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Albuquerque Journal Publishes Racist “Dreamers” Political Cartoon, Issues Apology

(from Albuquerque Journal)

Umm, wow.

Check out the insanely racist cartoon above which ran yesterday in The Albuquerque Journal.

The paper has always had a conservative editorial board, but this is taking things to a whole different level.

The editor in chief published an apology today.

From The Albuquerque Journal:

Political cartoons are often satire and poke at more than one point of view. I do not presume to know what cartoonist Sean Delonas was trying to convey in his cartoon that was published in Wednesday’s Albuquerque Journal. But on one level it appeared to us to be poking at President Trump’s rhetoric by portraying a quaking Republican couple who were painting Dreamers with a broad, totally false, brush.

Obviously, that was not the message received by many readers. Instead, many saw an extremely objectionable cartoon and thought that was the position of the Journal. It is not.

In hindsight, instead of generating debate, this cartoon only inflamed emotions. This was not the intent, and for that, the Journal apologizes.

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Tearful Omarosa On CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER: “I Was Haunted By Tweets Every Day”

Omarosa Manigault-Newman

A new clip from CBS’ reality show Celebrity Big Brother features a tearful Omarosa Manigault-Newman saying she was “haunted” by tweets during her time as a White House aide in the Trump administration.

Via The Hill:

In the teaser, posted by the show’s Twitter account, Manigault-Newman, who also starred in the first season of The Apprentice with Trump, breaks down in tears opening up to fellow cast member Ross Matthews about her White House experiences.

“I was haunted by tweets every day,” she said in the clip. “Like, what is he going to tweet next?” She added that she tried to “be that person” that would stop the president from tweeting, but said that she was attacked by colleagues when she tried to intervene.

At one point, Matthews asks if Americans should “worried,” Omarosa tells him “No, it’s not going to be ok…”

Between the tears and the tense background music, it’s quite the high drama.

Watch the clip below.

UPDATE – At today’s White House press briefing, deputy press secretary Raj Shah had this reaction to Omarosa:

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Boy Culture: Brief History Of LGBTQ Characters, People, Mentions & Moments On Primetime TV

(image via Boy Culture)

Matthew Rettenmund at Boy Culture has compiled an amazing list of LGBTQ characters and/or mentions of homosexuality on TV from 1920-2000.

It’s an incredible list of firsts and notable moments in queer television history.

From Boy Culture:

LGBTQ people have been around forever, albeit not always identified as such.

When we began to declare ourselves, especially when the media went national and electronic and visual, we began our ongoing struggle for tolerance and, eventually, acceptance, in order to possess a sense of self-esteem that would be backed up by legal rights.

It’s been messy, it’s included some unfortunate missteps, and it’s always been a mix of frustrating, exhilarating, contentious and — in the case of the arts — insulting, entertaining or both.

I decided, in early 2017, to compile a list of TV moments featuring real or fictional LGBTQ people, major and minor (aren’t they all major when you’re a closeted kid in the Dust Bowl?) appearances that demonstrate the trajectory from “the love that dare not speak its name” to “we’re here, we’re queer” to GBF to where we are now, when LGBTQ characters are often included on TV and are often multi-dimensional, and when real-life LGBTQ people are all over television.

The list includes the first televised reference to homosexuality, a 1954 news program “Homosexuals and the Problem They Present,” the first TV appearance by a cross-dresser, the first explicitly gay character in a TV drama and much, much more.

I really encourage you to click over to Boy Culture and take a read.

Rettenmund says he hopes to turn the research into a book.

I’d buy that 🙂

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WH Aide To Donald Trump Resigns Amid Accusations Of Abuse

Rob Porter (R)

A top White House aide, Rob Porter, has resigned after his two ex-wives came forward with stories of domestic abuse.

Remember, Donald Trump told us over and over how he has “the best people.”

From The New York Times:

As the White House staff secretary, Rob Porter is not a public figure, but he is responsible for paper flow to the president, a job of crucial importance in the Trump administration. He frequently travels with President Trump on Air Force One, and he helped write Mr. Trump’s first State of the Union address last month.

But despite initial support from John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, and other West Wing staff aides, Mr. Porter announced his resignation on Wednesday, a day after his two former wives accused him in interviews of physical abuse when they were married to him.

His troubles were not a complete secret at the White House: Two people close to the White House said that the allegations against him made by his former wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, had contributed to a delay in granting him a permanent security clearance.

In a statement, Mr. Porter said that “these allegations are simply false,” even as details of the alleged abuse and photographs of one of his former wives with a black eye that she said he had given her were widely circulated.

Ms. Willoughby shared a blog post back in April of last year that, without naming Porter, described the abuse during their marriage.

Porter reportedly asked Willoughby to remove the post several times.

Here’s just the beginning:

The first time he called me a “fucking bitch” was on our honeymoon. (I found out years later he had kicked his first wife on theirs.) A month later he physically prevented me from leaving the house. Less than two months after that, I filed a protective order with the police because he punched in the glass on our front door while I was locked inside. We bought a house to make up for it. Just after our one year anniversary, he pulled me, naked and dripping, from the shower to yell at me.

Everyone loved him. People commented all the time how lucky I was. Strangers complimented him to me every time we went out. But in my home, the abuse was insidious. The threats were personal. The terror was real. And yet I stayed.

Even though White House Chief of Staff John Kelly knew of the allegations since last fall, he defended Porter this week saying, “He is a friend, a confidant and a trusted professional.”

“I am proud to serve alongside him,” Kelly added.

One more detail of note: Porter is apparently now dating White House communications director Hope Hicks, who is one of the closest, most influential advisers to Trump.

Here are the photos of the black eye Porter allegedly dealt his first ex-wife:

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Mike Pence Tweets Gay Olympian: “We Are FOR YOU”

Adam Rippon

Out U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon has no time for Vice President Pence, and it really bothers Pence.

From USA Today:

Vice President Pence on Thursday took to social media to criticize a USA TODAY Sports report as “#FAKENEWS” that U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon rebuffed a request that his office set up a conversation between the two men.

At about the same time as Pence took to Twitter, a White House official was explaining to reporters traveling with the vice president to South Korea that Pence’s team did contact the U.S. Olympic Committee. But the vice president’s office was offering— not requesting — a meeting with Rippon and wanted to give the skater as much space as possible. The official declined to be identified.

Columnist Christine Brennan reported on Wednesday that Pence had become so concerned about criticism he faced from Rippon, an openly gay athlete, that his staff reached out to the USOC to set up a conversation between the two.

Rippon turned the offer down, two people with knowledge of the proposed conversation told USA TODAY Sports. After the column was published Wednesday, Pence’s deputy chief of staff Jarrod Agen insisted no effort was made by the Vice President’s office to set up a conversation.

The whole spat began in January when Rippon made it clear he was no fan of Pence or the idea of the vice president being selected to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic opening ceremony.

“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it,” Rippon responded.

Pence didn’t get his sitdown with Rippon, but he tweeted directly to the U.S. athlete saying, in part, “I want you to know we are FOR YOU.”

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DC City Council Trolls Donald Trump Over “Giant Tank Parade”

“No tanks”

In light of Donald Trump’s proposed “small dick/big ego” military parade, the City Council of Washington D.C. brilliantly trolled the president today tweeting:

“The DC government will open on time today. DC Public Schools will open on time today. Sadly, the Giant Tank Parade is cancelled. Permanently.”

 The Washington Post reported yesterday that Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to begin planning a huge military parade in a show of the United States’ military strength.

The White House later confirmed the report.

Veterans groups are suggesting the millions of dollars to stage a parade would be better spent improving the lives of our veterans.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Trump Saw A Military Parade And Wants One Of His Own

(image via Flickr and CC license)

Last summer, Donald Trump was invited by President Emmanuel Macron of France to attend the country’s Bastille Day events which included a grand military parade.

Trump called the event “one of the most beautiful parades I have ever seen” and decided he wanted a military parade of his own.

From The New Civil Rights Campaign:

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to hold a huge military parade for him, according to The Washington Post. The parade will have no military benefit, and in fact will cost millions of dollars. While not unprecedented, no U.S. president has had one since George W. Bush, but it had a purpose: celebrating the end of the Persian Gulf war, not celebrating the commander-in-chief.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” a military official tells The Washington Post. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”

The Post notes the cost of Trump’s parade “could run in the millions, and military officials said it was unclear how they would pay for it.” President Bush’s military parade 25 years ago cost $12 million.

The White House says the parade is still in the “brainstorming” phase, but insists Trump “wants to do something that highlights the service and sacrifice of the military and have a unifying moment for the country.”

Apart from the fact that we really don’t NEED to show the world our military strength – we are have the mightiest fighting force in the world – the cost of producing such an event seems ridiculous when there are so many homeless, unemployed veterans. Many folks, including military service members and veterans would much rather see aid to our vets than a parade for a president’s ego.

There were tons of negative responses to the idea of a parade. Here are just a few:

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That Time When Paul Ryan Deleted His $1.50 Tweet

When Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tweeted the news that a woman wrote to him about her $1.50 increase in her weekly paycheck thanks to the Trump Tax Cuts, he immediately tweeted it out as proof of what a wonderful success the new tax law is.

Except, of course, corporations and the wealthy are reaping much, much bigger windfalls.

The tweet showed Ryan being out of touch with middle America and the media could not stop themselves from pointing this up.

Ryan eventually deleted the tweet.

#sad

Watch below.

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Gus Kenworthy: VP Mike Pence “Seems Like A Bad Fit” To Lead Olympic Delegation

Via The Hill:

Freeskier Gus Kenworthy, one of the first two openly gay male athletes to represent the U.S. in the Winter Olympics, told Ellen DeGeneres that he things Vice President Pence is a “bad fit” to lead the U.S. delegation to Pyeongchang, South Korea, this month.

Kenworthy’s comments echoed those of figure skater Adam Rippon, who has harshly criticized Pence and the Trump administration in general over their treatment of LGBTQ rights. Rippon, who is also openly gay, was named to the Olympic team just weeks before Kenworthy.

“[Pence] seems like such a strange choice,” Kenworthy said Monday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

“To have somebody leading the delegation that’s directly attacked the LGBTQ community, and a Cabinet in general that just sort of stands against us and has tried to do things to set us back, it just seems like a bad fit.”

Pence has a long history of opposing LGBT rights and supporting anti-LGBT legislation. He’s encouraged funding for so-called “conversion therapy,” signed legislation that would allow discrimination against LGBTs into law, opposed allowing gays in the military and same-sex marriage.

Watch his chat with Ellen below.