"The Wedding Song" from Bob Dylan's Planet Waves album, great lyrics.

It's never been my duty to remake the world at large,
Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge,
'Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn't bend,
And if there is eternity I'd love you there again.

You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see,
Just bein' next to you is a natural thing for me
And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on,
'Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone.

It's time to get politics out of marriage and welcome a future where everyone is free to love and marry whomever they choose.

This is an open thread.

Despite the contrary opinion of the Bush adminstration and conservatives, gay marriage is now legal in California. The state began issuing licenses today.

CA, MA and 48 more to go.

Update: Picture swapped for a more cheery one, at the suggestion of ByTheFault.

Wouldn't you expect John McCain to have known that "his good friend Clayton Williams" isn't someone in whose company he wants to be seen during a presidential campaign?

While running unsuccessfully against Ann Richards for governor, the Texan was overheard comparing rape to the weather: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

It seems to have dawned on the McCain camp that Williams' role as a fund-raiser wasn't helping McCain's reputation.

Following the resurrection of this and other off-colour remarks [reported here], the McCain campaign decided abruptly to cancel the fundraiser at Mr Williams's lavish Midland home.

The McCain camp wants us to know that the Republican candidate-to-be doesn't think Williams' joke is funny. Let's not forget that McCain's own sense of humor can tend toward the vicious. [more ...]

The Denver Host Committee, under a contractual deadline to raise $40.6 million by today for the Democratic National Convention in August, has confirmed it fell $11.6 million short of that amount. So, what now?

Barack Obama has raised $265 million for his campaign so far. Will he now assist the Host Committee in obtaining contributions for the convention?

The Obama campaign has broken all political fundraising records largely by mining the Internet for small contributions, collecting some $265 million. A fundraising pitch to those donors could vastly boost the convention's fundraising, several observers said.

While the Host Committee is confident the money will be raised one way or another, Committee Co-Chair Steve Farber addressed that possibility today:

"There are discussions occurring. We could definitely use the help of the Obama campaign," said Steve Farber, a Denver lawyer and leading member of the host committee. "The fact that we have a candidate now does help."

Today in Michigan, Al Gore endorsed Sen. Obama. He even sent out an e-mail to readers of his own website asking them to contribute to Obama. [More...]

The Huntsville Times wonders "how the Huntsville Police Department investigates itself and whether its review policy is so lacking in balance and so opaque as to undermine public confidence in it."

When an officer shoots a citizen, and the federal courts say there's strong evidence that department policies weren't followed, yet that department doesn't condemn the officer's involvement, the public must be troubled.

Ricky Scheuerman ran over Officer Jeffrey Weaber's foot. He says it was an accident. Weaber shot Sheuerman three times in the chest. That was not an accident.

An internal investigation by the HPD exonerated Weaber despite a less than stellar work record that includes "a dozen or so wrecks in his police car." A federal judge has nonetheless concluded that the evidence of misconduct is strong enough to warrant a trial in Scheuerman's lawsuit against Weaber. [more ...]

Melissa McEwan has a nice post about Tom Colicchio, now of Top Chef fame (he was a famous chef before that of course). Some highlights from the article:

Of our final three, Richard had the most experience, the most imagination, and by far the most technical proficiency. He had consistently wowed us during the season, and frankly, this was his competition to lose. . . . My sense is that Richard lacked that last little bit of grit that causes one to hang in there, no matter what. Call it the "Hillary" factor.

Hillary as a positive role model? Who'da thunk it? More . . .

NYTimes:

“Patti will be an asset and good addition to the Obama campaign. After nearly two decades in political life, she brings with her the ability to tap an extensive network that will be a huge asset to Senator Obama. As Senator Clinton has said, we’re all going to do our part to help elect Senator Obama as the next President of the United States," said spokesman Mo Elleithee.

Hmmm. Hillary is fine with it publically. If the Obama gambit was to have Clinton stoically stew, and then say "see, not a team player," it did not work. I say the discussion of Hillary as VP takes an uptick now. Was that Obama's goal? Personally, I doubt it. He is still between a rock and a hard place on the VP issue imo.

by Big Tent Democrat

Kevin Drum links to the real meaning of the Solis Doyle naming - a slap in the face to Hillary Clinton:

Not exactly a signal that Obama is considering Hillary Clinton for the job. At least that's how Clinton loyalists see it. "It's a slap in the face," Susie Tompkins Buell, a prominent Clinton backer, said in an interview. "Why would they put somebody that was so clearly ineffective in such a position? It's a message. We get it." She said it was a "calculated decision" by the Obama team to "send a message that she [Clinton] is not being considered for the ticket." . . . The sentiment reflected what another person in the immediate Clinton orbit described as "shock" that Obama would send such a strong signal that he is not considering Clinton as his runningmate so soon.

Unity? Not if the Obama camp has anything to say about it.

By Big Tent Democrat, Speaking for me Only

Comments now closed.

This is powerful testimony:

"It was burned into my mind, my eyes ... what he looked like," the victim in the case, the Rev. Herbert Harrison Sr., testified at the trial. "I made sure that I knew who was trying to take my life."

Problem is, confidence in the accuracy of an identification doesn't correlate with actual accuracy. Harrison picked Aquil Wiggins from an array of six photographs. The array was tainted by the inclusion of pictures that didn't fit Harrison's description of the assailant -- an error that would have focused Harrison's attention on the pictures that more closely resembled the description. [more ...]

Via mcjoan:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants the [FISA] matter settled before Congress breaks for Independence Day at the end of next week, suggesting she is ready to bring the issue to a head. "We want to pass a bill that will be signed by the president," she said. "And that will happen before we leave for the Fourth of July.

(Emphasis supplied.) How bad a Speaker has Nancy Pelosi been? Even now she craves the chance to cave in to the most unpopular President in history. Just unbelievable.

Speaking for me only

Leona "Only the little people pay taxes" Helmsley famously left $12 million to her dog Trouble. We learn today that a judge reduced Trouble's trust fund to a mere $2 million. How is a well-bred poodle to survive with such a meager trust fund? Consider Trouble's expenses:

[Carl] Lekic put Trouble’s annual expenses at $190,000, which includes Lekic’s $60,000 guardian fee, $100,000 for ’round-the-clock security, $8,000 for grooming, $3,000 for miscellaneous expenses, $1,200 for food and anywhere from $2,500 to $18,000 for medical care.

Not to mention the occasional biscuit.

Me three:

Wow, what a great suggestion, and from Jonah Goldberg -- have Chuck Todd replace Tim Russert on Meet the Press. I can't think of someone more substantive on television who has the likeability factor that Russert had. And if I'm agreeing with Goldberg on it, there's clearly cross-partisanship support for the choice. It's a genius suggestion.

Never happen. David Gregory is a lock imo.

Speaking for me only