-Well, the KKK's worst nightmare just happened this week. With the naming of the new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, both parties now are headed by African Americans. Maybe they can hope that Grand Wizard David Duke will make a comeback. Think your days are over fellows, so pack in the sheets!

-By the way, don't be fooled, the new Republican Party Chairman, Michael Steele, is extremely conservative.

-Ben Smith of Politico.com chatted about how the LGBT Log Cabin Republicans became an issue in the Republican Chair race. It is worth the read.

-The wonderful movie about the ex-gay movement Save Me has been released on DVD. This is a fine movie with incredible performances by talented Judith Light, Chad Allen, Jeremy Glazer and Stephen Lang. This one is worth putting in your personal collection so go to Amazon.com and buy it now.

-The very good California political newsletter written by Dick Rosengarten, CalPeek, this week indicates that the right wing might challenge three California Supreme Court Justices over the marriage issue. Chief Justice Ronald George, Associate Justices Ming Chin and Carlos R. Moreno could all face a tough re-election in 2010. Maybe our first obligation is to protect these courageous individuals before going back on the ballot. What do you think?

-Thrilled that Vice President Joe Biden will head up the special task force on the American Middle Class. There is no one better to understand the issue. But who is going to head the one on the American poor? Please lets not once again ignore these millions of suffering Americans.

-Europeans are fighting over who gets the honor of President Obama visiting them first. It appears as though England has a lock on it since it is hosting the next big summit in April. Can't imagine what that tour is going to look like on his first visit.

-Am disappointed that there is not a proposal to put serious money into the stimulus package for high speed rail connections between metro areas and light rail for inner cities. Hopefully this might come later in the effort to put America back to work. What President Eisenhower was to the interstate highway system, Obama could be to a modern and massive high speed rail network.

-In our davidmixner.com poll last week, Rachel Maddow ran away with 37% of your votes on who is your favorite news commentator. She was followed by Anderson Cooper and Keith Olbermann each with 20% of the vote. The only person not to get one vote among the nine was Chris Matthews.

-As always, Frank Rich of the New York Times, without fail has written yet one more brilliant column entitled "Herbert Hoover Lives" about the Republicans failing to pitch in to help solve our nation's economic crisis. It is a must read. His closing paragraph is priceless:

"It’s up to me to hijack the Obama honeymoon,” Limbaugh soon gloated, “and I’ve done it.” In his dreams. He has hijacked what’s left of the Republican Party; the Obama honeymoon remains intact. The nightmare is that we have so irrelevant, clownish and childish an opposition party at a moment when America is in an all-hands-on-deck emergency that’s as trying as war. To paraphrase a dictum that has been variously attributed to two of our most storied leaders in times of great challenge, Thomas Paine and George Patton, the Republicans should either lead, follow or get out of way of the grown-ups"

-Another milestone has been reached within the LGBT political history with the office of Prime Minister of Iceland currently being held by Johanna Sigurdardottir, an open lesbian! Iceland is in such chaos with the economic collapse that it is not sure how long she will be in charge but for now she is running the country and the first open LGBT Prime Minister in history. Now if we could only get the Mayor of Paris to run to head the Socialist Party in France!

-Without a doubt, one of my favorite United States Senators is Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO). She is amazing. The senator is a true populist and one of Obama's earliest supporters. She gave a fiery five minute speech on the floor this week about corporate greed. You must take a few minutes and watch it.