Bachmann says potential First Gentleman off limits but current First Lady fair game

I noted earlier that Michele Bachmann declared today that her husband and their business were not running for President and thus, she would not answer questions about his policies or practices.
However, earlier this year, Bachmann thought Michelle Obama’s views were fair game. Mrs. Bachmann criticized Mrs. Obama about Obama’s recommendations that women should breastfeed their babies as one means of preventing childhood obesity. Bachmann accused the First Lady of promoting a “nanny state.”
As an aside, since nannies bottle feed, wouldn’t that be a “mommy state?”

Bachmann avoids ex-gay therapy questions again

Today, at the National Press Club, Michele Bachmann was asked about her husband’s clinic. She avoided the question again.

This time there was no shoving or tossing mics, but she again dodged the issue.
Of course, these are fair questions for people to ask. She will get these questions until she can come up with some narrative about the clinic that will satisfy the media. Obama had to deal with his church, his business dealings (Bachmann is co-owner of the clinic), his family, his birthplace, etc., etc., and so will she. When he didn’t answer questions, his opponents insinuated he had something to hide. None of this is strange or new. What is remarkable to me is that after three weeks she still has no coherent reply.

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill on a fast track

I spoke yesterday with Ugandan MP Hon. Otto Odonga who told me that the Parliament will bring back the Anti-Homosexuality Bill soon, perhaps “by the end of August.” Although the re-introduction of the antigay bill had been expected, Odonga said the bill is “back from the perspective of the new parliament starting from where the last parliament ended.”
Since the end of the Eighth Parliament, observers have speculated that the Ninth Parliament might not require re-introduction of bills deliberated upon but not passed. Two weeks ago, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, held a meeting with the chairpersons of all Parliament’s committees to orient them to their new positions. Also, in order to save time and expense, the group decided to bring forward at least three bills to the new session: the Government Assurances Bill, the Marriage and Divorce Bill and the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
In a prior post, I outlined a pretty close approximation of what the Parliament will be debating.

Ghana's government silent on calls to jail gays

Yesterday, I posted a piece at Religion Dispatches about the response of Ghana’s government to my inquiries about the recent calls for arrests of gays. Here is the lead:

In the face of reports that Ghana’s Western Region Minister recently called for the arrest of gays, a Ghanaian government source told RD today that the government was not “clamping down” on sexual minorities. The source, who did not want to be named since he was not speaking officially, said that Ghana is a law abiding country and that those on a crusade should take up the matter in the courts.
The issue appears to be a sensitive one for the government. The Ministry of Information and the Office of the President declined to speak to me and one staffer simply hung up when asked if the government supported recent calls to arrest gays.

Go read the rest over at RD.
UPDATE (7/28/11) – Reached the President’s office today and the spokeswoman there said she was not authorized to talk about the President’s position on the call for arrests of gays in Ghana. The Communications Director who she thought might comment was out until Monday.