The California Arts Administrator Conspiracy widens: Richard Raddon, director of Los Angeles Film Festival, resigned over the weekend after it was discovered he had donated $1,500 to Prop 8.

This ain’t no California Musical Theatre: the festival is sponsored by Film Independent, which also sponsors the Independent Spirit awards. Film Independent board members include Don Cheadle and Forest Whitaker.

Oh, and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon. “I’m personally saddened by the outcome,” he says. “Someone has lost his job and possibly his livelihood because of privately held religious beliefs.”

No. Nobody gives a shit that Raddon is a Mormon. The issue is that he made a substantial financial contribution towards depriving California citizens of their human rights. Save the Blacklist whine for Fox News.

L.A. Film Festival director Richard Raddon resigns [LAT]

Image: David Goldsmith, AIDS/LifeCycle 2007

We think we’re supposed to be outraged:

They’ve come in the form of a burning Book of Mormon, shattered glass doors, mysterious white powder, graffiti and even a flaming plastic plant. A recent rash of crimes has swept churches along the Wasatch Front and peppered areas of California since Proposition 8, backed by the LDS Church, banned gay marriage there.

Bearing in mind that no evidence yet ties these events to opponents of Prop 8, the fact is, if the roles were reversed, we’d be all over it. Especially in those cases where symbolism crosses over into violence and intimidation. Hey, we thought the WTO kiddies in Seattle were idiots.

But honestly: We don’t have it in us to condemn. We don’t condone it, we think it unwise — but we can’t find our anger.

Where did it go?

Read more »

All-star wingnut Warner Todd Huston is sick and tired of all the Republican bellyaching about Sarah Palin — in particular the baseless accusation that Talibunny was the worst veep choice ever:

A look at recent history can only serve to deflate that ridiculous claim. There have been far worse picks than Gov. Palin and only the extremely emotional state of mind that this past election ginned up could obscure the historical record.

Exhibit A: Curtis LeMay.

Exhibit B: Thomas Eagleton.

Exhibit C: Wait, there’s no Exhibit C.

Read more »

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed while giving a speech Thursday at the Federalist Society dinner at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. (CNN)

• “Most notably, the President has appointed two members of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito… Both of these remarkably accomplished justices will continue to serve the Nation for many years to come.”
• “Since September 11th, Al Qaeda has not managed to launch a single act of terrorism in the United States. This is a remarkable achievement that no one could have predicted in the days following the September 11th attacks… Much of that credit also goes to the President; in this area, as in many others, leadership and resolve matter.”

Read more »

Salt Lake City drive-in, August 1958, from Google’s new Life magazine archive. If it makes you feel better, we were doomed long before most of us were born.

Life photo archive [Google]

The California Supreme Court may take up Prop 8 for review today, and in so doing the justices face recall if they thwart the will of the Mormon church.

That’s how democracy works, of course. If you don’t hate with us, you’re against us.

But we’ll save that fun for later. Because buried near the end of the L.A. Times story reviewing the constitutional issues we find this nugget:

Proposition 8’s [Andrew] Pugno said voters could indeed resurrect a ban on mixed-race marriages if the issue had been decided purely on state constitutional grounds.

The reference here is to a 1948 decision that struck down a ban on interracial marriage. Pugno — general counsel for “ProtectMarriage.com” — says California voters could easily reinstate that ban, if only the state court hadn’t reached for federal justifications.

In other words: All California marriages are subject to the whim of the electorate, unless the Feds butt in.

Protect marriage? Hell, California just voted to undermine it.

Recall specter hangs over high court as it considers Prop. 8 challenges [LAT]

The Republicans need a new party chairman come January, and Townhall’s Matt Lewis has just the candidate.

He’s dynamic. He’s charming. He’s deep. He’s—

Fred Thompson?

Oh, yeah. And because GOP rules would require a female co-chairman, you know Matt’s choice for runningmate ain’t Olympia Snowe.

“With the party in the hands of a high-wattage Thompson-Palin tag team, I’m pretty sure that the two could seize the offensive and leave the new president in the dust,” Matt writes. “After four years of Obama’s socialist policies, something tells me that the American people are going to be ready for another tea party.”

Matt, we’ve got yer back on this one. Because while you’re waiting for your tea party, a Thompson-Palin tag team would guarantee the rest of us one helluva rave.

Can Palin and Thompson lead GOP tea party? [Politico]