Bass Pick Backs Out

@TheGussReport on Twitter - On Tuesday, a prominent Los Angeles attorney who had been nominated by Mayor Karen Bass to serve on the uber-mundane Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS), was unanimously confirmed by City Council.

A few minutes later, city personnel sheepishly advised that the nominee withdrew his name from consideration, requiring their undoing the appointment and raising a few questions.

Not at City Council, but here.  Like...

• Why wasn't this accomplished attorney appointed to a logical post, like civil rights boards or the LA Police Commission?
• Why was this man nominated by Bass, confirmed by City Council, with no apparent qualifications to oversee LACERS' tens of billions of dollars?
• Why did City Council vote on his nomination despite his failure to provide financial disclosures, as is required by law?
• And what, if anything, does it have to do with this 1974 one-hit wonder? 

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Gay Civil Rights Movement Must Emulate Black Civil Rights Movement

You may not know that the architect of Martin Luther King's movement for African American civil rights was a gay man.

Bayard Rustin was the chief influence behind the legendary minister's efforts to seek civil rights for Black men and women through non-violent means.

Rustin has street cred because, among other things, he served over two months on a chain gang in North Carolina for violating Jim Crow laws, back in the 40s folks.

Then, Bayard went to India to study non-violent revolution with disciples of Mahatma Gandhi which had a huge influence on Martin Luther King.

I understand gay people's frustration with those who voted for and supported Proposition 8.  I voted no and I'm pissed.  But the gay rights movement will not win friends and influence people by hating on those whom it's politically correct to hate on - basically white conservative Protestant Christians (and please remember folks that I, Jeremiah Wrignt and Barack Obama belong to a LIBERAL Protestant Christian denomination, the United Church of Christ which has more street cred on gay rights than any other church in the world so this doesn't affect me).

The gay rights movement MUST tell the stories of their families and their lives to the world, just like King did.  A movement of love and understanding will win the day as opposed to one of hate and recrimination.

I am pretty sure Bayard would agree.

NAACP Chairman and longtime civil rights leader Julian Bond talks about gay rights and Bayard Rustin's contribution to the cause.