'60 Minutes' Sergeant Darren Manzella Discharged Under 'DADT'

Army Sergeant Darren Manzella, whose story was the subject of a 60 Minutes piece back in December, has been discharged under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the Servicemember's Legal Defense Fund reports:

"The Iraq war veteran was the first openly gay active duty service member to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone....Manzella, 30, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and was twice deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While under fire on the streets of Baghdad, he provided medical care to his fellow soldiers, Iraqi National Guardsmen and civilians. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge, and also received several other awards recognizing his courage and service."

Watch the 60 Minutes segment, AFTER THE JUMP...

Related
60 Minutes Army Sergeant Manzella to Speak in D.C. [tr]
CWA Spokesman to Gay Troops Supporters: "Put a Cork in It" [tr]
Army Sergeant Darren Manzella Speaks Out After Interview [tr]
Duncan Hunter Defends Gay Ban: U.S. Needs "Hardened Warriors" [tr]
60 Minutes to Cover "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Wartime Policy [tr]

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #306: John McCain Edition

NOT TOO IMPORTANT: How McCain feels about bringing the troops home from Iraq.

DNC AD: The DNC quickly took McCain's "not too important" statement and whipped it into a web clip.

JOHN CUSACK: The actor is featured in this new ad from MoveOn.org.

OH, MCCAIN!: The candidate is parodied Schoolhouse Rock-style.

SAFE: The new national TV spot from the McCain campaign.

DEVASTATING: A video created by the Ron Paul campaign that's been re-edited to cut out some distasteful material about McCain's behavior as a POW. This is all useful.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Dennis Kucinich Presents 35 Articles of Impeachment Against Bush

Dennis Kucinich brought 35 articles of impeachment against George W. Bush on the House floor yesterday:

"The Ohio representative outlined his intention to propose more than two dozen charges against Bush on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, accused Bush executing a 'calculated and wide-ranging strategy' to deceive citizens and Congress into believing that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said she opposes trying to remove the Republican president who leaves office next January because such an attempt would be divisive and most likely unsuccessful."

"Most likely unsuccessful" seems to be the key phrase in Pelosi's tenure thus far.

As such, the move is not likely to gain traction, but you can watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #293

LUBE: Brazilian lubricant ad that won't really make sense until you read the translation.

A JIHAD FOR LOVE: Now playing at a theater near New York.

BITCH: Former Romney advisor says that it can be accurate to call a woman a bitch.

UGLY BETTY: Asks Madonna for a signed copy of Hard Candy to give to Justin.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Olbermann Slams Bush, the Iraq War, and His Golf Sacrifice Lies

In one of his most searing "Special Comments" in recent memory, Keith Olbermann takes apart Bush's interview with Politico in which he said that he had sacrificed playing golf for the war in Iraq.

That statement turns out to be a lie, and Olbermann exposes it, noting, as many bloggers pointed out yesterday, that Bush was playing golf a good two months after he claims he had stopped playing.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #289

BUSH AND GOLF: President learns it's not a good idea to hit the back nine when we're at war.

TONY ROMO: Does a hatchet job on "Take Me Out to the Ball Game">.

KENT COUNTY GOP: A video (and possible ad) that the Kent County, Michigan GOP has created that paints Barack Obama as a white-flag-waiving elitist.

ANDREW CHRISTIAN: The underwear designer takes his goods to the beaches of Rio to see if the locals will make the switch.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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White House Rewrites 'Mission Accomplished' Banner

Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of the day Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of the banner that read "Mission Accomplished" and said, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." Since then, 3,920 U.S. soldiers have been killed and countless Iraqi civilians.

Here's this year's spin on that speech, according to a White House press conference today:

Dana Perino: "President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific, and said, 'Mission Accomplished For These Sailors Who Are On This Ship On Their Mission'. And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year."

According to Think Progress, "This is only the latest tack the White House has taken to defend Bush’s 2003 remarks. Last year, Perino insisted that 'we did prevail,' while former press secretary Tony Snow laughably claimed that Bush 'said just the opposite' of 'mission accomplished.'"

Watch the press conference, AFTER THE JUMP...

Um...um...um. Dana Perino is about this close to a Kristen Wiig SNL character. What a joke, if it weren't such a crying shame.

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #261

5 YEARS IN IRAQ: Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) has a message on the anniversary.

LOCKSTEP: Bush and McCain on Iraq.

UNION STATION FREEZE-IN: Code Pink protestors borrowed the Improv Everywhere Grand Central Station 'freeze' concept and staged a protest in Washington DC's Union Station - five minutes for five years.

SHANTYTOWN: BBC covers the tent cities which have sprung up outside of L.A. in the wake of the mortgage crisis.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #260

ATLANTA TORNADO: Inside the Georgia Dome during Friday night's storm which spawned an F2 tornado in downtown Atlanta.

APARTMENT BOMB: An Air National Guard jet mistakenly dropped a 22-pound BDU-33 dummy bomb on an apartment complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma late last week.

JOHN MCCAIN'S BAGDHAD MARKET: Too dangerous to stroll through now

A GAY AMERICAN IDOL: CNN explores the possibility.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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News: Prince Harry, Eagle Scout, Wolverine, Orlando Bloom

Vigil against violence to be held today in Fort Lauderdale at 4:30pm: "Join the coalition of community leaders and organizations as we gather to remember Simmie Williams and stand up against the rising tide of violence for a memorial service at the murder site at the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale."

Prince Harry has been fighting undercover in Afghanistan for the past 10 weeks: "The news of his operational posting leaked out following the breakdown of a news blackout agreement with the media when the story was posted on the US-based Drudge Report website. The chief of the general staff, Sir Richard Dannatt, who is head of the British army, expressed disappointment over the leak. 'I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us,' he said. 'This is in stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude that the whole of the UK print and broadcast media, along with a small number overseas, who have entered into an understanding with us over the coverage of Prince Harry on operations.' Dannatt, who had opposed Harry's deployment to Iraq, went on to praise the prince's performance on deployment."

Orlando Bloom is tired of complaints about his natural manly scent.

NYC sees surge in gay syphilis cases: "After seeing the number of syphilis cases remain stable in 2004 and 2005 then decrease in 2006, the city health department is reporting that syphilis cases increased by 60 percent in 2007 over 2006, with that growth due to new infections among gay and bisexual men."

Bollywood actor rejected: not gay enough to play a fashionista. Kushal Punjabi: "I really got along well with Madhur. He's my kind of director. But I really didn't see myself in that role at all. I'd like to work with directors like Madhur who look at actors as actors and not as stars."

Ben Affleck discusses his revenge sex video with Jimmy Kimmel: "You couldn't really do it half-speed. You had to be painting toes and blow-drying hair. At one point we were going to take a bath together, but the bubbles couldn't get high enough, so that ended up getting scrapped. The little outfits, the short shorts, the hands in the pockets -- it wouldn't have been funny if you didn't really commit to it."

Underwear day takes over Brazilian capital.

Gay Canadian Health Minister Smitherman criticized for proposing to wear adult diaper as test in response to nursing home 'filth' issues: "Opposition politicians, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and a nursing home association said Smitherman's plan to test drive a diaper shows he doesn't understand the issue is about staffing levels – not diaper technology. 'For him to suggest that's his answer is a disgrace,' said Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory. 'It's some kind of a sideshow he seems determined to put on when, in fact, I think people in Ontario would say: 'George Smitherman, do something about it. Let's see the revolution you promised in long-term care.''"

Hugh Jackman: the claws come out.

Fans go wild: New video of the pint-size breakdancing Beckham.

Matthew McConaughey wins mag's honors for mightiest mammaries.

Texas governor Rick Perry holds book-signing for Boy Scout tome: "Perry's tour to promote the book has garnered national attention. The book debuted at No. 1 on The Washington Post's best-seller list for hardcover nonfiction in Washington-area bookshops. His office touted that achievement the day after The New York Times Magazine published an interview in which Perry said scouting was about building character and not about sex. The word 'homosexual,' he said, suggests that gay people are focused on sex."

Eagle Scout leaves organization disgusted by anti-gay policies: "I am ashamed an organization to which I owe so much has chosen to take such a myopic stance on this issue and hides behind a legal veil to exclude gay Scouts."

Wired publishes disturbing new photos from Abu Ghraib (warning: extremely graphic)

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Sam Harris Declares War on War

Broadway performer and recording artist Sam Harris has released a new anti-war song for which he's urging fans to create a video.

Harris writes on his website: "We are in an exciting and volatile time in history. The presidential candidate for the Republican Party has expressed that we should prepare for a 100 year war in Iraq. There are others of us who say Enough! We are finally seeing a nation begin to mobilize and rise in a call for change. I am proud to be a part of that change. I welcome your talents to do the same by joining me. Together we can make change more than just a dream. I look forward to your creations!"

Harris' career began, you may recall, when he won the premiere season of Star Search back in 1983.

Listen to the track, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #244

DISGUSTING: Quadriplegic dumped from wheelchair by Florida deputy who didn't believe he was handicapped. The deputy has not been terminated, but has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation.

JOHN MCCAIN: Anyone who worries about how long we're in Iraq does not understand war.

MADONNA: Her first TV interview regarding her directorial debut Filth & Wisdom. Clips of that are here. And the first REVIEW.

CELINE DION: Thumb powers — activate!

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #241

BIG BROTHER 9: Your introduction to this season's houseguests.

MICHAEL MOORE: His appearance on Larry King the night after Super Tuesday.

ONE DAY=$720 MILLION: What this war costs us all.

RON HEXTALL: A vintage naked interview. Background here...

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Montel Williams Fired for Refusing to Gab About Heath Ledger?

The folks at DailyKos have pointed out an interesting situation surrounding Montel Williams and FOX's decision not to renew his talk show, "The Montel Williams Show", which has been running for 17 years. The network's decision comes just four days after Williams basically read the hosts of FOX and Friends for their coverage of the HEath Ledger story. It looks like Williams was punished for pointing out how many troops had died in Iraq while network news obsessed over the death of Ledger.

Kos writes: "For just over three minutes on Saturday morning, TV talk show host Montel Williams owned the hosts of Fox and Friends. A former Marine and Naval officer, Montel lectured the stunned hosts on the stupidity of spending air time on the death of Heath Ledger, rather than covering the war in Iraq. It was a spectacle rarely seen on live cable television, as Montel exposed and condemned both tabloid 'news' shows and much of American culture for what they have each become: shallow and greedy."

Watch the body language of the host on the far right as he slowly tenses up (sorry I don't know his name) as Montel's discussion goes on and on, and he's finally cut off.

Kos reports that Williams did not return after the break and Variety reported four days later that FOX stations "opted not to renew" his show.

Coincidence or not?

Montel Williams Loses Job after Defending Troops on Fox News [tr]

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Website Exposes Nearly 1000 Bush Administration Lies on Iraq

A new website from the Center for Public Integrity focusing on ethics in government and public policy as assembled thousands of pre-war statements on Iraq from Bush administration officials in a searchable database:

"Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the research center say their work has documented 'at least 935 false statements' on hundreds of occasions, particularly that Iraq had unconventional weapons, links to Al Qaeda, or both. The database shows how even after the invasion, when a consensus emerged that the prewar intelligence assessments were flawed, administration officials occasionally suggested that the weapons might still be found."

The NYT notes: "Muckrakers may find browsing the site reminiscent of what Richard M. Nixon used to dismissively call 'wallowing in Watergate.'"

Except that these days there appears to be no accountability.

Late last week, Tammy Baldwin, in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial, called for impeachment proceedings to begin: "The abuses of this administration demand a formal response. Congressional oversight is a fundamental part of our constitutionally-proscribed system of checks and balances...I had hoped that Congress could begin to repair the damage that has been done to our democracy, our Constitution and our standing in the world, so that censure or impeachment could be averted. Unfortunately, this administration not only fails to accept responsibility for its misdeeds, but it also blocks attempts to right the wrongs and address the tragic consequences of those misdeeds. We have seen the American people's will thwarted by the exercise of veto power. We have seen subpoenas ignored. We have seen signing statements used to circumvent the law of the land...If we fail to take action to either impeach or repair the damage, then the next president will 'inherit' unchecked powers. Unchecked powers are unacceptable no matter who is president."

According to Counterpunch, nine of 23 members of the House Judiciary Committee now favor starting impeachment hearings.

(via think progress)

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John McCain: 100 Years in Iraq Fine with Him

Meanwhile in the Granite State...

The asses (of) John McCain and Joe Lieberman were captured speaking to a crowd in New Hampshire yesterday, where McCain told a voter that he would "be fine" with a military presence in Iraq for the next 100 years.

QUESTION: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years...

McCAIN: Make it a hundred.

QUESTION: Is that...

McCAIN: We've been in South Korea, we've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans— as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. That's fine with me, I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training and equipping and recruiting and motivating people every single day.

(via DailyKos)

More McCain...
John McCain: Never Heard the Acronym 'LGBT' Before [tr]
High School Student Slams McCain After Gay Rights Question [tr]
Report: McCain Feels "Gay Sweaters" Helped Undo Campaign [tr]
McCain Restates Support of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" [tr]
John McCain Not Sure if Condoms Stop Spread of HIV [tr]
John McCain: Gays are Welcome to Marry, Just Not Legally [tr]

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Homosexual Prisoners Excluded from Iraqi Amnesty Bill

Iraq's parliament received a bill on Tuesday that could grant amnesty to thousands of detainees. Those imprisoned for homosexuality would remain locked up, however.

The AP reports: "The bill excludes those held in U.S. custody and those imprisoned for a variety of crimes ranging from terrorism, kidnapping and rape to antiquities smuggling, adultery and homosexuality. It also excludes senior figures of the former Baath regime. If passed in its current form, the bill could see some 5,000 prisoners released, al-Dabbagh said. The Iraqi government has about 20,000 people in custody, while the U.S. military holds about 25,000. Sunni parliamentarians have criticized the draft for its limited scope. They have argued that most prisoners are charged with terrorist crimes, rendering the bill ineffective. Some also fear referring the bill to Iraq's gridlocked parliament will actually delay prisoner releases."

What a travesty. Life in Iraq for gays is either stuck in prison or hiding in cells like terrorists, fearing for your life.

Related
NYT: Gays Hiding Like Terrorists in the New Iraq [tr]

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NYT: Gays Hiding Like Terrorists in the New Iraq

An article in the NYT describes Iraq in the mid-80's to early 90's as a relative gay "paradise" compared to what it has become.

Then: "Abu Nawas Boulevard, which hugs the Tigris River opposite what is now the Green Zone, became a known promenade for cruising. Discos opened in the city’s best hotels, the Ishtar Sheraton, the Palestine and Saddam Hussein’s prized Al-Rasheed Hotel, becoming magnets for gay men. Young men with rouged cheeks and glossed lips paraded the streets of Mansour, an affluent neighborhood in Baghdad. 'There were so many guys, from Kuwait, from Saudi Arabia, guys in the street with makeup,' said [Activist Ali] Hili, who left Iraq in 2000. 'Up until 1991, there was sexual freedom. It was a revolutionary time.'"

Now it is a place where long-haired men chop off their hair for fear that religious extremists will force them to cut it and eat it, and a place where, although a fatwa against them has been lifted and extreme violence has ebbed, they still live in fear:

"They described an underground existence, eked out behind drawn curtains in a dingy safe house in southwestern Baghdad. Five people share the apartment — four gay men and one woman, who says she is bisexual. They have moved six times in the last three years, just ahead, they say, of neighborhood raids by Shiite and Sunni death squads. Even seemingly benign neighborhood gossip can scare them enough to move. 'We seem suspicious because we look like a cell of terrorists,' said Mohammed, nervously fingering the lapel of his shirt. 'But we can’t tell people what we really are. A cell, yes, but of gays.'"

Gay Retreat to Shadows in New Iraq [nyt]

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Condoleezza Rice Confronted by "Blood-Stained" Anti-war Activist [tr]

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60 Minutes to Cover "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Wartime Policy

This Sunday, on 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl will look into the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, offering evidence in the form of Army Sgt. Darren Manzella that the armed forces look the other way during wartime, refusing to discharge troops even in the face of "graphic proof" that they are gay.

According to CBS: "Manzella, a medic who served in Iraq for a year, currently serves as medical liaison for the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Kuwait, where he says he is 'out' to his entire chain of command, including a three-star general. After leaving Iraq, he started receiving anonymous emails warning him about his openness that suggested he was being watched, so he went to his commander to head off an investigation he felt was coming. 'I didn’t know how else to do it,' he tells Stahl, acknowledging that he initiated an investigation of himself by violating the policy. 'I felt more comfortable being the one to say, 'This is what is real,'' Manzella says. He then says his commander reported him, as he was obliged to do, and then 'I had to go see my battalion commander, who read me my rights,' he says. He turned over pictures of him and his boyfriend, including video of a passionate kiss, to aid the investigation. But to his surprise, 'I was told to go back to work. There was no evidence of homosexuality,' says Manzella. ''You’re not gay,'' he says his superiors told him. This response confused him and, he says, the closest a superior officer came to addressing his sexuality was to say 'I don't care if you're gay or not.'"

The Servicemen's Legal Defense Network commented on the CBS piece. Said SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis: "Sergeant Manzella’s story illustrates the arbitrary and uneven enforcement of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell'. Many commands, like Manzella’s, recognize that their lesbian and gay troops are instrumental in the work of defending our country. Those commanders, who want to do the right thing and retain good troops, should not have their hands tied by this unfair law. Our nation’s commitment to fairness and civil liberties demands an end to this law, and our national security interests are best served by repealing it."

According to SLDN, "Sergeant Manzella joined the Army in April 2002 and deployed to Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, in March of 2004. He provided medical coverage during more than one hundred 12-hour patrols on the streets of Baghdad. While under fire, Manzella cared for Iraqi National Guardsmen, Iraqi civilians and his fellow service members, earning him the Combat Medical Badge, a swift promotion and several other awards honoring his courage and duty to service. He returned for a second tour of duty in the Middle East in 2006 and is currently stationed in Kuwait."

60 Minutes airs on Sunday at 7 pm EST.

Military Soft On Don't Ask, Don't Tell? [cbs news]
CBS Newsmagazine 60 Minutes to Feature Out, Active Duty Army Sergeant [sldn]

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Young College Republican Leader Ben Johnson: I'm Not Gay

You may remember in mid-November I posted a couple of videos of Ben Johnson, the state chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans, discussing where the young Republican mindset is at today. Via Wonkette comes this letter from Johnson to his young Republican peers, in which he denies being gay (why anyone would possibly think that I have no idea), and also says "If I am not hated by the Democrats, I am not doing my job."

Such lofty goals.

Here are the videos, to refresh your memory:

And here's the letter, via Truth Caucus:

***BEGINNING OF LETTER***

From: “Johnson, Benjamin A”
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:41:26

Dear National College Republican Leaders, Chairman and Distinguished officers,

As some of you may or may not have seen, my YouTube interviews have been raising quite a bit of controversy ( and dare I say venomous hatred?) online and in some national media outlets. As my respected colleagues I would just like to personally clarify a few things to you,

1. I am not actually gay, even though the way I dress and talk may betray that fact ever so slightly, ha.
2. Some people are responding angrily in my defense and as I truly appreciate you support please do not stoop to their levels. We are above them in so many ways and I like keeping it that way.
3. Solders in Iraq really do love beef jerky! I have the thank you letters to prove it. I encourage all of you to send them tons of it!

On a small side note, I find it strange that the ever so tolerant and accepting-of-all-lifestyles-Left have no problems calling me every gay-bashing offensive name in the book. Guess it just goes to prove that nothing is offensive or intolerant so long as your insulting a Republican. But none of it bothers me. If I am not hated by the Democrats, I am not doing my job.

Letter continued, AFTER THE JUMP...

Two final quick things,

I am initiating Iowa’s Operation Iraqi Christmas for the fourth year in a row and I would love to encourage all of you to be apart of it. Please visit http://www.anysoldier.com. This site is amazing! It is like a facebook for the US military serving in Iraq, and every solder has their picture up and personal Christmas wish list listed now! It is an incredible way to make an impact in the lives of these armed service men and women who fight for freedom every day. I have my chapters serving about three solders a piece, so Iowa will be sending 91 packages with our CR stickers plastered all over them so the troops know exactly who
is supporting them. I also will be sending a CR poster to every battalion with my email address asking for a thank you picture with our poster, those kind of pictures are priceless for good publicity! Just some Ideas.

Secondly, I would like to encourage all of you to join me for the Iowa Caucuses! Even though actual caucusing is reserved only for Iowa residents, there are plenty of great events going on across the state and I promise you will not be bored, which is rather rare in Iowa. I have the complete schedules of where all the candidates will be speaking during the day as well as VIP invitations from each candidate to their after parties. It would be my honor to have any of you join me for this amazing political experience! So please contact me if your interested!

I just want to say what an honor it has been working amongst such great Americans like yourselves! Thanks for your support and see you all soon!

Benjamin A. Johnson
Chairman
Iowa Federation of College Republicans

***END OF LETTER***

Peace, love, and hair gel.

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Young College Republican Leader: Troops Love Beef Jerky [tr]

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News: Hate Crimes Bill, Baghdad, Chip Pickering, Morocco

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill is in jeopardy: "Senate leadership employed a commonplace strategy with this bill. They calculated that the only chance of the Matthew Shepard Act surviving Bush's veto pen was if it were attached to a "must-pass" Department of Defense bill. But now that House and Senate are reconciling their versions of the DoD bill, it is under attack from anti-GLBT conservatives against hate crimes legislation, as well as progressive, pro-equality lawmakers who oppose some of the bill's provisions for the war in Iraq."

GASP: Beckham commits fashion faux pas down under but remains a charmer.

Clinton and Obama both have plans to fight AIDS, but neither will mention the word condom.

This is a PSA for work place safety that basically teaches you to have someone else carry the boiling water.

Scientists create cancer-resistant mouse: "A mouse resistant to cancer, even highly-aggressive types, has been created by researchers at the University of Kentucky. The breakthrough stems from a discovery by UK College of Medicine professor of radiation medicine Vivek Rangnekar and a team of researchers who found a tumor-suppressor gene called 'Par-4' in the prostate."

Gay man in Baghdad: "There were many things that surprised me when I started researching the story of gays in Iraq. The first was that there were hundreds of men on the Iraqi pages of Gaydar. They are a mix of Iraqi locals, members of the US Army, contractors, even employees at Baghdad's embassies. Many, even the Iraqis, had their faces showing. At that point, virtually everything about Iraqi gays in the gay press was reported from outside the country - by Doug Ireland in this newspaper, later by David France in GQ, and in many translations by Ali Hili, the exiled leader of the group Iraqi LGBT, working from London. With gay, often underground contacts in Iraq, they offered a view of what is going on, not in any way a pretty picture. Some mainstream journalists based in Iraq, from the Los Angeles Times, for example, later followed suit. But I wanted to see things directly for myself."

At the top of the list to replace resigning Senator Trent Lott is Mississippi Representative Chip Pickering. You may remember him from his cameo in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Danny Bonaduce wants to prove he's a bigger man than you think he is (nsfw).

Ann Coulter does not want anyone to know where she lives. Hmm, someone must hate her.

Obama gets Oprah, Hillary gets Barbra: "Madame President of the United States ... it's an extraordinary thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman's potential has no limitations. Hillary Clinton has already proven to a generation of women that there are no limits for success."

Gay wedding in Morocco ends in rioting and jail: "More than 600 men and women took to the streets, chanting slogans condemning the city's leniency towards homosexuals and criticizing the couple's audacity to hold a gay wedding in the open."

The 10 best cryptozoology stories of the year.

Torrance, California man uses "gay panic" defense to explain why he killed his stepfather with a butcher knife: "Ashton Hurst, 36, described in great detail his relationship with popular Harbor College baseball coach Robert Gauci and what he said were Gauci’s homosexual advances that led to the fatal fight. Gauci was 44. Hurst’s testimony differed from some of his previous accounts of the Feb. 8, 2005, homicide, including one he gave his mother and sister during a recorded jailhouse conversation the night Gauci died. He said back then that he retrieved the knife and stabbed Gauci in the back of the neck because he didn’t want Gauci to have brain damage and because no one would believe that Gauci had previously sexually assaulted him, and was trying to again."

Who knew that Wyoming was the Equality State?

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Scott McClellan Points Finger at Bush, Cheney Over False Iraq Info

The publisher of Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's forthcoming book What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington, unleashed a passage from the book on its website yesterday in which McClellan accuses five high-ranking White House officials, including George W. Bush, of being "involved" in the passing along of false information to the American people.

Writes McClellan:

"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There was one problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself. ."

McClellan has declined to comment further.

The 400-page book is scheduled for publication on April 21. Should be an interesting read.

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Young College Republican Leader: Troops Love Beef Jerky

These interviews, published on the HuffPost and BlogActive earlier in the week, will offer some insight into what's on the minds of young college Republicans these days. This is Ben Johnson, the state chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans, who leads a flock of 7,000 young devotees.

Make sure not to miss the second part about the Support the Troops grill-out and our soldiers' love of beef jerky.

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Court Unseals Financial Records of Westboro Baptist Church

In response to the nearly $11 million awarded to the father of a slain U.S. Marine in a case brought against Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church and its heinous practice of picketing soldiers funerals, the U.S. District Court in Baltimore ordered the church's financial records unsealed.

The Baltimore Sun reports: "Eight pages of documents submitted in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by the church and three of its members - and made public at The Sun's request - reveal they have a net worth of almost $1 million but do not fully explain how the church is able to fund its picketing near military burials across the country. Church leaders, including its founder, Fred W. Phelps Sr. (pictured), contend the jury did not take into account their net worth when it imposed an award of more than 10 times their financial holdings. But lawyers for the Marine's father countered that church members lied in their financial statements submitted to the court. The church's balance sheets will now take center stage as the judge decides how much, if any, of the award Westboro should pay."

Westboro Baptist claims that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's wrath against a nation that tolerates homosexuality. According to the paper, "Church members filed papers late last week with U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett to have him strike down the $10.9 million award as unconstitutional."

And despite the judgment, the church says it will resume picketing.

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News: Cheney Impeachment, Gavin Rossdale, Jenkem, Iraq Gays

As safe houses close, Iraqi gay activist Ali Hili says world has left them behind: "Over 30 gay residents who we cared for in these three safe houses now have to take their chances in a country where religious militia regularly seek out gays and execute them. Several months ago, two lesbians working with Iraqi LGBT were assassinated in the safe house they were running in Najaf, along with a young boy the women had rescued from the sex industry. We feel deserted by the international gay community. Few people seem to care about our fate."

Dennis Kucinich to force vote on impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney. And he's not stopping there....

Jenkem is the shit: Florida police investigating new fecal drug craze. Disgusting.

Scottish parliament considering sexual orientation hate crime law: "There are no guarantees that enough MSPs will support the bill, but it appears to have received a warm welcome from the government. Today it comes before a committee of the Scottish Parliament."

Bush to nominate anti-gay Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican: "Glendon, 69, is an anti-abortion scholar and an opponent of gay marriage who also has written on the effects of divorce and increased litigation on society. Her 1987 book 'Abortion and Divorce in Western Law' was critical of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion."

Eric Dane is a silver fox.

CBS News on LOGO expanding to half-hour weekly broadcast: "Brian Graden, Logo president and president of MTV Networks Music Group Entertainment, said Monday afternoon that the network had gotten to the point where it had the distribution and roster of advertisers to take things to another level. 'It seemed like there was enough news to sustain that (half-hour) format and then some, and that the audience had a concentrated interest' a year out from the 2008 general elections, Graden said. He didn't rule out further news programming based on how things go."

Gavin Rossdale flexes his tennis chops.

Discharged lesbian nurse battling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": "Margaret Witt's ACLU lawyer told a federal appeals court panel in Seattle that child molesters in the armed forces are treated more leniently than homosexuals because molesters don't face mandatory discharge. Witt contends the policy-driven discharge violated her right to be free from governmental intrusion in her private life, and that her lawsuit against the Air Force should be reinstated...Witt, 42, spent more than 18 years building a stellar reputation as a McChord Air Force Base nurse who saved the lives of soldiers on medical-evacuation missions. Twice decorated by President Bush, her career was on the rise until an anonymous tipster told the Air Force in 2004 that Witt, a major, was in a long-term relationship with a civilian woman."

British boyband McFly are pube-burning sensations at G-A-Y nightclub in London.

Slow-going as jury selection enters day two for Florida Rep. Bob Allen: "It's "very unusual" for jury selection on a second-degree misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute to enter a second day, attorneys agreed. 'The typical misdemeanor trial would generally have jury selection concluded in a half-day or less, and some are done as quickly as an hour or two,' said Michelle Perlman, misdemeanor division chief for Brevard's State Attorney's Office. Many potential jurors were dismissed immediately after they said they believed Allen, accused in July of agreeing to pay an undercover police officer he encountered in a Titusville park bathroom $20 to perform a sex act, was guilty based on media accounts."

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Condoleezza Rice Confronted by "Blood-Stained" Anti-war Activist

Anti-war protestor Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz of the Code Pink organization was detained on Wednesday after confronting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a congressional hearing.

As Rice approached the podium, Farooz placed blood-colored hands in her face and shouted "war criminal" before being escorted form the chamber along with several other activists.

Reuters reports: "Capitol Police said later five people were arrested, including Ali-Fairooz, who was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer. She was also charged with defacing government property for smearing the red paint from her hands on the hallway wall outside the hearing room. The other four protesters faced disorderly conduct charges."

Halloween, of course, is next week, but in the Bush administration it's scary all year.

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News: Kelly Slater, Firefighters, Fort Worth, Amy Winehouse

Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorses city council candidate Joel Burns, who may become Tarrant County's first openly gay elected official.

Stuck: Someone should have warned Celine Dion that super glue bonds instantly with skin.

Jake Gyllenhaal