Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) of course was referring to his own supporters as he defended statements made last week at a townhall meeting where he accused an out-of-state LaRouche supporter of being like a dining room table. But only after the townhall crasher had attempted to draw parallels between Obama and Hitler. Watch:

Don’t worry Barney. No one would ever confuse your lovable curmudgeon self with Mr. Belvedere or Alfred Pennyworth or Giles French. Yes I know they weren’t on PBS but you get the idea. Just stay as you are Barney, stay as you are.

And for some context… the original exchange between Rep. Frank and “woman from another planet.”

Former president Bill Clinton has successfully secured a pardon for two American journalists sentenced to hard labor in North Korea , as reported by the Associated Press.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has issued a “special pardon” to two American journalists convicted of sneaking into the country illegally, and he ordered them released during a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, North Korean media reported early Wednesday.

The release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee was a sign of North Korea’s “humanitarian and peaceloving policy,” the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Clinton, who arrived in North Korea Tuesday on an unannounced visit, met with the reclusive and ailing Kim — his first meeting with a prominent Western figure since his reported stroke nearly a year ago.

North Korea accused Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, of sneaking into the country illegally in March and engaging in “hostile acts,” and the nation’s top court sentenced them in June to 12 years of hard labor.

But not everyone is amused.

John Bolton, an outspoken hardliner in the previous administration of George W. Bush, told AFP that Clinton’s mission to Pyongyang undermines a number of public stands held by his own wife, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“It comes perilously close to negotiating with terrorists,” Bolton told AFP when asked about Bill Clinton’s trip to secure the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

“I think this is a very bad signal because it does exactly what we always try and avoid doing with terrorists, or with rogue states in general, and that’s encouraging their bad behavior,” Bolton said.

No John. That’s called diplomacy. A concept your not familiar with.

Congressman Pete King from New York takes time out of his 4th of July weekend to bash Michael Jackson.

Granted the media coverage has been out of control, but did King really have to go out of his way to lash out at Jackson on charges that were never proven? What a piece of work.

If you feel the need, contact Pete King at his website, or by phone: 516-541-4225, or email: Pete.King@mail.house.gov.

UPDATE: A Fund has been setup to defeat King in his district at ActBlue.

A Fresno hospital denied Teresa Rowe access to her partner Kristin Orbin who suffered a seizure and collapsed after Meet in the Middle 4 Equality march on May 30th.

The discrimination began shortly after the paramedics arrived. Orbin described her ordeal on Examiner.com.

“By that time, I was going in and out of consciousness.  The paramedics wanted nothing to do with Teresa and she had to practically fight them to be allowed to ride in the ambulance.  I remember one of them was very nice and agreed to let her ride with me in the back.  Once we got to the hospital, they wheeled me into a hallway and left me, refusing to allow Teresa to be with me.”

Orbin said the paramedic told the nurse on duty that she had collapsed after marching 14 miles for civil rights, and the nurse gave her a dirty look and said “ooooh.”  She continued, “I asked if Teresa could come back with me, but the nurse told me I was in a no visitor zone. When I asked her why everyone else had visitors, she said ‘those people are different’.”

They refused to take my medical cards from her.  They refused Teresa’s offer to have my advance directive and power of attorney faxed over from UCSF.”

Orbin said she asked the nurses several times if Rowe could join her, but each time they refused.

“They just kept looking at my Marriage Equality shirt and giving me dirty looks,” she said.

Orbin and Rowe were not reunited until a doctor intervened a few hours later.

As a result of the incident the couple is considering legal action and has contacted the ACLU for advice.

There are laws on books here in California that protect not just gays and lesbians from this kind of discrimination, but everyone. Except apparently, in Fresno.