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Debate fact check: President Obama did call Benghazi attack “act of terror” in his first statement on the tragedy

At last night’s debate, Mitt Romney tried to rewrite what and when President Obama spoke about the attack in Benghazi. Candy Crowley correctly fact-checked the former Governor.

ROMNEY: I think it’s interesting that the president just said something which is on the day after the attack he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror.

OBAMA: That’s what I said.

ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror? It was not a spontaneous demonstration? Is that what you’re saying?

OBAMA: Please proceed governor.

ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.

OBAMA: Get the transcript.

CROWLEY: He did in fact sir, so let me call it an act of terror and —

OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder Candy?

CROWLEY: He did call it an act of terror. It did as well two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out, you’re correct about that.

Here is the actual statement the President made the day after the attack. Check the video at the 4:19 mark.

OBAMA: “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.”

(source)

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Timothy Kurek on The View

Timothy Kurek grew up a devout anti-gay Evangelical, and, after a friend confessed to him that her family had disowned her for being gay, felt such guilt that he decided to live as a gay man for a year to seek empathy.

He’s written a book about his experience, The Cross in the Closet.

Timothy appeared on The View to talk about his experiences during the year, and what he learned.

“I went from being a very narrow-minded, hyperconservative Christian to an ally of the gay community,” says Kurek.

Kurek told his family and friends in Nashville that he was gay, even though he’s straight, in order to better understand the experience of the LGBT community in the face of religious propaganda.

He says he cried after being called a faggot: “I had to be held back from attacking the person that did it. I never felt so violated and minimized in my entire life, because of that one word.” The book’s ultimate goal, says its author, is to drive home the point to conservative Christians that, “there’s a much better way. It’s God’s job to judge, it’s the spirit’s job to convict, and it’s my job to love.”

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DOMA defense fund almost empty

Talking Points Memo makes note of the face that the House GOP authorized spending account to defend DOMA is almost drained.

As of this month, taxpayers have spent $1,447,996.73 defending a law that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, according to numbers released Tuesday by House Democrats. The contract that House Republicans entered into with an outside law firm to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) currently has a cap of $1.5 million.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler reacts: “Speaker Boehner has wasted more than a year, and more than $1.5 million taxpayer dollars defending DOMA. So far, he has lost five cases in a row as every court has ruled that there is no legitimate justification for this law. Every day, DOMA harms thousands of American couples and their children. Instead of wasting taxpayer money defending this unjust law in court, Speaker Boehner should join us in our effort to repeal it.”

I’m guessing Speaker Boehner plans on asking for more money to defend the discriminatory law.

Spending cuts on health care, veterans, teachers and firemen, but we need to spend more on marriage inequality?

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Memphis City Council approves LGBT workplace protections

The Memphis City Council voted 9-4 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to a list of city workplace protections, the Memphis Flyer reports:

Councilman Reid Hedgepeth, a conservative who voted in favor of the ordinance last time, told the audience that harassment and robo-calls from the amendment’s opposition had only strengthened his resolve to vote in favor of the amendment again.

“One e-mail said ‘I hope you and your family burn in hell together.’ How is that for Christianity?” Hedgepeth asked.

Additionally, councilwoman Janis Fullilove proposed an amendment to the ordinance that added protections on the basis of “gender identity.” That amendment passed 9 to 4, as well. The only “no” votes on the “gender identity” amendment and the main motion to amend the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance came from council people Wanda Halbert, Bill Boyd, Kemp Conrad, and Joe Brown.

The council chambers were lively before the vote. Speaking for the opposition, a representative from the Family Action Council said the amendment’s passage would lead to protections for “grown men attracted to 12-year-old boys.” That elicited boos and gasps from the audience. Pastor Larry Hunter, who wore a Taekwondo uniform, said he didn’t “want to walk nowhere and see two mens [sic] kissing or two mens [sic] hugging.”

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Beyonce to perform at Super Bowl halftime show

Beyonce to perform at Super Bowl halftime show

A source familiar with Super Bowl XLVII told The Associated Press the Grammy-winning diva will take the stage at the halftime show on Feb. 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because that person wasn’t authorized to publicly reveal the information.

Beyonce has previously sung the national anthem at Super Bowl XXVIII in 2004.

(source)