Bobservations

Last week _____ unveiled the new logo for the “Space Force”, the recently formed sixth branch of the Armed Forces; the Draft Dodger said:

“After consultation with our Great Military Leaders, designers, and others, I am pleased to present the new logo for the United States Space Force, the Sixth Branch of our Magnificent Military!”

Many people noticed that the Space Force logo looks very similar to that of Star Trek’s Starfleet Command but … one person pointed out that the Starfleet logo is actually based on the Space Force logo because Starfleet won’t be founded until 2130.

Think on that.

In another case of this country becoming the land of hate of poor people, poor people of color, last week SCOTUS gave the go-ahead for one of _____’s hardline immigration policies.

Now this country—whose Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor …”—will now implement a rule denying legal permanent residency to certain immigrants—the brown ones, I’m guessing—that are deemed likely to require government assistance in the future.

Only the wealthy need come in. America, as we knew it, as it has been for over two hundred years, is over.

If you need me, I’ll be in California, snorkeling …

Last week, at the Rodney Strong vineyards in Sonoma County, a “blending tank door”  popped open and spilled :::gasp::: 97,112 gallons of red wine spilled into the nearby Russian River.

I’ll be gone all week until that spill is completely cleaned up!

Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe have been reprimanded by Tennis Australian after staging an on-court protest at the Australian Open calling for the Margaret Court Arena to be renamed.

The tennis legends strode across the court this week carrying a banner bearing the words 'Evonne Goolagong Arena', in recognition of the Australian ex-player. The pair want the arena’s named changed because Margaret Court, while a legend, is also virulently anti-LGBTQ+.

Navratilova and McEnroe's protest came one day after Tennis Australia commemorated the 50th anniversary of Court's calendar Grand Slam.

But she was a hate-filled bigot then, and remains so today. It’s time her name was scrubbed from the arena.

Just this week, at a rally in New Jersey, _____crowed:

“The money is won. And we are now building that beautiful wall. This powerful border wall is going up at record speed, and we just reached over 100 miles of wall. And next year we’ll be over 400 miles. And shortly thereafter it will be complete.”

Mere hours later a section of that powerful wall—not a new section but a replacement section—fell over in 37 mph winds; trees next to the wall have kept it from falling over entirely.

It’s like the wall is as flimsy as _____’s impeachment defense.

Demi Lovato released the song Sober in June 2018, and in it, she admitted to tumbling off the wagon after six years of sobriety. One month later, Demi overdosed. Demi spent some time getting treatment in rehab, and since she’s gotten out, she’s laid low career-wise.

But at last week’s Grammys she gave the performance of the night with a song called Anyone that she wrote just four days before that overdose. It’s painful, and yet the message should be heard.

“Anyone, please send me anyone

Lord, is there anyone? I need someone

Anyone, please send me anyone

Lord, is there anyone? I need someone.”

Listen.

Hot male model Taylor Phillips. Dressed or undressed. Jeans or long johns.

Undressed, I think.

And limber.

I Didn't Say It ...

Cardinal Raymond Burke, on the story of an Australian couple who asked how to respond to their gay son bringing his partner to Christmas dinner:

“This is a very delicate question, and it’s made even more delicate by the aggressiveness of the homosexual agenda. But one has to approach this in a very calm, serene, reasonable and faith-filled manner. If homosexual relations are intrinsically disordered, which indeed they are — reason teaches us that and also our faith — then, what would it mean to grandchildren to have present at a family gathering a family member who is living [in] a disordered relationship with another person? We wouldn’t, if it were another kind of relationship — something that was profoundly disordered and harmful — we wouldn’t expose our children to that relationship, to the direct experience of it. And neither should we do it in the context of a family member who not only suffers from same-sex attraction, but who has chosen to live out that attraction, to act upon it, committing acts which are always and everywhere wrong, evil. And so, families have to find a way to stay close to a child in this situation — to a son or grandson, or whatever it may be — in order to try to draw the person away from a relationship which is disordered.”

First off, Cardinal, f**k off.

I would much prefer a happy couple straight or gay, to be around children than a hate-filled member of some group that aids, abets, condones, covers up, and pays restitution for decades of child rapists.

So again, f**k off.

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Wesley Clark, ex-NATO Supreme Allied Commander, on _____’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria:

“Well I’m very concerned because there doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made? People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff is or something? Why would a guy make a decision like this? Because all the recommendations were against it.”

Perhaps there was blackmail.

Perhaps there was a payoff.

Perhaps there was Putin.

Perhaps _____ is just an ill-equipped, unhinged buffoon.

Or, perhaps it’s all of the above.

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_____, on Christmas Day:

“It’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country. But other than that, I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas. Thank you very much.”

He’s right; it is a disgrace what’s happening in our country with an idiot like _____in the Oval.

Look at me! Agreeing with _____! It’s a Christmas Miracle!

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Kevin  Spacey, using the voice of his House of Cards character Frank Underwood in a strange video released shortly after he was charged with felony sexual assault against a minor:

“Of course, some believed everything and have been just waiting with bated breath to hear me confess it all. They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved. Wouldn’t that be easy? If it was all so simple? Only you and I both know it’s never that simple, not in politics and not in life.  But you wouldn’t believe the worst without evidence would you? You wouldn’t rush to judgments without facts, would you? Would you? Did you?”

Apparently there are a few eyewitnesses and, because this is the age of the cellphone, a video proving Spacey is a perv.

Sorry, Kev, not sorry.

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Martina Navratilova, tennis legend, saying transgender women should not be allowed in women’s sports: 

“Clearly that can’t be right. You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women. There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard, For me it’s all about fairness, which means taking every case individually… there is no cookie cutter way of doing things.”

Way to go, Martina. Feed the idiots who think a penis makes you a man, or a vagina makes you female.

I thought you were smarter than that.

Navratilova walked back her statement and has apologized, but, still, educate yourself, or at least think, before speaking.

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Billy Porter, fabulous, and fabulously gay, actor and singer, on Kevin Hart’s homophobic “jokes”:

“I’m going to get into this Kevin Hart thing for just a second. Because it’s not about you having a joke. That’s not what it’s about. I’ve seen people and I’ve heard people who are not homophobic who do gay jokes. And you can tell that they’re not homophobic. I think Monique, a long time ago, she did a joke about butt sex. It was a whole thing about butt sex and ‘the gays,’ you know. And the punchline was something like, ‘Yeah, but don’t knock it till you try it!’ And then we must stop the person who we know is using a joke, but she’s not a homophobic person. She’s not saying, ‘If I come home and my four-year-old son is playing with a baby doll house, I’m gonna break it over his head and tell him it’s gay.’ That crosses a line. Because that allows your fans to think that [you can] hit somebody because you don’t like them. You don’t like their sexuality, ‘so I can bash you in the head.’ We’re not doing that anymore … Y’all don’t get to have that language no more without somebody on the other side challenging that. You had long enough to spew that darkness into the world without somebody on the other side shedding some light on it. We’re done with that. It’s march-into-the-streets time! We have an administration that thinks that it can, with a sentence, erase a whole group of people. And we’re not going to do anything about it? Transgender people don’t exist? Fuck that. I say to Kevin Hart, and I say to D.L. Hughley, I say to those people who think that they don’t need to apologize for shit and dig their heels in their toxic masculinity: But you want your rights! You want people to stop shooting your children in the back? But yet still, you turn around and oppress other people the same way you’re being oppressed. Fuck that. Fuck you. We’re done.”

Bravo, sir, bravo.

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I Didn't Say It .... The Jason Collins Edition

Jarron Collins, Jason Collins’s twin brother, on his brother’s coming out as the first openly gay, still playing, professional athlete:

"I won't lie. I had no idea. We talked, he answered my questions, I hugged him and I digested what he had told me. At the end of the day, this is what matters: He's my brother, he's a great guy, and I want him to be happy. I'll love him and I'll support him and, if necessary, I'll protect him. What does Jason want out of this? He wants to live his life. He wants a relationship, he wants a family, he wants to settle down. He wants to move forward with his personal life while maintaining his life as a professional basketball player. That's all, really. This announcement will be surprising to some people. I already anticipate the questions: 'Are you the gay twin or the straight one?' This is uncharted territory, and no one can predict how it will play out. It's a big deal -- but it's also not a big deal. When the media crush is over, Jason will have the strength to deal with whatever challenges come from being openly gay. Today, Jason has taken a huge weight off his shoulders. And I've never been more proud of him." 

Coming out is hard.
Coming out to your family, and wondering if they'll still love and accept is harder still.
Coming out to a twin, who feels about you like Jarron Collins does towards Jason, is a great, great thing.

Chris Broussard, of ESPN, saying Jason Collins cannot be gay and a Christian:

"Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian."

I think the Bible might characterize Broussard as a person who judges others, and yet, doesn't the Bible say something about not judging.
And, by the way, if The Gays were allowed to marry we wouldn't all be having pre-marital sex. And, again by the way, the Bible lists all kinds of sins, Chris; and I'm sure you commit some of those 'sins' and still call yourself a Christian.

Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times, on when gay folks will stop talking about famous people coming out:

"Many of us want to, and will: when a gay, lesbian or transgendered kid isn’t at special risk of being brutalized or committing suicide. When the federal government outlaws discrimination against people based on sexual orientation, which it still hasn’t done … When immigration laws give same-sex couples the same consideration that they do heterosexual ones. When the Defense of Marriage Act crumbles and our committed relationships aren’t relegated to a lesser status, a diminished dignity … When a Rutgers coach doesn’t determine that the aptly ugly garnish for hurling basketballs at his players’ heads is the slur 'faggot. When professional football scouts don’t try to ascertain that potential recruits are straight … When an athlete like Collins can be honest about himself without he and his co-author having to stress that he’s a guy’s guy, a godly man, someone who stayed mum about himself before now precisely so he wouldn’t disrupt his teams or upset his teammates, someone who’s inhabited locker rooms for 12 seasons already without incident … When a gay person’s central-casting earnestness and eloquence aren’t noted with excitement and relief, because his or her sexual orientation needn’t be accompanied by a litany of virtues and accomplishments in order for bigotry to be toppled and a negative reaction to be overcome."

One day it'll be no big deal.
One day it'll just be.

Ellen DeGeneres, on Jason Collins’ coming out:

"I applaud you Jason Collins, I applaud you. That is a very brave man. I would high-five you but I don’t think I can reach you. But when I see you, I am gonna hug your knees so hard. So, so brave. Really, you’re an incredible role model. Because of you, there’s a little boy playing basketball right now who knows that he can be who he is and play the sport that he loves. Now that little boy’s only obstacle is that he’s gonna be 5’4” and terrible at basketball. But you’ve done your part." 

As I always say, one person, any person, famous or not, coming out, makes a difference. You might not know it because it won't make the news, but every time once of us comes out, the world changes for the better.

Bryan Fischer, of the ironically named hate group American Family Association, calling Jason Collins a sexual predator:

"I will guarantee you if the ownership of whatever team is thinking about bringing him back or thinking about trading for him - and they go to the players on that team and they say 'how do you feel about an out, active homosexual being in the same locker room sharing the same shower facilities with you' they'd say 'no way. I don't want that. I don't want some guy, a teammate eyeballin' me in the shower and my wife does not want that." 

I find it funny how much time and energy people like Bryan Fischer fantasize and sermonize about gay sex. Methinks he's a little too interested in it.
And, for the record, Jason Collins was gay last year, and showering with other men, and I didn't hear any uproar about him "eyeballin" the other men. Maybe it's because he's less obsessed with gay sex than Bryan Fischer.
And, lastly, Fischer is such a troll he need not worry about any man, gay or straight, trying to eye his balls.

Martina Navratilova, openly gay tennis legend, on Jason Collins’ coming out:

“When I came out, in 1981, I didn't have much public support and I know I lost endorsements. But I never had to worry about losing my job. In tennis, there are no bosses, no general managers and no coaches who can keep players from competing. So I was safe in that regard. For team sports athletes, this is not the case. A homophobic coach at any level -- high school, college or pros -- could keep a player from playing. …Now that Jason Collins has come out, he is the proverbial "game-changer." One of the last bastions of homophobia has been challenged. How many LGBT kids, once closeted, are now more likely to pursue a team sport and won't be scared away by a straight culture? Collins has led the way to freedom. Yes, freedom -- because that closet is completely and utterly suffocating. It's only when you come out that you can breathe properly. It's only when you come out that you can be exactly who you are. Collins' action will save lives. This is no exaggeration: Fully one third of suicides among teenagers occur because of their sexuality. Collins will truly affect lives, too. Millions of kids will see that it is OK to be gay. No need for shame, no need for embarrassment, no need for hiding."

She's right: it was easier for her to come out, even 30 years ago, because she wasn't part of a team, and there wasn't that stigma of 'What will the team do?'
And she's also right that, while she lost endorsements, the tide is changing and companies will realize that a gay player is just as "ad worthy" as a straight player.

Andy Roddick, tennis star, and longtime crush, on becoming an LGBT Athlete Ally:
"Yesterday was an incredible day for athletes everywhere. Jason Collin’s courage and leadership in coming out reminds me of how important it is for an athlete to be able to be true to him or herself. As an Athlete Ally, I want to support every athlete to feel comfortable and confident being themselves and to make sure that all people - players and fans alike – are welcome and included in tennis.”

All I got is: he's hot.
And an LGBT ally, which makes him even hotter.

President Barack Obama, on Jason Collins' coming out: 
"I had a chance to talk to him yesterday. He seems like a terrific young man. I told him I couldn't be prouder. One of the extraordinary measures of progress that we've seen in this country has been the recognition that the LGBT community deserves full equality, not just partial equality, not just tolerance, but a recognition that they're fully part of the American family. And given the importance of sports in our society, for an individual who's excelled at the highest levels in one of the major sports to say, 'This is who I am, I'm proud of it. I'm still a great competitor. I'm still 7 foot tall and can bang with Shaq and deliver a hard foul.' And you know, for, I think, a lot of young people out there who are gay or lesbian who are struggling with these issues, to see a role model like that who is unafraid, I think this is a great thing. And I think Americans should be proud that this is just one more step in this ongoing recognition that we treat everybody fairly and everybody's part of a family and we judge people on the basis of their character and their performance and not their sexual orientation. I'm very proud of him."

It was a great and brave thing to do.
Being the first at anything is hard, but someone had to do it.
Thanks Jason.

Judy and Dennis Shepard, on the story that Jason Collins chose #98 to wear in honor of Matthew Shepard [it's the year Matthew died]:

“(Collins) couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling people why until today, that’s incredible.”

We all take our steps towards coming out, and Collins choosing that number was a way to remind himself that his journey toward being out was on its way.