America Under Siege: Civil Servants Troll _____

So, when candidate _____, and now President _____, AKA #AlternativePresident or #HairFuror, decided to bash the federal government—calling it awash in “waste fraud and abuse”—he thought he’d be celebrated.

Not so much.

In response to _____’s hiring freeze for federal agencies and a communications blackout—yes, the President has ordered people not to speak—some social media accounts have tweeted out messages tweaking his agenda and there are all kinds of leaks in the media about The Age of _____.

Some federal agencies are quite subversive, taunting _____ at every turn; for example, a few hours after _____ announced plans to restrict refugees coming into the country the Defense Department used Twitter to tell the story of an Iraqi refugee who became a U.S. Marine:

“From refugee to #Marine. @USMC Cpl Ali J. Mohammed takes the fight to the doorstep of those who cast his family out.”

Oops. That doesn’t fit in with _____’s anti-everyone-who-isn’t-white mantra.

And now former Cabinet officials—who no doubt know better than #HairFuror—say _____ would be wise not to underestimate the power of the civil service, which not only has the ability to slow the progress of new regulations but also the inside knowledge to sound alarms when needed.

And good for them, I say; speak up, Tweet up.

Only some 4,000 out of more than 2 million federal government jobs can be filled by presidential appointment, which means career employees outnumber the advisers, agency directors, special assistants, ambassadors and Cabinet officials _____ might appoint, and selected by Trump and Christine Todd Whitman, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, ahs a warning for the new president:

“_____’s statements have poisoned the well to a degree. If the career staff doesn’t believe you, if they don’t trust you, then things can get very cumbersome.”

And even with White House press-tool-and-liar, Sean Spicer, calling these actions by some government agencies an “inappropriate” use of social media, it’s clear the White House and #HairFuror won’t be able to stop the flow of resistance and information.

Again ... keep it up, speak it up, Tweet it up.

We’re listening and we’re resisting, too.

PBS

Kathy Schwab Wants To Be A "Straights Only" Marriage Licensor

The other day I was talking to my boss and told him that there are parts of the job that I don’t like; and parts that I like a lot. And so, I asked if there was a way I could just do part of my job and then skip others.

He fired me. Okay, so I kid about that last part, but doesn’t that seem like a ridiculous thing to do, requesting to be allowed to stop performing certain parts of your job?

Then please to explain about these court clerks, county clerks, deputy clerks, mall clerks … okay, maybe not mall clerks … who are saying that, in light of that pesky marriage equality ruling by SCOTUS, they only want to do part of the job for which they were hired and paid, and still collect the same amount of money.

Sure, some people aren’t playing, like Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, who told his clerks to follow the law or quit, while others, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott had his attorney general encourage the state's clerks to assert their "religious freedom" rights and refuse.

What to do? Well, not this …up in North Dakota they’ve opted for a “separate but equal” choice, where some clerks will help gays and some won’t because God.

In North Dakota, the job of issuing marriage licenses belongs to elected … by the people, all of the people … county recorders, and in Stark County that person is one Kathy Schwab.

Now, Kathy don’t like the idea of giving out gay marriage licenses so she has asked Stark County State's Attorney, Tom Henning, to allow her to appoint a Gay Marriage License Person who will assist The Gays.

Yeah, they have to have a separate person give out licenses to same-sex couples because Kathy Schwab’s religious beliefs apparently supersede the laws of the state and the job for which she is paid.

And that’s what happened. The Stark County Commission voted to allow the deputy recorder, Kim Kaslan, to be the Gay Marriage License source in Stark County, which means that Kathy Schwab will be working less amend still earning the same pay, while Kim Kaslan will do more work — licensing all couples and same-sex couples — and not being paid more.

Note to North Dakota: vote Kathy Schwab out of her job because she refuses to work for all of the people of your state because, when Kathy Schwab took office she took this oath as well:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of North Dakota, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of County Recorder to the best of my ability, so help me God."

I guess the part that said she doesn’t have to uphold the US Constitution if she thinks the Baby Jeebus won’t like it was left out of her oath.

I cannot help but think this is akin to separate drinking fountains — one for whites, one for blacks — or separate places to sit on the bus, or in the movie theaters or the lunch counters. I mean, the water in the drinking fountain is all the same, right, so who gets hurt saying blacks cannot use the white faucet? And who gets hurt saying the blacks cannot sit anywhere on the bus? Who gets hurt saying The Gays have to wait for their special license source before they can get a marriage license?

It hurts all of us because it’s separate but equal and if we don’t know by now that that doesn’t work, Goddess help us all.

NCRM

Top Ten Closeted Conservatives

Welcome to the ISBL Unofficial Monday.

After the long weekend, I don't care what you call today, it feels like a Monday. And I feel like a Top Ten list.

But a list of what?

Well, since we recently watched Ken Mehlman slither from the closet, after years of bashing, and hating, and using the LGBT community to frighten the conservative base, I thought, Why not a Top Ten list of closeted conservatives?

And it just so happened that SFWeekly had the same idea [HERE] so here it is:

10] California state Senator Roy Ashburn.

The pseudoheroic baton of homo honesty was passed to Mehlman last week from Ashburn, his reluctant predecessor.

Unlike Mehlman, Ashburn didn't discover the courage to be honest until after being arrested for drunk driving following Latino drag night at a gay bar in Sacramento.

Similar to Kenny, Ashburn has a strong record of acting against the interests of his fellow gays.

9] Former Idaho Senator Larry Craig.

Y'all remember when homophobe Larry Craig was arrested for soliciting a penis pacifier from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom in Minnesota?

Toe-tappin' Craig?

Craig still clings to his heterosexuality even though he pleaded guilty to the charge of soliciting sex from a police officer.

He famously said, "I am not gay" and no one really believes him.

8] The Reverend Ted Haggard.

Haggard was forced to resign from his evangelical ministry after it was revealed that he had a sexual relationship with a male massage therapist for three years--and used a little crystal meth with him, too. Ted's admission of his man-on-man action is somewhat unique because he now says he has been fixed and no longer has homo urges. His wife must be thrilled.

7] George Rekers.

The self-proclaimed expert on homosexuality--as well as a founder of the Christian ultra-conservative Family Research Council--was caught traveling with a young male escort he hired to act as his luggage-lifting companion.

The escort, Lucien, admitted to doing much more than lifting luggage. Rekers, like Larry Craig, still denies accusations of lusting for the scent of a scrotum on a hot day.

Although George likes to think of himself not only as straight, but also as being just like Jesus!

6] Representative Mark Foley.

Foley, a six-term Congressman from Florida was caught sending lewd and lascivious instant messages to teenage pages. Foley not only resigned his seat, he also came out of the closet and told the world that he is as gay as the day is long.

Interestingly enough, a few years before getting caught drooling over teenagers, Foley said accusations that he was gay were "revolting and unforgivable."

5] Michael Huffington.

After a cutthroat campaign against Dianne Feinstein for the California Senate seat she won, Republican Huffington announced--first to his wife, Arianna, their daughters, then to Esquire magazine--that he loves wieners and he hates politics before vowing to never run for office again.

4] Governor Jim McGreevey.

Okay, our token Democrat.

The former Governor of New Jersey was married--twice--mostly to maintain the image of an electable heterosexual, ass-grabbing, titty loving man among men. He also had a hot, sexy affair with a man on the state's payroll, whom he'd hired.

Talk about horny!

When wasn't Jim McGreevey ejaculating?

3] Roy Cohn.

A rabid, vicious, heartless attorney who worked with Senator Joe McCarthy in helping to rid the FBI--and Hollywood--of communists in the 1950s, Cohn was not-so-secretly gay.

Although responsible for investigating and accusing many people of being communist or homosexual, Cohn never admitted that he, too, craved sex with men.

He died of AIDS in 1986.

2] J. Edgar Hoover.

The longest-serving head of the FBI had a lifelong relationship with an associate director of the FBI named Clyde Tolson. Hoover never discussed his relationship with Tolson but they were constant companions. Tolson was not only Hoover's heir but he also received the flag that was draped on Hoover's coffin at his funeral. A film about J. Edgar Hoover directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Dustin Lance Black--who wrote screenplay for Milk--is set to be released in 2012.

1] We are saving this slot for the next closet case.

The next morally superior, hypocritical, Republican--or not--wickedly conservative--because he's got to prove he's not one of them gays--to come out ... and you know its going to happen.

Charlie ... Charlie ... come out, come out, wherever you are.........