It's Mehlman Monday

Mondays are a bitch

Wonkette and Working for Change both weigh in today on the Ken "Is she is or isn't she" Mehlman, the expected incoming head of the Republican Party.

I differ with Wonkette on one thing. I would loathe Mehlman much more for being gay than for being the head of the RNC. True, the RNC makes it bread and butter gay-bashing, and more. So yes, Mehlman gets no merit badges for taking over the helm of an organization that practices and preaches bigotry (not to mention, he did the same at the Bush campaign). But a gay Mehlman would be even more loathe-worthy. You get extra brownie points in hell for selling out your own people.

Anyway, we'll keep following this story, because it sure as hell isn't going away. It's looking like Ken Mehlman is going to be the Mary Cheney of 2005. The "It" girl for gay America. I'm seriously thinking we may need to throw a party for Ken once he gets the RNC chairmanship. Maybe, as someone previously suggested, we can even give him a little ambiguously-gay pride parade in front of the RNC headquarters.

It's gonna be a fun year. Read the rest of this post...

Student Invents Glow-In-Dark Underwear

From AP:

Beau Carpenter, an avid runner who also works at NASA, initially thought of creating glow-in-the-dark jogging clothes, but practicality evaporated when thongs captured his attention during his Internet research.

Yeah, I'm sure they did. :-)

PS Can't wait for Congress to legislate this kid out of history. Read the rest of this post...

Cooooooooooooool

Ok, this is way cool. Yahoo's "My Yahoo" page is where you can decide which type of news you want (AP top stories, Reuters, gays and lesbian, etc.), your weather, your stocks. Well, they've just added RSS feeds for blogs, including yours truly. You can now add the blog feed to your My Yahoo page so you can keep up on the latest posts to the site, all on one page along with other top news from around the Net (like your other favorite blogs). I'm in love... Read the rest of this post...

See what happens when you travel...

Blogger apparently flipped out today. I noticed gobbly-gook when I got back to DC tonight. Just republished the entire blog, should be fine now. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I'm back. Consider this an evening open thread. JOHN Read the rest of this post...

MASS LEGISLATORS WALL OF SHAME: Bigotry knows no party affiliation

From AP. The following Massachusetts State Representatives and State Senator joined in the lawsuit just rejected without hearing by the Supreme Court. If you're from Mass., call or write these bigots a little note and let them know that we'll be ready for them in 2006:

Rep. Elizabeth A. Poirier, R-North Attleboro: email - 617-722-2976
Rep. John A. Lepper, R-Attleboro: email - 617-722-2100
Rep. Edward G. Connolly, D-Everett: email - 617-722-2692
Rep. Christopher P. Asselin, D-Springfield: email - 617-722-2090
Rep. Philip Travis, D-Rehoboth: email - 617-722-2430
Rep. James R. Miceli, D-Wilmington: email - 617-722-2692
Rep. Peter J. Larkin, D-Pittsfield: email - 617-722-2380
(Rob's Note: Larkin is on the board of the Mass. DLC - I guess bigotry is part of moderation.)
Rep. Robert S. Hargraves, R-Groton: email - (617) 722-2305
Rep. Emile J. Goguen, D-Fitchburg: email - 617-722-2400
Rep. Mark J. Carron, D-Southbridge: email - 617-722-2060
Sen. Steven C. Panagiotakos, D-Lowell: email - (617) 722-1630

If there are any candidates out there running against these people, please let us know so that we can make the public aware of alternatives to these small minded idiots. Read the rest of this post...

Bush's affirmative action plan moves into high gear

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see women, African-Americans, and Latinos getting such high exposure in the Bush administration (heck, we may even have a "gay" taking over the top RNC job). In fact, Bush's first three new Cabinet appointees have been two Latinos and a black woman. Kudos to Bush. The only thing is that I have a nagging feeling that Bush is practicing a little affirmative action in an effort to woo minority votes away from the Dems. That doesn't mean the 3 candidates aren't qualified (well, Albert "Abu Ghraib" Gonzales has some issues). The issue, rather, is that it's fair to wonder if Bush is favoring minority candidates for these first few high profile jobs, simply as a pulicit-getting vote-getting gambit. That would be rather hypocritical, to say the least, coming from a party and a president that has tried to dismantle affirmative action, while blasting Dems for race-baiting, etc.

But it is funny to watch Republicans embrace their minority nominees, touting their minority-ness in public like a new and mystical flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream that's sure to wow the public. The problem is that the Republicans are offering a flavor that Democrats embraced decades ago. It's not so wow or cool or novel anymore to appoint a Latino, an African-American or a woman to a high administration position. And the fact that the Republicans think so, and trumpet it so loudly, is only more evidence of how much they don't get it. Simply appointing a black man to a senior administration position, or a Latino or a woman does not prove that you "get" the issues that matter most to that community. And for the Republicans to think it does is tokenism of the worst kind. Read the rest of this post...

GAY MARRIAGE STANDS IN MASS: Supreme Court won't hear case

Great news on the gay marriage front! From AP:

The Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a dispute over gay marriages, rejecting a challenge to the nation's only law sanctioning such unions.

Justices had been asked by conservative groups to overturn the year-old decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. They declined, without comment.

In the past year, at least 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples have wed, although voters may have a chance next year to change the state constitution to permit civil union benefits to same-sex couples, but not the institution of marriage.

Critics of the November 2003 ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts argue that it violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of a republican form of government in each state. They lost at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

Their attorney, Mathew Staver, said in a Supreme Court filing that the Constitution should "protect the citizens of Massachusetts from their own state supreme court's usurpation of power."

Federal courts, he said, should defend people's right "to live in a republican form of government free from tyranny, whether that comes at the barrel of a gun or by the decree of a court." (Rob's note: Courts generally don't like it when you tell them they have no power and call them tyrannical -- it just shows you that the challenge to gay marriage has no basis in law at all.)

Merita Hopkins, a city attorney in Boston, had told justices in court papers that the people who filed the suit have not shown they suffered an injury and could not bring a challenge to the Supreme Court. "Deeply felt interest in the outcome of a case does not constitute an actual injury," she said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly told justices that voters can overrule the Supreme Court by adopting a constitutional amendment.

The lawsuit was filed by the Florida-based Liberty Counsel on behalf of Robert Largess, the vice president of the Catholic Action League, and 11 state lawmakers.

The conservative law group had persuaded the Supreme Court in October to consider another high profile issue, the constitutionality of Ten Commandments displays on government property. The court agreed to look at that church-state issue before Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

He is working from home while receiving chemotherapy and radiation and will miss court sessions for the next two weeks...

So, gay marriages will stand in Massachusetts until at least 2006, and with the four or five pick-ups in the Mass. State House from November, gay marriage may remain in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future.

Moreover, this is a good reminder that Justice Rehnquist is still not back on the job. Remember when he was going to be back on the Monday after his illness was announced? Read the rest of this post...

Democracy flourishing in Myanmar: Suu Kyi detained for another year

The new leadership somehow looks just like the old leadership. Hopefully we will hear something out of the White House about this but since the US has a military presence in Myanmar (I witnessed this myself) I somehow doubt there will be much more than our normal light criticism and flowery talk about democracy.
Read the rest of this post...

Christmas shopping season sluggish

With an iffy economy, this should come as no surprise to anyone. The only thing that surprises me is that stores such as Walmart failed to make prices as attractive as possible. Sounds like they were simply too greedy.
Read the rest of this post...

Uncle Sam wants YOU -- unless you're rich

Today's Boston Globe has an interesting piece on how military recruiters go after working class kids much harder than kids from white-collar families.

Just in case there was any doubt remaining over whose kids are sent to die when the white house lies.
Read the rest of this post...

Sarkozy takes the helm in France

It's only the conservative party leadership for now, but I am still waiting to hear one person that isn't convinced Sarkozy will be the next President in France. To date Sarkozy has not stayed anywhere long enough to build up a negative record but he is full of hype and determined to bring change. There's a strong feeling that France needs change, something that does not come easily or quickly here in Europe. He's a new generation with new ideas and even old line Socialists are convinced he will win.

Funny enough, despite being a "conservative" he is leading the charge to bring quotas to France to incorporate the Arab population in the future of France. He is about the only politician in France who is serious about solving the mess of third and fourth generation Arabs who are blocked out of schools and jobs because of the old boy network. He is also loved by many in the Jewish community here in France which is the largest in Europe. He is also calling for changes to make business easier in France as well as fiscal responsibility. It's still early days but this is definitenly the guy to beat in the 2007 presidential elections.
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Americans to Bush: hands off Roe v. Wade

59% believe the next Supreme Court nominee should uphold Roe while 3 in 10 want it overturned. But since George won with a crushing, massive blowout, eternal reign mandate of 51% he doesn't really give a damn.
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Falwell to gay Republicans: Get out of the party

The only thing Falwell and I agree on. But for different reasons. He thinks gays should leave the GOP because he's a bigoted ass. I think gays should leave because the GOP is now run by folks trying to kiss Falwell's ass. It's time for gay Republicans to take back their party or get out. Playing Uncle Tom is no longer an option. Read the rest of this post...