Two Significant Things (Updated)

These stories are all over right now, but no one -- at least no one commenting on them -- seems to have picked up on the most significant thing about them.

First, a report from MSNBC on the First Lady's military families event:



And then via Joe.My.God., the report on Kobe Bryant's gaffe:

While Bryant acknowledged the outburst earlier today and said in a statement it did “not reflect my feelings toward the gay and lesbian communities,” he failed to apologize or to take full responsibility for the homophobic slur. This afternoon, the NBA and Commissioner Stern issued a strong condemnation of Bryant’s action and in an unprecedented move, fined the Lakers’ superstar $100,000. “We applaud Commissioner Stern and the NBA for not only fining Bryant but for recognizing that slurs and derogatory comments have no place on the basketball court or in society at large, “ said Joe Solmonese, HRC President. “We hope such swift and decisive action will send a strong and universal message that this kind of hateful outburst is simply inexcusable no matter what the context.”

What's significant about the first report is that it happened, and the treatment was, subliminally at least, somewhat critical of the administration. The significance of the second is that the NBA moved so quickly and decisively against Bryant -- they get it, even if he doesn't. I don't think his apology is insincere, but it's obvious he doesn't understand the ramifications of the incident.

It's things like this that reveal how much the views of society have changed, and that support my contention that the only thing anti-gay referenda prove is that if you run a well-funded campaign based on lies and distortions, you can scare a lot of ignorant people into going to the polls. Maybe the most significant part of this is that MSNBC didn't call Tony Perkins to comment.

Update:

Here's a third story that's been around -- a good summation by Lawrence O'Donnell:



Not only is this being reported on the MSM, it's a real body-blow to the folks at NOM. I certainly hope they treasure it.

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You really broke the story and has done a lot of follow-up. Here's one of his posts, including the first interview with Marinellli. The significance of this is that NOM is being shown for the shell game it is.