2020 Vision

Yes, yes and yes. Enough with the vanity runs -- do something for your country. 

Doggone It

Democrats Doug Jones and Tina Smith Sworn In as Senators

Mike Pence on Wednesday swore in a pair of Democrats as the newest senators on Capitol Hill. Tina Smith from Minnesota and Doug Jones from Alabama, who won the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Two down, (at least) four more to go.

Says my friend Jim:

This pic of the openly gay son of Alabama’s new senator, staring defiantly into the eyes of the outrageously homophobic VP who’s swearing in his dad, is everything!

The Minnesota lieutenant governor replaced unfairly embattled Senator Al Franken. Here's hoping she is as good or better than the former comedian -- and can hold the seat come election time.

Page 1 Roundup (12/13)

The Daily News: It's just too bad the RNC isn't capable of feeling any shame

Photos contradict Trump’s claims he never met any of his sexual assault accusers

Spotted Pig owner Ken Friedman kept a 'rape room' where chef Mario Batali allegedly groped unconscious woman

The New York Post: Teacher accused of having sex with minor she met at church

As warned, a smear campaign against Democrats is under way

GOP ex-Speaker Denny Hastert barred from being left alone with minors

Man got filler injections in penis to feel like a porn star

The New York Times: Doug Jones successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, nearly 40 years after the crime

"Fake news," Trump's obsession, is now a cudgel for strongmen

The Washington Post: Democrats are jubilant -- and newly confident about 2018 -- as they win on Trump’s turf

The Wall Street Journal: Fan journalists regularly scoop the world on news about the "Star Wars" series, including the storage location of Han Solo’s freighter

Doug Jones Wins Alabama Senate Race

Black folks: Thank you for bailing out stupid white folks’ asses again.

The Moore, the merrier ...

And what's going on behind the state’s new Democratic senator here?

UPDATE: That's the new senator's openly gay son, Carson Jones -- a zookeeper who is not shy on social media!

Page 1 Roundup (11/13)

The Daily News: Republicans pressure Roy Moore to drop out of Alabama Senate race amid accusations he dated high school girls

The New York Post: Multiple people stabbed at the Mall of America

The New York Times: No matter how "rosy" Democrats may think things are looking, gerrymandering will make next year's election an uphill battle

The Wall Street Journal: What’s the Best Way to Match a B’ful, Homely Bride With a H’som W’stld Groom?

Left to Our Own Devices

I just posted this on my Facebook page. If you'd like to join the conversation, you can friend me HERE.

Friends, 

I'm writing this off the cuff because I'm truly terrified about where the liberal movement is heading. If you had told me during the W years how much more progressive we would be in 2017 I'd have been absolutely thrilled. But somehow our growth and enlightenment has led us into a "purity test" rabbit hole, one that seems less based on beliefs and more concerned with one-upping each other as to how "woke" we are. (Yes, some of you: I KNOW sexual harassment of men is wrong. Since when did gay men become so humorless?) 

In the past week, David France introduced the world to Marsha P. Johnson -- through another trans woman of color's eyes, a woman who was a peer of Marsha's -- and he is being crucified by millennial activists. ("A cisgender gay white man shouldn't be telling this story!") Now I'm hearing that people are calling for Dianne Feinstein, who has been a reliable if not perfect senator, to be Hillary-ed out in California. And we all know what "we" did to Hillary the presidential candidate, which was just enough to keep a few voters we needed in MI, WI and PA home. I could go on and on with other examples, but I think you know what I'm saying. 

I am not some idiot who thinks this is "political correctness" run amok. (That's what people who are put out that they can't be racists with impunity anymore say.) But I feel like I spend more time arguing with progressives than Republicans these days. It's like a generation of kids found out about the terms "white privilege," "erasure" and "colonialism" but don't quite understand what they mean, yet are running around misapplying them to all kinds of situations. (I'm fairly certain David France did not take control of any countries while making his Netflix doc!) And it feels like the Russian plan to pit us against one another could EASILY win this clown a second term in office if we don't start coming together now. (With no one in power on Capitol Hill caring about this administration's gross misdeeds, I wouldn't count on his removal, guys. And it's a lot easier for an incumbent to get re-elected.) 

I want us to continue to hold people accountable, whether they be candidates, politicians, filmmakers, etc.. But if we don't take POWER of something, we will continue to lose all of the progress we finally made during the Obama years. I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time. But I think we need to learn to better pick our moments -- and not trash people whose intentions are good. (Win and then push the candidate to do better.) 

Where do we go from here?

A simple retweet would have sufficed ...

UPDATE:

Ha! Turns out we're not alone. Read HERE.

Behold the Trumpeteers

American Linda and PepeTrumpster69 are my faves!

Looking Forward

Follow me HERE.

And if Democrats can rise above our own petty disputes that do nothing to further our cause, this nightmare will be over before we know it.

Page 1 Consider (06/20)

The New York Post: I don't know much about public schools anymore. But I know this push for charter schools sounds like a big con job.

The Daily News: Teen dad allegedly pummeled 16-month-old on Father's Day

The New York Times: Our only chance to restore democracy -- you know, the party that gets the most votes wins elections -- is now in the hands of a corruptly assembled Supreme Court

The Wall Street Journal: Some gorillas at this park see foreign tourists and run

Speechless

Fortunately for us, James Comey can.

Ireland's Next Prime Minister Is a Gay 38-Year-Old Indian-Irish Doctor

The headline is the good news. The bad news is he's also an anti-union conservative obsessed with entitlements, who campaigned on the slogan "Welfare cheats cheat us all" and wants to ban essential workers from going on strike. 

CNN reports that Leo Varadkar -- the son of an Indian-born father and Irish mother -- became a doctor before first entering Irish parliament at the age of 27. He's promised to represent the "people who get up early in the morning" -- sigh -- in an effort to harness the support of Ireland's rural farmers, the middle class and elderly -- rhetoric that critics say both alienates and demonizes a large chunk of Ireland's casual workforce, who have been hit by increased austerity measures. Still, he is pro-European Union and supported gay marriage -- and perhaps thinks Ireland's ban on abortion is too restrictive -- so I guess we'll see where he goes from there.

Page 1 Roundup (06/02)

The New York Post: I love that Trump's "decision" is being ignored by states, businesses and individuals alike. So much for leading -- people just work around him.

The Daily News: Our country's embarrassing, casually racist conspiracy-theory loving dad has struck again -- and people from all walks life are letting him have it

From HERE.

"America first. Planet last."

The New York Times: Bucking Trump, These Cities, States and Companies Commit to Paris Accord 

The Wall Street Journal: Thanks for Your Job Application—Shall We Begin at the Squat Rack? 

Beach Bummer

That the best-selling Beach Boys song on iTunes is "Kokomo" tells you everything you need to know about what's wrong with this country.

Irish Fighting Back

Our dad always wanted his boys to go to Notre Dame -- and now I wish I had! Read HERE.

Easy Comey, Easy Go

From HERE.

Donald Trump has dismissed the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, said Tuesday. This comes hours after the Department of Justice had to issue a statement admitting that Comey has continued to lie through his teeth about the imaginary Hillary Clinton email scandal, which sure didn't bother Trump & Co. before.

That second paragraph!

American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony D. Romero had this to say about Comey's termination: 

“The independence of the FBI director is meant to ensure that the president does not operate above the law. For President Trump to fire the man responsible for investigating his own campaign’s ties to the Russians imperils that fundamental principle. 

“Regardless of how one judges the performance of James Comey in either the Hillary Clinton or Russia investigations, President Trump’s dismissal of a sitting FBI director raises serious alarm bells for our system of checks and balances. 

“The terms of FBI directors were purposefully structured to span across sitting presidents to ensure the FBI’s independence and insulate the bureau from partisan politics. President Trump’s dismissal of Comey raises questions about the administration’s inappropriate meddling in bureau operations — precisely at a time when the bureau appears to be investigating the president, his advisors, and his campaign for potential collusion with Russian agents in our last election.”

And then this:

The ONLY thing Trump liked about Comey was how he treated Clinton. Time for Rod Rosenstein to appoint Patrick Fitzgerald as special prosecutor immediately.

Is Three's Company for French Presidential Candidate?

While many (who aren't white supremacists) are holding their breath for Emmanuel Macron to ride out the first round of France's election on Sunday and eventually take out right-wing euroskeptic Marine Le Pen for the presidency in the May 7th run-off, it wouldn't be very French without something titillating along the way  While you may have already heard that the sexy 39-year-old former economy minister, has had to deny rumors that he's having an extramarital affair with Mathieu Gallet, the 40-year-old boss of Radio France. 

What you may not know is that he met his wife, 64-year-old Brigitte Trogneux, when she was his high-school French teacher when he was 15. By all accounts it was "love at first sight" -- French publications say the pair used to have long discussions together and she would read his writing to the class, which just happened to include her own 15-year-old son -- and at age 17 he asked her to marry him.  (Trogneux, who also ran the drama club where Emmanuel was a budding thespian, was already married with three children when they met!) 

Ooh la la!