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VIDEO: Michele Bachmann Announces 2012 Presidential Run

PHOTO: AP

Right wing Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann made her official presidential announcement at the first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate Monday night on CNN.

In recent months, the anti-gay founder of the U.S. House Tea Party Caucus praised conservative Iowa voters for ousting three justices involved in the unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought marriage equality. Bachmann also supported  the Minnesota legislature's May vote to send a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage to voters.

Bachmann had formed only an "exploratory committee" and made the official announcement last night, watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

POLL: Herman Cain Leads Gingrich Among Georgia GOP Voters

PHOTO: AP/FOX

Black conservative and right-wing Tea Party favorite Herman Cain is preferred by more Georgia Republican voters than any other GOP presidential candidate, according to a new InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV poll.

Cain holds a substantial lead with 26 percent, double the second place Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is third with 13 percent, reports WSB.

Following Cain and Bachman in the poll is former Speaker Of the House Newt Gingrich, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The poll of 407 people has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. "Newt Gingrich has not had a big presence in Georgia since the 1990s, so it's understandable he's not going to be leading the pack," [Matt Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage] said.

It's been a very good week for the anti-gay Black Republican. Cain and Sarah Palin are tied for second place at 15 percent in the new Iowa PPP. Romney is first. 

Cain's off-color jokes about the "Democratic plantation" will probably attract a few more GOP voters. But do you see a Black Republican winning the Georgia primary? Haha.

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PPP Poll: Herman Cain and Palin Tied for 2nd Place in Iowa

PHOTO: AP/FOX

Right-wing Tea Party darling Herman Cain is making an impression on Iowa voters, according to the latest Public Policy Polling.

Romney polls at 21%. Sarah Palin and Herman Cain are tied for second at 15%. Newt Gingrich is 4th with 12%, Michele Bachmann 5th with 11%, Tim Pawlenty 6th with 10%, Ron Paul 7th with 8%, and Jon Huntsman 8th with 0% (only one respondent to the poll picked him.) 8% said they supported someone else or were undecided. Cain and Palin have been the biggest beneficiaries in Iowa of Huckabee and Trump’s decisions not to run. Cain is at 15% now despite not even having been included on our last poll.

Cain has vowed not to appoint any Muslims as federal judges. That's probably earning him a few  points among the GOP's social conservative base ...

The anti-gay Black Republican appeared on the CBS Morning News, watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

Black GOPer Cain: "I Will Not Appoint a Muslim Federal Judge"

Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain is one of the darlings of the Tea Party movement. The Black right-wing presidential hopeful appeared at the Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines and threw some  red meat to the social conservative audience.

Cain vowed not to appoint any Muslims as federal judges or a members of his cabinet because "there is this attempt to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government."

"It does not belong in our government. This is what happened to Europe. And little by little, to try to be politically correct, they made this little change. They made this little change. And now they’ve got a social problem that they don’t know what to do with hardly. The role of Islam in America is for those that believe in Islam to practice it and leave us alone. Just like Christianity. We have a First Amendment. And I get upset when the Muslims in this country, some of them, try to force their Sharia law onto the rest of us."

Cain also slammed the Obama Administration's health care reform, saying "The Founders got it right. ... We don’t like this radical socialism that’s being shoved down our throats."

Not sure which is more ironic: A Black Republican quoting "the Founders" that deemed him 3/5 a person?  Or a social conservative Christian theocrat upset that anyone would try to "force their [religion] onto the rest of us"? And isn't there a lil something in the Constitution about "no religious test "for office?

Watch the crazy AFTER THE JUMP ...

WISCONSIN: Walker Fires Law Firm Defending Domestic Partner Law

The Tea Party-backed, anti-gay union-busting Wisconsin governor now sets his laser sights on equality and partner benefits. Gov. Scott Walker has fired the law firm defending the state in a challenge to its domestic partnership law, reports The Capital Times.

Madison attorney Lester Pines informed Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser in a March 22 letter that his firm, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach, had been "terminated" by Walker as counsel for the state in the lawsuit filed in 2009 by Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, a conservative advocacy group. ...

Pines, who also represented Bill McConkey in his ultimately unsuccessful challenge to the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage, says he expected to be fired from the case. In fact, he is surprised it took this long. "Gov. Walker is ideologically opposed to equal rights for gay and lesbian and transgendered people as is everyone in his administration as far as I can tell and they will be probably want to take steps to ensure that gay and lesbian and transgendered people do not have equal rights," Pines said. "Everything that Gov. Walker is doing is ideological," Pines added. "I don't see that his administration has any particular respect for the law per se."

The DP registry was signed into law in 2009 by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and offers limited rights to same sex couples.

In related news: Despite a restraining order, the bill which curtails public employees' collective bargaining rights was apparently published by the Republican legislature on Friday . "The Democratic secretary of state says the law is not in effect, but Gov. Scott Walker's administration disagrees," reports UPI.

So much for the "law and order" party. They're just making it up as they go along.

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Bachmann Slams Pro-Equality Iowa Judges as "Black Robed Masters"

Speaking in Des Moines, potential GOP presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) praised conservative Iowa voters for ousting three justices involved in the unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought marriage equality to the heartland.

Bachmann slammed the justices as "black robed masters", reports Politico.

Bachmann, speaking to a group of home school advocates, credited conservatives with sending a “shot across the bow” to judges throughout the country. "You said enough is enough and sent them packing, and I’m very proud of what you’ve done," she said, repeatedly calling judges “black-robed masters.” "It’s very rare that a judge does not go back to office."

Iowans ousted the judges last fall – in what in other years would have been a routine retention election – after the April 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that made Iowa the first state in the Midwest to sanction same-sex marriage. About 54 percent voted "No," booting Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit after a massive campaign against them led by Bob Vander Plaats and the Iowa For Freedom group.

And the"black robed masters" who decided Bush v Gore?

The founder of the U.S. House Tea Party Caucus is "stepping up her activity in Iowa as a Republican presidential prospect" and will make a decision about a 2012 campaign by June, reports the Des Moines Register.

Wis. Judge Blocks Implementation of Union Busting Bill

A Wisconsin judge has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks implementation of the new Wisconsin law that restricts most public employee union collective bargaining rights, reports the Associated Press. The law pushed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker was passed in the middle of the night and without notice.

Dane County District Judge Maryann Sumi granted the restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the district attorney alleging that Republican lawmakers violated the state's open meetings law by hastily convening a special committee before the Senate passed the bill. ... Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed the lawsuit this week alleging the open meetings law was violated because 24 hours' notice wasn't given for a meeting of the special legislative committee convened to amend the bill.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

State officials said they would immediately appeal the judge's decision but GOP lawmakers declined to say whether they might also try the separate tactic of passing the bill through the Legislature again. Sumi's order prevents Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law - and allowing it to take effect - until Sumi can rule on the merits of the case. The next hearing on the case is slated for March 29.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat, on Wednesday filed his complaint seeking to block the law because he said a legislative committee violated the state's open meetings law in passing the measure. The committee voted for it March 9, the Legislature quickly passed it and Walker signed it March 11.

Sumi said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits of the case. "It seems to me the public policy behind effective enforcement of the open meeting law is so strong that it does outweigh the interest, at least at this time, which may exist in favor of sustaining the validity of the (collective bargaining law)," she said.

And speaking of open meetings and records: One of the little-known provisions of the bill allows Walker "to name political appointees to fill three dozen civil-service jobs that handle open records requests from the public", reports the Journal Sentinel.

It's time to recall Walker and these right wingers.

WATCH: Black Gay Republican Boasts, "I'm One of the Top 1%"

This morning's must-see-tv comes from Madison, Wisconsin, where union members and progressive activists are holding mass demonstrations against Republican Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to break up public employee unions.

"I've been a Republican all my life," said one Black Tea Party activist, who confronts an older liberal couple. "And I've worked with unions and union members and they're all lazy."

The homocon smugly added: "I'm one of the one percenters. ... And I'm also gay."

Classic response from the grandma union activist. "Really? Well let me shake your head. Hopefully some of this will rub off."

The homocon "brotha" must make some serious cash if he is more concerned with capital gains tax cuts and yacht depreciation credits, than, oh, the GOP's hateful racist rhetoric and their abysmal record on civil rights and equality. And one of the top one percent? #IfYouSaySoHon ...

Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

NEWS: Maryland, Wisconsin, HIV, Diana Ross, Baptiste Giabiconi

Marriage equality bill SB 116 introduced in Maryland Senate.

Baltimore NAACP wants hearing on voter discrepancies. 

Diana Ross to perform and be interviewed on Oprah.

Wisconsin Capitol blocks pro-union site.

DONATE: Union supporters low on water.

REPORT: "Nearly every GOP politician in WI is in the pockets of the billionaire Koch Bros."

Palin uses fake Facebook page to praise real Facebook page.

Clarence Thomas celebrates five years of silence during SCOTUS oral arguments.

PHB QUIZ: Do you know your Black Gay History?

TORONTO: Lecture series on Canadian Black gay history.  

Son of Baldwin posts eye-catching adverts by Wells Fargo. R20 first reported  the  rare niche ad  campaign HERE.

Connecticut to eliminate AIDS Drug Assistance Program? 

House agrees to additional $42M for ADAP.

Most detailed 3D model of HIV ever made.

CALIFORNIA: GOP lawmaker introduces bill requiring state to defend all voter-approved ballot measures. 

Israel appoints first openly gay judge.

Tyra at Harvard.

Thune won't run for president in 2012. 

Baptiste Giabiconi spotted stripping in laundromat.

Kansas drops proposed hate bill that would have allowed "individuals to discriminate against members of protected classes not included in the state statute, so long as the individual can claim that such discrimination is a protected religious belief."

Mitt Romney Wins New Hampshire Presidential Straw Poll

"Multiple Choice" Mitt Romney returns to the news. The gazillionaire former Massachusetts governor and airbrushed anti-gay 2008 presidential candidate has emerged as the favorite in the much-hyped New Hampshire straw poll.

Romney took the top spot in a presidential straw poll of the 493 members of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee. Thirty-five percent of the 273 members voting in the straw poll backed Romney, who came in second in the state's 2008 Republican primary and earlier this month held a wide lead in a poll of New Hampshire Republicans and GOP-leaning independents.

Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul came in second in the straw poll with 11 percent, followed by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty (R) with eight percent, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R) with seven percent and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) with five percent.

The straw poll, which was conducted by ABC News and Manchester-based WMUR-TV at the state party's annual gathering in Derry, asked state committee members to choose from 20 potential White House contenders, including those such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) who have ruled out of the running. Write-in candidates were also permitted.

The presidential primary and caucus season is a year away and experts caution against reading too much into the results. "It’s an initial taking of the temperature of the activists in New Hampshire," University of New Hampshire political science professor  Dante Scala tells the Boston Herald. "But I would caution reading too much into it. I’m sure the situation is very fluid right now even among activists. There are going to be a lot of twists and turns between this January and next."

Fewer than 300 state committee members voted in the poll, but 421 members "cast ballots in the race for state party chairman" and selected a Tea Party activist as state party chairman, adds the Wasington Post.