At least bipartisanship humor isn’t dead. New Jersey Gov Chris Christie (R) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) did a very funny video for last night’s state Press Association Legislative Correspondents Club dinner.

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“President Obama says he supports same-sex marriage. Not only that but he’s going to turn his birth certificate into a musical.” – David Letterman

“President Obama came out in favor of gay marriage because his position has evolved. Then today he flew to George Clooney’s house. So things are evolving a lot faster than we expected.” – Conan O’Brien

“President Obama has come out in support of gay marriage. He said his position has been evolving for years. Miraculously, he saw the light just in time for tonight’s big Hollywood fundraiser. What are the odds?” – Jay Leno

“President Obama’s in town for a fundraiser. Forty grand a plate — because nothing says ‘man of the people’ like demanding 40 grand for some rubbery chicken.” – Craig Ferguson

“The guests included Leonardo DiCaprio and Barbra Streisand. It must have been awkward though. Everybody in Hollywood thinks they’re the world’s most important person. So it must be kind of weird when in walks the world’s actual most important person.” – Craig Ferguson

“Insiders say Obama’s pretty comfortable around actors. He should be. He has been ‘acting’ like he was born in Hawaii for a long time.” – Craig Ferguson

“I’m a little surprised how much everyone in show business wants a second term for Obama. An over-hyped sequel with a bloated budget — that’s not the Hollywood I know.” – Craig Ferguson

“After President Obama announced his support for gay marriage, his campaign raised a million dollars in 90 minutes. That explains why today Mitt Romney actually supported gay marriage from noon to 1:30.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney has issued an apology for some of his high school pranks that went a little too far. Probably the meanest prank was the time he bought his high school and fired everyone in it.” – Conan O’Brien

“Today Newt Gingrich didn’t agree or disagree on the gay marriage thing. However, he did say there should be a term limit on all marriages.” – Jay Leno

“My question with the same-sex couples is: Who drives, who nags? Who says let’s order dessert and who says I’ll just have a bite?” – David Letterman

“Can you be in a heterosexual marriage and also have a gay marriage? Can you have one of each?” – David Letterman

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from Unicorn Booty

Personally, I believe that Jesus wouldn’t care one way or another about same-sex marriage, and that some people are just using the Bible to support their own homophobia and sexism. Which is pretty darn unchristian-like.

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via bartcop

I can’t think of anything to add to this that I haven’t already said.

UPDATE: I guess I do have something to add. While the Newsweek cover (sensationally) calls Obama “the first gay president”, an excellent article in Salon points out that James Buchanan, who was president just before Abraham Lincoln, was our first gay president.

I also want to say that the issue here is not that Romney’s ancestors were polygamists. After all, Obama’s ancestors in Kenya also practiced polygamy. The issue here is the hypocrisy of Romney declaring that marriage has always been between one man and one woman.

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1. Traditional Marriage?
2. The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage
3. Really want to protect the sanctity of marriage?

© Tom Tomorrow

Tom Tomorrow says that you “should imagine the Austerions speaking in full, booming voices, with the reverb cranked up high.” Oh, and it looks like Paul Krugman recognized himself in the 4th panel.

What I don’t understand is why we listen to our own Austerions, when it should be a dead give-away that when they talk about austerity, they conveniently exempt themselves. After all, they need those huge bonuses, golden parachutes, and other financial incentives to motivate them to create jobs! How many times will we be fooled?

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In a must-read editorial, Henry Blodget, the CEO of Business Insider, points out the obvious:

So we finally know the truth about Wall Street, a truth most Wall Street observers have known all along:

Wall Street can’t be trusted to manage—or even correctly assess—its own risks.

This is in part because, time and again, Wall Street has demonstrated that it doesn’t even KNOW what risks it is taking.

In short, Wall Street bankers are just a bunch of kids playing with dynamite.

After all, just a few weeks ago, JP Morgan was denying that there was any problem. It is a very bad sign that even a cautious and responsible bank can’t figure out what risks it is taking.

Blodget gives a simple solution to this problem:

Congress needs to:

• Radically increase bank capital requirements, so even massive bets can’t threaten the system
• Once again, separate “banking” from Wall Street gambling. Glass Steagall worked very well for 70 years—let’s bring it back.
• Lay out a plan, in advance, to manage the failure of even the largest financial institutions—by stepping in, seizing the bank, firing management, zeroing out shareholders, haircutting bondholders, and then injecting new SENIOR capital (fully protected) and re-floating or selling off the firm. This will allow the entity to keep operating, and it will stick the losses where they belong—with the idiots who bought the bank’s stock or loaned it money. Meanwhile, the systemic threat will be eliminated.

That’s the answer.

The Dodd-Frank bill was supposed to prevent any new bank problems, but it was watered down by bank lobbyists. It is time to get serious about taking the matches away from the kids playing with fire.

UPDATE: Good followup article. Also points out that Romney has been virtually silent about the issue.

Also, an interesting interview with Elizabeth Warren on what needs to be done.

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“Today Barack Obama became the first sitting president to push the rainbow button and launch gay-mageddon.” – Stephen Colbert

“Soon we may live in a world where the only people opposed to gay marriage will be gay people who are married.” – Craig Ferguson

“Suck it gays! By which I mean, do not.” – Stephen Colbert

“President Obama officially announced he is in favor of gay marriage. Of course, this is a monumental event. This is the first time Joe Biden said something Obama didn’t have to apologize for.” – Jay Leno

“In fact, he changed his campaign slogan from ‘forward’ to ‘fabulous’.” – Jay Leno

“Today President Obama said he supports gay marriage, which is great news for the gay community. It wasn’t all positive though. He also said the show ‘Glee’ has jumped the shark.” – Craig Ferguson

“The women know what this means. Now all the good ones will be married AND gay.” – Jay Leno

“Today President Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage. He said he hoped his support would make it easier for gay people to get married and for John Travolta to get a massage.” – Conan O’Brien

“Tomorrow Obama happens to have a fundraising dinner at George Clooney’s house. Very interesting. I think they are getting married!” – Jimmy Kimmel

“My position is simple. I support any wedding I don’t have to go to.” – Jay Leno

“Today Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to endorse same-sex marriage. Obama said he thinks same-sex marriage should be legal. Then he said, ‘Okay, now where’s my show on Bravo?’” – Jimmy Fallon

“You know who is really against the president’s position on gay marriage? Gay men afraid of commitment. Now they have no excuse.” – Jay Leno

“Mitt Romney responded today by restating his own views on marriage. He said marriage should only take place between two consenting rich people.” – Craig Ferguson

“Romney said he had no problem with gay people because one of his best friends owns San Francisco.” – Craig Ferguson

“North Carolina voted to approve an amendment that specifically defines marriage as between a man and a woman, which makes no sense because they let ‘Dawson’s Creek’ shoot there for years.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“This week President Obama awarded Burt Bacharach the Gershwin Prize. If that doesn’t increase Obama’s street cred, nothing will.” – Conan O’Brien

“It’s come down to Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. And Mitt Romney is fighting this image that he has no personality, and the reason for this, of course, is that he has no personality.” – David Letterman

“Hillary Clinton is making headlines now for nonpolitical reasons. She attended a number of public events without makeup on. Is that a big deal? I’m pretty sure Colin Powell went without makeup a lot.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Michele Bachamnn has announced she is now also a citizen of Switzerland. What better way to protest a president you think is socialist than become a citizen of a country with a socialist philosophy and a mandated health care plan.” – Jay Leno

“Yesterday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he’s not sure if he’s going to run for re-election next year. He’s said, ‘I’ll collapse that bridge when I get to it.’” – Jimmy Fallon

“Membership and recruiting of Al Qaeda is drying up. Far be it for me to tell terrorists about strategy but I think membership started to subside when they went to the suicide bomber exploding underpants.” – David Letterman

“Let’s just say you put on the exploding underpants and you detonate. When they bring in the 72 virgins, then what?” – David Letterman

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Of course, you would expect conservatives like Andrew Sullivan be in favor of same-sex marriage rights. After all, Sullivan is openly gay and is married. Nevertheless, his Newsweek cover article is definitely worth a read.

But there are other signs that conservatives, who often march in lock-step on social issues, are not of one mind on gay marriage. After all, conservatives are supposed to be for freedom and keeping the government out of your private business.

Other countries have figured this out. Last October, the conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative.”

Things are a bit slower here in the colonies, but they are nonetheless changing. For the first time in our history, more people support gay marriage than oppose it. Not only that, but both Democratic voters and Independent voters support gay marriage even more strongly, making this a wedge issue that works for the Democratic party, instead of working against it like it has in the past.

But even though Republicans still generally oppose same-sex marriage, the writing is on the wall. Support for gay marriage is now increasing around 5% every year. A leaked memo from a top Republican pollster is telling the GOP that gay marriage is being embraced by the general public and there is no stopping it. If Republicans don’t get on board, they will severely damage their brand. And they are promoting gay marriage as a conservative value, albeit in a private memo:

As people who promote personal responsibility, family values, commitment and stability, and emphasize freedom and limited government we have to recognize that freedom means freedom for everyone. This includes the freedom to decide how you live and to enter into relationships of your choosing, the freedom to live without excessive interference of the regulatory force of government.

Of course there will be a backlash among social conservatives. Indeed, this backlash forced Mitt Romney into a full flip-flop — walking back his comments from just one day earlier on gay adoption, and reaffirming his stance against gay marriage, including promising a constitutional amendment against it — in order to fire up the conservative base. Whether or not this will backfire is anyone’s guess. Indeed, Rand Paul’s crude joke that Obama’s views on gay marriage “couldn’t get any gayer” was sharply rebuked by those very same social conservatives, showing that this issue is not a slam-dunk even for them.

Indeed, even Fox News is sending out mixed messages. Anchor Shepard Smith declared “The president of the United States, now in the twenty-first century.” He even wondered “if Republicans would go out on a limb and try to make this a campaign issue while sitting very firmly, without much question, on the wrong side of history on it.” But at the same time, the headline on the Fox News website shouted “OBAMA FLIP FLOPS, DECLARES WAR ON MARRIAGE.”

One thing seems clear. At some point in the future we will look back on laws prohibiting gay marriage the same way we now look at past laws against interracial marriages. The only question is when.

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