politicalprof:

Brilliant. Well worth a listen.

—and in a moment of pure trivia, this is my 2,222nd Tumblr post.

—ht: George Takei

Please, take the time to watch all of it. There is a point.

politicalprof:

Worth saying.

ht: EE

blog

So worth watching!

neil-gaiman:

Oh dear god.

And, possibly, even, Dear God….

They couldn’t find a more ignorant person to interview as that church’s mouthpiece? Seriously? They need a new PR person. She’s probably part of the KKK too!

anticapitalist:

Our real first gay president

The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly.

The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong. Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president, the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago.

There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet.

Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “Men Like That,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote:

I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.

PREACH!

This week, Lila made us the sweetest book for Mothers’ Day. The whole book was about Alma and me and how much she loves us and is happy to have us as her moms. This comic made me smile because it was pretty fitting. Luckily, we have a teacher that not only understands that there are different types of families but also embraces it.

To all mothers everywhere…Happy Mom Day!