Live Feed - Tuesday, June 26

• I appreciate that ABC replaced the Lay’s commercial with that All-State commercial with the dog.
• We open on the living room, where Ori tells the players that Apollo v. Holly is “incredibly close” and encourages the players to pull out all the stops.
• Ori tells us that the viewers have been sending lots of comments.  They ask us to vote on either “The most romantic thing anyone has done for you” or “Where do you stand on issues like Prop. 8 and equality”? 
• Jeffrey says he’s too tired for the Prop. 8 debate.  According to Twitter, they’ve gone over this at least twice.  Why not just post those videos?  
• While people vote, we learn that the Enemies room apparently has an uncomfortable mattress.
• WHAT THE FUCK.  The viewers actually chose romance?  This is fucking bullshit.
• Joy says Gene brought her breakfast in bed.
• Robin tells us that, despite the fact that she’s getting a divorce, her wedding proposal was extremely romantic.  Her husband made 50 cards, detailing their life together, then asked her to marry him on the own.
• I’m not really able to follow Ashley’s story.  This is only partially her fault.  Apparently, her boyfriend gave her a bunch of stuff and decorated her house for her.
• Jeffrey got flowers from his boyfriend once.
• As Erica is talking about her ex-boyfriend, we’re asked to vote on whether we want the players to talk about equal rights.  YES!  YES, WE FUCKING DO.  Jesus Christ!  How are we doing to learn anything about the players with these meaningless stories? 
• Mike starts to talk, and Ori interrupts to tell him that the viewers hate these stories, so they’re getting another question.  Ha!  
• Stephanie’s ex-boyfriend told her to pack a bag, but wouldn’t tell her where they were going, and gave her one page of directions at a time, and they wound up in a little romantic hotel in Prague.  Erica is wiping a tear.
• Andrea says that the most romantic thing is that her husband comes home from work and cuddles her every night.  We have to pause while I mop up the vomit from my keyboard.
• Gene tells us that he got drunk and puked all over himself, and some chick washed his shirt while he was passed out.  That was nice of him.
• Kevin randomly quotes The Notebook, but I don’t think anyone else got it.

                                                     

• Ori tells them that we want them to talk about Prop. 8, and the camera zooms in on Andrea.
• Joy is all for letting people make each other miserable for all eternity.  :)  Joy says that, as Erica said, if gays can’t marry, straight people shouldn’t be able to divorce.
• Jeffrey says that he thinks it’s really hypocritical for people to say that they’re so happy and so wonderful and then turn around and vote that other people should not be allowed to have that happiness.
• Erica is not getting married until everyone can, because it’s not about politics, it’s about human rights.
• Andrea is just sitting there silently, looking pissed.  Stephanie said in the background that they already talked about this (which we all know).
• Joy tells a really sad story about a woman who had to fight to defend being born black, and then she had to fight to have rights as a woman, and now she has to fight for the right to be in love.  That’s sad.
• Stephanie says that America needs to catch up with the rest of the world, and she thinks the opponents are going to look back in 10 years and feel silly for being on the wrong side.
• Joy said that religion is all well and good, but your rights end where someone else’s rights begin.  
• Gene starts with, “I don’t agree with it,” but then I realize that what he’s saying is that he doesn’t agree with bringing politics or religion into government, because that’s not what our country is all about.  Equality = good, discrimination = bad.
• I just voted for Stephanie, Erica, Joy, Jeffrey and Gene
• I love Erica.  She’s talking about Brown v. Board of Education, and how separate is not equal.
• Andrea tries to say that it’s not about civil rights.  It’s about protecting something that is “sacred.”  So, what you’re saying is that the definition of a word is more important than the rights of thousands of other people?  Fuck you.
• Jeffrey asks Andrea why she said that she would support a gay child if she’s voting against their right to marry.  She claims that she would vote against letting gays marry even if she had a gay child, and Jeffrey calls her a hypocrite.
• Andrea shows ignorance by claiming that it’s OK to vote on civil rights if they show up on the ballot.  Jeffrey tells her that he will never speak to her about this again, and she starts crying.  Jeffrey also calls her an idiot.  Andrea says that Jeffrey is a hypocrite too, but he isn’t.  Jeffrey is judging her for trying to trample all over his rights, but he’s not trampling all over hers.
• Erica tells us how horribly hurtful this is to a lot of people.  Joy reminds us that kids kill themselves because they’re bullied and made to feel bad about being gay.
• Robin gives this weird lecture about how wonderful everyone is, and she never actually gives an opinion on the question.  That makes me think that she is on Andrea’s side, as well as Mike, Kevin, and Ashley, who said nothing.
• Gene asks Steph to restate a point from a prior conversation the other day.  Stephanie explains that people are arguing over definitions in the dictionary, and that the Bible wasn’t written in English.  Arguing over vocabulary is stupid?  Why are we letting semantics take precedence over human rights?
• Jeffrey says that it’s really a smoke screen and the problem is keeping gays down in general, and not just marriage.
• Joy says that if your only public issue is to campaign against other people’s rights, you need to re-evaluate your life and your priorities.
• Erica points out that it’s going to happen, and it’s just frustrating.  Also, with a presidential candidate, it says a lot about how he feels about human rights.
• Jeffrey says that he thinks Ashley is on the other side because she’s keeping quiet.  Ashley says that she just doesn’t see the point in getting involved in a dispute where no one is ever going to agree with the opposing point of view.  She does say that she supports gay rights, and I do acknowledge that it’s frustrating to have the same debate over and over with someone who is not listening.
• Stephanie says, you have a right to your opinion, but as soon as your opinion interferes with someone else’s life, you have to say something.  And, acknowledging Ashley’s right to stay out of the debate, she also tells us that, if the majority never speaks out in favor of the minority, there will never be any change.  Can I vote for her twice?  

                                                                       

• Gene says it’s silly that he could walk down the street, approach a total stranger, and get married in about two seconds, whereas Jeffrey could love and live with someone for five years and not have that ability.  I hesitate to say this, but doesn’t Jeffrey live in NY?  He actually can get married.  But it’s still bullshit, because he still doesn’t get federal rights.
• Ashley calls out Mike and Kevin as “cowards” for not saying anything, because Erica said she was a coward.  Mike says he disagrees with Andrea’s point of view, but respects her right to have it.  Erica apologizes for calling Ashley a coward, but says that she just doesn’t think this is the right time to be silent. 
• Kevin says that he’s choosing to be a coward, and says merely “Make love, not war.”
• The players tell Ori they’re done.  Unfortunately for them, I haven’t seen any other votes.  
• They must be better people than I am, because I can’t respect someone who uses their religion to try to put others down.  Jeffrey articulates that better than I can.
• Ashley didn’t think it was necessary to approach Jeffrey and tell her an opinion on this issue. I can understand that. I don’t walk up to Chinese people and say, “You’re just as good as I am!”  Because that would be weird.
• They post something new from Twitter on the screen, but I didn’t get to see it because the feed went all blurry.  They start discussing who the Twitterer’s favorite is, and Ori says it’s her. 
• Who would you hook up with?
• Robin says no one, because she loves her boyfriend.
• Stephanie says that she would hook up with Erica if they were both lesbians.  WHOA!  Back off, Stephanie!
• Joy said that she got drunk and tried to make out with Steph, but failed.  Why didn’t we get to see that?
• Erica tells us that she likes to spoon everyone in the house. 
• Gene does not answer, but we all know he wants to hook up with Joy.
• We’re asked to vote on which headline they should discuss - something about lunar tourism or shackle sneakers?
• We’re wondering if this is some sort of slavery reference.  Apparently, the planned sneaker release is cancelled, so we may never know.
• The sneakers win, so Ori tells them that Adidas was accused of racism by introducing sneakers that attach to the person’s foot with shackles.  
• Gene, as the black man, says that he doesn’t think Adidas is stupid enough to piss off the whole world by intentionally releasing a racist sneaker.  They’re a multi-billion dollar company.  He thinks people have to be over-reacting, and that no one who actually wears gym sneakers would ever have had a problem with it.  I’m going to need to find a picture of the proposed sneaker.
• Kevin said, if they pulled it, that shouldn’t really be a story.  
• Ok, first, I’m seriously offended at the idea of a sneaker that costs $350.
• Second, these are really fucking heinous.  I can’t believe anyone would want to wear them.

• Erica thinks people are overly sensitive.  I agreed with her until I saw the shoe.  I still mostly agree with her.
• Stephanie wonders how researchers came up with this idea in the first place.
• Joy said she has “shackle” high heels.  Seriously, I have heels withs straps, too, but it’s not the same.
• Gene thinks that if they gave it a different name, no one would have said anything.  
• Robin will take any leftover shoes, if Adidas doesn’t want them.  Gene says to send them to Africa, but Robin really wants them.
• Favorite pick-up line?  They yell out a bunch of cheesy pick-up lines we’ve all heard a million times.  The best is Erica’s, “Do you have a W-2 on you?”  Stephanie likes it when someone asks about her tattoo as an actual working, effective pick-up line.  Gene tells us about a friend who used to walk up to girls, hand them a screw, and say, “Hey, wanna screw?” but that most girls would either laugh or say, “What is wrong with you?”  Poor Ori has never heard a pick-up line.
• What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
• Andrea has gone sky-diving.  
• Stephanie has driven crazy fast on the Auto-Bahn.
• Gene jumped over a railing and over a gap between buildings or something to impress some girl.  Or, he started to, and his shoe got caught.  He started hopping over a 30-story drop.  He finished, and then he realized that he was really stupid and could have died.
• Erica dropped out of law school to chase her dreams.
• Robin stole her parents’ car and drove to Florida when she was 15 and therefore unlicensed.  She was not caught.
• We learn that Joy and Gene are huge fans of Justin Beiber.  I may have to take my votes back.  They’re talking about him, and I’m not listening because I simply don’t care at all.
• The Bieber discussion takes us all the way to the end.
• They all think the feed is over, but it’s still going.
• Ashley goes over to Jeffrey, because she’s still mad that he said that she should have not kept silent.  She needs to let that go.  
• Andrea approaches Joy and says that it’s not fair for her to not stand up for her beliefs, and she feels like it was such a loaded question.  There was no way to answer in a “right” way without being a hater.  That’s true.  There’s no way to tell people that you think it’s OK to block other people’s civil rights without sounding like a hater.  
• Andrea doesn’t think it’s necessary to have this conversation with Jeffrey.  If you secretly hate me, I might want to talk to you more than you want to tell me about it.
• Andrea says that it’s her responsibility to vote because it was on the ballot.  She does not understand that it should never have been on the ballot in the first place.  She’s completely missing the issue.
• Joy is trying to make Andrea feel better about being a bigot, despite being clear that she disagrees with her.
• We switch to the kitchen, where Jeffrey is still arguing with Ashley.  Jeffrey says that he understands sitting back where there is a heated discussion that you aren’t emotionally invested in, even if you have an opinion.
• Gene asks Jeffrey if he was being facetious when saying that everyone was being honest, but he wasn’t.  I don’t think Kevin was honest, because he refused to say anything.  
• Ashley tells us that her mother is a minister, which I didn’t know.  I appreciate that she grew up in that environment and is still able to think for herself.
• Jeffrey apologizes to Andrea for calling her an idiot.  
• Andrea wants to clarify something with Jeffrey, and the others decide to get the hell out of the kitchen.  
• Robin and Mike are talking…. I think about how lack of sleep can make people crazy.  Then they move onto boring topics, so the live feed ends.  Really, this time.