The Freedom to Marry group is going out of business for the best possible reason: They won the fight. The group put together this celebratory video that might result in dust stimulating your tear ducts:
It’s important to remember the victories. This was one.
Open thread.
[H/T: Vox]
bystander
Just caught “journalist ” Jonathan Karl explaining why repubs are so concerned about Trump. In some poll or polls (sources never made clear) about a head to head between HRC and Jebula, it’s “really close”. Really close to Karl is 46 to 30, a margin of more than half of those picking Jebula. Between HRC and Trump it’s 46/20.
Germy Shoemangler
I’ve seen that kind of reporting again and again from Jon Karl. He bends the truth, he fudges numbers. All with this shit-eating smirk on his face.
Every time he appears on TV there should be a caption: “College Republican”
satby
Progress is never completely won, but it has been stunning how fast this issue moved. As the aunt and friend of several LGTB people, that gives me joy and relief.
But we still have battles to fight. Can you believe this still happens?
http://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2015/7/20/the-case-of-the-missing-magazine-2015
Great response by the editor!
Baud
@bystander:
In the Village, the election will be close until we win by the landslide. Then the election will be stolen.
Gimlet
More Open Thread news
James Hansen’s new study warns of 10 feet of sea level rise before 2100
Hansen’s track record commands respect. From the time the soft-spoken Iowan told the U.S. Senate in 1988 that man-made global warming was no longer a theory but had in fact begun and threatened unparalleled disaster, he has consistently been ahead of the scientific curve.
Hansen has long suspected that computer models underestimated how sensitive Earth’s ice sheets were to rising temperatures.
This apocalyptic scenario illustrates why the goal of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius is not the safe “guardrail” most politicians and media coverage imply it is, argue Hansen and 16 colleagues
Three feet of sea level rise would put runways of all three New York City-area airports underwater unless protective barriers were erected. The same holds for airports in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mustang Bobby
Art imitates life: the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality helps me close a plot hole in the play I’m working on. Act 2 scene 3 now works. Thanks, 5-4!
Gimlet
@Baud:
You forget, the Secretary of State (or other vote counters) controlling the majority of Electoral votes are on Team Red.
Baud
@Gimlet:
That was true in 2012 also. I’m more concerned about voter suppression than fraudulent counting.
Emma
@satby: I feel a subscription coming on and I’m not even from Houston!
Baud
@Mustang Bobby:
So the play ends with the death of civilization then?
PurpleGirl
Yes, I had a dusting of tears. That was a great video. Back in 1980 or ’81, I witnessed a friend marry her partner in a Quaker/Jewish ceremony. It was held at the 15th Street Meeting house. They had the permission of the 15th Street Meeting to perform a ceremony in which they married each other. I don’t know if they are still together or where they live, but it was so great to witness their commitment to each other.
Germy Shoemangler
http://www.wptz.com/politics/sarah-palin-both-mccain-and-trump-are-heroes/34262034
Sarah Palin: “Both McCain and Trump are heroes.”
Baud
@satby:
That was awesome. Not only the stand, but the writing. Thanks for linking.
Iowa Old Lady
It’s RAGBRAI week–The Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Thousands of riders dipped the back wheel of their bikes in the Missouri on Sunday and aim to dip the front wheel in the Mississippi on Saturday. The route changes every year, and this year, my town is an overnight stop.
Gimlet
@Baud:
Tornadoes in Oklahoma, drought in Texas, hurricanes in red states… All the arrows in the quiver of a wrathful Deity.
Mustang Bobby
@satby: I love it. What a nice way to tell the bigots to get bent.
Mustang Bobby
@Baud: Ooh, I like that.
Sherparick
Kevin Williamson is today’s first nominee for worst person in the world for saying Bernie Sanders (Jewish guy from Brooklyn who had family killed in the Holocaust) a “national socialist” because he does not like corporate trade agreements. http://www.vox.com/2015/7/20/9007815/bernie-sanders-national-socialist
And then these jerks get invited onto the “liberal” MSNBC shows like Morning Joe and UP with Steve Kornacki. And then the Village wonders who Trump (Draft Avoider) is getting 25% of the Republican vote after attacking the “sainted” John McCain’s war record.
scav
@Iowa Old Lady: I had a friend that did that a few years. Enjoy the parade of bicycles en masse, the miles of necessary foodstuffs and the team costumes.
JPL
@satby: What a great response. Thanks for the link.
OzarkHillbilly
@Iowa Old Lady:
Read that and the image of a woman using rags for a bra popped into my head
MattF
@Sherparick: I’m not going to read Williamson’s article. I suppose he thinks it’s brave to cross all those libtard red lines in one fell swoop– but it’s not. It’s merely vile.
bemused
@satby:
If this doctor is identified by name, he may lose some patients who find his views abhorrent.
MattF
There’s actually been a string of victories lately– marriage equality, O-care, Iran deal, Cuba deal, to name the first that come to mind.
As all this sinks in, wingers are going into panic mode. The various crazy and dangerous ‘foreign policy’ statements from the Republican Klown Bus are a clear indication.
raven
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
Yup, I teared up. Couple of takeaways for me. Obama makes me proud, a distinct difference from both Bush and Clinton (who signed the odious DOMA). Also, I do not want another one of those trianulating mf-ers in the white house.
satby
@bemused: I would certainly hope so!
bemused
@satby:
Tomball, according to wiki, is a small town of 10,000 in Texas. A lot of small towns are made up of people who hold many of the same viewpoints on most issues. The editorial didn’t name the doctor or what type of doctor but in a town that small, I doubt it would take long for locals to figure out who the doctor is and then we’d see how the residents react.
I think if business owners, doctors or any selling products or services to the public have such strong racist, sexist, homophobic views, they should just put up a signs saying they won’t serve the people they hate instead of going the coward route of complaining to the magazine.
David Koch
@GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): Preach it, brother.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/embedded_img_small/image/image_file/edie_windsor.jpg?itok=RLIddqs_
debbie
@bystander:
No different than how reporters are treating the announcement today by John Kasich that he’s running for president. On NPR this morning, the reporter gushed that Kasich won re-election by a large margin (without mentioning that the Democrats hadn’t even bothered to run a campaign for their nominee whose great sin was failing to renew his drivers license), and the reporter glossed over Kasich’s defeat on destroying the unions. He said Kasich’s bill was broader and far better than Scott Walker’s (as if including cops and firefighters was a positive), and even better, the reporter said Kasich had learned his lesson when he lost. What a crock. If this man gains office, busting unions will be at the top of his agenda.
Matt McIrvin
Barron’s has been running articles touting John Kasich as the great Republican hope for months now. I guess some guys with money like him.
Amir Khalid
@debbie:
With The Donald sucking up all the oxygen in the room, is anyone except the scorekeepers even going to notice Kasich’s announcement?
Belafon
The reason this moved so fast – compared to, say, racial equality – is when it became OK for gays to come out of the closet, whites found out that they had family and friends who were gay. Gays don’t look different.
Us whites need to figure out how to make this continues to happen for minorities as well.
rikyrah
Follow
BlackAmericaWeb.com
@BlackAmericaWeb
Another Black Woman Dies In Jail Cell, Alabama Police Claim It Was Suicide http://trib.al/eVfccuJ @TJMShow
rikyrah
Spandan did it again:
Bernie Sanders and the Liberal Establishment’s Colossal Failure on Race
Spandan Chakrabarti | July 20, 2015
……………….
boatboy_srq
@Amir Khalid: They’re hoping a Kasich campaign can gasp along until The Donald flames out. it’ll be interesting to watch what happens here, regardless of which wingnut walks away with the nomination. More popcorn, please.
Punchy
@Gimlet: Yeah, so what. Sea level rise means deeper oceans, which means more fish, which means more fisherman and more suburban Red Lobsters, which means more jobs and more tax money. Climate change for the economy, libtards.
Gimlet
@rikyrah:
While Bernie may or likely never be President, you do realize the current President is a Democrat and he has a Justice Department which can address these issues.
Gimlet
@Punchy:
Watch out for the sharks.
MattF
This is a very nice NYT interactive graphic about the candidates and their organizations.
Also, thank FSM for tinyurl. The original URL was 340 characters!
Belafon
@Gimlet: And he’ll be president for another 18 months. Then what?
Gimlet
@Belafon:
18 months is enough time to do something about this. In fact he’s had much longer to work on it.
Belafon
@Gimlet: 18 months is enough time to do something about a problem that is older than our country?
Gimlet
@Belafon:
And if Sanders is not elected, then what?
Amir Khalid
@Gimlet:
Then you must look to President Clinton.
Gimlet
@Amir Khalid:
Even if the underlying problem is older than the country, 18 months is enough time to stop completely cops killing unarmed and unthreatening civilians.
Amir Khalid
@Gimlet:
I admire your optimism, but I’m not sure your compatriots here share it.
Belafon
@Gimlet: Um, no.
Gimlet
@Belafon:
If the thinking is that Clinton will be the nominee and potential president why don’t the protesters show up at her rallies.
If 18 months isn’t long enough, then he shouldn’t even be bothered with it?
rikyrah
@Gimlet:
Are you completely delusional?
Gimlet
@rikyrah:
With “zero tolerance” and close scrutiny, what timeframe are you looking at?
EconWatcher
I wonder how much the atmosphere has changed in high schools. When I was in school, three decades ago, the worst thing that could happen to you was even to be suspected of being gay. It wasn’t just anti-gay bullying; it was damn near a lynch mob mentality. I can’t imagine how scarred people must be from having to hide things like their first crush, as if their life depended on it.
ruemara
@rikyrah: you just can’t put black women in jail cells without them harming themselves.
Mack
@Gimlet: I have no idea what kind of timeline it would take, but I know 18 months, or 118 months is not enough. There is a very dangerous subculture in our police ranks, I saw it firsthand when I was a part of the rank and file. Painting the “others” as inherently dangerous starts at the academy, and it never ever lets up. Not that long ago, as a citizen advisor to law enforcement’s 287 (g) debacle, I saw just how totally it has saturated our police departments. Take a look at their trade mags, which are chock full of images, articles, and ads all designed to make cops fear for their lives. It is going to take years and years.
Gimlet
@Mack:
When the numbers are as large as over 550 so far this year, you should see progress pretty quickly.
Betty Cracker
@EconWatcher: I’ve been a sideline observer with close family coming out in high school in the 1980s and 2010s, and damn, it’s so different. Homophobia hasn’t evaporated, of course. But wonderful progress has been made, and thank FSM for that.
Mack
@Betty Cracker: I live in a small town in Tennessee, and I was completely surprised by how many of my daughters’ friends were out, and it was no big deal in her school. It happened quickly.
Mack
@Gimlet: Well as far as I’m concerned, let’s get started, reducing that by any number is progress. I never meant to imply that it wasn’t a worthy goal.