While You Were Sleeping, K-Rudd Finally Supported Gay Marriage

Kevin Rudd Finally Gets It:

Last September, former PM and #spill no-show K-Rudd voted with the majority of Parliament against legalising same sex marriage. But last night, in a blog post entitled ‘Church And State Are Able To Have Different Positions On Same Sex Marriage‘, he reversed the position which has had his kids and wife regard him “as the last of the Mohicans”.

What did it take to change his mind? A chat with a former political staffer and Christian friend, who told Rudd he would “like to get married to another bloke” one day.

What follows is an well-written and structured piece, first arguing that a literalist interpretation of Christian scriptures would be a deeply troubled one; then, that people are born gay, and should thus be treated equally; then, that the ability of same-sex parents to raise children should no longer be a concern — especially in an age where 43% of Australian marriages end in divorce and 27% of Australian children are raised by one parent, just as Rudd himself was: “The care, nurture and protection of children in loving relationships must be our fundamental concern,” he says.

As a concession, he noted that marriage equality legislation would place no legal requirement for religious institutions to conduct same sex marriage: “If we truly believe in a separation of church and state, then the church must be absolutely free to conduct marriage ceremonies between a man and a woman only.”

At the end of the piece, he calls on the Liberals and Nationals to provide a conscience vote on the issue; if they don’t, he says, we should consider a national referendum. “For the record, I will not be taking any leadership role on this issue nationally.” …Damn.

Lonely Island’s ‘Diaper Money’:

Lonely Island promised to release a clip or song each Wednesday in the lead up to the release of their Wack album, but it’s Comedy Week on YouTube, so they’re bringing this one out early.

‘Diaper Money’ is a new track about being a “grown-ass man”: investing in grave plots, buying diapers, and being monogamous. Wrapped up in an unlikely genre which, as usual, is the joke.

Someone Animated Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars Filibuster:

An episode of Parks & Recreation in April had writer/comedian Patton Oswalt’s play a citizen, who attempted to delay a city council vote through a filibuster. The filibuster revolved around his pitch for Star Wars Episode 7 and was almost entirely improvised; only a minute or so made it into the episode, but the full version — at seven glorious minutes — was released online.

And now? It’s been animated. Enjoy.

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Hairy Larry David Is One Of The Weirdest Things You’ll See Today:

The Seinfeld creator, perennially frustrated star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, real-life George Costanza and sometime Woody Allen doppelganger is starring in a brand new TV movie for HBO: Clear History. In a change of pace for the typically clear-domed actor, he’ll look like this:

Directed by Greg Mottola of Superbad and Adventureland fame, and co-starring an illustrious cast including Jon Hamm, Eva Mendes, Danny McBride, Bill Hader and Michael Keaton, the film, according to Entertainment Weekly, sees David playing “Nathan, a hipster marketing exec who sells all his shares at a start-up over a fight with his boss (Jon Hamm), only to miss out on billions when the company’s new product — an electric car — becomes a smashing success.”

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Don’t Worry, Seth MacFarlane Won’t Do The Oscars Again:

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Feature image adapted from a photo by Anoek De Groot/AFP, via ABC.