Posts Tagged ‘Alabama’
Sheer beauty from Twitch and Kherington from this week’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Mia Michaels ‘always has the best SYTYCD routines.
Fishbowl America Round-Up for July 8th:
- “Lost” To Air on Sci-Fi Channel – Sci-Fi has jumped in to help us all with the hiatus blues and announced it will begin airing 4 hour blocks of LOST every Monday at 7:00pm starting September 15. The episodes will run in order up to the season 4 finale.
- Carey Takes Helm of National Gay and Lesbian Task Force – Rea Carey was happily serving as interim executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force until a few months ago. The organization had embarked on an extensive search to find a replacement for Matt Foreman, who resigned in January.
- What the Pregnant Man Didn’t Deliver – By the time Thomas Beatie, “the Pregnant Man,” strode across Oprah Winfrey’s stage on April 3, his story had already become a worldwide phenomenon. Beatie — a transgendered man who was born a woman and became pregnant through artificial insemination — h
- Alabama Senate: Sessions 58, Figures 34; Obama down by 15 – Rasmussen Reports takes another snapshot of the Alabama Senate race, this time finding Sen. Jeff Sessions leading his Democratic challenger Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, 58 percent to 34 percent.
- Retired Military Leaders Come Out Against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell / Queerty – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell took a severe blow today. A study released today asserts that openly gay soldiers do not threaten unit cohesion.
- Wockner: The Day ACT UP Put a Condom On Jesse Helms’ House – AIDS activists inflated a giant “reservoir-tipped condom” over U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms’ house Sept. 5 [1991] in Arlington, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.
- A Clintonian at Fox – Howard Wolfson, who was a top strategist for the presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, is going where some Democrats were unwilling to go during the early days of the election season: the Fox News Channel.
- Charred Bodies Found on Tijuana Street – Police on Monday found six charred bodies on a Tijuana street following a bloody weekend that left 14 people dead.
Brno, Czech Republic: At least 20 people were injured when the Czech Republic’s first ever Gay Pride parade was attacked by rightwing extremists armed with tear gas even before the event was due to begin in the city of Brno.
Havana, Cuba: Cuba’s first gay pride parade was abruptly cancelled yesterday, moments before it was to begin.
The unofficial march, organised with Florida’s Unity Coalition, was not sanctioned by Cuba’s National Centre for Sex Education, which is headed by Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul Castro.
Huntsville, Alabama: The last Gay Pride event in Huntsville was a picnic in Maple Hill Cemetery 12 years ago that drew 450 people. The most recent one – a rally Saturday afternoon sponsored by the North Alabama Pride Coalition in Big Spring International Park – attracted only a couple of dozen people, no protesters and no television cameras.
Jerusalem, Israel: Despite a backdrop of counterprotests and memories of the violence of years past, rainbow-colored flags and a crowd of a few thousand people made their way through the central streets of Jerusalem on Thursday as the annual Gay Pride Parade went off without a hitch.
Moscow, Russia: Gay Russians waving placards and rainbow flags demonstrated in central Moscow on Sunday in defiance of an official ban on gay pride events and abuse from far-right opponents.
New Dehli, India: Men wore sparkling saris, women wore rainbow boas and hundreds of people chanted for gay rights in three Indian cities Sunday in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country where homosexual acts are illegal.
San Francisco, California: A lesbian motorcycle group dressed in bridal veils, wedding gowns and leather lent a matrimonial touch to San Francisco’s gay pride parade Sunday as revelers celebrated their newfound freedom to marry.
Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian police arrested 60 people Saturday opposed to Bulgaria’s first gay pride march after they tried to storm the small group of about 100 marchers in the capital Sofia, the interior ministry said.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
AP: He won the affection of millions of people on “American Idol,” but this weekend, Ruben Studdard is giving his heart to one woman.
He and Surata Zuri McCants, 30, took out a marriage license on Monday, according to court records.
AP: He won the affection of millions of people on “American Idol,” but this weekend, Ruben Studdard is giving his heart to one woman.
He and Surata Zuri McCants, 30, took out a marriage license on Monday, according to court records.
Okay, its an obvious no-brainer.
Karl Rove is the most deceitful man in politics since Lee Atwater. And frankly, he might give Atwater a run for his money. Scott McClellan is obviously trying to save face, to a certain extent. He painfully shifted and shuddered in front of the WH Press Corp during his time as WH Press Secretary, and with good reason. What little he did, or did now know, he was simply thrown to the wolves to dance like a bird on a wire for the national press.
I felt bad for him when I watched him on C-SPAN during his tenure. He was clearly uncomfortable, but still trying to go to bat for a president who values loyalty more than truth, apparently.
Karl Rove has plenty of seedy ties when it comes to the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who’s been released from prison, and likely is not going to go back since that case is so ridiculously absurd. Check out donsiegelman.com for more.In the interests of fairness, I will acknowledge that I served as a staffer under Don Siegelman while he served as Alabama Governor from 2000-2001.
Okay, its an obvious no-brainer.
Karl Rove is the most deceitful man in politics since Lee Atwater. And frankly, he might give Atwater a run for his money. Scott McClellan is obviously trying to save face, to a certain extent. He painfully shifted and shuddered in front of the WH Press Corp during his time as WH Press Secretary, and with good reason. What little he did, or did now know, he was simply thrown to the wolves to dance like a bird on a wire for the national press.
I felt bad for him when I watched him on C-SPAN during his tenure. He was clearly uncomfortable, but still trying to go to bat for a president who values loyalty more than truth, apparently.
Karl Rove has plenty of seedy ties when it comes to the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who’s been released from prison, and likely is not going to go back since that case is so ridiculously absurd. Check out donsiegelman.com for more.In the interests of fairness, I will acknowledge that I served as a staffer under Don Siegelman while he served as Alabama Governor from 2000-2001.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Tuscaloosa News: Gov. Bob Riley said today that he warned Don Siegelman against politicizing the corruption case that eventually ended with the former governor in prison.
“I actually went to Gov. Siegelman, I told him — I looked him straight in the eye — and I said ‘You can go out here and demagogue this, you can say what ever you want to say, but I want to tell you, I have never had a conversation with anybody about your case, and I never will do it,’” Riley said of a meeting before Siegelman went on trial for corruption in 2006.
Siegelman was convicted and served nine months in prison before being released earlier this year while he appeals the rest of his more than seven year sentence. Riley, speaking on camera for a segment of the Tuscaloosa News’ Town Hall Web cast, said the confrontation came in the old Alabama Capitol during a ceremony they both attended.
“It was before [Siegelman’s trial] because he was saying ‘This was a Republican conspiracy,’” Riley said. “And I told him, I said, ‘Look, you might [win] the case, I don’t know. But I’m going to tell you, just so you know, and you know that I know that you know, that there is nothing that I have ever done personally, there is nothing that my family has ever done to you or said about you,’” the governor said.
“‘Now you can keep going out and saying Riley’s doing this, but no one will ever find a time, any time that we’ve ever done it and we’re not going to start now.’”
In response, Siegelman said this morning that he remembers the function at the Capitol, remembers talking to Riley, but does not remember what they talked about.
“I certainly don’t remember it like that,” he said.
Siegelman, who was defeated by Riley in 2004 in his bid for a second term as governor and was convicted in June 2006 on seven counts of bribery, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice. He has alleged that he was the target of a federal witch hunt orchestrated by Karl Rove, at the time President George W. Bush’s top aide, and coordinated with federal prosecutors in Alabama.
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Birmingham News: The Blue Dogs, a 49-member coalition of conservative Democrats in Congress, today announced its endorsement of Parker Griffith in Alabama’s 5th Congressional District of north Alabama. “We believe he will join us in putting an end to the partisan bickering in Washington and pushing through commonsense fiscal policies and restoring accountability to our government,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark.
Griffith is a state senator running to replace Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, who is retiring. His Republican opponent will be determined by a primary runoff next month.
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Washington Post: Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, calmly told a U.S. military court Thursday that he wishes for a death sentence so that he can become “a martyr.”
Washington Post: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the resignations of two top Air Force officials because of what he said were serious leadership problems involving the security of U.S. nuclear weapons and components.
Raw Story: The US Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is investigating the conduct of at least two specific US Attorneys in the “selective prosecution” of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, sitting Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz Jr., and Mississippi attorney Paul Minor, according to attorneys close to the investigation.
CNN: The United Arab Emirates is expected to soon name an ambassador to Iraq and could open an embassy in the war-ravaged nation, Iraqi officials said Thursday.
Advocate: A USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 63% of adults say same-sex marriage is “strictly a private decision” between two people; 33% believe the government has the right “to prohibit or allow” such marriages, while 4% had no opinion.
The greatest support for no government intervention regarding same-sex marriages was in the East (71%), followed by the West (64%), Midwest (63%), and South (56%).
The percentage of participants who believe that same-sex marriage is “strictly a private” matter decreased as the age of the respondents increased: 79% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 65% of 30- to 49-year-olds, 62% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 44% of those 65 and older.
The strongest support for government regulation of same-sex marriage came from people who say they attend religious services weekly (56%), are Republicans (56%), or are politically conservative (54%).
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| June 03, 2008 – 11:00PM ET | (i) = incumbent |  = winner |
 = runoff |
| U.S. Senate – Dem Primary | |
| 2585 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 97% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| U.S. Senate – GOP Primary | |
| 2585 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 97% |
|
| U.S. House – District 1 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 1 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 2 – Dem Primary | |
| 378 of 418 Precincts Reporting – 90% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| U.S. House – District 2 – GOP Primary | |
| 376 of 418 Precincts Reporting – 90% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| U.S. House – District 3 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 3 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 4 – Dem Primary | |
| 449 of 466 Precincts Reporting – 96% |
|
| U.S. House – District 4 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 5 – Dem Primary | |
| 309 of 312 Precincts Reporting – 99% |
|
| U.S. House – District 5 – GOP Primary | |
| 309 of 312 Precincts Reporting – 99% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| U.S. House – District 6 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| U.S. House – District 7 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Supreme Court – Place 1 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Supreme Court – Place 1 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Civil Appeals – Place 1 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Civil Appeals – Place 1 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Criminal Appeals – Place 1 – Dem Primary | |
| 2583 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 97% |
|
| Criminal Appeals – Place 1 – GOP Primary | |
| 2578 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 97% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| Criminal Appeals – Place 2 – Dem Primary | |
| 2558 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 96% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| Criminal Appeals – Place 2 – GOP Primary | |
| 2558 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 96% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| Public Service Comm – President – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| Public Service Comm – President – GOP Primary | |
| 2559 of 2665 Precincts Reporting – 96% | |
| Max Runoff Cands=2 |
|
| SBOE – District 1 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| SBOE – District 1 – GOP Primary | |
| 188 of 203 Precincts Reporting – 93% |
|
| SBOE – District 3 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| SBOE – District 3 – GOP Primary | |
| 295 of 335 Precincts Reporting – 88% |
|
| SBOE – District 5 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| SBOE – District 5 – GOP Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| SBOE – District 7 – Dem Primary | |
| Uncontested race, no results will be reported. |
|
| SBOE – District 7 – GOP Primary | |
| 384 of 384 Precincts Reporting – 100% |
|
| Local Amendment – 1 Baldwin Senior Tax – Ballot Issue | |
| 70 of 70 Precincts Reporting – 100% |
|
| Local Amendment – 2 Baldwin Bond Levy – Ballot Issue | |
| 70 of 70 Precincts Reporting – 100% |
| Name | Votes | Vote % | |
|
No | 10,619 | 69% |
| Yes | 4,881 | 31% |
Let’s take a quick look at some of today’s races…
AL-02
Republican
This has been the most competitive and expensive race of the primary cycle with four of the Republican candidates spending several hundred thousand dollars, each digging in their own pocket for a large percentage of their overall budget. While this race has had its share of twists and turns, it looks like the primary is ending where it began – with Harri Anne Smith and Jay Love as the favorites. Despite game efforts by David Woods and Craig Schmitdke, it’d be a huge upset if either displaced one of the top two to make the runoff.
Depending on which poll ones looks at, either Smith or Love has the lead. It’ll be interesting to see which candidate comes up on top, but unless there is a lead of high single digits or more, a runoff would begin on a pretty even footing.
Prediction – Smith and Love finish well ahead of the pack but within less than four points of each other, with Schmidtke usurping third place from David Woods.
Democratic
This one won’t be close. It’s hard to imagine Bright being seriously pushed to secure the nomination, but only a fraction of one of the district’s counties has actually ever seen him on the ballot. And opponent Cheryl Sabel is the only Democrat to run television ads, while Bright strategically sitting on his money. I’d peg 60%-65% as the expected Bright range, with anything below that showing considerable weakness that won’t help the mayor begin the general on the right foot.
Prediction – Bright wins by about 2 to 1 over his two lower profile opponents.
AL-05
Republican
Though this has race attracted its share of Republicans, only two candidates have run top-flight, professional campaigns saturating the district with TV ads. Wayne Parker was the establishment favorite all along with Cheryl Baswell Guthrie playing the role of the self-funding insurgent. Guthrie’s fourth quarter ads hitting Parker for his lobbyist background have shaken up the race as local Repbulican figures have condemned Guthrie’s negativity. Doc Mancuso has injected his campaign with over $100K from his own pocket, which should separate him from the also-rans. But it’s hard to imagine any result other than Parker finishing first with Guthrie in second with everyone else in the dust. Which leaves the question: will Wayne Parker secure a majority today or will he be faced with a six week runoff that could grow increasingly negative?
Prediction – Guthrie’s negative ads might not ultimately help her bid for the nomination, but it will be enough to keep Parker under 50% and ensure a runoff.
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