[Ed. note: Valerie Jarrett telegraphs an apology of sorts through Jonathan Capehart at the Washington Post. What do you make of this development?]

This is an email I sent to the White House Wednesday night:

I am writing because I am appalled and angered by Valerie Jarrett’s comments to the Washington Post regarding the suicide of 15 year old Justin Aarberg.

To say that this boy "made a lifestyle choice" not only shows that Ms. Jarrett is out of touch with modern understanding of gay & lesbian issues (this is terminology that fell out of favor with scientists and psychiatrists in the 1970s) but also seems to blame Mr. Aarberg for consciously inviting his own harassment.

Ms. Jarrett needs to apologize, quickly AND publicly, for her unfortunate and ill-considered choice of words both to the grieving parents of this young man and to the LGBT community. Her comments appear to support the very ignorance and disregard that lead to anti-gay bullying and violence and, as a representative of this administration, need to be corrected.

I encourage you to contact the White House as well, right here.

Back in 2005, I considered doing a refinance on my house. Other houses in my neighborhood were selling at prices that were almost double the size of my existing mortgage and my (then) husband thought we should tap into some of that equity because my income was going to be cut for a time while I took time away from my law practice to run for public office.

So the mortgage broker came to visit and he practically went insane over how much equity I had in the house. I was considering taking out $50,000 or $100,000 to put into a rainy day fund in case my income dropped enough that I would have trouble, oh say, paying the mortgage.

He gave me the long song and dance about what a fool I am not to take out every penny I can, but I stood firm. He said he knows how busy I must be with the campaign, so let’s do a no-doc, or low-doc loan. I object to the higher interest rate and the huge jump it would make to my monthly payment; besides I already have my documents together in anticipation of having to release them in connection with the campaign. . . .

In a New York Times article published yesterday, Obama revealed how he’s going to spin his disappointing first two years and massive midterm defeat:

“Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion."

So the problem isn’t bad policy, it’s just poor communication about good policy? If that were true, why was the chief of staff booted and not the press secretary?

What’s on your mind tonight?