At an event at Rutgers University Thursday, Hillary Clinton responded to criticism from her detractors who say she should “get off the public stage and shut up.”
“I was really struck by how people said that to me – you know, mostly people in the press, for whatever reason – mostly, ‘Go away, go away,'” Clinton said Thursday during an event at Rutgers University.
“And I had one of the young people who works for me go back and do a bit of research. They never said that to any man who was not elected. I was kind of struck by that,” Clinton said.
Clinton’s remarks came in response to a question from Eagleton Institute of Politics’ director Ruth Mandel about the former Democratic presidential nominee’s reaction to those who say she should “get off the public stage and shut up.”
“I’m really glad that, you know, Al Gore didn’t stop talking about climate change,” Clinton said to applause.
“And I’m really glad John Kerry went to the Senate and became an excellent secretary of State,” the former first lady continued. “And I’m really glad John McCain kept speaking out and standing up and saying what he had to say. And for heavens sakes, Mitt Romney is running for the Senate,” Clinton said.
I, for one, agree with Hillary. The men who lost presidential races stayed in the mix.
In what will likely be the only court proceeding in relation to the deadly Pulse Nightclub shooting in June of 2016, Noor Salman, widow of the shooter Omar Mateen, was found not guilty of the two charges brought against her.
Salman, 31, was accused of helping her husband plan his terror assault on the Orlando, Florida, nightclub and of falsely denying her role afterward.
The government equated Mateen’s actions with supporting terrorism, because he repeatedly pledged allegiance to ISIS before and during the attack that left 49 people dead and 53 injured. For that reason, Salman was charged with aiding him in providing material support to a terror group.
She was also charged with obstruction of justice, accused of misleading police and FBI agents by making contradictory statements about whether she knew what he was planning.
But after a two-week trial, a federal court jury acquitted her on both counts.
BREAKING: Jury finds Pulse nightclub attacker’s widow, Noor Salman, not guilty on all counts.
She was accused of aiding her husband and obstructing the investigation into the attack. pic.twitter.com/Sm8RE0HeTV
Me with Arminae Austen and Matt Zarley in Fort Worth, Texas 1999
Some news items you might have missed:
• Since it’s Thursday, how about a little #Throwback action? The pic above was from a production of A Chorus Line I directed back in 1999 at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth, Texas. I wasn’t originally going to be in the show but the producers eventually asked if I would also play the role of “Bobby” since I had many times before. Pictured with my besties from the Broadway production of ACL who came down to kill it, and kill it they did, Matt Zarley and Arminae Austen.
• There will be a sixth and final installment of social media phenom Sharknado this year on SyFy Network. #YAY! #DumbButFun
• The Ecuadorian embassy has placed jammers in its own building to block WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from access to the internet, social media or even phone calls. Assange has been living in the embassy since 2012 believing he’ll be picked up and extradited to the United States for questioning over activities by WikiLeaks.
• A high-level Trump campaign official had repeated communications in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign with a business associate tied to Russian intelligence, according to a document released on Tuesday by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the election. Remember when the story was “There was NO communication by anyone on the Trump campaign with Russians?”
• Did you hear the one about Donald Trump’s lawyer dangling pardons to former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and former campaign chair Paul Manafort? #ObstructionOfJustice?
• Always keeping in mind that nature is beautiful but can be just as dangerous, check out this incredible video of a cheetah on the hunt who jumped into a jeep to check things out. Gorgeous, exciting but scary as hell. The passenger didn’t make eye contact so he wouldn’t seem a threat. #WOW
Incredible video shows a cheetah on a hunt jumping into a jeep to find a better scouting spot. The passenger stayed quiet and didn’t make eye contact so the cheetah didn’t see him as a threat. https://t.co/vQm1lmCLtvpic.twitter.com/mnKugvik4v
The campaign stipulates that all funds will only be used for legal defense fees and “any funds that remain in the Legal Defense Fund will be donated to charitable organizations.”
At this writing, the campaign has raised over $77,000 in 3 hours with a goal of $150K.
The 2020 W.S. Census will not contain any questions related to sexual orientation or gender identity says Census Director John Thompson:
Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau hit a major milestone and delivered the planned subjects for the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey (ACS) to Congress as required by law.
Since releasing this information, there have been a number of questions raised about the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity due to an error in the appendix of the report.
Our proposal to Congress was that the planned subjects remain unchanged from the 2010 Census and will cover gender, age, race/ethnicity, relationship and homeownership status.
It did not include sexual orientation or gender identity.
The inclusion of LGBTQ categories were initially included but were quickly deleted after a draft of the survey questions was released.
LGBTQ activists are outraged about this as the Census helps determine in great part where federal funds are utilized in regard to the U.S. population.
If the government doesn’t know how many gays there are, how do they know where important resources like law enforcement, health care, and equal employment opportunities are needed?
In his cover story for the latest issue of Attitude, superstar Ricky Martin admits researching his role as Gianni Versace’s former partner Antonio D’Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story forced him to “re-live” his own early life as a closeted gay man.
“I was a closeted gay man who was making my partners hide. I had relationships with other men who were in the closet and I had other relationships with men who were not in the closet but because of me went back into the closet.
“And so I’m re-living everything that I did.”
“I submitted myself to my career completely. I didn’t open doors to new relationships, and I’m not talking about romantic relationships, I’m talking about any relationship, because I didn’t want people to know me too much,” he explains.
“I wouldn’t even sit down and have a cool relationship with amazing producers or great film directors because I was afraid that if they spent more than two hours sitting with me they would know my nature.
“I wasted so much energy trying to manipulate my sexuality.”
Martin, who came out in 2010, is now married to Swedish artist Jwan Yosef and is father to 9-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino.
MCC Theater’s annual MisCast gala is one of the most exciting and unique theater events in New York City. Broadway’s brightest stars perform songs from roles in which they would never be cast.
At this year’s event, Robert Fairchild, nominated for a Tony Award in his Broadway debut as “Jerry Mulligan” in the musical An American In Paris, took on the challenge of performing “The Music and the Mirror” originally danced by Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie in the groundbreaking A Chorus Line.
I actually have a story to tell in relation to this.
In 1989, I was cast in a national tour of A Chorus Line starring the original Tony Award winner for “Cassie,” Donna McKechnie.
Donna was a hero to me. I didn’t hesitate to say “yes.” No negotiating – just sign me up. I had to share the stage with the incomparable McKechnie.
Not only was Donna still brilliant, if not better than ever, in the role, but she was as wonderful in life as she was illuminating onstage. We became fast friends.
Along the tour, due to my constant curiosity, I asked Donna questions about “Music and the Mirror” (aka “Cassie dance”). Donna was very generous in passing along information about the backstory of the dance, the meaning behind the movement, the storytelling, where steps came from…
Eventually she gave me a “Cassie dance” class and personally taught me the dance. It seemed back then that all then male dancers wanted to know the dance as it was not only dramatic but thrillingly athletic to dance.
Now, when we would arrive at a new city on tour, there would be a sound check at the theater and among other things Donna would sing “Music and the Mirror” so the sound man could get a handle on the new acoustics. The orchestra would play the full dance as it also helped the sound department EQ the band.
Donna didn’t dance the dance in sound check as, well, she didn’t need to. The understudy would take the opportunity to go over the number onstage as me and another dancer in the show would work the dance in a corner of the stage. I mean, the music WAS playing and we stayed out of the way.
At our last stop on the tour, I was uncharacteristically in my dressing room in the basement of the theatre as Donna sound checked the song. As the music kept playing, I heard the cast in the audience start chanting, “Ran-dy! Ran-dy! Ran-dy!”
It took me a second to understand what was going on, but I went flying upstairs.
I hit the empty stage just in time for the first dance break into the mirrors. The cast burst into cheers as I went into full-on “Cassie dance.” Donna had suggested I finally get my “chance to dance.”
For that one time, I had the full stage to take on the whole dance with a full Broadway-size orchestra. The stage manager even had the crew fly in the mirrors in the middle of the dance. Can you imagine?
It was a thrill to be in the moment, in the music and have my friends (and Donna) encourage me. Truly a memory to keep 🙂
The cast used to muse that I could be an understudy as “Casey” in a “non-traditional casting” choice.
I’ve since directed and choreographed A Chorus Line several times always passing on what Donna taught me about the dance.
Robert Fairchild does a terrific job here. He has a small space but makes the dance work beautifully.
The guy dancers still love to dance this dance. And I’m proud to say I know why 🙂
Just hours after three advertisers (pet food company Nutrish, Trip Advisor and WayFair) announced they were dropping their ads on Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s evening show for trolling high school senior and Parkland gun massacre survivor David Hogg over his college admission status, the TV host has issued an apology.
Ingraham wrote on Twitter:
Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David… immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how “poised” he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion.
Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David…(1/2)
… immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how “poised” he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion. WATCH: https://t.co/5wcd00wWpd (2/2)
I do wonder – would she be apologizing if this weren’t Holy Week?
You can only imagine network execs had a big say in the apology that was so quickly forthcoming.
You’ll recall more than 50 advertisers dropped their ads on “The O’Reilly Factor” after reports surfaced that settlements had been made to women who accused the show’s host, Bill O’Reilly, of sexual harassment or impropriety that ultimately led to his firing from Fox News.
“She only apologized after we went after her advertisers,” Hogg told The New York Times. “It kind of speaks for itself.”
“I’m not going to stoop to her level and go after her on a personal level,” he said. “I’m going to go after her advertisers.”
At this writing, Nutrish, Expedia, Wayfair, TripAdvisor, and Nestle have all dropped their advertising on Ingraham’s show.
This is how the free market works, see? She gets to act out as she wants, but we also get to react as we want to her snotty behavior.
Hogg and others responded to Ingraham’s tweets:
An apology to save your advertisers is not enough. What you did was disgusting. Our message for common sense gun reforms has won, and the those in opposition have gone negative. They need to pay a price for that. These kids have suffered enough.https://t.co/aNixXkErrI
I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I️ in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children. https://t.co/H0yWs4zMGk
Yesterday I reported that Fox News host Laura Ingraham had the very bad taste to troll high school senior and survivor of the Parkland gun massacre, David Hogg.
Ingraham thought it would be cute to pants Hogg after he shared on social media that he’d received his 4th college rejection letter despite a 4.1 GPA and, of course, helping to organize one of the largest rallies in the history of the United States. #Leadership
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY
And Trip Advisor has announced they are following suit. From CNBC:
In a statement on Thursday, a company spokesperson said that TripAdvisor does not “condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster.”
“In our view, these statements focused on a high school student, cross the line of decency. As such, we have made a decision to stop advertising on that program,” the spokesperson said.
