Ms. Informed

While one C state on the West coast banned it last week, another on the East coast made it legal today. Connecticut state courts ruled a gay marriage ban to be unconstitutional last month and began officiating same-sex marriages today. California’s ruling on Prop 8 may have set the gay rights movement back, but this news coming out of Connecticut gives all of us equal-rights activists hope.

Perhaps my favorite sign of protest:

“Brigham Young had 55 wives. I just want 1.”

(photo courtesy of Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish.)

Factcheck.org, a non-profit, nonpartisan group that “monitor[s] the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases” checked several statements made by Senators Biden, Mccain and Obama, as well as Governor Palin, for validity and truth.

Facts can be skewed, and politicians can be misleading. Find out for yourself if what they say is true.

Definitely worth a read: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/category/fact-check/

From MoveOn.org. It was really hard not to bold every single word below.

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”

5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.

6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

Inspiring.

Tim Russert was a man of intellect and objectivity, and he made it his goal in life to make sure that the American people heard the truth. I don’t think there is a soul out there who would argue that he didn’t succeed.

I cannot imagine a presidential election without him. I remember Tim back in the 2000 presidential election. It was about 1 a.m. as I recall when he took out his trademark white board and began to break down the numbers. With all the fancy maps and electronic equipment available, he was able to expain the situation best with nothing more than a marker and white board.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Tim Russert. Although, Tim was the kind of public figure you felt was your friend, even though you never really met him.

Rest in Peace, Tim. You will be truly missed.

Timothy J. Russert

May 7, 1950 ~ June 13, 2008

While his dad is busy hosting American Gladiators, a Florida judge who knows best sentenced Nick “Hogan” Bollella to 8 months in jail after pleading no contest to the charges of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. He was also ordered to serve a probationary period of five years and 500 hours of community service. Bollella must surrender his driving privileges for three years and complete a DUI school within one year of his release from prison. His injured friend, former U.S. Marine John Graziano, 23, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. He was left permanently brain-damaged after sustaining a broken skull may never fully recover.

Fair punishment for an accident, or a slap on the wrist because of who his father is (slash was)?

In related news, rapper Remy Ma was sentenced to 8 years in prison for a shooting that took place last summer outside of an NY nightclub. She claims it was an accident and plans to appeal the court’s decision.

While I was reading one of my favorite blogs on the internet today, I was informed of all the elitist talk that is flying around about Obama by many news outlets. (Ok, manly Fox News, but there were some others in there, too.)

Hilary calls Obama an elitist and suddenly that is the new buzzword in this presidential campaign. But, as Jon Stewart points out (and Emily posts about), WHAT is so wrong with being an elitist?

Is it the -ist that is throwing people off?

Racist, facist, sexist.

But this -ist is actually, dear readers, a GOOD THING.

Elite is defined as “the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.”

Now I ask you, intelligent, well-informed, faithful reader, why shouldn’t our president (and anyone even considering running for the once highly honored and respected office for that matter) NOT be the best?

I think America has had enough of non-elitist presidents. (Something in the ballpark of 8 years of it, in fact.) Isn’t it time we raised our standards and demanded the best?

Even Jon Stewart agrees: