I mean, if the litmus test is that every member of the family live a letter-perfect fundamentalist/traditional-style Roman Catholic life . . . . Dubya messed up.

From The Advocate:

In what represents a marked shift from the Republican campaign rhetoric of 2004 – where some George W. Bush advisors stoked anti-gay sentiment in an attempt to drive social conservatives to the polls – Steve Schmidt, senior campaign strategist for the McCain campaign, stopped by a Log Cabin Republican luncheon Thursday to welcome the group to the convention.

“I just wanted to take a second to come by and pay my respect and the campaign’s respect to your organization and to your group,” said Schmidt, who many view as the new architect of the Republican Party. “Your organization is an important one in the fabric of our party.”

In his brief remarks, Schmidt weaved in a personal anecdote about his lesbian sister and her relationship to him, his wife, and his children. “On a personal level, my sister and her partner are an important part of my life and our children’s life,” he said. “I admire your group and your organization and I encourage you to keep fighting for what you believe in because the day is going to come.”

This convention marks the first in history that Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT rights organization, have been fully credentialed official guests of the GOP host committee, and Schmidt is not the only high-profile party figure to address the group. Sen. Alren Specter of Pennsylvania, RNC treasurer Tim Morgan, and McCain political director Mike DuHaime – the first hire made by Schmidt after he took the helm in July – have all spoken at Log Cabin events this week.

That Republican Party leaders are reaching out to Log Cabin members is another sign that neither side of this pitched battle for the presidency wants to concede a single vote. Michelle Obama, after stumping at the LGBT delegate luncheon during the Democratic convention last week, spoke just last night to about 300 donors at an LGBT reception in Los Angeles.

For his part, Schmidt didnÂ’t miss the opportunity to throw a few zingers at Democrats using the backdrop of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah PalinÂ’s well regarded acceptance speech Wednesday night.

“You saw one of the great speeches in the history of political conventions last night by an accomplished governor of a state who has just announced herself as a major force in the Republican Party in her own right, and I think the other side this morning, when you consider the backlash that is likely to occur after all the vile filth that’s been thrown at her, they ought to be sitting on the other side saying, Oh – My – God,” Schmidt said to the cheers of some 50 attendees. “I’ve been in some tough political fights in my career, and I will just tell you that over the last 48 hours, the smearing and the defamation of this family is unlike anything I have ever seen.”

Yeah. One of the stupidest missteps I ever saw was when the Dole campaign returned money from the Log Cabin Republicans. For what it's worth, when Reagan got money from them, he was perfectly happy. And I don't even want to talk about how misunderstood Goldwater was on this issue. Now there was a man who wanted to keep the State out of our bedrooms.

Anyway, Schmidt's appearance represents a welcome change; it's nice that I no longer have to hear a lot of high-pitched wailing about "the gay agenda." (Which I always picture as a sort of crododile-hide embossed appointment book, "LGBT" monogrammed tastefully in gold in one corner.)

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She's come a long way from tipping off the nightstalker that he should ditch his tennis shoes. This courtesy of WaPo's Paul Kane:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Rules and Administrations Committee, which oversees the operation of the Senate, said she had no choice [but to privatize the Senate's restaurants and cafeterias].

"It's cratering," she said of the restaurant system. "Candidly, I don't think the taxpayers should be subsidizing something that doesn't need to be. There are parts of government that can be run like a business and should be run like businesses."

In a letter to colleagues, Feinstein said that the Government Accountability Office found that "financially breaking even has not been the objective of the current management due to an expectation that the restaurants will operate at a deficit annually."

It's the least they can do, with other people's money. Thanks, Dianne.

h/t: Memeorandum.

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Start here. Then recall that this is money taken from American citizens—teachers, waitresses, 7-11 clerks—at the point of a gun, supposedly to pay for government.

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Our congresscritters—and senator-things—are financial geniuses.

Yah!

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To tell us what we can name our children.

Another reason to be glad I live in the USA, where a man can name his kid "Moon Unit Zappa" or "Madonna Ciccone" or "Willard Mitt Romney" without fear of official reprisal.

Yup. Does the government also check the initials, to make sure no one named their daughter "Anne Sue Smith," or something like that?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I feel that the government isn't doing its job unless it follows me home and makes sure I floss my teeth. After all, tooth decay is a serious public health problem in this country.

For the children! And the grownups, too (after all, grownups are merely large children with lines around their eyes)!

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. . . Japan. I mean, is there anything you wanted to say out loud?

(h/t: Goldstein.)

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I'd forgotten that Friday was the 20-year anniversary of the MOVE tragedy in Philly.

Via Insty.

UPDATE: Here's a reprint of an article the Wall Street Journal ran ten years ago about that event, and how the MOVE fire, Waco, and Ruby Ridge together appeared to pose questions about our federal and local authorities that never got fully answered.

So we have to keep asking. These jokers work for us.

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