Friday, January 17, 2014

Kudos to the happy couple

Annise Parker and Kathy Hubbard are now wife and wife.

(O)n the 23rd anniversary of the start of their lives together, Mayor Annise Parker and Kathy Hubbard got married in Palm Springs, California.

The marriage had been anticipated for several days, but it wasn't known exactly when it would happen.

Wayne had it first.  And let's move on past this also.

The mayor's office also explained that: "Ms. Hubbard has other insurance options available to her and will, therefore, not participate in the new policy granting city health insurance benefits to the spouses of legally-married city employees," which means they've avoided an attack by anyone saying Parker pushed for the change just so she could benefit from it. 

As Josh Marshall observes: when even Utah, Oklahoma, and the Supreme Court have ceded the moral high ground their legal objections... you know that Texas will make every effort to be dead last.  That's right; behind Alabama and Mississippi, despite what the immortal Nate Silver predicted last spring.

So say good night to Phil Robertson and Mike Huckabee and Greg Abbott and all of the losers who commented negatively here with their real names and their fake names, and everybody who lines up with them, and all the rest of the best of the worst conservatives in the world.  Congratulations to you all as well: you're as finished as is this latest chapter in American bigotry.

The proud Texans among your number might inquire of your elected representatives whether they will vote to decriminalize marijuana or pass casino gambling before they legalize marriage in the Great State.  You know, those sins you actually commit that aren't as high up your list.

And please let us know if they give you a straight answer.

Update: Houston Press' Hair Balls, with the six most pathetic objections to Mayor Parker's marriage (and gay marriage generally).

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Davis "on her own two feet", Scherr hits at Alameel

-- This is going to rile up the compassionate conservatives.


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Did you catch that?  Why, it's almost as offensive as that "Greg Abbott walks into a bar" joke.  The fauxtrage generated by the ilk of the fellow who coined the phrase 'AB' is your Belly Laugh O'Day.

(Special to Greg: Clean up your own house.  And start with that pig Erickson.)

-- After Wendy Davis endorsed the wealthy dentist running for US Senate to begin this week, it was inevitable that this attack would present itself.  This e-mail is signed by Victor Reyes, Scherr's deputy campaign manager, and arrived in my inbox yesterday.

David Alameel, the alleged Democrat running for the US Senate, has bankrolled the anti-choice Republican agenda for years.  I'm not talking about a couple thousand dollars here.  He has given $1.6 million dollars to the Republicans who oppose Roe v. Wade and vote to erode a woman's right to choose at every turn.
Here are a few specifics on Alameel's record on supporting the Republican agenda:
  • Alameel gave $150,000 to Lt. Governor David Dewhurst who led the charge to pass anti choice legislation and called women who went to protest in the Capitol an “unruly mob”;
  • Alameel gave $4,200 to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who voted to allow any employer to refuse to cover contraception or any health service required under the health reform law for virtually any reason;
  • Alameel gave $8,400.00 to Senator Orin Hatch who sponsored an amendment that “would ban any organizations that provide abortions, including hospitals, from receiving Medicaid family planning funds -- even if those abortions are to save a woman's life”;
  • Alameel gave $25,000.00 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee who defended the comment that abortions should not be legal even in the case of rape;
So I have a big question that we Democrats need to resolve before the March 4th primary:
If Texas Democrats care about women’s rights and protecting choice, then how can we possibly nominate a candidate who has a long track record of funding the Republicans who are anti-choice?

An excellent point.  I won't be helping nominate the good doctor in any way, shape, or form.  I'm putting him in the same folder as Kesha Rogers.

Update: Texpate has a more nuanced and critical view of Scherr's broadside, but also thinks there is more to be learned -- perhaps by some enterprising corporate journalist -- about Alameel's stances on reproductive rights.