Random Musings

I do loves me some Alan Grayson, the extremely outspoken Democratic Congressman from Florida.

Earlier this week Grayson sought to bring a resolution declaring that the government shutdown had been a blight upon the dignity—sorry, gotta giggle at that …dignity—of the legislature, citing numerous polls that showed public opinion of Congress was worse than toenail fungus, hemorrhoids, and zombies.

Yup. Tis true, y’all.

But then Grayson took it a step further and said that Congress had a lower approval rating than “dog poop” and that was when the, well, poop hit the fan. Speaker pro tempore Steve Womack, a Republican dontcha know, interrupted and told Grayson to keep his remarks confined to whether the question was privileged.

Then Womack cut him off with several dramatic gavel bangs. “The chair has heard enough.”

Well, Chair, the people have heard enough and we are not happy.

Dog poop. It’s funny cuz it’s true.

This week the Olympic flame arrived in Russia and they rolled out the red carpet in Red Square.

They rolled out another red carpet for the man who made the big bet on Russia as host for the Winter Games in Sochi, President Vladimir Putin, but the flame wasn’t having it.

 The flame entered from stage left, held modestly in a brass lamp. Putin came in from stage right. Two runners then lit a hand-held torch from the bigger flame and carried it toward the Kremlin where a handover took place. The new runner, Shavarsh Karapetyan, a one-time champion swimmer, then disappeared through the Savior Gate but not before the crowd noticed that the flame had blown out.

Yup, even the Olympic torch isn’t happy about being in Russia because, well, it’s a flamer you know.

While most in the media are keeping their mouths shut where the Republicans are concerned and not asking the hardball questions — not even Chris Matthews on Hardball — one journalist, Bob Schieffer of CBS’s Face the Nation isn’t playing along. This week he challenged Republican Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn on his party's childish tantrum:

SCHIEFFER: The law has been passed. Why not keep the government running and then everybody can sit down and decide what they want to do about it.

CORNYN: Well, there should be a negotiation, and this government would still be up and running in full if President…if Harry Reid had allowed Democrats to vote to eliminate the Congressional carve-out which treats them favorably under Obamacare and to treat average Americans the same way the President has decided to treat business with regard to Obamacare penalties.

SCHIEFFER: Senator, isn't there something wrong when you say I won't fund the government unless I can attach my personal wish list to the legislation every time we vote? I'd love to see the government find a cause, uh, cure for cancer, but I don't think you can say I'm not going to pass any funds for the rest of the government until [the National Institutes of Health] finds a cure for cancer. I mean, isn't that just kind of the same thing here?

CORNYN: :::crickets::::

And that’s the problem. Meanwhile, while the Republicans hold the nation hostage, saying they’re trying to save the taxpayers some money, but the shutdown is costing us, you and me, at least $300,000,000 every single day.

Sometimes Texas can surprise me.

This week, officials at the University of Texas at San Antonio have decided to offer the wife of a female  Air Force captain in-state tuition after previously denying her the rate.

Officials wouldn’t discuss their original decision in denying the in-state rate to the women, and would only say they were looking into it. But, even though Texas doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages, the federal government does, and Lambda Legal said public universities that receive federal funding are required to offer military members and their families in-state tuition.

BAM! Done.

So, what's new with TV?

Well, I wasn't hoping for much with Sean Hayes' return to TV in Sean Saves The World and I didn't get much. But it was cute, and Linda Lavin was good, so I'm gonna stick it out for a couple of more weeks.

In the interests of honesty and openness, I have decided to come clean about something:

I have a gay man crush on Naya Rivera, the lesbian character on Glee. Every time I see a picture of her I think, Man is she gorgeous … Then I go back to reality … For a woman.

Still loving The Blacklist and Hostages, and waiting for Grimm and Dracula, which premiere at the end of this month.
But, American Horror Story: Coven is back and it's delicious!

Back in 2008, Crystal Dixon, then a University of Toledo associate vice president of human services, was fired after writing an article in the Toledo Free Press in which she said The Gays "violate God's divine order."

"As a Black woman...I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are civil rights victims. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. Daily thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle."

She later told reporters at her church that she had a divine mandate to write the column.

Dixon filed suit as a result of the firing, saying the administrators violated her First Amendment rights by retaliating against her for her speech and also violated her 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law.

But late last year, a federal appeals court upheld her firing, saying that her column "contradicted the very policies she was charged with creating, promoting, and enforcing," and cannot be excused as merely a statement of her own views as a private citizen.

And then this week, on the first day of its 2014 term, the Supreme Court let stand the appeals court ruling, meaning that Dixon's accusation that the university violated her constitutional rights appears unwarranted. 

She’s out. And that’s good.

Top Chef is back and they're in new Orleans.

Last week was week One, meet the chefs week and I laughed watching them all discuss their accomplishments.

Head Chef at a James Beard award-winning restaurant! Head chef at a restaurant that got a high Michelin rating! Voted Sexiest Chef in Chicago!

Huh?

Yeah, that's how Jason Cichonski introduced himself to the audience. Not a great chef, an award-winning chef, an inventive chef, but a sexy chef.
M'kay.

But, speaking of sexy, i was channel flipping Monday and was halted by one Brant Daugherty on Dancing With The Stars,

He was so adorable, such a winning smile, that I almost stuck around to watch that cheesefest.

Almost.

Still .... he's all kinds'o'cute.

Onto one Elisa Chan.

She’s the San Antonio Councilwoman who made headlines back in August for her recorded anti-gay comments in which she called gays 'disgusting' and unfit to be parents.

Well, she seems to think the people of San Antonio need her in higher office and this week she submitted her letter of recommendation in order to seek the office of Senator of District 25.

In a letter to Mayor Julián Castro, Chan said she was proud of San Antonio and "what we have accomplished":

"I have done my best to represent the conservative values of these fine people. The people of this district take an active role in deciding policy, giving their input, volunteering their time and listening to the views of their neighbors."

But not the gay ones, I’m guessing.

Really San Antonio? You aren’t gonna let this happen, are you?

Pat Robertson is such a delusional fuckmonkey that he’s barely worth mentioning, but every so often he says something so ludicrous, that it bears discussing just to remind folks that he’s as dumb as a box of rocks.

Discussing the new protections for transgender students in California—which Patty called “absurd”—he simply admitted that he doesn’t fully understand what it means to be transgender. In fact, he compared transgender people to his castrated horse:

“Now, we talk about transgender, I have a former stallion who is now a gelding, because stallions get very aggressive. But he wasn’t trying to be a girl, we just made him into a less aggressive male. And I want you to see him! He’s big and beautiful!”

And still the, ahem, cough, cough, Christian Broadcasting Network keeps this delusional fuckmonkey on the payroll.

Go figure.