QUEER QUOTE: DNC Joint Statement On Trump/Rubio Appearance In Orlando Near Pulse Nighclub

MadProfessah took this picture in Columbus, Ohio on August 2, 2016

The worst mass shooting in United States history happened just under two months ago (June 12, 2016) in Orlando Florida, at a gay nightclub called Pulse. Today Senator Marcos Rubio and GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump are 10 miles from the site of the shooting, both attending a virulently anti-LGBT event called "Rediscovering God in America." The DNC Chair Donna Brazile and DNC LGBT Caucus Chair Earl Fowlkes could not let this pass without commentary, which is today's Queer Quote:

"Instead of honoring the memory of those we lost at Pulse two months ago, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio have come to Orlando to headline a gathering of some of the nation’s most incendiary anti-gay bigots. We at the DNC join all people of good conscience in expressing our solidarity with the Orlando LGBT community as they continue to grieve the deadliest shooting in American history. We suggest Trump and Rubio disavow these anti-gay extremists who have likened gay people to Nazis and characterized HIV/AIDS as divine ‘penalties' for being gay. Failing to do so will be yet another example of the utter lack of judgment that makes Trump unfit to serve."

This blog post is not an endorsement or non-endorsement of any political candidate but is my (first-amendment protected) commentary on the appropriateness of major political figures attending an event organized by virulent homophobes so close (in time and space) to the site of the Pulse nightclub massacre where literally dozens and dozens of LGBT individuals were killed.

Obama Nominates Black Gay Man For Federal Judgeship

President Obama has decided to try and make history again by appointing the first openly gay, African American male federal judge in our nation's history. He had nominated William L. Thomas to be a federal judge just days after the 2012 presidential elections. Thomas is an openly gay, African American male judge. But the Thomas nomination was stalled when U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) blocked the nomination (despite the fact his office had explicitly supported the nomination previously). LGBT advocates were extremely disappointed by Sen. Rubio's actions and called attention to his record of anti-LGBT statements and behaviors.

Today the President decided to try again by nominating another openly gay Black man, Darrin Gayles to the same federal judgeship that Thomas had been blocked from by Senator Rubio.

Judge Darrin P. Gayles:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of FloridaJudge Darrin P. Gayles has served as a Circuit Judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida since 2011.  From 2004 to 2011, he was a County Judge in the same Circuit.  From 1999 to 2004, Judge Gayles served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and from 1997 to 1999, he served as an Assistant District Counsel at the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.  Judge Gayles began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office from 1993 to 1997.  Judge Gayles received his J.D. in 1993 from George Washington University Law School and his B.A. in 1990 from Howard University.  

As we did with the Thomas nomination, we will be following the Gayles nomination very closely here at MadProfessah.com. Acording to Poliglot, Gayles name was on a list that Senator Rubio confirmed that he had no opposition to if they were nominated. In fact, Rubio's ffice even gave a statement to Metro Weekly, a D.C.-based LGBT newsmagazine about the Gayles nomination:

"I welcome today's four nominations to the district courts in Florida. As I previously indicated to the President, I do not anticipate having an objection to moving forward on any of these nominations pending the outcome of the customary background check conducted on every nominee," Rubio stated. "I am disappointed, however that given the opportunity to fill four vacancies on the court, the White House has declined to nominate any of the Republican finalists jointly suggested by Senator Nelson and myself." 

Happy Black History Month!

QUEER QUOTE: NGLTF Condemns Sen. Rubio's Blocking Of Black Gay Federal Judge

Things that make you go hmmm. Huffington Post has confirmed that President Barack Obama has given up on pushing for William Thomas to become the first ever black, openly gay federal judge in our nation's history. Thomas was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

MadProfessah has been following this curious story for quite some time. It has since became clear that U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was the primary impediment to Judge Thomas making history but for reasons that have not been made public.

Huffington Post reported:

Rubio has been single-handedly blocking Thomas for months, despite recommending him to Obama in 2012 as a nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Rubio indicated in September he would not submit his "blue slip" to the Senate Judiciary Committee -- a courtesy, but not a hard rule, honored in the committee that allows a home-state senator to advance or hold up a nominee. Florida's other senator, Bill Nelson (D), submitted his blue slip months ago. 

[...] 

"Judge Thomas is a well-qualified jurist," Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) told HuffPost in the fall. "There is a serious underrepresentation of minorities on the bench and partisan obstructionism isn’t making it any better." 

Hastings is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has railed against Rubio for blocking black judicial nominees at a time when the group says black judges make up about 8.3 percent of the federal judicial bench. In addition to Thomas, Rubio had been withholding his blue slip for another black judicial nominee, Brian Davis. But Rubio ultimately agreed to move forward with Davis, who has since been confirmed. 

“I am upset and concerned. Senator Marco Rubio himself said that Judge Thomas had passed all the tests, and then all of sudden for Senator Rubio to say Judge Thomas is not suitable is just not right," Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said Tuesday. "I don’t know what more I can do to make Senator Rubio understand that what he is doing is wrong.”

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued a statement condemning the actions by Sen. Rubio in killing the Thomas nomination:

"We need more diversity in the federal judiciary, not less and it's disappointing that Judge William Thomas was not included among the nominees the White House submitted to the Senate this week. Judge Thomas is an eminently qualified jurist and, if confirmed, would have been the first openly gay black male to serve on the federal bench. Senator Marco Rubio's procedural maneuvering to stop this nominee was unacceptable and harmful given that the vacancy on the Southern District Court of Florida has been classified as a judicial emergency. Senator Rubio's actions are in no way helpful to the people of Florida."

Hopefully President Barack Obama will not have difficulty finding another openly gay Black man who could be nominated to a federal judgeship. This is a historical first that I would like to see completed.

Sen. Rubio (R-FL) Blocks Black Gay Federal Judicial Nominee

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has proven repeatedly that he is not a friend to the LGBT community but this latest action takes things to a new level. Previously, Rubio had been thought to only be delaying his approval for U.S. district court nominee Bill Thomas but now comes word that Rubio is blocking President Obama's nomination of the very first openly gay, Black man to the federal judiciary, a historic first. Generally, both United States Senators have to agree on nominees for any federal judgeship in their state, and Thomas is nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The Advocate reports that Rubio has withdrawn his support for the Thomas nomination:

Rubio, a Republican, announced Monday that he would no longer support the nomination of Miami-Dade circuit judge William Thomas to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, citing concerns about Thomas’s rulings in two criminal cases, The New York Times reports. Nominees for federal judgeships need the support of both U.S. senators from their home state in order for the confirmation process to continue. Florida’s other senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, has endorsed Thomas, who would be the nation’s first openly gay African-American federal judge. 

[...] 

Yolanda Strader, president of a Miami association for black lawyers, accused Rubio of playing politics with Thomas’s nomination. “As much as I would like to think that politics has nothing to do with this, it looks as if it does,” Strader told the Times. “It would be unfair to prevent a well-qualified judicial nominee from proceeding with the nomination process because he is an openly gay black male.” Her group is initiating a social media campaign in support of Thomas and may start an online petition to move his nomination forward.

This is pretty heartbreaking as it comes on the heels of the news that the United States Senate had unanimously approved the first openly gay man to a federal appellate judgeship on Tuesday. Hopefully President Obama will find another openly gay Black man to be nominated for a federal judgeship soon as he continues his campaign of diversifying the federal judiciary.

Hat/tip to The Advocate

Sen. Rubio (R-FL) Blocking Black Gay Federal Judicial Nominee

Here at MadProfessah.com we have been following the progress of President Obama's openly LGBT federal judicial nominees quite closely and were thrilled when the first African American gay male, Judge Wiliam Thomas, was nominated to be a federal district court judge in November 2012.

However recent blog reports have noted that Thomas has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, in fact a hearing has not even been scheduled on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The invaluable Washington Blade reports:

Rubio’s office didn’t respond to repeated requests from the Blade over the past two weeks to comment on why he continues to hold up the Thomas nomination. According to a report last week in the Tampa Bay Times, Rubio has concerns about Thomas’s involvement in a controversial case in which a man was given a sentence of just 364 days in jail for the hit-and-run death of a cyclist.

[...]

Thomas has experience both as a defense attorney and as a judge. He’s been a circuit judge in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit since 2005, where he has presided over both civil and criminal matters. Before that, he was an assistant federal public defender in the Southern District of Florida and represented indigent clients in federal criminal cases.

Rubio faced criticism last week from members of the Congressional Black Caucus for holding up both the Thomas confirmation and that of Brian Davis, another black judicial nominee who was nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for Middle District of Florida. The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund also called for the Thomas nomination to move forward.

Rubio continues to hold up the Thomas nomination even though he and [U.S. Senator Bill] Nelson recommended Thomas for the seat following approval from Florida’s Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, which makes recommendations to the state’s senators.

LGBT groups have begun to put more pressure on Rubio to explain the reason for his hold on the Thomas nomination. Let's hope that join with African American groups to call for Rubio's holds to be lifted on both Judge Thomas and Judge Davis in the near future.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

UPDATE: Rubio Admits Earth is 4.5B Years Old

As regular readers of this here blog thingy know, we at madprofessah.com are members of the reality-based community. So, when putative 2016 presidential hopeful U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) answered the innocuous question "How old do you think the Earth is?" from GQ magazine with a frankly unacceptable response, I called him on it.

Even crazy old coot Pat Robertson rejects the notion of a "young earth" and encourages others to as well.

Today, the 41-year-old Cuban-American GOP wonderboy admitted he does know how old the earth is to Politico:

Rubio also addressed the controversy surrounding his recent comments to GQ about the age of the earth. 

“Science says it’s about four and a half billion years old and my faith teaches that that’s not inconsistent,” he clarified. “The answer I gave was actually trying to make the same point the president made a few years ago, and that is there is no scientific debate on the age of the earth. I mean, it’s established pretty definitively as at least four and a half billion years old … I was referring to a theological debate and which is a pretty healthy debate.” 

“The theological debate is how do you reconcile what science has definitively established with what you think your faith teaches? For me, actually, when it comes to the age of the earth there is no conflict: I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and I think scientific advances give us insight into when he did it and how he did it,” he said. “But I still believe God did it, And that’s how I’ve been able to reconcile that and I think it’s consistent with the teachings of my church. But other people have a deeper conflict and I just think in America we should have the freedom to teach our children whatever we believe.”

Really, Senator Rubio? This response just shows how sneaky he can be. He got caught pandering to religious extremists and know he is blathering about a "theological debate." The question was NOT about the theological debate. The question was about a scientifically determined fact, and he answered differently from what he knew was true, in order to not offend people who wish to have a debate (theological or other) about this question. Busted!

And the point about "[I]n America we should have the freedom to teach our children whatever we believe" is just a canard. PARENTS can teach their kids whatever craziness they want to, but public schools, paid from the taxes of everyone can not endorse any parent's religious views and so should just teach the facts. This last point is something fellow Brown GOP 2016 Presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal does not understand either.

Water Found On Planet Mercury!

The Messenger spacecraft orbited the planet closest to the Sun, Mercury, in March 2011 and now an analysis of some of the data found by that device indicates that a lot of water has been found on another planet in our Solar System.

Mercury may be a scorching hunk of rock just next door to the sun, but planetary scientists have discovered nearly pure frozen water and even some organic material in the planet's frigid polar regions. 

The findings from the Messenger spacecraft orbiting the planet cap the decades-long search for water on the second-hottest planet in the solar system and may help scientists better understand the origins of the molecular building blocks for life on Earth. 

The new research "doesn't mean we have life on Mercury," said UCLA planetary scientist David Paige, lead author of one of three papers published Thursday by the journal Science. "But it is relevant for the question of life in the solar system in general." 

As much as 1.1 trillion tons of ice could lie on or just beneath Mercury's surface in the nooks and crannies of craters that never see sunlight, according to scientists working on the Messenger mission. Much of that ice may be protected by a dark layer of carbon-rich organic material several inches thick, they said.

I wonder if someone will ask Marco Rubio about this discovery?

Queer Quote: Even Pat Robertson Knows Earth's Age

Famous heterosexual supremacist and well-known religious extremist Pat Robertson is recorded on video denying the central belief of people who are known as "young Earth creationists," i.e. that the earth was created by "God" and is only about 6,000 years old. His statement is today's Queer Quote.

Look, I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this, but Bishop [James] Ussher wasn't inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years. It just didn't. 

You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas. They're out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don't try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That's not the Bible. 

If you fight science, you are going to lose your children, and I believe in telling them the way it was.

This is a pretty astonishing admission from a card-carrying members of the Religious Right, who ran for president in 1988 and received millions of votes in the Republican primary. Robertson is rejecting the position claimed by 2016 presidential hopeful Marco Rubio that I remarked upon recently where the Junior Senator from Florida was quoted saying "I'm not a scientist, man" when asked the age of the Earth.

Queer Quote: Krugman Responds To Rubio

You may recall that presidential wannabe Marco Rubio gave an interview where he claimed not to know (or to care about) the age of the planet on which we all live.

Some bloggers were not bothered by this ridiculous statement, but the New York Times Paul Krugman is not one of them. He writes a response which I want to excerpt and present as today's Queer Quote:

Coming back to the age of the earth: Does it matter? No, says Mr. Rubio, pronouncing it “a dispute amongst theologians” — what about the geologists? — that has “has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States.” But he couldn’t be more wrong.

We are, after all, living in an era when science plays a crucial economic role. How are we going to search effectively for natural resources if schools trying to teach modern geology must give equal time to claims that the world is only 6.000 years old? How are we going to stay competitive in biotechnology if biology classes avoid any material that might offend creationists?

And that's exactly my point. It is important to know the age of the earth and it does have an impact on the economic growth of the United States.

Queer Quote: Sen. Rubio Doesn't Know Earth's Age

Marco Rubio is a first-term Republican United States Senator from Florida (elected in 2010), who is widely expected to run for President in 2016 or in the future. He's young (41 years old), Latino (Cuban-American), relatively telegenic and conservative enough to be acceptable to the Tea Party wing of the GOP. Rubio was widely believed to be on the shortlist to be Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate and was a surrogate for the Romney-Ryan ticket in the all-important state of Florida, incorrectly predicting a Republican win this year's election.

He also is either an idiot, or a religious extremist (basically the same thing, in my opinion). He apparently is willing to embrace creationism and reject basic scientific information about the age of the Earth. He was asked by GQ magazine "How old do you think the Earth is?" and his response is today's Queer Quote:

"I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries."

This is an absolutely unacceptable answer by a serious politician on the national stage who has aspersions of even higher office. The Earth is roughly 4.5 billion years old. This number is not in dispute among any reputable scientists. To deny this fact is an assault on reason and science.

I would also strongly dispute the claim that knowing (or not) the age of the planet has no impact on the United States economy. Our economy depends on increasing the number of people in the workforce who are educated and informed about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Such informed people will know how old the Earth is, and will make important contributions to the future of the country.

Clearly, Rubio did not get the memo issued by (another 2016 presidential hopeful) Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana that the GOP needs to "stop being the stupid party."

I'd love to see how old Governor Jindal and Governor Chris Christie think the Earth is?

Ex-FL Gov. Charlie Crist Endorses Pres. Obama

Well, well! Charlie Crist is the former Governor of Florida who lost a 2010 bid for the United States Senate to Cuban-American Republican Marco Rubio. Crist has long been suspected of being a closeted gay man by many in the blogosphere and beyond. he day before the GOP convention was supposed to start in Tampa, Florida the former Republican Governor of the state has penned an editorial endorsing the  re-election of the Democratic President of the United States!

Crist wrote in The Tampa Bay-Times:

As America prepares to pick our president for the next four years — and as Florida prepares once again to play a decisive role — I'm confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation. I applaud and share his vision of a future built by a strong and confident middle class in an economy that gives us the opportunity to reap prosperity through hard work and personal responsibility. It is a vision of the future proven right by our history.

I wonder how long it will take Republicans in Florida to call their former governor "disgruntled"? Start counting now, 1, 2, 3....