So, About a Travel Ban From West Africa...

How the Fringe Vindicated MSNBC

Several months ago, a Cheerios advertisement aired which featured a white mother, a black father, and their biracial daughter. To many, such a thing seems rather mundane, and rightly so. To others however, this ad was an abomination. Certain parts of society voiced outrage that seemed straight out of the 1960s.

Cut to last week when it was made known that another such ad was soon to strike the airwaves. MSNBC tweeted that the right-wing would probably rise in outrage yet again (paraphrasing). Apparently, the Republican Party took exception to this. In fact, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, threatened to boycott the news outlet (meaning that he and the organization’s surrogates would not appear there) until the station’s president, Phil Griffin, apologized formally. Griffin did apologize and the tweet was deleted, though this is the internet we are talking about so nothing is ever truly deleted.

During the Super Bowl a few days later, the Cheerios ad which had been teased aired featuring the same biracial family as the first ad. That wound up not being the ad which garnered the most attention, both negative and positive, as another ad eclipsed it significantly. Coca-Cola had a commercial featuring “America the Beautiful” sung in English…as well as other languages mixed into the song’s verses. The response was…predictable.

Some people saw the ad for what it was: a recognition that America is a nation that draws its strength from its diversity. The usual suspects, on the other hand, were up in arms in protest. Many voiced their anger that America’s national anthem was being sung in languages other than English, even though “America the Beautiful” is not America’s national anthem. Even the angry responses that were not quite as ignorant as that proved that some people have no regard for the fact that much of the good of this nation is because part of the American dream is that people can come here from wherever and have a better lot in life if they are willing to put in the effort, which many immigrants have proven they are willing to do. Much of the greatness that America stands for is due in no small part to its heterogeneity, without which, for good or ill, our history as a nation and a people would be diminished.

In the end, the aforementioned tweet from MSNBC proved to be correct, which is truly unfortunate. It is a sad day when racial backlash can be so accurately predicted so far in advance. Racists and xenophobes have yet again shown that America, as beautiful as it is, still has very far to go.

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The Media & Outing Members of Congress

From the Facebook page of journalist Itay Hod:

people always say, no one has the right to out anyone. that coming out is a private matter. i disagree. as you can imagine, not a very popular opinion. but bear with me.

here's a hypothetical: what if you know a certain GOP congressman, let's just say from Illinois, is gay... and you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower... together. now they could have been good friends just trying to conserve water. but there's more. what if this congressman has also been caught by tmz cameras trolling gay bars. now what if you know that this very same guy, the darling of the gop, has also voted against repeal of don’t ask don’t tell, opposed the repeal of doma, is against gay marriage; and for the federal marriage amendment, which would add language to the us constitution banning gay marriage and would likely strike down every gay rights law and ordinance in the country?

Are we still not allowed to out him?

let me ask another question... doesn't the media have an OBLIGATION to expose his hypocrisy? if he had done something so hypocritical and he wasn't gay, wouldn't we demand journalists do their job? but they can't... because we won't let them. you're not allowed to out ANYONE, we tell them.

we've created a situation where even though news organizations know this guy is gay, they can't report it because he hasn't said so on twitter.

if we keep saying that being gay is genetic; ergo, it's no different than having blue eyes or blonde hair... than why are not allowed to mention it? why do we need anyone's consent to talk about their sexuality? are we not allowed to say someone has blue eyes until they post a fb message telling us they are in fact blue?

we've been so effective at convincing everyone that outing people is a crime against humanity, that we've made it impossible for any network or news organization to talk about this "hypothetical" gay republican congressman and his hypocritical vote against gay rights. they won't touch it for fear of retribution from GLAAD or HRC. (in fact when my friend's network interviewed said hypothetical republican, he talked about wanting to find a nice woman to marry... and the network aired it... knowing it was a lie...

so, forgive me if I don't subscribe to the notion that you're not allowed to out anyone... in fact in some cases, i'd celebrate it. but I'm crazy that way. Herndon Graddick

by the way... not sure why... but had a sudden urge to share this.

"This" is a link to an Americablog page that, among other things, shows some of the "gayest" images from the Instagram page of Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL). The Instagram page has since been made private (though the images are still on Americablog, hurray for screencaps). Schock has been more or less dogged by rumours of his sexual orientation despite - or perhaps in part because of - his very anti-gay legislative record. He has been given a 0% score by the Human Rights Campaign.

I have said time and again that I am against people (and more so public figures) being outed...unless you are outing their hypocrisy. In that case, have at it.

Judgment Day!!!

So, I have a little confession to make. When news “broke” that Dustin Lance Black (39) was the guy that Tom Daley (19) was seeing, I got a little…judgy. It wasn’t the 20 year age gap in and of itself, but more the fact that the younger of the pair was only 19. Part of me being concerned about this has to do with the stereotype we get from social conservatives that gay men are sexual predators and pedophiles. I was subconsciously worried about how this would make gay men look in public generally and I was worried about that this wouldn’t end well for Daley specifically. While I didn’t go around shouting about how wrong this was, I had some significant reservations.

Then I saw this interview Daley did with Jonathan Ross:

Other than a cheeky tweet when speculation of Black being Daley’s mystery man started, Black has not to my knowledge been publicly vocal about the relationship (in fact, neither of them have confirmed speculation of the relationship). Daley - in so far as he has talked about it - seems genuinely happy. Just listening to him and watching him, he is practically glowing in a way that he probably hasn’t since winning his Olympic medal. So you know what? Age be damned. Like Aaliyah said, it ain’t nothing but a number…so long as it’s above the age of consent of course. I’m happy for them.

Not that my judgment of this matters one way or another. I don’t know either of these men on a personal level, I have never met them, and I have no idea firsthand knowledge of what their relationship is like. My point in all of this is that we, the public, should not be looking down on their relationship. Instead, if they are happy together, then we should be happy for them.

The 'Liberal" Media & Social Security

A Texas Newspaper Has Buyer's Remorse

From the Houston Chronicle:

...One reason we particularly believe that [former Texas senator Kay Bailey] Hutchison would make a difference in these hectic days is that if she had kept her seat, Cruz would not be in the Senate.

When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator.

Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution.

We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether.

But we'll never know...

While we may never know for sure, I think we have a pretty good hunch.

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It's Not JUST Americans Blaming Republicans...

From Think Progress:  

Republicans may be working hard to turn domestic public opinion to their side, but foreign media places the blame squarely on GOP extremists. Below is a sample of how the world is struggling to make sense of the ongoing shutdown:

“Paralysis” A Le Monde article on Friday wondered if American democracy even works, calling out the Tea Party for blackmail and urging the government to hold firm. “In a democracy, people abolish laws by winning the election, not with the threat of a government shutdown or even a default. It is impossible to govern seriously undergoing this type of blackmail,” writes Martin Wolf.

“Suicidal madness” Spain’s El Pais seems astounded that Republicans are still not responding to pressure, calling the shutdown “suicidal madness.” “Deaf to the warnings about the looming economic catastrophe and indifferent to the polls that blame for this crisis, the GOP insists it will not let Congress give the government a dollar more if Barack Obama does not back down on health care reform,” Antonio Cana writes. Even with the Treasury Department’s warning that the dollar could collapse and interest rates could skyrocket if the shutdown fight rolls into the debt ceiling fight, Cana reports, “None of this has created a huge impact among Republicans, whose calculation are political, not economic.”

There are more articles where these came from...

The Danger of "Modern Family"

From Addicting Info:  

Evan Martel for the Media Research Center—a conspiracy theorist publication whose “sole mission is to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media” openly confessed to having watched the episode of Modern Family in which the two men get engaged, and furthermore, he confessed that it gave him feelings. He actually found himself sympathizing for gay people. For a moment, Evan Martel actually thought that gay people were human beings entitled to basic civil rights, and that, he says, is that makes the show so dangerous.

He writes:

“I laughed. I cried. I felt. It moved me like good art is supposed to do. But that’s the problem. It moved me. It made me feel joy for Cam and Mitchell after the Supreme Court over-ruled California’s Prop 8. And that is what makes this show great. And dangerous.”

Why “dangerous?” Well, because this show, he says, is an unrealistic portrayal of homosexuality. It relies on “misleading” feelings about gay people—like that two men can truly love one another, that gay couples are part of the evolving landscape of American family, and that, for many, the overturn of DOMA and Prop 8 was a life-altering event. It’s “dangerous” because the show can leave you feeling sympathetic to the LGBT community– the horror!

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The DNC Calls Out the RNC

A statement from the DNC:

“After last year’s electoral losses, the RNC pledged to do a better job reaching out to the voters they had systematically alienated – like women, African Americans, LGBT Americans, Hispanics, and more. But instead of modifying their policies to actually present smart solutions for middle class families, the only thing the GOP can unite behind is a plan to continue to limit the audiences—and voters—to whom they will communicate.

"Now with reports that they are looking to have Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin moderate their debates, it raises questions about whether the RNC will ever be serious about outreach, or if they will continue to speak to -- and for -- the fringes of their party.

"It seems that Republicans don't get it. If they truly want to connect with a broader audience, they need an agenda that fights for the middle class and is inclusive. Sadly, it appears that with today's vote, their approach is to actually speak to even fewer voters.

“While the Republican Party and the RNC continue to have side-show debates, Democrats will continue to fight for a better bargain for middle class Americans.”