Y’all, this thing that the military calls “training exercises” named Jade Helm and has turned out to be a thinly veiled attempt by Barack Obama to gather intelligence on US citizens and haul us all away for indoctrination at abandoned WalMarts with tunnels underground going from one to another and they will then take away our guns and probably make us all black, gay, and Muslim is a real thing in Texas.

First we have the Governor having the Texas Guard oversee all this because the Governor says respects the military, and, yeah, it shows.

It’s even on the front page above the fold of the Houston Chronicle.

And now – ta da!- it’s a real thing.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said in a recent interview that he’d “look at” a planned U.S. military training exercise that conspiracy theorists believe may be a cover for the implementation of martial law.

Oh well, if we have Greg Abbott and Rand Paul looking into this, it’s a damn thing.

Thanks to Kyle for the heads up.

A Texas State Trooper is in big trouble for posing with Snoop Dogg at South by Southwest.  He will get a reprimand and Lord only knows what else because Snoop Dogg has drug convictions.

And here’s our Governor posing with this nice Christian fella.

Now that is white privilege.

Thanks to Brian C for the heads up.

We know that a battle was won yesterday in the Supreme Court when at least the justices opposing marriage equality were forced to use language that wasn’t demeaning to gay people.

Well, except for Antonin Scalia.

All the talk acknowledging that gay people are … you know, people, was too much for a couple of crazy folks.  Scalia was one of them.

Jeffrey Toobin explains.

There was a shocking, ugly moment during the argument of Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage case, in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Right after Mary Bonauto, the lawyer challenging marriage bans in several states, completed her argument, a spectator rose from a back row and started screaming, “If you support gay marriage, you will burn in Hell!” As the man yelled, “It’s an abomination!,” guards carried him from the courtroom.

That wasn’t the ugly part, though. In the quiet moment after the man was removed, as his shouts vanished into the hallway, Justice Antonin Scalia filled the silence with a quip. “It was rather refreshing, actually,” he said.

He meant it.

Ronald Reagan did many awful and shameful things to this country, but Scalia remains his living legacy of slime.

Thanks to Craig for the heads up.

If there is anywhere you need a gun, it at an Ohio Chick-fil-A.

An Ohio man accidentally shot himself in a Chick-fil-A while pulling up his pants in the bathroom Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The 45-year-old man was licensed to carry the concealed Glock pistol that fired one shot, grazing his leg, but the weapon did not have a safety, the Journal-News reported.

I can only hope he had his pants down for regular bathrooming purposes, but he left the place without telling anyone he was shot so I have my suspicion.  I’ve always figured that the bathrooms at Chick-fil-A were dens of iniquity.

Oh Dear, another Republican put the cherry on top of the Hypocrisy Sundae.

North Dakota Republican State Representative Randy Boehning voted against a bill granting equal rights to gay people in the state.

Come to find out, Randy Boehning goes by the name “TopMan!” on Grindr, a popular hook-up app for gay men.  He had be sending raunchy texts and even winkie photos to a 21 year old man.

He got outed.

Boehning’s response?

Boehning, who thankfully is not married, claims he’s relieved to finally be out of the closet. “The 1,000-pound gorilla has been lifted,” he told reporters. “I have to confront it at some point.” But he told the reporters he suspects he got outed in retaliation for voting against the bill.

I suspect it was mighty quiet in the GOP caucus that afternoon.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

By Primo Encarnación y Hachecristo

There is an Hachecristo cousin who shall remain nameless, but he’s no one you’ve met yet. Within la familia there have been many whispered “Do you think he’s…?” But, unlike the US of A under our peerless leader, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is alive and well among the Hachecristo’s, as is the concept of 1 man + 1 woman = 1 marriage.

You would be correct in assuming that we are all very Democratic and more-or-less liberal. You don’t grow up off-white in this country and not be, unless there’s something wrong with your heart, brain or courage.   The older generation suffered the Depression, and celebrated the social justice of the New Deal, and achieved middle class status thanks to the unions. However, they also grew up and got married hearing the Mass in Latin, which contrary to Teapopulist belief is not what Latinos speak at home.

So out of deference to the oldsters, we leave a lot of the RuPaul recaps at the doorstep before going in for dinner on Easter or Mother’s Day. And the divorcees among us walk a little small, too.

Justice Kennedy, who in all respects looks like he may side with liberal half of the court on gay marriage, is, like our parents, DEAD wrong in one respect: 1 man + 1 woman has not been around for millennia. Like most of the other large mammals, thanks be to Darwin, the concept within the species has been 1 male MULTIPLE females, for the space of a single breeding season. And the biggest, strongest, fastest or smartest male, the one able to outmaneuver, outthink or outfight the previous alpha male, is the one who gets to get “married” 3 or 8 or 19 times, depending on the size of the tribe, pride, or herd.

Out of this biological imperative grew our concept of chief, leader, king and emperor. Politics came about, and continues to this day, as a great way to get laid.

As in so many other things, marriage was for a long time a one-way deal, invented by men to subjugate women as property, and to ensure that the male heir to the man’s other property was indeed his own: that he has not been cuckolded with a cuckoo’s egg hatchling set to inherit his stuff.

Sacramental marriage for “love” is a fairly recent development, within the last few centuries: formerly, political concerns were, again, driving the wedding of peers and the begetting of heirs much more than “love.” Even poor brides were required to submit to the droits de seigneur – her maidenhead belonged to the lord of the manor to take, or bestow. Plural marriage is still practiced as a Christian religious imperative (or as television entertainment) inside the United States to this day. Arranged marriages are also still celebrated in America today, within several sub-cultures.

For millennia, then, marriage has actually been about male power, property and privilege. No wonder the Right Wing Nutjobs want to maintain “traditional” definitions.