The Chris Moeller Archives

Obama's sanctification

Barack Obama has to be considered partly responsible for the narrow victory of Proposition 8 in California allowing discrimination against gay marriage. The largely-symbolic Obama for President campaign commanded the support of 61% of California voters, but that "liberal" tide of support didn't seem to sway the results of a very concrete measure of legalized discrimination-- Prop 8.

The Democratic nominee has been on record for some time as saying he supports civil unions, rather than gay marriage, and fliers advertising this fact were distributed in many of California's African-American communities. Obama told the Chicago Tribune, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."

Then it seems Barack needs to try a little harder. Candidate Obama said on the campaign trail that he supports individual states deciding if gay and lesbian marriage should be legalized. So I guess he's cool with the Democracy-in-Action of Tuesday's outcome. Of course, the irony is that President-elect Obama is a product of an interracial marriage, and laws that discriminated against those were not outlawed by the Supreme Court until 1967, six years after he was born.

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With the Democrats in control of the White House, and with sizable advantages in both the House and Senate, the party is now officially out of excuses.

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Roger Ebert seems taken by Sarah Palin.

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Quote of the day: Chris Rock, last spring-- "President Bush has fucked everything up so much, he's even made it hard for a white man to become president."

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I hope her election defeat doesn't mean an end for Sarah Palin-inspired erotica.

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The New Yorker treats Bill Ayers like a human being.

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Now that we're about to have an African-American president, the nation can focus its attention on integrating an almost more restrictive profession-- college football coaching. A study released this week finds that only 4 of 119 Division I head gridiron coaches are African-American, the lowest number in 15 years. And at its peak, it was only 9. Fifty-five percent of all collegiate student-athletes are minorities, but that experience certainly hasn't translated into the top job opportunities after these athletes are expended on the fields of play.

College sports are a billion dollar industry masquerading as amateur competition, and of course, many of the coaches' employers are publicly-financed institutions. One of the most important actions Congress could take is to remove the NCAA's tax-exempt status.

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More "30 Rock" actor profiles-- Tracy Morgan last week, now Alec Baldwin and Jack McBrayer. If you read the entire nine-page Baldwin piece, you get a gold star.

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Yesterday, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was presented with his first Gold Glove for defensive excellence. It was the 73rd Gold Glove that's been given to a Cards player since the inception of the award in 1957. The National League franchise with the second-most Gold Gloves is the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves with 54.

posted by CM @ 9:00 PM