June 16, 2009 - Pensito

In the video above, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviews former DNC Chair Howard Dean — who, as governor of Vermont, was also the first governor to legalize civil unions — about the homophobic language used by the Obama Justice Department last Thursday in its brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Hateful formulations in the Obama brief, according to Maddow, include comparing gay relationships with incest and pedophilia, as well as the entirely false claim that marriage between one man and one woman is an ancient tradition:

Consensual same-sex marriage between two adults is comparable to “marriage of uncle to niece and “underage marriage.”
The government needs to preserve the “traditional form of marriage” which is an “age-old societal institution.”

In fact, polygamy, not monogamy, was the age-old practice among Old Testament figures, notably including Abraham, father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Transcript:

[…]

I’m not a parade-goer by nature, but the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade — with its marching bands, loudspeakers and thumpa-thumpa disco trucks — passes so close to our house in West Hollywood that our large spotted cat Zig hides under the bed for the duration.

This year, there were two draws — one for me and one for my spouse, Page. For me, I figured that if San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newswome, who is running for governor next year, was going to be walking past my house, it wouldn’t hurt to go have a look-see. It’s been years — decades — since a politician got my attention the way he has.

(For the record, the last candidate who truly interested me was Rep. Patricia Schroeder who ran for president for about 10 minutes in 1988. I’m not saying I’m good a picking winners, but on substance and the issues, Newsome is on the money now, as Schroeder was then. And on the charisma scale, he’s right up there with Pres. Obama.)

Page is a fan of Chelsea Handler, host of E! TV’s “Chealsea Lately,” and her sidekick, Chuey, who were attending as the parade’s grand marshals.

Finally, after 22 of days straight without seeing sunshine — known in these parts as “May gray” and “June gloom” — it was at least occasionally sunny on Sunday morning, so we ventured out.

Here’s a bit of what we saw as we walked west along the parade route:

[…]

Day: June 16, 2009

Video: Maddow and Dean on Obama Admin’s Gay Slurs in Defense of Marriage Act Brief

Scenes from the Parade: Los Angeles Gay Pride 2009

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”