Today's feel good story of the day features an anti-gay marriage Republican caught propositioning an 18 year old male on Craiglist for sex. Wow, that DOES make me feel good!

Rep. Phillip Hinkle fondles his bullwhip.

Courtesy of TPM:

An Indiana state Representative, who recently voted for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, has been accused of using Craigslist to offer an 18-year old male $80 for "a couple hours of your time tonight" plus a tip "for a really good time." 

The Indianapolis Star obtained e-mails sent from Rep. Phillip Hinkle's (R) publicly listed personal address, responding to a Craigslist posting by Kameryn Gibson that said "I need a sugga daddy." Gibson told the Star that the post was in the "Casual Encounters" section under m4m, or men for men. He used his sister Megan's e-mail address -- and she later sent the e-mails to the Star. 

"Cannot be a long time sugar daddy," says the e-mail response from what is allegedly Hinkle's address, "but can for tonight. Would you be interested in keeping me company for a while tonight?" 

"I am an in shape married professional, 5'8", fit 170 lbs, and love getting and staying naked," the e-mail says. 

Another e-mail says: "If u want to consider spending night u might tell ur sis so she won't worry. Would have u back before 11 tomorrow. No extra cash just free breakfast and maybe late night snack."

You know I think it is just precious that Rep. Hinkle does not want the family of his boy-toy to worry while he defiles him for money, and that he also wants to make sure his nutritional needs are met before he delivers him back to his sister's house in the morning. Pure class!

I believe that Rep. Hinkle sounds like a fairly reasonable gentleman living a life of quiet desperation, as he pretends to despise the very lifestyle that he wishes he could embrace openly. (Update: Well fairly reasonable that is until he told this kid he could not leave the hotel until "we do what we need to do," and then had his wife offer the boy and his sister $10,000 to keep quiet about the incident.)

It is just too bad that according to the belief system of the party that he has sworn his allegiance to he will now have to burn in the fiery pits of hell for his sinful nature. Sucks to be gay in the Grand Old Party.

I cannot tell you how amazing I find it that these powerful men, with everything to lose, openly respond to advertisement on Craiglist. You would think that after the Rep. Chris Lee scandal that NOBODY in Congress would even log into Craiglist.

Gabby Giffords triumphant return to the floor of Congress to vote on raising the debt ceiling.

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Amazing!

That was JUST what we needed at this time of acrimony and strife.

Entire Massachusetts congressional delegation participates in the "It Gets Better" project. With one notable exception.

Wow that was very uplifting!

I am really impressed that ALL of the Massachusetts delegation were able to come together, and do something so positive for the LGBT community in their state. That was really quite touching.

But you know, it felt to me that there was something missing.  Did you notice it too?

Yeah that's it!  Scott Brown, where in the hell was Scott Brown?

Did he not get the memo?

A Democratic Hill staffer with knowledge of the project told The Huffington Post that Brown was invited to participate, but he declined.

"Scott Brown has a strong record at the state and federal level against bullying and believes that all people regardless of sexual orientation should be treated with dignity and respect," said Brown spokesman Colin Reed when asked whether the senator had been asked to appear in the video. "His main focus right now is on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track."

Yeah you know I don't think that anybody's segment on that video was more than a few seconds long.  Surely THAT would not seriously take away from the time that Senator Brown needed to "create jobs" or get the "economy back on track."

I mean someone might start to think that Scott Brown hated the gays or something!

What's that?

Arline Isaacson, Co-​Chair of Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus stated, “Scott Brown has voted consistently against the LGBT community throughout his entire career in the Massachusetts legislature. His has not been an incidental opposition. He has voted against us loudly, proudly and unequivocally.

Unfortunately, most people don’t realize just how bad his record is:

–He voted over 25 times against marriage equality, even when 3/​4 of our legislature and many MA Republican legislators stood with us.
– He doesn’t support the Transgender Civil Rights & Hate Crimes bill
– He opposes repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
– He opposes repealing the “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA)
– He has ridiculed LGBT parents as inadequate
– He supported anti-​gay policies of George W Bush & Mitt Romney

Ohhh!  I get it now.  Brown is one of THOSE guys.

You know the ones that are so insecure about their sexuality that they are constantly making sure that they don't do anything which might accidentally appear gay, like stripping down for a national publication.

Oh, yeah that's right.

Well to be fair, Brown WAS quite a bit younger during his "drop trou for Cosmo" days, and besides there is NOTHING gay about that pose. (Okay well it might be a little gay.)

Still there is some hope that Brown is not one of those idiots that goes over the top to prove they are a strapping heterosexual by posing in a vaguely inappropriate manner with their scantily clad daughters. Because that would be just....oh.

 

Oops, I spoke too soon.

You know maybe the Massachusetts LGBT community is better off WITHOUT Senator Brown's participation in their "It Gets Better" campaign.

Because I don't know about you, but he kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Besides, I am still not sure whether homophobia is something you are born with, or something that you get from your environment, so perhaps it is best to keep Senator Brown away from impressionable young teenagers. At least until science is certain about the issue.

(H/T to the Huffington Post.)

Sarah Palin flexes what is left of her flabby political muscle to deliver a veiled threat to the freshman Teabaggers in Congress.

From Sarah Palin's ghostwritten Facebook post:

Out here in proverbial politico flyover country, we little folk are watching the debt ceiling debate with great interest and concern. Today I re-read the open letter I wrote to Republican Freshman Members of Congress in November 2010, just days after they were ushered into office in an historic landslide victory due in large part to the activism of commonsense patriots who are considered part of the Tea Party movement. I respectfully ask these GOP Freshman to re-read this letter and remember us “little people” who believed in them, donated to their campaigns, spent hours tirelessly volunteering for them, and trusted them with our votes. This new wave of public servants may recall that they were sent to D.C. for such a time as this.

In other words, according to what's written between the lines here, these freshmen politicians were sent to sabotage the process and make sure that NOTHING in Washington can get done, so that the third party (Which is already forming right under the GOP's nose), can then rise up under the "Washington is broken" banner and elect MORE saboteurs to further destroy the very fabric of this nation.

Have I got that about right?

And while this unhinged fruitcake is threatening to direct her, now dramatically decreased, Palin-bot operates away from any Tebagging politician who dares to demonstrate a general understanding of, or desire to work with, the political process, her creator John McCain is practically begging these individuals to stop being assholes and do their damn jobs!

I certainly hope the American voter is paying attention to this ridiculous spectacle, and taking note of who is watching out for them, and who is trying to grab the reins of power to steer this country back to a horse and buggy days of yore.

I am really trying not to make any more comparison's to the rise of the Nazi party here, but with the obvious attempts to undermine the government, the vilification of the Muslims, and the Youth for Hitler Palin website it is getting harder and harder all of the time.

I mean for God's sake just listen to the emotionless voices on this video.



If that does not make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, I don't know what would.

Now I still do not think that Palin can get anywhere near the White House, but it is abundantly clear that her deleterious effect on this nation, though minimized, still continues.

Essentially she, and others like her, just need to be stopped completely. And the best way to do that is to keep exposing the truth about them, the truth concerning the reasons behind their support of the Tea Party, and the truth about what their goal is for the United States of America.

I am doing my part, but I certainly won't turn away any help from others.

Why hasn't Sarah opened her piehole over Weinergate sooner?

Anthony Weiner has been under scrutiny for sending lewd pictures from his Twitter account.  All Republicans and many Democrats are calling for him to resign, which he has not. 

Personally I feel he should resign, since he used his official Twitter account to send those pictures, but I digress.  However I find it very interesting that Miss Family Values Sarah Palin has been mum about Weinergate until last night when Judge Napolitano interviewed her on FOX.  Why is that?

Is it because she was too preoccupied with the e-mail release?

Too busy planning her trip to Sudan?

Too busy trying to get Margaret Thatcher to grant a visit?

Or....

Maybe it's because she also has a philandering husband like Mrs. Weiner does and any comment will bring us bloggers out in force and shine the spotlight on her marriage.  But she certainly slammed Arnold Schwarzenegger, but then he refused to endorse her.  But Anthony would never endorse Sarah, so the silence is deafening.  BTW the charges against Shailey were dropped and she is free to spill her guts


Another thing...

No tweets from her in the past several days.  How refeshing.

Here she is on FOX.

Lawrence O'Donnell wraps up the Weiner...story.

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I first have to say how sad I am about how this turned out.

I had kind of hoped that Wiener would be vindicated, even though I had long since decided that he was simply not being honest.

I desperately did NOT want Breitbart to have successfully destroyed this man's career, which is mostly the reason why I did not report on it. 

It is somewhat reminiscent of how I reacted to news about the John Edwards love child and adultery story.

I did not blog about the story for a long time because I did not want to do anything which might have caused his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, any more pain.  However since that story broke I have had a conversation with the National Enquirer reporter who broke that story and told him thanks for what he did.

It was a story which needed to be told, regardless of how much we may have at one time supported and admired John Edwards. And believe me, I really did admire him very much.

But you see that is the difference between how I deal with learning that the people I support are flawed human beings, and how the people who support Sarah Palin, and others in the GOP, deal with information which makes THEM look less than competent or capable.

I would NEVER consider trying to change history, or creating some alternative universe where my candidate's answers were correct, in order to defend somebody that I supported. I would carefully consider what I had learned and then, based on that, decide if they were still worth supporting.

Which is why I have to say, that I really don't support Rep.Weiner's decision to remain in Congress.  I think he should resign.  Immediately.

I like the guy, I understand that what he did SHOULD really be just between he and his wife, but he lied.  And even after he had EVERY reason to come clean he lied, and lied, and lied.

And for me, that is a deal breaker.

That, of course, is only my opinion.  If yours is different, feel free to disagree with me.

It looks like the biggest challenges to Michele Bachmann's plans to run for President are all coming from high school students.

First Bachmann was challenged to a debate by Amy Myers, a sophomore at Cherry Hill High School East in Camden County. (A challenge that she ignored by the way.) And now she finds herself facing another challenge from seventeen year old Zack Kopplin:

I’m a 17 year old from Louisiana, and I’m calling Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s bluff when it comes to creationism and Nobel Laureate scientists.

In 2004, while she was in the Minnesota State Senate, Congresswoman Bachmann tried to pass SF 1714, a bill similar to my state’s creationism law, the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), which I’m fighting to repeal. This misnamed and misguided law creates a way to sneak the teaching of creationism into Louisiana public school science classrooms.

The LSEA is hurting my state and the students in it. And now, as the congresswoman is laying the groundwork to run for President, she is upping the ante for the rest of the country by bringing an anti-science, creationist stance to the national stage. Why is this a junk hand for students? Just look at the lessons from Louisiana. Colleges both at home and across the country may question our science education and withhold admission because of our dubious science background. In addition, Louisiana students may lose out on cutting edge science jobs to kids from countries like China and Britain where they teach accurate science and the theory of evolution.

This law gives Louisiana an anti-science reputation, which hinders the state’s ability to attract scientists who can help find innovative solutions to rescue the Louisiana seafood industry from disasters such as the BP oil spill and stop our coast from disappearing. The LSEA also handicaps our bio-tech start ups and efforts to attract investment in companies that do scientific research.

According to the 2009 survey of 8th grade students’ science education by the National Center for Education Statistics, Louisiana was at the bottom of the list, ranked lower than all but one state. Do not let Michele Bachmann drag the rest of the country down to Louisiana’s level.

In 2006, Congresswoman Bachmann claimed “there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact… hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel prizes, believe in intelligent design.”

Intelligent design is another name for creationism. Teaching these exchangeable theories in public school science classrooms was found unconstitutional in the 2005 Dover vs. Kitzmiller case because they are not science.

Bachmann’s ongoing misrepresentation of science and scientists at a national level adds fuel and false authority to the lobbyists and politicians in my state who have an agenda to undermine evidence-based science.

Does Congresswoman Bachmann really think the public will fall for her sleight of hand and believe she has Nobel Laureate scientists who support these unscientific theories?

Congresswoman Bachmann, I see your “hundreds” of scientists, and raise you millions of scientists.

For the next hand, I raise you 43 Nobel Laureate scientists. That’s right: 43 Nobel Laureate scientists have endorsed our effort to repeal Louisiana’s creationism law.

Major science organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which represents over 10 million scientists, have publicly endorsed the repeal.

Congresswoman Bachmann, you claim that Nobel Laureates support creationism. Show me your hand. If you want to be taken seriously by voters while you run for President, back up your claims with facts. Can you match 43 Nobel Laureates, or do you fold?

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE the young people in this country?