Random Musings

Okay, so I don’t wanna brag, but the other day at work people were talking about Two-and-a-Half Men — and I was wondering why — when I realized that I have never seen one single episode, either Sheen or post-Sheen.

I felt better about myself after that.

[photo source]

Over there to Alabama, a state Senate committee has approved a bill to take Alabama probate judges out of the wedding license business following that pesky Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

The Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee approved the bill to do away with state-issued marriage licenses, and saying that now people who wish to marry will file marriage contracts at probate offices.

Seriously, you’re all still so pissy about same-sex marriage that you’re gonna change all marriages to being civil contracts.

Grow up asshats.

In this week’s Hot Men section, we have [clockwise from top left] Simon Kassianides, who appeared on this week’s episode of the highly improbable and highly badly edited Zoo, playing a hot French man in a nice snug pair of Jeans. Yum.

We have 18-year-old — and he’s so young I feel kinda pervy — So You Think You Can Dance contestant Derek Piquette. But he does have gorgeous eyes and a beautiful smile, so, well, yeah, still kinda pervy of me.

So, let's skip along to Rene Rosado guesting on Major Crimes, and y’all know how I feel about the Hispanic men, so, um, yeah, feeling less pervy.

And lastly, we found Martin Cummins on that other highly improbable and highly badly and written show The Whispers, playing the President of the United Sates. Now, since I’m feeling kinda pervy, let’s just say that I would “Lewinsky” that.

Sorry.

[Derek Piquette, Simon Kassianides, Rene Rosado, Martin Cummins]

Well, as I live and breathe …

LOL.Is.Over. Seriously, apparently the young’uns on social media have decided that LOL—AKA laughing out loud—is done because it’s too old school.

The new LOL is a choice of ha ha, he he, an appropriate emoji, or maybe just this: =)

I’m just happy to not see LOL again. Oh, and no one … no one ... use it in your comments or there will be blood!!!

In an update on an earlier story on ISBL:

A federal judge has just ordered South Carolina Attorney General, and Asshat, Alan Wilson to pay more than $135,000 in legal fees for Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley, a same-sex couple who challenged the state ban on same-sex marriage. 

No word on whether or not the state will pay the $92,000 in legal fees incurred by Tracie Goodwin and Katie Bradacs, who also sued the state to have their marriage recognized.

Um, Alan? Told you so, told you so, told you, told you, told you so.

If …. Carlos + Summer Cold - Surgical Mask = Bob + Summer Cold

And … Bob + Summer Cold = The Hounds of Hell Unleashed

Then … Carlos + Summer Cold - Surgical Mask = The Hounds of Hell Unleashed

Kim Davis, the homophobic Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because the Baby Jeebus told her not to — though, apparently, Baby Jeebus had no issue with Kim David being married four times — has been ordered to stop being a dick and do her job or get the hell out.

Not in those words, mind you, that was just me.

Kim Davis is appealing ...the ruling … not in appearance because that’s a whole other kinda fugly.

[photo source]

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson Is A Sore Loser

As allowed by law, the two couples — Katherine Bradacs and Tracie Goodwin, Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley — who challenged South Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban in federal court are seeking some almost $250,000 in court costs but Attorney General Alan Wilson is once again balking at following the law.

Wilson was like a dog with a bone when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that South Carolina couldn’t deny same-sex couples the right to marry, or couples who married out of state to have their marriages recognized here. Wilson appealed that ruling and, as we all know now, lost that appeal, but now he’s refusing to pay the court costs … once more costing the taxpayers of the state money.

His fight cost us money, and now his refusal to pay — which he will almost certainly lose — will cost us the money for that trial as well as the $250,000 being asked for by those two couples.

Let it go, Alan. You lost. We all knew you’d lose, and yet you fight and lose and then fight and lose again. And you’re going to lose here as well, and then We The People will be stuck with that bill, too.

Wilson says in papers filed last week that he was merely defending the law of the land as it stood before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on gay marriage in late June except that wasn’t entirely true, once the district court ruled last fall. But Alan Wilson is a loser — look at me, I’m Donald [t]Rump — who doesn’t like to lose, but seems to be able to only do that.

Pay the money, Alan; we won the right to marry and the plaintiffs in both cases deserve to have their legal fees taken care of by the state.

Build a bridge and get over it.

WCBD News 2

Photo source

SC Taxpayers Billed For Both Sides Of The Same-Sex Marriage Fight

I’ve often claimed that, down here in South Carolina, it’s not the heat, but the stupidity that’ll get you, and, well, my point has been proven yet again.

As has been happening around the good old US of A lately, when a state's same-sex marriage ban is ruled unconstitutional that state’s government officials unleash the hounds, er, lawyers, to defend the ban, to request stays and to file appeals

And those of us who live in those states, like South Carolina, get a little annoyed by that, because since our Attorney General Alan Wilson has refused to admit he’s lost, We The People of South Carolina, through our tax dollars, will pay for those appeals and the stays and the lawsuits. But, what many don’t realize is that it is not just the defense case the taxpayers will fund; we may also be responsible for the legal bills of the gay couples who successfully challenged South Carolina’s marriage ban.

See, federal law requires the losing party in cases involving basic constitutional rights to pay the legal fees of the winning plaintiffs and South Carolina just got its first bill from the seven Charleston attorneys who successfully challenged the state's same-sex marriage ban. Those attorneys have filed a petition in federal court seeking $152,709 in attorneys’ fees, which, if they are successful, will be paid for by, ahem, We The People of South Carolina.

And, since Wilson has vowed to continue defending South Carolina’s same-sex marriage laws in several other cases in both of the state’s federal district courts, those plaintiff's lawyers can ask to be reimbursed for their costs as well. And when Wilson loses those cases, all the way to the Supreme Court if he gets his way, We The People of South Carolina might be on the hook for those costs, too.

Yup, we’re paying to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and we’re paying to have the ban declared unconstitutional; we pay both sides.

But, and this is where I forget about how stupid some in South Carolina can be and a great big grin spreads across my face, any monies these seven attorneys are awarded will not be accepted by them; instead, they have announced plans to donate their fees to the LGBT rights groups that hired them to sue the state, including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the South Carolina Equality Coalition.

So, and this is where I smile, because I imagine this will irk Alan Wilson even more, the harder he fights to keep the ban in place, the more money it costs the people of South Carolina, and the more money gets donated to LGBT groups in the state.

Hmmm, maybe not so stupid after all?

via NCRM

Random Musings

Since becoming husband-and-husband, I’ve found renewed joy in my life with Carlos because, well, I get to gaslight him all the time now!

Like the day I was home and he called to say he was running late, and I acted as though I couldn’t hear him.

Then, when he got home, and I asked why he was late and hadn’t called, he said he had. I said he didn’t; he said he did. It went on like that for a couple of m minutes before he whipped out his phone and called the house phone because he wanted to check if it was working.

And I laughed, telling him that I was gas-lighting him.

Like the time he said he had to go to Lancaster for work, then to Cassatt, and then back to Camden. He called to tell me he was back in Camden and I asked what he meant by that.

Carlos: I told you I was going to Lancaster.

Bob: No, you didn’t.

Carlos: Yes, I did.

Bob: No, you said you were going to Cassatt and then back home.

Carlos: I did go to Cassatt.

Bob: You went to Cassatt? Why didn’t you tell me?

Gaslight. Not that there’s a huge sum of money I’ll come into when I have Carlos declared mentally unstable; I’m just doing it for fun.

"I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process."

Good.Bye. And I hope we never hear from you again.

Tony Dungy, the former NFL coach-turned-NBC analyst who said he wouldn't have drafted Michael Sam because he wouldn't want to "deal with all of it" — meaning the media attention — said this week that he would welcome wife-beater Ray Rice onto a team.

So, you can beat up a woman and still be an NFL star but you can’t be gay.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson yesterday petitioned the Fourth Circuit Court, asking that they not rule on his marriage appeal until the Supreme Court issues on a decision on the cases out of Sixth Circuit. Wilson, like his counterparts in several other states, is desperately trying to keep his case alive so that marriage equality can be undone should SCOTUS rule negatively.

Although he’s wasting taxpayer money and doesn’t seem to realize that South Carolina is not bound by decisions of the Sixth Circuit Court.

Seriously, Alan, give up. The Queers have landed legally married in South Carolina!

Back in the olden days — well, late last century — it was always a bit surprising to see interracial couples on scripted TV shows. Not surprising to see them in real life, mind you, but TV always seems to lag behind the real word. I still remember the shock of the Willis’ on The Jefferson’s back in the day.

So, imagine my surprise when two new shows — NBC’s Marry Me and Bravo’s first scripted show The Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce — each featured an interracial couple.

And a gay one, to boot — clockwise from top left: Dan Bucatinsky and Tim Meadows from Marry Me, and Patrick Heusinger and J. August Richards from GG2D.

A friend posted this thing on Facebook that you should Google your first name and the word ‘meme’ following. Then go to images and post the first image that comes up.

That one, up there, was the first image that came up, but that — down there — was Number Four and, I felt, far funnier and more apropos.

So, let me get this white: in America you can be shot to death for stealing cigarillos from a store in Missouri, and you can be choked to death for selling “loosies” — single cigarettes — on Staten Island?

Oh, only if you’re Black in America.

AT&T U-verse had a Free HBO weekend over Thanksgiving and so I recorded all the episodes of The Leftovers, which is based on a book I’d read last year about a Rapture-like disappearance of 2% of the world’s population.

Good book, but the show features one Justin Theroux, an ISBL hottie, and star of a Would You Hit It post. Justin appears shirtless, pants-less and nude.

Bob is intrigued.

Down in Houston, two teenage carjackers were met with a wee surprise when trying to steal a car: a stick shift.

The two morons held the motorist at gunpoint trying to take his car, and then demanded that he tell them how to drive it. After the driver provided a few instructions, the teens ordered him out of the vehicle, drove off, probably riding the clutch all the way, and the driver called the police.

Both morons were arrested for carjacking and stupidity.

Speaking of Texas, county clerks in Fort Worth and Houston say they won't issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even if a federal judge lifts his stay of a ruling striking down Texas' marriage bans.

Bob says you should then be fired for not doing your jobs, and then you can whine about how, while not following the law, and denying Gays the legal right to marry, your own rights were trampled on.

Then you can STFU.

I stopped by Blobby’s Blog this week — on World AIDS Day — and he had written a post and then ended it with a Rosanne Cash song, “I Want A Cure” as a way of tribute.

And that little moment triggered the song that’s been playing on a loop in my head for the week. The song, “Tennessee Flat-Top Box” was one from Rosanne’s childhood — she remembered it being sung to her as a lullaby — and she longed to record it. When she did she found out that old lullaby had been written by her late father, Johnny Cash.

UPDATE: South Carolina Marriage ... Where We Stand Today

Where do we stand … let’s see:

Last week, in an historic advance for marriage equality, and LGBT Rights, in South Carolina, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. Still, he also held up his ruling until noon this Thursday to give Alan Wilson, South Carolina's Asshat Attorney General who is defending the state's ban, time to appeal.

After Gergel’s ruling, Wilson filed notice that he plans to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and then asked the appellate justices to issue an emergency stay to halt same-sex marriages in South Carolina while the appeal is pending. Wilson believes that allowing same-sex marriages would cause "irreparable harm" to the state because we won’t have that right if the appellate court overturns Gergel's decision.

See, it would hurt South Carolina if The Gays could get married because the Fourth Circuit Court could overturn Gergel’s ruling making same-sex marriage still illegal even though the Fourth Circuit Court has already ruled that marriage bans are unconstitutional.

How does Alan Wilson not see that his circular argument has absolutely no merit?

He doesn’t, but the attorneys for Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her fiancée Nichols Bleckley, do see it, and have asked the Fourth circuit Court to reject Wilson's request and allow the weddings to begin on November 20th:

"Currently 34 states permit same-sex couples to marry, or recognize marriages legally celebrated by same-sex couples in other states. If history is any indicator, the State's claim of potential harm here is overstated, if not completely contrived."

Oh, it’s completely contrived, as is Wilson’s claim that South Carolina’s Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is like no other ban in any other state anywhere — including states where the bans have been overturned — and therefore should be allowed to let stand.

Seriously.

Malissa Burnette, lead attorney for Condon, feels very optimistic that the Fourth Circuit will uphold Gergel's ruling since it’s the same court that struck down Virginia's ban last month. And, as for Wilson’s argument that the State’s ban differs from all other bans, Burnette is quick to point out that it is nearly identical to the ban struck down in Virginia.

South Carolina is the only state covered by the 4th circuit still contesting same-sex marriages because, well, Alan Wilson. He is the only thing standing in the way of equality for gay and lesbian South Carolinians.

So, barring a higher court's intervention, the day after tomorrow gay couples across South Carolina will be able to march down to their local courthouses to apply for marriage licenses. It could be a great day, and a great sign that South Carolina is pulling its head out of the Dark Ages and joining the rest of the world in the 21st Century.

Funny Sidenote: the judge who ruled that South Carolina’s ban is unconstitutional, Richard Gergel, has previously received support from one Lindsey Graham, one of South Carolina’s biggest Same-Sex Marriage opponents. Graham, who has previously expressed support for a national constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, has yet to comment on Gergel’s ruling.

Still, it’s funny that our own ambiguously gay Senator, who says he isn’t gay and says marriage is one man and one woman, is a great supporter of the judge who ruled differently.

I imagine Miss Lindsey is clutching her pearls about now.

Gay marriages shouldstart Thursday without court intervention, attorneys argue

Gay Marriage Could Happen By Thursday In SC

South Carolina Marriage Equality: Where We Stand

So, we had kind of a big day here in South Carolina yesterday after Judge Richard Gergel, a US District Court judge, struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban saying it violates the U.S. Constitution. Gergel did, however, issue a stay on his order until noon on November 20th, allowing for an appeal, and until that time no marriage licenses can be issued.

So, the dust is settling, but while we all celebrated the news, the story is far from over.

As expected, before the ink was dry on Gergel’s ruling, South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson said he will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court. And that’s good, because the Fourth Circuit Court has already ruled that marriage bans are unconstitutional, and that ruling applies to Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina — who chose not to fight the ruling — and to Maryland, where marriage equality is already legal; only rabid dog Alan Wilson, is still fighting.

"Today's ruling comes as no surprise and does not change the constitutional obligation of this Office to defend South Carolina law, including, but not necessarily limited to, appeal to the Fourth Circuit." — Alan Wilson

This case was brought by SC Equality and Lambda Legal after Colleen Condon and her partner, Nichols Bleckley, applied for a marriage license in Charleston; a local probate court judge agreed to receive the couple's application and filings from other gay couples, and another judge, this one in Columbia, also began issuing licenses for same-sex couples.

But Wilson disagreed, and filed a motion that same day asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to stop the licenses from being issued, which it did the next day. That court said a separate decision being heard by the US District Court in South Carolina must be heard first before the state's ban could be tossed out.

And that case involves Katie Bradacs and her wife, Tracie Goodwin-Bradacs — and is the case for which The Will of the People Fund was created — who were married in 2012 in Washington DC and are suing to have their marriage recognized in this state. U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs is still considering that case and a ruling is expected soon.

But Gergel's ruling states that South Carolina’s law infringes on the US Constitution's due process and equal protection clause, and his order stops Wilson and any other law enforcement body in the state from enforcing the current ban.

"This court has carefully reviewed the language of South Carolina's constitutional and statutory ban on same sex marriage and now finds that there is no meaningful distinction between the existing South Carolina provisions and those of Virginia declared unconstitutional. The Court finds that [the Virginia decision] controls the disposition of the issues before this court and establishes, without question, the right of Plantiffs to marry as same-sex partners. The arguments of Defendent Wilson simply attempt to relitigate matters already addressed and resolved in [the Virginia decision.]”  — Richard Gergel

And that’s where Wilson is looking more and more like a fool. He seeks to appeal Gergel’s ruling to the Fourth Circuit Court which has already ruled, by virtue of its decision in Bostic v Virginia, that South Carolina’s marriage ban — and, really, all marriage bans are unconstitutional; Wilson maintains that South Carolina's law is unique:

"Our state's laws on marriage are not identical to those in other states. Therefore, based on the time-honored tradition of federalism, this Office believes South Carolina's unique laws should have their day in court at the highest appropriate level."

That’s not actually true; the ban in our state is exactly like bans in other states — notably North Carolina — where the people voted to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, and where the ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court has already struck those laws down. Wilson stands in direct contrast to attorneys general in both North Carolina and West Virginia, who refused to defend their own states' bans following the Fourth Circuit ruling.

Alan Wilson is just a dog with a bone; and a hard-on for keeping gay couples as second class citizens in South Carolina. But, as we’ve seen in rulings by both the Fourth Circuit Court and the US Supreme Court — which just ruled that the stay on same-sex marriages is Kansas is over — Wilson will end up being swatted on the nose by the US Constitution.

Bad dog ... or, as Tuxedo says:

Judge Strikes Down SC Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Yep, Alan Wilson Is Still Defending The Gay Marriage Ban
SC Attorney General To Appeal Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

ISBL Asshat of the Week: South Carolina AG Alan Wilson

But first …

I received an email last night from Carrie Warner, one of the attorneys for The Will of the People Fund case, Bradacs v Haley, with some encouraging news via Carrie Warner, attorney for Bradacs v Haley: 

Last night, the judge in our case, Judge Michelle Childs, has dismissed Governor Haley as a Defendant but has otherwise kept our lawsuit intact. This is good news, because if our case was going to be dismissed, as the state alleges it should, that would have happened last night.

But, by virtue of the fact that Judge Childs issued a 20 page opinion, it appears that she is going to rule quickly on our Motion for Summary Judgment. Now, South Carolina, via its Attorney general Alan Wilson, will move to appeal this case should we win, but it seems likely that we are headed in that direction.

Now … on to our Asshat ….

Alan Wilson has filed another motion to dismiss all marriage equality lawsuits in South Carolina based on the notion that last week's Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling that upholds marriage bans in other states. Wilson wrote that the decision by the appeals court in Cincinnati supports "the clear constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans under the Constitution."

He added that the decision "emphasizes that marriage is inherently a union of a man and a woman, and that whether that definition is expanded to include same-sex couples is a decision for the states including their people and their legislatures."

So, what besides his bigotry and intolerance and fight against equality makes Alan Wilson this week’s ISBL Asshat?

The fact that he’s arguing that since the Sixth Circuit Court is upholding marriage bans in four other states should overrule the ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court, which handles appeals in South Carolina, as well as North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.

He wants South Carolina’s ban upheld because the Sixth Circuit Court said so, but he refuses to obey the law set down by the Fourth Circuit Court.

Alan Wilson, ISBL Asshat of the Week.

source

What's Up With Marriage Equality In South Carolina?

It was almost a month ago that the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban; and it’s been just a few weeks since other states in that court’s jurisdiction have complied with the ruling, with both West Virginia and North Carolina deciding to let equality stand.

But one state refuses to budge and, well, any guesses which one it is? If you said South Carolina, order some grits and take a seat, you win.

Here’s what’s happening in South Carolina, where it’s not the heat it’s the stupidity.

In Columbia Federal Court, we are awaiting movement on the case of Bradacs v Nikki Haley and Alan Wilson, et al. This is the case for which The Will of the People Fund — on which Carlos and I are board members — was created.

The case is simple: South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Katherine Bradacs and her wife, US Air Force retiree Tracie Goodwin-Bradacs want South Carolina to recognize their legal marriage that was performed in Washington DC back in 2012.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a filing last month that the couple is suing the wrong people in the wrong court. He argued marriage is an issue for the state courts and that he and Governor Haley, the named defendants, lack the enforcement power over the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

But in a response this week, Carrie Warner and John Nichols, attorneys for the Bradacs, renewed their request that Judge Michelle Childs rule in their favor without a trial. They argued that federal suits are allowed against state officers who enforce unconstitutional laws and since the governor and attorney general are required to enforce the state constitution, they are the proper defendants.

And, down in Charleston, Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley applied for a same-sex marriage license last month and are asking that U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel issue a preliminary injunction preventing the state from enforcing its ban, effectively opening the way for same-sex marriages.

In a response to that case filed this past Monday, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he opposes the request and argues that “because this case seeks to decide the core question of two people’s marital status, it belongs in state court rather than federal court.” He also argues that the Charleston court should put a hold on the case until a decision in the Columbia case which is farther along in the legal process, or, in the case that Gergel issues a preliminary injunction, the injunction be put on hold until the state can appeal to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The same court, by the way, that has already ruled same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] and South Carolina Equity are suing South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles in federal court in Greenville on behalf of three people who had same-sex marriages in other states and changed their surnames. The suit alleges that DMV officials refused to allow them to use the names on their licenses.

There’s the update, but let’s break it down very simply: say that Judge Childs rules favorably in the case of Bradacs v Haley, Wilson, et al, which she’ll have to do because a ruling from a higher court has already been given. Well, then Nikki Haley and her Little Lap Dog Alana Wilson will file an appeal and take their case to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who will, and I’ll put this in laymen’s terms and avoid the legalese, look at Haley and say, “Bitch, please! You’re wasting time and tax dollars. This case was decided in October. Take your hate, put it on a shelf and move on."

Undoubtedly, though, Nikki Haley who doesn’t understand when she is wrong — something she is most of the time — will them have Toto, er, Wilson, file an appeal to the US Supreme court and they will say, “Bitch please! We said we would let the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stand. You have no case. Go home.”

And then she might, after having wasted time she could have spent on governing the state, and tax payer dollars that could have gone to something more important t than the fight against equality.

I said this the other day, but I’ll say it again; back in the 1960s Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked a schoolhouse door to keep Black children from entering the schools. That is his legacy, being on the wrong side of the Civil Rights movement and literally standing in the way of equality.

By comparison, Nikki Haley is figuratively barring the door to marriage for same-sex couples in South Carolina, and that will be her legacy; she will be remembered for a few things, but one of the most prominent will be her fight against marriage equality even after the battle for equality has been won.

It’s time to step aside, Governor Haley; you’ve lost.

Build a bridge … and get over it.