How Jay Leno handled Michele Bachmann's appearance on his show

As usual, there was nothing confrontational about Jay Leno's interview with his political guest, in this case, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

She was on the West Coast on Friday to speak in Orange County and at the state Republican Convention in L.A. and, who knows? Maybe to schmooze some money from the people who give California its Golden State name too. Watch out. President Obama is on his way to California too in a few days. Although, the story is, some Hollywood folks are kinda unhappy with him.

Bachmann's star soared last summer. She won the Ames Straw Poll, which means nothing in reality but sounds good in the media for a while. But that same day, Rick Perry entered the Republican presidential sweepstakes. He's a big-shot GOP governor from Texas and began sucking the air, the money and the media attention away from the only female in the contest so far.

Late-night American TV is a special breed. Some jokes. A little music. Some chatter. Maybe a movie starlet swears she got locked out of her Paris hotel room with nothing to wear but a hand towel. Nothing too complicated or controversial because regardless of the time zone, Americans are in their beds beginning to drift off to zzzzzz...

Not all Americans realize that these late-night interviews, especially with politicians, are ...

'Piers Morgan Tonight' loses Christine O'Donnell, finds viewers

  

Last Wednesday, former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell objected to a line of questioning and walked out of an interview on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight," where she was a guest to promote her nonfiction book "Troublemaker."

If O'Donnell intended to use the kerfuffle to boost sales of her book, apparently it didn't work, but it did have a positive effect on Morgan's numbers the following day.

The 9 p.m. Eastern talk show led CNN's lineup on Thursday, both in total viewers and in the advertiser-appproved target adults 25-54 demographic. "Piers Morgan Tonight" drew 809,000 total viewers and 241,000 in the demo. It landed a close third for the night behind MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show."

Both placed well behind Fox News Channel's "Hannity," which drew in just more than....

Sunday shows: Geithner, Pawlenty, Warner, Daley

ABC's "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former senators Trent Lott and Tom Daschle.

Bloomberg's "Political Capital" with Al Hunt: Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.).

CBS' "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer: Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

CNN Fareed Zakaria "GPS": Taïb Fassi-Fihri, foreign minister of Morocco, David McCullough, Gideon Rose and Anne-Marie Slaughter.

CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) and Geithner.

Fox News Channel "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace: Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Geithner, with Brit Hume, Bill Kristol, A.B. Stoddard and Juan Williams.

NBC's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Obama Chief of Staff William Daley.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images (Geithner).

President Obama hasn't yet evolved on gay rights says 'barbarian' leader

President Obama has consistently said that he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, an opinion based on his religious beliefs, he says. However, he has recently said that because of "very close friends who are married gay and lesbian couples" his feelings are "evolving."

Despite recent developments in the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which should come to an end in a few months, Nick Espinosa, the leader of the activist group known for using glitter as a form of protest, feels that Obama hasn't really evolved yet on the subject of same-sex marriage.

"Unfortunately, President Obama has not 'evolved' yet, and millions of LGBT people continue to be treated like second-class citizens while being denied the basic rights loving couples deserve," Espinosa said in an email to the Ticket. "I do believe he is getting there, and that he has made strides in the right direction, but we have to keep the pressure on him to hold him to his promises so he can be a true champion for full equality."

Espinosa's group dressed up as barbarians Thursday armed with glitter to confront GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, at the couple's Minnesota clinic that has been accused of trying to turn gays and lesbians straight by "praying away the gay."

Gay 'barbarians' descend on Marcus and Michele Bachmann's clinic, demand discipline [Video]

A horde of glitter-wielding gay "barbarians" on Thursday paid a visit to a clinic owned by GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus.

The colorfully dressed group had scheduled an appointment at Bachmann & Associates and were demanding to be disciplined.

The barbarians appeared to be taking Marcus up on his belief that gays and lesbians are in need of "discipline"to remedy their "sinful nature," a philosophy he espoused over a year ago on a Christian radio show.

"We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined," Marcus said on the "Point of View" radio talk show on May 12, 2010. "Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps."

Bachmann & Associates recently denied using a technique of "praying away the gay" with gay people in order to make them straight, but undercover video appeared to show that the clinic believes that prayer can alter people's sexual orientation.

Once the horde was notified that Marcus, a strategist for his wife's presidential campaign, was not at the clinic, their leader told the group, "All right, folks, Marcus isn't coming out so we're gonna have to act like barbarians."

Defense of Marriage Act hearing turns comical thanks to Sen. Al Franken

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) needed a better defense witness than Tom Minnery could provide Wednesday after Sen. Al Franken exposed him for misrepresenting a study.

Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and now a Democratic senator from Minnesota, used some of his comedic skills and razor-sharp timing to take down the Focus on the Family representative.

He also used the curious technique of actually reading the study his witness cited.

Hilarity ensued when Franken discovered that Minnery had misrepresented a Department of Health and Human Services definition of a "nuclear family" to better fit FOTF's conservative worldview.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held Wednesday, Franken highlighted the Christian group's statement that kids "living with their biological and/or adopted mothers and fathers" were better off in a variety of ways than those children "living in any other family form".

"I checked the study out," said Franken, the author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

"It actually doesn't say what you said it says," he continued.

Obama endorses Sen. Dianne Feinstein's repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act

Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday announced a bill that would end the federal law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Later the White House said it backed the California lawmaker's Respect for Marriage Act.

Feinstein's announcement precedes a Wednesday hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee that will discuss repealing all three sections of 1996's Defense of Marriage Act, which says marriage is a "legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife". 

"I think eyes have opened," Feinstein told the National Press Club on Tuesday.

"More and more people across this land know people who are gay, who want to have a lasting relationship, who look at marriage as an economic agreement as well as an emotional agreement," said Feinstein, who was one of 14 senators to vote against DOMA.

"This legislation would uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on behalf of President Obama, who has recently said that his stance on same-sex marriage is "evolving".

Rudy Giuliani thinks GOP should 'get the heck out of people's bedrooms'

Rudy Giuliani has been married three times. Maybe that's why he doesn't want the government in his bedroom? Or maybe that's why he doesn't feel he should be telling Americans what marriage is?

Either way, the former New York City mayor feels that his political party should get out of the marriage business.

"I think the Republican Party would be well advised to get the heck out of people's bedrooms and let these things get decided by states," Giuliani told Candy Crowley on Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

"We'd be a much more successful political party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots," the 67-year-old native New Yorker said.

Recently New York passed a same-sex marriage bill that allows gays and lesbians to wed legally. Giuliani consistently had stated that gays and lesbians should opt for civil unions as opposed to traditional marriages. Did watching that historic event play out change his mind about gay marriages?

"I think it's wrong, but there are other things that I think are wrong that get decided by democratic vote," Giuliani said. "I see more harm, however, by dwelling so much on this subject of gays and lesbians and whether it's right or wrong in politics."

In 2009 when he was considering running for New York governor, Giuliani had no problem mixing the controversial subject with politics.

Michele Bachmann's strategist-husband called gays 'barbarians' who 'need to be disciplined' [Audio]

Michele Bachmann, the Republican representative from Minnesota, was "glittered" earlier this month for her conservative stance on gay marriage. But after listening to audio of her husband, he can probably expect some glitter his way soon.

As first reported by the Think Progress blog, Marcus Bachmann, who in March was described by former Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey as part of Michele's "brain trust," was a guest on the Christian-based "Point of View" radio talk show on May 12, 2010, where he came out strongly against the LGBT community.

"We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps," Marcus Bachmann said.

The radio show's self-proclaimed mission is "to use the powerful tool of live daily national talk radio to defend a biblical Christian worldview and to proclaim Christian solutions for the problems of America. 'Point of View' aims to restore the greatness of Christian thought and values to every area of American Life."

But does Marcus Bachmann, besides being Michele Bachmann's husband, really have any political influence on his wife? Carey, who served as the congresswoman's chief of staff in 2010, said yes in March.

New York gay marriage bill needs only one more GOP nod for it to pass

The New York gay marriage bill introduced by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs only one more yea vote from a Republican senator to pass. If that vote materializes, New York would become the sixth and most populous state to allow same-sex marriage.

President Obama received mixed reviews after speaking Thursday night to supporters of the bill at a Democratic fundraiser in New York City. More than 600 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people paid $1,250 each to attend the gala.

The president's critics argue that although he said he supports equal rights for gays and lesbians, he won't come right out and support same-sex marriage.

LZ Granderson, an openly gay journalist for ESPN and CNN, said he wanted to be mad at Obama (like some of those who heckled the president during his speech), but ultimately he understood that now was not the time for the president to publicly support the redefinition of marriage.

Granderson wrote on CNN that "as inspiring as it would have been to hear the president say he supports marriage equality, Thursday night simply was not the right time."

"And it won't be tomorrow, or even next week," he continued. "That's not a defeatist attitude wrapped in dogmatism, but rather the depressing voice of pragmatism."

Daily Beast writer Nancy Goldstein was less forgiving in her piece Friday that carried the headline "Obama’s Gay Marriage Wimp-Out" and concluded: "If Thursday night’s performance is any indication, this president, left to his own devices and with a pocketful of LGBT checks, does not appear to share our sense of urgency."

In May 2011, a Gallup poll found that 53% of Americans say same-sex marriage should be recognized in law as equal to traditional marriages.

 

 RELATED:

The bluer the Oregon county, the lower the gay-teen suicide rate

A first: Majority of Americans now supports same-sex marriage, Gallup finds

Michele Bachmann gets glittered; activist says Obama deserves the same [Video]

-- Tony Pierce
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Photo: Jade and Amber Fox wait to apply for a marriage license in Beverly Hills in 2010. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times