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First Thoughts from a North Carolina Couple on a Big Day at the Supreme Court

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“We will win full marriage equality.  We are convinced of that.” Entrepreneurs and LGBT Activists Bob Page and his partner Dale Frederiksen offer their thoughts on this historic day. 

First Thoughts from a North Carolina Couple on a Big Day at the Supreme Court

By Bob Page & Dale Frederiksen

With today’s Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s ban on same-sex marriages in that state, we didn’t win the Powerball.  We’d hoped for the really big win — a ruling proclaiming the Constitutional right of same-sex couples like us to marry — even though we didn’t expect it.  But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t thrilled.  It’s a great day, a historic day, and we are excited – excited for the couples in California who soon will be marrying and, long-term, for all the ways the DOMA decision will change how same-sex couples are viewed and treated across America.  Although today we have many unanswered practical questions, we believe that the Supreme Court’s decision – requiring the federal government to recognize state-sanctioned same-sex marriages – deals a body blow to marriage inequality in the United States.  We are significantly further along the way in claiming our right to marry and to have our marriage be recognized, regardless of which state we live or marry in.

Ryan, one of our almost 14-year old twin sons, asked last night, “Did they rule yet on same-sex marriage?”  At the heart of all this legal wrangling is something very meaningful to those of us living in families with two dads or two moms.  It’s political and legal, yes, but it’s so personal, too.  Justice Kennedy’s words, which moved us ten years ago today when Lawrence v. Texas was decided, move us again today in the Windsor case.  While Justice Kennedy’s opinion was heavy on concepts like “federalism,” it also spoke powerfully about “pride” and “dignity” and our “evolving understanding of the meaning of equality.”  As Justice Kennedy said, “Responsibilities, as well as rights, enhance the dignity and integrity of the person.”  That gets close to what all of this is about for us and for our families—claiming our dignity and our equal status in the human family.  As Justice Kennedy said of DOMA, “[i]t humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples.”  A law doing such a thing should never have passed, and we’re overjoyed that a section of a law hurting so many of us is forever wiped away.

Wonderful as it is to have Section 3 of DOMA dead and gone, much remains to be done.  Things were complicated before, and things remain complicated.  Lawyers everywhere still have lots to do to hash out what all this will mean for people like us and the thousands and thousands of couples who live in one of the thirty-one states banning same-sex marriage. This gets back to today’s one bittersweet note:  the Supreme Court could have ended the whole marriage controversy at ten o’clock this morning.  It didn’t, and on we fight.  The costs, financial and human, are high.  It saddens us to know that friends who wish to marry may not live to see that day in our state.  But the day of final victory for our community will come – every poll of public opinion tells us that, and so does today’s DOMA decision.  We will win full marriage equality.  We are convinced of that.

 

Bob Page 1 2010Replacements, Ltd. Chairman and CEO Bob Page grew up on a small tobacco farm in rural North Carolina before graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1967 with a BSBA. Page served two years in the U.S. Army prior to starting an accounting career. During the 1970s, Page hated his job as a state auditor and lived for his hobby of searching for china and crystal at flea markets for resale. Longing to make a living doing what he loved, in 1981 he started Replacements, Ltd. in the attic of his home and grew the business into the world’s largest retailer of old and new china, crystal, silver and collectibles with revenue exceeding $80 million for the 2012 fiscal year. Page lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his partner Dale Frederiksen and their twin sons, Owen and Ryan.

daleDale Frederiksen grew up in Waterford, Michigan.  In 1980, Dale moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to attend Tennessee Temple University, graduating in 1984 with a BS degree in secondary education.  He taught junior and senior high mathematics in Kansas City, Kansas, before returning to Chattanooga in 1987 to teach mathematics and to coach volleyball at Ooltewah Middle School.  In 1989, Dale joined Replacements, Ltd., which he serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Product Officer.  With his life partner of twenty-four years, Bob Page, Dale has co-authored 21 books on tableware.  When not actively parenting his twin sons, Owen & Ryan, Dale particularly enjoys service on the Board of Directors of the National Conference for Community & Justice of the Piedmont Triad, as well as softball, tennis, and travel.

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Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds

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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”

“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.

Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.

“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).

The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.

A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.

“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.

“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”

READ MORE: MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions

Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”

Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”

In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”

Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”

“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”

The original video is here.

See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.

Caution: the video is disturbing.

READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.

While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.

But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.

READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties

“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”

CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”

The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.

READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report

NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.

Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.

“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”

 

 

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RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties

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Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.

“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”

READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report

“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.

“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”

One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.

But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”

Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”

Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.

“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.

“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”

Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won

 

 

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