Vote. Vote Blue. And Here's Why, AGAIN!

It’s been a few weeks since we checked in on the GOP and their special brand of bigotry and ignorance, so let’s dive right in …

NORTH DAKOTA

The state GOP voted last week to raise their own meal reimbursements to $45 a day. This happened less than two weeks after that same state GOP blocked a bill to provide free school lunches to low-income students.

Tell me again how the GOP is pro-family or pro-children.

 TENNESSEE

GOP lawmakers have expelled two Democrat Representatives, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, from the House for taking part in a peaceful demonstration for gun reform that was staged in the aftermath of a Nashville school shooting that left six people dead. A third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, was barely saved from expulsion.

Of note, the two Democrats expelled were two Black men, while the white woman was saved.

FLORIDA

Ron DeSantis signed HB 543 into law this week that will allow Floridians to carry a concealed firearm without the need for a permit. People can now carry concealed firearms without going through the background screening and training that is currently required to have a concealed carry license.

More guns. Less control.

IDAHO

The state legislature has passed the nation’s first law that makes it illegal for minors to travel out-of-state to get an abortion without parental consent.

Idaho already has a near-total abortion ban in place but neighboring Washington and Oregon allow minors to get an abortion without their parent’s consent, so Idaho will restrict its residents from interstate travel for abortion access.

Why not just lock up all pregnant women until they give birth?

FLORIDA

A survey finds that among Florida’s incoming college freshmen, dissatisfaction with Governor Ron DeSantis’s education policies runs deep … deep enough in some cases to make them look for college opportunities in another state.

Intelligent.com surveyed over 1,000 Florida students, including 783 still in high school and 364 current undergrads and found that 91% of prospective college students disagree with the governor’s policies and that 1 in 8 graduating high school students won’t attend college in Florida due to education policy in the state.

Florida will become a ghost town save for the elderly and the fascists.

MISSOURI

The Missouri House has put forth new budget bills that would eliminate state funding for libraries across the state. The House Budget Committee has proposed to cut the entire $4.5 million budget slated for Missouri libraries last week after the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] filed a lawsuit to overturn a new Missouri law that bans “explicit sexual” images from all school materials, including library books. The law, passed last year, does not apply to written descriptions of sex or sexual acts; only photos, drawings, videos and other visual depictions are prohibited but librarians and other school officials face up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine for violating the policy.

It might be easier just to ban all books.

MONTANA

Republicans in the state Legislature are trying to change the rules for next year’s Senate primary to make it easier to defeat Democrat Senator Jon Tester and win back the Senate majority.

A bill moving through the statehouse would change the structure of the election from the party primary system currently in place to a jungle primary in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party. The move would essentially box out Libertarian candidates who would likely vote Democrat ensuring a GOP victory.

If they can’t win fairly, they change the rules and cheat.

MISSOURI

State Attorney General Andrew Bailey has issued an emergency regulation regarding gender transition interventions on minors and launched a website to report allegations of malpractice at gender clinics in the state:

“It’s about protecting children for me. We’ve got to inject some sanity into this conversation. Gender is an objective reality defined by biology, in the same way that gravity is an objective reality. It is unhealthy to deny objective reality.”

He really only cares about cis gender children, to be fair. Trans kids are less than.

FLORIDA

As happens in fascist states, the rules are changed to enable the fascist to do as they please.

This week the Florida Senate scheduled a change via committee vote of the “Resign to Run” law.

This is certainly meant to allow Ron DeFascist to keep his job as governor should he fail in his attempt to take the White House in 2024.

ON THE UPSIDE …

SCOTUS

This week the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in an ongoing case involving West Virginia’s law banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports teams at school. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and the hopefully soon-to-be-impeached and removed from the bench Clarence Thomas dissented.

The court’s action came on its “shadow docket” so-called because decisions are made without full briefing or argument and decided with little or no explanation.

Some 19 states have enacted laws like West Virginia’s anti-transgender law but no appeals court has yet ruled on the question.

WISCONSIN

Last week voters gave control of the state’s highest court to liberals for the first time in 15 years after Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in a race that served as a referendum on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The tide is changing in Wisconsin; let’s hope that trend keeps moving forward.

NEW JERSEY

Democrat Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 326 establishing New Jersey as a safe haven for gender-affirming health care by directing all state departments and agencies to protect all persons, including health care professionals and patients, against potential repercussions resulting from providing, receiving, assisting in providing or receiving, seeking, or traveling to New Jersey to obtain gender-affirming health care services.

“Across the nation, we are witnessing attacks led by certain states that seek to undermine the equality, dignity, and safety of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender and non-binary youth. As leaders, our greatest responsibility is ensuring that every person we represent, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression, is entitled to respect, fairness, and freedom. We will continue to uphold these principles in New Jersey and support every person’s right to live freely and authentically by making our state a safe haven for those seeking or providing gender-affirming health care.”

Finally at least one safe haven for our trans brothers and sisters.

Pay attention … vote … speak up … vote … because if we don’t all stand together one day all of this country will be like Florida and Tennessee and Missouri and Idaho, and the GOP and the traitors come for us all.

A Month In and How's The GOP Doin' So Far?

Just like Missouri did last week, this week members of Florida House staff leadership, who are appointed by Republicans, have posted flyers throughout the Capitol showing what to wear; women are being asked to never show their shoulders when House members are present in the building.

Now, to be fair, the Florida Legislature—majority GOP—has had its fair share of sex scandals. In the past but are they suggesting women are to blame because of bare shoulders?

This may seem minor, but it’s another case on GOP men not taking responsibility for their actions and requiring other people to adjust to fix the problem.

Hey, GOP men of the Florida Legislature, stop bein’ so rape-y.

 

I find it funny the GOP calls themselves the Party of the Working Class when one of the first things the new Congress does is offer up tax breaks to the rich, but this explains everything.

Last week Republicans gathered in Florida to elect the chair of the RNC and the bitching and complaining began at once.

Oh, not about the chair, or the election, but at the cost of everything. Rooms at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach resort where the RNC met start $1,283 for Wednesday night—with a AAA discount—and $881 for Thursday; also included is a mandatory $55 a night resort fee. Parking your car is another $75, per day,

The GOP ran on high gas prices, inflation, and are now railing about the cost of eggs, but choose a luxury resort that most of their constituents could never afford to hold their little meeting.

Out of touch, much?

 

North Dakota has a new proposed bill which reads:

“A board of a school district, a public or private school, or a teacher in a public or private school may not adopt a policy establishing or providing a place, facility, school program, or accommodation that caters to a student’s perception of being any animal species other than human.”

Yes,. The furries are back and are in North Dakota, according to rightwingnuts in the state GOP.

One of the bill’s sponsors, loon and GOP Representative Lori VanWinkle said her state does indeed have students who don’t identify as human, but as “cats and dogs.”

In addition to going after bathroom litter boxes, the bill also bans accommodations for transgender students.

Like all the other GOP morons who  ranted about furries and litter boxes, VanWinkle has offered no proof, not a  photograph, not a witness statement, nothing, to prove her newest cause even exists.

 

Karma is a fun bitch, you know? I mean, it was just a couple of weeks back that former Vice President Michael Elizabeth Pence demanded, with a foot stomp and  a head snap, that a special counsel be appointed to look into President Biden‘s handling of classified documents, after a small number had been found in his former office and then at his home.

On the other hand Michael Elizabeth Pence has said nary a word about appointing a special counsel to investigate the classified documents found at his private residence.

Pence, who is expected to launch a 2024 presidential run, had taken to the right-wing media talk circuit, demanding “equal treatment” by the DOJ for President Biden, after AG Merrick Garland had appointed a special counsel in November to investigate Thing 45’s possibly criminal handling of classified documents.

What goes around, Mike? Amirite?

 

Fewer than one-third of Americans believe that House GOP leaders are prioritizing the country’s most critical issues.

Just 27% of Americans believe that GOP leaders in the House have had the right priorities, 73% say they haven’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems.

Border? Fentanyl? Inflation? Guns?

Nope, Hunter Biden’s laptop.

But it’s not just Democrats and liberals who are annoyed; 42% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents disapprove of the GOP leadership.

Not a good look for the Party of Traitors.

A Gaggle of Qidiots

Arkansas’ Q Governor, Asa Hutchinson, just signed new legislation that allows doctors and other health care workers to refuse to perform certain services if they have “conscience-based objections.”

That’s GQP lingo for Don’t Help The Gays.

Senate Bill 289—The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act—is a retread of an earlier Hate Bill that was presented in the 2017 legislative session. Ethics? Diversity? Not so much.

But I guess in Arkansas if you first can’t pass a Hate Bill, try, try again.

There’s a proposal looming in North Dakota to shield schools and teachers from lawsuits arising from those schools and teachers posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

In public schools.

And one asshat, GQP state Senator Janne Myrdal, even listed a litany of social ills, including sex trafficking, child sex abuse and crowded jails, that she says could be remedied with displays of the Ten Commandments in North Dakota schools.

Honey, if that worked at all, posting your list of rules that a great many Christians do not follow in your churches and religious schools would have ended those social ills years ago.

Try a little something called Separation of Church and State. And keep your religious idiocy out of public schools.

Senator Steve Daines [Q-MT] is quite the idiot.

During  a visit to the Mexican border with other Senate Q’s, to spew the lie about a crisis, he lamented the loss of the meth trade from Montanans to Mexicans:

“Twenty years ago in Montana, meth was homemade. It was homegrown. And you had purity levels less than 30%. Today the meth that is getting into Montana is Mexican cartel.”

Seriously. He’s genuinely upset that Montana’s meth trade is losing business to Mexican cartels.

You cannot get much more asshatted than Steve Daines.

Even some of his own Party members couldn’t hide their reactions to Daines’ idiocy. Fellow Senator Mike Lee [Q-UT] couldn’t stop smiling as Daines whined about the death of meth in Montana, and even began looking at the ground to hide his smile.

Steve Daines. Asshat.

The Largest Native American Protect In HISTORY Is Happening Right Now

Ever since the White Man stepped onto the shores of what became “America” we — and I mean all of us, through action or inaction — have systematically tried to destroy those Native Peoples and their cultures in favor of our own needs, our own greed, our own sense of entitlement … and we’re still doing it today.

Right now, the United States government, along with Dakota Access, the company building the pipeline, is trying to take control of Native American lands to allow oil developers the right drill on those lands — lands that are not ours — and build a massive oil pipeline across those lands to move that oil.

Oh, it sounds so simple: we just want to drill for oil on your land, and we just want to build a pipeline on your land. But those are the same arguments that were used in Canada for the Tar Sands project and take a look at the before and after photos of what happened there:

Pretty? Right? Who wouldn’t let the US government come in and do that to your land?

This new pipeline, the Bakken, would follow a similar pathway as that of the failed Keystone pipeline; this new, massive fracked oil line would cut through four Midwestern states, across the Ogallala aquifer, the Mississippi and hundreds of other waterways through sovereign Native lands. And so the Native People of the Dakotas have taken to a protest, though they are calling it, more accurately, a “protect” of those lands and the idea that the US can simply come in and take over and do with the lands what they will.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe say the pipeline threatens sacred sites — including sacred burial grounds — and drinking water resources, and that no meaningful consultation between the Native Peoples and the government ever took place.

Of course, the Army Corps of Engineers disagrees; they say the tribe declined to be part of the process, while the tribe says they didn’t want to legitimize a flawed process in which the government simply does what it wants though coercion and bullying.

Dakota Access — which says the project is safe and will benefit the region and boost energy independence — have agreed to stop construction until the court rules on the injunction. But Dakota Access says, in response to the claim that the Bakken would be a danger to the environment, that they will have personnel all along the pipeline for operation and maintenance, use a 24-hour monitoring system to detect pressure changes, and ensure shut-off valves that can be remotely activated if a leak happens. They also say the project will create more than 12,000 jobs and open up rail capacity for crops and other commodities via the extra 750 rail cars required departing the tank terminal every day.

It all sounds so good, right? More jobs! More transport for crops and goods via the railways! More, and better, safety precautions! But what about a mistake; an accident; a spill. Think of all the water resources that would be threatened—turning a great deal of the country into Flint, Michigan; think of the farmlands destroyed by an oil spill from Texas to the Dakotas, and the crops lost. Think of the wildlife threatened, and destroyed, by that accident.

Federal agencies say the Bakken avoids “critical habitat” but is that true when it runs across farmlands, rivers, forests, wildlife areas and major waterways like the Mississippi, and the Missouri? And given the oil disasters we’ve seen, here in this country — Exxon Valdez, anyone … the Gulf Spill, anyone — would we be right in trusting that this new oil project is truly safe?

And say we did; say we do trust that the government and private corporations will do the best they can to protect the water and protect the land, what bothers me the most is what we are once again doing to Native Peoples; stealing their land for our own profit; taking what we gave them because we have come to realize it’s more valuable than we originally thought. This White Man’s Greed needs to be stopped.

I read a great book about the way the United States government has treated Native People’s since we landed here — In The Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen — in which I learned that, while in office, President Nixon signed a treaty with Native Americans regarding land in the Dakotas and gave all the land to the tribes there. But, when it was later learned that the land was rich in uranium, Nixon took the land back, saying the US government does not make treaties with its own people. It was theft, pure and simple; theft by the government over people we have marginalized, criminalized, and removed to lands that were not their own because we wanted their land for our own needs.

And so now this new “protect” is happening, as Native People try, once again, to keep what’s theirs; what we “gave” them after we stole from them.

For months tribe members have protested at one of the construction sites where the Cannonball and Missouri rivers meet. It was a small group, at first, but has since grown in size and attention as the construction goes on, and the national and international media have taken notice. And with that added scrutiny, both state and county governments have escalated their response by arresting the “protectors”; more that 30 arrests have been made in the last two weeks alone.

In addition, North Dakota Homeland Security Director Greg Wilz ordered the removal of state-owned trailers and water tanks from the “protect” camp in response to alleged disorderly conduct; tribe members had requested and been given mobile public health services like water to ensure the safety of the protesters, but now those services are gone … possibly in the hopes that once they have no water, no air conditioned trailers, no services, the protesters will also move along. Following that, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issued an emergency declaration for southwest and south-central North Dakota saying there was a “significant public safety concern” while the tribes maintain the protests have been peaceful.

That peace, however, may not last, as news of the protest spread and more people, on both sides of the issue, flood into the area. Tribe officials say that as many as 4,000 people have come to North Dakota and that tribal flags from as far away as California can be seen flying, showing that support extends beyond Great Plains tribes.

And as more tribes push back against the Bakken and, in effect, the US government, landowners in Iowa are making their own stand. This past week, the Iowa Utilities Board told Dakota Access to keep away from the properties of 15 landowners who are facing eminent domain but have not granted easements; this halt in construction will run until the board is done reviewing the landowner’s lawsuit.

And then came the worse news … Last Friday a federal judge denied the tribe's request to halt construction on the Bakken, ruling that regulators had acted properly when issuing permitting for the project. But they threw a bone at the tribes, saying that "important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe … regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain." 

So, they admitted there is cause for concern, both in the harm to the environment in the case of an accident, and the trespassing into the sovereign lands of Native Peoples, and yet they still sided with Dakota Access.

Again, it looked like we were screwing Native Peoples for profit until … Obama.

After the ruling by the federal court, the Obama administration said it would not authorize construction on that critical stretch of the Bakken pipeline, and added that construction would halt until it can do more environmental assessments.

The Department of Justice, the Army and the Interior Department immediately halted construction on the pipeline near North Dakota's Lake Oahe, a major water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and they must now decide whether they will reconsider permitting decisions for the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

“I want to take a moment and reflect on this historic moment in Indian Country, but I know that our work is not done. We need to permanently protect our sacred sites and our water. There are areas on the construction route that do not fall within federal jurisdiction, so we will continue to fight.” — Dave Archambault II, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 

Dakota Access developers had no comment on the decision, but the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now which supports the pipeline, said the decision was “deeply troubling and could have a long-lasting chilling effect on private infrastructure development in the United States.”   

Again, it’s more about profit than doing what’s right, doing what’s best for the environment; doing what’s best, and right, for Native Americans.

Look, I’m all about jobs; but not at the expense of the environment. What good will the jobs be, what good will the oil be, when the water supplies are destroyed, when the farm lands go barren, when the oil seeps into the ground and ruins everything?

And I am utterly against the decimation of Native Peoples rights; for far too long we have treated them as less than, shunted them aside, forcibly moved them from their homes and lands to places in this country that we, at the time, didn’t want, didn’t need.  And then suddenly we find valuable mineral deposits or vast underground oil fields and we decide that the land we gave to these Native Peoples really belongs to us and so we take it, and we ruin it. We tear these people away from their lands in a way that, if someone did that to us … the White Man … we would not tolerate it.

Imagine the uproar if oil was discovered under Washington DC and a company wanted to run a pipeline through Arlington National Cemetery. Would any of us sit still and allow that to happen? And, if not, how can we allow it to happen to anyone else?

This has to stop. It’s bad for the Native People, it’s bad for the environment; it’s just plain bad. There are other, safer sources of energy that won’t end up killing anyone in an accident; that won’t end up destroying the more vital resources — water and farmlands — that we all need to survive.

Protect. Protest. Do unto others …

Indigenous Network

Think Progress
The Hill

Kathy Schwab Wants To Be A "Straights Only" Marriage Licensor

The other day I was talking to my boss and told him that there are parts of the job that I don’t like; and parts that I like a lot. And so, I asked if there was a way I could just do part of my job and then skip others.

He fired me. Okay, so I kid about that last part, but doesn’t that seem like a ridiculous thing to do, requesting to be allowed to stop performing certain parts of your job?

Then please to explain about these court clerks, county clerks, deputy clerks, mall clerks … okay, maybe not mall clerks … who are saying that, in light of that pesky marriage equality ruling by SCOTUS, they only want to do part of the job for which they were hired and paid, and still collect the same amount of money.

Sure, some people aren’t playing, like Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, who told his clerks to follow the law or quit, while others, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott had his attorney general encourage the state's clerks to assert their "religious freedom" rights and refuse.

What to do? Well, not this …up in North Dakota they’ve opted for a “separate but equal” choice, where some clerks will help gays and some won’t because God.

In North Dakota, the job of issuing marriage licenses belongs to elected … by the people, all of the people … county recorders, and in Stark County that person is one Kathy Schwab.

Now, Kathy don’t like the idea of giving out gay marriage licenses so she has asked Stark County State's Attorney, Tom Henning, to allow her to appoint a Gay Marriage License Person who will assist The Gays.

Yeah, they have to have a separate person give out licenses to same-sex couples because Kathy Schwab’s religious beliefs apparently supersede the laws of the state and the job for which she is paid.

And that’s what happened. The Stark County Commission voted to allow the deputy recorder, Kim Kaslan, to be the Gay Marriage License source in Stark County, which means that Kathy Schwab will be working less amend still earning the same pay, while Kim Kaslan will do more work — licensing all couples and same-sex couples — and not being paid more.

Note to North Dakota: vote Kathy Schwab out of her job because she refuses to work for all of the people of your state because, when Kathy Schwab took office she took this oath as well:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of North Dakota, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of County Recorder to the best of my ability, so help me God."

I guess the part that said she doesn’t have to uphold the US Constitution if she thinks the Baby Jeebus won’t like it was left out of her oath.

I cannot help but think this is akin to separate drinking fountains — one for whites, one for blacks — or separate places to sit on the bus, or in the movie theaters or the lunch counters. I mean, the water in the drinking fountain is all the same, right, so who gets hurt saying blacks cannot use the white faucet? And who gets hurt saying the blacks cannot sit anywhere on the bus? Who gets hurt saying The Gays have to wait for their special license source before they can get a marriage license?

It hurts all of us because it’s separate but equal and if we don’t know by now that that doesn’t work, Goddess help us all.

NCRM

Random Musings

Around Casa Bob y Carlos, I do most of the cooking, especially dinner. I like it; it’s not a chore. Carlos, on the other hand, likes to say that he does ‘breakfast,’ when what he does is make the Café con leche and pour me a glass of juice. He then prepares his own breakfast and I make my own meal. In a note of complete transparency, Carlos will make breakfast on Sunday, like Pancakes or a Martha Stewart Dutch Baby pancake-like concoction.

But I digress.

See, as we get ready to go to bed, Carlos will ask what I want for breakfast — which I find funny since he doesn’t make it — and I’ll say, ‘Fruit and toast’ or ‘Cereal.’ One day last week, I answered, ‘Would you make oatmeal.’ He said he would.

The next morning, yes, you guessed it, no oatmeal. And when asked about it, politely as I could since I am not a morning person, he replied that I’d never told him I wanted oatmeal, meaning he believed the entire conversation to be all in my head.

How.Dare.He! Usually in situations like this, I will begin singly, sadly and oh-so-off-key, ‘Mister Cellophane,’ from Chicago, but this morning I took a different route:

♫♪ I’m forgettable … in every way …

I asked for oatmeal … I guess, not today …

Darling that’s why it’s regrettable …

That I am totally forgettable …

I guess my oatmeal, is forgettable too ♫♪

Breakfast and a concert; ah, life at Casa Bob y Carlos.

Rand Paul’s running for President. The good news is that he’ll lose; the better news is that it appears he will also lose his seat in the Senate as well, because he can’t run for President and retain his seat.

Bye Rand.

Oh, and take Marco Rubio with you, too, because he’s planning his big announcement” soon as well, and, yeah, not presidential.

[photo source]

Okay, I have a confession to make: I … watch … The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

There. I said it. Go ahead and judge. But, before you do, let me relay this tale:

On this week’s reunion, Kim, the Krazy One, was implying that Lisa Rinna’s husband, the totes adorbs Harry Hamlin, had a secret and Lisa Rinna said, and I ‘ll quote:

‘What is it, Kim? Is he fucking the dog? Is Harry fucking the dog?’

I simply love the irreverence of that, and the WTFuckery of it, and I have been asking everyone that question all week.

Try it: ‘Is Harry fucking the dog?’

Out there is Fargo North Dakota, the local paper, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead made a bold statement for LGBT equality when it featured the photos of every single North Dakota congressional Representative who voted against LGBT non-discrimination protections.

Matthew Von Pinnon, the paper’s editor, says it wasn’t intended as a shaming tool but:

“We did it simply to convey the info people wanted to know, no matter which side of the issue they are on. They wanted to know how each lawmaker voted. We shared all votes, including from the Senate, which had earlier narrowly passed the bill.”

Look, spin it how you like, but you showed the ‘No’ votes so the people of North Dakota will know who is pro LGBT discrimination.

I loves me some Taraji P. Henson. I am totally Team Cookie, but … girl needs to check it.

She’s hosting Saturday Night Live this week, and actually said this about it:

“It’s like a dream come true. Legends do SNL. I’m a legend.”

Bitch please. You are the breakout star of a TV show — which I love love love — that’s been on barely a season. That does not a legend make.

Hopefully Cookie won’t come for me now that I’ve said that.

Overheard at Work:

Co-worker: ‘Can you believe that guy is wearing flip-flops with long pants? I’ve never seen anything so hideous.’

Bob: ‘Really? Don’t you own a mirror?’

Co-worker: ‘What does that mean?’

Bob: ‘It means: two-toned hair, a pastel color-blocked shirt and skinny jeans. Honey? No … no.’

Okay, yeah, I know! He’s been here before, and a lot. Sue me. I think Timothy Olyphant is hotter than hot and his show, Justified, is airing its series finale next week and, well, there goes my weekly Timothy Olyphantasy.

I.Can.t

Random Musings

I’ve said it before: I am an Awards Show Whore™. I love ‘em all—well, for the most part … I think there are far too many country music awards and the Kid’s Choice? Oh honey, no—but I love a good show and a good host; or hosts.

And so this is why I was rolling out the red carpet to the news that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — who killed at The Golden Globes last year — will be back hosting in 2014 and again in 2015.

I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl!

Ted Nugent, faded rock star, gun nut, Teabagger and serial baby-maker has said he might run for President.

His own proposed campaign slogan — and this is real y’all … it came straight from Nugent’s ever-running piehole: 

“Hi, I’m Ted Nugent. I have nine children from seven women and I’m running for president.”

He really just ought to run for sperm donor. On second thought …. Ick.

Greg Louganis traded his Olympic Gold Medals for a band of gold.

He’s married. Greg married his partner, the adorably hot Johnny Chaillot last week in Malibu:

"It was amazing because I have so many people from all facets of my life here tonight and they are all here and celebrating it is all wonderful, I already feel different. The ceremony was so reflective and representative of who we are." 

The two men — and it’s still a rush to say “the two men” when speaking of newlyweds — are asking for donations to charities like the Human Rights Campaign and Mending Kids International, in lieu of a traditional wedding registry:

"We are both in our mid fifties and don't need another blender so we really wanted to give back."—Johnny Chaillot 

Congrats to the happy, cute couple.

I loves me some Nashville, even before they added the closeted gay country star played by hottie-in-tight-jeans Chris Carmack.

That show really plays to its gay audience with some of the hottest men around, like …

Michiel Huisman , who plays Liam, the renegade record producer and Rayna’s new love interest, and blond beauty Charlie Bewley, who joined the show last week as Juliette’s new love interest.

I’m also interested.

In other same-sex wedding news …

Indiana's first openly gay countywide official, Zach Adamson, will be making history once more by marrying his longtime partner Christian Mosburg in Washington D.C. this week.

"It's important that people see this doesn't have to be the wedge issue or the divisive issue that it is often portrayed as. We are just doing what other people do."—Zach Adamson

He added that the positive reception he and Christian have received as an engaged, same-sex couple “speaks to how far we've come."

We’ve still got a way to go, but each couple that married breaks down the walls.

Congrats.

What’s this, North Dakota? You now have a tax form for married same-sex couples even though you don’t recognize such marriages?

Well, since the IRS announced in August that it would allow same-sex couples to file as married couples if they were legally married in a state that allows such marriages, even if they live in a state that doesn’t, North Dakota saw that as a problem.

But Lorie Bowker, of the North Dakota tax department, says the answer lies in a new form: ND-1S, which allows for the divvying up a couple’s federal tax filing so they can file as individuals in North Dakota.

Bowker said, like the federal government, there is a “marriage penalty” built into the North Dakota tax code, so filing as individuals could be beneficial to same-sex couples who would then save on their tax debt.

All well and good, but some advocates for same-sex marriage say the discrepancy between federal and state tax filings could be grounds for lawsuits based on the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

And that would mean … channeling Oprah … Everyone gets a marriage. You get a marriage! And you get a marriage!

So, the new TV season is basically in full swing, although I am awaiting the return of Grimm ­— with the delicious David Giuntoli — and the start of Dracula — with the oozing with sex appeal Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Loving:  AHS: Coven.
Also loving: The Crazy Ones, especially the adorable, and funny, James Wolk.

Liking ... for now: Sean Saves The World.

Beginning to loathe: Trophy Wife and Hostages

Annoyed: It took three weeks to bring Brody back to Homeland, and then when the episode aired it was dull, dull, and dull.

And you? What do you love, like or loathe?

File this under It’s About Freakin’ Time:

The Harvey Milk Foundation has announced that the United States Postal Service will issue a stamp in honor of LGBT political icon Harvey Milk.

This makes Harvey Milk, who made history as the first openly gay man to win political office in California when he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, the first openly LGBT official ever featured on U.S. postage.

“Harvey Milk’s legacy is alive and well. His historic run paved the way for a new generation of LGBT leaders who can be open and honest about who they are, and it’s encouraging to see the U.S. Postal Service honoring his legacy of perseverance and pride today.”— Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute

The stamp is expected to be introduced in 2014, and though I rarely snail mail any more, you can bet I’ll be lignin up for the stamps and whatever else I can get.

It’s about time an LGBT icon and hero was recognized.

The Houston Chronicle has come out and apologized for endorsing Ted Cruz for political office in light of Cruz’s recent descent into egomaniacal insanity:

Does anyone else miss Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison? We're not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington, but if we could choose just one it would be Hutchison, whose years of service in the Senate were marked by two things sorely lacking in her successor, Ted Cruz. When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator. Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution. We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether. But we'll never know.

Suh-nap!