A new poll by Fox News shows 55% of those polled approve of the current economy (44% say it’s only ‘fair’), but 50% say the Senate should vote to remove Donald Trump from the Oval Office. Even with the strong economy, the new survey says 56% are not satisfied with the direction of the country versus 43% who approve. And by a 50-44 percent margin, respondents say the Senate should vote to convict Trump and remove him from office. Remember, this a Fox News poll, folks. While the majority of responses fall on partisan lines – 81% of Democrats say remove and 84% of Republicans disagree – among independents, the results are starker as 53% of those say Trump should be removed versus 34% who disagree. This is now the third major national poll released this week to show support for removing Trump from office at 50% or higher – 51% in CNN’s poll and Pew’s polling, 50% in the Fox poll.
Kobe Bryant (screen capture)Local 10 News reports former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, 41, has died in a helicopter crash in California. Five people were reportedly on board the helicopter when a fire apparenlty broke out causing the aircraft to go down down near Calabasas this morning. From Local 10 News:
He played his entire 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers and finished his career as one of the best to ever play the game.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was drafted into the NBA straight out of high school at the age of 17.
He retired in 2016 a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP and the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history.
Bryant was selected to an NBA record 18 consecutive NBA All-Star Games. He also won two gold medals while representing the USA in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
L-R Jon Lovitz, Kate McKinnon When Donald Trump’s attorney Alan Dershowitz (Jon Lovitz) gives Senator Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) and Senator Susan Collins (Cecily Strong) a preview of his impeachment defense, he ends up having a heart attack and going to hell where he encounters the Devil (Kate McKinnon) along with Jeffrey Epstein (guest host Adam Driver), Flo from the Progressive commercials, the guy who wrote the “Baby Shark” song, and Mr. Peanut, who was recently killed off for a Super Bowl ad.
Prior to House Intelligence Committee Chairman and lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff’s appearance on NBC News’ Meet The Press this morning, Donald Trump took to Twitter to rant (and threaten?) Schiff. From NBC News:
President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will pay a “price” for his role in the impeachment saga. “Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man,” Trump tweeted. “He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”
The president posted those comments after writing earlier Sunday that his impeachment “is a massive election interference the likes of which has never been seen before.”
Speaking with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, said he thought Trump’s tweet is “intended to be” a threat to him. Trump responded later Sunday by calling Schiff a “conman.”
Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!
Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee (image via campaign website) Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) signed a measure on Friday that legalizes the rejection of same-sex parents from adopting. Specifically, the law allows the argument that adoption agencies have a legitimate fear that same-sex households would “violate written religious or moral convictions or policies.” “The governor believes that protection of rights is important, especially religious liberty,” Gillum Ferguson, a spokesman for Gov. Lee, told the Tennessean. “This bill is centered around protecting the religious liberty of Tennesseans and that’s why he signed it.” According to The Hill, the bill not only allows a “religious exemption” in discriminating against same-sex couples but also prohibits the state from denying an agency’s licenses or grant applications for public funds based on its child placement refusals. Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, denounced the new law. “It’s disturbing that Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that will harm children in Tennessee,” said David. “Elected officials should protect all of their constituents, not just some.” “This bill does nothing to improve the outcomes for children in care, shrinks the pool of prospective parents and is a blatant attempt to discriminate against LGBTQ Tennesseans,” he added. “With many months ahead in the Tennessee legislative session, Tennesseans should make their voices heard — loudly — to ensure that the legislature and Gov. Lee do not continue to target LGBTQ Tennesseans.” With the governor’s signature, Tennessee has the dubious distinction of being the first state to pass an anti-LGBTQ bill into law in 2020.
L-R Lev Parnas, Donald Trump ABC News reports it has reviewed an audio recording of what appears to be Donald Trump having a conversation with former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas regarding then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In the recording, a voice said to be Trump’s can be heard saying, “Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.” Parnas’ lawyer Joseph Bondy told the press the recording has been furnished to the House Intelligence Committee: “We do believe that contents of the conversation as portrayed by ABC News are of critical importance in the impeachment trial of the President. And would urge that it be produced to Congress.” Bondy also gave the full recording to the press for full transparency:
Trump has repeatedly announced he “doesn’t know” Parnas and “hasn’t ever spoken” to Parnas. If you listen to the full recording, it’s clear this was a lengthy dinner meeting that Trump had with Parnas and others. And he tells the public he “hasn’t ever spoken” to Parnas??? The White House has not defended the tape other than Vice President Mike Pence saying the recording “confirms what people already know.” Check out ABC News’ report below.
Stormy Daniels (screen capture) Two U.S. vice cops were fired on Friday for the wrongful arrest of porn star Stormy Daniels during a strip club appearance in 2018. Not only were Officers Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster dismissed from duties, but Daniels (who has claimed an affair with Donald Trump) was also awarded $450,000 in damages in September 2019. More from RawStory:
Daniels had charged in a lawsuit that she was arrested for political reasons related to her claim before the 2016 election that Trump had sought to buy her silence over an affair a decade earlier, to avoid it affecting his prospects in the presidential contest.
The charges said that, while topless at the club, she pushed the faces of customers into her breasts.
The charges against her were quickly dropped following her detention. But she sued the city for false arrest and false imprisonment and the case was settled in September 2019 for $450,000.
In dismissing the officers, Columbus Director of Public Safety Ned Pettus noted that the actions taken against Daniels “deviated significantly from actions taken at every other strip club investigated by you.” According to Pettus, normal procedures would have been to file charges against an offender after a club visit and issue a summons for the person’s appearance in court, rather than arresting them on the spot and taking them into custody as they did with Daniels.
As Donald Trump’s legal team began to present their defense case in the ongoing impeachment trial today, the Donald took to Twitter to encourage his followers to watch the proceedings – but on his favorite state network, Fox News. While there, he also threw out some elementary school insults at House impeachment lead manager Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for good measure. Remember when some members of the media assured us he would, at some point, grow into a more ‘presidential’ bearing? I think we got the answer to that a long time ago.
Our case against lyin’, cheatin’, liddle’ Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, Nervous Nancy Pelosi, their leader, dumb as a rock AOC, & the entire Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrat Party, starts today at 10:00 A.M. on @FoxNews, @OANN or Fake News @CNN or Fake News MSDNC!
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Ramses Principe (above) waxes grateful about the journey thus far. Always a good idea, no? Follow the hunky fitness expert on Instagram here. • Washington Blade: A woman falsely accused a circuit party that caters to queer people of color of being “an organized sex party” setting off a string of investigations. • ABC News: Two-thirds of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say the U.S. Senate should call new witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. • Talking Points Memo: Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pledged to release all impeachment-related documents that the White House has barred should she become president.
On day one as president, I will order the release of every document related to this impeachment inquiry that the administration has been hiding. The public needs to know what happened. All the other candidates for president should commit to take this step as well.
• KIT212: Kenneth rounds up the what’s what in local gay rags across the country. Check the latest from Gloss Magazine (below) here. The latest issue of Gloss Magazine (via Kenneth-in-the-212) • The Gaily Grind: A Republican ‘family values’ candidate was busted for joining a dating website for married men looking to cheat. • CNN: Bernie Sanders is facing a backlash from some Democrats after his campaign trumpeted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, a popular podcast and YouTube talk show host with a history of making racist, homophobic and transphobic comments. Sanders’ national press secretary issued a statement that read, in part: “Sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values. The truth is that by standing together in solidarity, we share the values of love and respect that will move us in the direction of a more humane, more equal world.”
“I think I’ll probably vote for Bernie… He’s been insanely consistent his entire life. He’s basically been saying the same thing, been for the same thing his whole life. And that in and of itself is a very powerful structure to operate from.” -Joe Rogan pic.twitter.com/fuQP0KwGGI
Judge Dan Hazard Dan Hazard, a Maumee Municipal Court judge in Ohio, has apologized to the LGBTQ community after letters he wrote while in college calling gays “savages” who “pretty much deserve” to die of AIDS came to light this week. Toledo’s local CBS News affiliate WTOL first reported the letters which appeared in the student newspaper at Ohio State University in 1992 and 1993. The first letter to the editor, published December 2, 1992, he referenced gay people as ‘citizens’ (note the scare quotes) seeking equal treatment under the law. “There has been a recent outcry on the behalf of these ‘citizens’ for equal treatment under the law,” wrote Hazard as a sophomore at OSU. “Equal treatment for people that many still think of as savages … These people think they deserve equal treatment under the law. I challenge anyone to name any civilized nation that looks at queers as ‘normal’ human beings. There just aren’t any.” He also decried calls by the LGBTQ community for funding HIV research. He wrote, “I suggest we cut all AIDS research funding (not AIDS education) because 95% of those inflicted with the deadly disease pretty much deserve it anyway (the homosexual community).” About five months later, after the Gay Rights March on Washington on April 25, 1993, he penned a second letter to the editor that appeared in the April 30 edition of the student newspaper. In that missive, he gave thanks “to the homosexual community for opening (his) eyes.” Noting that many gays had left the campus for the Washington event, he could “now see what this campus would be like with the removal of gays from our society.” Addressing the “heterophobes polluting this campus,” he asked, “Is the homosexual lifestyle a safe one?” He went on to quote statistics from the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council which stated the average life span of homosexuals from diseases other than AIDS was 41, something he said was “good news.” Hazard also implored gays to “please keep your AIDS to yourselves” and added, “You have killed many innocent children.” When contacted by WTOL for comment, Hazard issued a direct apology. Calling his own words “reprehensible” and “deplorable,” he says they don’t represent who he is today. Here’s his full statement:
“The letter posted here was reprehensible and deplorable.I wrote this and another of the same tone as a teenage college student 27 years ago and by no means hold those beliefs today.I have zero excuse and could not attempt to justify it then or now. It was hurtful to anyone that saw it in 1993 or today. I am sorry that it will hurt even more people today including my gay and transgendered family and friends whom I love dearly. Throughout my career, I have befriended and represented many gay clients.I have done so zealously without reservation. One of the first weddings I officiated after taking the bench was of a same sex couple.I did so with respect and dignity. Every day I treat every litigant and attorney with that same respect no matter their background, experience or gender identity and will continue to do so. I am glad that this allows me to clarify my views that have drastically changed over time.Respect is owed not only in the courtroom, but in all of society.”
I wanted to note that it caught this writer’s ear while watching the WTOL report that news anchor Andrew Kinsey referred to Hazard’s remarks saying “some call homophobic.”
Hazard had called gays “savages” who “deserved” to get AIDS and die. I think that’s straight-up homophobic language. What do you think, readers? Is the apology acceptable given the 27 years since Hazard made the comments? And that he offers such a strenuous mea culpa? Or was the language so strident it’s difficult to believe he did a 180-degree turn from those noxious attitudes? Let us know what you think in the comment section. (Source: WTOL)
A new poll by Fox News shows 55% of those polled approve of the current economy (44% say it’s only ‘fair’), but 50% say the Senate should vote to remove Donald Trump from the Oval Office. Even with the strong economy, the new survey says 56% are not satisfied with the direction of the country versus 43% who approve. And by a 50-44 percent margin, respondents say the Senate should vote to convict Trump and remove him from office. Remember, this a Fox News poll, folks. While the majority of responses fall on partisan lines – 81% of Democrats say remove and 84% of Republicans disagree – among independents, the results are starker as 53% of those say Trump should be removed versus 34% who disagree. This is now the third major national poll released this week to show support for removing Trump from office at 50% or higher – 51% in CNN’s poll and Pew’s polling, 50% in the Fox poll.
