Full-Court Press

Image:  Facebook

On this Transgender Day of Visibility, the Supreme Court decided free speech trumps queer kids' right to be themselves.

The justices sided 8-1 with a Christian counselor who claimed Colorado's law banning conversion therapy violated her First Amendment right to tell gay and trans youth that they're going to spend eternity in the fires of hell. (Okay, I presume she didn't put it that way.)

This means that the bans on conversion therapy enacted by bunches of states are up in the air. So brace yourself for the return of "Christian" therapy aimed at changing teens' sexual orientation or gender identity. To be followed by guilt, depression, and suicidal ideation.

On the upside, we all know of cases where a gay kid goes to conversion camp and meets his first boyfriend.

That Tracks

 

Harumph

Image:  Facebook

I've now participated in all three No Kings protests, but I haven't received a penny in payment.

I intend to report George Soros to the Department of Labor.

He's Not Our Fault!

Image:  Facebook

The constant stream of verbal malarkey that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth included this gem yesterday: "I did very well with the gay vote."

Trump won about 12 percent of the LGBTQ vote in 2024, with Kamala Harris capturing about 86 percent.

If he thinks that's doing well, I've got a strait by the name of Hormuz to sell him.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

After missing its recruitment goals, the U.S. Army is now raising its max enlistment age to 42 and removing its waiver requirement for a single marijuana possession.

Gosh... if only thousands of highly qualified trans soldiers hadn't been kicked out last year for no good reason.

Charlotte Clymer

Source: X

Florida Flip

Image:  Facebook

Today in Florida, a Democrat defeated a Trump-backed Republican in the race for the open District 87 state House seat. District 87 happens to include . . . Mar-a-Lago.

Feel free to bask in the moment.

I'm not so optimistic as to say the flipping of this seat is a harbinger of things to come, but I sure am digging the symbolism.

By the way, for all his carping on the subject, Trump voted by mail. And probably always will, until they put a polling place on a golf course.

The Whole Shed Shimmies

 

Processing Chavez

Image:  Facebook

I've waited a couple of days to let the news about César Chavez sink in. I hoped giving myself that time would allow me to come up with an incisive comment.

It hasn't.

Apparently I'm on the emotional slow train, only just moving from shock to deep disappointment. With stops at anger along the way.

It's one thing when a social-justice hero is revealed to have had feet of clay. Think MLK's many infidelities. It's another thing when the icon is revealed to have been a serial rapist.

What do we progressive types do with this news? Wallow in sadness? Work to separate the man from his accomplishments? Become even more cynical?

I admit I've had overwrought thoughts like, "Men just can't be trusted, and for the sake of girls, women, and the planet, should all be confined to Oklahoma."

But even this lesbian needs men, as friends and relatives and to balance my existence. Besides, my straight women friends couldn't live without men—although more and more sound willing to try.

So far what I've taken from the revelations about Chavez is an abiding respect for his accusers. That the two women he groomed as girls have come forward despite enormous cultural pressure is beyond brave.

And Dolores Huerta, telling her ghastly truth at the age of 95, keeping the secrets all these years so the farmworker movement wouldn't be wounded. That's heroic, tragic, and so female.

If it should turn out that Huerta likes to strangle kittens in her free time, don't tell me. I can't take it.

On the Dog Low

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Source:  ABC News

Phantom Support

Image:  Facebook

Twice yesterday Donald Trump claimed he talked to one of his predecessors about the Iran war, and the former president told him, "I wish I did what you did."

However, aides to George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama said no conversations took place, and Joe Biden has also been ruled out, reports NBC News, exhausting the pool of living former presidents.

So either Trump—gasp—lied, or he meant he talked to himself, since he's also a former president, and received hearty approval.

I suppose there's a third possibility, that he's in nightly contact with Rutherford B. Hayes, but let's not make things worse than they already are.

Timeline

 

The Basics

Image:  Pixabay

After church today, I decided I needed to stop for some groceries. And by "groceries," I mean Girl Scout cookies.

If you think mama's going to get through the next months of Trump and war and Trump without Thin Mints, you're desperately mistaken.

The News We Need

Image:  Facebook

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has established the first Mayor's Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs. He put Taylor Brown in charge of it, making her the first openly transgender person to lead a NYC office.

"She's gonna make sure that everybody gonna be somebody," said Rosetta Ferguson, Brown's grandmother.

Can't type anymore. Got something in my eye.

Better Than the Florsheims Trump's Been Doling Out?

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

If you want policy to change, if you want this White House to take care of you, actually it’s surprisingly easy. Any one of you ought to try this: Take a million dollars, donate it to the ballroom that they’re building in the East Wing. Take another million dollars; I assume we all have a couple more lying around, right? Put it in the fund for that crypto company. Take another million dollars. Last time I checked, that is the entrance fee, not the membership, but just the initiation fee for a membership at Mar-a-Lago. And that’s all you’ve got to do to start getting your calls returned by this White House.

Pete Buttigieg

Source:  LGBTQ Nation

The 2026 Notion of a Silver Lining

 

So Much Winning

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I had to put gas in my Prius this morning.

It cost more than the Prius.

A Clown Show

Image:  Facebook

We all know Donald Trump chose the best and the brightest for his Cabinet—not. He chose the most loyal, sycophantic houseplants he could find.

On Thursday Trump fired his embattled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and I have an idea who could be next.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has, like Noem, been in her job not much over a year, but she's displayed a real talent for messing up. For starters, she and top aides are being investigated for allegedly using taxpayers funds for personal travel.

Also, the married Chavez-DeRemer is said to have had an affair with a member of her security detail. Furthermore, at least two female Labor employees have accused her husband of touching them inappropriately.

If Labor Secretary Bozo is fired, it won't be for any of that. It'll be due to yesterday's gruesome jobs report, and the fact that Trump needs someone to blame, because heaven knows he never makes a mistake.

I trust the Cabinet secretaries understand that loyalty is a one-way street with Trump, and they're all as expendable as his wives and condiments.

Of Course It Is

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

This is not the kind of insider knowledge most people have access to, but my grandfather, Fred Trump, Sr., was not born in Germany; he was born in the Bronx, NY, and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens--something you'd think his favorite son would know.

Mary L. Trump

Source:  X

Our Dear Leader

Image:  Facebook

I spotted this headline from a magazine:  "Trump Is in Way Over His Head in Iran."

Please. Trump is in way over his head in Chuck E. Cheese.

Why, Exactly?

Image:  Facebook

Why is the U.S. bombing Iran?

By way of justification, Donald Trump claimed Iran was building nuclear missiles that could "soon" reach the U.S., an assessment his own government contradicted. He also indicated he wants regime change, which he said he'd never pursue with American lives.

Other potential explanations being bandied about include this is Trump's method of distracting from the Epstein files; Iran has so much oil; we're doing the bidding of Israel; he wants to create a crisis so he can declare a national emergency.

Since the reasons are unclear, I'll throw in another possibility. As a lame duck president and with his poll numbers shrinking, Trump is done seeking Americans' approval, and wants to reshape the Middle East permanently into the countries of Israel, United Donald Junior, Eric Emirates, Ivankastine, Tiffany Arabia, and Bahrain Barron.