Random Musings

Hello Daddy.

He's actually closer to being my big brother but Hello Big Brother sounds a little too Julie Chen.
This Daddy, the latest Vanity Fair coverboy, is Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict's, ahem, ‘private secretary,’ who has been dubbed "Gorgeous George" by the Italian media.

And I can see why.

The cover photo, for with Gorgeous, er, Georg, did not pose, shows the 56-year-old archbishop smiling, his blue eyes beaming, above a headline that reads "Father Georg - It's not a sin to be beautiful." The magazine then goes on to calls Ganswein "The George Clooney of St Peter's" but then backtracks on His Hotness by saying the story was written to honor his recent promotion to the rank of archbishop and as recognition of his growing power in the Roman Catholic Church.

Um, sure.

Out there in Wyoming, of all places, a Republican, of all things, is backing a same-sex marriage bill.

Yup, GOP state Congressman Keith Gingery--that's him up there--has signed on as a co-sponsor of two measures sanctioning same-sex unions.

He's working with Democratic Representative Cathy Connolly to create a path for gay couples to form civil unions or get married. This new dual approach has already has won the backing of another GOP Representative, Ruth Ann Petroff. She and Gingery say they would prefer to see same-sex marriage allowed in Wyoming but are willing to debate whether civil unions might be a better way to go.

They aren't; civil unions are "less than" but it's nice to see some Republicans, of all things, in Wyoming, of all places, taking a stand for equality.

Oh, Michele Bachmann. You lie, and now you cheat.

It seems that Bachmann's failed presidential campaign team is refusing to pay five Iowa staffers and is, instead, asking that they sign non-disclosure agreements.

Peter Waldron, who served as Bachmann’s national field coordinator, says that the former employees were repeatedly told they would be paid, but even after Bachmann's lame attempt imploded and she quit, they are still not being paid. Waldron also says they were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements that would prohibit them from discussing any immoral, unethical or criminal behavior with the media, the police or an attorney.

What? Michele Bachmann? Immoral? Unethical? Criminal?

Color me not surprised.

Eric Woolson, who managed Bachmann’s Iowa campaign, says staffers were paid in full and that no one expected to be paid for the entire month of January when Bachmann finally realized she didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning and quit on January 10.

Still, I hope no one signs the non-disclosure and starts talking.

Up there in wee Rhode Island, a most Catholic of states, there are still some religious leaders who have no issue at all with The Gays getting married.

A group of over 100 religious leaders--lead by Rev. Gene Dyszlewski--from 13 different denominations throughout the state has come together to support equality, outlining the following tenets in their endorsement of the freedom to marry:

• The most fundamental human need is the supportive love of other human beings, and that love is demonstrated in many ways.
• The arc of God’s universe is toward justice, and we are called from out of our faith to pursue civil rights and fairness for all people.
• The Divine, known by many names, does not ever side with expressions of hate or acts of discrimination.
• The misuse of sacred texts or traditions to deny justice is wrong.
• The freedom of religious belief and practice is paramount for a solid and healthy society.
• The individuals entrusted with civic authority should not impose their personal religious beliefs, or any one interpretation of religious beliefs, on society as a whole, nor use them to deny rights to peoples.

Amen.

Remember Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer?

He was the one who was boating drunk and crashed into another boat, fracturing the skull of a five-year-old girl.

Dwyer refused to discuss the issue for months but he's ready to tell us why he turned to drink.

First, he separated from his wife in November 2011.

Second, he felt “betrayed” by longtime allies in the State House who began to support marriage equality.

Yes, it was the idea that The Gays might be able to marry, with the support of some of his fellow Republicans, along with the separation from his wife that sent him onto a boat with a male friend, John Moran IV, that day, drinking to excess and crashing into another boat.

It's always The Gays with guys like Dwyer.

Lance Armstrong doped.

Didn't we already know this?
Was it worth A Very Special Oprah?

Supervisor David Campos, a San Francisco lawmaker is planning to introduce legislation asking voters to rename the city’s airport after slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. If five of Campos’ colleagues agree to submit the proposed name change to voters and the amendment goes through in the fall, the city would become home to the world’s first airport honoring an openly gay person.

Stuart Milk, Harvey's nephew, who runs an international gay rights foundation in his uncle’s memory, believes that adding an airport to the list of public venues named for Harvey Milk would be an enormous victory, considering flights to and from San Francisco International serve 68 countries where homosexuality is illegal.

Stuart Milk: 

“For young gay people in an illegal place looking up at a monitor and being able to point to this international airport named after an LGBT advocate, it gives them the green light to authenticity. It’s a major representation that (they) are being celebrated somewhere in the world in a high-level way.

....

“That no airport in this country has been named for an openly LGBT person is something I hope would be remedied, and what a better place than San Francisco for something like that to happen than SF and what better person than Harvey Milk.”

I couldn't agree more.

Remember when the Obama administration said it would not defend the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] in court? 

And John Boehner cried foul, and, possibly, actually cried?

Well, Boehner promised the GOP would continue to fight to uphold discrimination against The Gays, but promised that he would not spend more than half-a-million dollars.

Funny thing is, somewhere he lost the ability to count, or he’s just another miserable lying politician.

See, we learned this week that the Republican leadership—under Cryin’ John—had once again secretly renegotiated its contract with attorney Paul Clement to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act at the Supreme Court.

This is the third time the contract has been adjusted, raising the total costs to $3 million from the original I-promise-not-a-penny-more cap of $500,000.

And it continues to be a waste of 500K to a million, to 2 million, and now 3 million taxpayer dollars. .

See, the GOP-appointed, taxpayer-funded legal team has lost in every single case.  Courts across the nation have stood on the side of justice and equality for all Americans and, like DADT before it, DOMA is on its way to being another disgusting discriminatory footnote in US history.

And yet Cryin’ John keeps a’spending.

All the while playing the “fiscal conservative” card.

Give him a shout out to his email and tell him that his lying about the capo on spending to defend DOMA is reprehensible, and ask him how a fiscal conservative justifies spending money, TAX-EFFING-PAYER money to defend discrimination in the Land Of The Free.

Email Cryin' John HERE.

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY--blatantly stolen from BosGuy: