Levi Update and Flag of Equal Marriage

Someone said I have been "curiously silent" in covering the Michael Jackson circus. I've just been watching the media (and the public) make a fool of itself and was especially amused when on CNN some anchor type led a discussion as to whether the media was devoting too much time to the story and making the claim that their 32 seconds of Iraq coverage was balance.

But I do wonder, is the interest in today's memorial service that people are showing based on some kind of true connection, or is it just that they want to be part of a phenomenon or what? I mean, if Michael Jackson (or Elvis) unleashes the kind of response we are seeing among people who do not really know the man, then it seems that something is really missing in their lives. I mean, he's filling a void that should really be filled by something else.

OK, that's my take.

Levi Johnston is trying to return to normal life, after visiting New York ("I don't like New York. There's too many people.")

He gets to see son Tripp a few times a week and plans a book because "there are still many untold stories about the Palins," according to his bodyguard and publicist, Tank Jones.

Photo from GQ

Levi is probably the only sane one of the bunch and my former criticism of him had more to do with his association with Sarah Palin than him being a self described "F*ckin' redneck." I mean, we deal with "f*ckin' rednecks" on a daily basis down here. And apparently his attitude toward children has changed (fatherhood does that), so maybe he listened to me.

This is pretty neat. The Flag of Equal Marriage.

They are adding a star to represent each state that assumes marriage equality. The stars represent the states in order of admittance to the union, beginning in the top left corner. On the most recent flag the stars are: Massachusetts - #6 - May 17, 2004, Connecticut - #5 - Nov 12, 2008, Iowa - #29 - Apr 24, 2009, Vermont - #14 - Sep 1, 2009, Maine - #23 - Sep 14, 2009, New Hampshire - #9 - Jan 1, 2010.

If the flag had been around in 2008 we would have seen California's star (#31) light up and go dark again during that year.

It might be a long time before Alabama's star is lit, but we are #22, and would appear just before Maine.

We want the flag of equal marriage to be complete, with all 50 stars lit up. We see three ways equal marriage, as we define it, could be achieved:

• Every individual state could pass a law allowing same-sex marriage.
  
• The federal government could repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and allow same-sex marriage at the federal level, overriding all state-level bans.
  
• The term "marriage" could be removed from state and/or federal laws, turning all "marriages" into civil unions in the eyes of the government. PLUS, same-sex civil unions would need to be recognized in all 50 states or at the federal level.

Our protest flag helps you track our progress toward completion of one of these three goals.