It's Gillibrand for Hillary's Senate Seat

Winning over her constituents
NYTimes: Ms. Gillibrand arriving at a farm in Cambridge, N.Y., in April 2007 to meet with residents of the area to discuss a bill meant to protect dairy farmers.
Photo: Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Coach Mom loses a Congresswoman and gains a Senator: Kirsten Gillibrand has been named by New York Governor David Paterson to fill the remaining two years of Hillary Clinton's Senate term.

Some liberals are freaking out because she has the worst record of any New York Congressional representative on gay issues (only 80% positive from the Human Rights Campaign [pdf file]) and supports the right to bear arms. I would point out to my freaked out colleagues that her position on gay rights is the same as one Barack Obama's and that her position on the 2nd Amendment is the same as one Howard Dean's. Chill.

Hilariously, one blog called her "a bizarro version of Sarah Palin: she proudly touts her 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association", which would only be accurate if Palin had a degree from Dartmouth in Asian Studies or if she was a lawyer. Gillibrand speaks in full sentences and has never claimed foreign policy expertise. Or that she can see Canada from her house.

OK, Gillibrand is not as liberal as I would like. She voted with the Rethugs on FISA and for that reason I didn't give her any money this year. But she is smart, tenacious and learns on the job. She sat on the Agriculture Committee in the House and impressed all the farmers in Delaware County by learning about the issues important to them. I hope as Senator she will continue her "Sunshine" policy and list all of her meetings on her website. And I hope to meet her at the Delaware County Fair this summer. I hope we're still on her dance card now that she represents the whole state of New York.

I Thought The XFL Folded

He Hate Me chosen to give invocation at Obama inauguration.

WTF?

Megachurch minister/thief Rick Warren is a hateful bigot who is anti-stem-cell-research, anti-choice, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-gay marriage, and basically a big dope. He's gone on Fox Noise in the last month to apologize for the Bush torture regime and to proclaim that Jesus was pro-assassination. Basically he is Jerry Falwell in a fat suit. He's Rupert Murdoch's pastor, for crying out loud. He's a hater.

Obama can throw him bones for the rest of his life and that faker isn't going to change one position. Naive and deeply disappointing decision by Obama. It is a gratituous insult to all of Obama's supporters who support gay rights.

I'll turn my back when he speaks.

Proposition 8 - The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Where were all these people before the election? As a Massachusetts resident I've been through more than one political campaign involving gay marriage. Our local groups besieged us with messages from both sides, (yea MassEquality! boo several religious groups). I can't believe that LGBT groups in California got outworked and out-organized (no pun intended) on such an important issue.

Here are the credits to figure out who's who in the cast:

Conceived and Written (six weeks later than he shoulda) by Marc Shaiman
Directed and Staged by: Adam Shankman
Produced by Adam Shankman, Marc Shaiman and Mike Farah
Edited by Bradly Schulz and Drew Antzis
Cast (in order of appearance) California Gays and The People That Love Them
Jordan Ballard,
Margaret Cho,
Barrett Foa,
J.B. Ghuman,
John Hill,
Andy Richter,
Maya Rudolph,
Rashad Naylor,
Nicole Parker Proposition 8'ers and The People That Follow Them
Prop 8 Leader- John C. Reilly
Prop 8 Leader's #1 Wife- Allison Janney
Prop 8 Leader's #2 Wife- Kathy Najimy
Riffing Prop 8'er-Jenifer Lewis
A Preacher- Craig Robinson
Scary Catholic School Girls From Hell-Rashida Jones, Lake Bell, Sarah Chalke
The Frightened Villagers Katharine "Kooks" Leonard, Seth Morris, Denise "Esi!" Piane, Lucian Piane, Richard Read, Seth Redford, Quinton Strack, Tate Taylor, Brunson Green
Jesus Christ Jack Black
A Very Smart Fellow Neil Patrick Harris
Piano Player Marc "Marc" Shaiman ----
Co-Choreographer: Anne "Mama" Fletcher
Recorded and Mixed by Frank Wolfe & Greg Hayes
Director of Photography: Michael Barrett
Camera Operators: Jake Szymanski, Bradly Schulz and Drew Antzis
Production designer: Nelson Coates
Costume designer: Shanna Knecht
Costume assistants: Leslie Schilling, Annalisa Adams, Elizabeth Abate
Hair: Laura Sanchez
Make-up: Shauna O'Toole, Atticuss Sharp
Production sound: Bradford Craig
Music editor: Lisa Jaime
Music assistant: Brian Naguit Snacky: "Snacky"
Special Thanks to Adam McKay for the nudge

It's Official

wikipedia: Historian John Boswell claims the 4th century Christian martyrs Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus were united in the rite of adelphopoesis, or brother-making, which he calls an early form of religious same-sex marriage
[Who knew? -truth]


I live in the most progressive state in the nation! Today the Massachusetts State Senate repealed a 1913 law that prevented gay and lesbian couples from other states from getting married here.

And yes, despite (or perhaps because of) our embrace of gay marriage, Massachusetts still has the lowest divorce rate in the nation (2.4 per 1000 population).

Boston Globe: Senate passes repeal of 1913 marriage law

Today's News

Flickr: Brooklyn Museum
Greek Religion--sculptor, Daniel Chester French

McCain's national security adviser, John Lehman, told the New York Times that he offered to make John McCain a one-star admiral in 1980, but McCain declined. The New York Times put the claim on the front page. Problem? It's probably not true, as McCain never mentioned it before, and the story of his leaving the Navy has been told many times. Hard to check up on McCain's military service, tho, as he has never released his full military records. Read this extensive article by Jeffrey Klein for the details.

The torture regime came from the top of the Bush Administration. We already knew that, but there is proof now.

The senior civilian managing the contract of Halliburton subsidiary KBR in 2004 was fired when he refused to pay bogus billing records for Dick Cheney's favorite special interest. The amount in question that taxpayers ponied up for despite shoddy record-keeping and questionable bills? $1,000,000,000. That's one billion dollars to CheneyFraud. Heckuva job, Dickhead.

Gay marriage is now legal in California as of yesterday. The march of progress continues. It hasn't changed life here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts one iota, except for allowing some of our fellow citizens legal rights, joy and peace of mind. All good things.

Gas prices have sent Prius sales soaring. Even in Billings, Montana, home of the pickup truck. Honda is now making a hydrogen-fuel-cell car. I want one:

The FCX Clarity, which runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water and none of the noxious fumes believed to induce global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.

Honda expects to lease a few dozen cars this year and 200 within three years. In California, a three-year lease will run $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

The Mets fire Willie Randolph in the middle of the night. Disgraceful end to a class act. The Mets are finding that stocking a team with mid-30s free agents may have worked in the steroid era, but now they're just injury prone. Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast sez, hire Ron Darling.

Cali Catching Up With Massachusetts

Supreme Court of California

NYTimes: California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

Here's the actual opinion (pdf): In Re MARRIAGE CASES [Six consolidated appeals]

Al Gore Endorses Gay Marriage

wikipedia
Good for Al. But now we know that he's definitely not running for President, because in 2008 at least, gay marriage is the third rail of American politics. Of all the major Presidential candidates, only the spouse of one -- the courageous Elizabeth Edwards -- favors gay marriage.

As Al says,

"I think that gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women, to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage," Gore said. "And I don’t understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it by gays and lesbians. Shouldn’t we be promoting that kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one’s partner regardless of sexual orientation?

Al Gore Endorses Gay Marriage (video)

Huffington Post: Al Gore Endorses the Freedom to Marry

More on CraigsList

US Republican Senator Larry Craig, who pleaded guilty after a police sex sting operation in an airport bathroom, Monday denied a new flurry of gay sex allegations in his home state newspaper.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Alex Wong)
OK, I know a million other people have made the Craigslist joke, but it seems appropriate. This weekend, the Idaho Statesman published a story in which 5 more men have come forward to testify about "sexual encounters" with Senator Larry Craig. That makes the total 8 after the initial expose in the Statesman identified three men who claimed sexual encounters with Craig.

But remember, he is not gay, he has never been gay. What a hypocrite.

Idaho Statesman: More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig
Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight to rumors about Craig.

I Hate Huckabee

Because he's a dope: The Politico: Huckabee not aware of NIE report on Iran Two days after it came out, the night after Bush gave his lying press conference, and dim Huckabee wasn't aware of it. Probably too busy consulting his Bible, and I also hate him...

Because he's a religious fanatic dope who believes things like this: dailykos: Huckabee: Gay Marriage Would End Civilization

Oh, c'mon. That's just ridiculous.

And finally, and here's the thing that should keep him from the nomination, because he forced the pardon of a convicted rapist, Mike Wayne Dumond, and Dumond promptly raped and killed at least one other woman. He did this "despite being warned by numerous women that the convict had sexually assaulted them or their family members, and would likely strike again." And why did Huckabee do this? Because the first woman the scumbag was convicted of raping was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton. Clinton hatred taken to its nth degree.

He's been lying about it ever since, and this week journalist Murray Waas dug out the letters from the rape victims that Huckabee has been hiding and denying for a decade. He is a liar and a loon, a fitting successor to George W. Bush, but in no way qualified to be President of the United States.

Married in Massachusetts

Patricia Cornwell, author.

Who knew? (Well, I knew, but that was because of my law school friend who had gone to Davidson.) I like these "now I can finally be happy" gay marriage stories. Heartwarming! Wingnuts, go grind your teeth elsewhere.

Huge Victory for Civil Rights in Massachusetts

Mary Marra of Haverhill, a supporter of same-sex marriage, blew bubbles as she and hundreds of others demonstrated before the vote on putting the gay marriage amendment on the ballot.
(Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki)
Huge victory for civil rights in Massachusetts today, where the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage was defeated. The vote was 151 to 45; the opponents of gay marriage needed 50 votes to have the question placed on the November ballot. So we will not vote on the civil rights of our fellow citizens. The decision of the Supreme Judicial Court stands:

MARSHALL, C.J. Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society. For those who choose to marry, and for their children, marriage provides an abundance of legal, financial, and social benefits. In return it imposes weighty legal, financial, and social obligations. The question before us is whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the Commonwealth may deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry. We conclude that it may not. The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals. It forbids the creation of second-class citizens. In reaching our conclusion we have given full deference to the arguments made by the Commonwealth. But it has failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples.

Boston Globe: Legislators vote to defeat same-sex marriage ban

The Herald's view: Lawmakers vote to kill anti-gay marriage question

Job Well Done, Mass Equality

Mass Equality, the group that lead the fight to keep gay marriage the law in Massachusetts, produced some very effective ads that I saw several times on television in the last few weeks. The first one was my favorite. (For some reason the Youtube versions of the ads all end about 10 seconds before the final tag lines, but you get the essence.)

Can't Compromise With Crackpots

Short Digby: You can't compromise with crackpots. The anti-intellectuals who oppose abortion, evolution and gay marriage are just plain wrong.

Just go read Digby.

Frank Rich, Honorary Blogger

Shorter Frank Rich: Iraq is FUBAR. Let's just get the hell out.

I call him an honorary blogger because this week's column is all linky. Like a real blogger, linking to the sources of his factual assertions. I haven't seen any of the Times columnists do this before. Brooks couldn't, because he makes up most of the facts in BoBo's World. Friedman, the six-monther, could keep recycling his links every six months. Dowd's links would be all snarky. But I digress.

Frank Rich, NYTimes: Supporting Our Troops Over a Cliff (TimesSelect wall)

The marriage-amendment campaign will be kicked off tomorrow with a Rose Garden benediction by the president. Though the amendment has no chance of passing, Mr. Bush apparently still thinks, as he did in 2004, that gay-baiting remains just the diversion to distract from a war gone south.

So much for the troops. For all the politicians' talk about honoring those who serve, Washington's record is derelict: chronic shortages in body and Humvee armor; a back-door draft forcing troops with expired contracts into repeated deployments; inadequate postwar health care and veterans' benefits. And that's just the short list. Now a war without end is running off the rails and putting an undermanned army in still greater jeopardy. "Today, the Americans are just one more militia lost in the anarchy," Nir Rosen, who has covered Iraq since the invasion, wrote in The Washington Post last weekend.

We can't pretend we don't know this is happening. It's happening in broad daylight. We know that "as the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down" is fiction, not reality. We know from the Pentagon's own report to Congress last week that attacks on Americans and Iraqis alike are at their highest since American commanders started keeping count in 2004. We know that even as coalition partners like Italy and South Korea bail out, we are planning an indefinite stay of undefined parameters: the 104-acre embassy complex rising in the Green Zone is the largest in the world, and the Decider himself has said that it's up to "future presidents and future governments of Iraq" to decide our exit strategy.

the ending:

...[A] country that truly supports the troops has no choice but to start bringing them home.

Ed Strong usually has the full column, though it's not up yet tonight.

Massachusetts 2 - Fundies 0

State orders Wal-Mart to sell morning-after pill
Retailer says it will consider stocking drug at all US stores

Wal-Mart said yesterday it will start stocking and selling the emergency contraceptive drug Plan B at its 44 Massachusetts pharmacies and is giving serious consideration to carrying the drug at all of its stores nationwide.

The world's biggest retailer acted after the state Board of Registration in Pharmacy voted unanimously to require Wal-Mart to stock and dispense Plan B, a high dose of hormones that women can take three to five days after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.

The only other state where Wal-Mart sells the so-called morning-after pill is Illinois, where a state law requires it. Elsewhere, Wal-Mart has refused to stock the drug for undisclosed ''business reasons."

Guardian (uk):

Wal-Mart Must Stock Contraception in Mass.

Massachusetts got its first point on the gay marriage issue. Equality-R-Us.

Massachusetts Residents: Were You Duped Into Signing the Anti-Gay-Marriage Petition?

From a local bulletin board:

If you were asked to sign a petition sometime last fall to make it legal for grocery stores to sell wine, you may have been duped in to signing a petition to ban gay marriage. Here is a site that will tell you if your name appears on the petition and what steps to take if you want your named removed.

Personally, it shouldn't matter how you feel on the subject, you should just know what it is you are signing WHEN you are signing it and not be duped in to something.

Always read what you're signing!

knowthyneighbor

Just Another Sacred Heterosexual Marriage in Kansas

Owners Convicted in Kan. Enslavement Trial

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The married owners of a group home for the mentally ill were convicted Monday of enslaving its residents, forcing them to work naked and perform sex acts, and illegally billing their families and the federal government for therapy.

Arlan Kaufman, 69, and his wife, Linda, 62, were convicted of 30 federal charges, including health care fraud, Medicare fraud, forced labor and holding clients in involuntary servitude at the Kaufman House Residential Treatment Center. Arlan Kaufman also was found guilty of making a false representation.

[]

Federal prosecutors contended the Kaufmans controlled the lives of the mentally ill residents, including forcing them to work on their farm and deciding who could wear clothes.

The couple was accused of forcing residents to masturbate, fondle each other and shave each other's genitals - activities Arlan Kaufman videotaped.

The Kaufmans claimed that nude therapy sessions and other treatment methods had therapeutic value for schizophrenic patients, and that having residents act out problem behavior helped them avoid repeating it. Arlan Kaufman insisted at trial that the residents' behavior was voluntary.

And these people are afraid of gay marriage?

Haters Buying Signatures on Anti-Gay Marriage Petition

How low can they go?

Government BUY the People

On Sunday the 25th, I went to the Wild Oats Supermarket in Saugus, MA, where I was greeted by a petition circulator. I was presented with an Initiative Petition to allow alcohol to be sold in supermarkets. The young man, Mr. Tiontee Johnson, explained how I needed to make my signature legible and added when I am done signing that he has another Petition about Traditional Marriage that he would like me to sign too. "You know", he said, "if you believe in 'Adam and Eve.'" He then added, "this signing on either of these just means you want it on the ballot, it doesn't really mean anything today."

Well, I signed the Petition to allow alcohol to be sold and asked Mr. Johnson if my name would be made public and was told emphatically, "No, these signatures go directly to the Secretary of State." Interesting... I was then asked if I wanted to sign "the traditional marriage petition." When I said no, He told me that he was being paid $1 a signature and that it would really help him if I could sign!

I asked Mr. Johnson for a card (see photo [on original post, click link above]) and he gave me his employer's business card. In further questioning, I found out that Mr. Johnson is not even a Massachusetts resident but one of many that were bussed in from California and put up in hotels all over the Baystate and paid to collect signatures. By the way, the area code on the business card is from Michigan.

There are TWO very disturbing things going on here.

(1) The "people's petition" process in Massachusetts is being undermined by "buck a signature" out-of-state petition circulators all the while petition spokespersons like Kris Mineau continue to spout rhetoric about the process being an expression of "the people's" voice. So cut the bull Kris and tell the good people of Massachusetts who is really behind this Ballot Initiative. I wonder, is this where all the "faith based initiative" money is going?

(2) Signature gatherers clearly feel entitled to say whatever they want to get people to sign even if it is incorrect. So we not only have to worry about The Catholic Church telling people that same-sex marriage is ending civilization but we now have to worry about a "puppy-dog eyed" signature gatherer claiming that the signer is "helping him out financially" and that signing "doesn't really mean anything."

There is too much at stake for this to be allowed to happen. Citizens have a responsibility not to be duped into signing and to hold the petition sponsors accountable for any fraud or deception that might be committed on their behalf by these out-of-state petition pushers.

If you have an experience like mine, report it immediately to Peter Sacks of the Attorney General's Office at (617) 727-2200.

Tom Lang, Director

I have to be in Boston tomorrow, so I'm going to go to a few grocery stores tomorrow & see if I can get solicited, so I can call the AG & report 'em. Sleazy bastards.

Quick Hits

From Eschaton: Potty Break President Photo Op caught in the act by a Reuters photographer.

From Talking Points Memo: Part I and Part II, Michael Chertoff is an even bigger idiot than Michael Brown

Talking Points Memo was on a roll today: This story, about Dick Cheney ordering power restored to a pipeline on August 30th. Halliburton uber alles, you know.

And again TPM, the House member who has been criticized for using the National Guard to take him to his house in New Orleans? Bill Jefferson's house was raided by federal agents a month ago as part of a federal criminal investigation.

From dailykos: From Blitzer Today: Hiding the Bodies, Part 2 Will we ever hear the real death toll, or will it be covered up?

Party above people: Who's partisan? Bush called Gov. Barbour (R-Mi.) repeatedly after Katrina; Gov. Blanco (D-La.) had to chase him down.

From Kevin Drum, Gay Marriage We've had gay marriage for a year now in Massachusetts, and guess what? Nothing's changed, except for a few thousand people have gotten married and gotten hospital visitation rights, and inheritance rights, and health insurance, etc.

My last full Maureen Dowd link (she's going behind the NYTimes $50/year subscription wall next week): A Fatal Incuriosity

The Smirking Chimp: Even though a federal court has ruled the media may photograph the removal of the dead, the military are not allowing it: As bodies are recovered, reporters are told 'no photos, no stories'

Molly Ivins on Halliburton: The Graft Goes On

Hackett Loses, to County with a "Technical Malfunction"

I will always be suspicious of close races in Ohio and Florida. Billmon has the inside scoop on Schmidt's late win:

Too Close for Comfort

If you followed the returns last night, you may have noticed that one county in the district -- Clermont -- was extremely late in reporting part of its returns. Clermont is the second largest pool of votes in the district and provided roughly a quarter of all ballots cast yesterday. It's also a GOP stronghold (in a GOP stronghold district) and Jean Schmidt's home turf.

That being the case, it's not a big surprise Schmidt did well there, carrying the county with 58% of the two-party vote -- less than what a GOP candidate can usually expect, but enough to give her nearly a 5,000 vote margin in Clermont, and thus the election.

At about 9:00 PM ET last night, however, things didn't look nearly as good for Ms. Schmidt. In fact, her name looked more like Schmud. With 88% of the district's precincts reporting, including more than half of Clermont's, the count was almost evenly split -- with Schmidt holding a lead of less than 900 votes.

At that point, though, the Clermont election bureau experienced a "technical malfunction" with its optical scan readers:

The Board of Elections in Clermont County, east of Cincinnati, says it's optical scanners haven't counted all the ballots yet because it was so hot -- and humid -- Tuesday.

Board member Tim Rudd says the ballots pick up moisture when it gets hot, making it tougher for the optical scan machines to sort and count.

According to some reports I've seen -- but haven't been able to confirm -- at least part of the count in Clermont's final 91 precincts ended up being done by hand.

In any case, when the humidity had cleared, so to speak, Schmidt had picked up another 9,451 votes, compared to just 6,300 or so for Hackett -- an edge which, interestingly enough, almost equaled her winning margin for the district as a whole.

Very convenient, no? Or, as one local reporter put it:

Schmidt led by less than 1 percent with 88 percent of the precincts in. But she must have felt secure in knowing that the only uncounted precincts were in Clermont County, her home.

Indeed. But was there anything, well, Floridian, about this particular source of comfort? Beats me. Hackett apparently doesn't think so. He conceded before midnight. But some others who watched the count much more closely than I did found it all a bit odd:

Out if 91 precincts [in Clermont], about 12% of the [district] total, the margin went from 0.89% to 3.49%. In other words it almost quadrupled . .

I was projecting that, extrapolating from the first 100 precincts, the last 91 would have about 10,000 votes. In fact, the final tally has them giving out 50% more than that...over 15,000 votes.

Also, while Schmidt's margin in the first 100 [precincts] was about 56% to 44%, the margin is much, much wider in the last 91 -- 60% to 40%.

Also, this puts the overall total well out of range of any recount margin.

Curioser and curiouser. I wouldn't dwell on it so much, if not for the fact that Clermont has already shown a impressive knack for pulling Republican electoral bacon out of the fire, as I noted last week:

The ability of the Rovians to pull fresh GOP votes out of [Warren and Clermont] counties certainly challenged plausibility, and, in Clermont's case, almost defied mathematics. Consider the fact that according to the Census Bureau, Clermont's population rose only 4.4% (about 7,800 souls) between 2000 and 2003, while reported GOP turnout increased by roughly 31% (about 14,600 votes) from 2000 to 2004. This in a county that only had about 122,000 registered voters last year, according to the Cincinatti Enquirer.

Others have highlighted some equally interesting data points from last year's election in Clermont:

Three counties in southwestern Ohio – Butler, Clermont and Warren – provided Bush with a combined plurality greater than his statewide margin of victory. These results, when examined at the precinct level, are almost impossible to explain . . . In Clermont County there were 24 such precincts where Kerry received fewer votes than Gore. In Warren County there were six entire townships where voter registration increased by 28% to 79%. In all three counties, Kerry received fewer votes than Ellen Connally, a little-known, underfunded African-American municipal judge from Cleveland, running for Chief Justice. There must have been at least 13,500 voters who supported both Connally and Bush, or else the certified results are fraudulent. In these three counties, and in Delaware County as well, Bush received more votes than Issue One, the constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage. There must have been at least 10,500 supporters of gay marriage who voted for Bush, or else the certified results are fraudulent.

Of course, none of this proves, or even makes a circumstantial case, that yesterday's election was stolen. Maybe the inhabitants of Clerrmont County really are just unusually witless in their devotion to the GOP cause. I live in a Republican machine county myself, so I know how that goes.

But it's still rather remarkable how often the lightning seems to strike in Clermont -- and at the just the right time, producing just the right amount of votes for an otherwise endangered GOP candidate. Like I said, I'd feel a lot better about it if the party stalwarts who run the county's elections were describing the inner workings of the system to a grand jury -- under oath.