Same-sex marriage

UPDATE AT END OF POST: The Confederacy's Jefferson Davis railed against "the tyranny of the majority" wanting to end slavery.

Al Sharpton on Friday said something that every American on both sides of the aisle should totally fear.

"You cannot have rights voted on," the MSNBC anchor actually said on HBO's Real Time. "You have tyranny by the majority" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The idea that marriage is a sacred institution is apparently a joke to Jay Leno and CBS.

Leno declared that those who wish to defend the sanctity of marriage should "ban Kardashian weddings." CBS apparently thought that Leno's crack was too good to pass up, highlighting Leno's quote on at the start of its February 8 "CBS This Morning" show.

CNN host Randi Kaye was eager to provide same-sex marriage supporters with a stately platform on Wednesday afternoon. In her interview of the plaintiffs in the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage (Proposition 8), she gleefully asked them about their wedding plans. Then Kaye teed them up again with this softball question: "Are you considered heroes by those who support same-sex marriage? What are you hearing from people?"

At the end of the interview, the couple invited certain GOP opponents of same-sex marriage over to their house for a conversation on the matter. Kaye promised CNN would cover it and quickly added "And, we'll bring the meal." [Video below the break.]

Hawking his new novel on Wednesday's NBC Today, author Josh Bazell launched into a rant against the GOP and Rick Santorum specifically: "If I were to create a character who, say, had been the senator from Pennsylvania...get up at a debate and say that global warming was a hoax and that we had to change the Constitution to limit the rights of gay people. No one would believe that." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Bazell, son of NBC medical correspondent Robert Bazell, further proclaimed: "And if I said then, you know, that the entire Republican establishment sat quietly through this, no one stood up and said, 'You know, that's a crazy man talking,' it would just seem like I was being biased." For his part, weatherman Al Roker simply nodded along with the liberal screed, offering no objection.  

On the February 7 edition of MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner, panelist John Heilemann, who writes for New York Magazine, thought it appropriate to equate the gay marriage debate in California to racial bigotry experienced by African-Americans in the 1960s. 

During an interview with openly gay former Lieutenant Dan Choi, Heilemann asked former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele the following bigoted and offensive question: “Michael I’m curious about whether you think it would be okay in modern America, for there to be some states where black men could not marry white women?  If local standards where that were unacceptable.” [MP3 audio here. See video below.]

Once again, CNN aired a coming-out story that could have doubled as a promotional piece for the GLBT community. Anchor Randi Kaye interviewed the openly-gay grandson of televangelist Oral Roberts on Thursday afternoon and she let him explain how he wanted to change conservatives' minds by giving them a "new visual" of gay couples.

Of course, one can wonder if CNN would have interviewed Roberts's grandson after he served two tours in Afghanistan, or after he did mission work in Sudanese villages devastated by violence. But even though her job as a news anchor is to be objective, Kaye admitted to being "really moved" by Randy Roberts Potts' story in a men's magazine, and she beamed when she asked him about his "upcoming marriage." [Video below the break.]

You have to give McKay Coppins credit. The Buzzfeed writer today managed to work in hints of anti-Mormon skepticism and the complaints of the gay rights lobby into his January 24 story -- "What's With Mitt's Mormon Money?" -- on Romney's tax records.

It's a liberal bias trifecta!

New York Times Atlanta bureau chief Kim Severson showed a little anti-Southern, anti-conservative condescension on the campaign trail in her Friday filing “From South Carolina, a Wary Welcome.” (Previously Jim Rutenberg had declared the state "famous for surfacing the dark undercurrents of American politics.")

CNN's Piers Morgan never even tried to conceal his support for gay marriage while he hosted "special guest" Rosie O'Donnell for the one-year anniversary of his prime-time CNN show. The Tuesday interview morphed into a GOP-bashing festival as the two liberals derided some Republicans for their "anti-gay" remarks. Morgan never pressed O'Donnell about her past espousal of 9/11 "truther" conspiracies.

O'Donnell slammed America as a "backward nation in many ways" after being egged on by her interviewer on the topic of homosexuality. Morgan had branded certain GOP presidential candidates as "anti-homosexuals" and expressed his dismay at "the virulence of their rhetoric." [Video below the break.]

Hours before New Hampshire voters would choose a Republican candidate to oppose President Obama, CNN host Kyra Phillips brought on liberal columnist L.Z. Granderson to tout his latest op-ed which – surprise! – blames social conservative Rick Santorum in part for triggering violence against gays and transgender people.

The openly-gay Granderson penned a nasty take-down of the candidate and claimed his "homophobic" rhetoric justifed, for some, the murders of transgender people and gay bullying – even while Granderson reveals he can't "hate" Santorum. In the CNN interview, Granderson also scolded other Republicans for their lack of love toward gays, immigrants, and the poor. [Video below. Click here for audio.]

On Friday's CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley tagged Rick Santorum as the "very conservative Pennsylvania Senator" as he introduced a full report on the GOP presidential candidate's views on gay rights, abortion, and contraception, with correspondent Dean Reynolds warning that the GOP candidate's views on social issues that helped him in Iowa "have energized his opponents here in New Hampshire."

After noting a recent poll shows Santorum "coming on strong" in the Granite State since his near win in the Iowa caucuses, Pelley, applied the "very conservative" label to the Pennsylvania Republican:

During Saturday's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire hosted by ABC, after two of the moderators - World News anchor Diane Sawyer and local ABC affiliate anchor Josh McElveen - had devoted six minutes to a discussion of what the candidates would say to a gay couple "sitting in your living rooms" about same-sex marriage and adoption, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich highlighted the double standard in the media's left-leaning sympathy toward gay rights issues but lack of concern about anti-Christian "bigotry" from the left. Gingrich complained: (Video below)

New York Times reporter Mark Landler, with President Obama in Honolulu, filed “Obama Still Lets Surrogates Take the Lead as Gay Rights Momentum Builds” for Sunday’s paper.

Like his colleague Ashley Parker did in her own Sunday Times story, Landler celebrated Obama’s oratory, but right at the beginning of his story, on the president keeping his support for gay marriage at an official arms length. Landler also assumed opposition to gay marriage will be a political loser for whoever the Republican candidate may be.

In lieu of President Obama's Hawaiian vacation, CNN highlighted the plight of a Hawaiian same-sex couple that will legally celebrate a civil union come January 1st, but desires federal marriage benefits that do not apply to same-sex couples. In a one-sided and sympathetic report, White House correspondent Brianna Keilar painted the picture of a President who could make a gain at the voting booth if he legalizes same-sex marriage.

CNN analyst and National Journal's Ron Brownstein strongly hinted that Obama could be alienating some of his liberal base by sitting on the fence over the gay marriage issue. He made the case that Obama may be losing socially-conservative Democrats anyway, and could "mobilize" voters by supporting same-sex marriage. [Video below the break.]

The national media love to appear deeply cynical about politicians and their phoniness. But not when it comes to Barack Obama and "gay marriage." Obama campaigned in 2008 by publicly opposing it, and yet no one in the media condemned him like he was one of those troglodyte social conservatives -- because no one believed he was sincere. Now Obama is signaling to the gay Left that he's really in favor of "gay marriage," but few in the media are noticing.

ABC's The Note reported on Tuesday that President Obama sent a letter of congratulations to two men who were legally married in New York, but there's been no reporting on this story on the network airwaves or in the nation's leading newspapers:

Teresa Tomassoni's piece in the Washington Post's Dec. 19 Metro section, titled "Transgender immigrant finds new life, protection in D.C.," reads like a caricature of a liberal media feel-good human interest story. The article, about a transgendered Latina illegal immigrant granted asylum in the United States for sexual persecution, is designed to tug at heart strings while at the same time ignoring important questions.

The article tells the story of Valerie Villalta, a gay man and El Salvadoran illegal immigrant granted asylum in the United States because he was attacked for his sexuality. Villalta now identifies himself as a transgender woman - and not just any woman who used to be a man, but "a striking, model-like figure," according to Tomassoni.

MSNBC's faux conservative Joe Scarborough dismissed the conservative credentials of Republican front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney while promoting Jon Huntsman – the GOP darling of liberals like Jimmy Carter.

Scarborough's Politico op-ed ripped Gingrich and Romney for flip-flopping on issues like abortion and global warming. He strangely ignored the time where Huntsman, MSNBC's favorite Republican, called his fellow party members "anti-science" for disbelieving global warming – or when he supported civil unions for same sex couples.
 

"Groundbreaking." "Memorable." "Big." "Remarkable." "Intimate." [?] "Wonderful." "Great." "History-making." "Go Coco!"

The above statements were made by various media outlets upon learning of Conan O'Brien's intention to preside over the wedding of a gay couple during the taping of his show "Conan" in New York this week.

O'Brien, who is celebrating his first year at TBS, is back in New York this week (for 16 years his previous show, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" was filmed in New York City). He announced last week that he was going to officiate a gay wedding because same-sex marriages are now legal in New York. The funnyman obtained an online certificate from Universal Life Church Monastery and on Thursday, Nov. 3, married his long time costume designer Scott Cronick to his Cronick's partner in a traditional Jewish ceremony.

Let the media cheerleading begin.

CNN's new prime-time host Erin Burnett pressed Donald Trump about the Republican Party being a "smaller tent party" because of its conservatism on social issues. "Do you have any frustrations that the Republican Party still ends up defining itself by abortion stance or gay marriage?" she asked Trump.

Burnett even quoted rising star Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, who said the GOP must return to a "big tent" party status, or one more inclusive of social moderates and liberals. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]

During an interview with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on Tuesday's NBC "Today," co-host Ann Curry asked: "If you're standing up and saying things, no matter what people may say or what some people may judge, then why are you so popular and successful?" DeGeneres replied: "Beats me. Like they do know I'm gay, right? Like, I'm gay, and yet, you know, we can't pass a vote to have marriage equality."

Curry touted: "During the five months in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal in California, Ellen tied the knot with her girlfriend, actress Portia DeRossi." Later, Curry said of DeGeneres: "...this she does know, there is too much judgment in the world. And buried within her humor is a lesson of acceptance."

"Gay marriage" advocates are probably delighted, but The Washington Post once again can't find any place to put a troublesome "D" next to the name of a Maryland state delegate charged with theft. Aaron Davis reported:

A young Prince George's [County] politician who seemed to embody Maryland's crisis of conscience over approving same-sex marriage was charged Friday with stealing campaign funds, in part to pay for her wedding.

The Big Three networks unequivocally celebrated the end of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy as a "historic moment" on their Tuesday morning programs. CBS's "Early Show" turned to a discharged Air Force major who pushed for further recognition of same-sex couples by the military. NBC's "Today" brought on a homosexual playwright to promote his one-man movie on the policy. ABC's "GMA" only had a news brief on the development, but still highlighted how a magazine is "publishing photos of more than 100 active duty gay and lesbian troops who served in silence until now." None of the programs brought on dissenting voices to advocate the continuation of the policy.

"The Early Show" devoted the most amount of air time to the expiration of the policy, and led the 7 am Eastern hour with a slanted report from correspondent David Martin. Martin played sound bites from President Obama and outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, both opponents of the ban on open homosexuals from serving in the military, but none from supporters:

It wouldn't be an awards show in Hollywood if there weren't the typical cheap shots against conservatives and the 63rd Emmy Primetime Awards host Jane Lynch didn't disappoint as she mocked the Tea Party as anti-Latina. The star of the Fox hit show "Glee," during that network’s broadcast of the Emmys on Sunday, joked that her "daughter had a tea party with her little friends" where "they complained about taxes, called Obama a communist and wondered how the Latina kid got in?"

Later on in the broadcast, Lynch also went on to name check MSNBC's ultra liberal host Rachel Maddow when she listed her "gay agenda."

(video after the jump)

CNN's Piers Morgan hosted New York Magazine columnist Frank Rich for a conservative-bashing session on Thursday. Morgan took the opportunity to ask his liberal guest if the Tea Party can even govern.

"But can they actually govern? Or does the rather intransigent streak that they bring to all that policy-making, is that always going to be the problem?" Morgan asked. Rich responded that the Tea Party's refusal to compromise on the debt ceiling was "temper tantrum-throwing and pure, you know, far right ideology."

[Video below the break.]

Wednesday on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Morgan interviewed GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.  The host spent considerable time on Santorum's views on homosexuality.  Confirming the candidate is a Catholic, Morgan asked if he believes homosexuality is a sin.  Santorum stated he subscribes to his Church's teaching that it is.  Morgan asked how Santorum would react to learning one of his sons is gay and after listening to his response:

MORGAN: I guess one of the reasons it's troubling and difficult for people to come out is because of the level of bigotry that's out there against them. I have to say that your views you espoused on this issue are bordering on bigotry, aren't they?

So an orthodox Roman Catholic who adheres to his faith's determination that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" borders on bigotry.  Not Morgan, however:

MORGAN: Well, I'm a Catholic, too. I just think, unfortunately, we're in a different era. We're in a modern world. And the fact --

In a Thursday NPR interview, CNN's openly-gay anchor Don Lemon lumped discrimination against gays and lesbians in with atrocities committed in Libya.

When asked why audiences should be interested in gay and lesbian issues, Lemon answered that "people are glued to what's happening in Libya, because it affects us. Any atrocity that's committed against one person affects us all and we are becoming more of one society, of a global society. "

On Thursday's All Things Considered, NPR's Richard Gonzales slanted towards homosexual activists who laud the Obama administration's recent move to slacken its deportation policy and allow foreign-born nationals in same-sex "marriages" to stay in the United States without a green card. Gonzales found an opponent of the new policy, but noted that "his objection has nothing to do with sexual orientation."

The correspondent highlighted the plight of Bradford Wells, a resident of San Francisco's infamous Castro district, whose Australian partner's permission to stay in the country is about to expire. He stated that Wells "has good days and bad days....[He] has AIDS and a host of related ailments. His primary care-giver....Anthony John Makk, a citizen of Australia....entered this country legally.... he's applied for a green card. But he's been rejected because under the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, the federal government doesn't recognize their marriage....So, he's left in a legal limbo, and the upsets Wells."

In two separate interviews of Republican presidential candidates, CNN's Piers Morgan exhibited an obvious contempt of Tea Party politics as well as a double standard toward moderate and conservative presidential candidates.

In Monday's interview with Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, CNN's Piers Morgan baited the moderate candidate to criticize the Tea Party for its unwavering defense of its principles. In contrast, Morgan used the same rhetoric the week before to put Tea Party champion Ron Paul on the defensive.

[Video below the break.]

Former Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell abruptly walked off the set of CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" Wednesday.

O'Donnell wanted to discuss more meaty issues in her new book, such as her criticisms of President Obama, while her host focused on masturbation and same-sex marriage (video follows with transcript and commentary):