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29 Jun 2011 22:23

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Politics: Thirteen US Senators make “It Gets Better” video

  • And the ball continues to roll: Earlier this year, a spat of polls showed, for the first time, majority support for same-sex marriage. Last weekend, New York state passed the Marriage Equality Act, granting equal marriage rights to all New Yorkers. Now, thirteen US Senators have filmed an “It Gets Better” video. When you think about the political prospects for gay rights even five years ago, this is kind of astounding — these thirteen individuals (all Democrats; Republicans apparently weren’t asked to participate) are amongst the most powerful people in the most powerful country in the world. Much respect to Senator Chris Coons for posting this; Coons, you’ll recall, was the 2010 candidate everybody wrote off until the Republicans nominated Christine O’Donnell to run against him. So, in a weird way, we have O’Donnell to thank for this video. Thanks, Christine! (via gaywrites, thegayrepublican) source

29 Jun 2011 17:00

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Politics: President Obama dismisses congressional “fuss” on Libya

  • A lot of this fuss is politics… I said there would be no troops on the ground. I said we would not be carrying the lion’s share of the operation, but as members of NATO we would be supportive of it because it’s in our national security interest and it’s the right thing to do. We have done exactly what I said we would do.
  • President Obama • Defending his military intervention in Libya, and dismissing complaints from Congress. In the process of doing so, Obama struck a more confrontational tone towards his critics than is common for his administration. There’s a definite argument that one can make for the warfare going on in Libya, on fairly simply moral grounds — nobody really doubts what would have happened in Benghazi had nobody moved to stop it. Making that sort of argument would, we think, go a lot further to appeal to American sensibilities than judicial wrangling over defining “hostilities” would. source

29 Jun 2011 14:38

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Politics: Palin is still unsure of running — or is she?

  • It’s a tough decision, it’s a big decision to decide whether to run for office or not. I’m still contemplating. I am still thinking about the decision and you know a lot goes into such a life-changing, relatively earth-shattering type of decision.
  • Sarah Palin • talking about her decision to run for President. She still isn’t giving anyone a straight answer on what she plans on doing, but her daughter Bristol said some stuff on Fox that says she does have a plan. She told the news station that Palin knows what she’s going to do, and Bristol thinks her mom should go for it. But why would Palin run if Bachmann already did? They’re basically the same kind of candidate — and Palin has pretty much already lost her opportunity to get back into the national spotlight after her bus tour kind of sputtered. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. source

26 Jun 2011 20:16

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Politics: Michele Bachmann on hot seat trying to explain off subsidies

  • $30,000 the amount the counseling clinic Bachmann’s husband reportedly received in subsidies (some of them federal) over the past five years
  • $260,000 the amount a Wisconsin family farm, reportedly part-owned by Bachmann, reportedly received in federal subsidies source
  • » Oh no! That means … Bachmann, who’s suddenly become a GOP frontrunner, found herself on the defending end of tough questioning from Chris Wallace this morning over the allegations, uncovered by the Los Angeles Times. Bachmann’s stance: The money for the clinic went for employee training and never actually went to the clinic itself. And Bachmann and her husband don’t have a financial hand in her father-in-law’s farm — which the Times says is inaccurate, according to financial records. Even if that’s not the case, let’s twist that last one for kicks: But that means a family member of hers takes government subsidies! Political liability!

25 Jun 2011 15:09

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Politics: Obama announces robotics initiative, makes awesome robot joke

  • You might not know this, but one of my responsibilities as commander-in-chief is to keep an eye on robots. And I’m pleased to report that the robots you manufacture here seem peaceful. At least for now.
  • President Barack Obama • Speaking at Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center yesterday. About robots. The president plans to launch an initiative that will invest $70 million on robotics, so if these robots rise up and kill their creators, it’s his fault. Just sayin’. source

23 Jun 2011 17:47

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Politics: Ex-Scientology official releases possible church enemies list

  • departure Marty Rathbun was at one time a high-ranking official within the Church of Scientology. He departed from this position in 2004, which probably didn’t earn him many friends — critics often accuse the Church of cutting off apostates from their families.
  • exposure Rathbun has released a PDF file which he claims originated from Scientology’s creepily-named Office of Special Affairs. If genuine, it reads like an enemies list. Given the Church’s record, expect a blanket denial and some attacks on Rathbun’s character soon. source

22 Jun 2011 14:44

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Politics: Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour runs out of gas

  • Sarah’s tour has made a premature stop. It’s pretty unclear exactly why. There she was, soaking up the national spotlight, making moves to make herself a top contender for the GOP’s presidential nomination. Then, after getting some facts wrong about Paul Revere, she vanished from the spotlight. Now, she’s back in Alaska, and her plans for the rest of her road trip are on hold. She never did get a chance to meet up with prominent people in those always-important early voting states, and heading home early could cost her a lot of the momentum she’d built thus far. She’s doing a few other things — namely, she has a documentary coming out — but other than that, she’s left her followers wondering what she’s doing. Frankly, we are too. source
 

22 Jun 2011 14:26

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Politics: Anderson Cooper questions Obama’s sincerity on gay issues

  • Hard to see how the president’s position has changed so much, The only thing that has changed is his need for a wider audience to vote for him. … Democrats attack conservatives for being hypocritical on issues that they’re hypocritical about. But I don’t hear a lot of Democrats attacking their own president for hypocrisy.
  • CNN anchor Anderson Cooper • Giving voice to dissatisfaction with President Obama’s tact on gay rights issues. We happen to agree strongly with his premise, if not entirely his closing (Democrats on the left end of the spectrum were fairly vocal about Obama’s listlessness during the push for DADT repeal). There’s an extent to which candidate Obama’s stance against gay marriage never seemed terribly genuine. When you consider that he supported the idea in 1996, the reality starts to look pretty stark — a flip-flop for political expedience. But, Mr. President — gay marriage has since polled with majority support! And considering you have tepid enthusiasm from the liberal Democratic base ahead of the election, would there ever be a better time to give up the game? The LGBT movement deserves better than this, frankly. source

22 Jun 2011 09:37

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Politics: Bloomberg Poll: Obama’s pretty much sucking these days

  • 44% of Americans say that they’re doing worse economically under Obama
  • 61% of Americans claim that Obama will have had his chance to fix the economy by 2012
  • 30% of Americans would definitely vote to give the president a second term in 2012 source

21 Jun 2011 23:27

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Politics: Newt Gingrich needs to stop having Breakfast at Tiffany’s

  • funny A while back, Newt Gingrich took heat for having a huge line of credit at Tiffany and Co. — roughly in the $250,000 to $500,000 range. It was one of many things that week, so if you missed that wrinkle, it’s understandable. It’s been a disastrous campaign for Newt.
  • funnier Now, in the wake of two key fundraisers leaving the former House speaker’s campaign, The Washington Post found another credit line for Tiffany’s in his name — this one for roughly $500,000 to $1 million. If you need to sit down to crack up, we understand. source