This Week's Quote

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Donald Trump won’t say he wants Ukraine to win the war?

I thought he would at least pretend….

Pete Buttigieg

Source: X

The Debate

Image:  Facebook

I listened to political experts on the news last night say that, though Kamala Harris fans would like to see her go after Donald Trump during tonight's presidential debate, she'd be better served by talking policy in order to reach those swing voters who need to know more about her.

I understand. Pragmatic. Sensible.

But you'll excuse me if I still want Harris to fold, spindle and mutilate.

Tim W.

Image:  Facebook

Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz gave the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner over the weekend.

The Minnesota governor and LGBTQ ally condemned the oodles of anti-queer legislation across the country. He promised of a Harris-Waltz administration:  "We’re going to make sure our children are seen, they bring their authentic selves, and then we’re going to make sure they’re safe when they get there."

I'm facing a quandary. I badly want Walz to win the vice presidency. But I also want him to be immediately appointed National Dad of Everyone.

Theologically Sound

 

If You Needed Another

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Donald Trump said today that he wants to create a government efficiency commission and Elon Musk will lead it.

Is he trying to give us reasons not to vote for him?

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

For reference, exactly zero kids have died this year from being read to by a drag queen.

Alex Cole

Source: X

Does Their Union Know?

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Donald Tump said something last week that is certainly news to me.

"The transgender thing is incredible," Trump remarked during an onstage conversation at a Moms for Liberty event. "Think of it; your kid goes to school, and he comes home a few days later with an operation."

Teachers are already asked to do so much. Now they're performing surgery between second and third periods?

Closet Confrontation

 

The DTs, Part 3

Image:  Facebook

 A Washington Post story today began this way:

"Donald Trump amplified a vulgar joke about Vice President Kamala Harris performing a sex act. He falsely accused her of staging a coup to secure the Democratic nomination and faulted her without evidence for a security lapse that enabled a rogue gunman to try to assassinate him. He shared a manipulated online image of Bill Gates in an orange jumpsuit and a call for Barack Obama to face a 'military tribunal.' He promoted explicit tributes to the QAnon conspiracy theory. He hawked digital trading cards in an online infomercial along with pieces of his debate night suit. ('People are calling it the knockout suit.') His campaign feuded publicly with Arlington National Cemetery over their visit."

And, the story noted, all that occurred in the span of 24 hours.

Lately we've been hearing how Republican operatives are desperate for Trump to be disciplined and focus on issues, so as not to alienate swing voters. But Donald is far too busy ridiculing, lying and self-aggrandizing to listen.

If I were a Republican strategist . . . oh, never mind. We know that'll never happen. I can't even see myself voting for a Republican ever again, now that the party has allowed itself to be taken over by a poisonous mushroom.

As GOP allies and donors implore Trump to stay on message, my question is:  Can he? Is this "unserious man," as Kamala Harris accurately labeled him, capable of switching into a serious gear? Does he have the attention span to focus on policy? Economic statistics are so boring compared to crude sexual remarks about Harris and Hillary Clinton.

Trump could argue that by providing non-stop juvenile entertainment and lies he's giving his followers what they want, and he'd be right. After all, that worked the first time he ran for the presidency. Maybe he knows the American people better than his handlers.

Or maybe he just needs to think so, because to turn serious would be the end of him. Trump's canyon-sized gaps in knowledge and sense would be revealed to those who've refused to see them. He's been covering over his mental shortcomings with ceaseless attacks, like he covers over his bald spot with whatever that is on his head.

Whether he's incapable of being focused or he fears what would happen if he tried, Trump so far has defied his Republican advisers. Rather than talking about the economy or the border, he's concentrating on bile and lies.

Remember the Good Humor Man? Now we're stuck with the Bad Humor Man.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

I am the most well-known homosexual in the world.

Elton John

Source:  Brainyquote

Now Playing Everywhere

 

Largesse

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I found the Democratic Convention moving, and it gave me hope. So like many folks, I donated to the Harris-Walz campaign.

I had to keep the donation amount within my means as a writer. But I'm optimistic that $1.50 will put them right over the top.

Cornfed

 

The Rogue Kennedy

Image:  Facebook

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced today that he's suspending his campaign and endorsing Donald Trump.

The latter clinches it for me. That worm that got into his brain ate the best parts.

Dana For the Win

Image:  Facebook

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention yesterday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel turned a line made famous by former NRA president Charlton Heston on its ear.

She declared, "By the way, I've got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the United States Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand."

I'm not worthy.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.

Wait, I want to know: Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?

Michelle Obama

Source:  TIME

Santos Sings a New Tune

Image:  Facebook

For the first time in memory, George Santos told the truth.

After pleading guilty yesterday to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud charges, the gay former Republican congressman from New York acknowledged to reporters that he had "allowed ambition to cloud my judgment."

That's also a vast understatement, since Santos appears to have broken practically every campaign law, on top of creating an entirely fictional biography.

When he gets to prison, he'll have ample time to review his efforts to achieve grandiosity. Santos could've saved New York and the nation a lot of pain and expense if, instead of entering politics, he'd simply claimed to be the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas ll.

Modern Meaning

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I receive a word-of-the-day email, and today's word is "unbosom."

It's a verb defined as to disclose one's thoughts or secrets. But in this era, I'm picturing a giddy trans man being wheeled into top surgery while yelling, "Time to unbosom myself!"

Cashmere, On the Other Hand

 

Faster, Higher, Gayer

Image:  Facebook

Progress marches on. And surfs. And dives. And dribbles.

The 2024 Paris Olympics were the gayest Games yet, according to Outsports, which counted 199 out gay, lesbian. bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes.

By contrast, the 2012 London Summer Games had 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes, and we thought that was darn good at the time.

In Paris, Team LGBTQ captured 43 medals, placing it seventh in the total medal count. (Maybe Team LGBTQ should compete as a nation. Heaven knows we already have a flag. Depending on the nature of our anthem, every medal ceremony could turn into a dance party.)

What particularly pleases me is that Team LGBTQ's medal haul bested every single country that criminalizes being gay. That's a big rainbow raspberry to all of them.

There were so many stories at the Games, ranging from the misinformation-fueled furor over an Algerian boxer's gender to the fact that more than half of the champion U.S. women's basketball team was openly LGBTQ.

But the story I want to highlight, before these Games fade into my iffy memory, is that of 25-year-old boxer Cindy Ngamba. Born in Cameroon, she moved to the United Kingdom at age 11. She was granted refugee status in 2021, because in Cameroon she could go to prison for being gay. Ngamba won a bronze in Paris, making her the first ever athlete competing as a refugee to clinch a medal.

Ngamba was the flag bearer for the Refugee Olympic Team. Obviously that team made a good choice. Obviously Cameroon didn't.

This Week's Quote

Image by JackieLou DL from Pixabay

Based on the recent force and velocity with which Donald is lying, it seems he’s trying to break the land-speed record for mendacity. It turns out women are as disgusted by JD Vance as he is by them. And don’t get me started on how cats feel about him.

Mary Trump

Source: X

To the Rafters

 

Sunday Surprise

Image by Dmitry Abramov from Pixabay

About 7:30 this morning my phone started blowing up. Why, I wondered groggily, are people contacting me at this hour on a Sunday?

It turned out that the U.S. women's basketball team, the clear Olympic favorite, was losing to France. 

American lesbians were panic-texting.

White Lie

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

I'm miserable if I'm not in love and, of course, I'm miserable if I am.

Tallulah Bankhead

Source:  Women's Wicked Wit

Walz

Image:  Facebook

Veep Kamala Harris has chosen Minn. Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, and the Human Rights Campaign is over the lavender moon.

In an email today, HRC trumpeted how Walz, as a high-school history teacher and football coach in 1999, sponsored his school's first gay-straight alliance. The email goes on to list his considerable pro-LGBTQ efforts in Congress and as governor.

But honestly, HRC had me at the first point. A straight Midwestern football coach offers to serve as faculty adviser for his school's newly formed gay-straight alliance student group? How refreshing is that?

I should add that I'm available to write the musical.

Turn Back the Clock

 

Olympics-a-Go-Go

Image:  Facebook

As an Olympics junkie, I require a daily infusion of the Paris Games, whether that means watching Azerbaijani archers, Finnish fencers or Tunisian triathletes. I'd watch Zambian zip-lining, if it existed.

But as an American, I bleed red, white and blue during these weeks. Yesterday that presented a bit of a problem.

During the women's soccer game between the U.S. and Australia, American midfielder Korbin Albert scored a beautiful long-range goal. That would normally elicit an unseemly shriek from me. Instead I managed only a muted, "Yay."

A few months ago, Albert posted on social media a Christian sermon that called being gay or transgender wrong. In addition to being simply bigoted, it was an immensely stupid move for a person aiming to play on the same national team made famous by the likes of openly sapphic Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach. Career counselors everywhere shook their heads.

After receiving blowback, including from Rapinoe, Albert apologized. I don't know whether the 20-year-old genuinely received an education from her teammates, or she grasped she'd shot herself in the cleat and needed to show remorse in order to make it to Paris.

Whatever's going on inside her head, Albert proved yesterday by scoring her first international goal that she's got game. Whether she has sense and compassion remains to be seen.

Now if you'll excuse me, those Bangladeshi boxers won't watch themselves.

This Week's Quote

Image by Tracy Lundgren from Pixabay

If Republican leaders don't enjoy being called weird, creepy, and controlling, they could try not being weird, creepy, and controlling.

Hillary Clinton

Source: X

Let's Start the Week With a Vance Rant

 

Purrfect

 

Who's Zoomin' Who

Image:  Facebook

On Sunday Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. That evening over 44,000 Black women gathered on Zoom to galvanize support and money for Kamala Harris. The next night Black men did the same. Then came Latinas and South Asian women.

Yesterday a Zoom for white women set the record as the largest Zoom meeting ever, and crashed the platform. I chose to attend the "Out for Kamala Harris" Zoom rally instead, and somehow lasted all two-and-a-half hours, listening to LGBTQ celebrities and politicians extol the candidate.

How 2024 is this, using technology to bring together an assortment of demographic groups to raise enthusiasm and funds lickety-split?

It's been great, but the American people can subdivide only so far. The Harris campaign will need a new strategy by the time Zoom hosts a gathering of left-handed non-binary Laotian vegans.

This Week's Quote

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

If Kamala raises any more money Melania will marry her.

Paul Rudnick

Source: X

The Witch-King of Burger King

 

He Did It

Image:  Facebook

Joe Biden has dropped out of the presidential race.

Uncharted waters ahead. Grab a life preserver and some Xanax. But above all, your resolve.

This Moment

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Like President Biden, I have Covid.

Unlike him, I don't need to make a decision that will effect the destiny of our nation, the survival of democracy and the future of the planet.

Good thing, as I'm currently unable to decide whether to tie my shoes.

Not too Soon

 

PTSD?

Image by Perlinator from Pixabay

Yesterday evening I was watching a WNBA game when I decided I really should look in on the Republican National Convention. I like to know what's going on, and how bad could it be to watch for a few minutes?

So I changed the channel and discovered the speaker was Kellyanne Conway. I switched back to the game so fast my remote sparked.

This Week's Quote

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

Mike Johnson said last night the GOP is the "law and order team."

"We always have been and we always will be the advocates for the rule of law." That same party just made a convicted felon its nominee.

Kyle Griffin

Source: X

Ammo

 

Coast-to-Coast Lifeline

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

In order to preserve our sanity during this unnerving election season, three college friends and I have established a group text so we can kvetch from Maine, where they are, to Washington state, where I am. Diane, Carol and Meghan are straight, but definitely not, as the saying goes, narrow.

Today's news that Donald Trump has chosen JD Vance as his running mate, and that Vance's friendship with Donald Trump Jr. influenced the decision, prompted Diane to send out photos of the bearded conservative buddies, noting how they look alike.

One glance at the photos and I texted back, "If I weren't already a lesbian, this might do the trick."

Doubts

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

I admit it. I have serious doubts that President Joe Biden is physically and cognitively up to the task of running for re-election.

On the flip side, I have no doubts at all that former President Donald Trump isn't and never was fit for the task of being president, owing to glaring weaknesses in cognition, mental health, morality, emotional stability, humanity, loyalty, patriotism, spirituality, integrity, honesty, substance, dependability, credibility and lawfulness.

Other than that, he's a peach.

Today's Sign of the Apocalypse

Image:  Alexas Fotos at Pixabay

In grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, you can now pick up staples like milk, bread and bullets.

Computerized vending machines dispense ammunition, which is so convenient in case you can't decide whether to feed your husband or shoot him.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

I worry no matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.

Jane Wagner

Source:  The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe

The Veep Sweepstakes

Image:  Facebook

The Washington Post suspects that the Trump campaign has winnowed the choice for running mate down to Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. J.D. Vance and Gov. Doug Burgum.

I assume Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was considered to be too busy strangling kittens.

Death and Life

Image:  Facebook

Over 100 people gathered yesterday in Bangor, Maine, to mark the 40th anniversary of the murder of Charlie Howard. He was 23 in the summer of 1984 when three teenagers, yelling homophobic slurs, approached him and his boyfriend. The teens threw Howard off a bridge, and he drowned.

A couple of months later and about 50 miles away, I returned to Maine for my senior year at Colby College. As I remember, a campus cop was overheard remarking that Howard got what he deserved. The cop was fired.

In hindsight, that in itself was a sign that things were changing in Maine. Howard's murder led to the creation of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, now EqualityMaine. The state outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in 2005.  In 2012, Maine became the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box.

Over these 40 years, queer life in the Pine Tree State has improved dramatically, and that had a lot to do with Charlie Howard and every other Charlie Howard we don't know about. Why is it that people have to die for civil rights to advance? I wish the universe would come up with a less lethal arrangement.

July 4, 2024

 

Mike Luckovich nails it.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper.

Quentin Crisp

Source:  Today

On the Train

Image:  Facebook

On Sunday, wearing a rainbow shirt, I boarded Seattle's light rail. The train was packed with other Pride-goers, along with assorted Seattle Mariners fans.

At a downtown stop, a 60-something straight Australian couple got on, each wheeling a suitcase suitable for a month's visit to North America. My fellow sardines and I began to chat, and it turned out they'd watched some of the Pride parade.

"This is nothing compared to Sydney's Pride," he said, which he explained is full of floats. I told him I'd heard that was true, and I'd love to see it in person someday, but as Seattle was enthusiastically celebrating its 50th Pride, he might not want to say that too loudly.

I asked them about their travels, and he raved about Alaska's mountains. "Okay," I said. "You've got the Pride, we've got the mountains." They agreed.

Afterwards, as I walked toward the parade, I marveled that the concept of LGBTQ Pride has grown so big and so international that I would find myself good-naturedly comparing celebrations with heterosexual tourists from abroad.

Harvey, Bayard, Barbara—you wouldn't believe it.

Transformation

The Donald and Joe Show

Image:  Facebook

I was so busy yesterday that I was unable to watch the presidential debate. I recorded it so I could view it today.

Based on media reports and my friends' anxious reaction to Joe Biden's performance, I think I'll wait to watch it. 2027 seems about right.