Huckabee: Ignore SCOTUS — The Law — If It Lets Gays Marry

Poor Mike Huckabee; I mean, he quit his job at Fox Not News to wait by the phone in case God called and told him to run for President, but God’s been busy giving AIDS to babies in Africa, or something, so what’s Mike gonna do now?

Well, he’ll talk to anyone and everyone who will listen and say the most non-Presidential things ever, as he did this week when he talked with conservative radio host and law professor Hugh Hewitt to shill his new “book”, God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy — wait, is it a cookbook, a bible or a gun nut anthology?

He also talked about how to break the law in this country, you know, if you don’t agree with it. Huckabee told Hewitt he is "angry" about the way states and governors are just bowing down to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of same-sex marriage:

"If the federal Supreme Court rules that same sex marriage is protected under the 14th Amendment, you still have to have Congress and the President act to agree with it, because one branch of government does not overrule the other two. This idea that a judge makes a ruling on Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning same sex marriage licenses are being given out, that’s utter nonsense, because there’s not been any agreement with the other two branches of government."

Clearly, Huckleberry has no idea how ‘law’ works, which may explain why God hasn’t picked up the phone yet. But Hewitt, a law professor who studied law and not just god and Grist, or some crap, schooled Huckabee on a little something called the Supremacy Clause which establishes that the federal constitution and federal law generally take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.

Which is why, when the courts rule, the states follow the law. You’d think Huckabee would have remembered that when he was governor of Arkansas, but he might have been too busy playing with his guns or his guitar.

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister who is, at this time, still waiting to hear from God, also told Hewitt that when it comes to same-sex marriage, "there does come a point at which I think we have to take a stand. I may be lonely, I may be the only one, but I’m going to stand absolutely faithful to the issue of marriage not because it’s a politically expedient thing to do, because it isn’t. I’m going to do it because I believe it is the right position, it’s the Biblical position, it’s the historical position."

And that’s the exact same argument that was used to support slavery and bans on interracial marriage and we know how that worked out.

Let me make this queer: Huckleberry thinks he can be President and yet he is basically saying that if you don’t like a Supreme Court ruling, a law, in fact, then you should just be able to ignore it.

That’s so Presidential, Mike, and just one more reason why God is  busy watching a Real Housewives marathon on Bravo and not dialing your number at the Crazy House.

via NCRM

UPDATE: Judge Rules Against Florist Who Refused Service To Gay Couple

I’ve written about Barronelle Stutzman and her Richland Washington flower shop, Arlene’s Flowers, several times, the first time almost two years ago, so let’s replay the back-story first:

Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed live in Washington, and, having been together for a while, and since Washington made all of its citizens equal, they decided to get married in September 2013.

And, since during their nearly decade-long relationship they ordered special occasion flowers — birthdays, anniversaries, condolences and such — from Arlene's Flowers, they decided to use the same florist for their wedding flowers, But Arlene’s owner, and that would be Barronelle Stutzman, turned them down because, as she says:

"Rob came into the store and was talking about getting married. I told him because of my relationship with Jesus Christ that I couldn't do his wedding."

Robert Ingersoll talked with Stutzman a bit, respectfully, but he felt hurt by the rejection:

"It really hurt because it was somebody I knew. We laid awake all night Saturday. It was eating at our souls. There was never a question she'd be the one to do our flowers. She does amazing work."

Ingersoll wrote a Facebook post about their disappointment in Stutzman and Arlene's Flowers, and suddenly the story was everywhere, with people leaving comments, both positive and critical of the florist who won't do same-sex weddings.

Many pointed out that Stutzman's refusal to provide flowers for the Ingersoll-Freed wedding just might be against Washington law because, while state law exempts religious organizations from having to perform same-sex weddings, it doesn't allow the same exemptions for businesses.

All of which lead to a lawsuit when Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit today against Arlene's Flowers, Barronelle Stutzman, for refusing provide flowers for a same-sex wedding.

The lawsuit alleges that when Stutzman refused to provide goods or services on the basis of sexual orientation in a place of public accommodation, she was violating the state's anti-discrimination law and was, therefore, also violating laws designed to protect consumers. Since Stutzman operates a business that sells floral arrangements for opposite-sex weddings, Ferguson says she must provide that same service to same-sex couples.

This all went back and forth about The Gays and the baby Jeebus and flowers and cakes and weddings and religion and public businesses, and it is still going on because last week Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom decided that the state of Washington has the authority to bring a consumer protection lawsuit against Barronelle Stutzman for refusing to do a floral arrangement for The Gays; he also ruled that Stutzman can be held personally liable for violating the Consumer Protection Act.

The judge still has two more motions to rule on in the lawsuit, including whether the facts case show the florist violated the Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

Stutzman’s lawyers are saying she declined not because of the couple’s sexual orientation, but because of her religious views on marriage.

But it was her views on marriage of a gay couple, a couple with a different sexual orientation than, allegedly, her own, so that argument is kind of ridiculous; if she didn’t provide flowers because of her views on marriage wouldn’t that mean she wouldn’t provide flowers for straight couples, too?

Look, it boils down to this: the state attorney general is asking for a permanent injunction requiring Stutzman and her shop to comply with the consumer protection law. Simple. You sell flowers, sell flowers, and keep the Baby Jeebus out of it.

I mean, does she check the religious status of all her customers? Does she find out what all the arrangements are for before she makes them? She doesn’t think The Gays should be married because, in her tiny head the Baby Jeebus told her so, but she can’t let the Baby Jeebus tell her how to run her business.

This would have all been a non-story had she just made the flowers. Now it’ll drag on and on … and she’ll still lose.

via LGBTQ Nation

Back Story from ISBL:
Barronelle Stutzman, of Arlene's Flowers, and The Baby Jeebus, Don't Sell Flowers For Same-Sex Weddings
Barronelle Stutzman Gets Busted!

Today In Christian Love: You Can Be Fired For Supporting Equality

As usual, there’s Good News and Bad News.

The Good News is that marriage equality has come to Florida … finally … while the Bad News is that the Catholic Church is so incensed over the idea of equality that the Archdiocese of Miami has threatened to fire anyone who works for the Church if they voice support for equality.

So, let me get this queer: the Catholic Church is anti-0marriage equality and anti-Freedom of Speech? How Christ-like, no?

Archbishop Thomas Wenski has sent out a letter warning employees that they could be fired for any conduct that is “inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church"  and that "because of the Church’s particular function in society, certain conduct, inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, could lead to disciplinary action, including termination, even if it occurs outside the normal working day and outside the strict confines of work performed by the employee for the Archdiocese.”

See, if you work for the Church and then go home and, say, get on the Facebook and support marriage equality, you’ll be fired; if you, say, Tweet to your cousin who just married his longtime partner because equality came to town, you can be fired. If you have a blog and show support for the rights of all Americans to be treated equally under the law, you’ll lose your job.

For having an opinion, and voicing an opinion, you can be fired.

And they like to say there’s a war on religion? It looks like religion is firing the first shots at anyone who supports marriage equality and voices their support.

Again, how f**king-Christ-like.

via NBC Miami

SC Taxpayers Billed For Both Sides Of The Same-Sex Marriage Fight

I’ve often claimed that, down here in South Carolina, it’s not the heat, but the stupidity that’ll get you, and, well, my point has been proven yet again.

As has been happening around the good old US of A lately, when a state's same-sex marriage ban is ruled unconstitutional that state’s government officials unleash the hounds, er, lawyers, to defend the ban, to request stays and to file appeals

And those of us who live in those states, like South Carolina, get a little annoyed by that, because since our Attorney General Alan Wilson has refused to admit he’s lost, We The People of South Carolina, through our tax dollars, will pay for those appeals and the stays and the lawsuits. But, what many don’t realize is that it is not just the defense case the taxpayers will fund; we may also be responsible for the legal bills of the gay couples who successfully challenged South Carolina’s marriage ban.

See, federal law requires the losing party in cases involving basic constitutional rights to pay the legal fees of the winning plaintiffs and South Carolina just got its first bill from the seven Charleston attorneys who successfully challenged the state's same-sex marriage ban. Those attorneys have filed a petition in federal court seeking $152,709 in attorneys’ fees, which, if they are successful, will be paid for by, ahem, We The People of South Carolina.

And, since Wilson has vowed to continue defending South Carolina’s same-sex marriage laws in several other cases in both of the state’s federal district courts, those plaintiff's lawyers can ask to be reimbursed for their costs as well. And when Wilson loses those cases, all the way to the Supreme Court if he gets his way, We The People of South Carolina might be on the hook for those costs, too.

Yup, we’re paying to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and we’re paying to have the ban declared unconstitutional; we pay both sides.

But, and this is where I forget about how stupid some in South Carolina can be and a great big grin spreads across my face, any monies these seven attorneys are awarded will not be accepted by them; instead, they have announced plans to donate their fees to the LGBT rights groups that hired them to sue the state, including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the South Carolina Equality Coalition.

So, and this is where I smile, because I imagine this will irk Alan Wilson even more, the harder he fights to keep the ban in place, the more money it costs the people of South Carolina, and the more money gets donated to LGBT groups in the state.

Hmmm, maybe not so stupid after all?

via NCRM

Random Musings ... A Day Late

A day late because yesterday was a day for just Carlos and me … and the kids.

Nice holiday, gorgeous, but cold, weather, and a delicious meal, our first Thanksgiving as Husband-and-Husband.

Carlos made his Martha Stewart Turkey and Homemade Cranberry Sauce with a Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert; I did wine — cuz I loves me some wine — Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic, Red Onion and Pancetta, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, and Vanilla Whipped Cream for the cheesecake.

It was a lovely, happy day.So, what else has been on my mind …

Just thought I start off musing about our kids, clockwise from top left:

Tuxedo, the most gorgeous, and smartest, cat ever, followed by Miss Consuelo Roca-Jones, quite the diva — she makes me pale by comparison; followed by MaxGoldberg, of the Boca Raton Goldbergs, a retired Jewish accountant from the Sunshine state; then the lone canine, Ozzo, looking like he’s begging for a doggie brother or sister.

Nothing says Christmas like hate, at least in Uganda.

Abdu Latif Ssebagala, a Ugandan lawmaker who helped draft the country's revised anti-gay law is hoping to have the bill passed this year as a "Christmas gift" for Ugandans:

"The draft is ready and we have strengthened the law, especially in areas of promotion and luring children. Next week we expect to meet the speaker to fix a date for the re-tabling to parliament."

In Uganda, nothing says Happy Holidays like Kill The Gays.

I’m hooked on Jesse J. She has kind of a Jolie-thing going on and she can Bang Bang.

Plus her boyfriend, Luke James, is kinda hot.

Just sayin’.

Last week we talked Carlos’ hair. He was trying to grow it and every day it took on a new persona; yes, he went from Bieber to Jackson to Bob’s Big Boy in the space of a day and a half.

Then I came home one day to find that he’d gotten a haircut, and, well, this is what that looked like … without the tiny mustache, of course:

With a little manipulation, and some product of course, because we’re gay, not animals, it looked like this:

Much better … plus I have the hots for Ralph Fiennes, even as a Nazi, but I was afraid to leave the house whilst Carlos looked like Adolf.

I loved hearing the news reports that Brad and Angie had a big blowout ... some reports called it "explosive" ... in Australia, with pictures of the two of them on a balcony.

Yeah, that's a blowout all right. Maybe they should stop by my house and I'll show them what an explosive blowout looks like.

Plus, do they really think that we think Brad and Angie are so perfect that they have never fought? Grow up.

Look at that!

Mississippi and Arkansas welcomed Marriage Equality this week, meaning that I can travel to the state where I was born — I am a Mississippi boy — and get same-sex married.

Who knew?

Darren Wilson says he is sorry for the shooting Michael Brown to death, but he has a "clean conscience" about what happened and would not do anything differently today.

Hmmm, not a thing differently? You wouldn’t even try to something different so that unarmed man wouldn’t die?

Nice, Darren. You need to go away now, far away.

You know, while watching the news one day I came across White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Hot.

And here’s the song that’s running through the loop in my head this week. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and “The Heart Is Slow To Learn.”

It almost makes me weep … almost.

Random Musings

Carlos is letting his hair grow; or not.

But while deciding whether to trim his locks or let them run rampant, his hairstyles range from a Justin Bieber-ish looking "don't" to a Andrew Jackson pompadour to a Bob's Big Boy swirl.

I can't with it. I can't.

Well well well … look who’s married, legally, in South Carolina!

That’s right, the stay has been lifted after the US Supreme Court denied Attorney General Alan Wilson’s cry for an appeal.

South Carolina. Marriage equality.

Who, besides me, never saw that coming so soon?

Last week was the Colonial Cup, the last event in the National Steeplechase Association season, an annual event here in Smallville, er, Camden. It brings about 60,000 extra folks to our little town, a boost for local businesses and our wee economy.

But this year I met Tony Bentley, the man who calls the races on the steeplechase circuit. Tony lives in New Orleans, but travels around the country to each event, announcing the races.

But that’s not the coolest thing about Tony Bentley. In having a conversation with him, the chat turned to American Horror Story: Freak Show. He asked if I watched; I said, Are you kidding? I’ve been hooked since the first episode!

Then he let me in on a little secret: Tony Bentley played Mr. Hanley, toy store owner, who had his head chopped off by Twisty the Clown!

He showed me all kinds of pictures on his phone; on the set with Twisty — played by John Carroll Lynch — and told fabulous stories about the divine Jessica Lange; apparently she really is divine.

But the last photo was one of Tony, holding his own special effects head in his hands.

Very cool! Who knew in Smallville I would ever meet one of Twisty’s victims!

Bill Cosby.

I don’t know if he raped those women — thirteen at last count — and I don’t know that he didn’t. I do know that he should quit playing this I won’t talk about it game and give an interview to either fully dispute the allegations or come clean.

Sidenote: before anyone says, Well, he paid off one victim, lets’ be clear that just because he settled the suit doesn’t automatically make him guilty.

Still, he needs to stop the dodging and answer some questions.

That said … Don Lemon.

He has now offered an apology to one of Cosby’s accusers, Joan Tarshis, after offering her advice, on air, on air as to how avoid getting sexually abused:

“You — you know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it.”

Way to blame the victim, Don. And, as a man who says he was a victim of sexual abuse as a minor, you really should have known better.

So, One Direction's Harry Styles is adding even more fuel to the bisexual rumor fire when, during an interview, he and bandmate Niall Horan were asked about which celebrities they might hook up with and, after rattling off the Ariana’s and the Rihanna’s the interviewer suggested that perhaps he might choose a man. That prompted Styles to touch Horan’s knee and say, “Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it."

Now Styles has never said he was gay, or bisexual, but he’s playing it like a game, just like Nick Jonas and his crotch-grabbing, gay club going, shirtless antics, in an attempt to pander to the gay community to sell some music.

I find it insulting; neither man/boy is gay and this all reeks of just playing to gay men to make some money.

Don’t use us to sell a record, m’kay.

Oh, and for the record, Nick, Joe is the cuter one.

Lotsa folks upset with People over their Sexiest Man Alive pick, saying it should’a been Chris Pratt.

I disagree. Chris Hemsworth oozes sex, in his eyes, in his accent, in his body, in that magnificent bum — take a peek at Rush to see for yourself.

But, howsabout having an openly gay man as the Sexiest Man alive? Or maybe a man of color? Here are my choices …

Child abuser, Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, has been suspended without pay for the remainder of the NFL season after he has “shown no meaningful remorse” over his child abuse charges.

The announcement came from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:

“You have shown no meaningful remorse for your conduct. When indicted, you acknowledged what you did but said that you would not ‘eliminate whooping my kids’ and defended your conduct in numerous published text messages to the child’s mother. You also said that you felt ‘very confident with my actions because I know my intent.’ These comments raise the serious concern that you do not fully appreciate the seriousness of your conduct, or even worse, that you may feel free to engage in similar conduct in the future.”

Sadly, Peterson makes some 20 million a year so I don’t really think he’ll be hurting much, and nowhere near as much as he hurt his own son.

And, since I Should Be Laughing is the go-to source for all things sports — now that's comedy —l et’s dish a little about the Steelers’ backup halfback LeGarrette Blount, who was apparently so upset that he did not have a carry against in the Steelers win over Tennessee that he walked off the field and sat on the team bus.

Uh huh; like a spoiled child. At least one team-member thought they should leave him in Nashville.

And I agree.

I LOVE this!

According to analysis of the National Organization for Marriage’s 2013 tax filings done by the Human Rights Campaign [HRC], NOM raised $5.1 million in 2013, which amounts to less than half of what they raised the year prior.

And just two … two … 2 donors accounted for more than half of that five million.

Just further proof that NOM is done.

Well, it looks like Kathy Griffin will be taking over for the late great Joan Rivers on Fashion Police. 

I like Kathy; she’ll be good, but she won’t be Joan.

And the show won’t be on every week, but instead will air as special episodes after awards shows and big Hollywood events.

Like I said, Kathy will be good, and fun, but she won’t be Joan.

No one will ever be Joan.

The Weddings Have Begun ... With More To Come

It’s game, er, wedding on!

A Charleston County judge has issued South Carolina's first same-sex marriage license to Charleston County councilwoman Colleen Condon and her fiancé, Nichols Bleckley; it’s only fitting since they were the first couple to have their application for a marriage license accepted in Charleston County last month.

"I do hope that every parent, teacher takes a moment today to explain to kids what's going on and how historic this moment is."—Nichols Bleckley.

"We knew this was never about just the two of us. We wanted it for us, but we knew that we were a part of hundreds, thousands in South Carolina who were ready to get married right away."—Colleen Condon

And Judge Irvin Condon will be issuing the licenses to the couples who applied before he was ordered to stop by the state Supreme Court. Condon can issue the licenses due to a US district court ruling filed this past Tuesday that ordered South Carolina to legally recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states where same-sex marriage is legal; he began issuing the licenses to applicants who met all qualifications yesterday morning.

And it’s already happened for one same-sex couple.  First thing yesterday morning, Kayla Bennett and Kristin Anderson held their marriage ceremony right outside the Charleston County Probate Court and had South Carolina’s first officially recognized same-sex wedding.

South Carolina. Same-sex marriage. Who knew?

Congratulations to all the couples in the state — myself and Carlos included, as well as our good friends Bill and Michael who were married in New York on October 24 — who are now legally married, and best wishes to all those that come after.

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