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Jeremy Jordan’s Terrific New Take On “Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'”

Jeremy Jordan “O What a Beautiful Mornin'”

After spending some years working on television series like The CW’s Supergirl and NBC’s SMASH, oh-so-talented Jeremy Jordan returned to Broadway last fall in the new play, American Son.

If you haven’t seen the play at the Booth Theatre, hurry up as it’s set to close at the end of the month.

That said, American Son isn’t Jordan’s only ‘return’ to Broadway material.

Having starred in musicals on the Great White Way like West Side Story, Newsies, and Bonnie and Clyde, folks might have forgotten what an gifted singer Jordan is.

Until now.

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization shares a new music video, the first in a series titled, “R&H Goes Pop!,” of contemporary twists on timeless classics from the R&H catalog.

Jordan gets the honor of debuting this new take on the Oklahoma opener, “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.”

I’ve been a fan of Jordan’s for years now. A terrific actor and vocalist, he’s the real deal who can deliver.

The arrangement and orchestration here is killer: bright, fresh and current.

I love reinvention, and I love this.

Jordan took to Twitter to announce the news, writing, “A while back, the fine folks at @RnH_Org asked me to reimagine a classic. Naturally, I enlisted the help of @brauhala & we came up with this take on “O What a Beautiful Mornin.” Then @nathanjohnsonny shot this video in the summer HEAT. Enjoy!”

Watch the new music video below and feel good.

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Buzzfeed: Trump Instructed His Lawyer To Lie To Congress

Buzzfeed is reporting that Donald Trump instructed his former 'fixer,' Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Donald Trump


Buzzfeed is reporting that Donald Trump instructed his former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

The Buzzfeed article is said to be based on “interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”

President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.

Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.

Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the deal in testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Special counsel Robert Mueller noted that Cohen’s false claim that the project ended in January 2016 was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1” — widely understood to be Trump — “in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.”

Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

There’s much more at the link.

Trump’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, responded to the report saying, “If you believe Cohen I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

But as many point out, the Buzzfeed report doesn’t rely on information from Cohen.

The report dropped at 10:11pm ET last night, so the Trumpster came out swinging this morning on Twitter:

Folks are now looking back at the testimony Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, gave this week with new eyes as he was directly asked if “a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction?”

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News Round-Up: January 17, 2019

This pic is an ad for a necklace by Dueros
Rodiney Santiago

Some news items you might have missed:

• The above pic featuring InstaHunk Rodiney Santiago is an ad for a necklace. #TheresAnecklace?

• Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino says the US State Department is ‘deeply disturbed’ by the latest reports out of Chechnya regarding the anti-LGBTI crackdown. But no one is doing anything about it.

• Donald Trump cancelled Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s trip to meet with our soldiers in Afghanistan citing budgetary reasons due to his government shutdown, but hours later First Lady Melania Trump flew on an Air Force plane to Mar a Lago for a weekend holiday. #hypocrisy

• Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote to approve a recent House bill that would re-open the federal government. The government remains closed at this writing because McConnell refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

• Second Lady Karen Pence recently announced she’s going back to teach at a school in Washington DC that doesn’t allow gay kids or teachers. So, The Trevor Project sent copies of pro-gay kids book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, to the private school. #Awesome

• Former Minnesota rabbi Aryeh Leiv Cohen received a 2 day jail sentence after being caught in a police sting operation. Cohen was arrested after sexting with, and showing up expecting to have sex with, what he believed was a 15-year-old boy.

• Folks on the political right lost their minds today as newly-sworn Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her first-ever speech from the floor of the House of Representatives.

Her three minute speech, on behalf of the 800,000 federal workers affected by the current Trump shutdown, broke the record for the most viewed video on C-SPAN’s Twitter account drawing over 1.6 million views.

•

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Democratic Presidential Hopeful Tulsi Gabbard Apologizes Again For Her Anti-LGBT Past

Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard posted a new video today on YouTube in yet another attempt to clear the air regarding her anti-LGBT activist past.

Gabbard announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president last week.

She’s clearly very concerned about her anti-LGBT comments coming back to bite her in the backside now.

Via YouTube:

Aloha. In my past I said and believed things that were wrong, and worse, hurtful to people in the LGBTQ+ community and their loved ones. Many years ago, I apologized for my words and, more importantly, for the negative impact that they had. I sincerely repeat my apology today. I’m deeply sorry for having said them.

My views have changed significantly since then, and my record in Congress over the last 6 years reflects what is in my heart: A strong and ongoing commitment to fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. I know that LGBTQ+ people still struggle, are still facing discrimination, are still facing abuse and still fear that their hard-won rights are going to be taken away by people who hold views like I used to.

That cannot happen, because every single American deserves to be treated equally – by their fellow Americans and under the law. I will continue to fight for LGBTQ+ people, whether they’re in school or serving in uniform, trying to get healthcare, taking care of their family, or looking for a home. I grew up knowing that every person is a child of God, and equally loved by God. I have always believed in the fundamental rights and equality of all people.

But I also grew up in a socially conservative household, where I was raised to believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. For a period of my life I didn’t see the contradiction in those beliefs. While many Americans may be able to relate to growing up in a conservative home, my story is a little different because my father was very outspoken. He was an activist who was fighting against gay rights and marriage equality in Hawaii – and at that time, I forcefully defended him and his cause.

But over the years as I grew up, I formed my own opinions based on my life experience that significantly changed my views — at a very personal level in truly having aloha, love, for all people, and making sure that every American, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated equally under the law. I look forward to being able to share more of my story and experiences growing up – not as an excuse – but in the hopes that it may inspire others to truly live aloha; to love and care for others.

When we deny LGBTQ people the basic rights that exist for every American, we are denying their humanity – denying that they are equal. We are also creating a dangerous environment that breeds discrimination and violence. When we divide people based on who they are or who they love, all we are doing is adding fuel the flames that perpetuate bigotry and hatred.

I’m so grateful to my friends and loved ones, both gay and straight, who patiently helped me see how my past positions on these issues were at odds with my values, my aloha, and that they were causing people harm. I regret the role I played in causing such pain, and I remain committed to fight for LGBTQ equality.

I’m posting this because I do believe we can evolve. And, I believe we should embrace the concept of forgiveness.

That said, Gabbard is not my choice for president. But I felt it fair to share her remarks.

Regarding her past, check out this report from CNN:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in the early 2000s touted working for her father’s anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy.

Although Gabbard’s positions on LGBT rights have shifted dramatically in more recent years (she signed a 2013 amicus brief supporting Edith Windsor’s challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act), the extent of Gabbard’s past anti-gay activism has already drawn criticism from prominent Democrats and will likely be a major issue for her as she seeks the party’s nomination.

Gabbard’s father Mike was a prominent anti-gay activist in Hawaii. He was also the director of Stop Promoting Homosexuality and also served on the steering committees of the National Campaign to Protect Marriage and the Hawaii-based coalition, Save Traditional Marriage. He also once hosted an anti-gay radio show, Let’s Talk Straight Hawaii.

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Hunky Brian Sims Banned From Facebook For Reporting Homophobic Troll

Pennsylvania lawmaker Brian Sims was banned from his own Facebook account after reporting a troll calling him 'faggot' online
Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims  (image via Facebook)

I love that woofy, gay Pennsylvania state legislator Brian Sims does not back down from trolls and haters.

So, last week when a woman who appeared to be named “Jill Freb” sent him a message on social media reading, “You get out, f*gg*t,” Sims didn’t pause to share the comment with his followers.

Sims wrote, “Anyone know my new friend Jill?” He posted a pic of the comment and asked his peeps to report the comment to the powers that be at Facebook

But then, is a strange reversal, Sims himself was blocked from posting on his own account for sharing Kreb’s homophobic comment.

“Last night, I got back from the governor’s swearing-in ceremony,” Sims told Metro Weekly. “I went to put up some information about the swearing-in and a trans candidate who’s announcing a campaign today, and I got a notification that, because of that specific post with her telling me to “get out” and calling me a “faggot” — not even the other posts associated with it — I had been blocked from all my accounts, both public and personal.”

Eventually, Sims got his Facebook account reinstated, admittedly because he happens to know some folks there.

But Sims wasn’t done with the issue.

“I have dozens of connections to Facebook and had to use all of them to fix this,” he wrote. “What happens to the person who doesn’t know anyone there?”

He went on to say he never received any “explanation from Facebook Diversity, Government and Politics on Facebook or Facebook HQ” about the lockdown.

Eventually, Facebook responded to MetroWeekly with a statement regarding the ‘mistake.’

“We allow people to share messages they receive even hateful ones,” wrote the Facebook spokesman. “Removing this post was a mistake in misunderstanding that it was discussing a message Representative Sims had himself experienced. The post does not violate our Community Standards and has been restored and Representative Sims is no longer in a feature block.”

But Sims still has concerns for the free speech of those who may not have his connections or position.

“This isn’t just about getting my Facebook page turned back on,” said Sims. “This either needs to continue or start a conversation about what Facebook is doing, authentically, substantively, to make sure they’re not culling legitimate speech and not endorsing, supporting, or lifting up illegitimate speech — whether it’s hate speech or fake accounts.”

Keep fighting, Brian. We think you’re awesome.

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Rudy Giuliani: I Never Said There Was No Collusion Between Trump Campaign And Russia

In a stunning reversal, Donald Trump's legal eagle Rudy Giuliani told CNN's Chris Cuomo last night that he never said there was "no collusion" between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian agents.

I think this is what we call “moving the goalposts.”

In a stunning reversal, Donald Trump’s legal eagle Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Chris Cuomo last night that he never said there was “no collusion” between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian agents.

From The Washington Post:

President Trump’s legal spokesman Rudolph W. Giuliani on Wednesday night appeared to grant the possibility that members of Trump’s campaign did, in fact, collude with the Russians during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

And in the process, he contradicted dozens of previous denials that both the Trump team (and Trump himself) have offered.

“I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign,” Giuliani told CNN’s Chris Cuomo, before getting cut off.

“Yes, you have,” Cuomo said.

Giuliani shot back: “I have not. I said ‘the president of the United States.’”

Now, perhaps Giuliani never said the exact words “no one from the Trump campaign ever communicated with Russian interlopers,” but that has been the clear message from Donald Trump regarding his team and the alleged Russian interference during the 2016 presidential race.

“No collusion” has been the Trumpster’s mantra over and over again.

This is first time anyone connected to Trump has opened the door to the idea that someone associated with Trump colluded with Russian forces without his knowledge.

The Washington Post breaks down the many evolving positions like this:

1. November 2016: No communications, period

2. February 2017: There were no communications, “to the best of our knowledge”

3. March 2017: There were communications, but no planned meetings with Russians

4. July 8, 2017: There was a planned meeting at Trump Tower, but it was “primarily” about adoption and not the campaign

5. July 9, 2017: The meeting was planned to discuss the campaign, but the information exchanged wasn’t “meaningful”

6. December 2017: Collusion isn’t even a crime

7. May 16, 2018: Even if meaningful information were obtained, it wasn’t used

8. May 19, 2018: There was a *second* planned meeting about foreign help in the election, but nothing came of it either

9. July 16, 2018: Trump couldn’t collude, because Trump didn’t even know Putin

10. July 30, 2018: Collusion isn’t a crime, and Trump wasn’t physically at the Trump Tower meeting

11. January 16, 2019: Trump didn’t collude, but no guarantees on others in the campaign

It’s like quicksand – the more Team Trump fights, the worse off they are.

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Alaska: Organization Sues To Deny Shelter To Trans Women In Freezing Temperatues

Virulently anti-LGBTQ legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, is representing a ‘Christian’ women’s shelter that is suing to deny transgender women shelter from the freezing winter cold.
(image via Depositphotos)

Virulently anti-LGBTQ legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, is representing a ‘Christian’ women’s shelter that is suing to deny transgender women shelter from the freezing winter cold.

The conservative law firm, which represented Colorado baker Jack Phillips in his fight to deny services to gay people, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ironically named Downtown Hope Center against the city of Anchorage, Alaska, to deny services to transgender women.

The issue arises from an incident that occurred in January 2018, when a transgender woman was turned away from the shelter, according to local news station KTUU.

Downtown Hope Center says the woman, identified in court papers as “Jessie Doe,” was denied shelter because she was allegedly inebriated. The shelter claims she was put into a taxi and sent to a hospital for treatment for a cut on her forehead.

But the same woman showed up the next day and again was turned away.

The average temperature in Anchorage at night during January is 9 degrees.

In September 2015, the Anchorage Assembly passed AO-09, a city ordinance which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

The ordinance added protections to Anchorage’s equal rights laws for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people in housing, employment and public accommodations and includes exemptions for religious groups and those with ministerial duties.

In a press release, ADF asserts the ordinance exempts homeless shelters like the Hope Center. ADF attorney Ryan Tucker told U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason that the homeless women in the shelter would “rather sleep in the woods” than spend a night in a shelter with a transgender woman.

In a further slap to trans women, the ADF also says that because many of the women at the shelter have been battered or sexually abused by men, they shouldn’t have to sleep in proximity to ‘men.’ ADF calls the idea of trans women sleeping in the shelter ‘dangerous.’

But the Southern Poverty Law Center disagrees.

“There is simply no evidence that transgender people are more of a threat to anyone whether that be in bathrooms, locker rooms or homeless shelters,” David Dinielli, Deputy Legal Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told KTUU. “In fact we know transgender people are among the most, if not the most likely to be targeted for abuse, sexual abuse and physical abuse.”

It’s worth noting that the Hope Center receives some of its operating funds from public tax payer monies via a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The ADF, which has represented so-called ‘religious freedoms’ lawsuits in more than a dozen states, has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group which works to push trans people “back into the shadows.”

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New Poll: 57% ‘Definitely Will Not Vote’ For Donald Trump In 2020

Donald Trump

More bad news today for Donald Trump as a new poll from PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist shows 57% say they will ‘Definitely not’ vote for Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

On the other end of the spectrum, only 30% said they will ‘definitely’ vote for Trump.

According to Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, “The president has had his base and not much else.”

Trump’s approval rating shows exactly that as 39% of those polled approve of the job he’s doing versus 53% who disapprove. This has been pretty much the average for the two years Trump has been in the White House.

When it comes to possible Democratic candidates, it’s very early to get a decent read but 76% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents said they had a favorable view of former Vice-President Joe Biden.

Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 57% favorable approval, and 53% see Sen. Elizabeth Warren in a positive light.

When it comes to the current government shutdown, 54% of respondents said they blame Trump, while 31% blamed congressional Democrats.

Full results of the new poll can be found here.

Click over to NPR for additional insight into how folks are viewing the 2020 presidential race.

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Michael Cohen Admits He Paid Tech Firm To Rig Online Polls For Trump

Michael Cohen

There’s a new revelation in the ever-unraveling saga of twists and turns behind the scenes of the 2016 Trump campaign today.

The Wall Street Journal (a conservative newspaper I’ll point out) is reporting that the Trump campaign paid a small IT company to rig online polling on websites like Drudge and CNBC in Trump’s favor.

And the company was paid by none other than Trump’s former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen.

The tech guy was, apparently, John Gauger, chief information officer at Liberty University in Virginia, where Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. is president.

The WSJ‘s story is behind a firewall, but check this from CNN:

According to the paper, Cohen paid John Gauger, the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC, between $12,000 and $13,000 for activities related to Trump’s campaign, including “trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in Mr. Trump’s favor” and creating a Twitter account called “@WomenForCohen” that “praised (Cohen’s) looks and character, and promoted his appearances and statements boosting” Trump’s candidacy.

In making the claim, Gauger told the paper he wasn’t fully paid for the work, though the Journal said Cohen was reimbursed $50,000 — the amount the two originally agreed on for Gauger’s services — by the Trump Organization. Gauger, according to the paper, also received a boxing glove “worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter” along with the cash payment.

The payment to Gauger was mentioned by prosecutors in Cohen’s charging documents.

https://twitter.com/MichaelCohen212/status/1085900900835778560

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Music Video: Virtual Choir Rocks RENT’s ‘Seasons Of Love’

In advance of the upcoming Fox TV broadcast of Jonathan Larson's Tony-winning Rent, Fox invited fans from around the world to contribute their voices to a new music video of Rent's second act opener, “Seasons of Love."

You hear those first chords and you know the song.

In advance of the upcoming Fox TV broadcast of Jonathan Larson’s Tony-winning Rent, Fox invited fans from around the world to contribute their voices to a new music video of Rent’s second act opener, “Seasons of Love.”

The resulting ‘virtual choir’ is an amazing metaphor for the universal message of the song.

Tune in January 27 for the live production on Fox TX starring Vanessa Hudgens, Brandon Victor Dixon, Jordan Fisher, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Valentina, and more.

Tony Nominee Keala Settle, who you know as “the bearded lady” in The Greatest Showman singing “This Is Me,” gets the honors of singing the final solo of “Seasons of Love” in the TV presentation.

Loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème, the musical tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to survive in New York City’s East Village in the early 1990s under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

The show features two romantic couples – one gay, one straight – living with HIV.

The original Broadway production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards (winning four), 10 Drama Desk Awards (winning six) and was honored with the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Watch the new video below.