I can only aspire to have this award for greatness on my mantelpiece. #goldendukes pic.twitter.com/Yqhe4OALyU
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 24, 2013
The 10th Circuit has denied the State of Utah’s request to halt gay marriages in the state pending its appeal of a lower court ruling before the appellate court.
The next and final hope for Utah – for halting more marriages in advance of the 10th Circuit’s actual ruling on the case – is an appeal directly to the Supreme Court, which would be fielded by Justice Sotomayor.
From TPM Reader DR …
Reader TS could have been my triplet (I already have a twin), as he/she just nailed my childhood. When my wife and I moved to Vermont in 2004, we started attending Mass again, looking for the community that TS describes and continues to be for my parents, who are heavily involved in their Church in southern California. But the pedophile scandal, the focus on abortion, the demonization of homosexuals, and the overtly conservative political tones of homilies (especially ahead of the 2008 election) drove me away once again.
From TPM Reader MOG …
I can only speculate about how Pope Francis is acting and the reaction to it. I offer these comments from the perspective of someone who just turned 64, grew up in the Chicago suburbs, attended parochial grade school and high school (non Jesuit) but isn’t much of a practicing Catholic these days. However, I still believe myself Catholic, especially in outlook and mindset. My freshman year of high school (1963) was the first time the Chicago Diocese began implementing the revised religion curriculum which was an outgrowth of Vatican II.
Brief summary I just wrote of the Rob Ford saga …
But nothing compares to Mayor Rob Ford, the morbidly obese man-child of Toronto who smoked crack, lied about smoking crack, had his goons try to pay for a video of him smoking crack and eventually conceded he probably smoked crack when he was so wasted on booze that he doesn’t even remember. Along the way there were moments to brag about his prowess at cunnilingus, body check a member of the City Council, party with hookers, snort coke, lose his cellphone at a local crack house and presumably complicate his relationships with members of the local criminal underworld and gang community, which seem to have been extensive.
ICYMI: Why Chris Chritie is playing into his opponents’ hands and then some on the bridge story.
Criminologist Christian Bolden questions stereotypes about gangs: “Participants explained that gang initiations are not always required, and people often depart from gangs with no dire consequences.”
TPM Readers: This is to let you know we will be revealing the winners of this year’s Golden Dukes tonight on Hardball, along with the first public viewing of the new Golden Dukes award statuette and a special announcement about how this year’s Dukes will be given to the big winner.
Tune in.
Julieanne Smolinski is a writer, performer and the genius behind @BoobsRadley
Dan Savage, a gay American author, media pundit, journalist, newspaper editor and advice columnist who writes Savage Love