These are now the archives, which are searchable via the Google box here and at the new coffeehouse. The Best of the Blend links at the new pad point back to the files here.
Version 2.0 is no longer on Blogger (praise Jeebus), it is hosted by soapblox.net, which allows users to have diaries, a feature that I will roll out slowly as people get signed on.
Speaking of which, one small downside is that folks will have to register to comment, but folks do that all the time at my other haunt, Pandagon, without a lot of fuss. Please be kind as you toss tomatoes at the blogmistress for this inconvenience.
One of the nice new features at the new coffeehouse is a blogroll of the regular commenters. Without you all, it's not a community.
Just wanted to pass on some hilarity to chew on from the always entertaining WingNutDaily folks...
Whom would you like to be the Republican nominee for president in 2008?
This column by may explain exactly where these folks are coming from.
The GOP is in serious trouble. All conservatives I know are furious that the pro-amnesty Mel Martinez will be the new RNC Chair. A GOP county chair recently said to me, "If the GOP continues to move to the Left, conservatives will have no choice but to vote third party in 2008."
...The GOP is peddling liberal candidates (John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Condoleezza Rice), and trying to silence potential conservatives (like Tancredo).
Despite what they may say to secure the nomination, McCain, Giuliani, and Rice are all pro-affirmative action, pro-choice, pro-homosexual, pro-interventionist foreign policy, pro-NAFTA superhighway, pro-North American Union, and support the third-world invasion of America.
Although Mitt Romney has tried recently to sell himself as a conservative, he has a very long track record of liberal causes. One can almost be certain that he is a liberal in disguise.
...Although only a rumor among bloggers, there is the hope that Lou Dobbs may seek the Reform Party nomination. Dobbs, a great patriot, is a life-long conservative, anti-North American Union, anti-free trade, and opposes the third-world invasion of America. Dobbs also is very popular nationally, potentially could sweep the general election, and would be an outstanding president. If Lou Dobbs runs, you should expect to see many defections not only from the GOP, but also from the Democratic Party.
Ah, if only they would go third party. We'd all breathe a sigh of relief.
***
And how about this poll, lol? They don't have their hearts in it to even speculate.
Whom would you like to be the Democrat nominee for president in 2008?
Cheers to another state moving in the right direction. The bill under consideration creates a registry for same-sex couples, and grants guarantees of inheritance benefits, pensions, property rights when a partner dies, and the right to make medical decisions for a partner.
The likely change is boosted by the fact that both houses of the state legislature are now Democrat-controlled. (365gay):
The Democratically controlled Senate last year approved a civil unions bill only to see it die in the Republican dominated House.
The GOP leadership first gutted the legislation and then House Speaker Karen Minnis refused to allow it to come to a vote. In an interview at the time, Minnis said Oregonians decided the issue in 2004 when they joined with voters in 10 other states in passing gay marriage bans.
The measure had the support of Gov. Ted Kulongoski who has pledged to support the reintroduction of the legislation. ...House Majority Leader-elect Dave Hunt said he believes the majority of Oregonians support civil unions and that the legislation will be passed.
"We are not talking about bringing up divisive issues. We're trying to follow positions that we think are very much supported by a majority of Oregonians on education, health care, public safety and civil rights."
The vile Minnis, by the way, survived a grassroots campaign to unseat her.
This is the height of incompetence. Last night, my brother dropped us off in Philly to catch the 10:35 flight to RDU. This airport was DEAD. Hardly anyone there. More workers than passengers.
They lost not just one checked bag, but two.
The likely problem, though it's no excuse since we arrived so early, is that we checked in at the US Airways terminal (B), but our flight ended up leaving from terminal F. We checked them in and hiked the long way to F, and still had more than an hour before the flight left -- plenty of time for any sleepy US Airways drone to get the bags to F.
When we arrived at RDU around midnight, we watched ominously as each person came and retrieved their bag, and we sat there bleary eyed tired as the bags stopped coming out. We filed a claim -- the attendant said the bags would arrive on the next flight and they would deliver the bags, so we went home.
It's 1PM, and several flights have come in from Philly and still no email or phone call, so Kate went online in an online chat for an impersonal. completely useless dialogue with the customer service rep, who she mistakenly thinks can actually look up the last location of the bags. "I am unable to look the bags up. Please visit the web site and call our phone number. Thank you for flying US Airways." As automated as the answers were, she's doubting that this was even a human being in the chat.
Braving voicemail hell, Kate calls the number and the process was efficient yet unhelpful. She didn't stay on hold long, but there was no possibility of interacting with a human being. The voice recognition software was ass. Eventually the bot on the other end said "We cannot locate your bags at this time. Thank you for flying US Airways."
I guess the small consolation is that the bags were lost coming home as opposed to on the way to Delaware.
If you read the fine print on a baggage claim, the airlines do whatever they can to avoid reimbursing you for their screwups. US Airways is no exception. You have to produce original receipts for anything over $100, and get the claim notarized. It can take months for a reimbursement. Not exactly a barrel of fun if you've arrived and have nothing, particularly with the restrictions regarding carry-on baggage these days.
Christian Coalition president-elect steps aside over hate agenda
"They pretty much said, 'These issues are fine, but they're not our issues; that's not our base.'" -- Rev. Joel Hunter, on what the Christian Coalition board said to him, concerned that Hunter would rather focus on poverty and the environment instead of homos and abortion.
Via a DKos diary, we hear about the latest in the downward spiral of the bible-beating organization. You know it's bad when new prez of the Christian Coalition thinks its mission is too far out on the fringe. (Houston Chronicle):
The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Northland Church, a nondenominational congregation in Longwood, Fla., said he quit as president-elect of the group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson because he realized he would be unable to broaden the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage. He hoped to include issues such as easing poverty and saving the environment.
"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter said.
The resignation took place Tuesday during an organization board meeting. Hunter said he was not asked to leave.
...A statement issued by the coalition said Hunter resigned because of "differences in philosophy and vision." The board accepted his decision "unanimously," it states.
Hat tip to Paul, who said "Gee, I wonder if Porno Pete is looking for a job. Seems like the perfect position for him. - Sorry. I guess I shouldn't use the phrase "perfect position" in regard to him. Brings up some really off putting images... "
Nothing like a helping of Roadside America, only I don't think healthy minds think about a healthy helping of man-on-deer sex when you're traveling through Duluth, MN.
Superior, Wisconsin resident Bryan James Hathaway has an inventive public defender. Fredric Anderson, argued that the charge of "sexual gratification with an animal" should be dismissed because the deer was dead, so it was no longer by law "an animal."
"The statute does not prohibit one from having sex with a carcass," Anderson wrote.
The Webster's dictionary defines "animal" as "any of a kingdom of living beings," Anderson said.
If you include carcasses in that definition, he said, "you really go down a slippery slope with absurd results."
Anderson argued: When does a turkey cease to be an animal? When it is dead?
When it is wrapped in plastic packaging in the freezer? When it is served, fully cooked?
A judge should decide what the Legislature intended "animal" to mean in the statute, he said. "And the only clear point to draw the line in that definition, I believe, is the point of death."
He continues the legal gymnastics by claiming that the statute, which is under the umbrella of "crimes against sexual morality," was meant to protect animals, so this case simply doesn't apply if the carcass is no longer an "animal."
BTW, if Hathaway goes to the pokey on this one, it won't be the first time he was caught with his pants down engaging in sick behavior.
In April 2005, Hathaway pleaded no contest to one felony charge of mistreatment of an animal for the shooting death of Bambrick, a 26-year-old horse, to have sex with the animal.
Add it to the list of these cases of unbelievable animal abuse occurring in our Great "Christian" NationTM.
Ashcroft's boobie-free portrait unveiled at Justice Department
Friday, November 24, 2006
This is what it looks like:
Caption: Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, left, talks with artist John Howard Sanden, right, after the unveiling ceremony of Ashcroft's official portrait at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Ashcroft, a former governor of Missouri and a U.S. senator, served as President George W. Bush's attorney general from February 2001 to February 2005. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Actually, I was thinking that a variation on the photo below would have been a more appropriate portrait, since he was so fixated on the boobage of the Spirit of Justice statue that he had fabric draped strategically on it to hide them while he held office.
Ashcroft, you might recall, ended up with the AG post after he suffered the embarrassment of losing a race for the Senate back in 2000 when he was on the ballot against the popular -- but dead -- Mel Carnahan, who perished in a plane crash.
Anti-gay Minnesota lawmaker charged with domestic violence has a history of abuse at the office as well
Avidor at Dump Mark Olson has passed along more information about the sleazy Republican Minnesota representative, who was recently seen boo-hooing for the cameras after being charged with two counts of domestic assault for shoving his wife to the ground several times. He says that he will not resign. Hear the audio of him begging for forgiveness in front of the reporters.
Well, why should he resign when he has stellar defenders like this citizen:
I know Mark Olson personally. You are being judgemental and critical without knowing the facts of his marriage or situation. I do know the facts. Raising teenagers and in particular teenagers that are not your own is a very difficult job. You all make me very sick. You sound very hateful and vengeful and I am disgusted. I hope you will all have to eat your words someday. Don’t judge others when you don’t walk in their shoes. Isn’t that what you homosexuals are asking of others…You don’t want others passing judgement on you so why do you do it to others, you hypocrites.
Cute.
It seems the Big Lake, Minnesota legislator also landed in the Star Tribune in 1997 for abusing an aide.
This thug was later reprimanded by his caucus leader for "work style" in dealing with his staff. because he is a "perfectionist" and has "high expectations," and had to attend sessions on ways of "improving employee relations."
Bonus: Rep. Mark Olson On Marriage Equality. He bleats on and on about God and family and government and how marriage is between a man and a woman. Is there anything in the bible about beating your wife, Olsen?
Here's a the map showing the distribution of Red and Blue in the 2006 mid-term elections. Regions perceived as Red bastions are actually quite Purple.
Chris Kromm makes these observations at Facing South:
Note in particular the battleground of the South. There are the strong "red" or Republican patches running through such areas as northern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia; the Georgia and north Florida coast; and southeast Kentucky.
But even more striking are the deep shades of blue, such as most of Arkansas and Tennessee; a belt slashing through the piedmont of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina (the South's fastest-growing area); and Appalachian counties in the Virginias.
The concentrations of red in the South are on par with the swaths of scarlet one sees in the Midwest/Plains (Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma) and the upper West.
It's amazing to see so many blogs in the Democratic Party camp writing off the South in an attempt to position themselves as "realistic," when the reality of fierce party competition in the South couldn't be more clear.
The Dakotas are pretty surprising. They really kicked the GOP out in a big way. Also note how Blue Tennessee is -- yet it voted 80% for its marriage amendment.
Again, the DNC is content to remain silent while states determine the civil rights of gays and lesbians at the ballot box -- as long as they vote Blue.
The favorite standbys for us this year in Delaware:
* Leg of lamb (marinated with lots of garlic, worchestershire sauce, black pepper, celery and carrots) * turkey * homemade mac and cheese * collard greens * green beans * sweet potatoes * Waldorf salad * apple pie and pumpkin pie
Tagamet will probably be necessary.
***
Kate and I were just laughing at a report this AM on CNN by Soledad O'Brien. There was a story about wild turkeys standing on a train platform caught on a webcam, and she made segue to the next segment and said "Speaking of turkeys..."
...and the cut to the next shot was of Bush with his usual sh*t-eating grin, walking down the White House steps.
Later in the shot they showed him with the turkey that he "pardoned" this year.
And I cannot leave out this article I just came across:
'Kramer' apologizes, hires crisis expert. Really pathetic; actually the worst aspect of this is that his new specialty publicist, Howard Rubenstein, as part of his crisis management, gives as a piece of advice for Richards to get on the horn to self-aggrandizing and continued presumed leader of the black community by the MSM -- Jesse f*cking Jackson. At least Jackson called it out for what it was.
Jackson, reached by phone, said Richards called "expressing his remorse and his confusion."
"He's embarrassed. He got caught on tape. That's a big part of his anxiety now," said Jackson.
Damn. Richards is pissed because someone had the camera. Isn't that special?
Army recruiters selectively ignore gay ban - and sign up gang members
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
CBS4 in Denver, in an undercover investigation, found recruiters perfectly eager to enlist people who walked up and disclosed that they were gay.
The recruiters told people showing interest in being a soldier to keep their homosexuality to themselves.
Military policy states that if a potential service member discloses that he or she is gay, they are supposed to be immediately disqualified.
"We encountered one recruiter who said 'I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Is that right?" CBS4 asked the head of Army recruiting in Denver.
"Well, if what you say is correct, that is not right." Lt. Col. Reginald Cox answered. "We don't condone that behavior at all."
The video of the full report is here. If this is going on, there's no point in having DADT on the books, no?
>Hat tip to Steve Ralls of SLDN's The Frontlines, who said "We applaud recruiters for wanting access to the best and brightest, regardless of sexual orientation, but the best way to get there is for those same recruiters to speak out in favor of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."."
In an even more ridiculous development, in another report by the station, they looked at the military's use of 'moral waivers' to beef up its ranks. The waivers are written permission bypass certain rules, such as drug use or membership in a gang -- the applicant merely has to state that it's "in the past."
It's hit-or-miss whether the military will slip you in if you're a homo, but it appears gang membership is definitely not a disqualifier when there aren't enough warm bodies.
A CBS4 employee also went in with a hidden camera and this time suggested he was a gang member.
"Does it matter that I was in a gang or anything like that?" he asked the recruiter.
At first, he was told the Army doesn't accept enlistees who were gang members, but then the senior officer stepped in.
"You may have had some gang activity in the past and everything, ok, and that in itself does not disqualify you," he said.
The Rotting Cryptkeeper to picket funerals of teens killed in bus accident
The lowest of the low. I'm trying to figure out the fag connection to the accident in Huntsville (after all, we're to blame for everything in Fred Phelps's universe), but really, it's kind of hard to get into the minds of the freaks of hate at the Westboro Baptist Church. The Phelps machine plans to make its presence known at the funerals of Christine Collier, Nicole Ford, and Tanesha Hill.
WBC to picket the funerals of school children killed in Huntsville, Alabama, when their school bus from Lee High School plunged 30 feet off a highway overpass -in religious protest and warning: cc God is not mocked!" Gal. 6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Alabama and America because they have gone the way of ancient Sodom and have become The Land of the Sodomite Damned,
"They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you." Jer. 23:17.
"Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." Jer. 23:19-20.
"I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer." Prov. 1:26-28.
God has cursed Alabama and America: 'There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Isa. 48:22.
I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, I believe that there should be a public outcry against Phelps' hateful homophobic agenda, and a clear message that Huntsville rejects him and his attempt to capitalize on personal tragedy.
On the other hand, I recognize that he is looking for media minutes, and the more counter-protestors there are, the more press Phelps and his hate group will get. He may bring 15 people to picket the funeral. We could organize a counter-protest of many times that number, but that would add to the circus and the stress for families and friends of the deceased.
Here's something that has been done successfully in other cities: collect pledges for a good cause for each minute that Phelps and his group demonstrate. The longer Phelps is there, the more money gets donated to local gay and lesbian groups. In this case, I think it would be appropriate to split donations between the fund for the students' families, and Aids Action Coalition.
Autumn and Jeremy emailed me to let me know that our favorite homosexual investigator, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, quotes me in one of his latest columns, 'Gay' Agenda...What 'Gay' Agenda?
When it comes to chutzpah, homosexual activists have it in spades. They work their lavender tushes off revolutionizing the age-old Judeo-Christian definitions of marriage and family; fight for "gay/straight" clubs in middle- and high schools, and homosexuality-affirming lessons for all students–even toddlers; lobby for open homosexuality in the armed forces; oppose marriage-preference adoption laws based on the absurd proposition that a child having two "gay daddies" is no worse off than one having a mother and a father; make outrageous claims that esteemed historical figures like Abe Lincoln were "gay"; and radically reinterpret the Bible to change homosexuality from an abomination to a "gift from God."
Then they turn around and ridicule the idea that there is a "gay agenda."
Here’s an entry from lesbian blogger Pam Spaulding:
"The Homosexual Agenda is an elusive document. We've been looking around for a copy for quite some time; the distribution plan is so secret that it's almost like we need a queer Indiana Jones to hunt the master copy down. The various anti-gay forces are certain that we all have a copy and are coordinating a attack to achieve world domination." –Pam Spaulding
Memo to Pam: you don't have to risk being chased by a giant boulder in the Amazon to find a copy of that elusive agenda; just click this link for the 1972 Gay Rights Platform. Note the last two demands under "States" in the 1972 document: "Repeal all laws governing the age of sexual consent" and "Repeal all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit."
Because he is much more invested in research on the Homosexual Agenda (after all, it's his full-time job), he kindly pointed us to what he believes are the master sources and plans for our domination of society. Sigh.
"In recent weeks, homosexual activists have sought to ‘out’ various high-level GOP staffers and leaders as homosexuals, to highlight their hypocrisy in working for a socially conservative party. Now we in the pro-family movement are calling for full disclosure for a different reason: because homosexual GOP staff and pro-'gay' policies in the party are undermining the wholesome values Republicans say they support.” -- undercover homosexual agenda investigator Peter LaBarbera, on the secret (and successful) plan by gays to destroy the GOP
Since his movement is losing steam, it looks like James Dobson has to hit the airwaves again and bash the homos to fill the Focus on the Anus coffers on Wed.
Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., is scheduled to appear on Wednesday's edition of Larry King Live, airing from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST on CNN.
Dobson will be King's guest for the entire hour, and is expected to make his first televised comments about the results of the Nov. 7 election -- and what's next for the social conservative movement. He also hopes to talk to King about the growing threat of radical Islam to the United States -- and the necessity for the federal government to continue to take that threat seriously, regardless of the political power balance in Congress.
From time to time I receive mail from fundies who clearly can't stop themselves from reading the Blend. They get so agitated that they bang out ignorant drivel like this on the keyboard.
Subject: re: you From: "P. BELL" Date: Wed, November 22, 2006 3:39 am To: pam [at] pamspaulding.com
Why should you get the same privledges as we married couples do? I am not here to judge you. Love the person, hate the sin. But about you and Bush? I pray that law will be passed so you will NEVER be recognized in the US. Your beef will him is because he actually wants us to be more like we were when we first started this country-Chrisitian roots and all. I am not talking about the nutso Chrisitians out there who make a fool of themselves to be seen, I am talking about the people who really have a relationship with God, living the truth.
Did you know that homosexuality is specifically mentioned in the bible? Listed as ABNORMAL, DISCUSTING, and an ABOMANATION. You were not created to be this way, and so when you SLANDER a person who is againist you, mock their beliefs, and try to screw up this nation even more than it is for my children's future, than you will deal with me.
These letters are so similar that I believe there must be some "Anti-Gay Fundie Letter Generator" out there. Oh wait, doesn't Dapper Don Wildmon have one? It's called his Action Alert.
At this point, I don't even bother answering these barely literate numnuts; it simply encourages additional correspondence because they are so attention-needy.
Soulforce Greensboro DADT sit-in activists receive minor charges
Blender and local activist Matt Hill Comer of Right to Serve passed on great news to report, a follow-up on the organization of and participation in a Don't Ask, Don't Tell sit-in recently at an Army Recruiting Center in Greensboro.
The nine Soulforce Right to Serve Campaign activists arrested during a sit-in after four youth attempted to enlist in the Army as proud, able-bodied, openly gay Americans on September 21, 2006, at the Army Recruiting Center in Greensboro attended their scheduled court appearance this morning in Guilford County District Court. The eight youth and one adult supporter were charged with Class 2 misdemeanor trespassing and were originally scheduled to appear on October 23, 2006, but the matter was then postponed for a month.
Soulforce activists Jessica Arvidson, Alex Barbato, Matt Hill Comer, Cris Elkins, Jacquelyn Hernandez, Danielle Hoffman, Leslie Hughes, Alex Nini, and Caitlin Stroud each signed statements agreeing to not break any laws and not to return to the Army Recruiting Center for 90 days. District Attorney Doug Henderson has agreed to drop all charges after 90 days if the nine activists uphold their court agreement. The nine activists were represented by Greensboro attorney, Samuel Johnson. The Honorable Susan Bray was the presiding judge.
"We are extremely happy and grateful that Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson has been willing to recognize the right of citizens to challenge the actions of its government in non-violence and civil disobedience," said Soulforce City Organizer Matt Hill Comer, "We thank District Attorney Henderson for recognizing the commitment these youth and supporters made in honoring the great American tradition of change through non-violent, civil disobedience, as set by four brave and committed NC A&T State University students right here in our own City of Greensboro more than forty years ago."
...brought to you today from the 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush:
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Former President George H.W. Bush took on Arab critics of his son Tuesday during a testy exchange at a leadership conference in the capital of this U.S. ally.
"My son is an honest man," Bush told members of the audience harshly criticized the current U.S. leader's foreign policy.
"We do not respect your son. We do not respect what he's doing all over the world," a woman in the audience bluntly told Bush after his speech.
Bush, 82, appeared stunned as others in the audience whooped and whistled in approval.
A college student told Bush his belief that U.S. wars were aimed at opening markets for American companies and said globalization was contrived for America's benefit at the expense of the rest of the world. Bush was having none of it.
"I think that's weird and it's nuts," Bush said. "To suggest that everything we do is because we're hungry for money, I think that's crazy. I think you need to go back to school."
...Gawd, you're killin' me!... Make it stop!...
"This son is not going to back away," Bush said, his voice quivering. "He's not going to change his view because some poll says this or some poll says that, or some heartfelt comments from the lady who feels deeply in her heart about something. You can't be president of the United States and conduct yourself if you're going to cut and run. This is going to work out in Iraq. I understand the anxiety. It's not easy."
Like, say, changing his view on Don Rumsfeld staying onboard through the end of the Cheneyburton Maladministration?
"He is working hard for peace. It takes a lot of guts to get up and tell a father about his son in those terms when I just told you the thing that matters in my heart is my family," he said. "How come everybody wants to come to the United States if the United States is so bad?"
Mr. Bush, the United States is the greatest country in the world, that's why people want to come here. That's also why we hate your son so much - he's screwing up a good thing.
Kate and I are in Newark, Delaware for the holiday and it was an interesting flight in, to put it mildly.
The first sign of trouble was that we pulled out of the gate, made it to the runway and then the pilot said that the paperwork from maintenance on one of the emergency exit doors wasn't signed off, so we had to taxi back to the gate and get it inspected and approved.
After that delay, we back out of the gate and the pilot says that there will be no beverage service because there's going to be a lot of turbulence during the flight and everybody, including the flight attendants, have to stay buckled in for the duration.
OK, so we finally take off and hit turbulence almost immediately. We were bucking and swaying the whole way. Believe it or not, both of us went to sleep.
The next level of fun began about 20 minutes before we were to land in Philly. The pilot comes on and says
"Some of you may be smelling a burning odor. We think it is one of the electrical units under your seats overheating that is used to power your electronic devices like iPods or laptops. We've been cleared for priority landing in Philadelphia. You may see a lot of fire trucks on the ground when we land; there's no need to be alarmed."
I burst out in uncontrollable laughter at this (as does the woman next to me), Kate stares at me, clearly disturbed at the latest development. I simply found the whole thing absurd.
Anyway, we bounce our way down through more turbulance into a smooth landing. I don't see the fire engines, though the pilot mentions them again (perhaps you could see them from the other side of the plane), and we de-plane without incident.
We're settled in at my brother and sister-in-law's house and we're having a good time.
First it was this: Lieberman won't rule out GOP caucusing. Senator Holy Joe Lieberman, the self-proclaimed "Independent Democrat" (he referred to this countless times on a recent Meet the Press; it should have been a drinking game) pontificated that he would make a change if the Dems made him feel "uncomfortable" with his up-the-Chimpster's-posterior positions.
Two weeks after winning reelection as an independent due to losing Connecticut's Democratic primary, Joe Lieberman has hired a former spokesman for the Christian Coalition as his new communications director, RAW STORY has learned. The new hiree also formerly served as a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a legislative director for the conservative Heritage Foundation, and as communications director to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Fifty-two year old political pundit and activist Marshall Wittmann is very popular with Washington journalists because he often "gives good quote," according to a Washington Post profile from earlier this year.
...At his blog, Bull Moose, Wittmann has accused liberal and Democratic critics in the blogosphere of comprising "a left wing Cult of Bush Hatred."
By now you've seen the video of the UCLA campus police tazering a young man who refused to show ID when asked. He sat down and went limp in the tradition of many who've practiced civil disobedience before him. For this protest, the UCLA campus police repeatedly shocked him with a Tazer, an allegedly non-lethal form of submission of an unruly arrestee.
301.24 PAIN COMPLIANCE TECHNIQUES Pain compliance techniques may be very effective in controlling a passive or actively resisting individual. Officers may only apply those pain compliance techniques for which the officer has received Departmentally approved training and only when the officer reasonably believes that the use of such a technique appears necessary to further a legitimate law enforcement purpose. Officers utilizing any pain compliance technique should consider the totality of the circumstance including, but not limited to:
(a) The potential for injury to the officer(s) or others if the technique is not used, (b) The potential risk of serious injury to the individual being controlled, (c) The degree to which the pain compliance technique may be controlled in application according to the level of resistance, (d) The nature of the offense involved, (e) The level of resistance of the individual(s) involved, (f) The need for prompt resolution of the situation, (g) If time permits (e.g. passive demonstrators), other reasonable alternatives.
The application of any pain compliance technique shall be discontinued once the officer determines that full compliance has been achieved.
OK, first off, this tazer issue is one that's near and dear to us in Stumptown. We've had a high profile case of a 42-year-old schizophrenic man named James Chassee Jr. One of my friends, Don DuPay, is a former Portland police officer who ran for county sheriff last election, made elimination of tazers one of his campaign platforms, and with only $420 and no name recognition to run against the incumbent's $60,000 war chest, he garnered about half as many votes. We don't like tazers out here in Little Beirut.
The problem, you see, is that the tazer is a crap shoot with 50,000V behind it. If you have a heart defect, a pacemaker, poor health, or are wacked out on amphetamines, a tazer can very likely kill you. Aside from that, it is also incredibly painful -- I know, my cousins are cops and I asked them to tazer me so I could know what it feels like. Lesson learned: don't ask anyone to tazer you unless you love pain and have a change of underwear.
What I fail to see is how a student offering passive civil disobedience deserves to be tazered. He wasn't a danger to the officers (point a above), there's no way they could have known whether or not the tazer would kill him and certain that it would hurt him (b), there's little control over tazer-applied pain (c), the kid wasn't behaving violently or harming property (d), he didn't resist arrest at all (e), there was no big rush to get the library closed (f), and there were two of them who could've easily carried him away (g).
This is the natural result of our emphasis on violence and torture. It is too easy for the tactics that we use on evil terrorists to slip down into the realm of disagreeable students. Tazers should be outlawed!
This AM Kate and I are off to Delaware for T-Day. I'll post while I'm away, just not as frequently.
Did you all catch some of these news items:
* Out gay student from Fargo named Rhodes Scholar. Ryan Thoreson, who attends Harvard and serves as co-chairman of the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporter Alliance, is one of 32 people in the nation selected as a Rhodes scholar for 2007. He will use the scholarship to study social anthropology for two years at Oxford University in England. He plans attend law school and will specialize in gay and lesbian civil rights. Bravo.
* More gay and lesbian couples are tying the knot in Canada. According to 365gay, prior to June 10 just over 10,000 marriage licenses were issued to gay and lesbian couples, but the number jumped over the summer as 2,300 couples obtained licenses. Ontario's summer spike was 17%, Quebec's 35% and Alberta, one of the most conservative areas, 40%. The article notes that Conservative PM Stephen Harper is still planning to re-open debate on marriage, but most members of Parliament have no desire to revisit the issue.
* Lambda Legal announces that gay Miami University employees will keep their domestic partner benefits. Rep. Tom Brinkman (R-OH) and the winger Alliance Defense Fund felt compelled to try and punish the homos at Miami University because they receive partner benefits -- and that Ohio provides ten percent of the university's income. Ridiculous. From the release:
[T]he Butler County Court of Common Pleas today dismissed a lawsuit brought by a legislator seeking to take away the domestic partner benefits of employees of Miami University. "The court has affirmed that Mr. Brinkman's daily life is unaffected when the domestic partners of lesbian and gay university employees have health insurance and he therefore has no standing to bring a lawsuit," said James P. Madigan, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. "Lesbian and gay employees and their families' health were at stake and today the court has granted them freedom from being a pawn in politically motivated lawsuits."
* Alaska's homobigot legislators stall on partner benefits bill. After Gov. Frank Murkowski called the body into session to grant the commissioner of administration the authority allow gay and lesbians access to a new benefits plan, the Senate passed a House bill to prohibit the commissioner from taking action on the plan by the court-imposed deadline of Jan. 1. The vote was 11-6, with the excuse given by the homobigots it should be up to the Legislature to mold a benefits plan or to put a constitutional amendment before voters.
The rehabilitation of former superstar pastor the Rev. Ted Haggard may not include urine tests or ankle bracelets, but he will have to undergo lie detector tests and confess his failings.
It may sound like parole, but the big difference between Haggard's case and a court-ordered recovery plan will be that he can quit anytime. "He can stop at any time. A guy on parole can't stop," the Rev. H.B. London of Focus on the Family told The Gazette. London will serve on Haggard's counseling team.
London, who said he has taken part in many rehabilitations of pastors, said Haggard's case is similar in that he only admitted his failings when he was caught...."The end goal is to have that person healthy again," said Tom Pedigo, a Colorado Springs man who wrote a manual on restoration after losing his own ministry for marital infidelity.
Poor Ted still hasn't surfaced from spiritual lockdown to comment on his "restoration."
Do you wonder what the toy designer was thinking about while sketching ideas for the Dora Aquapet...limited edition? From the promotional page at Wild Planet Toy Store:
Talk to her! Laugh and play together! Share your secrets with her! Give her love! Discover her songs and dances!
She also plays and interacts with the Boots too! Have an adventure with Dora the Explorer, your interactive friend!
Mitt is clearly losing sleep at night thinking about the homos
I'm really tired of talking about fundie suck-up Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. The man whose Mormon faith makes him suspect with The Base is practically foaming at the mouth trying to prove how much he hates gay folks to gain some traction as a 2008 Rethug candidate.
He really doesn't need to try any harder; he's looking quite desperate. Mitt's latest move is a call for those activist judges to force a ballot initiative on marriage. (NYT):
Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts said on Sunday that he would ask the state’s highest court to order a question banning same-sex marriage onto the ballot if legislators did not address the issue.
Mr. Romney, a Republican, said he would file a request this week for a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court to direct the secretary of state to place the question on the ballot if lawmakers do not vote on the issue on Jan. 2, the final day of the session.
The governor, an opponent of same-sex marriage who decided not to seek re-election as he considers running for president, made his announcement to the cheers of same-sex-marriage opponents at a rally on the Statehouse steps. Supporters of same-sex marriage staged a protest across the street.
Mitt fully believes that civil rights should be voted on by the people and he's dead wrong.
"One of the tenets of the Constitution is that you do not put the rights of a minority up for a popularity contest," said Mark Solomon, campaign director of Mass Equality, a group that supports same-sex marriage. “It is one of the very principles this country was founded upon."
I see konagod is a tad riled up at the blow-dried governor.
Mr. Sam was determined that his stores would always be "family friendly"; and suddenly, the millions of families he always catered to are seriously pondering the mixed messages coming out of Bentonville. I think he would have remained benignly neutral and non-condemning toward homosexual groups – but would never have donated to their causes. -- Fifties singer and long-former teen heartthrob Pat Boone on the Sam Walton he knew
Another has-been celeb plucked to be a WingNutDaily columnist (see Chuck Norris), Pat Boone has equal cred with the grey hair set.
He spents a lot of column time (The Grinch, the 'gays' and Wal-Mart) telling us about his relationship with Wal-mart's founder, the late Sam Walton, and how the poor guy must be spinning in his grave if he could see what his company is doing now.
Pat's particularly proud of being able to offer his services to counteract the bad PR the big box retailer for "problems," you know, like how it treats its workers.
...years later, when other people began to complain about the size and prices and almost unbeatable competition Wal-Mart displayed, and stories kept popping up in publications charging the juggernaut with "unfair competition," non-union employees, of not treating employees right – all kinds of bad publicity, whether well-founded or not – I called the top brass at Wal-Mart and offered my services, my name and reputation, if they could use them, to help counteract these negatives. And they took me up on it, adding me to a sizable group of volunteer citizens who confer from time to time, sharing ideas about how to keep Wal-Mart's family friendly image strong and true. I still love the Sam Walton I knew, and I feel protective toward him, since he's not here to personally direct his own business.
This year, instead of bowing and kowtowing to militant atheist and super liberal "political correctness," so-called, I'm thrilled to see that Wal-Mart has banished "the Grinch" that threatened to steal Christmas, and will be advertising Christmas sales and playing Christmas music – and not conforming to the total "Holiday" imagery and advertising of other milk-toast wimp marketers. Again, the family friendly vision of Sam Walton lives on! I believe he's smiling somewhere, possibly in the presence of the One whose birth Christmas celebrates.
You really have to read the whole thing. It's appalling.
John McCain's giving his opponents plenty of flip-flop ammo. In 1999, he held the position that women have the right to choose:
...in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.
Yesterday, on This Week, he has decided that he needs to wrap up the fundie vote with this reversal. (Think Progress, which has video):
MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’d be for that?
MCCAIN: Yes, because I’m a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.
BTW, The Tool holds the same position on marriage equality as a lot of the Dems jockeying for position for 2008.
A further confirmation that McCain is sucking up as hard as he can to the bible beaters is that he's hiredRev. Tinkywinky's debate coach at Liberty University, Brett O'Donnell to be a communications strategist. I guess he's going to help out The Tool on messaging.
O'Donnell, who helped prepare President Bush for debates and joint appearances during the 2004 campaign, will do the same for McCain. He said he also will help McCain with his overall communications strategy.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, chancellor of the Lynchburg university, said he has not endorsed a candidate, and O'Donnell's appointment should not be interpreted as a signal that he is backing McCain.
...O'Donnell, 42, has been Liberty's debate coach for 17 years. He said he accepted McCain's offer because he viewed it as a good career opportunity and because he wants to see the senator elected president.
The US Roman Catholic Church has asked a criminology school to delve into the darkest pages of its history by probing the causes of a priest sex abuse scandal.
Asked a criminology school? OMG, it's too much.
The Church wants to "look at what is unique" in the priest sex abuse crisis, he said.
The first part of the study would be completed in 2008 and made public, although the names of suspected priests would be omitted.
In the second part, the university will evaluate the Church leadership's response to sex abuse cases.
"We want to see where we failed and made some mistakes, and learn from those who handled it well," Aymond said.
..."Our goal is to ascertain the causes of the clergy sexual abuse crisis and if we need to change any method we have now," said Teresa Kettlekamp, the executive director of the bishops conference's Office of Child and Youth Protection, which was created in 2002, in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.
The church needed to put effort into figuring this out long ago; instead they just kept covering up, intimidating families and paying out when the going got tough. And then they still kept shuffling their molesting brethren around to damage more lives. It's sickening.
Does anyone think Ratzi's boys are going to do anything more than quietly file the report away?
[UPDATE: Larry King and Alec Baldwin were discussing the self-immolation of Richards on tonight's program. I have a transcript of the exchange below.
UPDATE 2: I think Michael Richards is insane. Take a look below at his "apology" that references Katrina victims...]
Michael Richards, aka Kramer on Seinfeld must have been drinking whatever hopped-up booze that Mel Gibson imbibed. The comedian went on a racist tirade at a comedy club, referring to lynching and all sorts of batsh*ttery. (SF Examiner):
A video posted on TMZ.com shows that the tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.
Richards retorted: "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your a--."
He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.
"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now mother------. Throw his a-- out. He's a n-----!" Richards shouts before repeating the racial epithet over and over again.
Clearly the man doesn't have a grasp on how to handle hecklers intelligently. Has-been status doesn't wear well, huh?
Most of the audience left after the tirade, and the comedian's reps aren't commenting. The article goes on to say that he "felt sorry for what had happened and had made amends." I'm still trying to figure out how he was able to extract his giant foot out of his mouth.
You know it's bad when Jerry Seinfeld has to release a sad statement on the Richards.
"I'm sure Michael is also sick over this horrible, horrible mistake. It is so extremely offensive. I feel terrible for all the people who have been hurt," Seinfeld said.
Uh, yeah -- all of that racist sh*t just spilled out as a "mistake." LOLOLOLOL.
You know, it's as ridiculous as Mel blaming criticism of Passion of the Christ for calling a police officer "sugar tits."
***
Here's what Alec Baldwin and Larry King had to say about Michael Richards' career path. Larry starts out asking him what he thought about the whole thing.
AB: I have to think sometimes that people in that line of work...that maybe they think that was funny. Maybe he thought he was joking...and obviously it wasn't funny, but it's just breathtaking to me to see in this business, how some people...I mean in a single day, you've just flushed yourself right down the toilet...
[At this point, Kate and I are crying with laughter; we rewind and play this about three times till we are in pain from laughing -- the first two times we actually missed this priceless next line by Larry.]
LK: Yeah, let's watch this...watch a career -- end (snaps fingers)...it's wild...watch this.
And then they cut to the infamous video and it's as bad as you can imagine.
***
And now, why I believe there is, at the very least, a temporary or perhaps, permanent chemical imbalance at play here. Look at what Michael Richards said today in his apology that will air on David Letterman...
Richards: "...You know, I’m really busted up over this and I’m very, very sorry to those people in the audience, the blacks, the Hispanics, whites – everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and hate and rage and how it came through, and I'm concerned about more hate and more rage and more anger coming through, not just towards me but towards a black/white conflict.
There's a great deal of disturbance in this country and how blacks feel about what happened in Katrina, and, you know, many of the comics, many of performers are in Las Vegas and New Orleans trying to raise money for what happened there, and for this to happen, for me to be in a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, you know, I'm deeply, deeply sorry. And I'll get to the force field of this hostility, why it's there, why the rage is in any of us, why the trash takes place, whether or not it’s between me and a couple of hecklers in the audience or between this country and another nation, the rage – "
Someone please tell me what the f*ck he is saying here? I really don't understand WTF he is supposed to be conveying with this unhinged statement. [Kate is here rolling with laughter.]
Maybe this is what it is all about, via Kevin Allman:
Yeah. If there's one thing everyone affected by Katrina needed, 16 months later, it was to have a white Brentwood millionaire standing on a stage in Hollywood screaming:
"Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!"
They may be among the most powerful men in the world, but George Bush and Vladimir Putin looked more like a couple of Harry Potter's masters at Hogwarts school.
The American and Russian presidents were wearing traditional silk Vietnamese robes to mark the end of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi, along with the leaders of 19 other countries.
This is the third of my series of posts on the horror show that is the clueless John Kerry. He continues to fantasize about a comeback and utters batsh*t statements like this:
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry insisted on Sunday his "botched joke" about President Bush's Iraq policy would not undermine a possible White House campaign in 2008.
"Not in the least," Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, said when asked if the furor over his comment had caused him to reconsider a 2008 race. "The parlor game of who's up, who's down, today or tomorrow, if I listened to that stuff, I would never have won the nomination."
He really needs to hang it up. It's embarrassing. Remember this from my first "Please god, no" post:
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) doesn't believe that Hillary Clinton has the inside track on the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and says he would vigorously defend himself against new attacks by the Swift Boat team, according to an interview with The Examiner.
"I’m prepared to kick their ass from one end of America to the other," said Kerry, in a strong hint that he intends to run for president once again.
Stop. It. Now.
In my second PGN post on Kerry's inner circle floating rumors of a 2008 run, Blenders ripped him a new one in the comments. Kerry's toast if he runs.
There are vigils being held around the world, in over 250 cities to remember those who were murdered simply because of their gender identity or expression. (365gay):
Vigils, services and a variety of other events are being held in 250 cities around the world today to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance - the day set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
The first Transgender Day of Remembrance was organized by Gwendolyn Ann Smith in 1999 in San Francisco to honor the memory of Rita Hester who was murdered on November 28th, 1998.
Smith's candlelight vigil spread nationwide and then around the world. But Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.
Gwen Araujo was a transgender teen from Newark, CA. who was murdered in 2002. Defense lawyers used the "gay panic" defense -- claiming that their rage and actions stemmed from having sex with Araujo and later learning she was born male.
Araujo was only 17 when she was killed.
The Lifetime cable channel aired "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story" this year. The film, which stars J.D. Pardo and Mercedes Ruehl, was a sensitive portrayal of Araujo's struggle.
Imagine feeling like you're trapped in the wrong body, that there's been some sort of mistake — that you're supposed to be a girl instead of a boy. How would you tell your family and friends that you wanted to change genders? Would you bring it up with someone you had a crush on? And what would you do when society not only refused to accept the new you, but was violent toward you? Well, Eddie Araujo didn't know the answers, but he did know he was supposed to be female, so he began to dress as a girl and changed his name to Gwen.
In September, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, which limits the use of that defense.
NC Baptist 'people-loving pastor' bans gays to protect his peeps
"When we take God out, what's God going to do? He's going to spank our hind. We've got to stand for what we believe. Otherwise our nation is going down the tubes." -- "Pastor Bill" Sanderson of the Hephzibah Baptist Church in Wendell, NC. His motion to ban gay-friendly churches (and gay parishioners) from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina was passed last week
Take a look at this guy. The Kentucky native's face is splashed on the front page of the Raleigh News and Observer with the headline "Anti-gay pastor sees role as shielding flock from sin." Personally, I think he needs to take his bigotry back to his home state.
"We've got to fight for our children's lives," he said. "When they start saying in school that a man and a man is just like a man and a woman, well no, it's not."
On Tuesday, the state Baptist convention approved the so-called Sanderson motion, expelling churches that welcome practicing gays as members. The motion passed by more than two-thirds of delegates, known as messengers, and will allow the convention to investigate churches suspected of countenancing active gays. The action put North Carolina's Baptist group ahead of most of its peer organizations in other states by defining membership on the single issue of homosexuality.
...At the North Carolina Baptist convention, Sanderson's motion was opposed by several hundred pastors, including the Rev. Don Gordon of Yates Baptist Church in Durham. Gordon agrees that homosexuality is a sin, but he said he doesn't think the Bible singles it out.
"Is the homosexuality movement of the 21st century more pervasive than the [pro-] slavery movement of the 19th century?" Gordon asked. "I would contend the slavery movement was more evil, and caused more damage to people's lives than this movement."
Unfortunately for Rev. Gordon, the bigots like Sanderson are in the majority in the Baptist State Convention.
The article notes that Sanderson, who was taught by his father that the Bible is God's inerrant and infallible word, failed his New Testament class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, because its teachings were considered more moderate at the time. The faculty of the school since that time has been filled with strict biblical literalists.
Howdy! I just finished a live interview on Thom Hartmann's local radio show here in Portland. We were on from 7:35am-7:45am, smack dab in the middle of Portland's morning commute. When asked "what will you show be focusing on?" I mentioned "personal privacy and civil liberties, with an eye toward so-called 'fringe' topics not getting a lot of radio airplay. Take gay marriage, for example. Many hosts don't want to tackle it because it won't sell well in the red states, like my home state of Idaho. Well, guess what, there are gay folks in Idaho, too, and discrimination is discrimination no matter if it's color, religion, or sexuality. Those red states need to be having a discussion about these issues, and need to understand that in America, we don't treat people differently just because they are different."
I also gave a massive plug to the Blend - watch that hit counter and see if we get any eyeballs from Stumptown. (That's Portland to the rest of you -- hey, Portland, represent! Leave a comment!)
Wow. I'm an "L"-list celebrity. With determination and hard work, I might make my way to Kathy Griffin level someday!
Ex-Gay Watch: 'Does Exodus sanction forcing people into ex-gay programs?'
Autumn and Daniel of Ex-Gay Watch passed on the above video, which includes some interesting statements of "ex-gay-for-pay" Randy Thomas of Exodus, who recently appeared on Adam Carolla's radio show. The pray-away-the-gay advocate claims Exodus won't take anyone forced into its de-gaying programs. Daniel:
That's total BS because you'll recall 16 year old Zach in Tennessee who was forced into a straight-camp last year. There's more to the story than just that so I made up a little YouTube video that examines the issue of people being forced into exgay programs and Exodus appearing to sanction it.
Michael Savage: 'the homosexual mafia will not stop until we all bend our knees to the homosexual agenda'
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Is this guy mental? I mean really. Does radio bleater Michael Savage, who's on 300 radio stations with over 8 million listeners, seem fatally fixated on hating homos. (Media Matters):
Days after telling his listeners that the "radical homosexual agenda ... threaten[s] your very survival," on the November 16 edition of his radio show, Michael Savage asserted that a "society that embraces homosexuality is a society that will not last much longer." Savage then predicted his remarks would "wind up tomorrow in several of the blogs run by gays -- and they think only of that 'cause they're like drug addicts." Later in the broadcast, Savage claimed, "There is not a mean bone in my body," and concluded: "With God's will and your listenership, we shall nuke Iran."
As Media Matters for America has noted (here, here, and here), Savage has often referred to "the homosexual mafia" and made other vitriolic attacks on gays.
Here is part of the transcript. He really seems unbalanced, in the same category as Lou Sheldon.
This cuts across all religious lines -- it doesn't matter whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim. It doesn't matter whether you're from America or abroad. We will tell you that 20,000 years of evolution, of societal evolution, has taught us the same thing: that a society that embraces homosexuality is a society that will not last much longer. Anybody who's studied history knows that.
So, why does that make me wrong for me to tell you this? Why do the people who are promoting this, this death-style, think that the people are that stupid?
... I didn't tell you to hate gay people, did I? I told you to be aware of the homosexual agenda; how powerful the homosexual movement is in this country as witness the fact that you never hear any criticism of them. You see? So, now let's move on. I don't even want to talk about it. I'm giving it to you as an example, and I know it's going to wind up tomorrow in several of the blogs run by gays -- and they think only of that 'cause they're like drug addicts.
Wrap-up on the International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference
The purpose of the International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference is to give openly LGBT elected and appointed officials a chance to hear war stories about running for public office, and share ideas and approaches on how to run successful campaigns.
There were about 200 in attendance at this conference, a record, according to Denis Dison, the VP of communications for the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute. This year, there were 67 Victory Fund-endorsed candidates who were elected to federal, state and local offices, and several of the folks at this conference were the first openly gay or lesbian candidates ever elected in their cities, states or legislative bodies.
I was at the con to serve on the Election Analysts Roundtable (see the description here). It was a 90 minute session, but we really only had about a half-hour at the end of the slot, because of Howard Dean's speech and a segment on stats about the election from two pollsters from Zogby.
First, let's talk about what Howard Dean had to say. Here's the MSM view of it. (AP):
Howard Dean said the Democratic Party needs to look beyond its dated goal of getting gays and minorities a place at the table and instead work toward getting them on the ballot.
...Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said little about issues such as same-sex marriage or civil rights, and instead addressed broader Democratic agendas such as raising the minimum wage.
Flush from big Democratic gains in last week's elections, Dean emphasized that the "new Democratic Party" reaches out to all citizens, even those less likely to vote for them.
He's right on one major point, we need more minorities...and OUT gays on Dem tickets. And by out, I don't necessarily mean candidates running on gay issues alone. The voters need to see out, proud candidates whose primary concern at the local level is, as a prospective elected official, to address issues their constituents care about, be it potholes, education, jobs, family issues. The candidate just happens to be gay -- but those issues are ours as well.
That's how you win over voters, particularly in states where there are no openly gay officials -- trailblazers like the ones I met on Saturday who were elected in red states. They weathered the blows, but in the end it was their ability to connect with the common interests of the voter. If you're in a state where an amendment exists -- such as Alabama and Texas -- the only way to change the public tide is to be out of the closet, unafraid and force the establishment to deal with openly gay and lesbian elected officials.
Patricia Todd, in the women's roundtable later in the afternoon, said it best when describing a seemingly innocuous event -- filling out information forms for newly elected officials. There was a line on the form for "spouse" and "children." She noted that this was an historic act in Alabama - she placed the name of her partner and child on the form. The folks in the legislature will now have to deal with that in its public communications, such as its web site (let's see what they put up there, once she's in office).
But I digress, back to Dean's speech -- here's coverage from the Houston Chronicle:
"My advice to - not just this community, but every community that plays an important role in the Democratic Party, and this one certainly does - is to try not to do everything at once," he said.
"We need a careful, narrow, targeted agenda to make it clear what the difference between the Democratic Party and Republican Party is before we go into the next election."
Dean, like other national politicians at the four-day International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference, said the political shift should make life easier for gays and lesbians.
However, the DNC chairman added, Democrats have only two years to prove themselves before the presidential election, which he called "the big enchilada," and said effective governing could mean putting some issues before others.
As you can see, there's a running suggestion here that LGBT folks need to be patient and to wait, lest there be a backlash of some sort in two years if we push too hard for pro-gay legislation that has languished under Republican rule. This, of course, was after he mentioned more than once during his speech that no Dems who took a position against the federal marriage amendment lost -- a real disconnect, huh?
I hate to say it, but the room was also full of too much backslapping during Dean's speech over the Dem takeover of the House and Senate; I couldn't believe it when Chairman Dean positively glowed over the fact that a third of evangelicals crossed over to vote Dem in this election. I hate to break it to him, but in the states with amendments on the ballot, those evangelicals, even as they crossed over because they were digusted with the GOP, still chose to vote for a marriage amendment. Is he ok with that? While that crossover might bring on cheers in another venue and encourage the party to further court The Base, for LGBT folks that's not exactly comforting.
What we can celebrate is that the changeover in Washington and many state houses means no active legislation further eroding our rights, but whether we will see actual gay-positive legislation passed is another matter with the historically gun-shy, spineless Democratic Party that has run from serious discussion of gay issues as fast as it can in the past. As we've said before here on the Blend, Dems at the national level will only advocate once the coast is clear, having had their fingers in the wind to see which way it's blowing. Leading isn't a strong suit in this area; they've been content to take our money and do zero as amendment after amendment has passed.
Dean cited the Arizona amendment as a victory for the community, not mentioning of course that the organizations responsible at the grassroots level for successfully defeating the ballot measure, almost immediately released a statement saying it received no help from national organizations. It's hard to take credit for a "win" when they had to work in isolation.
The big national gay organizations have been notably absent there, and the campaigns have been smart about attracting voters from both conservative Phoenix and liberal Tucson with targeted messages and tactics. "We did this with no national help," says [Cindy Jordan, chair of No on 107], "this grassroot's effort was local."
The amendment failed because of a couple of factors, which I mentioned while at the conference: 1) the voters were targeted about how the amendment would affect unmarried seniors and heterosexuals, and almost completely ignored the "fairness" argument, avoiding the use gay couples in promotional materials, and 2) Arizona has a libertarian, government-out-of-my-business streak that further eroded support for the amendment. The latter is one of the reasons that the amendment nearly failed in South Dakota.
The fairness argument was used extensively in Wisconsin; gay families were prominently featured by Fair Wisconsin, and the anti-amendment forces were well-funded and organized, yet the measure easily passed. The difference? -- people vote their self-interest. Sad, but true, fairness really isn't enough of an argument unless you have a critical mass of het allies who are well-informed and motivated to do the right thing -- our movement, desperately needs to educate our allies; way too many straight folks simply don't have equality issues on their radar even in states like Wisconsin, where people thought there was a chance to defeat an amendment.
Which brings me to the other matter that Dean didn't talk about -- the party's "endorsement" of putting the civil rights of gays and lesbians on the ballot -- Howard Dean giddily mentioned how "the voters have spoken" in tossing out the GOP control of the Hill. Unfortunately, the voters have also spoken on our rights because both the Democrats and the Republicans at the national level have no problem with "leaving it to the states."
This is morally wrong, and the responsibility for the strategic political decision to punt on the civil rights of gays and lesbians by allowing candidates to hide behind a position of "leave it to the states" lies at the Democratic Party's door. We have 27 states that now have marriage amendments in place, many that precluding any civil unions or domestic partnerships. Those measures profoundly affect the lives of everyday, working class gay families who don't have any political power aside from their vote -- and they are in the minority.
The overarching view from the establishment perspective is that the patchwork of rights granted will end up in SCOTUS and eventually be resolved there, which is true OK, then what do you say to gays in Tennessee, for example -- its amendment passed with 80% of the vote? Move? "I'm sorry, but it's too damn bad?"
Black homophobia
I hated to be a wet blanket on all that "good news" and high-fiving/Dem Kool-aid drinking going on in the ballroom, but when moderator Ari Shapiro of NPR asked me to discuss black homophobia and how it manifested itself in the election -- and the lack of discussion about it -- I took the opportunity to talk about the above in context.
The irony of this election is that the GOP's tactics on turnout by placing these amendments on the ballot backfired in some respect. It brought out many voters who might have stayed home -- and a lot of them voted Dem because of their dissatisfaction with the failed Bush administration. (Advocate):
The effort to defeat Virginia's proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage apparently pulled thousands of progressive voters out to the polls, sending Democrat James Webb to the U.S. Senate by the thinnest of margins and handing the upper chamber to the Democrats for the next two years. A 10-to-1 spending edge by gays and their allies depressed the final majority in favor of the amendment to 57%, a far cry from the 75% support that has typified amendment election results in the past.
A glance at the six most populous left-of-center counties and urban areas tells the story. Roughly 588,000 people voted on the marriage amendment in these regions, with nearly 60%, or about 350,000, people voting no. The other two relatively uncontroversial ballot measures passed handily. But they passed without the participation of roughly 25,000 voters who weighed in on the marriage amendment but took no stand on the other questions one way or another.
Did those voters also vote for James Webb? It appears they did. Webb won the six regions 64%-36%, taking 377,000 out of 593,000 Senate votes cast in these locations.
However, there is a disturbing trend hidden in those numbers. In the case of amendments in Virginia and Arizona, a majority of blacks voted for them. Celinda Lake, a pollster who was also on the panel, chimed in to concur and added that the data shows religious black women are particularly hardcore in their views in opposition to marriage equality and Latino men are an equally troubling demographic in this area. The GOP saw big losses in the Hispanic vote this election cycle; while the Dems see an opportunity in this demo, silence on the homophobia that exists in this groups comes directly at our expense when our rights are placed on the guillotine of the ballot box.
I put this into context by pulling quotes that Blenders are quite familiar with and read them out loud right there in the ballroom.
Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Baptist Missionary in Atlanta, Georgia. "Woman is the soul of man. She is his flesh consciousness. In essence, God made Eve to help Adam replenish the earth. Woman has the canal…everything else is an exit."
and
Willie Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church in D.C.: "When you get down to this thing, women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something, it ain't real. That thing ain't got no feeling in it. It ain't natural."
"Any time somebody got to slap some grease on your behind, and stick something in you, it's something wrong with that. Your butt ain't made for that. You got blood vessels and membranes in your behind. And if you put something unnatural in there, it breaks them all up. No wonder your behind is bleeding."
Yes, I actually read those quotes. And I pointed out that Falwell and Robertson would have been held accountable for these unbelievable statements -- but black pastors like those mentioned have been given a pass time and again in the MSM. I explained that the reason for the radio silence by Democratic establishment and political figures of any stripe is because, as we've discussed here -- race is a third rail topic -- whites are afraid of being called racis
