What in the hell is happening at the Rodney Glassman campaign?
Rodney, Rodney, Rodney.
You’re a nice Jewish boy from Tucson. You sing at your temple, you’re not unhandsome, and you’re rich to boot.
In the Democratic primary for John McCain’s senate seat, we’re voting for John Dougherty, him being an investigative reporter and all, but on paper you’d seem to be McCain’s sturdiest challenger.
But then we read Stephen Lemon’s Feathered Bastard post about how top advisors are leaving your campaign:
[S]everal confidential sources inform me that Glassman’s staffers left because they were not happy with the behavior of their candidate.
These sources relayed a litany of complaints about the Glassman campaign, from Glassman berating staffers and volunteers in public, even yelling at them, to Glassman’s having his brother Jeremy play a major role in the campaign (doing little or nothing, they say), and the fact that Glassman and his minions gave Democrats reason to believe he would sink millions into his bid for Senate.
The details:
My sources tell me that Glassman was, as one of them put it, “out of control in the worst possible way.” They say he was needlessly rude to staffers and volunteers alike, and described him throwing temper tantrums and yelling at stunned campaign workers.
They depicted Glassman as a spoiled rich kid with a frat boy sense of humor. One described an incident during a fundraiser where he asked if the host’s assistant was an illegal alien.
Worst of all is a story from the Arizona Daily Star, in which a Tucson City Council member says Glassman said to her, “"The toughest thing for me to do will be to sit next to an openly gay councilmember.”
Glassman, shown above, ironically enough, at PHoenix’s Pride Parade this summer, denies having said it.
9:08 AM
The ruling on California's gay marriage ban is coming today
This is the case to overturn Proposition 8, the Mormon-backed initiative that wiped out the ability of gays and lesbians to marry in California.
Most analysts say the U.S. District Court judge will void the proposition, but you never know.
The case against to overturn Prop. 8—and make gay marriage legal again—was led by David Boies and Ted Olsen. The pair got a lot of notice because they were on opposite sides of Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that handed the 2000 election to George W. Bush.
From the SF Chronicle:
Walker’s ruling, due sometime between 1 and 3 p.m., is certain to be appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 or 2012.
Meanwhile, a new study shows that the millions the Mormons spent spreading misinformation to California families worked.
From the LAT:
The numbers are staggering. In the last six weeks, when both sides saturated the airwaves with television ads, more than 687,000 voters changed their minds and decided to oppose same-sex marriage. More than 500,000 of those, the data suggest, were parents with children under 18 living at home. Because the proposition passed by 600,000 votes, this shift alone more than handed victory to proponents.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise. The Yes on 8 campaign targeted parents in its TV ads. “Mom! Guess what I learned in school today!” were the cheery-frightening first words of the supporters' most-broadcast ad. They emerged from the mouth of a young girl who had supposedly just learned that she could marry a female when she grew up.
Among the array of untrue ideas that parents could easily take away: that impressionable kids would be indoctrinated; that they would learn about gay sex; that they would be more likely to become gay; and that they might choose to be gay. California voters, depending on where they lived in the state, were exposed to the Yes on 8 ads 20 to 40 times.
If you haven’t seen it, Netflix 8: The Mormon Proposition, a fairly rigorous documentary that examines the national campaign the Mormons waged against the proposition.
It’s nice—a supposed church collecting money from its flock under the guise of doing good works, and then using it to spread hate and intolerance.
Churches get a pass in our political debate—everyone’s scared to criticize groups that run around with the idea of morality draped about them.
But why can’t we call bigots bigots?
Why don’t they build tolerance rather than spread intolerance?
7:43 AM
Gay politicians—the Arizona angle
Just got done watching Outrage, documentarian Kirby Dick’s look at politicians—most of them, unsurprisingly, Republican and male—who promulgate hate and legal discrimination against gays even as they, well, fuck other men.
A couple of Arizonas appear in the film; one is Neil Giuliano, the openly gay Republican former mayor of Tempe, a voice of reason who serves as a talking head throughout.
More interesting is Outrage’s case study on Jim Kolbe, the former Arizona congressman who in 1996 outed himself just as the Advocate was about to do it for him, in the wake of his pro vote on an anti-gay bill.
Kolbe remained in Congress for almost a decade before retiring before the 2006 election. (His seat is now held by Gabrielle Giffords.)
In the film, he discusses how easy it became to tell his friends and colleagues about his sexuality—that something he dreaded turned out not to be such a big deal.
“Probably the most uplifting experience I ever had. I felt literally 40 years lifting of my shoulders,” Kolbe says at one point.
He goes out of his way to mention John McCain: “I remember John McCain, who when I started to say, ‘John, there’s something I really need to talk to you about …’, he just put up his hand and said, ‘Oh, never mind, Jim, I know. It doesn’t make any difference, you’re a good legislator, you’ve always been, and you’re always gonna be my friend.’”
Outrage doesn’t go into what Kolbe thinks about McCain’s virulently anti-gay voting record, or the hypocrisy of McCain’s feeling that it’s okay for gays to serve as GOP congressmen but not, say, in the military.
Here’s the film’s trailer:
11:16 PM
A gay and lesbian group takes a conference away from Phoenix
From the PBJ:
The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute has chosen Las Vegas instead of Phoenix for its 2011 international conference citing Arizona’s new immigration law.
The gathering brings together gay and lesbian leaders from across the country for training and education.
Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot and state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-15, were leading the charge to attract the group to Phoenix as part of a Phoenix Host Committee.
“Although we are disappointed by their decision to go elsewhere, the reality is that many elected officials can’t or won’t travel to Arizona in their official or unofficial capacities until the federal government, legislature, courts or the people sort out the immigration dilemma,” Simplot said in a statement.
A letter from the GLLI to the committee said that “the current political and legal climate in Arizona makes it complicated to accept your hospitality.”
6:41 AM
The gay marriage trial in SF comes to a close
According to the NYT story on the closing arguments, the judge hearing the case seemed skeptical of the bland claims made by opponents of gay marriage:
Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, repeatedly questioned lawyers defending the measure — Proposition 8, passed by California voters in 2008 — over their position that marriage is, simply put, for making babies.
“The marital relationship is fundamental to the existence and survival of the race,” said the defense’s leading lawyer, Charles J. Cooper. “Without the marital relationship, your honor, society would come to an end.”
But Judge Walker, who will decide the case, dogged Mr. Cooper for hard evidence of that claim, noting that there are no rules prohibiting marriage between people who cannot have children.
Over the course of several hours, Judge Walker also sharply questioned the qualifications of one of Mr. Cooper’s witnesses and his assertion that marriage “serves a societal purpose that is equally ubiquitous.”
10:31 PM
Yuma's anti-gay mayor: "I don't want to compare myself to Abraham Lincoln, but ..."
Earlier this week, you’ll recall that Yuma’s kooky mayor, Al Krieger, got some attention by saying that those pushing for the reform of the armed services' “Don’t ask, dpn’t tell” policy were “limp-wristed, lacey-drawered[?] people”.
Now you can see a video of what he said and how he said it… accompanied by his explanation, which is that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would have said the same:
4:10 PM
John McCain continues to be an absolute jerk on the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell"
The House and a Senate committee have both moved forward on defense appropriation bills that includes a path to the end of the policy that discriminates against gays in the military.
Most political analysts see the policy ending after an armed services review due at the end of the year.
But Arizona’s hateful senior senator continues to fight a rearguard action against the changes.
In other words, John McCain is fighting affirmatively for prejudice, unequal rights, bigotry, and a policy that has driven qualified and in some cases essential personnel from the military.
From the New York Times this a.m.:
[The] chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have objected. In letters solicited by Senator John McCain of Arizona, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, they urged Congress to delay voting on the issue until after the Defense Department completed its report.
After the committee vote, Mr. McCain said he would continue to fight a repeal when the bill reached the Senate floor. “I think it’s really going to be really harmful to the morale and battle effectiveness of our military,” he said.
Several years ago, you will recall, McCain said he’d support the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” when “the leadership of the military comes to [him] and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change this policy.’”
That’s what happened; the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs came to Congress to tell them they ought to change it.
McCain immediately denounced the pair and, as the Times story indicates, is now drumming up opposition in whatever atavistic corner of the military he can find them.
p.s. There;s also talk on this Newsweek blog that McCain is saying he would support, if not initiate, a filibuster of the measure.
7:39 AM
How the gay marriage movement is evolving in the U.S.
This absorbing interactive graphic from the LA Times stuck me as counter-intuitive at first.
We all know the country is moving toward marriage equality. When you click “play” on the graphic, you expect to see tolerance bloom.
Instead, you see the real story—the progress made toward gay marriage rights in the more civilized areas of the country, and a comparable calcifying (indeed, actual atavism) in the backward parts.
You’ll notice Arizona proudly takes its place not just among the most prejudiced parts of the country, but the ones that have most recently taken the most stringent measures against marriage equality.
7:01 AM
A few shots from the Pride Parade
Phoenix is odd when it comes to gay issues. I hang out downtown as much as most people, but can’t remember seeing a single hint this week it was Pride Week, or that the parade was Saturday.
Gays don’t exist here in a “don’t ask don’t tell” way, but it does seem as if there are unspoken rules about getting too noticeable.
Anyway, the parade wasn’t off the hook or anything, but fun. A few pix:
Dykes on Bikes
Rodney Glassman is a Tucson city councilperson who may be the Democratic candidate for Senate in the fall. He had the biggest presence of any pol in the parade. Mayor Gordon rode on a Wells Fargo wagon; Krysten Sinema, Ken Clark, Ken Chevront and Ed Pastor were other ones I noticed.
One of the more creative groups.
This was as racy as it got.
A bears film group. The idea, I think, was that they were movie zombies.
PHXated salues PFLAG!
8:41 AM
Rachel Maddow kicks J.D. Hayworth's ass
The MSNBC host had Hayworth on yesterday evening. PHXated, who is rooting for Hayworth to knock that chucklehead John McCain out in August, was disappointed in his stalking horse’s performance.
Full video is below.
The conversation had two main parts. In the first, Maddow asked Hayworth about his well-established ties to the crook Jack Abramoff.
Hayworth let the conversation descend into a debate as to whether he was the first-, third- or ninth-largest recipient of Abramoff money.
In the second part, she asks him about his contention that the highest court in Massachusetts had “defined marriage as, simply, quote, the establishment of intimacy.”
Hayworth used this assertion to make the argument that legalizing gay marriage could allow people to marry horses.
Maddow read from the decision, demonstrating plainly that the court, “simply,” had done no such thing. Hayworth,looking like a not-very-bright tree sloth caught in a pair of car headlights, could say only, “You and I have a disagreement.”
More after the video:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The only solace Hayworth fans can take is that Hayworth is being crazy like a fox. He is, after all, running in the Arizona republican primary, looking for votes from a group of people for whom factual accuracy, logic, common decency, tolerance, and intellectual coherence are of relative and fungible interest. We’re hoping that Hayworth may yet demonstrate he is their man.
4:51 PM
John McCain hits a new low
Facing a likely re-election challenge from J.D. Hayworth, John McCain — bad pilot, bad husband, bad senator, bad presidential candidate, and noted maverick-when-convenient — continues to struggle to regain some of his right-wing bona-fides.
WSJ story today on McCain’s problems here.
He’s already come out opposing the current push to end “don’t ask don’t tell” in the military. John Stewart last night dug up a clip that shows the strenuousness of the contortions the moves are putting McCain through.
Video clip at the end of this post. The clip from four years ago shows McCain deflecting an inquiry about his position on the matter then by saying, “The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change the policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it.”
Of course, at the historic hearing the other day, the leadership of the military came to the senate to tell them they should consider changing it.
McCain yesterday: “I’m extremely disappointed in your statement…. At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the ’don’t ask don’t tell’ policy. I’m happy to say we still have a Congress of the United States that would still have to pass a law to repeal ’don’t ask don’t tell.’”
(By the way, as we move toward the 2010 elections, I think it’s interesting how the Obama administration is deliberately highlighting issues like this. So even though there is evidence of an anti-Democratic momentum in the air, however knuckle-headed it might be, the media spent the last two days talking about historic moves by the Dems to right what most rational people think is a long-overdue wrong — and re-running clips of drawling good old boys opposing it for the usual laughable reasons. It looked to me like evidence the administration was going to be using some of these wedge issues against the right in the coming months.)
The Daily Show:
9:12 PM
Go Daddy's banned Super Bowl ad
CBS is refusing to show the local internet company’s 2010 Super Bowl ad, the Phoenix Business Journal reports. Here it is:
The ad is offensive, but since when are mincing homosexuals not allowed on network TV? The real issue, I think, is that it shows a former footfall player in that role—and one mustn’t disturb the fragile sexuality of the current players.
1:18 AM
McCain still supports "Don't ask, don't tell"
Barack Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he would “work toward” ending the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. John McCain immediately said he still supported it:
“This successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, in a news release. “At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.”
McCain didn’t mention the thousands of gays, both men and women, in the military “fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield” the policy threatens every day. McCain’s wife, Cindy, recently appeared in magazine ads decrying the recent California anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
1:07 AM
Desperado Gay Film Fest dates set—trailer released, too
The Desperado Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is scheduled for Paradise Valley Community College on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29 and 30.
Here’s the trailer for the fest, which is amusing:
The main film is a Swedish work called Patrik, 1,5, written and directed by Ella Lemhagen; the odd title refers to the film’s plot, which sees a gay couple adopting what they think is going to be a one-and-a-half year old boy, but who turns out to be 15 and not very gay-friendly.
The film won an audience award at this year’s San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. There’s no official trailer yet (and the poster to the left is from the retitled French version), but you can see scenes from it here.
7:00 AM
Dept. of Dumb Arizonans: Rep. Ray Barnes
PHXated is just getting to this, a speech delivered by Ray Barnes, a state representative from Phoenix, during a debate on school funding at the capitol. Video below.
The best part comes 30 seconds in, when Barnes, running down a litany of what he feels are excessive bureaucratic positions in the schools, ends with this laugh line:
“And unless we have a bisexual teacher somewhere, there’s probably a principal of the girls’ restrooms and a principal of the boys’ restrooms!”
The synaptic misfire that produces the conflation of sexual orientation, gender and, uh, public bathrooms is probably something Barnes should seek professional help with.
Kyrsten Sinema is the only person in the chamber with the presence of mind to call him on it.
I don’t like to comment on folks’ public appearance, but Barnes might seek some fashion advice as well. Is that how elected representatives dress here—like they’re on their way to the early-bird special at Olive Garden?
11:51 PM