Like father, like daughter

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US House to vote THURSDAY on bill taking swipe at gays over marriage

This is perhaps just as sleazy as the constitutional amendmet. The US House will vote this Thursday on legislation that would block federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, from hearing any cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act. This way, gays could not sue to overturn DOMA (DOMA basically is a law that says the federal government never has to provide married gay couples any benefits of marriage, and more importantly, that states don't have to recognize other state's legally performed marriages of gay couples.

Well, it seems Tom Delay wants to keep President Bush's little gay-bashing war going, so I guess we keep bashing back. I sure hope no senior staff in the White House or Bush campaign are gay. Because if they are, you're all going to know about them very soon.

365gay.com's account of all of this.

Gay.com's take on it. Read the rest of this post...

Is Gary Bauer embarrassed by gay marriage debate?

A Newsweek columnist writes:

...throughout our discussion, [Gary Bauer], too, seemed curiously hesitant to discuss gay marriage per se. When I ask, for instance, how two gays guys who are not married living next door to me is any different from two guys who are married living there, he responds by asking how I would feel if a man with two wives moved in.

In every hypothetical, in fact, he refers not to same-sex couples, but to polygamists.

Throughout history, he says, marriage has been "a system to guarantee that the largest number of children possible would have a mother and a father. If it's not that, it can be anything - polygamists in Utah, consensual incest. If it's not man-woman there's no constitutional way to limit it to two."

So polygamists are the real threat? "Abraham Lincoln called polygamy one of the two great evils, along with slavery. And if our society goes down this road, I guarantee it will affect your marriage. If there's polygamy allowed, monogamy will be further undermined."

I know he doesn't want to come off as homophobic, but these contortions make him seem embarrassed by the terms of the actual debate.

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Something you won't see George Bush throwing

An officially sanctioned gay fundraiser.



Yep, attended a very nice gay fundraiser for Kerry tonight at a friend's monstrous mansion in DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood. Was a good turnout, and finally got to meet Elizabeth Birch, the former head of the Human Rights Campaign. I like her, wish I gotten to meet her sooner. She spoke, as did the hosts, and a Kerry campaign staffer was officially there representing the big guy. In case you didn't know, you can't give any money to the presidential campaigns AFTER the nominee accepts the nomination. So you'd better give whatever you're going to give to Kerry NOW - in one week, it's over.

Afterwards we hit our favorite little gay diner (yes Virginina, there are gay diners) down the block that's a big hangout for the DC gay political crowd. It's called the Duplex Diner, and while there I ran into Chris Crain, the editor of the Washington Blade, also saw a gay Republican I'm friends with (yes, I actually have gay Republican friends - well, two I think, and it's not clear they even vote Republican), and of course chatted a bit with my buddy Eric who runs the place. It's a great little hangout if you ever come to DC - has a nice bar area too that's very busy on Thursday nights. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Says: 'I Want to Be the Peace President'

Yeah, and I want to be the Easter Bunny. Read the rest of this post...

Al Franken Beats O'Reilly in NY Radio Matchup

Reuters:

"Despite the rocky start of his liberal Air America radio network, political humorist Al Franken surged past conservative nemesis Bill O'Reilly in the first quarterly ratings matchup between the two in New York City."

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899 Americans DEAD in Iraq & the Senate Republicans want to focus on flag burning

It would be funny if it weren't so damn pitiful, and more importantly, downright dangerous. We've got 899 dead Americans in Iraq, Al Qaeda is getting ready to attack at any minute - or so we're told - the Congress has STILL not passed legislation beefing up our transportation security (i.e., ride a train or a bus and go kaboom), and we're one week away from the Democratic Convention in Boston where security is extra-tight out of concerns that Osama might strike, and what do the Senate Republicans want us to focus on? Flag burning.

Well, I guess they couldn't get their fag burning amendment, so this is the next best thing.

Truly truly truly despicable Americans. If anyone dies from an Al Qaeda attack in this country, may it lay on the head of George Bush and the congressional Republicans who chose to focus on fags and flags rather than an imminent attack on our homeland.

Reuters:

A proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw the burning of the American flag won the approval on Tuesday of a Senate Judiciary Committee split largely along party lines.

Raised by some Republicans as a mark of patriotism this election year, the measure passed on a 11-7 vote and was sent to the full Senate for final congressional approval. While the Senate has repeatedly rejected such measures in the past, both sides predict a razor-close vote this time.

Democrats, if there are any out there in the Congress, shut the place down over this. Do what the Republicans would do. Go bonkers until the Congress passes the additional homeland security monies. Read the rest of this post...

Go click yourself

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- Former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi has a new book about the campaign and the way the Internet is changing everything.

- Only $1 an issue for the New Yorker, who knew?! I subscribe, it's a great mag, get it, and impress your friends with how cool you are.

- Denzel Washington's new movie, The Manchurian Candidate is out on July 30. Reuters had this to say about the new movie:

"Director Jonathan Demme has risen to the challenge, delivering a 'Candidate' that simultaneously brings the original Cold War scenario bracingly up to date with a story line that pulses with a topical resonance while paying respectful homage to the late Frankenheimer's artistic vision....

The performances are flawless. [Meryl] Streep is clearly enjoying every screen second of one of her meatiest roles in years, while Washington and Schreiber turn in quietly powerful performances. The scenes in which they have the camera to themselves are particularly electrifying."

- Award-winning author Duane Simolke has a new gay-themed sci-fi book out, check it out.

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"This hypocrite broke up my family"

Who? None other than Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), the guy Gary Bauer and the Family Values crowd want to represent them at the Republican convention.

Apparently when the Republicans were off trying to amend the Constitution they also amended the Ten Commandments to strike that inconvenient little line about adultery. Though, in Hyde's defense, I hear the woman he was boinking on the side wasn't actually his "neighbor."

God bless Salon.com, circa 1998:

"Fred Snodgrass, a 76-year-old Florida retiree, says he gets so upset when he watches Rep. Henry Hyde on TV that 'I nearly jump out of my chair.' Hyde, the Illinois Republican who heads the House Judiciary Committee, is on television often these days. Hyde's committee will decide whether the adulterous affair President Clinton carried on with a White House intern, and his efforts to keep it hidden, should be referred to the House of Representatives for impeachment proceedings. 'I watched [Hyde] on TV the other night,' said Snodgrass. 'These politicians were going on about how he should have been on the Supreme Court, what a great man he is, how we're lucky to have him in Congress in charge of the impeachment case. And all I can think of is here is this man, this hypocrite who broke up my family.'

"Snodgrass says Hyde carried on a five-year sexual relationship with his then-wife, Cherie, that shattered his family. Hyde admitted to Salon Wednesday that he had been involved with Cherie Snodgrass..."

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NY Post: GOP bigwig has go-go-boy son

NY Post's Page Six via Wonkette:

WHICH Republican Party bigwig in town to help organize the convention thinks her son tagged along so he could study ballet - but he's secretly gyrating in a G-string at gay go-go bars downtown?

Ok, this inquiring mind wants to know. Come on you NYers out there, email me!

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Dan Savage "savages" Mary Cheney

The Village Voice: Savage Love by Dan Savage:

Q. If they ever put language in the U.S. Constitution forcing gay guys to marry women, who would get to be the lucky Mrs. Savage? -- JUST CURIOUS

A. Wonkette, of course, as she's the only woman I know who likes to talk about ass-fucking as much as I do (wonkette.com). If Wonkette won't have me, then I'd pop the question to Mary Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbo daughter. Mary worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, doing outreach to gay and lesbian voters - effective outreach, apparently, as almost 25 percent of gay and lesbian voters went for Bush. (You dumb fucks!) Mary's working for her dad again this year, despite the fact that her dad and her dad's boss want to write anti-gay bigotry into the U.S. Constitution. As Mary's husband, I would do all I could to make her absolutely miserable. I wouldn't beat her (I reserve that for people I like), but I would pee on the toilet seat every morning, fart under the covers every night, and remind her at every opportunity that she's the most despised American lesbian since Mamie Eisenhower.

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Pope orders probe of Austrian church sex scandal

Gee, you mean, like, this wasn't a uniquely "American" problem? Priests looking at pornography of underage children. Who'd have thunk it?! Read the rest of this post...

Halliburton still working with Axis of Evil, may be in violation of US law

Two out of three from the Axis of Evil and who knows about what Halliburton is doing with North Korea.  Whether it's doing business with Saddam, bribing Nigerian officials or cashing in with Iran, Halliburton just continues to believe that US law is for others and does not apply to their business.  Hell, they even get massive corporate welfare deals (Iraq) without even having to bid so why should they think that a puny $39M would cause any problems?

Halliburton Co., the world's largest oilfield services company, said federal prosecutors subpoenaed documents related to the company's operations in Iran.
 
A company report prepared in October estimated 2003 revenue for its Iranian operations, run from a Cayman Island subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services Ltd., was $39 million.

Cheney: Blame the victim, it's their fault

Mr. Go Fuck Yourself is looking for another wedge issue and yesterday it was medical malpractice.  Cheney wants to limit malpractice settlements to $250,000, claiming that the problem with Americas health care system is all the fault of greedy bastards who sue those poor innocent doctors.  Are there abuses?  Sure.  Go after the abusers of the system, not the victims.  To push a one-size-fits-all regardless of what happened is ridiculous.  How about some criticism of GOP donors from the pharmaceutical industry who are bilking the government of millions?  I guess it's OK to take a lot of money if you're a contributor.  Anyway, the numbers just aren't there to support Cheney's theory.

"This problem doesn't start in the waiting room," Cheney said in remarks released by the campaign. "It doesn't start in the operating room. The problem starts in the courtroom."
 
An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office said the malpractice bill would benefit physicians and the government but would reduce private health insurance premiums a scant 0.4 percent.
 
"The Bush administration largely gets it backwards," said Columbia University law professor and physician William M. Sage. "They say health care is expensive because of lawsuits. I say lawsuits are expensive because of our health care system."
 
"The solution that organized medicine and the White House are supporting is a fix for the doctors to some degree," said Martin J. Hatlie, president of the Chicago-based Partnership for Patient Safety, which advises hospitals on safety improvements. "It helps keep their premiums down. It does nothing to advance the quality of care, nothing to advance the safety of care, nothing to more fairly compensate claimants or address the other really significant problems in the current medical-legal system."