AR), Dennis Cardoza (CA), Allen Boyd, (FL), Sanford Bishop (GA), David Scott (GA), Walt Minnick (ID), Bobby Rush (IL), Daniel Lipinksi (IL), Deborah Halvorsen (IL), Jerry Costello (IL), Peter Visclosky (IN), Joe Donnelly (IN), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Ben Chandler (KY), Frank Kratovil (MD), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD), Bart Stupak (MI), Mark Schauer (MI), Travis Childers (MS), Bennie Thompson (MS), Dina Titus (NV), Michael McMahon (NY), Scott Murphy (NY), Paul Tonko (NY), Daniel Maffei (NY), Earl Pomeroy (ND), Dan Boren (OK), Kathleen Dahlkemper (PA), Jason Altmire (PA), Christopher Carney (PA), Paul Kanjorski (PA), John Murtha (PA), John Spratt (SC), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Al Green (TX), Solomon Ortiz (TX), Henry Cuellar (TX), Gene Green (TX), Glenn Nye (VA), Bobby Scott (VA), Thomas Perriello (VA), Rick Boucher (VA), Gerald Connolly (VA), Alan Mollohan (WV), Ron Kind (WI), David Obey (WI).

The contact information for many of these legislators can be found here and for all representatives can be found here.

In my letter to Rep. Chandler, I wrote that as a teacher of civics, I teach my students that America is based on fairness, justice, and compassion for others and that government can be a powerful force for making the world a better place.  I strongly believe and further believe that the times when government is best is when it helps our country to reflect those values and uses its mighty power to protect those who have been oppressed and sidelined. This is one of those times and we can help make it happen.

America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Okay, so slavery was a major boon for black people. Check. What else do you have for us, Pat?

[N]o people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

So blacks have done nothing in America than squander the great opportunities handed to them by “white America.” Gotcha. Ya done yet, Pat?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

So not only was slavery the best thing that ever happened to blacks, and not only have blacks squandered all of the opportunities given to them by whites, but black people will rob and rape you.

If you have an objection to Pat Buchanan’s racism and fear mongering, join me in flooding MSNBC with letters to letters@msnbc.com . There is no excuse for this hate monger to be employed, much less a lead analyst on a cable news network. Old man Buchanan needs to be sent out to pasture once and for all.