I Didn't Say It ....

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, on the rumor that the GOP will become more tolerant:

"I don’t know if I’ve used the word ‘tolerance,’ I don’t really care for that word myself. I don’t have a problem with it, I just think it has another meaning politically that can go the other direction. I happen to believe that our principles are sound. I do believe, and I still will tell you that our party believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. Our party believes that life begins at conception. I think those are foundational issues that aren’t going anywhere but what I have said, which I don’t think should be controversial at all and I would think that Christians and pastors and everyone in between should agree that our principles have to be draped in the concepts of grace, love and respect and that’s not code language, that’s the New Testament. ... So ‘tolerance’ — maybe some people use that word, what I would tell you, when I think about it, I think about grace, I think about love, and I think about respect, and I think those are things that are very square with our beliefs as Christians."

Straights from the horse’s, er, mouth: the GOP wants you to think they are open and accepting of women and The Gays and immigrants, but the truth is they are not.

They are the same old GOP.

Stephen Rhodes, openly gay one-time NASCAR driver, on returning to the track after a ten-year absence and being gay:

"I don't think going into a sport — having to face the ones that either like me or don't like me — is anything any different than I live any day. I live in the South. I know that NASCAR has a conservative, Southern fan base, and I'm not going to try and change anyone's minds and their opinions. They're either going to like me or going to hate me. That's just life in general, really."

But, just the fact that he’s out there, and out, will get the discussion started.

And that’s the first step toward changing people’s minds.

Andrew Garfield, on the LGBT community and Spiderman:

"Spiderman stands for everybody — gay, straight, bisexual, transsexual. To me, love between two consenting adults is love. To me, that anyone would bat an eyelash at what I said to me is interesting.'"

He isn’t speaking as Spiderman, a fictional cartoon character; he’s speaking as a human being wondering why some of us question the love that any two people share.

Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's Republican Attorney General, speaking about The Gays during a gubernatorial debate:

“My personal beliefs about the personal challenges of homosexuality haven’t changed ... The notion that because I believe marriage ought to be protected, because I believe life begins at conception — just like hundreds of thousands of independents and Democrats — this isn’t just me, it isn’t just Republicans. There are lots of Virginians, millions, perhaps, of Virginians, who share my sincerely held beliefs.”

Or maybe not.

Cuccinelli might have been so busy wondering about the ins-and-outs — see what I did there? —of oral and anal sex that he missed a new poll in his own state that shows 505 of Virginians support same-sex marriage. And most probably support keeping Ken Cuccinelli out of their bedrooms.

Harvey Fierstein, on Vladimir Putin's anti-LGBT policies in Russia, and the upcoming Winter Olympics:

"Mr. Putin’s campaign against lesbian, gay and bisexual people is one of distraction, a strategy of demonizing a minority for political gain taken straight from the Nazi playbook. Can we allow this war against human rights to go unanswered? Although Mr. Putin may think he can control his creation, history proves he cannot: his condemnations are permission to commit violence against gays and lesbians. Last week a young gay man was murdered in the city of Volgograd. He was beaten, his body violated with beer bottles, his clothing set on fire, his head crushed with a rock. This is most likely just the beginning. ... With Russia about to hold the Winter Games in Sochi, the country is open to pressure. American and world leaders must speak out against Mr. Putin’s attacks and the violence they foster. The Olympic Committee must demand the retraction of these laws under threat of boycott. In 1936 the world attended the Olympics in Germany. Few participants said a word about Hitler’s campaign against the Jews. Supporters of that decision point proudly to the triumph of Jesse Owens, while I point with dread to the Holocaust and world war. There is a price for tolerating intolerance."

I am generally on the side of keeping politics out of the Olympic games, but Fierstein, as usual, makes valid points about this type of stand your ground.

Standing up against discrimination, against violence, against intolerance.

But, should there be no boycott, let there be some stunning victories by openly gay athletes who can show Russia, and Putin, that he cannot continue his hate speech towards the LGBT community.

Amanda Hess, writing for Slate, on the newest Weiner scandal:
"What would the American public find if it combed through all of your Facebook messages, Twitter DMs, and Gchat history? If it had an exclusive peek into your webcam, or could scroll through your iPhone pics at will? This great nation is littered with hard drives full of poorly lit topless pics, broken promises to former lovers, and messages that sounded sexy at the time but look very stupid now. Anthony Weiner’s sexts don’t make him look like a sexual predator or even a freak. They make him look very, very ordinary."

Except, most ordinary folks aren't running for mayor of the biggest city in the country.

Ted Cruz, the Republican ::gag:;; Senator from Texas :::gag:::, speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network about what might happen if The Gays become equal:
"If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that's the next step of where it gets enforced. It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage, that has been defined elsewhere as hate speech, as inconsistent with the enlightened view of government. I think there is no doubt that the advocates who are driving this effort in the United States want to see us end up in that same place."

Not.One.Pastor.Has.Been.Forced.To.Perform.A.Same-sex.Marriage.Ever!
Cruz needs to stop toeing the GOP line and spreading fear.

Alec Baldwin, complaining to Howard Stern about Anderson Cooper criticizing him for the "toxic little queen" TwitFit™:

"What I realize about [Cooper] is, everybody in media, they have a job to do. Anderson Cooper has a job to do. And that job is to try to reinforce his credibility in the gay community after the fact that you couldn't get him out of the closet for 10 years with a canister of tear gas. Now he's the sheriff. Now he's running around writing everybody a ticket!"

Sadly, no one used a canister of tear gas to shut Alec Baldwin up.

Anderson Cooper, as a gay man who came out when he felt ready, as is his right, has every reason to call Baldwin for being the tyrannical dick-tator he fancies himself.

The more and more that Baldwin talks the less and less he sounds like the LGBT ally he professes to be.

As I said to Paula Dean, Shut the f**k up.