I Didn't Say It

Magic Johnson, on his son EJ coming out as gay:

“In the beginning, I was like any other dad. ‘Oh, I’m gonna get him in sports,’ right? And so when we start, first soccer, and then football, he like [disagrees with a shake of his the head]. ... I saw early on, he’s playing with dolls, he likes to play dress-up, but then if I come in, he would hide all that. But I saw it ... So I think he was [trying to] keep it from me, and then finally, he felt strong enough that he could finally tell me. And so, he made me change. It wasn’t he who had to adjust, I had to adjust. And I finally told him. I said, ‘Let me tell you something, you’re my son. I love you. I don’t care, if you want to be a gay man, I’m supporting that. I’m supporting you.’ And when he finally announced it to the world, I saw all the letters that came in around the world, that he affected all these other young people who wanted to come out to their parents and gave them the strength to do it ... And I tell him all the time, ‘I’m so proud of you. Live your life just like I’m living my life. Love who you want to love. Dad is going to support you all the way.’ So it was really beautiful and he cried, he needed to hear that, because some of his friends didn’t get that support. We all gotta love our children no matter what … and support them because they need that. They need to know that you love them, that you support whatever decision they make, or whoever they decide to love or like, you gotta support that. And that’s what I’ve been able to do…”

Once again, this is how it’s done: it’s your child, love them.

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Pete Hegseth, Fox & Friends host, on drop boxes and mail-in ballots ruining the “Red Surge”:

“Voting should not be as simple as ordering an Amazon package because there’s a lot more at stake with what you should be considering when you cast your ballot. You want to see a ‘threat to democracy?’ It’s what we’re watching in Arizona right now. As we don’t know whether people are cheating or not. But all I know is there are 265,000 ballots that still haven’t been counted and it’s Sunday. Is it gonna cut for Kari Lake? Will it not? What’s the key? Hobbs is in charge of the elections there. Hopefully, it’s all aboveboard. Looks like the next few dumps of ballots will be good for Kari Lake. That will be the test.”

He doesn’t know “if people are cheating or not” but is playing that card any way. Voting should be the easiest thing to do, without restrictions on who what when where why and how. You wanna end early voting or mail-in voting, then demand that every election day be a federal holiday where everyone is off work and can vote.

But that won’t help the GOP so … Yeah.

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Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor-elect, on his GOP opponent, Doug Mastriano, not conceding:

“I mean, who cares if he calls, right? He doesn’t get to pick the winner, the people pick the winner, and in a resounding way, they made clear that they wanted me to lead this Commonwealth forward.”

And snap!

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Rick Scott, Florida Republican Senator, on what happened to the Midterms:

“Here’s what happened to us: Election Day, our voters didn’t show up, we didn’t get enough voters. It was a complete disappointment. I think we’ve got to reflect now, what didn’t happen? I think we didn’t have enough of a positive message, we said everything about how bad the Biden agenda was—it’s bad, the Democrats are radical, but we have to have a plan of what we stand for.”

Uh, sheesh Captain Obvious, you didn’t get enough voters, that’s how it works. That and the fact that most Americans see that your party offers nothing but whining and complaining and support for traitors and insurrectionists.

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Mo Brooks, Alabama Republican Congressman, on Thing 45:

“It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have [Thing 45] as their nominee in 2024. [He] has proven himself to be dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude and a lot of other things that alienate so many independents and Republicans. Even a candidate who campaigns from his basement can beat him. No question, I am displeased with [him], but that does not change the truthfulness of what I say. I challenge anybody to make the argument that you can trust the word of [Thing 45].”

I love this from Mo Brooks, who has courted Thing 45 for support for years and is now suddenly on the other side?

We see you Mo, and know you’re a flip-flopping asshat.

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Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican Senator, on the GOP:

“What are Republicans actually going to do for working people? How about, to start: tougher tariffs on China, restore American jobs, open up American energy full throttle, 100k new cops on the street. Unrig the system. The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new."

The party is dead because you do nothing; the party is dead because you ran to support election denialism; your party is dead because you all stood with Thing 45 even after the riots on January 6. I find it ironic that the day before the election Hawley never said a word about the GOP and after the losses he’s suddenly ready to take the party in a  new direction.

Oh, and don’t ever forget that Hawley is a strong backer of Thing 45 and raised a fist to the mob outside the capitol and then ran for cover like a little bitch when they entered the building.

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I Didn't Say It ....

Ellen DeGeneres, on coming out on TV, and in real life, twenty years ago:

“It became more important to me than my career. I suddenly said, ‘Why am I being, you know, ashamed of who I am just to be successful and famous in society’s eyes?’ … And then I thought, the character on the show is clearly struggling. There’s no relationship. It was pretty clear it would be an easy transition for her to realize she was gay, which was why her relationships with men weren’t working out.”

And with those simple words—‘I’m gay’—spoken into a microphone at an airport, Ellen Morgan, and Ellen DeGeneres made history.

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Shepard Smith, Fox News host, on the Flynn business and the _____ connection:

“The situation is unprecedented. Never in American history has a man so close to the president, on his cabinet, the national security advisor no less, been accused of committing a crime by taking money from a foreign entity, much less one connected to the Russians. At the core of all this is the Russians interfered with our elections. General Flynn received money through an entity that was from the Russians. And what they want to know is was there collusion? The White House at least is giving the appearance, according to these congressional leaders, of a lack of cooperation, which could give an overall appearance that they’re trying to cover something up. Why not quit with all the semantic juggling and stuff and get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible?” 

We can talk walls and Muslim bans and the EPA and any number of other things, but it’s gonna be Russia that sends _____ packing.

And I cannot wait.

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Dan Savage, donating money from his resistance organizations to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and IRAP:

“This morning I had the distinct pleasure of mailing off checks to Planned Parenthood ($33,333.34), the ACLU ($33,333.33) and the International Refugee Assistance Project ($33,333.33)—money we raised selling ITMFA [“Impeach The Mother Fucker Already” buttons, t-shirts, hats, stickers, coffee cups, and lapel pins at ITMFA.org and ImpeachTheMotherFuckerAlready.com. And I got to mail those checks out because nearly 10,000 Savage Love readers and Savage Lovecast listeners have ordered #ITMFA gear over the last eight weeks!”

Impeach the MotherFucker already!

I’m in!

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Magic Johnson, reflecting on his son EJ Johnson coming out;

“I think it’s all about you not trying to decide what your daughter or son should be or what you want them to become. It’s all about loving them no matter who they are [and] what they decide to do. I was so happy for him and happy for us as parents. EJ is amazing.”

That’s it in a nutshell; your child’s coming out is never about you, it’s just about them, about happiness and self-acceptance.

Good on Magic and his wife.

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Ryan Murphy, creator of Feud: Bette & Joan, on the last episode where Joan Crawford, hallucinates a visit by Bette Davis:

"So we know that Joan was talking to people in her mind, and what if one of those people was Bette. I wanted to give the audience something that Joan and Bette actually did not have: a sense of closure. They talked about it individually, like ‘Oh I wish I would have handled it better.’ But I thought what if they said that to each other’s face? Obviously that conversation never happened, but it could have happened in Crawford’s imagination [and] it was inspired in part by the fact that Bette Davis said she had regrets ... It was based on the Crawford death research and what Bette Davis told me."

I just think that if those two women had learned to understand one another, oh, the things they could have done in Hollywood. But the studios and the press created a feud, created the friction, and the two women bought into it never knowing what might have been ...

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Marco Rubio, Republican Florida Senator, denouncing the detention, torture, and murder of gay men in Chechnya, on the Senate floor:

“Unfortunately this is not a new reality for those living under the brutal tyranny of the Chechen leader, who by the way happens to be a loyal ally of Vladimir Putin. There have been reports in the past of similar abuses, although these reports seem to be the most brutal and should provoke anger in all of us. We should never, ever tolerate human rights violations against any person for their political views, their religious beliefs, or their sexual orientation. ... The United States and other responsible nations should do more to ensure that all people are protected, and those who harm them are held responsible. We should use our voice on the global stage to call attention to these horrifying acts and to ensure that they are condemned in an appropriate way, and ultimately in the hopes that they will be stopped.”

I never thought I’d say this, but good on Marco.

I mean, he’s not running for reelection so this isn’t some kind of pandering, I don’t think.

Maybe he’s actually had an awakening.

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Brian Sims, openly gay Pennsylvania state Representative, taking on a Facebook troll—first name David—who wrote the words "N****r F****t" on Sims' page:

“David, I can’t tell if you’re just a really dumb little boy or an angry bigot but I know for sure that you shouldn’t have posted your grandmother’s telephone number on your Facebook page. She and I just had a very disappointing chat about you. We’ll talk soon.”

Snap. Smack. Bam.

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Random Musings

I don't get the anger over the way, the how, the why, and especially, the when, of people Coming Out.

Lotsa folks on the blogs, and on the Bookface, and The Tweeter-sphere, are kinda coming down on both Anderson Cooper and Frank Ocean for Coming Out.

Now, don't get me wrong, a lotta folks are loving the fact that these two men finally told the tale, as it were, but the sort of anger, and the I told you so, is kind of disheartening.

Coming out is a personal process. It isn't easier because you're rich and white and a TV personality, because then you aren't just coming out to friends and family, and perhaps co-workers, you are coming out to the world.

And that can be daunting.

Family and friends may say, Oh, we knew that. They may say We love you. They may say something not so nice, but to have the whole world weigh in on your private life? That's not really fair, is it?

And, let me further explain, I think everyone should come out. Now. The sooner the better., But it's a personal choice at a personal time in a personal way.

Frank Ocean didn't come out because he had some music to sell, he came out because he wanted to be himself in every way possible.

That’s not something to denigrate, or make light of, it's something to celebrate.

Just sayin'.

I love a good feud.

Lohn v Hilton? Loved it.

Hilton v Richie? Good stuff.

Old Spice v Taco Bell? Who knew? but here it is:

This one makes my skin crawl.

After the airing of PBS's Frontline documentary, AIDS in Black America, the website, Gawker, is offering big money for the identify the person who transmitted HIV to Magic Johnson. And writer AJ Daulerio has theories and stories and gossip about the who, and the what and the where, and, why the fuck is it his business?

Seriously, is it anyone's business how Johnson contracted HIV? Because if it is, then it's everyone's business how anyone contracts HIV.

If you want your junk out there, then you put it out there. But to delve into someone's personal life just to share some salacious bit of gossip is not news or information or in the public interest.

It's stupid. And the folks at Gawker should be ashamed of themselves.

Okay, so, yeah, Jane Pitt.

Wrote a letter in support of Mitt Romney. Said she's against marriage equality. Not so nice, I say.

Other folks have a different mindset. They've actually gone on Twitter to make death threats against Mrs. Pitt. Death threats because she expressed her opinion. 

Is this America? Or are we in some far off land where people aren't allowed their own thoughts? I mean, I think Jane Pitt is way off the mark in both her politics and her religious viewpoints and her feelings about marriage, but I will always defend her right to say them.

Just like I'd like to think she'd defend my right to say she's off her rocker.

And, sidenote: why is anyone blaming Brad Pitt for what his mama said? He's long been an LGBT ally and for anyone to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

For example: I have an uncle who is a....and this is hard to say....a Republican. And he's a die-hard Mittsy fan. We've had arguments via email and on Facebook about Obama and Mittsy and, while it seems he gets most of his opinions from the Hannity-Limbaugh sect, I didn't see too much wrong with his sharing his views. Until the day he said, on Facebook, that Obama was born in Africa.

Oh, but he did.

Now, should he receive death threats? No. He should receive our deepest sympathies for his delusions. And, furthermore, am I to be lumped in with his madness because we're related? No. Families don't have to share the same political views and ideals.

So, lay offa Brad, and lay off his mama. She's wrong, but she has a right to be wrong.

Good news outta Maine: a new poll shows that a majority of voters in Maine support marriage equality by a margin of 57% to 35%.

Speaks well for a righteous vote in November when Mainers will be asked to allow The Gays the right to marry.

The tide is changing, at the polls, in the voting booths, in the Congress, in the White House, and just about everywhere.

Go Maine!

Oh dear.

Walter Hill has announced he will write and direct a remake of 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? which starred the amazing Bette Davis and the batshit crazy Joan Crawford as Baby Jane Hudson and her crippled sister Blanche. Hill will adapt his screenplay from Lukas Heller’s original screenplay, which was based on Henry Farrell’s novel.

Now the talk is who will play the sisters? I mean Crawford and Davis were fabulous, and Lyn and Vanessa Redgrave were less so in their TV remake several years back.

So, who do you think should play the girls?

I have my own suggestion, given the biggest stories of today: Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes.

That would be worth seeing.