Saturday, February 05, 2005

Now they've Gone Too Far!!

"Focus on the Family". that right-wing nut squad, has gone too far. Now it seems that they've got Dolly Parton in their sights for cutting a song for the Human Rights Campaign's CD "Love Rocks".

To wit:
But Focus on the Family's Melissa Fryrear (who could make up a name like that?), a former lesbian (yeah... right), said the CD's use of the word "love" is deceptive.

"'Love' is one of the Trojan horses for the acceptance of homosexuality," Fryrear, a gender issues analyst, said in an e-mail to Baptist Press. "Gay activists are trying to find an argument that carries emotional weight: 'love,' after all, sounds good to everyone.

"The problem, though, is their definition of 'love' is carefully camouflaged to mean more than Cupid ever meant it to mean. Their definition is meant to mean the acceptance and the celebration of homosexuality."
Who could be angry at Dolly? These people have flipped! Tinkie-Winkie, SpongeBob, Buster the Bunny, and now dear Dolly Parton. Who's next? Lucy & Ethel? Where will it end?


Friday, February 04, 2005

A Great Day in the Course of Equality

From the NY Times:

February 4, 2005

Judge Rejects N.Y. Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 2:49 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge declared Friday that a law banning same-sex marriage violates the state constitution, a first-of-its-kind ruling in New York that would clear the way for gay couples to wed if it survives on appeal.

Gay rights activists hailed the ruling as a historic victory that ``delivers the state Constitution's promise of equality to all New Yorkers.''

``The court recognized that unless gay people can marry, they are not being treated equally under the law,'' said Susan Sommer, a Lambda Legal Defense Fund lawyer who presented the case for five couples who brought the lawsuit. ``Same-sex couples need the protections and security marriage provides, and this ruling says they're entitled to get them the same way straight couples do.''

State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the New York City clerk could not deny a license to any couple solely on the ground that the two are of the same sex.

We all rejoice in this ruling by a justice who sees the inherent inequality of denying gay and lesbian citizens the right to marry.

Well done Judge Ling-Cohan!! May God bless you for your wisdom and courage.

Some Notes on Bush's Scheme to Piratize Social Security

Do they really think we're that stupid? From the LA Times:

In a significant shift in his rationale for the accounts, Bush dropped his claim that they would help solve Social Security's fiscal problems — a link he sometimes made during last year's presidential campaign. Instead, he said the individual accounts were desirable because they would be "a better deal," providing workers what he said would be a higher rate of return and "greater security in retirement."

A Bush aide, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, was more explicit, saying that the individual accounts would do nothing to solve the system's long-term financial problems.

That candid analysis, although widely shared by economists, distressed some Republicans.

"Oh, my God," one GOP political strategist said when he learned of the shift in rhetoric. "The White House has made a lot of Republicans walk the plank on this. Now it sounds as if they are sawing off the board."
And this from The Washington Post:

Curiously, he again avoided spelling out how he would create private, personal accounts to augment Social Security--how he would pay for them, what effect they would have on traditional Social Security benefits, and more.
Even more curiously, a "senior administration official" who briefed reporters on the Social Security proposal earlier today disclosed details of the White House plan that I don't think will play well in Peoria. Most significantly, this official revealed that most or all of the earnings from new "personal" or privatized accounts will be paid not to the holder of the account, but to the government. The senior official called this a "benefit offset." It's one way to finance the creation of these private accounts, but it's going to cause quite a political stir, I think.
Disgraceful!

Thursday, February 03, 2005

From Andrew Sullivan's Blog

Notes on the President's State of the Union Speech and what he had to say about gay and lesbian tax-paying citizens:

The preamble to his attack on gay unions is truly a low-point in this president's rhetorical campaign against a minority of Americans:
Our second great responsibility to our children and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the values that sustain a free society. So many of my generation, after a long journey, have come home to family and faith, and are determined to bring up responsible, moral children. Government is not the source of these values, but government should never undermine them.
And this is the justification for banning gay unions in the constitution itself. So I - as a gay person - am somehow a threat to "family and faith"? How dare he? What about my family and my faith? Bringing gay people into the embrace of their own families through marriage is somehow an affront to bringing up responsible, moral children? What about gay children? And what about gay couples bringing up moral, responsible children? Are they not members of families as well? Then this:
Because one of the deepest values of our country is compassion, we must never turn away from any citizen who feels isolated from the opportunities of America.
Unless you're gay. In which case, we want to amend the very Constitution to keep you isolated from the very responsibilities and opportunities we insist on for everyone else.


I am invariably disgusted by the depths of Bush's attempts to ammend the Constitution to deny us our rights as American citizens to equality under our (secular) law. Why not do as the Canadian Parliament, in their wisdom, has done and simply exempt religious groups from having to perform or recognize same-sex unions? That way they can "protect" their religions from being "soiled" by gays and lesbians and still retain their distinctions as the most discriminatory, hateful and fearful people, while keeping their scandalously high divorce rate to themselves. Who wants that? Be our guests!

Just leave us alone.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Reader Help Wanted

Lois, the girl who wrote that confection about Button's Mom and our wedding, has written to tell us that our friends should write to:

letters@out.com

and tell them how much you liked the article and that a follow up would be great! It would give Lois some work and it would be a hoot to have our 1st anniversary, how blissful marriage is, etc. "covered". Get on the bus! Don't delay!

Monday, January 31, 2005

A Great Column by Keith Olberman

I haven't read much by this guy from MSNBC, but after reading this column from his "blog", I must say that he is a pretty bright guy. (And not just because I agree with him.) This missive is regarding the "three-card Monte players" at Focus on the Family and that kook Dr. Dobson. The link to the column is below. The Money quote:

However, the Three-Card Monte Players at Dr. James Dobson's "Focus On The Family" have reopened the can of worms that is SpongeBobGate, and have focused not on the family but on me, and in so doing embarrassed themselves and undermined the validity of their own concerns.
Dobson, you will recall, joined the singularly inoffensive animated character "SpongeBob SquarePants" to his conspiracy theories of a "pro-homosexual" agenda, in order to get headlines. When he got those headlines, he promptly complained about getting them. Dobson, like many other exploiters of Amoral Values, ran immediately to the easiest way out of a stupid fix of his own creation: he blamed the big old ugly media.


A Very Funny Joke from Tobin

The 3 Surgeons.

Three Texas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed.

One of them said, “I’m the best surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident, I reattached them, and 8 months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England.”

One of the others said, “That’s nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident, I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in field events in the Olympics.”

The third surgeon said, “You guys are amateurs. Several years ago a cowboy who was high on cocaine and alcohol rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse’s ass and a cowboy hat."

“Now he’s President of the United States.”

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Dinner at Castello Pomidoro Last Night

Had a great time at Castello Pomidoro (Sally Tomato's glam pad on Bass River). Bob & Tobin fresh back from their sojourn to Tucson to visit Ronette and the girls out there. They said they had a great time. Sounds like a terrific place to visit. I'll place that locale on the "See Someday" list.

We were actually going to go out for a drive to see the snowfall here on the Cape but decided to just relax at Sally's place. Sally threw together a fabulous meal of a Mediterranean Antipasto and Orchiette alla Salscicce e Broccoli di Rape. It was delicious. We sat around and "chewed the rag" about President "I hate fags" Bush, the "Religious" Right's obsession with gay sex, the cost of snow removal and the phenomenon of "Doorbell Sex" (Don't ask). I think we settled quite a lot of the world's current issues, and came up with a great menu for Superbowl Sunday's Festa di Testosterone. BBQ'ed ribs from St. Louis (which Sally served last year to rave reviews), chili, cornbread, amuse bouches, and a pretty tasty chocolate cake from Martha's Feb issue (I'm making the cake).

The party broke up at around 9:30. Kudos to Sally for a great evening!

Oh yes... I was asked to post this cartoon I saved from the 2004 election campaign.