Gay Marriage: Stunning -- Though Not Shocking -- Setbacks

Yesterday's decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage is a sad, though expected, decision.

Now gay Californians have no way legally to protect themselves; they have zero legal recognition. All these couples have are California state domestic partnerships, which provide every single legal protection that marriage provides. The difference being the use of that dreaded (antiquated) "M" word.

The gay movement, seeing the Prop 8 decision as the end of the world, had rallies all around the country. These are the same type of reactionary rallies that have been staged by gay activists in the New York area over the last several months. I've expressed my view that these rallies were counterproductive and wouldn't change any hearts or minds. New polling in New York shows that I was right.

Over the last month, gay marriage support in New York has fallen 14 percent. This is a fairly stunning turnaround, with drops among independent voters, New York City voters, young voters, women and African-Americans.

Not that any of this is shocking, exactly. New York Gov. David Paterson's (D) job approval is a pathetic 18 percent. It's not helping gay marriage that Paterson has made it one of his major issues — it's actively hurting our chances at marriage equality in New York.

The gay movement needs proper focus and fresh ideas, not more rallies, if we want to keep our forward momentum.

Originally Posted on The Hill & The Huffington Post.

Odds & Ends: Provigil, Medical Marijuana, & Chris Brown and Rihanna

Provigil, an amazing little pill that makes you alert but not jittery, 'may be' addictive. I've only used it a few times and it's done a perfect job of keeping me awake. Going into the general election this year, I was in New Hampshire organizing GOTV, and hadn't slept more than three or four hours a night the week leading up to the big day. Provigil got me through a sixteen hour Election Day without any withdrawals.

The Obama Administration is taking my advice and leaving medical marijuana policy up to the states. From Huff-Po: "Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law. That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law." Good news for dying cancer patients treating their nausea with medicine their doctor prescribes.

Why celebrity's responses to Chris Brown & Rihanna matters: "Of the 200 Boston youths (ages 12 to 19) surveyed last month, 51 percent said Chris Brown was responsible for the incident, 46 percent said Rihanna was responsible and 52 percent said both were to blame; 52 percent said the media was treating Brown unfairly; 44 percent said fighting was a normal part of a relationship; and a “significant” number said “Rihanna was destroying Chris Brown’s career.” Women blamed Rihanna as much as men did." Chris Brown gets off easy.

Poll: Obama In Big, Big, Huge, Trouble

The congressional Republicans’ “No Strategy” strategy is making major headway with voters this week.

In a just-released poll, only 68 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress. The Republican Party at large is doing even better, with a George Bush-esque level of approval of 32 percent.

It's hard to imagine how President Obama can look at these numbers and think that his agenda has a chance — not when an entire quarter of Americans view him unfavorably!

Those real Americans looking for conservative leadership found it on Tuesday night with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R) grand slam performance following up Barack Obama. He was so wonderful — his delivery so compelling — that he is already being compared to real-life TV stars. His ideas were bold — "Why not let volcanoes destroy Hawaii?" Finally, a real conservative policy wonk.

Does anyone really think Obama has a chance in 2012 against a Palin/Jindal ticket?

Originally on The Hill.

The Hill: Legalize It! (Or at Least Decriminalize It)

Can we finally start talking about marijuana decriminalization?

Boston voted to do it in November. There was a bill just introduced in California to legalize and tax it; after all, it's their largest cash crop and would bring in $1 billion in taxes per annum. President Obama is certainly open to it.

Public Opinion is catching up. Recent polls have support for legalization at all-time highs, 40 percent, which means, in some ways, that pot is more popular than the Republican Party. Nate Silver did the math, and if support keeps growing at these rates we'll have 60 percent nationwide for legalization by 2022.

Since Obama has taken office, there have been five DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in the state of California. Barack Obama should order the immediate halt of federal intervention in states like California that allow for the use and distribution of medical marijuana. Seventy-two percent of the American people would be behind him, and he pledged to do it during the campaign. These raids should be halted immediately by Attorney General Eric Holder, but the White House says they will wait until a new DEA head is named.

Once Obama clears the ways for the states to move on marijuana legislation, who knows what could happen?

Originally posted on The Hill.

Late Night Odds & Ends

We just finished staging Vote! today. The last song to stage was the act 1 closer, "I Sell You What," and that went fairly quickly. With the extra time, I was able to run the first 27 pages. Tomorrow we'll stumble through act one, fixing any issues that come up.

-- George Clooney has ruled out running for office in the past, "No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties." But, he sure looks like a candidate meeting with Barak Obama and Joe Biden about Darfar. Clooney spoke to the press outside the White House: “They said that they would appoint a full time high profile envoy that would report directly to the president... It's good to hear because there was some concern that this could fall off the radar. . .This would be a huge policy step." Clooney's right, it's good news. The UN has estimated over 400,000 have died in Darfar, nearly the number of Americans who died in World War 2.

-- NY Times says America loves their Obamas, the President's approval is 63%. Michelle is the most popular new First Lady in 28 years, at 49%. At this point, H. Clinton had a 44% approval rating... Just saying.

-- Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to be on Obama's Cabinet. How about replacing Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. How fucking awesome would that be?

-- Obama just paid for $10 billion dollars in new Science funding.

-- A middle ground on gay marriage? Federal civil unions make a lot of sense.

-- Even Jesus isn't paying the bills anymore. Billy Graham lays off 10% of his workforce.

-- Former Father Charles O'Byrne, Gov. Paterson's former aid who didn't pay his taxes, isn't looking to return to Albany.

David Paterson: With Democrats Like These...

I was a fan of David Paterson when he became governor of New York. He seemed like an interesting, unique guy who would make a solid governor. Boy, was I wrong -- Paterson has been a total and complete failure who is in entirely over his head.

After weeks and weeks of whining about how "Saturday Night Live" treats him unfairly, Paterson defended the New York Post for its racist chimp-shooting carton. Paterson tells us to "move on." One doesn't need to be a genius to see how self-serving his defense of the Post is, after an op-ed of theirs supported the return of the tax-cheating ex-priest Charles O'Byrne as his chief of staff. Because what Albany needs are more cheats and con artists. (O'Byrne's lawyers claimed he had a condition known as "non-filer syndrome," which causes people to not be able to file their tax returns. Not a joke. That was really what they said.)

New Yorkers are aghast at the miserable budget Paterson has proposed. A majority support a progressive millionaire tax, but Paterson would rather put the burden on the middle class. Does he know anything about tax policy? Who is making these terrible decisions for him?

While Illinois's Senate replacement disaster has gotten the most press, Paterson completely bungled finding a replacement for Clinton's Senate seat. He picked an unpopular, Sarah Palin-esque figure from upstate who actually keeps rifles under her bed. I'm serious, it's not a joke. Kirsten Gillibrand's appointment is so un-serious that she's already down 10 points in 2010 primary election polls.

Paterson's poll numbers make congressional Republicans look popular. The same poll showing the weakness of his Senate pick shows him down an astonishing 32 points to New York's popular Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

If another Hudson Miracle happens and Paterson somehow manages to get the nomination again, he'll almost certainly be beaten in the general by Rudy Giuliani. Paterson may single-handedly revive the New York Republican Party.

Thankfully, he doesn't have nearly enough political skill to actually be elected governor. At this point, it's unlikely he could win a middle-school race for Student Council.

Originally posted on The Hill.

Night Owl / Early Morning Odds & Ends

I'm back from flu land. My temperature is gone and I was finally able to do something outside the house besides rehearsal. I hung with my new friend Quinto, after my dinner at the IU-staple Mother Bears, and we watched the first three episodes of Rupal's new Logo Series Drag Race. It's a drag version of America's Next Top Model, that I sorta loved. It wouldn't work without Ru Paul, but with her it really works.

Rehearsal went great tonight, we're finally getting the chance to polish some of the dances. Today we worked on D-Gates, a song where Muffin (yes, Muffin) and Mike meet and fall for each other outside an airport. In this photo, Eric Anderson Jr. is at the piano, Aly Bloom is in front, and the two-Ms are Jen Saltiel and Justin Klein.

Vote in Bloomington tickets went on sale yesterday and we perform the weekend of March 6th-8th.

The News:

-- The NY Times has a major feature on the RENT California drama. Mr. Martin, the school's amazing drama instructor, describes in some detail his initial conversation with the bigot principal.

He said his principal, Fal Asrani, had objected to the show because of its treatment of “prostitution and homosexuality.” “When I heard that, I stopped her and looked her in the eye and said, ‘First, there is no prostitution in ‘Rent,’ and second, homosexuality is not wrong,’ ” Mr. Martin said. “She made no comment. It was the most demoralizing, disappointing moment in my career as a teacher.”

-- Kathleen Sebelius will make a great HHS Secretary. But, what is Howard Dean gonna do?

-- Obama has a 67% approval rating in the latest AP Poll. The Republicans in Congress are at 33%.

-- I agree with Andrew Sullivan, Obama should give Arnold a job when he leaves office. Arnold should become Obama's top Republican ally.

-- Republican Chairmen Michael Steele is out of his mind.

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party’s principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

The RNC’s first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party’s image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times.

-- Al Franken will soon finally be a Senator. 59 Democrats. Obama will just need a single GOP vote to pass legislation.