Category: Strange

Mississippi School District Cancels Prom Over Lesbian Couple

Posted on by TL

From GLAAD:

A Mississippi school district cancelled a local high school’s prom on Wednesday after an openly lesbian student asked to bring her girlfriend as a date, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.

In a statement released by the Itawamba County school district, school board members state that “Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year.”

The student, Constance McMillen, 18, told Jackson, Miss. newspaper The Clarion Ledger that the cancellation is retaliation for her request to bring her girlfriend to the event.

“I feel like I should be able to go and be myself and not have to worry about what clothes I’m wearing or who I am bringing or who I’m dancing with,” McMillen said.

USA Today reports today that “school officials told McMillen last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo. The school then circulated a memo that prohibited same-sex dates.”

McMillen then ACLU, and the school district canceled the prom.

So it goes.

Strange Russian Song Garry Meier Played On The Air At WGN

Posted on by TL

Garry Meier played this bizarre Russian song on the air at WGN Radio 720 this week. WGN says, "We can’t quite figure out the lyrics, but then again, there don’t seem to be any."

I would agree. I don’t hear any Russian words at all in the song.

The Russian you see at the beginning is roughly translated, "I am very glad, at last, to return home." I don’t have my Russian dictionary with me. If anyone can do better, please let me know, and I’ll give you credit.

The guy singing looks like he just stepped out of the Lawrence Welk show. That, or he’s a relative of "Smiling Bob" from the Enzyte commercial.

Smiling Bob

Witch Hunt: Right-Wing Media Smears Rashad Hussain As A ‘Terrorist Sympathizer’

Posted on by TL

From MediaMatters.org:

Right-wing media figures seized on what ABC News’ Jake Tapper has described as an "apparently erroneous" report of a statement allegedly made by President Obama’s nominee for special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference Rashad Hussain to portray him as a "pro-jihadist," a "radical," and a "terrorist sympathizer." But, as Tapper points out, Hussain has argued that terrorism is "antithetical" to Islam had has written extensively on "[d]iscrediting the terrorist ideology…to stop al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups."

Right-wing media figures smear Hussain as pro-terrorist and call for his firing

Fox News: "Obama’s Islamic Envoy Quoted Defending Man Charged With Aiding Terrorists." A February 16 FoxNews.com article reported on the "controversy over remarks attributed to [Hussain] defending a man who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid a terrorist group." Despite acknowledging in the article that "the White House says the controversial remarks defending Al-Arian two years earlier were made by his daughter — not by Hussain," the article ran the title "Obama’s Islamic Envoy Quoted Defending Man Charged With Aiding Terrorists."

American Thinker calls Hussain "a terrorist sympathizer," who is "pro-jihadist." On a February 18 blog, American Thinker contributor J. C. Arenas asked "how a terrorist sympathizer has risen to such a position within the president’s administration." Arenas also calls Hussain "pro-jihadist" and referred to President Obama’s "radical minions," who are "members of an increasing network of radical individuals whom share a common belief system and they’re working together for a common purpose; to fundamentally change America."

Atlas Shrugs called Hussain a "Jihadist in the White House." On February 17, Atlas Shrugs writer Pamela Geller highlighted a Human Events post by Robert Spencer, under the headline "Covering up for Jihadists in the White House."

Hannity guest: Hussain’s appointment is "an intentional effort to get folks with a radical perspective into the administration." On the February 17 edition of his Fox News program, host Sean Hannity said of Hussain’s appointment: "[N]ow I don’t know what has happened with the vetting process," adding that "[an] Obama nominee defended a guy who was convicted of aiding a terrorist group." Fox News contributor Pat Caddell said, "[I]f the White House hadn’t had so many problems with people, they might be able to get away with the fact that they are claiming it was his sister." Fox News contributor Kate Obenshain claimed that "there’s no mistake, it’s not the vetting process, Sean. It’s an intentional effort to get folks with a radical perspective into the administration," and said of the disputed quote, "Give me a break! This guy, you mean to tell me for five years, he didn’t mind being inappropriately — a quote inappropriately attributed to him where he’s defending a man involved with an organization that killed over 100 Israelis?"

Brad Blakeman: Hussain has "more in common with our enemies than what we stand for as a nation" and Obama should "dump him now." Appearing on the February 17 edition of Fox News’ America Live, Republican strategist Brad Blakeman asked "how is it possible that the White House found somebody who has more in common with our enemies than what we stand for as a nation? This is our representative to the Muslim world? Somebody who aids and abets a confessed terrorist?" After host Megyn Kelly asked Blakeman if he was "overstat[ing] the case," he responded "I do not," and added, "For him to have made those comments after being appointed to a White House position is unconscionable and the president needs to dump this guy and dump him now."

Read more here at Media Matters.

CPAC Teleprompter Used For Teleprompter Jokes

Posted on by TL

They have got to be kidding.

No, they’re not.

Did the speakers at CPAC really think no one would take a picture of their teleprompters, especially when they were criticizing others for using teleprompters?

From Technorati:

The Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off this morning with several speakers chipping away at White House policy and why Democrats are bad for your health. Excessive riffing was done on Obama’s teleprompter addiction, but the twist is that the CPAC speakers were making such jokes … while using teleprompters.

Will there come a day when we will get substantive contributions from conservatives to our national dialogue? Or are they just good for the occasional clown show?

GOP Demands White House Post Health Care Proposal Online, Then Attacks When WH Does

Posted on by TL

Three cheers to the Party of No! If Obama does anything, the GOP is against it, even if they specifically asked him to do it.

No matter what it is.

From Open Left:

On February 8th, Republican House leader John Beohner sent a letter to the White House, demanding that the White House post online any health care proposal it wished to discuss at the health care summit:

If the President intends to present any kind of legislative proposal at this discussion, will he make it available to members of Congress and the American people at least 72 hours beforehand?

So, four days later, the White House accepted this demand, and announced it would post a legislative proposal online more than 72 hours before the summit:

Since this meeting will be most productive if information is widely available before the meeting, we will post online the text of a proposed health insurance reform package.

Boehner’s response defies logic:

Boehner’s condemnation comes as the White House announced it would post comprehensive healthcare reform legislation online before the meeting. The Ohio Republican said it is now clear that Democrats intend to move ahead on their own course regardless of negotiations.

"A productive bipartisan discussion should begin with a clean sheet of paper," Boehner said in a statement. "We now know that instead of starting the ‘bipartisan’ health care ‘summit’ on Feb. 25 with a clean sheet of paper, the president and his party intend to arrive with a new bill written behind closed doors exclusively by Democrats– a backroom deal that will transform one-sixth of our nation’s economy and affect every family and small business in America."

Boehner’s request is not ancient history; it happened February 8 of this year.

There you have it, the Party of No. Impossible to work with at every turn.

Time for Reconciliation, to keep Democracy moving.

Nod to Americablog for this.

To Scott Lee Cohen: Bond With Your Kids, Drop Out of the Race for Lt. Gov.

Posted on by TL
scott lee cohen

The Chicago Sun-Times says it has a source who tells them the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Scott Lee Cohen is looking for an honorable way to withdraw from the general election.

That’s the good news in a week when we learned some very, very bad things about Scott Lee Cohen.

Facing intense and mounting pressure to step aside, embattled Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Scott Lee Cohen is seeking an “honorable way” out, a Cohen campaign source said tonight.

Cohen, who mostly kept out of the public eye today, said as recently as Thursday that he had no plans to quit. But with Democrats across the state urging him to re-think that decision, Cohen appears to be concerned how revelations about his private life might hurt the Democratic party.

Close advisers have been trying to convince Cohen to “do the right thing,” warning that he could be blamed for “bringing down the party” by remaining a candidate, the campaign source said.

Cohen could not be reached for comment tonight. His staff has said he plans to speak tonight to the media at a downtown night club — where a table was roped off and waiting for him at 8 p.m.

This morning, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin called on Cohen to step aside, and several local women’s groups blasted the media and Cohen’s political opponents for “burying” and “ignoring” domestic violence issues.

“I’ve heard enough,” Durbin said. “And if there’s more — I don’t know what it might be — but I’ve heard enough to suggest that he should have not run for office.”

The senator added: “He really should spare himself, and his friends and family what he’s about to go through. I’m afraid the disclosures so far really disqualify him.”

I’ve stayed away from this one. Last night I watched WTTW’s Phil Ponce grill Cohen and his ex-wife on Chicago tonight. Generally amenable and courtly when he interviews, last night was the closest I’ve seen Ponce get to taking the gloves off. I felt for Cohen and ex-wife Debra York-Cohen, but I couldn’t help thinking that these two polite adults on WTTW were at each other’s throats just a short time ago. Ponce aired more dirt about the former couple than I cared to hear.

This is bad.

I also thought of former U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan, who saw records from his 1999 divorce from actress Jeri Ryan become public knowledge in 2004. Insiders with the Obama for Senate campaign told me Barack had no desire to use any personal information like this against Jack Ryan. The Obama campaign knew there were issues with the divorce, but then-candidate Obama ordered that the campaign focus on public issues, not issues personal to Ryan and his family. I believed them at the time, and I still do.

The Chicago Tribune and WLS-TV sought to have the divorce records opened. Eventually, we learned more than we ever cared to learn about Jack and Jeri Ryan and their tepid break-up, and none of that really mattered at all. Voyeurism got the better of the media, and many of the records were ordered unsealed by the court. What happened to Jack Ryan was unfair.

In October 2004, Jack Ryan told the Dartmouth Independent, “What was totally unprecedented in US politics is a paper suing to get access to sealed custody documents, sealed divorce records. No real precedent for that happening. Senator Kerry, for instance, has sealed divorce records and they’re not asking him to turn them over. After I dropped out of the race, people would say, “Hey, since Senator Kerry has sealed divorce records and they sued to have yours opened, in fairness, shouldn’t they sue to have Senator Kerry’s records opened?” And I said absolutely not. That’s the exact wrong thing to do. Just because it happened to me, it doesn’t mean that it should be the new standard. This is the new low for politics in America.” (Emphasis added)

Jack Ryan was right, but the media’s sanctimony and puritanical nature prevailed.

The circumstances with Scott Lee Cohen are much worse, however. Allegations of missed child support payments, domestic abuse and steroid use make the Ryans’ story look like a fairy tale wedding. According to the Sun-Times, as recently as two months ago, Cohen owed his ex-wife $54,000 in back child support payments. He also had to explain his October 2005 arrest, ” when he was accused of domestic battery. His accuser was his live-in girlfriend, who had been arrested on a prostitution charge earlier that year. She was later convicted,” the Sun-Times reports.

There has been a fair amount of finger-pointing throughout Illinois over this election. Why did we not know any of this during the campaign? Where was the media? Isn’t Carol Marin supposed to find out all of these things and tell us in her Sunday column? Cohen and his ex-wife insist it was all “out there,” but, if it was, no one paid attention. None of us paid attention. Maybe the media was preoccupied watching Todd Stroger’s ship sink. Perhaps the media was enthralled with the numerous races for governor. To tell you the truth, I hardly gave the race for lieutenant governor any thought at all. What does the lieutenant governor do anyhow?

Nothing. Except wait to be governor. And we all know now that can happen.

I vow in the future to do my own work vetting candidates for lieutenant governor candidates, but a late-night promise won’t do any of us any good right now.

They’re more important than anything.

Do I want a lieutenant governor who admits he used steroids to such a degree that he allegedly became violent and unpredictable. Am I comfortable with a man arrested on a domestic abuse charge even if he was never convicted?

No. No way.

Is Scott Lee Cohen electable in November?

No. Not now. Not at all.

Scott, whatever face you have left after this, save it. No one is asking you to “go gentle into that good night,’ but we do ask that you go.

I hope that Scott Lee Cohen and his ex-wife find some peace after all the dust has settled. I hope Scott Lee Cohen does the right thing and establishes a plan to get current with his child support payments. Anyone who can afford to drop $2 million of his own money on an election can afford to give his ex-wife $54,000 and then some for his children. Scott, pay up, get to know your children better. Bond with them. They’re more important than any elected office. They’re more important than $54,000.  They’re even more important than $2 million.

We Should Be Thanking Dorothy Brown for ‘Jeans Days’

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

Democratic Cook County Board president candidate Dorothy Brown today tried to move past an employee "jeans day" controversy that’s dogging her campaign by providing records she said shows the money was accounted for.

Brown, the county circuit court clerk, said the $2 or $3 that employees paid to wear jeans on some Fridays has gone to charities including the American Heart Association, a Hurricane Katrina victims fund and a Pakistan earthquake victims fund.

"It is unfortunate that this innocent practice that helps so many causes is being subverted and maligned by some members of the media," said Brown at a lengthy news conference. (You can read her documents by clicking here.)

Questions about jeans day follow previous stories about Brown raising money for pet causes from workers in her office, which has more than 2,100 employees. She’s also raised campaign money through her employees and they’ve been asked to contribute to gifts for her.

Today, Brown’s staff acknowledged that there’s no comprehensive accounting of the jeans day cash contributions that reach the tens of thousands of dollars each year. She said the office tries to verify that the number of permission stickers issued equals the number of contributions. Employees also are supposed to write their names on envelopes when they contribute for jeans day, she said. The comptroller in her office tracks the money, Brown added.

According to documents Brown’s staff provided, nearly $23,000 was spent last year from the employee appreciation fund, accumulated with jeans days’ contributions, to pay for an the annual appreciation dinner held at a union hall. She provided an overall accounting, canceled checks and bank account statements.

In any other season that does not begin with the word "election," Dorothy Brown would be, and should be, praised. But this is election season, and the worst dirt Toni Preckwinkle can unearth in Dorothy Brown’s professional career is the fact that she collects donations from staff for the privilege of wearing jeans, and the money goes to charity, or to a fund that can be used to show appreciation to employees.

What a great idea.

This tells me that, outside a campaign, both of these candidates are wonderful people.

Are you at that point yet where you’re wishing it was already February 3, 2010?

We haven’t even seen the deluge of commercials all the candidates are waiting to unleash closer to election day…

Let Harold Washington Rest In Peace, Dan (Video)

Posted on by TL

I laughed so hard when I heard this today on WBBM. Harold Washington campaigns from beyond the grave for Dan Hynes.

Give me a break.

From the Sun-Times:

One of Chicago’s most iconic politicians, Mayor Harold Washington, surfaced from the grave Thursday to call his 1986 hiring of Gov. Quinn as city revenue director “perhaps my greatest mistake in government.”

Washington’s comments appear in a new ad by Comptroller Dan Hynes that debuted on Chicago television stations Thursday and could prove to be a defining moment in their bitter gubernatorial primary.

“I must have been blind or staggering,” Washington said in the ad, which uses archival video from a November 1987 WGN-TV interview of Washington. “I would never appoint Pat Quinn to do anything. Pat Quinn is a totally and completely undisciplined individual who thinks this government is nothing but a large easel by which he can do his PR work.”

Quinn, at that point an up-and-coming government reformer, was brought on by Washington in 1986 to clean up the city’s scandal-plagued Revenue Department. But Washington canned Quinn in June 1987, alleging that Quinn engaged in grandstanding and repeatedly ignored orders.

“He went in there like a bull in a closet, wouldn’t do what he was told, which was to put the systems in there which I had discussed thoroughly with him,” Washington said, showing flashes of anger as he spoke. “No, he thought that department was a PR plantation, and he didn’t do his work. He was dismissed. He should have been dismissed. My only regret is that we hired him and kept him too long.”

The ad’s emergence caused Quinn’s gubernatorial campaign to go into major damage control, quickly issuing a lengthy statement that disputed Washington’s assertion Quinn was dismissed and asserted the late mayor is “spinning in his grave today.”

Quinn’s camp also ridiculed Hynes’ use of Washington’s image when the comptroller’s father, Tom Hynes, left the Democratic Party to mount an unsuccessful, third-party bid to unseat Washington in 1987.

“It is outrageous that Dan Hynes is now invoking the name of Mayor Harold Washington in a blatant maneuver to mislead voters. That Dan Hynes would use a 24-year-old news clip of a beloved figure to attack Gov. Quinn shows there is no limit to his negative campaigning. There also is no limit to his hypocrisy,” Quinn spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin said in a statement.

This is insane.

Dan, Pat, I could give a care how bad you think the other guy is. Tell us what you bring to the job, not what the other guy lacks.

For the record, Harold Washington and Pat Quinn reconciled, and Quinn supported Washington after the events referenced in the commercial. It’s politics. That’s all.

That having been said, I’m voting for Quinn. I like both of them, but I like Pat Quinn for governor more.

Preckwinkle Tops in New Tribune Poll; Todd Stroger Comes In Fourth

Posted on by TL
Toni Preckwinkle

From NBC 5 Chicago:

Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle has surged to a significant lead in the Democratic primary for Cook County Board president as she has become better known and liked among suburban voters, a Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Board President Todd Stroger fell to last place among the four candidates, his support dropping to 11 percent from 14 percent six weeks ago.

The Chicago Tribune adds more:

Board President Todd Stroger fell to last place among the four candidates, his support dropping to 11 percent from 14 percent six weeks ago.

During that time, Preckwinkle supplanted Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown as the front-runner with the support of 36 percent of likely Democratic voters, up from 20 percent, the poll found. Brown, who held a lead last month built upon her name recognition, fell from 29 percent to 24 percent.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien rose to 16 percent from 11 percent in the December poll.

The survey of 503 likely Democratic primary voters, conducted Jan. 16-20, found only 12 percent undecided in the contest, putting the onus on Preckwinkle’s opponents to use the final days of the campaign to try to take support away from her. The survey’s error margin was 4.4 percentage points.

I like what I hear of Preckwinkle, although I have to admit her attack ads on Dorothy Brown for holding jeans days to raise money for charity is stupid, stupid, stupid. Many schools, companies and governmental bodies hold jeans days and give the money to charity. It’s a healthy practice and good for morale. Preckwinkle needs to stop these ads already. They’re nothing but silly.

That having been said, understanding that so during elections just becomes infantile, I’m still leaning toward voting for Preckwinkle.

NYTimes: The Supreme Court’s Blow to Democracy

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From the New York Times:

With a single, disastrous 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century. Disingenuously waving the flag of the First Amendment, the court’s conservative majority has paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding.

Congress must act immediately to limit the damage of this radical decision, which strikes at the heart of democracy.

As a result of Thursday’s ruling, corporations have been unleashed from the longstanding ban against their spending directly on political campaigns and will be free to spend as much money as they want to elect and defeat candidates. If a member of Congress tries to stand up to a wealthy special interest, its lobbyists can credibly threaten: We’ll spend whatever it takes to defeat you.

The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission radically reverses well-established law and erodes a wall that has stood for a century between corporations and electoral politics. (The ruling also frees up labor unions to spend, though they have far less money at their disposal.)

The founders of this nation warned about the dangers of corporate influence. The Constitution they wrote mentions many things and assigns them rights and protections — the people, militias, the press, religions. But it does not mention corporations.

The Times is right. If Congress does not act, your vote will be meaningless. You are a person. A corporation is not. Corporations will now be able to give as much money as they want to any and all politicians.

This is incredibly insane.