Today’s book salon with Lee Badgett discussing her book, ‘When Gay People Get Married’, is incredibly timely. On the heels of Judge Walker’s order finding Prop 8 unconstitutional, America has begun anew a conversation about whether same sex couples ought to be afforded the same right to marry as opposite sex couples.

Few people are as studied and knowledgeable as Lee Badgett on this subject. Aside from her professional roles as an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amerherst and as Research Director for UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, she and her wife are married under Massachusetts soon after it became the first state in the U.S. to afford marriage rights to same sex couples.

Barney Frank is one of the most well-known members of the United States Congress. His sharp wit and even sharper tongue provides the media, pundits, and political observers with a seemingly endless supply of one-liners that Sarah Palin only wishes she could deliver.

Nearly everyone refers to him simply as Barney. He’s become one of those politicians who is so well branded that the entire world seems to be on a first name basis. It’s a rare status in the political world but one that is well deserved in his case.

What’s the way forward? It’s time for the White House and Democratic Leadership to get its act together and put together the votes. The political reality is that passing a bill with a robust public option is NOT a liability.

Mr. President:

Please accept my apology for interrupting your speech at Netroots Nation. I was raised in the South, as you were, and my mother taught me better. But once in a while, the circumstances of history throw manners out the window.

I love Bill Clinton, but we all make mistakes. Sometimes we even are forced to do things we don’t want to. That’s why I was prepared to ask Bill Clinton a tough question last night as he delivered the opening keynote address at Netroots Nation 2009.

It’s important to learn lessons from the things we do so that we can do better the next time around. There are many lessons the White House can take away from last Wednesday’s announcement about benefits to gay Federal employees. Monday morning quarterbacking is far easier than governing, so this analysis is meant with the intention to help the White House get it right the next time, the time after that, and the time after that and…..Get my drift?

Yesterday, there was inaccurate reporting on Congressional review of laws passed by the DC Council. (Even Ezra Klein got it wrong, which is rare!) It’s an easily misunderstood process and very few people have a full understanding of it. I’ve attempted to simplify the process and apply it to the circumstances which prompted the inaccurate reporting.

Nearly a year and a half ago, Fred Thompson was called to task on his blatant abuse of the ‘testing the waters’ exemption of campaign finance law. That complaint was a compilation of research and writing by progressive bloggers. It was also a result of wide coverage in the mainstream media about Thompson’s lack of compliance with the law.

Rudy Giuliani is a hypocrite who thinks he should live by rules different than others. He attacked MoveOn.org and the New York Times for the rate charged for a newspaper ad. Promptly, he ran an ad in response and paid….wait for it….the SAME amount.

Since the NYT says it was a mistake that they were charged the lower amount, MoveOn promptly paid the difference in an ‘abundance of caution’.

Rudy Giuliani can’t get a firefighter to save his life.

Rudy wants you to think he’s an American hero. After all, he put an emergency response center in the middle of the biggest terror target in America. He also did not equip firefighters with essential communications equipment.

Everybody knows that, right?