Donald Trump - Old Rich Entitled White Man and Despicable Human Being

I try not to get off topic on this blog too much, but when I saw the video clip below last night I knew I had to post it here. It has shaken me to my core, so much so that I have been vacillating between rage and profound sadness ever since. Watching this man verbalize the pain that Donald Trump has caused him just broke my heart.

I would bet my last dollar that the group of people to whom Donald Trump is so whorishly and opportunistically targeting all his racist, vile birther crap most likely includes many of the same people who also single out my son and his glbt brothers and sisters as "the other" and unworthy of the same rights, dignity, and privileges they are entitled to.

I never thought much about Donald Trump. To me he was just a shallow, entitled, spoiled, and not too bright middle-aged white man whose greatest accomplishment was an accident of birth to the right family, in the right country, with the right father who actually did what Barack Obama had to do, start with nothing, work hard, and make something of himself in spite of the odds. But now I know that it is not the complete picture. Donald Trump is also cruel loser.

I hope he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame at the expense of a huge segment of our society. A segment that has been taking shit from complete losers like Donald Trump for far too long.

I can only hope that when this all over, Donald Trump is treated like the cruel, ugly joke he has proved himself to be.

The author of this video is Baratunde Thurston and here is what he had to say about why he made this video:

It was during my viewing of this video [Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire] that I began to cry. I thought of my ancestors, both direct and collective, who had fought and died so that I might be treated as an American. I then thought of this fetid, smug, hate-filled, wealthy white man taking credit for the release and yet still not being satisfied. It does not matter how long we’ve been in these United States. We will never be American.

So, tears in my eyes, pain in my heart and rage in my soul, I composed this video message. More than written text, it comes close to expressing my full pain at witnessing a white man who was handed everything call the President of the United States (and me) a nigger.

Injustice at Every Turn

We are making progress on LGB issues, but it still feels like we lag way behind on issues concerning our Transgender brothers and sisters. It is hard not to get impatient. I just wish I could close my eyes, click my heels three times, and make it all happen now, but alas...

Another lawmaker who writes laws that apply to you and me, but who gets off scot-free when he breaks them

Meet Sen. James Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma, Congress’ most reliable defender of dirty energy and evangelizer against the “hoax” of global warming and a bonafide homophobic hater to boot. Mr. Inhofe campaigned for his Senate seat in 1994 using the phrase "God, guns, and gays," reflecting his ability to master political support in opposition to gay rights in general (and gays in the military in particular).

Mr. Inhofe made absolutely no bones about the fact that if he was elected to office he'd dedicate his career to making sure my gay son would always be a second-class citizen and denied the dignity, equal rights, and protections every other American citizen enjoys. And good ole boy that he is, he kept his word:

Inhofe has generally been seen as overtly hostile by LGBT advocacy groups, earning a 0% in every one of his terms on Human Rights Campaign's position scorecard. Inhofe is in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, against adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes, and voted against prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Inhofe’s office has said he “does not hire openly gay staffers due to the possibility of a conflict of agenda.”

Over the years since I found out my son was gay and finally started paying attention to politics and the politicians who would make it their mission to legislate misery and second-class citizenship into laws that would forever single my son out as "the other", Mr. Inhofe's unusually hateful record has always kept him at the top of my list of especially hateful, ignorant, and despicable lawmakers. But today (and I am a little late in getting to this story since the actual incident happened in October of 2010 and the news of it first started leaking out a few weeks ago), I am seething with a rage so intense, that it scares me.

It seems that the "Honorable" lawmaker from Oklahoma had some fun landing his plane on a clearly marked CLOSED runway at an airport in South Texas. The runway was closed so that construction workers could safely get the needed work done without being maimed or killed in the process. But the "Honorable" lawmaker from Oklahoma who admitted seeing the big yellow X that marked the runway as closed apparently didn't feel that it should apply to him:

On October 21, 2010, Inhofe landed his plane on a runway that was closed and marked with an X, apparently scattering construction workers and nearly hitting a truck. According to an FAA report, Inhofe noticed the X, but "still elected to land avoiding the men and equipment on the runway."

Shortly after the incident, the man supervising the construction, Sidney Boyd, spoke on the phone with the FAA, and said the landing "scared the crap out of us." (Listen to the audio here.) Boyd said he thought the driver of the truck Inhofe almost hit "actually wet his britches."

"James Inhofe, they tell me he's a Senator from Oklahoma," Boyd can be heard saying.

According to Boyd, Inhofe's plane initially touched down, and then "sky hopped" over six vehicles and personnel working on the runway, before landing for good.

"He was determined to land on that runway come hell or high water, evidently," Boyd said.

Now you'd think a dangerous stunt like this would be dealt with seriously. And you'd also have to believe that there would be some serious consequences for the blatant disregard of laws and the total lack of concern for the people who could have been killed. But you'd be wrong:

In a letter dated January 4, 2011, FAA Aviation Safety Inspector Robert J. O'Keefe indicates that Inhofe agreed to a "program of remedial training" as a substitute for legal action on December 9, 2010, and had since submitted evidence of "satisfactory completion" of the training.

Funny that. Makes you wonder if you or I had pulled a dangerous and crazy stunt like that if we'd have been treated as kindly as the "Honorable" lawmaker from Oklahoma. I think not.

It absolutely turns my stomach to think this wretched SOB will probably have no problem getting voted back into office so that he can continue his work making laws that demonize my son and keep his second-class citizenship intact.

Is it just me or should this wretched SOB be warming his homophobic arse in a jail cell rather than working to protect polluters and deny our glbtq children rights he enjoys (and abuses without consequence)?

A trendline I can live with

Via Nate Silver's Political Calculus:

Nate also notes that "support for gay marriage seems to have been increasing at an accelerated pace over the past couple of years."

Hmmmm, maybe Maggie Gallagher and her NOM cohorts, the Mormon and Catholic Churches, the Religious Right, and the rest of the Protect-the-Sanctity-of-Marriage crowd have actually been helping our cause....

New Hampshire Tea Party Activists Don't See Harm From State Same-Sex Marriage Law

Wow! A video clip of Tea Party Activists that hasn't caused me any heartburn:

According to the person at Think Progress who went to Concord, New Hampshire to cover a Tax Day Tea Party sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, he could not find a single Tea Party activist who felt that "expanding marriage to gays and lesbians has undermined their relationships or in any way changed the state" when he asked them about the legalization of gay marriage in their state.

This should be causing Maggie Gallagher and her fellow bigots over at NOM, the National Organization for Marriage a lot of heartburn (better them than me).

And on a related note (and cause for even more heartburn for poor ole Maggie), John over at AMERICAblog Gay has posted yet another reason to hope that the tide is turning for good on the issue of marriage equality - a lot of polls are now showing that more than half of all Americans now support marriage equality:

A lot of polls are showing this recently. And it matters. First, because it does in fact show that there's a trend in our favor. Second, the courts aren't immune from news, and trends, like this. Maggie Gallagher can spew her bigotry all she wants, and she'll even win in the short-term because her bigots are well-motivated and well-financed by the Catholics and the Mormons. But in the long-run, Maggie, the Catholic Church and the Mormons will be listed in the history books alongside the people who turned fire hoses on African-American civil rights marchers.

It Gets Better: Apple Employees

Powerful:

Sam Waterston for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

I don't know why this made me cry, but it did. I absolutely LOVED the original Law and Order series and the character Jack McCoy in particular. I guess I just didn't want to know how he stood politically because I didn't want my bubble burst. Looks like I worried for nothing:

Thank you Sam. You put a smile on this mom's face today.

Louis Marinelli-former NOM anti-gay marriage activist speaking out FOR gay marriage

In a previous post I wrote about Louis Marinelli and his huge change of heart on the issue of marriage equality. He has not only changed his mind on this issue, but he has chosen to do it in as public a way as when he was anti-marriage equality. And for that, Louis has my admiration, undying gratitude, and complete forgiveness for some of the horrible things he did and said when he was a member of the NOM team of haters.

This seething momma thanks Luis from the bottom of her heart.

Lawrence O'Donnell - NOM Defector Louis Marinelli Turns Gay Marriage Advocate

About a week ago Jeremy Hooper of Good AS You, broke a big news story that shook the ground beneath the feet of both the pro-gay marriage and anti-gay marriage forces. Fortunately it was great news for those of us who support full marriage equality and pretty humiliating news for those who have dedicated their lives to making sure our glbtq loved ones remain second-class citizens, hidden away and worthy of nothing but scorn, demonization, and dehumanization.

Unfortunately, this story most likely flew under most people's radar screen (but thanks to Lawrence O'Donnell this story will reach a wider audience - see clip below), but for anyone passionately or even mildly involved with marriage equality issues, this story measured a 9.0 on the richter scale. And it certainly added a much needed lift to anyone who believes in full marriage equality for our glbtq loved ones.

So what was this one step forward that caused such a ruckus? It was the change of heart and mind of a young man named Louis Marinelli, a guy who felt so passionately about one-man one-woman marriage that he would do anything to keep our gay loved ones from being recognized as fellow human beings worthy of the same legal recognitions and protections that the rest of our country's citizens enjoy and take for granted when they get married. In fact Louis felt so strongly about keeping our gay loved ones second-class citizens that he joined forces with NOM, the National Organization for Marriage (just recently labeled a Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center).

And Louis was good. In fact he was so good (at being anti-gay) he soon wiggled his way into the stone cold hearts of NOM's officers: Maggie Gallagher, Brian S. Brown, and Robert P. George. It wasn't long before Louis found himself in increasingly more visible and prominent positions within the organization. And that quick rise in the ranks resulted in Louis becoming a trusted and valuable part of the team with duties such as sending out incendiary tweets with debunked pseudo-science and outright hateful lies to portray our gay loved ones as scary less-than-human monsters, and starting/maintaining a NOM Facebook page that soon had 290,000 followers. But probably Louis' biggest and most visible sign of committment to NOM was his decision to drive the RV NOM used for their headline-grabbing, much publicized, nationwide marriage tour last summer, while blogging about the cross-country adventure, and providing general support for the road-bound NOM.

And then something wonderful happened. Louis had gotten himself in such a visible position within NOM that he started actually meeting some of these people he'd worked so diligently to demonize. And it didn't take long for him to realize that the people he'd been channeling all of his energies into stripping of rights, dignity, and respect were not much different than him --- and certainly not the monsters he worked so hard to portray them as. And then...

Much to the horror of Maggie Gallagher, Brian S. Brown, and Robert P. George, the Nom hate-bigots, Louis Marinelli completely reversed himself on his one-man-one-woman marriage stance. Yup. You heard right. A complete reversal. LOUIS MARINELLI NOW SUPPORTS FULL CIVIL MARRIAGE EQUALITY. And the full story in all its glory can be read over at Jeremy Hooper's blog. It is a wonderful read and well worth the click over.

And here is Lawrence O'Donnell using his National spotlight to tell the story as well:

Kobe Bryant Calls Ref "F*cking F*ggot"

How classy, Kobe. And of course we all know that you aren't a "F*cking F*ggot" ... cuz we've still got the Colorado memories to remind us you prefer women ...

Update #1: Via Pam we learn that Kobe has issued an apology and put out by GLAAD:

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant issued the following statement today in response to feedback regarding a comment made during last night's game:

"What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone.

Update#2: Via JMG we learn:

In a move the Human Rights Campaign calls "unprecedented," the NBA has fined superstar Kobe Bryant $100,000 for calling a referee a "fucking faggot" during last night's game.

Glad to see it is getting expensive to be a public homophobe.

Alan Simpson: GOP has some homophobes

Wow! Just wow:

And this gentleman is a former Senator and Conservative Republican. You know... I didn't think I could ever actually use the word gentleman in the same sentence with the word Republican.

Transcript of what this brave, brave, brave man said (now whether he lives to call himself a member of the GOP is another story...):

"We have homophobes on our party. That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings. We’re all God’s children. Now if they’re going to get off on that stuff—Santorum has said some cruel things—cruel, cruel things—about homosexuals. Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul. Now if that’s the kind of guys that are going to be on my ticket, you know, it makes you sort out hard what Reagan said, you know, 'Stick with your folks.' But I’m not sticking with people who are homophobic, anti-women, moral values—while you’re diddling your secretary while you’re giving a speech on moral values? Come on, get off of it."

Been doing a lot of lazy posting lately

And for that I apologize. We've been on a 10 day road trip and are now on the last leg with an arrival back home planned for this Wednesday. We left on Sunday a week ago, took our sweet time getting to our destination, with stops in some incredible small towns along the way and chance encounters with some truly colorful people I will never forget.

Our adventure started when our daughter called a few weeks ago to tell us she had a lacrosse tournament the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd in Corvallis, Oregon. And that was all it took. We packed up the car -- our 15 yr old doggie included, swung by to pick up my mom, and took off for a leisurely trip up the coast of California with strategically planned stops, one of which was Los Angeles to see our son (yes, the gay one).

So what was going on in Corvallis besides a multi-school women's college lacrosse tournament? Why -- the April 2011 Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon of course. And our hotel was full of hardy, well-trained, and very fit participants with their trusty bikes and can-do attitudes. What a fun group that was.

It wasn't perfect weather in Corvallis. One minute it was snowing tiny little snow pellets, the next enough rain to dampen the clothes and run the mascara, and the next the gray overcast sky would open up enough to allow a few anemic rays of sunshine (but strong enough to warm our frozen fingers and toes) to peak through. So we got a nice mix of everything mother nature had up her sleeve while standing out there on that OSU field cheering our little lacrosse player on. It was so much fun and I am so glad we did it.

And right now? We just finished our drive for today. And we are all relaxing in a lovely dog-friendly hotel room in Monterey, California with a postcard perfect view of the Pacific ocean right outside our window watching our favorite college basketball team lose to UConn in the NCAA championship game (well actually -- dear hubby and dear mom are watching the game, I'm sitting here blogging while enjoying the sounds of that incredible ocean just outside. It would be a crime to do anything else...)

Ahhhh I'm in heaven...

Bill Maher Tells President Obama To Get On Board With Gay Marriage!

Ooooh that Bill Maher - when he talks marriage equality - I love him, love him, love him:

Ireland Anti-Bullying Campaign: Stand Up! - Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

Watching this lovely clip brought tears to my eyes -- and a smile to my face imagining Maggie Gallagher watching this and squirming. It really hits the right note.