Archive for June 16th, 2008
It was nearly midnight before Keith Olbermann left the NBC News election studio on May 13th, having spent five hours on the air, co-anchoring coverage of the West Virginia Democratic primary. Olbermann had a short ride home from Rockefeller Plaza to his condominium on the Upper East Side, and he was in bed by 2 A.M. But he lay wide awake, overcome by an urge to get up and move about.
He has been given a diagnosis of Wittmaack-Ekbom’s syndrome, also known as “restless-legs syndrome” (and also “the kicks,” “Jimmy legs,” and “jitters”), a neurological disorder that produces a prickling, itching, or crawling feeling in the legs, profoundly disturbing sleep.
Reclining exacerbates the condition, so Olbermann got out of bed, took a pill for the ailment, and, while waiting for the drug to kick in, scrolled through his BlackBerry, scanning recent messages. One arrested his attention. It was a link to the Web site Politico, which featured an interview conducted that day with President Bush. Olbermann was struck by two questions from the interview, and by Bush’s answers to them: CONTINUE READING
It was nearly midnight before Keith Olbermann left the NBC News election studio on May 13th, having spent five hours on the air, co-anchoring coverage of the West Virginia Democratic primary. Olbermann had a short ride home from Rockefeller Plaza to his condominium on the Upper East Side, and he was in bed by 2 A.M. But he lay wide awake, overcome by an urge to get up and move about.
He has been given a diagnosis of Wittmaack-Ekbom’s syndrome, also known as “restless-legs syndrome” (and also “the kicks,” “Jimmy legs,” and “jitters”), a neurological disorder that produces a prickling, itching, or crawling feeling in the legs, profoundly disturbing sleep.
Reclining exacerbates the condition, so Olbermann got out of bed, took a pill for the ailment, and, while waiting for the drug to kick in, scrolled through his BlackBerry, scanning recent messages. One arrested his attention. It was a link to the Web site Politico, which featured an interview conducted that day with President Bush. Olbermann was struck by two questions from the interview, and by Bush’s answers to them: CONTINUE READING
History was ushered in at 5:01 pm PST today as California began marrying same-sex couples, becoming the second state in the nation to do so.
In San Francisco, 87-year-old Del Martin and 84-year-old Phyllis Lyon were married after being together for more than 50 years. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated:
“Well-wishers cheered when they emerged outside Newsom’s office after the ceremony. Dozens of couples gathered outside the clerks offices in Alameda, Sonoma and Yolo counties, where hours were extended to accommodate gay couples who wanted to be among the first to marry. Derek Norman, 23 and Robert Blaudow, 39, from Memphis, were in the Bay Area for a conference and decided to get married at the Alameda County clerk’s office. ‘We might wait a long time in Tennessee, so this is our chance,’ Blaudow said. First in line to pick up a marriage license in Sonoma was Melanie Phoenix, 47, and Terry Robinson, 48, of Santa Rosa. They have been together for almost 26 years and plan to be wed in August.”
CNN: Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, urging Americans to reject what he called the Bush administration’s legacy of “incompetence, negligence and failure.”
“Americans simply cannot afford to continue the policies of the last eight years for another four,” Gore, the party’s 2000 presidential nominee, told Obama supporters at a rally in Detroit, Michigan.[redlasso id=”436dae06-dc13-411e-81d5-9e7f948e8332″]
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As I first reported a couple of weeks ago, former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle is going to work for Obama.
She’ll be “chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate – whoever he (or she) will be, campaign officials said,” Nagourney reports.
Though this will stir speculation that she’s paving the way for Hillary, but it actually makes me think the opposite. Clinton fired her in February, and many of her backers view Solis Doyle as a bit of a traitor for having signaled that she’d move to Obama before the primary was over.
But she adds a prominent female, Hispanic face to Obama’s senior staff, and has a major role, if an ambiguous one: It’s not exactly inside the Obama inner circle, and a running mate may also want to bring in his or her own people.
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At 5:01pm today, history will be made as gay and lesbian couples begin marrying in California, led symbolically by the marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, the couple of 50 years who were first married in San Francisco City Hall in 2004 (above). I’ve rounded up some of the significant reporting here.
Profiles of some of the key figures in the same-sex marriage struggle (both for and against) including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Hillary and Julie Goodridge, Gavin Newsom, and Ronald George.
A new CBS poll shows reveals America’s shifting views on same-sex marriage: “Twenty-eight percent think same-sex couples should be permitted to form civil unions, but more than a third – 36 percent – say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship. Last month, the California Supreme Court struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, paving the way for gay and lesbian couples to marry there. Americans’ views on this issue have changed since 2004, although opinion has not changed substantially in the last two years. In November of 2004 (soon after the presidential election) just 21 percent of Americans supported the idea of same-sex couples being allowed to marry.”
A California business specializing in interchangeable figures for wedding cakes is seeing a windfall. More on the business boom, below.
What churches are participating? “Episcopalians, Unitarian Universalists, rabbis, a Methodist and even a Catholic priest are planning to bless some same-sex marriages when they are set to become legal in California on Monday. ‘I believe the family is a cornerstone for a strong society, and I’m all in favor of everything we can do to build up the values that make strong families,’ said the Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, which has been blessing same-sex unions for 16 years. ‘I think the values matter more than the gender of the people making up the heads of those families,’ Russell said.” NPR reports on the coming clash between equal rights and religious expression.
Some couples don’t plan on rushing to the altar: “As of yesterday, more than 700 same-sex couples had made appointments to get a marriage license in San Diego County, including 190 for Tuesday. Michael Kimmel, a Kensington psychotherapist who counsels gay couples, said the pressure to wed is prompting some couples to re-evaluate the strength of their relationships.”
The NYT notes that couples may be wise to look to examples in Massachusetts.
The San Francisco Chronicle visits the town where the highest percentage of residents (83%) voted for Proposition 22, the successful state ballot initiative that limited marriage to a man and a woman, and gets its take on the same-sex marriage laws: “Most residents still don’t like the idea of allowing men to marry men and women to marry women. Some residents say they don’t know any openly gay people, and others have trouble even saying the word ‘gay.’ One man called it being ‘of the homosexual persuasion.'”
California businesses are poised to receive a windfall: “Faced with a wilted economy, water shortages and sticker shock at the gasoline pump, many California businesses are welcoming ‘the dinks’ (double income, no kids) with open arms. ‘It’s basically a godsend,’ said Daniel Doiron, the general manager of the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, which is offering honeymoon specials from $479 bargain basement (boutonnieres, 15-minute wedding, 20 guests) to the ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ at $29,999 (poolside villas, wedding cake and reception, ice sculptures, flowers, sit-down dinner for 200 and three nights in the honeymoon suite). ‘We’re just blessed to help.’ Ten couples from New York, Las Vegas and Phoenix have signed up for the options.”
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Advocate: Puerto Rico’s house of representatives has denied a measure to toughen a ban on same-sex marriage.
Rep. Victor García San Inocencio says Resolution 99 failed on Thursday to make it to the house floor for voting, effectively killing the proposal for this legislative term.
The measure would have amended the U.S. territory’s constitution to establish that marriage is between a man and woman and that no other types of unions could be recognized. Thus, it would have made it harder to allow civil unions or grant marital rights to unmarried couples.
Critics said the amendment was unnecessary because local laws already ban same-sex marriage. Others argued it was discriminatory.
The Hill: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “would be far and away the best candidate” to appear on the Republican presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
Gingrich, who appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” heaped praise upon the former congressman, saying that he is a “spectacular” governor and predicted that Jindal would be a presidential candidate in the future.
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New Yorker Profiles MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann
June 16, 2008 in International, Politics & Government, Religion, Sports
Tags: Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Countdown, Elections, Iraq, Keith Olbermann, McCain, MSNBC, NBC News, Obama, Olbermann, Politico, Politics & Government, Rove, Special Comment, terrorism, War
New Yorker:
It was nearly midnight before Keith Olbermann left the NBC News election studio on May 13th, having spent five hours on the air, co-anchoring coverage of the West Virginia Democratic primary. Olbermann had a short ride home from Rockefeller Plaza to his condominium on the Upper East Side, and he was in bed by 2 A.M. But he lay wide awake, overcome by an urge to get up and move about.
He has been given a diagnosis of Wittmaack-Ekbom’s syndrome, also known as “restless-legs syndrome” (and also “the kicks,” “Jimmy legs,” and “jitters”), a neurological disorder that produces a prickling, itching, or crawling feeling in the legs, profoundly disturbing sleep.
Reclining exacerbates the condition, so Olbermann got out of bed, took a pill for the ailment, and, while waiting for the drug to kick in, scrolled through his BlackBerry, scanning recent messages. One arrested his attention. It was a link to the Web site Politico, which featured an interview conducted that day with President Bush. Olbermann was struck by two questions from the interview, and by Bush’s answers to them: CONTINUE READING