New York Assembly passed marriage equality today. Up next, GOP-controlled Senate

We've been following the New York marriage debate pretty closely at AMERICAblog Gay. Today, the Assembly passed the marriage bill, sponsored by Danny O'Donnell, by a vote of 80 - 63. Danny was eloquent on the Assembly floor. He said, among other things, "When push comes to shove, this is about equality." Yep.

The big battle is in the State Senate, where we lost in December of 2009. We need 32 votes to win in that body, which has 32 Republicans and 30 Democrats. Currently, we've got 31 Senate supporters. Three Democrats who voted no in 2009 are now on board. Only one Democrat will vote no. Two Senate Republicans, James Alesi and Roy McDonald, have stated they'll vote yes.

We just need one more GOPer to vote yes. If you live in New York, call your Senators and ask them to vote yes for equality. The Empire State Pride Agenda makes it easy. Call first thing in the morning. Get your friends and family in New York to do it, too.

Expectations are that there will be a Senate vote on Friday, although the Senate GOP conference hasn't made a decision on that. They'll be meeting again tomorrow. The session ends on Monday.

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has actually been a fierce advocate. He's not just talking. He's fully engaged.

As you can imagine, the anti-gay forces, led by the Catholic Church and NOM, are in overdrive trying to defeat the marriage bill in the Senate. They know how significant a win in New York will be for our momentum.

This could be a huge win. Stay tuned....and make a call. Read the rest of this post...

Janeane Garofalo as "Katherine Harris" discusses Michele Bachmann’s run for the White House

Way too much fun, and way too smart. Sam Seder playing straight man (think George Burns) to Janeane Garofalo's version of "Katherine Harris," the former Palin-Bachmann look-alike and failed senatorial candidate from Florida.

In this edition, "Katherine Harris" is now on board the Bachmann Express. It's delightful. Enjoy!



As an improvisatory satirist, Janeane is on top of her game. I hope there are more segments like this one. (And if you're so inclined, the Majority Report could use your help. Thanks.)

GP Read the rest of this post...

Black Republican drops GOP over racist attack on Obama

It's interesting to note that he's not exactly moving over to the Democrats. From the SacBee:

The latest incident in a string of tawdry, race-based actions was the promotion of a racist cartoon by elected Orange County Republican Party Central Committee member Marilyn Davenport. The cartoon depicted President Barack Obama and his parents as chimpanzees, while simultaneously implying that the president is not a legitimate American, but rather an African-born interloper.

While the Orange County GOP chairman and a number of other committee members were quick to condemn the image and Davenport, what's disturbing is the incredible number of people who continue to defend Davenport's actions as well as the cartoon itself.

Had this been an isolated event, it could be set aside as a mere aberration. However, when placed in the context of similar offenses by the same self-identified tea party-conservative Republicans, there emerges a disturbing pattern of extreme intolerance.

What does any of this have to do with public policy or conservative values? Here is a man who excelled academically at the finest schools in the world, has a wonderful in-tact family, worked hard and rose to become president of the United States. Yet in spite of his accomplishments, the president is still labeled an illegitimate, socialist, African witch doctor and has his face superimposed on a chimpanzee.

If this can be done to a black man who is the leader of the free world, how long will it be before fellow Republicans insert my face on a chimpanzee?

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Rep. Giffords released from hospital, will do outpatient rehab

Here's some good news:

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who shot in the head in January was released today from a Houston hospital, officials said.

"Congresswoman Giffords has shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at TIRR five months ago," said Dr. Gerard Francisco, the hospital's chief medical officer in a news release. "We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment. We have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery."

The Arizona congresswoman is expected to soon start outpatient therapy.

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NATO admits bombing won't remove Gaddafi

Gee, ya think? And here we all thought that a few high tech bombs and fancy Western military jets would solve it all. Gosh, it's such a surprise that this strategy is now in question. It's only a matter of time before they talk about the need for "limited" boots on the ground.

Almost three months into the campaign of air strikes, Britain and its Nato allies no longer believe bombing alone will end the conflict in Libya, well-placed government officials have told the Guardian.

Instead, they are pinning their hopes on the defection of Muammar Gaddafi's closest aides, or the Libyan leader's agreement to flee the country.

"No one is envisaging a military victory," said one senior official who echoed Tuesday's warnings by Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, head of the navy, that the bombing cannot continue much beyond the summer.

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Pakistan arrests informants who helped us catch bin Laden

Because that would be a bad thing. Read the rest of this post...

GOP ad calls female Dem congressional hopefuly "bitch" and "ho"

Even by Republican standards, this is bad.



Oh yeah, the ad is also racist and seems to suggest, at the end, that the woman should be assassinated.

I'm sure the Tea Party Republican she's running against will say "gosh, I don't know anything about it."  Too late.  Imagine if a Democrat had run an ad calling a Republican woman a bitch and a whore, then suggested she be killed.  The RNC would be running ads nationwide. Read the rest of this post...

Heading to Netroots Nation today

Joe, Gaius and I are off to the annual Netroots Nation blog conference today, and we'll be there through Sunday. This year it's being hosted in Minneapolis.  Joe and I are on a number of panels, and this year we're going to try to grab more short video interviews with interesting conference attendees.  If you're in the Minneapolis area, do come by; and if you're at the conference, definitely say hi to us if you see us milling around.

You can find more info on the conference here, and we'll be streaming all the keynote speeches, and a number of the panels, online here.  It should, as always, be fun.  But that means we may be posting on a weekend schedule over the next five days - meaning, don't be surprised if you don't see 20 posts a day :) Read the rest of this post...

UK to ring fence retail banks

This is not a bad idea and it's a pity that we haven't seen the same in the US. The banking world removed these lines during the Clinton/GOP bank reform in the 1990s and while it allowed the banks to use the retail cash to help extend their gambling, it didn't work out very well since the debts were that much larger. If they're too big to fail, they're too big.

George Osborne is to give government backing to plans that will force banks to ring-fence their high street operations in an attempt to minimise the risks of a second financial crisis.

The chancellor will use his annual Mansion House speech to lambast the system of City regulation inherited from Labour and will argue that putting invisible walls between the investment and high street arms of Britain's big banks will make it unlikely they will ever need another taxpayer bailout.

Amid mounting speculation in the City that the Treasury is about to announce plans to sell off Northern Rock, Osborne will say he intends to endorse proposals by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), chaired by Sir John Vickers.

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Yet another Amazon activist killed in Brazil

This is getting ridiculous. The Brazilian government really needs to step up security.

Another land campaigner in Brazil's Amazon region has been shot dead, bringing the number of activists killed over the past month to at least five.

The body of Obede Loyla Souza was found in dense forest surrounding his home in the northern state of Para.

The 31-year-old had argued with illegal loggers in the area, according to a church group.

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