Palin: amendment needed on gay marriage

This is some pretty interesting (and tragic) footage of Sarah Palin answering a question about gay marriage.

In a word, disgraceful. And it's neither surprising nor remarkable that Palin openly and overtly contradicts herself in less than 60 seconds:

I am, in my own, state, I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I wish on a federal level that that's where we would go because I don't support gay marriage. I'm not going to be out there judging individuals, sitting in a seat of judgment telling what they can and can't do, should and should not do, but I certainly can express my own opinion here and take actions that I believe would be best for traditional marriage and that's casting my votes and speaking up for traditional marriage that, that instrument that it's the foundation of our society is that strong family and that's based on that traditional definition of marriage, so I do support that.

So, let's get this straight - you claim that you're not going to be out there judging individuals, nor sitting in a seat of judgment telling [them] what they can and cannot do, yet you want to amend the Constitution?

Call me crazy, but isn't amending the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman telling other people what they can and cannot do?

As a country, we've come a long way with regard to gay rights, but we sure have a long way to go, too. I heard an excellent interview with Melissa Etheridge on Air America Radio last Friday, and she put it best - you can't put the genie back in the bottle with respect to gay marriage. It might take a while longer, but we will get there, and gays will get the support, respect and rights they should've been given to them by the federal government long ago, the Sarah Palins of the world be damned.

A great Oscar night

The sixth time was the charm for America's greatest director. Marty Scorsese was finally awarded by the Academy tonight with an Oscar. It's about time. It was great to see him bask in the glory, to hollers and shouts from the audience. Once he reached the stage, he was smiling from ear to ear. He only had a moment to soak it all in backstage, though - The Departed won Best Picture moments later.

I haven't seen The Departed yet, but as I watched Scorsese on stage, I kept thinking of Goodfellas, and how he deserved an Oscar for that movie.

It was also wonderful to see Melissa Etheridge win for her song "I Need to Wake Up" from Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. I noticed a few things when Etheridge won. First, she kissed her partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels. Then, when she reached the stage, she referred to Michaels as "her wife." That was a cool moment, and undoubtedly an important one to many gay people. It's a signal that progress is being made, but we've still got a long way to go before gays are treated like any other American in the courts and in society.

Academy Awards have begun

A few quick thoughts on the Academy Awards so far, at 9:15 p.m.

Up until a year or two ago, I wasn't too crazy about Ellen DeGeneres. I don't have any specific reason; her humor just didn't hit my funny bone. But, there's more to Ellen than her humor, and I realize that now. But, she's funny! Ten minutes into the show, she makes a funny joke about Al Gore and his being elected by America, but being at the Academy Awards. I don't really remember the whole joke, but it was funny.

Speaking of Al Gore (Above, with wife Tipper, arriving at the show), I'm really, really pulling for his film, An Inconvenient Truth, to take the two awards its up for tonight. And of course, I'm really hoping for an announcement by Al tonight along the lines of "I'm running for president." That would be great. I realize that it almost certainly won't happen, but it would be awesome, and historic, too.

I'm looking forward to hearing Melissa Etheridge (Above, Right, with partner Tammy Lynn Michaels) perform "I Need to Wake Up" tonight. I hope the theme song for An Inconvenient Truth wins, but either way, it will be cool to see it sung live. I flat out love Etheridge, but even moreso for contributing such a great song to a great movie.

Lastly, I'm reeeeallllly pulling for Martin Scorsese. The greatest living American director is more than overdue to win an Oscar. I hope tonight's the night. And I still haven't seen The Departed, so I need to get my act together.

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Melissa's performing now - she's awesome. And they are displaying the words from the end of the movie with her performance. 'Way cool!

Okay, Gore was just on stage with Leo DiCaprio, and no announcement, but they did make a joke out of it. I'm not giving up hope on Gore running in '08, though. You can urge him to run by clicking Here.

Back to blogging - more after the show.

Photos from AP