TURTLE THOUGHTS

Deja Vu: Al Franken Returns to the Senate Judiciary Committee

Since the Minnesota Supreme Court voted unanimously today to uphold Al Franken's election as that state's junior US Senator, Senator-Elect Franken went before reporters, and, among other things, said that once seated he expects to be assigned a seat on the Judiciary Committee--which made me flash back to an old Saturday Night Live sketch about the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings in which Al Franken played Illinois Senator Paul Simon--who questioned Thomas and Hill from his perch on the Judiciary Committee. Life imitates art.

 Senator-Elect Al Franken (D-MN) as Judiciary Committee member Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) in a 1991 SNL sketch on the Clarence Thomas hearings.

Franken will also serve on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Special Aging; and Indian Affairs committees.

Artist Abuser Victim Genius Monster Humanitarian Freak: Michael Jackson, You Wear Me Out

Michael Jackson's death has made me face the paradoxical set of feelings he evokes in me. I have enjoyed his videos, liked most of his music, and been very moved by some of his songs. But the increasing Level of Freak throughout his career took its toll, and, lately, he's just been easier to dismiss or ignore. Now that he's dead, it's like I have to decide once and for all how I feel about him. (It was this post on Feministe that got me thinking about it.)

MJ's death forces me to look at the conflicting emotions he inspired, and the past couple of days I've been surprised at how much I really liked those songs. "Human Nature" "Man in the Mirror" "Black and White" "You Are Not Alone".  I believe world is a better place because of those songs and many others like them.

But the other stuff...the sordid, disturbing, devastatingly personal Other Stuff. It obscures the art. And I have to ask myself, Why does my enjoying and appreciating the art make me feel like I'm trying to excuse all the horror? 

I can't reconcile it. So sometimes I really like and appreciate Michael Jackson. And sometimes I'm repulsed by the thought of the guy. I guess I'll just have to live with both those realities, appreciate the aspects of his work that I think are genius, and hope through it all that MJ has found some much-needed peace.

                                            

BREAKING NEWS!!! Michael Jackson Still Dead

Geez-Louise. More than 72 hours after the fact, at least stop calling it 'breaking news.' And I'm talking to you, CNN and MSNBC.

Stonewall Riots Began 40 Years Ago Today

On June 28, 1969, a group of gay men, drag queens, and lesbians had taken all the abuse they could stand at the hands of NYC's finest. At a gay pub called The Stonewall Inn, they fought back in what became the start of a series of protests leading to the modern gay civil rights movement. We wouldn't be talking about marriage equality today but for the courage Stonewall patrons demonstrated 40 years ago.

     The Stonewall Inn, 1969

Michael Jackson Upstages Farrah Fawcett

 Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Sorry, Charlie. She's God's Angel Now

  Farrah Fawcett 1947-2009

Ronald Reagan Supported Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre"

Every so often a new batch of audio tapes documenting Richard Nixon's conversations in the Oval Office are released to the public. The latest offerings are vintage Nixon--racist, anti-Semitic, the usual. But they also reveal that Nixon received strong support on the day after his infamous "Saturday Night Masscre" decision from none other than GOP Saint Ronald Reagan. Who knew?

More on the Scientology Cult

The St. Petersburg Times has uploaded parts two and three of its expose of the Scientology cult (part one was linked from my last post.) Very interesting reading. I know some just laugh off these nutjobs, and I probably would too except they've made a science out of conning innocent people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. When you add in the unnecessary deaths linked to Scientology, it stops being a laughing matter altogether. 

Xenu and the late huckster L. Ron Hubbard manifest for a snuggle in front of cult leader David Miscavige.

Former Scientologists Say They Were Beaten By Cult Leader

There are few things sadder than being stuck in a kooky cult founded by a hack science fiction writer. But I'd say having the current leader of that same insane cult beating you up on a regular basis would qualify.

            

Scientologist Tom Cruise salutes cult leader David Miscavige just before Miscavige smacks Cruise upside the head.

Obama Thinks Gays Are Idiots

So Obama quickly throws together some lame signing event for a piece of half-ass policy that does absolutely nothing except show his contempt for my intelligence. "Domestic partner benefits for federal employees!  Yay!" Well, if you don't count health insurance as benefits, that is. What else is left? Retirement benefits? No, that's out, too. All it amounts to is some dumbassery about relocation expenses and other meaningless and insulting symbolism.

The only reason he even did that much is because a lot of high profile (rich) gays have pulled out of a DNC fundraising event later this month that's to commemorate Stonewall. They did so to protest the president's inexcusable record on GLBT civil rights.

Obama has done nothing about Don't Ask Don't Tell. Since he's been president, more than 250 gays and lesbians have been kicked out of the military for being honest about who they are.

Obama's Justice Department is defending the Defense of Marriage Act with a legal document comparing marriage equality to incest and pederasty. And his administration is standing behind that evil language.

And his spokesperson is using DOMA as the reason Obama isn't giving federal employees full domestic partner benefits. Many attorneys who know what the hell they're talking about say nothing in the DOMA language would prevent the president from getting around that if he really wanted to. He doesn't.

"Wait," I hear. "Just wait...the time isn't right. He can't do too much at once because it might piss off the religious right."  I'm sick of waiting. I wish I could take my vote back. Obama has yet to fulfill a single campaign pledge he made to lesbians and gays. He got plenty of our money for his campaign, but he's not going to be able to tap that well again.

 

And to hell with Barney Frank for giving him cover.

 

 

              

             The President unloads his campaign promises to gays and lesbians.

     
UPDATE: I edited this post to dial back some of my spittle-flecked rage. Yeah, I know, it's still pretty bad, but I'm so weary of being told that my relationship of 16 years is inferior and isn't as meaningful or important as, say, Brittney Spears' 55-hour marriage to her first husband. Give me a friggin' break!  Oh, there I go again, gettin' uppity and expecting equal treatment under the law. Where do I think I am, America or someplace?

Another Hypocritical "Family Values" Politician Finds He Is His Own Worst Enemy

One of the truisms of public life is that the louder and more self-righteous a politician gets about someone else's "morality", the greater the chance that the finger-pointer is just doing what the psychology types call projection.

The latest example?  Nevada Senator (and until today, potential 2012 presidential candidate) John Ensign, who today admitted that he had an extra-marital affair with one of his campaign staffers--a woman whose husband was also an Ensign staffer. So in addition to being an adulterer, he's also stupid as hell. Screwing around with an employee who's also married to another employee is just askin' for trouble. (And it appears he got that trouble...Politico is reporting that Ensign started the affair while separated from his wife. When he and the wife reconciled, Ensign broke off the affair. Then the other woman's husband is alleged to have asked the Senator for a boatload of money to keep quiet.)

So what about the projection thing? Here are a few of the statements Senator "Family Values" Ensign has made over the past few years.

“I believe that marriage should be defined as that between one man and one woman. You want to do what is ideal for children and all of the studies show that the ideal for children is to be in a household with a father and a mother.” [4/19/09]

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a topic that is very important. That is the preservation of the most important structure in our society.” [7/13/04]

"There's too many people that paint with a broad brush that we're all corrupt, we're all amoral. … And having these kinds of things happen, whether it's a Republican or Democratic senator — we certainly have had plenty of Democratic scandals in the past — we need people who are in office who will hold themselves to a little higher standard." [10/18/07] 

Sen. John Ensign (R-Adulteryville)

It Was Either This or Cornrows

Just got my hair cut Saturday. I really should start checking the back before I pay that guy.

                                            

Call the EPA! Does Something in the White House Drinking Water Make President Lie?

Wow, it sure was nice getting a Democrat in the White House, right?  Maybe nice for lots of people, but not so much for gays. On the same month that Barack Obama releases a proclamation commemorating LGBT Pride Month, his Department of Justice compares the desire of loving couples of the same sex to get married as akin to incest and pederasty. 

While the haters react predictably against the proclamation, they are railing against a meaningless gesture. It's what Obama hasn't done for gays that should make the haters happy.  On an issue that's actually relevant to the lives of LGBT Americans, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (which Obama opposed when he was a candidate) is now a law that his DOJ is defending. And not just defending, but doing so with the most offensive language imaginable.

So when did Barack Obama decide to let a diehard Mormon Bush appointee speak for him on an aspect of marriage equality?  Candidate Obama (you know, the one who promised to do away with Don't Ask Don't Tell and who has gone on record as being "unequivocally" for gay marriage before realizing, conveniently after the election, that maybe he's not)...anyway, Candidate Obama had my respect and support. President Obama is putting his reputation at stake. Maybe he really *is* trying to 'Sistah Souljah' the gays.

                     

The Truth Hurts

It's been true the whole time. There's always been one real journalist at Fox News. He remembered what he learned in Farley Hall in the mid-80s.

 (Shepard Smith exhorts grads at Ole Miss)

 

Chastity Bono Transitioning from Female to Male

When I was a little kid I enjoyed watching Sonny & Cher. Their little girl, Chastity, was a cute, blondie-sweetie who appeared on stage frequently with her parents.

Chastity grew up and came out as a lesbian--rather, she was forced out by the tabloids in 1990.  And now comes word that she is transgender. Chastity is transitioning to Chas. His friends and family have known about Chas' decision to have gender reassignment for a long time, but he only started the treatments after his 40th birthday this past March.

Chas will be in line for a lot of flak, and he'll get more than his fair share of shock, ridicule, and disgust. But I have to admire his guts, and I hope he's happy. His being happy and feeling okay with himself shouldn't cause anybody else to feel threatened or ill-at-ease. I hope he gets the support and encouragement he needs to make the transition as easy and painless as possible.

                                       

Outlawing Loud TV Commercials

You know you watch too much TV. Okay, *I* watch too much TV, but you probably do, too.

Aren't you annoyed by how loud the commercials are compared to the show you're watching? Well, so is Representative Anita Eshoo (D-CA), who is sponsoring the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, aka CALM.

In all, 63 House Members and two Senators have signed on as co-sponsors. Eshoo, a member of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, says she's just had it.

"Every time the ads came on they blew me out of my seat," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who introduced the bill last June. "It really turns you off, makes you think, 'I'll be damned if I give them any of my money.' "

                           

More Rightwing Domestic Terrorism

Earlier this year, when the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning about the dangers of increased rightwing extremism, you'd have thought they'd called for the ritual slaughter of every GOP firstborn. The "shock" and faux outrage at being singled out was both loud and predictable. Bunch of morons. And then some rightwing nutjob kills Dr. George Tiller in Kansas. And today, some other crazy rightwing terrorist opens fire at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Were these acts just coincidental to the report's release? 

Republican political leaders like Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, and Sean Hannity have spent years working their base into a lather about the dangers of terrorism and extremism. But for them, there's just one kind of terrorist--he's brown and he's Muslim and he "hates us for our freedom."

There are some terrorists out there who match that description, I'll give you that. But the other terrorists--the white, Christian, rightwing, domestic kind--are the ones who have been killing Americans lately. 

At Least It Helps Contain That Diaper Smell

When I was a kid, my mother had an insanely disproportionate-to-reality fear that I would somehow manage to smother myself to death with a plastic drycleaner bag. I could freak her out by holding one up to my face, so I did it a lot. (Where I grew up in the middle of nowhere, you had to entertain yourself.)

Perhaps my mother's fear is grounded in having seen this DuPont magazine ad from bygone years (via Gawker).

                    

That's still not as bad as the Flintstones hawking cigarettes.

                    

From Plain Duckling to Rich Gay Swan

Ain't it amazin' what time, exercise, some glitter and a little hair dye can do for a person?  He doesn't look like a future Hollywood celebrity/host & media mogul here...

             

Can you guess? The reveal after the jump---

Biker Poodles

I passed this couple today on Interstate 65-North in Tennessee today just south of the Kentucky line. Along with the white Biker Poodle (complete with black fu manchu mustache) up front, there's a black poodle tucked in between the driver and passenger. Cute. Scary but cute (me taking pictures as I drive down the highway is kinda scary too, I'll grant you that. No poodles were harmed, at least while I was watching them.)--HP Stevens

 

Family Reunion

Have I mentioned that I have 30 first cousins? Here are a few of them.

Who Would Jesus Shoot?

During the same week that the Tennessee General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to override Governor Phil Bredesen's veto of a law which allows guns in bars, in neighboring Kentucky, there's an even more inexplicable event coming up--Bring Your Gun to Church Day.

If you find yourself in Louisville on June 27th, don't miss the Open Carry Celebration at the New Bethel Church. Here's their sign:

 

Bring some canned food, have a picnic, and maybe win a free handgun!  Woohoo, Buddy, sign me up!

Happy Fist Bump/"Terrorist Fist Jab" Day!

                 

It was June 3, 2008 when Michelle and Barack Obama exchanged what one Fox News Mannequin called "a terrorist fist jab."  Meanwhile, normal people thought it was a great moment that showed true camaraderie and genuine affection between the now-First Couple. Whatever. It's just hard to believe it's been a year.

                         

Going After Terrorists

What does being a terrorist actually mean?  How do we define 'terrorist?' Does it hinge on actions you commit or are in the process of planning to commit? Or does it have more to do with who you are, what you look like, and what you happen to believe?

Reasonable people would agree that it's an act of terrorism which defines a terrorist. That should be a no-brainer, until you realize that the United States government has two sets of rules for dealing with suspected terrorists. As Jack Balkin points out, the treatment afforded the alleged killer of Dr. George Tiller is very different from the way we treat other people suspected of terrorism. 

Should the United States be able to hold Roeder without trial in order to prevent him from returning to society to kill more abortion providers? If we believe that Roeder and other domestic terrorists will plan further attacks on abortion providers and abortion clinics if we let them free, can we subject them to indefinite detention?

...One of the most important reasons for detaining terrorists (suspected or otherwise) is to obtain information about future terrorist attacks that may save lives and prevent future bombings. To procure this information, can the government dispense with the usual constitutional and legal safeguards against coercive interrogation? Should it be able to subject Roeder to enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding and other methods, to determine whether Roeder knows of any other persons who are likely to commit violence against abortion clinics or against abortion providers in the future? Would your answer change if you believed that an attack on an abortion provider or a bombing of an abortion clinic was imminent?

Hilzoy over at Washington Monthly has some cogent thoughts on this topic as well. (And it's not just a matter of treating suspected domestic terrorists one way and suspected foreign terrorist another, American citizen Jose Padilla being a prime example.)

 

Dick Cheney Actually Makes Some Sense Occasionally

I don't find much to agree on with former VP Dick Cheney, but I appreciate the statement he made at the National Press Club today after being asked his view on marriage equality.

"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," replied the former V.P. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."

Cheney is the best example I can think of in which coming out of the closet can make a huge difference. I doubt he'd be so enlightened if Mary Cheney weren't a lesbian. But because she is--and because she and her partner of 17 years have a child together--Cheney can see the value and importance of marriage equality, and I admire him for saying it.

                          

                  The Cheneys with grandson in 2007     Mary Cheney and Heather Poe

Bill O'Reilly Complicit in Doctor's Murder?

The murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas physician who was one of the few doctors willing to perform late-term abortions in the US, is the latest example of domestic Christian fundamentalist terrorism. Tiller was gunned down while handing out programs as part of his usher duties at church Sunday morning. The gunman shot him to death in front of his wife and friends before fleeing and being captured later in the day.

While the police deal with suspect Scott Roeder, there is a movement afoot to show Bill O'Reilly's complicity in the murder for repeatedly reporting on Tiller's so-called "baby killing" on his show. O'Reilly demonized Tiller nearly 30 times in the past four years, according to Salon's Gabriel Winant, even going so far as to call him "Tiller the Baby Killer." He said Tiller was "executing babies" and operating "a death mill."

This is part of an ongoing pattern with O'Reilly and others in the rightwing echo chamber. O'Reilly was a chief source of inspiration for Jim David Adkisson, the Knoxville man who gunned down two people and wounded several others at a Unitarian-Universalist church service. Adkisson attacked the church because he wanted to kill liberals "who are ruining the country." Sean Hannity and Michael Savage were among the few authors on his reading list.

The Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the murders of doctors who provide abortions, and the killing of innocents by people who have been told it's their patriotic duty to off liberals all have something in common: They are acts of domestic Christian fundamentalist terrorism, and one of the reasons these terrorists do what they do is because they feel empowered and inspired by O'Reilly and his cohorts.