I Didn't Say It ...

Brian Stelter, CNN media reporter, on _____ and fake news:

“Yeah, President-elect _____ is many things. To his voters, he’s a beloved figure. But one of the things he is, is a theorist. And he’s also in a few different cases tweeted out links to clearly fake news stories. Now, that hasn’t happened in recent days. I would say it’s been about a week since he tweeted something that was clearly false — he said there have been millions of illegal votes. That didn’t happen.”

And remember he also said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering on 9/11; he just said Boeing was billing the US $4 billion for a plane—it’s billing us $170 million.

He’s the Kingmaker of Fake News or at least he’s stupid enough to buy into it.

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Wayne LaPierre, HBIC at the NRA, gleefully cheering a _____ presidency because it means more guns:

“This is our historic moment to go on offense and to defeat the forces that have aligned against our freedom once and for all. The individual right to carry a firearm in defense of our lives and our families does not and should not end at any state line.”

One NRA goal is getting Congress to pass a law requiring all states to recognize concealed-carry handgun permits issued by any other state. Law enforcement organizations warn the change would mean encountering more guns during traffic stops and in tourist areas, and say there is no way to easily check the validity of an out-of-state firearm permit because there is no nationwide database. Another goal is to eliminate gun-free zones at schools and reduce requirements for background checks.

Resist.

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Tom Ford, saying all men need to be sexually penetrated:

“I think it would help them understand women. It’s such a vulnerable position to be in, and it’s such a passive position to be in. And there’s such an invasion, in a way, that even if it’s consensual, it’s just very personal. I think there’s a psyche that happens because of it that makes you understand and appreciate what women go through their whole life, because it’s not just sexual, it’s a complete setup of the way the world works, that one sex has the ability to literally—and is expected to and is wanted to—but also there’s an invasion. And I think that that’s something most men do not understand at all.”

Hey, Tom, stick to design and the occasional movie, because this is just nonsense.

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Hillary Clinton, the Popular Vote President, on Fake News:

“Let me just mention one threat in particular that should concern all Americans… the epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year. It’s now clear that so-called ‘fake news’ can have real world consequences. This isn’t about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. Lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days, to do their jobs, contribute to their communities.”

Clinton seemed to be speaking of Pizzagate, a fake news story that a DC pizza shop was being used as part of a child sex-ring run by Clinton and John Podesta.

And, yes, some idiot bought into that story took a gun to that pizza shop and began shooting.

PS the son of one of _____’s cabinet choices helped perpetuate that fake news story.

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President Obama, on the Passing of John Glenn:

“When John Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas rocket in 1962, he lifted the hopes of a nation.  And when his Friendship 7 spacecraft splashed down a few hours later, the first American to orbit the Earth reminded us that with courage and a spirit of discovery there's no limit to the heights we can reach together.  With John's passing, our nation has lost an icon and Michelle and I have lost a friend.  John spent his life breaking barriers, from defending our freedom as a decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, to setting a transcontinental speed record, to becoming, at age 77, the oldest human to touch the stars.  John always had the right stuff, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond--not just to visit, but to stay.  Today, the people of Ohio remember a devoted public servant who represented his fellow Buckeyes in the U.S. Senate for a quarter century and who fought to keep America a leader in science and technology.  Our thoughts are with his beloved wife Annie, their children John and Carolyn and the entire Glenn family.  The last of America's first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens.  On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn.”

RIP.

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I Didn't Say It ...

Kathy Miller, Donald [t]Rump’s Ohio County Campaign Chair, on racism in America and who’s to blame:

“I don’t think there was racism until Obama got elected. We have never had problems like this. I am in the real estate industry. There is none. Now you know with the people with the guns. And shooting up neighborhoods. And not being responsible citizens. That’s a big change. And I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America. If you are black and you haven’t been successful in the last fifty years, it’s your own fault. I think that when we look at the last fifty years where are we and why? We have three generations of all still having unwed babies, kids that don’t go through high school. I mean when do they take responsibility for how they live. I think it’s due time. And I think that’s good that Mr. Trump is pointing that out.”

Wow. America. 2016, or 1816?

And, for the record, this isn’t the woman who works with me—see yesterday’s Random Musings.

On the upside, Miller was forced to resign once it became public that she's an ignorant racist.

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Tom Ford, on his Nocturnal Animals star Jake Gyllenhaal: 

“If you like the chest, you should see what’s down here. There is no manscaping. There is no manscaping.”

The more I learn about Jake, the more I … I’ll leave that there.

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Barbra Streisand, in an op-ed about The Rump:

“We cannot allow America to fall into the hands of a narcissist who has shown no regard for anyone but himself… a bigoted and misogynist reality-TV character with no political experience and no qualms about lying loudly and often.”

Sing it, Babs. No, really, sing it.

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Glenn Beck, to Ted Cruz on his endorsement of The Rump

“You had this information the day you dropped out of the race. And said that Donald Trump is a ‘sociopathic liar.’ You had all this information. Have you spent an enormous amount of time with Donald Trump? Do you have new information that has made you say, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s now not a sociopathic liar. He is not the guy that I very eloquently spelled out, for over a year, and now there’s suddenly a reason to believe him’?”

Although I did not see or hear the exchange, I gather that Cruz had no response because he’s just a pandering bag of scum.

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Gethin Anthony, Game of Thrones and Aquarius actor, on playing one of the only openly gay characters on GoT:

“Westeros is a very scary world, with all the politics and violence going on, so it was nice to play an affectionate gay couple within that world. We were very passionate about it being a positive thing. I still hold on to that and I’m still very proud of it. I got some lovely letters. One that sticks out was from a gentleman who was about to propose, or has perhaps just proposed, to his partner. He said some really nice things about seeing a gay relationship on television. Whenever people connect to things you’re involved with or a story you’re telling, it’s a lovely thing.”

We need to some out, and we need to be represented on television, and in film, in positive ways.

That’ll spark some change.

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President Obama, at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture:

“And so this national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are. It helps us better understand the lives, yes of the president, but also the slave; the industrialist but also the porter; the keeper of the status quo but also the activist seeking to overthrow that status quo; the teacher or the cook alongside the statesmen. And by knowing this other story, we better understand ourselves and each other. It binds us together. It reaffirms that all of us are American. That African American history is not somehow separate from our larger American story; it’s not the underside of the American story. It is central to the American story. That our glory derives not just from our most obvious triumphs but how we’ve rested triumph from tragedy and how we’ve been able to remake ourselves again and again and again, in accordance with our highest ideals.”

Perhaps Kathy Miller should spend some time in the museum so she can get her facts and her head straight.

And then, seriously, why can’t this man run for a third term?

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Random Musings

So, Carlos’ birthday was Monday. I took him out for a celebratory dinner over the weekend at one of our favorite places, but Monday was the actual day so I planned to have his giftage for him that day.

Sadly, though I’d wanted to wake up early and have the present on the breakfast table for him, I slept a bit too long, and decided I’d give him his gift after work that night. That didn’t stop him from looking around for a gift or a card, or even an acknowledgment of his birthday; but here was none because I’m mean, or sneaky.

Another plus, was that I had the day off from work so I could bake him a birthday cake—the boy does love his cakes.

So, that I did; I baked a lovely Carrot Cake and wrapped his gifts, but then I realized he had to go to a meeting that night and would only be home a half-hour or so after work, jest enough time to grab a bite, so I decided to hold the cake and gist until he came home for the night.

Poor thing. The look on his face; he looked in the kitchen for a gift; he looked in the living room; he checked the fridge for a cake — which I had removed and set in the guest bedroom bathroom, out of sight.

I’m mean, or sneaky, like that.

And so, when he finally got home a little after 9PM I had his cake and gifts out on the kitchen island and he lit up like the gayest Christmas tree ever.

I might be mean, or sneaky, or whatever, but the look on his face was worth it.

Oh, and he liked the cake, too.

A new Tumblr was created by University of Virginia students asking for photographs illustrating "diversity" and this is one from the UVA swim team:

Hmm, you can’t spot the gay guys?

Interesting. I guess it really doesn’t make a difference.

Last month, Honey Maid graham crackers launched a new ad campaign called "This Is Wholesome" that highlighted all kinds of families, including an interracial couple, a single dad, and a gay couple.

Naturally, it spurred the bigots and homophobes to call for a boycott; the ironically, and incorrectly, named One Million Moms said Honey Maid and its parent company, Nabisco, "should be ashamed of themselves" for their "attempt to normalize sin."

And Twitter went crazy with folks saying they were disgusted by Honey Maid, and sickened by Honey Maid, and would never ever buy Honey Maid Graham Crackers again!

:::foot stomp head snap:::

But instead of bending to the haters, Honey Maid took the hate and turned it into something positive:

Love; sometimes it’s a big F-U to hate.

Speaking of bigotry and homophobia, the Hawaii Catholic schools office, which supervises three dozen Roman Catholic private schools in the state, approved a new contract that says teachers can be fired if they engage in homosexual activity or marry someone of the same sex; they can also be fired if they’ve had an abortion, used in vitro fertilization or live in "unmarried cohabitation."

Way to stay current. But it’s the Catholics so what do you expect?

And, not to be outdone by those showy Catholics, a top Mormon official — Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve … which sounds oddly Harry Potter-ish — reiterated the church’s longstanding opposition to same-sex marriage:

"While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not. He designated the purpose of marriage to go far beyond the personal satisfaction and fulfillment of adults, to more importantly, advancing the ideal setting for children to be born, reared and nurtured."

Funny, though, the Mormons who once espoused polygamy, don’t seem to get the irony in their statement about redefining marriage.

But it’s the Mormons so what do you expect?

One of my favorite shows, Being Human, ended its run this week. I never got into the Brit version upon which it was based and that may have been because it didn’t star one Sam Witwer.

A hot vampire if there ever was one. :::sniff::: Hopefully Sam gets a new TV gig where he can be hot and shirtless.

Just sayin'.

Congratulations to designer Tom Ford who just married Richard Buckley, his partner of twenty-seven years.

The march down the aisle goes on …

An old feature on this here bloggy thing was the ISBL Guest Comment of the Week.

I would scour the comments each week and then pick one that made me laugh, made me think, or even pissed me off, and post it again.

But that was a lot of work each week and so it petered out. However, this week, I found one comment -- on the Sister Laurel post -- that made me laugh out loud, and so I'll present the ISBL OGCotW to ♫Musique♫ for this:

Congrats, and maybe this will return to the blog every once in a while.

And TV. Wow, in the spring it sucks.

Resurrection is dead to me; I no longer believe in Believe; Da Vinci’s Demons have been offed on my TV.

Justified, starring the oh-so-hot Timothy Olyphant — ended its season this week and I’m already slipped into withdrawal issues, but next week, in its place, is a TV version, or reboot, or sequel, to Fargo. Could be crazy, could be crazy fun.

And speaking of crazy fun, Nurse Jackie returns this Sunday.

I guess it’s a good thing I cleaned up some recording space on the DVR?

Two Ru’s for the price of one! Woo-hoo-Ru.

This week’s first episode challenged the girls to pair up and create a commercial for RuPaul's Glamazon makeup line. And since this is TV and nothing’s real, those girls that didn’t care for one another were unexpectedly paired together!

Drag queen say what?

BenDeLaCreme was teamed with bitchy Darienne Lake; BFFs—at least on TV—Laganja and Adore Delano were a pair, Joslyn Fox and her idol Courtney Act, and Bitchy Bianca and Try Harder Trinity.

Ben and Darienne were not funny, and missed the mark in their ad, making it more about plastic surgery. Laganja and Adore sailed to a win on Adore’s semi-talented performance. Joslyn and Courtney channeled their inner real Housewives of Blahs-ville, while Trinity and Bianca were quite funny, and Trinity really stepped up her game.

Ben and Darienne are up for elimination and while I rooted for some Ben, Darienne knocked her out of the lip-sync. Luckily, though, Ru kept both girls to die another day.

Episode Two: The Drag Queens of Comedy! I loves me some funny, and I loves me some funny drag queens. Unfortunately, this season, there wasn’t a lot of funny on the stage and it was no contest as to who won the challenge:

Bianca Del Rio was high-larious! Seriously, I had DVRd the episode and watched it with Carlos and replayed it a few times because we were laughing so hard  her jokes. And she rocked the Runway Challenge in her Black-and-White Ball Gown. I may a new favorite.

Trinity K. Bonet was a true surprise. I was growing so tired of her defeatist attitude each and every week, and it looked to continue on the comedy stage. But she really brought the funny—and really brought the crowd back to life after the disastrous performance that came before her. I hope her streak continues because she’s starting to grow on me.

Darienne is hilarious, if a bit bitchy, only not this week. She’s a riot in her confessionals but onstage she was just so-so. And it doesn’t help that I just plain don’t like her. She’s like the Mean girl of the group, nice, or at least pretending to be nice, to your face, then all kinds of backstabbity behind your back.

BenDeLaCreme. What’s happening to you? I would have thought you’d have rocked the funny but it just flopped. She literally told a joke, and then ran to the next; wait for the laugh, girl. Or wait for the heckler to shout, “Tell a joke” and then get offstage. And, while I loved her Black-and-White gown, Michelle says all she gets from DeLa is costumes and she wants to know the queen. She bettah brang it next week, or she’ll be lipsticking the mirror on her way out.

Adore Delano, after the win last episode, fell flat. I love a curse word almost better than anyone but just stringing together f-bombs doesn’t a comedian make. Her Black-and-White look was better than previous, perhaps because this week she went mini-skirt so there would be no digs about gown length.

Courtney Act. I’m over you. Your Black-and-White look was cool, but your comedy wasn’t comedy. You sang a song, and not even a real funny song. Plus, you’re still doing pretty and only pretty. Maybe Bianca really does need to help you pack your bags?

Joslyn Fox started off strong with an ADD joke and then :::crickets::: And her runway look was like a Black-and-White version of what she wore last week that the judges trashed. Does she just own one piece of drag in every color? Still, her lip-sync was spot on, and the accidental matching drop-split with Laganja was a true highlight.

Laganja, Laganja, Laganja. Adios mama, oh-krrrrr? You should’a gone home before now because you’re just a poser. That whole sitting under the table thing? It’s what a six-year-old does to get attention, mama. Your comedy, mama? Not funny, mama. You’re lip-sync sunk, mama. You were terrible, mama. Oh-krrrrr.

What did YOU think?

When Obamacare compelled businesses to include emergency contraception in their employee health care plans, Hobby Lobby, a national chain of craft stores, was not having it and fought the law all the way to the Supreme Court. The contraception mandate, they said, forced them to violate their religious beliefs.

Funny though, because while tit foot stomped at SCOTUS, Hobby Lobby was spending millions of dollars on an employee retirement plan that invested in Teva Pharmaceutical , the manufacturers of the exact same contraceptive products — Plan B and Para Gard — that the firm's owners cited in their lawsuit.

So, they were making money off of the contraceptive they were fighting to have removed from their ACA plan; hypocrite say what?

So, recently in New Jersey, some comedians held a roast for former New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne and current New Jersey governor, liar, and bully, Chris Christie attended.

Well, some of the comedians took their shots at Christie over BridgeGate, and among those was Joy Behar:

“When I first heard that he was accused of blocking off three lanes on the bridge, I said, ‘What the hell is he doing, standing in the middle of the bridge?”

Chuckle worthy. But after a few more Christie jokes, the big man stood up, interrupted her, and said, “This is a Byrne roast.”

When he tried to grab her notes, the audience laughed awkwardly.

“Stop bullying me,” Behar said as he sat down, to which said something and Behar shot back:

 “Why don’t you get up here at the microphone instead of being such a coward?”

Christie stood up, walked to the lectern and said, “At least I don’t get paid for this.”

Then he sat down, giving Behar the last word; big mistake … huge.

“I really don’t know about the Presidency. Let me put it to you this way, in a way that you’d appreciate: You’re toast.”

Snap.

Look, I get PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but sometimes I think they should sit down and rethink their agenda.

It now appears that PETA  is looking to turn the $295,000 2,170-square-foot, mid-century modern private home into a vegan restaurant called “Eat for Life: Home Cooking.”

Oh, and the home they wish to use once belonged to Jeffrey Dahmer, and is the same home where the serial rapist, torturer and cannibal killed, dismembered and buried 19-year-old Steven Hicks.

PETA says:

 “We are always looking forward to ways to draw attention to the violence inherent in the production of meat, eggs and milk — which involve processes that would shock all but the most hard-hearted person. Dahmer’s old house gives us a way to evoke sympathy for these victims and to suggest that a life-affirming diet can change everything.”

It appears, thankfully, that the house is not zoned for commercial use, so maybe this is just a PETA publicity stunt.

In the poorest of taste.

I Didn't Say It.....

Jon Stewart, on the rhetoric of violence:

"I do think that its important for us to watch our rhetoric, I do think that its a worthwhile goal not to conflate our political opponents with our enemies if for no other reason than to draw a better distinction between the manifestos of paranoid mad men and what passes for acceptable political and pundit speak. It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn’t in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV. Let’s at least make troubled individuals easier to spot."

Who knew a comedian would be the one with the level head?

If we all start ranting and reloading at one another, then we all look like crazy people, and act like crazy people, and, sad to say, react like crazy people.

Country singer Chely Wright, on how coming out as gay has affected her career:

"It didn’t help my career. My record sales went directly in half. If it appears from the outside in that it’s helped my career, it could be because I haven’t talked about the negative. You won’t hear me bitching and moaning on my Facebook about the hate mail I’ve gotten. My life has been threatened. I get nasty letters every day, 'I’m through with you Chely Wright, you’re going to hell.' There’s a big difference between press and advocacy and…. sometimes people forget that people who sing or make movies, this isn’t just a hobby for us. This is how I pay my bills. In coming out I had a feeling that it would diminish my wage earning, and that feeling was correct. And, I am fine with that."

Proving that, even if coming out is detrimental, financially, or even emotionally, it's a whole lot better than hiding and lying and feeling any sort of shame.

Cindy Jacobs, wackadoo member of Generals International, who believes the mass fish and bird deaths is caused by the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

"[L]et’s talk about this Arkansas pattern and say, could it be a pattern? We’re going to watch and see. But the blackbirds fell to the ground in Beebe, Arkansas. Well the Governor of Arkansas’ name is Beebe. And also, there was something put out of Arkansas called "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" by a former Governor, this was proposed, Bill Clinton. As so, could there be a connection between this passage [Hosea 4] and now that we’ve had the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, where people now legally in the United States have broken restraints with the Scripture because the Scripture says in Romans 1 that homosexuality is not allowed. It could be because we have said it’s okay for people who commit these kinds of acts to be recognized in our military for the first time in our history, there is a potential that there is something that actually happened in the land where a hundred thousand drum fish died and also where these birds just fell out of the air."

Wow.

Really. Wow.

Sometimes the only way to respond to crazy talk like this is to just shake one's head and move along....

Tom Ford, on gay relationships, and his twenty-four year commitment to his partner Richard Buckley:

"One of the things that always amuses me -- amuses isn’t even the right word, because it doesn’t amuse me -- but often, I’m at dinner parties with very close friends, straight, and they realize that Richard and I have been together 24 years, and the response is often, "Wow, you guys have been together 24 years! That’s so amazing. I don’t think of gay men being together that long." And I’m, like, "Why? What are you talking about?" Some of the longest relationships I know of are same-sex couples. A lot of my straight friends have married and divorced and married and divorced in the time Richard and I have been together. I think that preconception, from even very educated liberal friends, that being gay is possibly more sex-based than emotionally based, is surprising and shocking in today’s world."

If any relationship, gay or straight, was based purely on sex, then no one would be in a committed relationship.

Gay relationships, as I've said time and time and time again, are just the same as straight relationships, except the genders are different.

They match.

Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick, on Richard Chamberlain's recent statement about gay actors staying in the closet if they want to work:

 “I don’t think the audience is as homophobic as the media would have us believe. Neither is Hollywood. I’ve never denied an actor a job because he was gay. But I have denied actors jobs because they suck."

It's called show business for a reason, because, while part of it is art, money is the bottom line.

So, if a gay actor or actress gets audiences in the theater, or in front of their television sets, no one cares.
Richard Chamberlain is till speaking from that place of fear that kept him closeted throughtout the majority of his career.

Wackadoo preacher Cindy Jacobs, again, on how God will split California in half if Proposition 8 is repealed:

"A pastor of a large Nazarene Church had a dream of a very large earthquake on the central coast. He shared this at the Christmas gathering for all the Santa Maria Pastors and 5 cities area. Because of the destruction and intensity of the quake he thought he should tell the Pastors so they could pray into it. Another intercessor in the area had a dream and saw a map of California. She noticed on the map how Pt. Conception juts out into the water. As she looked she saw an 8 with a circle beside it in the waters off Pt Conception. Prop 8 is a foundational covenant issue, i.e. issue of marriage, in the state. If the state supreme court does not uphold it, a covenant issue is broken with God. Judgment is looming.".

Oh, Cindy, honey, you give us too much credit.

I mean, seriously, repealing DADT causes mass animal deaths and repealing Prop H8 will cause a massive earthquake?

If we had that power, do you really think we'd need to go through the courts to gain equality?

No, we'd just stand under a disco ball and call our God, Judy Garland, down from the club, to send glitter and rainbows throughout the land until we get what we want.

Birther loon, Theresa Cao:

"Literally if this question of the natural born citizenship, if this question does not get answered, then I am allowing a tyrannical dictator – the spirit of the anti-Christ, the new world order system that has their plans right this second to collapse the U.S. economy, and we know their plan, the new world order system's plan is to literally destroy humanity. He [Obama] has fought it not only for two years, not only has he fought it pre-election but historically all of his connections, every single connection [has been] blacked out. It's prophesied this new world order system will devastate America and the world, and Satan's plan is to take as many people to hell with him as he can. "

Wow. He's not born here and he's the anti-Christ.

Again, as I said about Cindy Jacobs, if Obama has all that power Theresa, as the anti-Christ surely must have, couldn't he make the Earth open up and sallow all the birthers?

Please?

An excerpt from The Hipster Huckleberry Finn, which substitutes "hipster" wherever the n-word appears in the original:

"Jim was monstrous proud about it, and he got so he wouldn't hardly notice the other hipsters. Hipsters would come miles to hear Jim tell about it, and he was more looked up to than any hipster in that country. Strange hipsters would stand with their mouths open and look him all over, same as if he was a wonder. Hipsters is always talking about witches in the dark by the kitchen fire; but whenever one was talking and letting on to know all about such things, Jim would happen in and say, 'Hm! What you know 'bout witches?' and that hipster was corked up and had to take a back seat."

Oh, yeah, that's much better.

Now kids that read Finn will never truly know what life was like in Twain's time; it'll be whitewashed and sanitized beyond recognition.

Gore Vidal, on Michele Bachmann's claim that she became a Republican after being horrified by Vidal's "trashing" of the Founding Fathers in his 1973 novel, Burr:"She is too stupid to deserve an answer."

Who says a writer needs to take pages and pages to get a point across.

Sometimes succinct does the trick quite nicely.