LGBTQ news and entertainment
While the rest of the east coast copes with the massive blizzard, 19-year-old Tian Tian, a 275-pound panda at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo, seems quite happy to play all day.
Serious cuteness.
(h/t Towleroad)
After the former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, endorsed Donald Trump, you knew this was coming.
Tina Fey returned to SNL last night to reprise her spot on version of Palin, to spectacular results.
She takes Palin’s endorsement speech and just ups the ante a smidge to perfection. Thank you, baby Jesus!
“I’m here for all you teachers and teamsters, you farmers and charmers, whether you’re a mom or two broke girls, or three men and a baby, or a rock and roller, holy roller, pushing stroller, pro bowler with an abcess molar.”
Best moment at 2:23.
Enjoy.
The editorial board of the Des Moines Register has endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the upcoming Democratic Iowa caucus’s.
The presidency is not an entry-level position. Whoever is sworn into office next January must demonstrate not only a deep understanding of the issues facing America, but also possess the diplomatic skills that enable presidents to forge alliances to get things done.
By that measure, Democrats have one outstanding candidate deserving of their support: Hillary Clinton. No other candidate can match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience.
As first lady, she worked tirelessly on health care reform and, with bipartisan support, created the Children’s Health Insurance Program that provides coverage for 8 million children.
As a senator, she reached across party lines and joined forces with conservatives, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to fight for job creation and universal health care.
She is not a perfect candidate, as evidenced the way she has handled the furor over her private email server. In our endorsement of her 2008 campaign for president, we wrote that “when she makes a mistake, she should just say so.” That appears to be a lesson she has yet to fully embrace.
Her changing stance on gay marriage, immigration and other issues has invited accusations that she is guided less by personal conviction than by political calculations. She refutes that, and argues persuasively that a willingness to change one’s thinking on specific issues, while remaining true to what she calls “the same values and principles,” is a virtue, one lacking in most politicians.
In the final analysis, Iowa Democrats will have to choose between the lofty idealism of Bernie Sanders and the down-to-earth pragmatism of Hillary Clinton. For some, this will be a choice of whether to vote with their hearts or their heads.
Clinton has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hardworking public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad. She stands ready to take on the most demanding job in the world.
Speaking in Sioux Center, Iowa, Donald Trump bragged about his popularity with his supporters.
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Trump said.
Anticipation is growing as we get closer to the premiere of Fox’s Grease Live! on January 31.
The title song, “Grease”, written by Barry Gibb and sung for the film by Franki Valli, is going to be sung by Jessie J, and the producers are sharing this first listen to the new treatment.
Jessie J will begin the show singing the song live – but of course, there has to be a studio version 🙂
Said Jessie in a studio interview (check the interview clip below):
“There’s no pressure like being the first one on stage. I love that rush of the nerves I’m going to get, I just feel very honored and very lucky that I’ve been asked to experience something like this. It’s a massive moment for me and I’m very happy that I’m getting to share it with such amazing people. I’m keeping it as close to the melody as possible because the fans that love Grease that are going to see the show, I don’t want to make it too different. But I’ve definitely kind of thrown in what I kind of like to do, which is a lot of this and a lot of this. Just put a little bit of me in it.”
Grease Live! stars Julianne Hough as Sandy, Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuki. Also, Vanessa Hudgen as Rizzo, Keke Palmer as Pink Lady Marty Maraschino, Carlos PenaVega as Kenickie, Carly Rae Jepsen and Frenchy, Ana Gasteyer as Principal McGee, Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) as Mrs. Murdock, Boyz II Men as Teen Angel, and Didi Conn (the original Frenchy) as Vi.
“You should be freaking out. Look, we have nothing against Donald Trump as a man. We don’t. It’s just this is a very dangerous combination and I have been warning against it since Fox. I said keep your eyes open because it will come. The pendulum will swing the other way and it will be bad. He’s talking about populism and nationalism.
“If you add socialism — populism, nationalism and socialism, you have the makings of Adolf Hitler. You don’t want somebody who is a nationalist, a populist and has any kind of socialist or nationalizing the banks kind of ideas. Not a good idea, not a good idea.”
– loose cannon Glenn Beck, speaking on his radio show
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Weird Questions Gay Couples GetPosted by BuzzFeed Video on Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Some news stories you may have missed:
• Britney Spears tweets for more awareness of LGBT issues: “We Still Have A LOT Of Work To Do”
• The Republican National Committee has officially severed ties to NBC News after the Repubs were unhappy with the tone of the October debate hosted by CNBC.
• Flint, Michigan continues to struggle with undrinkable water, but have no fear – Cher is donating 180,000 bottles of water to help residents. Your move, Gov. Snyder.
• Oopsie – Sen. Ted Cruz “apparently” forgot to list million dollar campaign loans from Goldman Sachs (his wife just happened to work there) and Citibank on his disclosures. **Forgot???***
• Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois becomes the first Republican sponsor of The Equality Act in the U.S. Senate.
• Donald Trump admits to having virulently anti-gay Tony Perkins help write his speeches for him.
• Apparently, an intoxicated gun-nut “dropped” his gun during a screening of “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” and shot another movie-goer, and then left before anyone could identify him.
• The snow storm bearing down on the Eastern United States has cause over 5,100 flights to be cancelled.
• Rev. Franklin Graham says gay Christians are “the enemy.”
As Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump attack each other via campaign ads, the Democratic candidate’s ads are much more positive.
I posted Sen. Bernie Sanders excellent, hopeful ad yesterday, and today we get this uplifting message from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The focus of the ad is on Hillary’s message that she will fight for everyone – “the struggling, the striving and the successful.” Hillary makes a very clear reference to supporting same-sex marriage with shots of a gay couple kissing and holding hands as she punches the words “or who you love.”
Very good spot. I’d give it a 9.5 (just because you never know how much better a campaign ad can get.
The war of words continues between GOP front-runners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz as the Iowa caucus’ loom just on the horizon.
Trump has a new ad out attacking Cruz’s position on immigration reform using an appearance on FOX News where Cruz seemed to stutter, unable to fully explain his position.
Of course, it ends with Trump doing a confident and clearly practiced articulation of his anti-immigrant position.
It’s a solid ad, but nothing spectacular. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give it a 7.
The ad is set to run in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.