Schwarzenegger’s Veto Sudoku
A minor buzz was generated yesterday by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto message to the state assembly: It seems that, if one ignores the first two and last two paragraphs, there's a hidden message spelled out by the first letter of the remaining sentences. If that's too complicated, Kevin Drum has a version with the message circled in red. Speculation is that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 29, 2009 08:06
Post Trying to Macaca McDonnell
Republican Bob McDonnell enjoys a rather sizable lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in his race for Virginia's governorship. But the Washington Post, which went after George Allen with amazing fervor in his 2006 race against longshot Jim Webb, is doing what it can to fix that. First, it ran a series of articles about a master's thesis McDonnell ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 9, 2009 11:21
Bill Clinton Interrupted at Netroots Nation
Lane Hudson felt justified in interupting former President Bill Clinton's remarks at Netroots Nation to scream questions about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage Act on the grounds that there was no Q&A session scheduled and he was therefore "being held as a captive audience." Julian Sanchez, also in attendance and quite sympathetic to Hudson's views on both ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 14, 2009 11:47
Overstatement of the Day – Gay Rights Edition
Andrew Sullivan: The survival of my own marriage is entirely in the hands of the federal government. I have no right to stay in my own home with my own husband - just the government's permission until they choose to revoke it. Gays do not have core constitutional rights in America. They have no right even to a secure home. And ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 28, 2009 15:03
Sextortion in High School
GQ has a rather weird piece about something that may or may not be a trend: High school kids using the Internet to extort sexual favors. This one has a twist, which I'll lot Conor Friedersdorf summarize: Tony Stancl, an 18 year old high school senior who created a fake female identity on Facebook, flirted with male classmates by Internet chat, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 17, 2009 15:45
Taking Ockham’s Razor to Sarah Palin Haters
Since his departure from the Washington Times, Stacy McCain has become perhaps the most skilled attention whore in all the blogosphere. Yeah, I just wrote that. And put it on the Internet. In seeking to explain why Ken Layne and Andrew Sullivan seem to loathe Sarah Palin and, in particular, make sport of her Down Syndrome suffering infant son, Trig, Stacy puts ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 07:45
Quote of the Day – Turnabout is Fair Gay Edition
"We should not allow Republicans to marry. It undercuts the entire institution of marriage." Michael Reynolds of Sideways MenckenPosted in Outside The Beltway on June 24, 2009 15:28
Obama Extends Benefits to Unmarried Partners
Federal workers will now get benefits for their "partner" whether they are married or not, Scott Butterworth reports for WaPo's 44 blog. President Obama will announce tomorrow that he is extending federal benefits to include unmarried domestic partners of federal workers, including same-sex partners, White House officials said tonight. Obama will sign an executive order implementing the change in the Oval Office, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 17, 2009 07:42
Gay Bigamy Now!
Since well before I thought the matter one for serious consideration, Andrew Sullivan has been making insightful, compelling arguments in favor of same-sex marriage. This, alas, is not one of them. A reader makes an excellent point: One thing that struck me about the DOJ's argument that DOMA does not violate the equal protection clause since homosexuals are still able to marry ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 14, 2009 07:47
Court Rejects DADT Challenge
Gays looking to get the Supreme Court's help in being allowed to openly serve in the military have been rebuffed. The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 8, 2009 10:52
New Hampshire Legalizes Gay Marriage, 6th State
New Hampshire has become the 6th state where gays can marry and the 2nd to make this change through the legislative process. Traditionally conservative New Hampshire today became the sixth state in the nation -- and the fifth state in New England -- where same-sex couples will be allowed to marry. "Today we're standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 4, 2009 07:37
Gay Teen Prom Queen
The YahooNews headline "Openly gay teen voted prom queen at LA high school" did its intended task of enticing me to click to read the AP story: An openly gay teen was voted prom queen at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School in a campaign that began as a stunt but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 28, 2009 15:50
California Supremes Uphold Prop 8 AND Gay Marriage
In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court "upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage" but it "also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed," Lisa Leff reports for AP. [caption id="attachment_36613" align="alignright" width="399" caption="People wait in line for a decision from the California State Supreme Court on the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 26, 2009 14:58
Lt. Choi Refuses to (Continue) Lie
Andrew Sullivan gives Quote For the Day honors to gay Army 1st Lieutenant Dan Choi for this excerpt from his Open Letter to President Obama and Every Member of Congress: I have learned many lessons in the ten years since I first raised my right hand at the United States Military Academy at West Point and committed to fighting for my ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 12, 2009 12:50
Obama ‘Fires’ Gay Arabic Linguist
UCSB political scientist Aaron Belkins' HuffPo piece "Obama To Fire His First Gay Arabic Linguist" has drawn quite a bit of blogospheric attention. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and officer in the Army National Guard who is fluent in Arabic and who returned recently from Iraq, received notice today that the military is about to fire him. Why? Because he ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 8, 2009 07:34
