Gay student & developmentally disabled sent to fake prom

By GottaLaff

So many words come to mind after reading this: Cowards. Discrimination. Hate. Ignorance. Pain. Shame. Wrong. Segregation. Tears. Reprehensible. Deception. Sneaky. Bullies. And several others that are unprintable....

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

What must this be doing to Constance? I can't even imagine, even though I can actually relate somewhat, because I went through a lot of bullying when I was a teeny, skinny, shy teen. But she seems to be one strong kid, stronger than most:

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

This next part will add to your current nausea:

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls.

I work with special ed kids all the time. They are wonderful, sweet, and do nobody any harm. These are people, with feelings, who are being treated as if they have none, who are being looked on as less important, as something so offensive, so contemptible, that they have to be hidden away.

I can't imagine how "branded" these seven students must feel, and what an indelible imprint this has made, regardless of how courageous they may seem to us, or how big her smile is in that photo (go read the whole piece; Constance is an amazing, positive teen).

They hurt.

And I hurt for them.

H/t: BetseyB, Greg Ostravich

R.I.P. Theodore Olbermann: Keith Olbermann's Father Dies

By GottaLaff

Tears. Lots of them:

My father died, in the city of his birth, New York, at 3:50 EST this afternoon.

Though the financial constraints of his youth made college infeasible, he accomplished the near-impossible, becoming an architect licensed in 40 states. Much of his work was commercial, for a series of shoe store chains and department stores. There was a time in the 1970's when nearly all of the Baskin-Robbins outlets in the country had been built to his design, and under his direction.

Via Huffington Post.

Keith did a brilliant job of informing us while experiencing one of the most painful, difficult times of his own life. Thank you, Keith, and thank you Mr. Theodore Olbermann for raising such a wonderful son so well.

VIDEO- Olbermann's tearful Special Comment about his father: "Help, help, help, help"

By GottaLaff

Two words: Life Panels.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Gut wrenching.

He should send this video to every GOP obstructionist, subhuman Big Insurance representative, and Sarah Palin.

Help. Help. Help. Help.

The saddest story Jeremy Scahill has ever written

By GottaLaff

Just go. I won't even provide excerpts. It wouldn't do the story justice.

Blackwater's Youngest Victim

I'm speechless. And in tears.

A conservative leap by Supreme Court

By GottaLaff

I often use the original title of an article to adhere to the original intent of the author.

The L.A. Times title to this piece was "A bold conservative step by Supreme Court". I didn't want to use that title, because the world "bold" has too positive a connotation, and "step" was too understated.

There was a lot more to the piece than this, but here are a few takeaway snippets:

Roberts has shown that when he has the support of moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, he is willing to move boldly on behalf of conservative causes. Long-standing laws and precedents need not stand in the way. [...]

If the Democrats find a way to enact a healthcare law that requires all Americans to have health insurance or else pay a tax, it will face a sure constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court. And there is less reason to be sure such a challenge would fail. [...]

The court's ruling jolted Congress, particularly Democrats. They will have to think twice before supporting legislation that could provoke corporations or industries to target them for defeat in November. [...]

But never has Roberts gone so far to reshape the law as he did in the campaign finance decision, raising questions about what will happen the rest of this year and in the years ahead.
Last week's ruling may be the first of several to reshape the 1st Amendment in a more conservative direction.

"They will have to think twice before supporting legislation that could provoke corporations or industries to target them for defeat in November."

Read that again. And again.

And that is part of what led to Why I Cried.

Why I cried

By GottaLaff

I don't know if it was due to feeling weakened and vulnerable from a week of having the flu, or a legitimate emotional response to what has occurred over the past few weeks, but at 7:30 this morning, I broke down in tears. I sobbed. It was way too early in the day to feel much of anything, let alone an avalanche of despair. But I did.

Or was I mourning? With each L.A. Times page that I turned, my eyes filled with more tears, no matter how hard I tried to talk myself out of them.

With each report on the Supreme Court's decision, with every sentence about the current Prop 8 court battle, with every photo of the devastation of Haiti, with every twist and turn in the health care "debate", with each postmortem of the uncanny Coakley loss to a former centerfold whose policy positions frustrate me no end, with every military death, with each inept, biased piece of news reporting, I found myself succumbing to tears that I tried like crazy to resist.

My sons are facing a world of things I can't even fathom. Where I had hopes, I now have anxiety. Where I thought the world would be safer for them, I see growing dangers that I thought would dissipate over time, not intensify. Health care hurdles, hatred, financial roadblocks, discrimination, wars, political obstruction, you name it.

Who do they turn to for justice? How can fairness be achieved? What happened to judicial objectivity? Who can provide that for them? Certainly not the highest court in the land.

Five people have changed my kids' futures. Five people have made voting seem nearly meaningless. Five people who should be standing up for fairness and democracy have instead slammed a whole lot of doors in my children's faces. And mine. And yours.

And so I cried. I cried because I, along with so many of you, continue to fight, and continue to lose to irrationality. We do what we can, both individually and collectively. Speaking for myself, I donate, I tweet, I post, I Facebook, I try to get a message out, I vote, I scream, I explain, I quip. But it hasn't been enough.

I feel smaller than I've ever felt, more insignificant even though I'm reaching thousands on a daily basis. I fight as hard as I can, and give as much as I can give, but this latest body blow from SCOTUS really hurt.

And so today I finally broke down and cried.

However...

As impotent as I feel, and I suspect many of you are feeling the same way, I have no intention of giving up. None.

I'll continue to donate, tweet, post, Facebook, vote, scream, explain, quip. But just like you, I need to vent sometimes in order to unload the negative and start all over again with the positive.

I hope you understand, I'm not whining. I'm not surrendering. I'm not walking away. I haven't lost my resolve. I'm simply sharing the overwhelming rush of emotion I had this morning, because if I didn't, my head would explode.

And having done that, it's time to start over, breathe, and do everything in my power to make the world better for my kids, myself, and anyone who wants to join me.

Veterans Day encounter with Obama: "Sorry for any inconvenience," a terribly polite Secret Service agent whispered in my ear.

By GottaLaff

This is a must-read. It's one of the most heartwarming stories I've read in a very long time, and it involves President Obama, the First Lady, their visit to Arlington National Cemetery, and a bittersweet chance encounter.

Here are a few excerpts that won't even begin to do the story justice:

President Obama simply stuck out his hand and asked for my name as he stepped toward me amid a bone-chilling drizzle in the Gardens of Stone.[...]

What I got was an unexpected look into the eyes of a man who intertwined his roles as commander in chief and consoler in chief on a solemn day filled with remembrance and respect for sacrifices made - and sacrifices yet to be made.

I'm sure the cynics will assume this wasjust anotherObama photoop.[...]

I then told him I'm a reporter for the Daily News - but was just there to visit friends.

"Well, James," he said, looking me in the eye, "just because you're a journalist doesn't mean you can't honor your friends here."

The First Lady smiled and squeezed my hand. I thanked her for coming to Section 60.

Her face opened up into a smile filled with warmth and comfort, a welcome antidote for the weather and sadness around her. She said there was no finer place to be on Veterans Day.[...]

"Sorry for any inconvenience," a terribly polite Secret Service agent whispered in my ear.

Please read the rest here. Then join me in shaking my head slowly at those who continue to say the most offensive things about this president.

H/t: muttlikemeblog

School: Obama education speech? No. Empty boots & Taps? No problem.

By GottaLaff

I have a friend who has a high school aged niece living in Williamson County, Texas. The niece's 25-year-old brother is in the Army, stationed in Afghanistan.

I just heard from my friend, just a few minutes ago. It turns out that the niece was very distraught today... so distraught, in fact, that she had a panic attack and had to leave school. You see, the brother and sister lived in Fort Hood from 2004-2006.

The sister wanted to know why she needed her parents' permission to stay in school for President Obama's education speech, but not for the empty boots and Taps that aired without restriction during today's speech honoring those slain by the Ft. Hood shooter.

Good question.

She is still pulling herself together as I write this, which, per my friend, requires a wash cloth and substantial make-up touch-ups.

Yes, in all its education-oriented wisdom, the school district banned the president's speech about why it's important to stay in school, work hard, and aim high. Kids at high schools throughout the district needed the okay from Mom and Dad for that...except those in U.S. government classes. I guess those kids were immune to indoctrination.

However, witnessing the agony of families mourning for their children, fathers, sisters who died at the hands of a fellow soldier? That works for Williamson County.

And speaking of military deaths, putting a young girl through the daily pain and anxiety of wondering whether her own brother is alive or dead, or could come face to face with another Nidal Hasan? She can handle that, she's old enough. That won't leave an imprint at all.

But hearing these words will scar her forever:

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

That was a no-no, but this is perfectly acceptable:

I join her in her fears for her brother's life... and in her tears over the priorities of what's left of our so-called family values.

Photo of the Day/Week/Month/Year: Mommy Comes Home

By GottaLaff

Via Oliver:

VIDEO: "We've gotta get back to being America, because we're losing sight of what my son died for."

By GottaLaff

Somehow I don't think tax cuts will help families like this one. Get out the Kleenex:

Via CBS, 60 Minutes.

Big h/t: Oliver Willis

VIDEO: A Letter to My Unborn Children on Inauguration Day

By GottaLaff

So sweet, so heartfelt, so meaningful, so Obama Era:


H/t: Hilz

Bigger than race

By GottaLaff

Barry Blitt

Frank Rich:

For all our huge progress, we are not “post-racial,” whatever that means. The world doesn’t change in a day, and the racial frictions that emerged in both the Democratic primary campaign and the general election didn’t end on Nov. 4. As Obama himself said in his great speech on race, liberals couldn’t “purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap” simply by voting for him. And conservatives? The so-called party of Lincoln has spent much of the past month in spirited debate about whether a white candidate for the party’s chairmanship did the right thing by sending out a “humorous” recording of “Barack the Magic Negro” as a holiday gift.

Next to much of our history, this is small stuff. And yet: Of all the coverage of Obama’s victory, the most accurate take may still be the piquant morning-after summation of the satirical newspaper The Onion. Under the headline “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job,” it reported that our new president will have “to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind.”

Those messes are enormous, bigger than Washington, bigger than race, bigger than anything most of us have ever seen. Nearly three months after Election Day, it remains astonishing that the American people have entrusted the job to a young black man who seemed to come out of nowhere looking for that kind of work just as we most needed him.

“In no other country on earth is my story even possible,” Obama is fond of saying. That is true, and that is what the country celebrates this week. But it is all the tragic American stories that came before him, some of them still playing out in chilly streets just blocks from the White House, that throw both his remarkable triumph and the huge challenge ahead of him into such heart-stopping relief.

Tears. Happy ones and sad ones.

Shallow Thoughts: Secretary of State Clinton pictorial edition

By GottaLaff

As I watched the first hour of the Secretary of State confirmation hearings, especially Hillary Clinton's opening statements, it finally hit me that the Obama presidency is a reality, and I teared up. Her clarity and her focus on so many priorities that have been neglected for 8 years hit me hard and brought to mind this mental picture:

Today's Shallow Thought:

Then

Now

That was today's pictorial Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

Obama choked up about leaving home

By GottaLaff

It will be difficult to leave a home he loves, but a few years in the beautiful, historic White House should perk him up:

President-elect Barack Obama says he choked up a little bit when he left his empty house before flying to Washington. [...]

His family went to Washington on Saturday and left him to wander around his Hyde Park home alone.

He said he found a photo album one of his daughter's friends left for the future first family and teared up when he looked through pictures.

Obama also said he wasn't looking forward to living in a hotel for the two weeks before he's allowed to move into his new home. He says he's lived in hotels during two years on the campaign trail.

He teared up... awww. Okay, time for a hug. I'll be right over. I'm almost sure the Secret Service will have no problem with that.

UPDATE:
Here's the quote:

"Well guys, I am looking forward to seeing you guys in Washington... I gotta say I choked up a little bit leaving my house today."

"Malia's friend had dropped off an album of the two of them together. They had been friends since pre-school and I just looked through the pages and the house was empty and it was a little tough, it got me."

VIDEO: U.S. Presidents, Take 2

By GottaLaff

Paddy posted this winner earlier. Chills. Here's something similarly beautiful, suggested by Commenter "Dr. President":

"Presidential History"

I, Barack Hussein Obama...

By GottaLaff

We hear at TPC have not shied away from mentioning Barack Obama's middle name. In fact, the second he was declared the winner on November 4th, I proudly posted it in full. Many of us even made a point of adding it to our Comment identities (as in Gotta Hussein Laff) during the primaries.

In an L.A. Times editorial today, they agree that Obama should embrace his Husseinitude:

When George W. Bush was sworn in for his second term in 2005, he began his oath of office with the words: "I, George Walker Bush." [...]

No controversy surrounded Bush's inclusion of his middle name in the oath. The same might not be true of a decision by Barack Obama to take his oath as "Barack Hussein Obama" -- which is precisely why he should do so. [...]

Obama is a Christian, but Hussein, his middle name, is a common Muslim name. To capitalize on anti-Muslim sentiment, detractors took to calling him "Barack Hussein Obama." [...]

Stripped of such evil intent, the "Hussein" in Obama's full name shouldn't be taboo. Nor should the idea of an openly Muslim citizen deciding to seek the presidency.

As Colin Powell said,

"Is there something wrong with a 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing he or she could be president?"

No, there isn't.

Most Muslim Americans believe in and are pursuing the American dream, and as Powell also noted, they are sometimes dying for it.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a survey. Guess what it concluded?

"Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in Western European countries." [...]

American[s] with an Islamic faith -- or an Islamic name -- [are] not a second-class citizen[s]. When the new president takes the oath, he should say, loudly and proudly: "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

That did it: Tears. And pride.

45 years ago today

By GottaLaff

We still miss you.

Dennis Kucinich's sister dies

By GottaLaff

Big hugs to the Kucinich family:

Beth Ann Kucinich, youngest sister of Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), has died.

Ms. Kucinich, an Army veteran, succumbed to acute respiratory distress syndrome at Veteran's Hospital in Cleveland on Tuesday. She had been on life support during her three-week battle.

"Our brother Perry passed away last December. Beth Ann never got over Perry's sudden passing. The two had been inseparable. She talked about Perry constantly and she longed to be with him," said the Congressman.

So, so sad.

Obama's Grandmother's Absentee Ballot will be Counted by State of Hawaii

By GottaLaff

Silver linings appear when and where you least expect them. Something very right is going to happen:

While Sen. Barack Obama's late grandmother Madelyn Dunham will not live to see the outcome of this historic election, her 2008 vote will count.

Hawaii Chief Elections Officer Kevin Cronin told ABC News this evening that the absentee ballot cast by Dunham before she passed away will count. Cronin said Dunham's absentee ballot was received on October 27 and found to meet the requirements of a valid absentee ballot and will therefore be counted with the rest of the state's ballots tomorrow.

Toot gets the last word. As it should be.

Jim Crow Survivor Casts First Vote for Obama

By GottaLaff

Tears:

In his 103 years, Ernest Smith says, he never drank, smoked or voted. Though he’s yet to sample tobacco or alcohol, on Thursday, Smith cast his first ballot —- for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

“I voted, and I want to vote again,” said Smith, a testament to clean living. “It felt good.” [...]

Born in 1905 in Pembroke, N.C., Smith lived most of his life there and was first eligible to vote in 1928 —- then the voting age was 21.

But for African-Americans like Smith, suffrage was far from universal. Literacy tests and poll taxes were enacted through much of the Jim Crow South to suppress black turnout.

Had Smith attempted to vote in 1928 —- he says he never tried to register —- his choices would have been Herbert Hoover, campaigning as a Republican maverick, and Democrat Al Smith who, like Obama, was a historic nominee. [...]

Ernest Smith is confident that this year, he’s backing a winner.

“We’ll make it, thank the Lord,” said Smith, bolting up from his rocking chair, clapping. A snapshot of Obama sits on his dresser.

The retired railroad worker plans on being around for the next presidential election, in 2012, to vote for Obama a second time.

“I wish I had done it before,” Smith said. When he was young, he added, “we never thought about voting.” [...]

He was reluctant at first.

“We told him he had to go vote,” joked Robert Elliott, 64, Clara’s husband. After Smith cast his ballot in last week’s advance voting in DeKalb County, “he couldn’t stop talking about it.”

“I had tears rolling down my eyes,” Clara Elliott said. “It makes you think about how far we’ve come.”

Smith won’t be the only member of his family to vote for the first time this year.

Step-granddaughter Chiquetta Route said nothing will keep her from voting Tuesday.

“It made me want to vote even more,” said Route, 26. “On Tuesday I’m getting up at 4 a.m. [and] dropping the kids off, and I’m going to stand in line as long as it takes.”

That night, Ernest Smith will be watching the returns on TV. He’s normally in bed by 9 p.m., but he’s determined not to miss out on history.

“Just like the old tent revivals,” he said when a visitor asked if he’d be able to stay up late. “We’d go all night with no sitting down.”

Mr. Smith GObamas to Washington.

H/t: One of our Anonymi