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GMA: Michelle Obama Talks Midterms, 2020 & More

Michelle Obama on GMA

With the release of her new book, Becoming, Michelle Obama has begun the arduous-yet-necessary book tour.

Sitting down with Robin Roberts for Good Morning America today, Michelle was asked a range of questions relating to topics in the new memoir.

Roberts also asked which potential presidential candidates she’s watching for 2020?

Via Good Morning America:

“I think at this point everybody is qualified and everybody should run,” she said. “I might even tap Sasha.”

When asked if her joke was in reference to President Donald Trump, Obama clarified her response, adding, “Where I am right now is that anybody who feels the passion to get in this race, we need them in there.”

“I hope we have a lot of great candidates who get in there and treat each other respectfully,” she said. “That’s the thing I’m going to be looking for personally.”

“I don’t want people on either party tearing each other up in the process of getting to the nomination,” Obama added. “I’m going to be looking closely at who handles themselves and each other with dignity and respect so that by the time people get to the general people aren’t beat up and battered.”

Having written about the gracious advice former First Lady Laura Bush offered to her in 2008, Michelle made a similar gesture to Melania Trump.

But, did Melania ever ask for any insight or advice for handling the position of First Lady?

“No. She hasn’t.”

Michelle also expressed gratitude for the support former First Children gave to Malia and Sasha.

When asked what she hopes people take away from Becoming, Michelle answered, “That all of our stories matter.”

“We feel somehow that our stories don’t matter and that’s because we hear so few stories. The stories of what it means to be human, what it means to be American, those stories are limited,” she said. “I want people to be as proud of their stories as I am of mine because I believe my story is a quintessential American story, as is all of our stories.”

Positive, uplifting and luminous as always.

Watch the segment below.

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Hate Crimes Increased In 2017 For Third Consecutive Year

The FBI says hate crime incidents surged in 2017 by 17 percent. That is the largest increase since 2001 when the 9/11 attacks gave way to a big jump in violence aimed at Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.

Just weeks after a lone gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue killing 11 people and wounding 6 more, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has released its annual report on hate crimes in America.

And the news isn’t good.

A hate crime is defined by the FBI as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

The FBI says hate crime incidents surged in 2017 by 17 percent. That is the largest increase since 2001 when the 9/11 attacks gave way to a big jump in violence aimed at Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.

There were 7,175 hate crimes reported in 2017, up from 6,121 in 2016.

The year was the third consecutive annual increase.

Now, let me think, what happened about three years ago that would fuel ethnic/religious rage?

It was in 2015 that Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign with a speech trashing Mexican immigrants.

He has publicly sided with white nationalists and neo-nazis who rallied in Virginia; railed about African American football players for kneeling during the national anthem; and demonized the Central American migrant caravan of asylum seekers as an “invasion.”

Gee, what could possibly be fanning the flames of hate…?

While 1,303 of the reported incidents in 2017 were driven by bias regarding sexual orientation, the vast majority – 4,832 incidents – involved animus due to race or ethnicity.

Almost half of those reports involved African Americans, and anti-Latino bias was found in 11% of hate crimes in 2017.

Religious bias was responsible for the second largest segment of hate crimes with 1,679 reports of religion-motivated incidents.

Anti-Muslim hate crimes saw a small decline (273 in 2017 versus 314 in 2016), but historically speaking that’s still very high.

The annual report shows there were 131 hate crimes related to gender identity, barely edging out incidents regarding bias based on disability.

The category with the fewest occurrences were hate crimes motivated by gender (53).

(h/t Voice of America)

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New From Michael Henry: The Gay Bottom Mafia Can Find You

Clint Keller in 'Wow, You Have a Beard!'
Clint Keller in ‘Wow, You Have a Beard!’

Comedian Michael Henry loves to hold up his magic mirror to the gay community to show us how ridiculous we can sometimes be.

In his new video short, “Wow, You Have a Beard,” Henry bumps into his buddy Daniel (played by Clint Keller) and is immediately aware that Daniel is somehow ‘different.’

Could it be the new wardrobe? (No.)

Maybe the new Pilates workout routine? (No.)

Perhaps it’s the peace Daniel’s found from meditating? (No.)

Henry zeroes in on the issue: Daniel’s new manly facial hair.

Henry immediately feels betrayed saying, “I thought you were one of us – I thought you were femme!”

Clutching his pearls, Daniel assures Henry he’s still a member of the bottom bunk club.

But it’s too late.

As Henry points out, “They’ve already found you – the gay bottom mafia!” Cut to a shot scanning the park with several gay men (“the hungry, hungry bottoms”) in beckoning positions.

“They can smell your exhuming testosterone now,” says Henry.

Even though Daniel doesn’t think he’s that “masc,” Henry quickly runs down the checklist: hairy chest, deep voice and an ability to curse like a sailor.

Check, check and check!

Worse yet, the ‘TopFinder’ app has found Daniel (“Top located – has beard!”).

Be that as it may, Daniel is flummoxed by his situation.

“What am I to do?,” asks Daniel. “I can’t top all of these men, I have errands to run.”

While Daniel is amazed a beard could hold so much virile power, Henry explains, “It’s your entire sexual persona now – you’re straight-passing.”

How could this be? Daniel is a proud bottom, a Bravo TV watcher, and a ballet instructor.

Finally, though, Daniel does find the one way to defuse his new macho status.

Hit the play button to find out how Daniel gets out of this hirsute headache.

Henry does raise a good question about how gay men label and identify based on choices like dress and grooming.

Do beards really make us more appealing? And do gay men assume fur automatically makes us more ‘masculine?’

You can find more of my coverage of funnyman Michael Henry here.

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CNN Sues Trump White House For Restoration Of Jim Acosta’s Press Credentials

In the aftermath of the White House revoking CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials, CNN has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and several of his aides, seeking the immediate restoration of Acosta’s access to the White House.

The lawsuit is a response to the White House’s suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass,” last week. The suit alleges that Acosta and CNN’s First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday morning. It was docketed and assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee. CNN is seeking a preliminary hearing as soon as possible.

Both CNN and Acosta are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. There are six defendants: Trump, chief of staff John Kelly, press secretary Sarah Sanders, deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, Secret Service director Randolph Alles, and the Secret Service officer who took Acosta’s hard pass away last Wednesday.

“CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration this morning in DC District Court,” the statement read. “It demands the return of the White House credentials of CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We have asked this court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association said it “strongly supports CNN’s goal of seeing their correspondent regain a US Secret Service security credential that the White House should not have taken away in the first place.”

The White House has shifted its explanation for barring Acosta.

Initially, the reason for suspension was “placing his hands” on an intern (he didn’t), but now the issue supposedly is that he kept asking questions.

So, if they think he monopolizes a press conference, why call on him?

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Gay High School Student Explains Why He Didn’t Pose With Nazi Salute

High school senior Jordan Blue

Yesterday, I reported on the prom photo that went viral from Baraboo school district in Wisconsin.

The photo showed about 30 male members of the Baraboo High School Class of 2019 giving the Nazi salute before their junior prom last spring.

As I noted yesterday, one student was not having the moment.

Today, CBS This Morning spoke with the student, Jordan Blue.

Blue tells CBS News the photographer came up with the idea of telling the boys to “wave goodbye to their parents,” but didn’t specifically tell the boys to “raise your hand in a Nazi symbol way.”

But it’s telling that ‘raise you hand’ to these young men meant doing so in Nazi fashion.

Blue added that he felt his classmates did understand what the symbol represented, and that the moment was “scary” and “uncomfortable.”

Photographer Peter Gust has issued a statement which reads, “I didn’t tell them to salute anything… it was waving goodbye to their parents, having a good time.”

“There was nothing that diminished the quality of anyone’s life,” said Gust in defense of the photo. “There was nothing that diminished anyone’s stature in society, there was nothing that was intended to point a finger at anyone in their class who may have some kind of difference. There was none of that.”

When asked why he didn’t participate, Blue tells CBS This Morning, “It did not represent my morals and I could not do something that I didn’t believe in.”

Blue admits making the gesture makes no sense to him, saying, “Some of these people have bright futures ahead of them, so why’d they do it?”

Speaking to CNN, Blue says if he’d known the direction the photo opp would go, he wouldn’t have taken part in the pics at all.

He also says that while the community is a ‘phenomenal’ place to live, people are “hurt and very distraught” over the scandal. And he makes a point to say the photo doesn’t represent Baraboo as a whole.

Blue, who came out as gay earlier this year on social media, shared with Vice reporter Jules Suzdaltsev yesterday that he’s been the target of bullying by these boys since middle school.

Suzdaltsev later tweeted that, after receiving more than 100 messages from students and parents from Baraboo High School, “nearly all of the stories echo the same basic theme: the community as a whole has a lot of casual & jokey racism, homophobia, and transphobia that is accepted as a part of life.”

“The school (and other schools in the area) do little to nothing to address these issues,” he added.

The American Defamation League reports the number of anti-semitic incidents in the U.S. rose 57% in 2017. That’s the largest single year increase on record.

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Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Wins Arizona Senate Seat

The Cook Political Report is projecting that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema will win her US Senate race in Arizona.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona

UPDATE: Republican Martha McSally has conceded the US Senate race to replace retiring Jeff Flake. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema will be the next Senator from Arizona.

She is the first female to represent the Grand Canyon state in the Senate as well as the first openly bisexual US Senator.

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The Cook Political Report is projecting that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema will win her US Senate race in Arizona.

According to the latest counts, Sinema has expanded her lead over Republican Martha McSally to 1.5%.

McSally lead on election night with partial returns being counted, but the next day many ballots were still uncounted in Democratic leaning areas of the state.

Sinema will be the first female senator from Arizona, and the first Democratic senator since Sen. Dennis DeConcini left office in 1995.

She will also be the first openly bisexual US Senator.

The folks at ThinkProgress point out that Democratic House candidates are on track to win the national popular vote by as much as 7 points, yet Republicans gained seats in the Senate.

There are still two outstanding Senate races: one in Florida which is heading to a recount, and one in Mississippi which will hold a runoff later this month.

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News Round-Up: November 12, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• No hunky pic to start this news round-up as I want to make sure we all stop and thank our military veterans for their incredible service this Veteran’s Day. I come from a military family (my dad was a Major in the Air Force during WWII and the Korean War) and have always been so proud of his service.

• The president of Poland told a reporter recently that he would consider enacting a Russian-style ‘gay propaganda’ law which would ban any materials that presented the LGBTQ community in a positive light.

• A gay man from the UK, Duarte Xavier, has been found guilty of tricking straight men into having sex with him. He’s been sentenced to 15 years in jail for his shenanigans.

• David Burtka, also known as Neil Patrick Harris’ husband, will have a major guest-star role in episode 3 of the web series West 40s.

• Mark Penn, a longtime adviser to Hillary Clinton, says the former Secretary of State will mount a 3rd run for the White House in 2020. While many say it’s time for her to exit the political arena, I’d vote for her again in a heartbeat.

• A 22-year-old California man, Samuel Woodward, has pleaded not guilty in the stabbing death of  gay University of Pennsylvania student, Blaze Bernstein.

• Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth regarding Sarah Brightman’s pop-opera recordings. Some have been fun and somewhat experimental, while others can feel she’s using a small sliver of her voice.

I did love her duet, “Time To Say Goodbye,” with Andrea Bocelli in 1997.

Since I recently wrote about Bocelli’s new album, I’m of a mind to include Brightman as well.

Her newest album, HYMN, has lovely duet with French tenor Vincent Niclo, who’s quite easy on the eyes and ears, and very much worth the listening.

I should also mention my husband worked on Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and knows Sarah. He only has wonderful things to say about her. Check out “Sogni” below.

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Minneapolis: Rabbi Pleads Guilty To Sexting With Underage Teen

Aryeh Leiv Cohen (mug shot)

A former Rabbi in Minnesota pleaded guilty last Friday to engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child.

Aryeh Leiv Cohen thought he was exchanging messages with a 16-year-old boy on Grindr back in January, but in reality, he was chatting with an undercover cop.

According to court documents, the undercover agent told Cohen several times he wouldn’t turn 16-years-old until August, to which Cohen responded, “It’s a little illegal…” but would then go on to describe the sex acts he was hoping to engage in.

On February 1, a meeting was setup between the former rabbi and the ’16-year-old’ at an apartment building in North St. Paul.

Upon his arrest, the 44-year-old reportedly told the police, “I sort of deserve it.”

He also allegedly told the officers that he didn’t “think much would happen” when he arrived at the apartment because the person he believed he was meeting was ‘sexually inexperienced.’

The arrest was part of a sting operation aimed at combating the online solicitation of sex with minors. Several others were also arrested in conjunction with the undercover operation.

Cohen had been working as a rabbi and director of youth outreach for the Minneapolis Community Kollel, a Jewish learning center.

The center immediately issued a statement upon learning of his arrest that he’d been relieved of his duties.

Local ABC News affiliate KSTP reports that Cohen is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on January 16.

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Donald Trump Will Skip Traditional Veteran’s Day Visit To Arlington Cemetery

Today, the White House has announced Trump will not make the traditional Veteran's Day visit to Arlington Cemetery.
Donald Trump

First, Donald Trump skipped attending a WWI ceremony at an American cemetery in France due to rain.

His chief of staff and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the 50 mile car ride, but Trump could not.

Today, the White House has announced Trump will not make the traditional Veteran’s Day visit to Arlington Cemetery.

The Trumpster also has not visited U.S. troops overseas.

Please remind again me how kneeling football players disrespect our military…?