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The 10 best (and worst) tweets of 2012

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:09:00 +0000

You can learn a lot in 140 characters. Twitter, for all its tyrannical and inflexible brevity, unfailingly reveals the gamut of human nature, the wonders and horrors of the world. There are now a mind-boggling 200 million or more tweets going out every day. But these 10 represent our choices for the ones that, for better or worse, sum up the year 2012.

After years of playing coy, the dapper newsman Anderson Cooper finally officially came out of the closet in an open letter to Daily Beast writer Andrew Sullivan on July 2. But though it came as zero surprise, a few remained undeterred by the news.

I don't care, I'm still gonna make a run at Anderson Cooper. —Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) July 2, 2012

When Aetna informed doctoral student Arijit Guha, just as he was in the midst of stage-4 colon cancer, that he'd reached his insurance coverage cap, the 31-year-old took his story to Twitter and found himself engaged in a public conversation with his insurer's CEO, Mark T. Bertolini. He wound up getting full coverage – and making the debate over health care intimate and urgent.

Sen. Ron Johnson offers to mansplain the budget to Tammy Baldwin

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., offered to help out his new colleague, Democrat Sen.-elect Tammy Baldwin, by explaining the federal budget thing and how it works.

"Hopefully I can sit down and lay out for her my best understanding of the federal budget because they're simply the facts," he told the Chippewa Herald. "Hopefully she'll agree with what the facts are and work toward common sense solutions."

He also offered this explanation for Obama's win: "If you aren't properly informed, if you don't understand the problems facing this nation, you are that much more prone to falling prey to demagoguing solutions. And the problem with demagoguing solutions is they don't work," Johnson said. "I am concerned about people who don't fully understand the very ugly math we are facing in this country."

Barney Frank: “Within 10 years, we will have won this fight”

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Last night was a huge win for LGBT activists. Marriage equality passed by referendum for the first time in American history in Maine, Maryland and Washington, while Minnesota rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and Democrat Tammy Baldwin will become the Senate's first openly gay member after winning a close race in Wisconsin.

Salon spoke with Rep. Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, to get his reaction to the news and thoughts on the future of the equality fight. This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity.

A big night, what was your immediate reaction?

I was very happy. I expected good news, but wasn’t planning on perfect news. By the way, in addition to Tammy’s win, which is big, and the referenda, we have several new openly gay members of Congress. Mark Takano in California; Sean Maloney in Westchester County in New York; Mark Pocan replacing Tammy, so that’ll mean at least five [openly gay] representatives. It’s a significant increase. And then to win all four of the referenda? It was very good news.

Still want to fight a war on women?

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, three words were projected on the U.S. Capitol by a feminist group: "Rape is rape." It was momentous, but only to a point.

After all, by then President Obama had already repeated that feminist mantra rejecting a hierarchy of rape: In August, he'd announced that "Rape is rape" in response to Todd Akin's blithe invocation of "legitimate rape." Three days after the words appeared on the Capitol, Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's talk of rape and God's gifts gave the president occasion to say it again. Rape is rape. You could complain that this was still being debated in 2012, and many did, but why would profound disruption come fast or easy? No, it was an urgent dividing point, and the president himself had chosen a side.

Another year of the woman

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:07:00 +0000

In this election year of "I love you women," of rape-parsing and slut-talk, a pretty notable fact has been overlooked: There are more women running for Congress than ever before. And that includes remarkably progressive, path-breaking women -- like folk hero Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, or like Rep. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, who just might become the first lesbian senator -- as well as a host of far-right women, like the climate change-denying, anti-choice, anti-gay-marriage Deb Fischer, who is poised to beat Bob Kerrey for Nebraska's Senate seat. Oh, and Michele Bachmann, whose seat looked like it might be at risk, but who has led comfortably in recent polls.

Tammy Baldwin: On the brink of victory?

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin has a great shot on Tuesday at becoming the first openly gay candidate elected to the United States Senate, and if the Wisconsin Democrat does end up beating her GOP opponent, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, it will be in no small part because, early on, the LGBT community recognized her potential to make history and decided to go all-in on her behalf.

It's been striking that Baldwin's sexual orientation has been a non-issue on the campaign trail, but LGBT groups like the Human Rights Campaign, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the new Lesbian Super PAC have provided what might prove a decisive boost, including millions of dollars in bundled campaign contributions from a roaring activist base.

The cash infusion allowed Baldwin, a seven-term congresswoman from the liberal college town of Madison, to overwhelm Thompson on the television airwaves for a critical period this August, framing the debate on her own terms – she’s a populist fighter while Thompson, a once-beloved governor, “is not for us anymore” -- as the Republican struggled to refill his own coffers after the rigors of a brutal Tea Party primary.

Washington Times columnist: Tammy Baldwin is a “radical lesbian”

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Jeffrey Kuhner, a columnist for the conservative Washington Times, referred to senatorial candidate Tammy Baldwin as a "radical lesbian" in a column about the Wisconsin race.

The column is called "Radical lesbian knocking on Senate door," and warns readers that Baldwin's election "would mark a watershed for the homosexual movement — and a major blow against traditional America."

Baldwin, who, if elected, would be the first openly gay senator, is running against former Gov. Tommy Thompson.

From Kuhner's column:

GOP Senate hopeful forgets how many homes he owns

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:19:00 +0000

Tommy Thompson, running for Senate in Wisconsin, had trouble remembering just how many homes he owns.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Thompson was asked for the number:

"'Three,' the veteran Republican responded last week at a campaign event.

Thompson has three houses? Isn't there another one?

'No,' he answered without hesitation."

His campaign later clarified that there is, in fact, a fourth house.

During the 2008 presidential race, John McCain also had to double-check on that. "I think — I'll have my staff get to you," he said. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Tommy Thompson: It’s Mitt’s fault I’m losing

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:29:00 +0000

The most recent polling in Wisconsin shows that Republican former Gov. Tommy Thompson has fallen behind Democratic opponent Tammy Baldwin in the race for Senate. Thompson's explanation? Mitt Romney's also been flailing.

"The presidential thing is bound to have an impact on every election," Thompson told WKOW in Madison Wednesday. "You know, whether you're a Democrat or Republican. If you're a standard-bearer for the presidency is not doing well, it's going to reflect on the down ballot."

The poll was out from Marquette University Law School, and showed that Baldwin is leading Thompson, the former governor, by 9 points. Last month, another poll from MULS showed Thompson ahead by 9 points.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin attacked for dancing at gay pride parade

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., could become the first openly gay U.S. senator if she wins the election against former Gov. Tommy Thompson. But Thompson's political director implied that a seat filled by Baldwin might not reflect "heartland values."

Baldwin had used the term "heartland values" to describe the contents of her DNC speech, which she delivered Thursday night. Beforehand, Mike Juley of the Milkwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports, Thompson political director Brian Nemoir sent out an email with a video of Baldwin dancing at a gay pride parade in 2010, alongside a fake Wonder Woman. "Clearly, there's no one better positioned to talk ‘heartland values’ than Tammy,” Nemoir wrote in the email.

Here's the video in question:

The Journal-Sentinel asked Nemoir about the email, and he replied: “I think there are issues in this race that are extremely significant that will be generated on a day-to-day basis and I look forward to coverage of those issues.”