One more open thread

Chat before bed... Read More......

Read The Nation piece on Dr. Hager

There's a lot of buzz about Ayelish McGarvey's piece in The Nation titled "Dr. Hager's Family Values."

Dr. Hager is a big-time evangelical Christian with close ties to the Bush Administration. In fact, he's a Bush appointee to an FDA Advisory Commission. He's the kind of hard core right-winger they love in the GOP.

Take some time this weekend to read the article. Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

This is an enormous yellow cattleya that is truly enormous. I bought a sibling of this plant at the NY show, but it's been struggling. The roots were wrapped up and when I got home I realized they were mostly dead, and one of the pseudobulbs (i.e., canes) was rotting, so I did a little surgery, and now it's in intensive care, but has a decent chance of making it. Anyway, it's really enormous in person and not as floofy as some of the catts, those I don't like.

Enjoy. Read More......

NCFR's breakin all the rules

This is a great idea from a very observant AMERICAblog reader, "fabfemme." (Our posts have some of the best ideas and commentary...love 'em)

By now you should know about the National Council on Family Relations breaking its own rules and banning its own research to give the Bush White House its straights-only online clearinghouse on marriage. That's right, no research on gay marraige or civil unions even though it's legal in 2, going on 3, states. But NCFR isn't simply breaking its own rules -- they're asking the universities participating in the project to break their rules as well.

Exhibit A: Syracuse University. A professor at Syracuse is one of the key participants in developing NCFR's anti-gay website. We'll leave his name out of it for now. But Syracuse University has rules too. Rules like:

Syracuse University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a disabled veteran or a veteran of the Vietnam era to any extent discrimination is prohibited by law. This nondiscrimination policy covers admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs, services, and activities.

The NCFR project definitely violates the spirit, and some may argue the letter, of the policy. Syracuse also has an LGBT Resource Center -- I imagine they're familiar with the rules.

Maybe we should make sure everyone's in the loop. Remember, the LGBT Resource Center is one of the good guys. Let them know what's going on.

Also, maybe we can ask NCFR executive director Michael Benjamin (mbenjamin@ncfr.org , (202) 659-1190) if he was aware that he wasn't just breaking NCFR's rules, but also asking people at colleges and universities across the country to break theirs as well.

And one last thing, NCFR. Americablog's been writing about this all week...but John's been out of town. He'll be back all refreshed and ready for the next battle. You do know about Microsoft, right? Just keep that in mind. All I'm saying is you need to follow your own rules and make this right. Read More......

Open Thread

Oh, boy. I thought I lost the blog for a few minutes there....but, turns blogger.com was down "for maintenance." How would I ever explain to John that I lost his blog?

I'm calmer now...so let's just chat. Read More......

Game On: Nuclear Option next week

AP reports Frist is ready to pull the trigger on the nuclear option:

Setting the stage for a much-anticipated showdown, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced Friday he will seek confirmation beginning next week for two of President Bush's conservative judicial nominees long blocked by Democrats.

"It is time for 100 senators to decide the issue of fair up-or-down votes for judicial nominees after over two years of unprecedented obstructionism," Frist's office said in a statement.

The focus will be on two women, Priscilla Owen, first nominated in 2001 to serve as a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Janice Rogers Brown, whom Bush named in 2003 to serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Frist's announcement cleared the way for a momentous showdown that blends constitutional and political issues - the powers of the legislative branch to advise and consent in a president's nominees and the ability of a political minority to influence the outcome.

Here's a link to Frist statement. Actually, it's a "Statement From the Office of the Majority Leader." The statement never refers to Frist by name, only by title. Who do they think he is? The Queen.

So this marks the second event in the 2008 GOP Presidential Primary calender. The first was, of course, the Terri Schiavo primary between Frist and Jeb Bush. In this GOP Presidential contest, it's Frist running against himself to see how far he can bend over to accommodate the theocrats who run the GOP. I really, really just can't stand that smug, smarmy, sanctimonious act of his. And, the reality is that Frist has to do this at some point for the right-wing nut jobs. He's almost forcing himself into a corner.

So get ready. Next week, everyone's going to have to get involved. Have your dialing fingers and emails ready. Read More......

Open Thread

It's almost the weekend.... Read More......

Jeff/Jim at DeLay's Delusional-fest

Earlier today, I wrote a post about the DeLay Delusional-fest based on the NY Times report --- a gathering of the creepiest of the creeps. Little did I know that the ultimate creepy creep was there. Yes, one of the attendees to honor DeLay was Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert. I bet that made Ken Mehlman's heart beat a little faster.

I wonder if Jeff joined in the singing of "If I had a Hammer"? Read More......

Wash. Times Starts Slime Attack on Harry Reid

DailyKos has the details and the contact info. They must be losing, cause when they are losing, they slime...and it usually starts with Reverend Moon's paper. Their crack reporter is Charles Hurt: churt@washingtontimes.com

Harry Reid is one tough SOB and he is driving the right-wing crazy...I mean, crazier.

Go to Kos and help stop the attack on Reid. Read More......

The Ohio GOP Rare Coin Scandal Keeps on Giving

This story has many legs it seems. Check out The Toledo Blade today:

Gov. Bob Taft said yesterday he knew that his former chief of staff vacationed at local Republican fund-raiser Tom Noe’s Florida home, but was not concerned about it at the time.

“I assumed he would have complied with the state law, so there wasn’t any reason to do anything,” Mr. Taft said. He told The Blade that while his former chief of staff, Brian Hicks, typically held himself to “very high standards of ethical conduct,” it is a “disappointment” to him if Mr. Hicks acted unethically in vacationing at Mr. Noe’s home for less-than-market rates.

The Blade reported yesterday that Mr. Hicks paid Mr. Noe $300 to $500 for a five-night stay at the coin dealer’s Florida Keys home in 2001, and that he vacationed at the Noes’ home again in 2002. Mr. Hicks, who was Mr. Taft’s chief of staff during both visits, paid well below the market rate at the time, estimated by Florida rental agents at $2,000 to $3,500 for a week’s stay in the 3,600 square-foot waterfront home.

Under state campaign-finance laws, members of the executive branch — including the governor’s chief of staff — must disclose the source of gifts if their value exceeds $75. State officials are also prohibited from receiving gifts from those who have matters before their particular agency or the agency’s current or potential business partners.

This scandal just keeps growing and morphing. Ohio is a GOP cesspool. Seems everyone in the Ohio GOP is involved in one way or another. This blurb sums them all up:

State Sen. Teresa Fedor, a Toledo Democrat, said of the Hicks’ vacations and rare-coin investment: “It’s outrageous. They are so arrogant and drunk with power that they said [the investment] was OK even though there were red flags everywhere.”

Read More......

Nebraska Decision gives hope....to gays and gay bashers

Yesterday, there was a very important decision from a federal court judge in Nebraska overturning that state's gay marriage ban. From AP:

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon said the ban "imposes significant burdens on both the expressive and intimate associational rights" of gays and lesbians and "creates a significant barrier to the plaintiffs' right to petition or to participate in the political process."

Bataillon said the ban amounted to punishment and is "legislation that identifies persons by a single trait and then denies them protection across the board, resulting in disqualification of a class of persons from the right to seek specific protections from the law."

That is great language and gives some hope.

And for that reason, to the gay haters, this ruling presents an opportunity:

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who held hearings on gay marriage laws last year, said the ruling underscored the need for a federal ban on gay marriage.

"The traditional institution of marriage now is clearly in need of federal protection, now more than ever," Cornyn said. "This ruling is a vivid reminder that opponents of traditional marriage have not given up their effort to overturn the will of the people."

That's the same John Cornyn condoned violence against judges a couple weeks ago. Of course, the GOP leaders in the House and Senate care soooo much about this issue that they'll wait until right before the elections to hold votes. For them, it's not policy, it's pure hate-driven politics.

This time, we can't respond with a policy discussion. We need to play hard ball politics right back. And, let's call this debate what it is....a coordinated campaign of gay-bashing by Republican leaders. This year, let's push back very, very hard. Ask the GOP where will it lead. After they set us aside in the US Constitution, what else is in the right wing's plan for gays and lesbians in America? Everytime they say the term "homosexual agenda," we need to ask what their agenda is for homosexuals.

They want this debate, they'll get it. But this year, it will be on our terms, not theirs. Read More......

DeLay's Delusional-Fest

NY Times has a piece on the DeLay Delusional-fest last night. It really was the creepiest of the creeps including Kenny Mehlman and a tape from Jesse Helms. But I loved this quote from himself:

"No ideas, no leadership, no agenda," Mr. DeLay said in a speech to hundreds of conservatives gathered at the banquet. "And in just the last week we can add to that list: no class."

Yeah, that's a good one. Think about it: Being called classless by Tom DeLay at the party being held to bolster him because he's the most unethical guy in DC in decades. That's a good one.

And, the song the band played to honor "the Hammer" was "If I had a Hammer." Don't these lyrics make you think of Tom DeLay:

Well I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Read More......

One more open thread

Stir it up.... Read More......