Rod 2.0:Beta

Log Cabin Republicans "Blast" Obama for "Throwing a Pride Party"

After ignoring and defending the anti-legacy of the Bush-Cheney Administration for eight years, the capitals gains tax cut-obsessed queens at the Log Cabin Republicans continue their march toward irrelevance and "blast" the Obama Administration for "throwing a Pride Party.' Priceless.

"President Obama's comments smack of a lack of authenticity and true understanding of the issues that face our community,” states Terry Hamilton, Chairman of the Board of Log Cabin Republicans.

"While the President draws attention to advances resulting from the Stonewall Riots 40 years ago, LGBT Americans are still being denied the most basic protections on his watch today. Under the direct order of his appointees, mission-critical gays and lesbians are still being kicked out of the military, families are being torn apart due to unjust immigration laws and life-long partners are still not being recognized in family planning matters."

Log Cabin Republicans spokesperson, Charles T. Moran makes the following statement: "It is pretty entertaining to watch the President throw himself a "Pride Party" after taking a pass on acting upon several issues that would have fulfilled his promises to our Community. He seems to be proud of advances made by the LGBT Community that he had nothing to do with.”

Funny. Don't recall any angry emails from the gay Republicans "blasting" the Bush Administration for gay-bashing their way to the midterm elections by proposing a marriage amendment.  There were quite a few "entertaining" press releases defending John McCain and Sarah Palin after they supported Proposition 8, objected to the right of gay couples to adopt children, and spoke out against the gay "lifestyle", among other things.

FOX "News" Identifies Disgraced GOP Gov. Sanford as "Democrat"

FOX "News" continues to operate in an alternative universe, especially when a Republican falls out of favor. Disgraced South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford was identified as a "Democrat" at his afternoon press conference. Media Matters reports the right-wing cable news channel "later correctly identified" the governor as a Republican.

Mark Foley and John McCain are among the many other Republican politicians whose party identification was switched on-air.

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Anti-Gay South Carolina Republican Governor Admits to Affair

Mark Sanford, the anti-gay South Carolina Republican governor who blasted former President Bill Clinton and demanded his resignation in the Monica Lewinsky affair, becomes the latest "family values" conservative to admit to lying and adultery. Sanford confessed to his own "extramarital affair with someone in Argentina" after mysteriously disappearing for almost a week.

Sanford's aides first claimed they didn’t know where he was and later maintained "he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail but unreachable." The New York Times reports the press conference "began rather oddly", with Sanford "rambling about his love for the Appalachian trail" and pleading "exhaustion."

Sanford is a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage adoptions by gay couples—and adoptions by gay couples—and once claimed he taught his four sons "marriage was something between a man and a woman." Obviously that was before the lesson that it's "okay" to abandon your children over Father's Day weekend for a hookup.

Only 12 days ago, Sanford appeared on MSNBC and said the Republican Party should not change its views on same-sex marriage. AFTER THE JUMP, watch that clip, plus via Think Progress, Sanford's teary confessional this afternoon on CNN. Don't cry for me Argentina .. the truth was I never left you ...

Report: Adulterous, Anti-Gay Sen. John Ensign Blackmailed for Cash

Sen. John Ensign, the anti-gay conservative Nevada Republican who blasted former President Bill Clinton and demanded his resignation in the Monica Lewinsky affair, went public with his own extramarital affair only because he was blackmailed, the Associated Press reports.

The husband of Ensign's former mistress—Doug Hampton, a former aide to the senator—allegedly made "exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits" through an attorney. Ensign also helped Hampton "get two jobs" during the nine-month period the Republican senator acknowledges carrying on the affair. Ensign gave his mistress, Cindy Hampton, two pay raises during this time. In addition the National Republican Senate Committee, which Ensign chaired, "made twice-monthly payments, generally $500 apiece to Brandon Hampton," Hampton’s son.

Ensign is a "staunch Christian conservative" who voted for the proposed federal marriage amendment that would define marriage as "one-man, one-man." Not sure are blackmail and extortion considered good "Christian family values." Adultery surely isn't. John Ensign, another middle-aged poster boy for the  "Do As I Say, Not as I Do" so-called "family values" party.

Neo-Nazi White Supremacist Kills Security Guard at Holocast Museum

A security guard is killed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum after an 88-year-old white supremacist and neo-Nazi opened fire with a rifle.

"The gunman was identified by law enforcement officials as James W. von Brunn, who embraces various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups and at one point waged a personal war with the federal government. The gunman and the security guard were both taken to nearby George Washington University Hospital, with Mr. von Brunn handcuffed to a gurney, witnesses said. The guard, Stephen T. Johns, died a short time later. Museum officials said he had worked there for six years. von Brunn [is] in critical condition."

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes von Brunn as a "raging anti-Semite and racist" with "a long history of associations with prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers." In 1983, von Brunn was convicted on attempted kidnapping, burglary, assault and weapons charges and served six years in prison. This was for attempting to kidnap the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.

This is the second fatal attack by a right-wing extremist in as many weeks. In April, Rod 2.0 reported an intelligence assessment by the Department of Homeland Security that warned right-wing extremism is on the rise. Conservatives demanded the Obama Administration tone down the report's conclusions. 

WHEN YOU JUMP, watch Rachel Maddow profile the shooter James von Brunn, the initial White House reaction to the shooting, FOX News'  examines the shooter's racist white supremacist writings and another FOX report questions the conservative blowback after the DHS report on right-wing extremism.

26 North Carolina Legislators Sit Out of Helms Resolution Vote

Jesse Helms continue to remain as polarizing in death as he did in life. Twenty-six North Carolina legislators boycotted a vote on a resolution honoring the life of the late racist, anti-gay senator, "a rare gesture of protest for one of the dozens of honorary resolutions the Legislature approves in each two-year session", reports the News & Observer.

Most holdouts were black Democrats like Sen. Floyd McKissick, who said Helms opposed civil rights for blacks too long and too hard for him to forget. "I could have never voted in favor of a resolution honoring Sen. Helms because of his divisive history and his anti-civil-rights principals," said McKissick, D-Durham. McKissick said he instead skipped the resolution's debate as a quiet protest.

Sixteen out of the state House's 20 black members boycotted the Helms resolution, as did five out of nine black senators. They were joined by a handful of white Democrats and the only American Indian, a Democrat. The Senate voted 41-1 for the Helms resolution, and the House 98-0.

The lone vote against the resolution came from Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, the Legislature's first openly gay member. Boseman says she remembers Helms for fighting increased funding to fight HIV/AIDS, voting against the Civil Rights Act and opposing a federal holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Jesse Helms died last year on the Fourth of July at age 86. The conservative icon and civil rights foe served 30 years in the Senate and gained notoriety largely through his opposition to racial equality and gay rights.

NC Lawmakers Divide on Resolution [N&O] 

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Marriage Vote Likely in New Republican-Controlled NYS Senate

Updating a major news development that broke over the past two days when were off: A vote on same-sex marriage is still likely to happen after Monday's dramatic Republican coup in the New York Senate.

Pedro Espada Jr., the new State Senate president  says in a radio interview he personally wanted to bring a marriage equality bill to a vote. "I am for same-sex marriage," Espada tells Talk 1300 AM. "There will be no guarantees and no quid pro quos, I think there will be a vote of conscience of the senators.”

On Monday evening, and several dissident Democrats formed a governing coalition with the Senate Republicans after a coup on the Senate floor. Espada, a same-sex marriage proponent, was included along with Carl Kruger, a marriage equality foe and Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who previously supported marriage equality.

Dean Skelos, the new majority leader, opposes gay marriage but previously instructed his caucus to vote how they pleased on the issue. Newsday reports Espada "didn't disagree" and says "we should vote up or down on bills, that's part of the reforms we've brought." The previous majority leader, Malcolm Smith, vowed only to bring the bill to a floor when it has the 32 votes it needs to pass.

It is unclear if the bill has enough support to pass . NY1's vote tally has been fairly stagnant, with the last count showing 20 senators in favor, 28 against, and 14 who are undecided or won't say.

ACT UP to Protest Budget Cuts in California HIV/AIDS Funding

ACT/UP, Aids Project Los Angeles, the AIDS Housing Alliance and other advocates plan rallies in Los Angeles (June 5) and Sacramento (June 10) to protest Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive, proposed budget cuts from state HIV/AIDS funding. 

California faces a $24 billion deficit and Schwarzenegger's health care budget cuts target "everything from housing and medical treatment to access to drugs and prevention services", reports the Bay Area Reporter. "The governor's latest proposal cut[s] $67.8 million from state HIV programs and ask[s] for an additional $12.3 million cut in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. ADAP's total budget is $362 million, with the general fund contribution from the state accounting for $96 million. But federal allocations for ADAP are based on how much California budgets toward the program, so any reduction in state dollars would mean less money for ADAP from national revenue sources"

Also: On Friday June 5, HIV/AIDS advocates and patients will be at the state Capitol in the Legislature's Budget Conference Committee as the lawmakers vote on whether to accept Schwarzenegger's proposed health care cuts.

Where Does the New Army Secretary Stand on "Don't Ask"?

This afternoon President Obama named Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) as his Secretary of the Army. McHugh is the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee and his district includes the Ft. Drum Army Base.

McHugh will be responsible for addressing the Army's failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy but his congressional record provides few clues on his position. McHugh's record on gay and lesbian rights is relatively poor, Law Dork reports. "In the 110th Congress, McHugh was not a co-sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would have repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In fact, McHugh on received an unimpressive 15% on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard for the 110th. He was, however, one of 35 Republicans to vote 'yes' on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act." The congressman also voted twice for the proposed constitutional ban on marriage equality, and once against gay adoptions in Washington D.C.

At today's White House press briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs assured The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld that McHugh agrees with the president that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ... should be "changed."

ELEVELD: On the nomination of Representative McHugh, last year, during the "don't ask, don't tell" hearings, he expressed a deep desire to move forward with a review of the policy and he said, "I would hope and encourage both the Department of Defense and the various services to reconsider the reluctance they have displayed to this point." Was a review of the policy something that the president took into consideration with this nomination and will Congressman McHugh be encouraged to move forward with talks inside the department?

GIBBS: I think it's obvious from those statements and other statements that Congressman McHugh has made that he and the president are in agreement on changing the policy they both don't think is working for this country right now. And it's a priority of the president's and I think for any number of reasons we have a nominee that we hope will be confirmed quickly and will have—ah, based on his background and experience—will help to improve the lives of the Army.

 

AFTER THE JUMP, watch Obama introduce the new army secretary, and, via Think Progress, watch the White House press briefing q&a. Not sure what to make of this. On the downside, the administration continues to appoint Republicans to lead the military and that reinforces the discredited notion the GOP is (allegedly) better on national security. On the upside, in terms of DADT, maybe it will help to have conservatives leading the "change" on the policy. This could be a shrewd plan to blunt Republican opposition to the "change."

Cheney Comes Out for Marriage Equality at National Press Club

Speaking at the National Press Club this afternoon, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the Darth Vader of presidential politics, offered a qualified endorsement for same-sex marriage, reports Politico.

"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay, and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this ...  don't support."

These comemnts echo similar statements made by Cheney in 2000 and 2004 when he (in)famously out-flanked George W. Bush to the left on LGBT rights. Cheney also offered this tepid explanation for why the Bush Administration pursued a federal marriage amendment: "I think his perception was that the courts, in effect, were beginning to change, without allowing the people to be involved. The courts were making the judgment for the entire country

AFTER THE JUMP, via Queerty and Joe.My.God, watch the former vice-president who approved torture, waterboarding and warrantless surveillance "endorse" same-sex marriage. There is also a transcript via Politico. Cheney says nothing about DOMA so perhaps his neo-conservative largesse only extends to marriage and civil unions at the state level.