Lovin me some Benson

Oh lookie, Arizona's wicked witch of the west is once again making Arizonans proud

Well color me shocked - our backwater guv is truly a nasty, disrespectful, and embarrassing hag. No sooner had President Obama's plane touched down at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport this evening and our classless governor was all up in his grill wagging her bony finger and giving him what looks like a nasty tongue lashing. 

Where is that flying house from Kansas when we need it? Her term cannot end fast enough for this fed-up Arizona mama.

Dear Minnesota and North Carolina:

Take a look at Washington state and see how it's done:

BREAKING: Washington’s Marriage Equality Bill Has Enough Votes to Pass and here is the 25th vote that will ensure full equality and dignity to that state's gay and lesbian citizens:

Senator Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island)

And here is her statement in full:

Haugen announces stance on marriage equality

OLYMPIA – Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen issued the following statement today following the Senate hearing on Senate Bill 6239 to allow same-sex marriage:

“For several weeks now, I have heard from the people of my district. They’ve shared what’s in their hearts and minds.

“I have received many letters, emails, phone calls, very heartfelt, from both sides of the issue. I’ve also received a number of very negative comments from both sides.

“For some people, this is a simple issue. I envy them. It has not been simple or easy for me.

“To some degree, this is generational. Years ago I took exception to my parents’ beliefs on certain social issues, and today my children take exception to some of mine. Times change, even if it makes us uncomfortable. I think we should all be uncomfortable sometime. None of us knows everything, and it’s important to have our beliefs questioned. Only one being in this world is omniscient, and it’s not me.

“I have very strong Christian beliefs, and personally I have always said when I accepted the Lord, I became more tolerant of others. I stopped judging people and try to live by the Golden Rule. This is part of my decision. I do not believe it is my role to judge others, regardless of my personal beliefs. It’s not always easy to do that. For me personally, I have always believed in traditional marriage between a man and a woman. That is what I believe, to this day.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Steps Down from Congress

This is such a huge loss for Arizona:



There are so many emotions I am feeling right now: sadness, loss, anger, and fear - just to name a few. I don't think I need to explain all of these feelings, in particular, the sadness and loss, but the anger and fear? Well there are so many reasons to be both angry and fearful and one does not need to look too far back in Arizona's past to understand why anger and especially fear are legitimate emotions to be feeling right about now. Here are just two reasons from Arizona's very recent history that should scare any sane person, but rest-assured Arizona has a very long and colorful love affair with guns and the nuts who've lost any hint of sanity or common sense when writing laws regulating them:

• Arizona's well-earned and very deserved reputation for having a very right-wing, gun-luvin, NRA-beholden legislature, which has only gotten crazier and more prolific with their legislation of guns-for-everybody-anywhere-anytime laws since the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords. Examples here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And those are only the tip of the iceberg. 
• And secondly, I worry about the huge hole Gabby's resignation leaves on the list of sane Arizona congressional representatives. I simply cannot forget the nutcase teabagger who ran against Gabrielle Giffords in the 2010 elections. His name is Jesse Kelly and his campaign was enough to send the fear of God through me.  In this case, just 2 pictures are worth a thousand blog posts on this idiot:

So Newt, the family values adulterer, has won the South Carolina primary

The clip below is for you Newtie ...



Via BJ's Anne Laurie

Psst: be sure and click on over to Anne's post and see what special anniversary Newtie will be celebrating tomorrow...

Tony Perkins: "Evangelicals are not judgmental."

So Mr. Tony Perkins thinks Evangelicals are not judgmental. And he says it with a straight face and without even a scintilla of shame. What a lying ass this man is ... or maybe he's just trying out the face-saving talking points he will have to use when scraping the egg off his face when his party, the party of Family Values and Sanctity of Marriage, nominates a thrice married adulterer as their candidate for President of the United States.

Why the hell MSNBC continues to invite this hate-filled, judgmental, homophobe and leader of the Family Research Council, an officially designated hate group, onto any of their shows is beyond me. I immediately turn the channel when I see this man's face. I cannot help but feel like I need to shower when I hear Tony Perkins speak, he really gives me the creeps. And I don't think I am the only one who feels this way.

How dare anyone ask Newt, the Family Values and Sanctity of Marriage protector, anything about how he personally destroyed his own multiple marriages and families

Newt, the adulterer, hypocrite, and general scumbag, throws
tantrums when  anyone calls him on it.

So Republicans in South Carolina are lovin them some Newtster right about now. Or at least it looked that way at the debates last night. Just take a look at the clip below if you don't believe me.

Just 5 minutes in and CNN's debate moderator, John King, dared to question this relatively new and very staunch Catholic and old and very staunch Family Values politician about ABC's interview with Newt's former mistress and second ex-wife, Marianne, in which she claimed Ole Newtie wanted her to "share" him with his second mistress and current third wife, Calista, in an open marriage. And WOW. Just wow. Newt's response was pure Academy Award level faux outrage and distraction from the screaming fact that he is a pig, adulterer, and a grave danger to the institution of marriage as he envisions it for everyone else - except those icky homos.  

But apparently the bible belt Southern Baptist South Carolinian Conservative Evangelicals in the audience just lapped up Newt's blustery, blowhard, aghastedness at the fact that anyone would dare ask him about his own long and sordid history as a man-whore, hypocrite, and general scumbag extraordinaire. And boy oh boy did he let loose on poor ole John for daring to do the job he was being paid to do, ask the tough questions so we voters can get to know who we are voting for.

I personally was sickened by the Newt's tantrum, but then again I am not a Republican, I am not a Republican (deserves repeating), I am not a bible-thumpin hypocrite, and I certainly don't want Obama defeated at any cost even if it means voting for a toxic, stomach-turning pig and hypocrite like Newty. But I am not the people who attended the debate last night and clapped with glee in response to Newty's "performance". They ate it up and begged for more. And poor John King ... well ... as much as it pains me to do so,  I guess I am going to be forced to quote Brent Bozell for lack of a better quote that sizes up what the audience thought happened last night, so please forgive me:

Someone get the license number of the truck that just ran John King over. 

Take your Rolaids and watch at your own risk. Barf bag might be needed:

The Gay Rights Movement

I came across this short documentary by Ryan James Yezak over at Pam's House Blend. It is a powerful 7 minute reminder of how far this country has come, but how far we still have to go when it comes to full equality for our glbt brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. The clip is very well done and very emotional (at least for me), but I do agree with Pam's quibbles about the piece, which I have snipped and posted below.

This is the first time I have encountered anything by Ryan James Yezak and I am impressed. He is definitely very talented and I think his work will have a powerful impact in the fight for full equality. I am including a link to his next project, Second Class Citizens Documentary, I hope you'll check it out.



And as for Pam's quibble, which is not directed so much at Yezak as it is at the gay rights movement in general, I'll post a snippet and you can decide if she has a legitimate point or not, I believe she does:

My quibble with the piece is about the decisions revolving around what is and isn’t included.  In a compilation of any historical movement that is only around seven few minutes, you have to select what you feel is representative, and that’s editorial license of the filmmaker. My comments aren’t really toward Yezak; his selections do represent the status quo thinking about the movement – it’s largely about gay white men.

Aside from clips of Ellen DeGeneres talking about the murder of Lawrence King (and a blink-of-an-eye clip of her coming out on her sitcom), you’d think lesbians are practically non-existent in the movement. And it’s definitely “gay rights” only – don’t expect anything related to trans folk here either. If gays and lesbians are second-class citizens, you have to wonder what society considers transgender citizens if we render them invisible from the movement (as bis already are).

And people of color? Well, aside from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (an opportunity to show gay activist and organizer of the March on Washington, from which the clip is taken, Bayard Rustin, was missed), one unmistakable landmark event in gay rights history is Lawrence v. Texas, which revolved around an interracial couple, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner. Not in the clips. Note: if Dan Choi hadn’t been in the DADT-related clips, then the vid would have been a complete whitewash. It’s kind of sad.

But my point is that editorial decision making is subjective in any film or documentary, and this particular slice of the cinematic pie probably represents the general audience’s perceptions of the movement and what it looks like as well. Will that ever organically evolve into broader vision of the movement? I hope so.

No, I am not manic depressive, I just play one when blogging

For those who have followed my blog for any significant amount of time, you know I am not the most prolific blogger in the blogosphere, nor am I a very reliable source for those who need a daily fix of seething rage. In fact anyone with even the slightest familiarity with my blogging habits might conclude I suffer from something akin to bipolar affective disorder in that I go through periods where you'd think I dropped off the face of the map never to be heard from again and other periods where I am darn right chatty and in your face when it comes to blogging.

Thankfully, I can assure you I am not suffering from any mental disorders that I know of, but as is the case with most of us, life can throw some pretty good curve balls and get in the way of even the best laid plans (to be a prolific blogger aiming a non-stop barrage of incendiary seething rage at anyone who dares to stand in my gay son's way of being a first-class citizen of this great country). And the curve ball I am dealing with right now was actually thrown back in August of 2007 when my mother fell and sustained a TBI (traumatic brain injury) that was far more serious than I realized at the time. I actually blogged about it here when it first happened and before I knew what that fall was going to mean down the road.

My mother was married and living down in Tucson at the time she fell. Her husband (of 7 years) was going downhill fast and very dependent on her. He was fast descending into his own world of dementia and alcoholism, making what she had hoped would be their golden years more of a nightmare than a fairy tale. He died while she was up here in Scottsdale going through the long and arduous task of rehabilitation and getting some semblance of her past life back.  It was not a great situation, but one she handled the same way she handled all the challenges in her life and there were plenty of them. She has always been an extremely strong and very capable woman who knew how to handle tough situations. She proved that early on when she ended up a single mom supporting and raising 5 young children and doing a damn good job of it. She amazed everyone who knew her with her beauty, her brains, her independence, her strength, and her amazing gut instincts and 6th sense about things. She was and is my Rock of Gibraltar and my best friend. We were and are very very close. I say "was" and "is" because the dynamics have changed. Now it is me who needs to be my mother's Rock of Gibraltar.

My mother has been diagnosed with dementia. She is still doing well, but the future is a great big unknown. I am scared. I am devastated. And I am mourning. I am watching the mom I have loved and adored die a slow-motion death and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Our roles have been reversed and it is me she leans on and me who will take care of her as she slowly loses her independence and her mind. And I would have it no other way.

It hurts so damn much. I don't want to lose her. But there is nothing I can do to stop what is going on. The wheels were set in motion back in 2007.

And so, I will continue to blog in a manic depressive fashion. I started this blog as an outlet for my intense anger at things I thought I could not change and I will continue to use this blog as an outlet for my intense anger at things I cannot change. There will just be a whole lot more stuff fueling my emotional outbursts. So please bear with me.  

WHAT FANTASTIC NEWS FOR MINNESOTA

Jeff Wilfahrt, father of fallen soldier Cpl Andrew Wilfahrt, and hero to all
who believe in marriage equality for everyone.

JEFF WILFAHRT IS RUNNING FOR A SEAT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES!!!!! Sorry for the shouting, but I've misplaced my bullhorn and the mountaintop I use to shout amazing news like this. And I also want to apologize for being so late in reporting this so please forgive me. I received an email the other day from the man himself, Jeff Wilfahrt,  announcing his plans to run for the MN House of Representatives in the fall of 2012 on the DFL ticket. From his email:

I am running on DFL ticket. To that end I declare myself fiscally conservative and socially progressive.

To the first point I offer the following evidence. We own our home free and clear. We put two of our children through college debt free. Aside from the revolving door of taxation we owe no one. In our leanest years we went without to achieve those ends.

To the second point; as you are aware last year in 2011 we lost our eldest son to an IED in Afghanistan. Had the GOP not put forward the Marriage Amendment for the 2012 ballot many of you would not know my name nor would you be receiving this beg letter.

And his political philosophy: 

My core philosophy is a paraphrase of the Wellstone statement; “Everyone does better when everyone does better.” We achieve the best of that through governance.

I believe in Government. It is what binds us as a society. It serves a critical function across the spectrum of our daily lives.
I believe in Labor, as in unionized. If you have benefits and the weekend off, thank the labor movement in this country in years gone by.
I believe in Education. To the point of boredom I have told our children that by definition half the population is below average (the ‘mean’ for you technocrats) and that our only hope is to raise the average.

I am definitely prochoice on the issue of abortion.
I am definitely supportive of the long overdue Equal Rights Amendment in the state constitution.
I am definitely supportive of a resolution to establish fairness on the issue of immigrants and their status.

I oppose the notion that government is our kitchen table and bound the trite idea that we must live within our means. Government to me is the lever by which we will lift ourselves upward and outward from this morass we are in.
I oppose Photo ID. As put more succinctly by others, this is a solution looking for a problem.
I oppose the marriage amendment.
I oppose the requirement of a super majority for tax increases.

Should you like to contribute to this terrific candidate's campaign, you can mail your check to:

 

12707 Chinchilla Ave
Rosemount, MN 55068

You are allowed to donate in any amount up to and not exceeding $250 per individual. The initial balance is $500, comprising $250 each from my wife and me.

Jeff and Lori Wilfahrt are huge heroes in my book and they are just what the Minnesota state legislature needs to get Minnesota back to the grand state I will always love and treasure. So out with the bad (buh-bye Minnesota Senate Majority Leader, adulterer, and Family Values Fraud, Amy Koch) and in with the good (hello Champion of marriage equality and dignity for all Minnesotans-straight or gay, Jeff Wilfahrt).

Related:
And there is no shortage of anti-gay hate going on in my beloved Minnesota either
"Andrew’s Round Table" aims to defeat MN marriage amendment
Minnesota DFL: In All Its Different Forms...Family Is About Love
Of loaves and fishes by Jeff Wilfahrt
Minnesota Poll: 55% oppose ban on gay marriage
MINNESOTA: Openly Gay State Sen. Scott Dibble: What problem are we trying to solve here?
Another Minnesota Politician and Hero
Dear Minnesota,
Thank you Jeff and Lori Wilfahrt, your son would be so proud
Revisiting my Minnesota days and hoping that Minnesota doesn't lose what sets it apart from states like Arizona
A heartfelt letter of apology from the MN gay community to recently resigned Republican Senate Majority Leader, Amy Koch
DADT Cannot End Soon Enough!
Rachel Maddow Puts A Spotlight On Minnesota's Anti-Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment And The Heroes In This Fight
CNN: Soldier leaves legacy much larger than 'he was gay'

As my family comes together for Thanksgiving, it is hard not to think of families like the Wilfahrts 

Why I Hate Religion ...

Last night my son showed me the first of the 2 video clips below and told me it is going viral on Facebook. And at this moment of posting it has had 6,984,315 viewings. It is titled Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus - Spoken Word. It is quite good and I can see why it is so appealing to young people. And I gleefully cheer its raging success on the interwebs - its message is quite powerful and quite damning.

But what is a more powerful video clip in helping me explain why I, as an older person and a mom who has a gay child, hate religion with every fiber in my body is the It Gets Better video by EricJames Borges that follows the first clip. And I will explain why this second clip sends me into a seething rage filled with nothing but contempt for those who hate and bully and destroy in the name of God. So watch both clips and then join me for some final commentary afterwards - k?





Both are great clips - no? The first one has really caught fire with the younger crowd and I am glad - it has a message I think is great. And it does a stupendous job of exposing the right-wing sanctimonious frauds who claim to be Christians as the cruel, bigoted bullies many of them really are.

But it is the second clip that gets to parents like me and here is why:

Eric James Borges, 19, of Visalia, California, succumbed to suicide Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Known as EricJames to his friends, he was an intern with the Trevor Project, and a Supplemental instructor at the College of the Sequoias.

So I am going to do what I do a lot on this blog when words fail me and quote Andrew Sullivan's comments about "what fundamentalist Christianity and social ostracism can do to a human soul". As always, his words are profound:

Eric - after making this video and struggling to overcome the impact of this psychological and physical warfare against him - killed himself two days ago at the age of 19. His own mother had tried to exorcize the gayness out of him. His own mother.

You want to know why so many of us are so impassioned to change the world that effectively killed this human being, made in the image of God? To love and save the Erics of today, and to prevent the laws and culture that reduce him - and all that he is - to the word "faggot." And this is a task real Christians need to be in the vanguard of, rather than adding to the pain and torture that seeps into the lives of so many, so young, and so vulnerable.

Why is that so hard to understand? Can anyone doubt where Jesus would be in this battle?

Congratulations - You did it!

You soloed! 

And for those who are wondering ... yes, this is the son that inspired this blog. And for those who are curious what he looks like now ...  he looks like this: