Arrest follows president’s controversial comments at debate: 'Proud Boys – stand back and stand by’
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3ilNhno
Everyone knows that live television isn’t easy. Anything can go wrong—from a faulty connection, a verbal slip-up, or, as was the case on Tuesday morning’s Fox & Friends, Rudy Giuliani bellowing insane conspiracy theories at the nation with no obvious way to stop him.It’s always a risk to allow Giuliani to share his wildly unpredictable stream of consciousness live. The man who was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2001 has long since been reduced to sharing the latest Trumpist conspiracy theories on any cable news channel that has the budget to cover any possible subsequent defamation lawsuits.This time, his F&F hosts looked on with visible horror in their eyes as Giuliani shared his completely baseless belief that Joe Biden is suffering from dementia. If you have the time, it’s worth watching the clip at least three times so you can see each of the hosts panicking in their own unique way as the former New York City mayor rambles on and on.> On Fox & Friends, Rudy Giuliani says Joe Biden "has dementia. There's no doubt about it. I've talked to doctors. ... The president's quite right to say maybe he's taken adderall." The hosts get visibly uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/2Ma7DKNBpS> > — Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) September 29, 2020With a mischievous cackle, Giuliani began: “The man [Biden] has dementia. There’s no doubt about it. I’ve talked to doctors. I’ve had them look at a hundred different tapes of his five years ago and today.” Trying his very best to shut Giuliani down, host Steve Doocy interjected that Biden’s team has said the Democrat has no serious medical problems.Giuliani then made an extraordinary noise at Doocy that can best be typed as “Oowughawughawugh,” before continuing: “He can’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance and he’s fine? He was in the Senate for 160 years? I mean, he can’t do the prologue to the... to the... con... to the... uh... Constitution of the United States or the Declaration of Independence, any of them.”Getting louder and increasingly excited about his armchair diagnosis, Giuliani went on: “He can’t do NUMBERS. Wow, are the numbers screwed up. He actually displays symptoms that two gerontologists told me are classic symptoms of middle level dementia.” Doocy and co-host Ainsley Earhardt both responded to that claim by softly saying, “Right.” The third host, Brian Kilmeade, can just be seen blinking rapidly.Fox News Lobotomizes Its ‘Brain Room,’ Cuts Fact-Based JournalismNevertheless, Giuliani persisted. “That’s when [Biden] does that ‘I pledge allegiance to the United States... uh... uh... um... I think,’ he’s done that twice,” said the ex mayor. “That’s a classic symptom in the DSM-V, it’s the fifth symptom, of dementia, he’s got eight of the 10.”Then, seemingly remembering that he was on the show to talk about tonight’s presidential debate, he went on: “Look, that isn’t the debate. He can get through it. I think the president is quite right to say maybe he’s taken Adderall or some kind of attention deficit disorder thing.”As Giuliani began pulling prescription medicine brands out of the air, Doocy had finally had enough and told him firmly, “None of us are doctors, that is your opinion.” Giuliani fought back, saying it was actually the opinion of some very professional-sounding doctors that he knows.But the game was up. Kilmeade, in his first verbal interjection of the entire exchange, said with exasperation, “We can stay away from that.” Earhardt then moved on to pick Giuliani’s brain on the Supreme Court.This particular line of attack is one that Giuliani—whose work as President Trump’s lawyer and top dirt-digger on Hunter and Joe Biden kicked off a chain of events that got his client impeached last year—has enthusiastically embraced as one of his primary functions now for Team Trump.Shortly before midnight on Monday night, Giuliani started texting The Daily Beast to say that Trump did “great” in recent White House debate prep (for which the president said on Sunday that Giuliani and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie took part), and to rail against Biden as a “senile,” “broken down old crook” who’s supposedly suffering from “dementia” and needs “ADD drugs” to get through the Tuesday debate. The Trump attorney also claimed that someone had told him how stupid Biden was in law school.Giuliani also mentioned late Monday evening that he’d be flying with Trump on Air Force One on Tuesday and would be at the Cleveland debate. Asked about what kinds of questions he peppered the president with during the prep, the former New York City mayor replied, “It really doesn’t work like that with him. It’s much more of a discussion rather than a rehearsal. Plus you are dealing with a very smart, very alert human being, not a senile old man.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/33aE39m
A loud blast heard throughout Paris on Wednesday briefly caused panic as edgy residents feared a bombing five days after a terrorist attack outside the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The noise was caused by a sonic boom as a military jet broke the speed of sound, police said. Pierre Duclos, who was in a café around the corner from the site of the attack on Friday when the explosion-like noise was heard, said: “Everyone looked at each other and a few people got up and went outside. For a while, we thought another terrorist attack was coming and we were all shocked. Some people asked the café owner to close and lock the door. I was here on Friday and frankly I was really worried again today.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36iDoED
New data on Regeneron's coronavirus monoclonal antibody cocktail shows the drug is "moving in the right direction," Stat News reports.A high dose of the cocktail led viral levels to decrease more quickly in non-hospitalized patients. The drug also appeared to have a bigger effect in COVID-19 patients who had not created high levels of antibodies on their own, shortening their recovery time, even at a lower dose.Regeneron's chief scientific officer George Yancopoulos said "we are highly encouraged by the robust and consistent nature of these initial data," adding that the company is discussing its findings with regulatory authorities while trials continue.Non-affiliated observers like Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Translation Institute, meanwhile, told Stat that the data looks good so far, but "you just can't say much about how transformative this is going to be." Topol doesn't believe the treatment is ready for any sort of emergency authorization.Still, the data comes on the heels of other promising results from Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody candidate, adding to the hope that they could play a significant role in combating the virus. Read more at Stat News.More stories from theweek.com 3 reasons the stakes for the NBA Finals are extra high GOP Sen. Tim Scott calls for Trump to correct his Proud Boys comments: 'If he doesn't correct it, I guess he didn't misspeak' Trump pummels Biden — and America
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34fUvED
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Tuesday that it is halting its operation in India, citing reprisals by the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by Indian authorities. Amnesty International India said it has laid off its staff and paused all its ongoing campaign and research work on human rights, and that Indian authorities froze its bank accounts on suspicion of violating rules on foreign funding.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3jdSij9
Malta, making a rapid U-turn, said on Tuesday Britain's Prince George was welcome to keep a fossilised shark tooth that was given to him by veteran naturalist Sir David Attenborough. The 23-million-year-old fossil was discovered by Attenborough in Malta when he was holidaying on the Mediterranean island in the 1960s. Culture Minister Jose Herrera said on Monday he would "set the ball rolling" in retreiving the tooth, but the plan rapidly ran aground.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36eieHX
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed China's plan to be carbon-neutral by 2060, contrasting it with the U.S. failure to abide by the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord. In a speech Wednesday to Germany's parliament, Merkel stressed the significance of Chinese President Xi Jinping's announcement last week as the European Union debates ramping up its own medium- and long-term emissions reduction goals. “I think it's beyond debate that we need to work with China when it comes to protecting the climate,” she told lawmakers.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3cKwJo2
After a three-week manhunt, a Los Angeles man was arrested and charged Wednesday with attempting to murder two sheriff’s deputies who were ambushed as they sat in their car.Deonte Lee Murray, 36, is facing two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of a firearm for allegedly walking up to the squad car parked outside a Metro station on Sept. 12 and opening fire, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.“They became victims of a violent crime for one reason: They wear a badge,” L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a press conference.‘Cowardly’: Video Shows Gunman Ambushing Two L.A. Deputies in Patrol CarMurray, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, was recently charged with attempted murder for a carjacking in Compton two weeks before the shooting. He allegedly used the stolen car as a getaway vehicle in the ambush.He faces further charges of being part of a criminal street gang, discharging a rifle inflicting great bodily injury, and personal use of a rifle in the carjacking incident.The two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, identified in media reports as 31-year-old Claudia Apolinar and a 24-year-old man, were sitting in their car in Compton when Murray allegedly approached the front passenger side and opened fire.A security video showed a man in dark clothing approaching the patrol car before raising his handgun and firing several rounds through the window. One deputy is then seen emerging from the car and stumbling for several seconds.“Despite being critically injured, deputies valiantly cared for each other’s wounds and safety, communicated their location and plight to others and tactically prepared for another attack,” the sheriff’s department said in an earlier statement, adding that the suspect fled the scene in dark a Mercedes-Benz.Apolinar was shot in the jaw while her partner was shot in the head—and both are now at home recovering.The shooting was seized on by President Donald Trump, who claimed it was part of ongoing attacks on law enforcement by anti-police brutality protesters.While authorities on Wednesday wouldn’t comment on Murray’s motive, Kent Wegener, captain of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, said the 36-year-old “obviously hates policemen and he wants them dead, not specifically.”“These acts and that day, I will not forget it, and it represents the worst in humanity, and it shocked the whole nation,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva added during the press conference. “And that evening I said we’ll find this man, and I can report today we have found our suspect.”“That worst of humanity was followed by the best of humanity,” he added. “Our entire department rallied together.”Murray was charged earlier this month over the Sept. 1 carjacking. He allegedly confronted another man in Compton, shot him in the leg then stole his car. He was found and arrested on Sept. 15 after a lengthy standoff in Lynwood. Speculation was rife after the Sept. 15 standoff that Murray was the same person who had ambushed the deputies, although officials said at the time that he wasn’t. On Wednesday, however, Wegener said authorities later learned the car Murray used to flee the scene of the ambush on Sept. 12 was the same car he’d stolen two weeks prior in the carjacking. A ghost gun used in the shooting was recovered by investigators in Compton.Murray is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, where prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $6.15 million.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SddHgC
Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) never wastes an opportunity to roast a CEO.On Wednesday, three pharmaceutical executives, including former Celgene CEO Mark Alles, testified on drug pricing for the House Oversight Committee. While at the company, Alles saw a massive increase in the price of the cancer drug Revlimid -- and Porter broke down just what it got Alles in return.Porter started her takedown by asking Alles if he knew what a Revlimid pill cost in 2005: $215, she reminded him with the help of a whiteboard. And by the time Alles left the company late last year, after its sale to Bristol-Myers Squibb, a single Revlimid pill cost $763. "Did the drug get substantially more effective in that time? Did cancer patients need fewer pills?" Porter questioned, trying to figure out why Celgene upped the price. Alles answered by saying Revlimid proved effective in more patients. "So you discovered more patients who might benefit from paying $763 a pill?" Porter rhetorically responded, outlining how the average senior in her district couldn't even afford one pill.Porter then moved on to tear apart the $13 million Alles made in 2017 as Celgene's CEO. "It's 200 times the average American's income and 360 times what the average senior makes on Social Security," Porter noted. She then reminded Alles just how he made "half a million dollars, personally, just by tripling the price of Revlimid." "The drug didn't get any better, the cancer patients didn't get any better, you just got better at making money," Porter concluded. Watch her questioning below. > Half a million dollars.> > That's the bonus a Big Pharma CEO got for hiking the price of ONE cancer treatment drug.> > How many patients lost their lives because they couldn't afford this medicine? Here's our conversation: pic.twitter.com/mkke6y9tnw> > -- Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) September 30, 2020More stories from theweek.com 3 reasons the stakes for the NBA Finals are extra high GOP Sen. Tim Scott calls for Trump to correct his Proud Boys comments: 'If he doesn't correct it, I guess he didn't misspeak' Trump pummels Biden — and America
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/30lJjVM
The Hungarian government says its official Twitter account was temporarily suspended and then restored without explanation. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Wednesday in a Facebook post that “we have taken the necessary steps and are awaiting an official explanation from Twitter” regarding the status of the government’s @abouthungary account. While the account was suspended, the following notice appeared on its feed: "Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter rules."
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36hjwBW
The Huaneng Group, one of five big Chinese state utilities, is building a $1.9 billion 4 gigawatt coal and power project in the northwestern region near the city of Qingyang, with the aim of delivering its electricity to the east of the country. The Zhengning Power Plant Project, which was revived in July four years after it was put on ice, encapsulates the competing pressures that lie behind China's economic and climate policies. President Xi Jinping surprised the world last week by pledging China would aim for "carbon neutrality" by 2060, but Beijing remains worried about energy security, jobs and growth, especially as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3ieUA0l
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried Tuesday in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, laid to rest beside her husband and near some of her former colleagues on the court. Washington last week honored the 87-year-old Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18, with two days where the public could view her casket at the top of the Supreme Court's steps and pay their respects. On Friday, the women's rights trailblazer and second woman to join the high court lay in state at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman to do so.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3in40ad
After weeks and months of President Donald Trump characterizing former Vice President Joe Biden as an senile old man who can’t string two sentences together, his campaign has finally realized that they should start raising expectations for his performance at the first debate this Tuesday night.Apparently, Donald Trump Jr. didn’t get the memo.The president’s eldest son kicked off his Fox & Friends appearance by attacking CNN’s Jake Tapper for not pressing Jill Biden harder on her husband’s history of making “gaffes” during an interview on State of the Union Sunday. “Once a Democrat operative, all of it—always a Democrat operative,” he said, unconvincingly.“Joe Biden can’t remember where he is 50 percent of the time,” Trump Jr. declared. “He forgets the office that he’s running for.” He added, with no sense of irony, “If Donald Trump made one Joe Biden-type error, once, it would be all over! Joe does it every day.”“So that’s why he’s in debate prep,” he continued, mocking his father’s opponent for doing his homework. “He can’t be on the campaign trail because he needs to be able to perform for two hours, despite having done this for 50 years.”Is Trump or Biden More Likely to Keel Over on Debate Night?But he wasn’t done. He called Biden “the guy who’s most inept in terms of speaking, in terms of ability” and telling the Fox hosts, “You would think that after half a century in Washington, D.C., Ainsley, you’d be able to remember your platform, you’d be able to remember a couple talking points and not need a TelePrompter. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”In recent weeks, Trump’s top campaign staff have been doing whatever they can to undo the president’s attempts to lower expectations for Biden’s performance. “Joe Biden is not formidable anywhere else but he is formidable on the debate stage,” campaign manager Bill Stepien told NBC News this month.Communications director Tim Murtaugh went even further, telling Fox News, “Biden spent decades skillfully debating in the Senate, won two debates while running for vice president and just came through 11 debates in Democratic primaries where he defeated two dozen challengers. Joe Biden is a master debater who knows what he is doing.”And yet, like his father, Donald Trump Jr. seems unable to help himself from giving Biden an exceedingly low bar to overcome. At least he didn’t accuse him or anyone else from his family of being on drugs this time.Later in his Fox & Friends interview, Trump Jr. actually seemed to realize what he had done, backtracking a bit to claim, “Joe Biden should be decent in the debate, he’s been doing it for half a century. I’m worried about Joe Biden the other 22 hours of the day where he can’t seem to leave the basement.”The message seemed to be, don’t let a successful debate performance fool you.Jimmy Kimmel on Donald Trump Jr.’s Attempts to ‘Cancel’ Him and Hosting the Virtual EmmysRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/369rWv8
Universal Health Services' computer network will reportedly remain out of order for days after a massive ransomware attack.Computer systems at the hospital network's 400-plus locations reportedly began failing over the weekend, forcing some workers to begin taking records by hand and even hand-labeling medications, nurses tell NBC News. Computers may remain out of service for days as the chain deals with what might be "one of the largest medical cyberattacks in United States history," NBC News reports.Attacks starting early Sunday morning locked computers and phones at several UHS facilities, including those in California and Florida, people with direct knowledge of the incident tell TechCrunch. Mysterious messages referencing a "shadow universe," which reflects messaging from the Russian cybercrime group Ryuk, then began filling the screens, one person said. "Everyone was told to turn off all the computers and not to turn them on again. We were told it will be days before the computers are up again," the person said.UHS said Monday its network was down due to an "IT security issue." The issue did not jeopardize patient care, and "no patient or employee data appears to have been accessed, copied, or otherwise compromised," the statement continued. An executive who manages cybersecurity at another major U.S. hospital system affirmed to TechCrunch patients' data was "likely safe."More stories from theweek.com Trump literally can't afford to lose the election Trump avoids tax return questions as he brings yet another truck to the White House The bigger truth revealed by Trump's taxes
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3445Fw9
Kamala Harris urged voters on Monday not to be discouraged by Republican efforts to fill a Supreme Court seat before the election, charging it's the GOP's goal to make people feel like their votes don't matter. “We will not give up, and we will not give in," the Democratic vice presidential nominee said. “We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralyzed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court."
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Gf10iL
Jim Obergefell, in whose name marriage equality became the law of the land in 2015 after he successfully presented his case to the Supreme Court, believes it is now “in danger” with the likely appointment to the court of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett.Obergefell, 54, told The Daily Beast he has been dealing “with the feeling of devastation” over the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now Judge Barrett’s nomination has brought an “overwhelming fear about LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights and so many things,” he said. “I feel what I, and the many other marriage equality plaintiffs fought for, is at more risk than ever before.”Kiss Your Rights Goodbye When Amy Coney Barrett Joins SCOTUSObergefell didn’t feel the same level of concern over the safety of marriage equality under the law when Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, as he felt Chief Justice John Roberts “put so much weight on precedents, and so I thought would have been on the side of keeping marriage equality. But if Judge Barrett is appointed, it’s a potential 6-3 split in favor of conservatives. I’m concerned, I really am. I hate to say it, I really do, but I believe marriage equality is in danger. It makes me sick to my stomach.”Obergefell is far from alone in his concern, which is echoed by LGBTQ groups and campaigners. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has called Judge Barrett an “absolute threat to LGBTQ rights,” pointing to her questioning the role of the Supreme Court in ruling on marriage equality, and her opinion that the text of Title IX does not extend to explicitly protect transgender students. At a 2016 lecture Judge Barrett referred to transgender women as “physiological males.”“If Amy Coney Barrett is… confirmed, she is not going to uphold Justice Ginsburg's legacy,” HRC president Alphonso David said in a tweet. “She’s going to do her best to dismantle it. The American people should have a say in this appointment. We oppose her nomination & this sham process.”Obergefell, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, said President Trump’s appointment of more than 200 judges in lower courts made marriage equality legislation even more vulnerable to challenge at the Supreme Court. “That’s what makes me scared. If there’s a case that gets in front of the right judge who is opposed to marriage equality, they could rule in favor of it. Before now, I had confidence the Supreme Court would have said, ‘This is precedent, marriage equality is the law of the land.’ I thought the highest court in the land had ruled we have marriage, that it was not going anywhere. I don’t have that confidence now. I am extremely concerned that we could have marriage equality overturned. I have to be realistic. It’s a scary time to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community, indeed any member of a marginalized community. I’m worried about equality for every group who has gone before the court in order just to be treated like everyone else.”Obergefell said he was not upset for himself but about “the harm it will do people across our nation” if marriage equality is revoked. In the seven years since he started fighting the case, he has been hugely affected by the interactions he has had with same-sex couples who tell him what the victory has meant to them; the young people “who hug me and thank me for giving them the hope they will be able to marry the person they love,” and the parents who thank him for making it possible for their children to marry who they love.“That’s what breaks my heart and makes me sick to the stomach,” said Obergefell, “to think of all those people who found a sense of hope and sense of belonging in our nation, and to have that ripped away and suddenly facing going back to second-class status. We all want to spend our lives with someone we love, and to suddenly have that taken away is devastating. It makes me incredibly sad for our nation.”Obergefell and partner John Arthur married in 2013 in Baltimore, as same-sex marriage was then illegal in their home state of Ohio. Arthur, who suffered from ALS, died later that year. Arthur is never far from Obergefell’s mind. Judge Barrett’s nomination, and the danger marriage equality is now in, has brought him even more to mind. “I think John would be really disappointed in our nation,” said Obergefell.Obergefell has felt “a creeping sense of dread and fear” as the Trump administration has attacked LGBTQ people, particularly trans people. “Justice Ginsburg’s death and now this nomination has kicked that feeling of dread into a more distinct feeling of fear.”More recently than marriage equality, in June SCOTUS ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. Companies cannot now fire people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.The marriage equality case started off in 2013 “as a personal thing,” said Obergefell. “John was dying of ALS, the Edie Windsor decision had happened [striking down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013]. I proposed, we got married. At that point, my life consisted of four walls. John was confined to bed. We started this fight because we simply wanted to feel like we existed and mattered.” After Arthur died and Obergefell secured his first victory in federal court, “it suddenly become very clear to me what our fight meant to so many others. It started becoming this bigger fight.”After the victory at the Supreme Court, Obergefell—memorably congratulated live on CNN by then-President Barack Obama—wished Arthur had been alive to see “we were husbands for good and that no one can change that. No one can disrespect that. That was such a beautiful thing to realize. I never thought it would happen. I felt very fortunate. It’s hard to describe how momentous and meaningful it was, but it was all because I loved John and I wanted to live up to my promises to love, honor, and protect him. I was willing to do anything to do that, including going to the highest court.”* * *“It’s infuriating. It disgusts me that there are people in this nation who want nothing more than to drag us backwards.”The prospect of marriage equality being lost is “terrifying” to Obergefell. It also makes him angry. “I want to say to people, how would they feel if their government suddenly said, ‘Your relationship, your marriage, the person you care most about in the whole world, suddenly means nothing—actually it means less than nothing, and we are going to disregard it and disrespect it in every way.’ It’s infuriating. It disgusts me that there are people in this nation who want nothing more than to drag us backwards. There are people in this country who do not believe in ‘We the People.’ They don’t believe in equal justice under the law. They only believe in it if it benefits them, not if it benefits anyone else—and I just find that thoroughly disheartening. It’s a slap in the face for our country’s founders and Constitution.”The behavior of Trump and Republicans pushing Judge Barrett’s nomination forward so fast after Justice Ginsburg’s death has been “offensive,” said Obergefell. “They didn’t even give her the dignity of letting 24 hours—let alone a little bit longer—pass until they turned this into a political play. And then you add their hypocrisy to it, after they obstructed Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination under President Obama. “I look at the GOP, and think power and party are so much more important to them than the oath they took for office. Power and party to them seem much more important than our Constitution and our nation. I find it disgusting and reprehensible.”To Trump, Judge Barrett, and the Supreme Court, Obergefell would say that the Constitution is a “living, breathing document” that they know would change as society changed. “I would also ask, ‘What harm does my marriage, or any same-sex marriage, do? None whatsoever. We’re simply asking to enjoy the same rights, protections, and responsibilities as any other American, as promised to us in the Constitution.”In the years since 2015, Obergefell has continued his activism through public speaking, his advocacy with Family Equality, and charitable donations from Equality Vines, the wine label he co-founded in Guerneville, Sonoma County, in California. Judge Barrett’s nomination, and the threat now posed to marriage equality, means Obergefell feels he has an even greater responsibility to speak up. “I have to do all I can to make sure we don’t lose that vital right to say ‘I do,’ and actually have it mean something.”Obergefell also had some happier news to share. He revealed he had just started seeing a new partner. Introduced by a mutual friend, they spent months corresponding virtually and just met this week for the first time face-to-face in San Francisco, where his partner lives. “It’s been great,” said Obergefell. “Our friend’s first thought was that we had to meet, and I have to say she wasn’t wrong. In a positive way, the pandemic took away some of the anxiety of meeting in person. We got to know each other really well by email, phone, and then FaceTime. When we met for the first time, it didn’t feel like that.”To LGBTQ people feeling as alarmed by Judge Barrett’s likely appointment as he does, Obergefell said he also has felt “terrified and hopeless at times recently. But I would say: ‘Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up the fight.’ Even though at a federal level, things are looking scary, there’s still an awful lot we can do at the local, state, and city level.”Obergefell paused. “I would also say we owe it to Justice Ginsburg to keep fighting. She was our advocate. She was our ally. She was so important to our community and other marginalized communities that we can’t let her down. She worked long into her life, long past when others would retire. She did that for us. So no matter how disheartened, terrified, and afraid we are, we have to keep fighting because we owe it to Ruth.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3cAfFkC