FLASHBACK: Crazy Eyes Spies On Gays

Buzzfeed reminds us of the incident in which then state legislator Michele Bachmann squatted down in some bushes to spy on an LGBT rights rally in Minneapolis. Bachmann later claimed she wasn't hiding, she was "resting her heels."

Van Jones At Netroots Nation

Always the fiery presenter.

MINNEAPOLIS: Muslim Women Stage "Head-Scarf Flash Mob" At RightOnline

On Thursday night, I happened upon the tail-end of an incident outside the SEIU party in which a man was arrested for allegedly threatening Muslim women. I saw the man being handcuffed and though little more of it until tonight when about a dozen headscarf-wearing Muslim women (and their allies) "flash-mobbed" the lobby of the Minneapolis Hilton in reaction to (as yet, unconfirmed) reports that the arrested man was an attendee of RightOnline.

After the women left under hotel security escort, AmericaBlog author John Aravosis fielded increasingly angry questions from RightOnline attendees. Dan Choi, of course, glommed onto the scene and when I left he was still refusing to leave and had begun glad-handing baffled RightOnline attendees as they came off the escalators, shaking their hands and saying "God bless you beautiful Americans! God bless the Fair Tax!" Ugh. Here's my clip.

Rep. Keith Ellison Gets Wellstone Award

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, was just given an award in the name of another famed progressive Minnesotan, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002.

GetEQUAL Glitters Crazy Eyes

I'm not seeing it in this clip, but Michelle "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann was reportedly glittered by GetEQUAL moments ago as she left the stage at the anti-gay hate conference. I'll try to find better video. [Replaced the first video, but it doesn't appear Bachmann was hit by the glitter.]

UPDATE: GetEQUAL has issued a press release.

Shortly after a speech at the RightOnline conference, pro-LGBT activist Rachel E. B. Lang approached Bachmann, threw glitter in the air, and said, “You can run, but you cannot hide! Keep your hate out of our Constitution!” — a reference to the “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide” ministry for which Bachmann has helped raise money [1] and to a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota. The ministry, a brainchild of rabidly anti-gay Bradley Dean, charges thousands of dollars to speak at public school assemblies and evangelize young people based on a shocking and offensive anti-gay program.

(Via - Good As You)

I Just Met Sen. Al Franken

I happened to be passing Sam Seder's radio booth when Franken arrived for his interview. Introduced myself, shook hands, got a pleasant (if distracted) "Heyhowareya!" Totally bloggable, though.

JMG Reader Meet-Up Tonight At 10PM

After last night's visit to the Saloon, the consensus is to have tonight's JMG reader meet-up at the Eagle/Bolt, which is at 515 Washington Ave South. I'll should be able to get there by 10pm, based on what tonight's Netroots schedule looks like. Hope to meet some of you there!

MINNEAPOLIS: Scumbag Wingnut Liar Andrew Breitbart Tries To Crash Netroots

King of the scumbags (and GOProud backer) Andrew Breitbart, who famously crashed the press conference of Anthony Weiner, was up to his old tricks this afternoon at Netroots Nation.

There will be no Weiner-style gatecrashing from Andrew Breitbart at the Netroots Nation conference here. That is, unless Breitbart wants to pony up $355 for a ticket. With the annual conservative Right Online conference just down the street from Netroots Nation, it was inevitable that some sort of shenanigan would occur in Minneapolis this week. And so it did, early Friday afternoon when Breitbart, camera crew in tow, showed up at Netroots unannounced and uncredentialed.

As he no doubt expected, the conservative blogger was immediately accosted by an angry progressive with a Flip cam when he stepped off the escalators at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where Netroots is being held. The attendee yelled in Breitbart's face, demanding he answer questions like "have you ever used cocaine?" and "why are you so fixated on gay magazines?" Breitbart yelled back at the guy, refusing to answer. Eventually Breitbart's security detail pulled him away and sent him toward the entrance to the conference. He was rebuffed by staffers, who denied him entry because he didn't have a credential.

Talking Points Memo reports that Breitbart left visibly "thrilled" by the incident.

UPDATE: Note how the wingnuts are already spinning this. You might recall escaped mental patient Jim Hoft (below) as the blogger who claimed the Obama administration was using a Jumbrotron to instruct the audience to applaud at the Tuscon shooting memorial.

GOProud Sells Skeletor's Autograph

At The Saloon

The Saloon, Minneapolis, Thursday 11pm

After thirty minutes in line for what turned out to be "18 and over" night, I finally handed my ID to the doorman. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

JMG: I know, I'm the oldest one here. Hah.
Doorman: Naw, there's one older dude in there tonight.
JMG: (Jokingly) Great! Is he hot?
Doorman: How could he be?

And still I went in and had a pleasant time.

UPDATE: I should have noted that Saloon was just one stop on the LGBT Netroots bar crawl, otherwise I wouldn't have gone in.

Tweet Of The Day - Melissa Clouthier

The rumbles between Netroots attendees and those here for the anti-gay Right Online conference have begun. According to Twitter, one Netroots attendee was just dragged screaming out of Andrew Breitbart's book signing. The haters booked themselves right into the main Netroots host hotel.

Afternoon View - DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Speaks At Netroots

She's somewhat the fiery speaker. Video to come soon, hopefully.

Daily Ungrumble

The other big convention here in Minneapolis is the annual meeting of the International Society For The Study Of Why You Can't Fucking Sleep. (Or something.) I gotta say, some of their seminars down the hall look very interesting.

2005 Flashback

During my 2005 visit to Minneapolis, being a gay man, I was forced by law to pose with the famed Mary Tyler Moore statue. Sadly, I could find nobody nearby willing to be my Hazel Frederick.

UNRELATED: Last night I went to an open bar / karaoke party hosted by SEIU, where the mayor of Minneapolis led the entire crowd in the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. True story.

Netroots Nation Notables

I'll add more photos to this slideshow as the week goes on.

Morning View - Tippi Hedren

The Minnesota Walk of Fame features five names. So far.

NETROOTS: Choi Rips Up Obama Flyer

Igor Volsky reports at Think Progress: "Lt. Dan Choi ripped up an Obama For America (OFA) flyer this afternoon during a panel at Netroots Nation when he was confronted by an Obama volunteer who attempted to explain away the President’s opposition to same-sex marriage."

NOTE: The Obama administration is prosecuting Choi for chaining himself to the White House fence during a DADT protest. Earlier this week Choi's trial date was set for late August.

UPDATE: Choi later said to Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson: “Sometimes love comes in harsh forms. I love my detractors enough to let them know when they are misguided and I only regret that we are both suffering under a second-class citizenship imposed by politicians who smile pleasantly while denying our fight for justice. The harshest treatment would be our acquiescence to the view that we do not deserve equality.”

MINNEAPOLIS: Lesbian Couple Yelled At For Kissing At Twins Baseball Game

Via Minneapolis' City Pages blog:

Taylor Campione and Kelsi Culpepper -- two lesbian women from Minneapolis -- were recently scolded by a Target Field security guard for what they call a "brief kiss." After seeing the quick peck on the lips, the guard told the women that "we don't play grab ass here" and that they must "adhere to the 10 Commandments" while at the stadium. "That ruined our entire evening," says Campione. "We were super upset, we felt super uncomfortable." The security guard has since been reprimanded, but continues to work at the stadium, says Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Twins. "That behavior just is unacceptable," Smith says of the biblical put-down. "That security guard has received both a verbal and written reprimand that will be put in his personnel file, and he understands that that is not an acceptable behavior."

The couple plans to file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Afternoon View - Right Wing Watch

Folks, meet Right Wing Watch bloggers Brian Tashman and Kyle Mantyla. Between the two of them, they probably provide more JMG video and hate-quote content than any other site I regularly reference. Big props and snaps to them both!

Wingnuts To "Crash" Netroots Nation

A long list of repulsive anti-gay scumbags will gather here in Minneapolis this weekend "in defiance" of the Netroots Nation convention. Confirmed to attend: Andrew Breitbart, Michelle Malkin, Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Herman "Gays Are Sinners" Cain, Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli, and GOProud's Jimmy LaSalvia. GOProud won't be allowed to actually participate, of course, but they'll be holding a happy hour in one of the Netroots host hotels. (This one, in fact. Hmm, about that JMG meetup...)