To me, it shows how little society really cares about people with mental health issues. She does have a very tender heart … but anything she says is certifiably schizophrenic … she’s not some crazy conservative.Ogallala, Neb. resident Patrick Svoboda • Discussing his sister Jane’s recent viral video, in which she said a number of disjointed things during a Lincoln City Council meeting, mostly about homosexuality. Many saw it as hate speech: The truth is that Jane Svoboda has schizophrenia, and is legally listed as under protection by the state of Nebraska. Her brother Patrick is her conservator. Jane is listed as a registered lobbyist at the state capitol and regularly testifies at Lincoln City Council meetings. A lot of people posted this last night; including us. It’s worth noting the full story. (thanks Emily Ingram)
“Below is a remarkable document. It’s a memo circulated by Jan van Lohuizen, a highly respected Republican pollster, (he polled for George W. Bush in 2004), to various leading Republican operatives, candidates and insiders. It’s on the fast-shifting poll data on marriage equality and gay rights in general, and how that should affect Republican policy and language. And the pollster’s conclusion is clear: if the GOP keeps up its current rhetoric and positions on gays and lesbians, it is in danger of marginalizing itself to irrelevance or worse.
Read the bluntness of this. This is the GOP establishment talking to itself. And the Republican pollster who arguably knows more about the politics of the gay issue than anyone else (how else to explain the Ohio campaign of 2004?) is advising them in no uncertain terms that they need to evolve and fast, if they’re not going to damage their brand for an entire generation” – Andrew Sullivan
h/t Huskerred
In which the GOP starts to realize that gay rights isn’t coming off the table anytime soon.
From a hearing in Lincoln, NE regarding an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance. Thanks to Towleroad for putting this up.
EDIT: This woman has schizophrenia. Please read our update on this post. The original comment has been removed in light of this new information.
While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads. In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home. Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview.
In this situation, it was the other way around. I guess we can be glad that Malia and Sasha aren’t younger, or perhaps today’s press conference might have been about appointing Dora the Explorer as Attorney General because of her success in stopping Swiper the Fox.
Sometimes dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee.
Obama was being a dad. Good dads listen to advice that doesn’t suck.
WOAH. House Speaker John Boehner made it clear at his weekly press conference today that he disagrees with President Obama on the issue of gay marriage, and he would not answer the question: Do you feel that gay marriage is a civil rights issue? When asked, Boehner responded: ”I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and the president and the democrats can talk about all this all they want.” He added, “The fact is the American people are focused on our economy, and they’re asking the question: Where are the jobs?”
(Via AP YouTube)
It’s like he’s pointing into our souls.
![producermatthew:
One Step Back: Just hours after President Obama voiced his support of same-sex marriage, the House Armed Services committee approved a measure that would ban gay marriage ceremonies on U.S. military bases. The measure was approved late on Wednesday, The Hill reports. The measure was included in the committee’s defense authorization bill for 2013, which now goes to the Republican-led House of Representatives for approval. [Photo: AP]The Hill: Committee votes to ban gay marriage on military bases
Actions speaking louder than words?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3tbifkufG1qz5ew6o1_500.jpg)
One Step Back: Just hours after President Obama voiced his support of same-sex marriage, the House Armed Services committee approved a measure that would ban gay marriage ceremonies on U.S. military bases. The measure was approved late on Wednesday, The Hill reports. The measure was included in the committee’s defense authorization bill for 2013, which now goes to the Republican-led House of Representatives for approval. [Photo: AP]
The Hill: Committee votes to ban gay marriage on military bases
Actions speaking louder than words?
It would have been a very grueling primary for both of us. We would not have won an additional Republican seat. I did not see the benefit of making it easier for a Democratic challenger to go up against a battle-weary Republican in November.New York State Sen. Jim Alesi • Discussing his decision to drop out of the race and give up his seat. Alesi was one of four Republican state senators to vote in favor of a law legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, which he felt make him vulnerable to a primary challenge. So, rather than run for another term, he’s chosen to move on. “The conservatives pretty much declared there would be trouble for the four senators,” he continued. “I have served with dignity, and I have worked very hard for my district. And I don’t apologize for my vote on marriage. I think there is a significant number of people who appreciated my vote on marriage.”
The story behind this tape:
I was working in the newsroom of Sacramento’s FOX affiliate on November 5, 2008 when this piece of videotape came in. The tape shows two men being married at the Sacramento county clerk’s office, only to have their ceremony interrupted by the county clerk who said that, due to the overwhelming number of votes in support of Proposition 8, the county was suspending marriages for same sex couples.
After watching this video on a tape deck in our newsroom, I decided to publish it to our website unedited. Four years later, it’s still there. It’s one of those rare pieces of videotape that tells the story without narration or commentary.
I figured it was worth sharing again today.
The silent embrace before the interview is just … so heavy.
I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.
BREAKING: Obama Embraces Marriage Equality | ThinkProgress
Welcome, Mr. President. The mini-quiches have gone cold and the ice is all melted, but we’re glad you’re finally at the party.
(via rachelfershleiser)
WASHINGTON — In a nod to a dramatic shift in public opinion, Barack Obama on Wednesday became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage.
In a sit-down interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Obama completed what has been a markedly long and oft-mocked evolution on the matter.
The statement constitutes an act of political bravery on the president’s behalf, as well as a major victory for the gay rights community, which has been pushing him to declare his support for marriage equality for several years. With the issue back in the news this week, the pressure intensified.
Big deal, guys.
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The President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same sex couples…He believes the North Carolina measure singles out and discriminates against committed gay and lesbian couples, which is why he did not support it. President Obama has long believed that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and legal protections as straight couples and is disappointed in the passage of this amendment. On a federal level, he has ended the legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act and extended key benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.North Carolina press secretary for Obama for America, Cameron French, speaking to the Washington Blade. President Obama expressed his disapproval with the North Carolina ballot measure that amends the state constitution to ban same sex marriage before Tuesday’s vote, and on the night it passed into law by a wide margin the Obama campaign once expressed the president’s dismay. (via tpmmedia)
North Carolina has passed Amendment 1, a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. This isn’t a change in policy as such for the Tar Heel State — gay and lesbian couples had already been barred from marriage, but not at the level of the state constitution. Moreover, there’s a slew of concern voiced by the ACLU, among others, that the broad phrasing of the amendment will have unforeseen impacts in all sorts of areas unrelated to marriage equality (domestic violence law, for example). North Carolina joins thirty other states with constitutional blocks against same-sex marriage. (Photo by hlkljgk)
» The opposition pulled out Bill Clinton: As you can see above, the poll (taken by Public Policy Polling) strongly suggests that same-sex marriage advocates are facing an uphill battle. Which is why the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families pulled out the former president to say this about the amendment: ”If it passes, it won’t change North Carolina’s law on marriage. What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs.” What do you guys think?
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In an interview with NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday’s Meet The Press, VP Joe Biden told Gregory that he’s comfortable with gay marriage. His exact statement: “I am vice president of the United States of America, the president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction— beyond that.” In a move that disappointed gay rights supporters and activists, the White House seemingly immediately backed off the VP’s statement, with a tweet from the president’s top political adviser David Axelrod that reads: “What VP said-that all married couples should have exactly the same legal rights-is precisely POTUS’s position.” President Obama himself is yet to speak out in full support of same-sex marriage.
(Via MSNBC)
Biden speaking his mind, in GIF form.
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