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More Foleygate
Saturday, September 30, 2006
[UPDATE: I responded to a commenter on the "taking the high road" strategy in a post update.]
Since we were out at NCPride today, I wasn't in the loop on any additional news on Mark Foley and the GOP litany of lies, coverup and general stupidity in allowing the former Congressman free rein to harass 16-year-old pages.
According to the Associated Press, Congressman Reynolds’ spokesman confirmed that Reynolds had been informed by another Congressman that the boy had complained about Foley’s inappropriate communications “months ago.” According to the report, the allegations first came to light in late 2005. [AP, 9/30/06] It appears that Reynolds did not tell authorities about the emails or take any step to discipline Foley, apparently choosing instead to sweep the matter under the rug to protect the Republican party’s dwindling chances of retaining control of the House of Representatives this November.
* Some of the contradictions over when who knew what about "the Foley problem" continue -- Foley E-Mails 1st Reported in Fall '05. The NYT has coverage of this as well.
* In the NYT piece, Republican Chris Shays smacks the GOP leadership down.
Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said any leader who had been aware of Mr. Foley’s behavior and failed to take action should step down. “If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership,” Mr. Shays said.
* Mike Rogers' work on this sleazebag got a boost today in The Miami Herald -- Gays comment on Foley resignation. Mike's on target -- the GOP closet is where a lot of this blame lies...
"He was a homophobe who needed to be exposed," said journalist Michael Rogers, whose website, http://www.blogactive.com/, reported on Rep. Mark Foley of West Palm Beach for three years.
"I first started to report on Foley in March 2003," said Rogers, who is gay. 'The reason why -- he's antigay. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and has not renounced that vote. He refused to acknowledge that he supported the repeal of `don't ask, don't tell.' He would not sign on as a co-sponsor. He should be held accountable for not supporting that or co-sponsoring.
"No community is expected to harbor their own enemies from within. He is an enemy of our community, yet he wants to step into our community and put us at risk. He puts every one of us in a bad light."
...Rogers said Foley's problems come from being in the closet.
"I do believe that he had unhealthy sexual advances to these guys because he was living his life as a closeted gay man," Rogers said. "Healthy gay men who are mature and dealing with their sexuality in a mature way don't hit on kids who are 16 years old. What's his signature issue? You don't know whether to laugh or cry."
Sully weighs in with the same sentiment we've also discussed many times here about the corruption that comes when power hungry-pols protect their closets. I, however, have no patience with people who attempt to govern from the closet. The McGreeveys, Schrocks, and now Foley watched their political careers go up in smoke over their pathologies.
I don't know Foley, although, like any other gay man in D.C., I was told he was gay, closeted, afraid and therefore also screwed up. What the closet does to people - the hypocrisies it fosters, the pathologies it breeds - is brutal. There are many still-closeted gay men in D.C., many of them working for a Republican party that has sadly deeply hostile to gay dignity. How they live with themselves I do not fully understand. But I have learned you cannot judge someone's soul from outside. That I leave to them and their God, and some I count as good friends and good people.
What I do know is that the closet corrupts. The lies it requires and the compartmentalization it demands can lead people to places they never truly wanted to go, and for which they have to take ultimate responsibility. From what I've read, Foley is another example of this destructive and self-destructive pattern for which the only cure is courage and honesty. While gays were fighting for thir basic equality, Foley voted for the "Defense of Marriage Act". If his resignation means the end of the closet for him, and if there is no more to this than we now know, then it may even be for the good. Better to find integrity and lose a Congressional seat than never live with integrity at all.
Amen. What I don't understand, however, is his need to forgive those who remain closeted. These folks need to be outed, because their pathologies (and ability to pass legislation) affect my life.
Feel free to add you own links in the comments about more updates on this GOP meltdown! :)
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UPDATE: I was going to respond to Anonymous (the first commenter) in the comments, but I decided to post it here. He/she insists:
I'm wary of making this "about the GOP." This is a whole other subject, but sometimes I wonder if a good way to stop the demonizing of gay people, would be to take the first, courageous volleys and curtail the demonizing, overgeneralizing, us-them-ing on our own part.
My response:
Foley only moderated his voting patterns after he was outed in gay media, and he continued to evade the media on his orientation -- as opposed to Kolbe.
I have no sympathy for Foley or the current makeup of the GOP.
Yes, this is all about the oh-so-pious GOP leadership and their hypocrisy. I'm tired of being on the receiving end of this Party's vitriol as a whipping boy whenever they want to stir up their sheeple Base, and when they are caught off guard in an indefensible position like this, particularly a "values voter" issue (isn't it all about saving and protecting the children?); they deserve all the attention they can get when things blow up in their face.
It is us against the AmTaliban, and the fact that the GOP has been taken over by the Right wing nutcases is not my problem. I'd welcome a return to a moderate Republican party, but it isn't happening any time soon. In fact, we have to be wary of a Democratic party that spends any time courting the fundie vote.
And it cuts off thinking, it cuts off creativity, it cuts off possible creative solutions. It's intellectual short-cutting.
This almost sounds like astroturfing. The GOP and Faux News would pound this story into the ground if the sides were reversed. Look at what taking the high road (Swift Boat) results in. Am I sorry that American politics has fallen to this level. Absolutely. Is being "nice" the way to victory? Ask Karl Rove. He's a master tactician, and he preys upon Dems inherent desire to play fair. And we lose because he is right. Sorry, but true.
This GOP leadership has rubber-stamped this president and has nearly destroyed the principles upon which this country was founded. They aren't going to get away with this one.
"Luis Vizcaino, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political group, said HRC had no comment on Foley’s resignation and the allegations against him. He said the group was not likely to discuss the development any time soon."
That's ball-less. Come on people, Foley's behavior isn't defensible and HRC can't even COMMENT? If anything the group should be out there educating people about how the closet is responsible for this in Foley's case and clarifying that orientation does not equal pedophile.
This is the same problem with HRC that we see over and over, "self-protection" instead of truly getting at the heart of what the issues are. It's the same pathetic logic for continuing to support Holy Joe because of his incumbency instead of Ned Lamont (who is more vocally pro-gay).
We don't need our advocates to clam up as well.
If folks allegedly on our side can't see the larger picture of Republican corruption on the Hill that "Foleygate" represents (just to back someone who began to vote our way only after being outed), it's a sad state of affairs.
***
Paul had his own poetic commentary on Foleygate, which you should definitely check out.
It was a great day in Durham - we had a huge turnout for NC Pride, more folks than I've seen in the last few years. Great weather - in the high 70s, low humidity.
For the first time that I can recall, we had honest to goodness fundies out there. The crew from Operation Save America showed up with the same tired signs that they probably use over in Charlotte. Everyone was laughing at them. OSA is not a local group -- they bus their folks in wherever they think they can drum up some publicity. This American Taliban-style organization isn't even from this area (it's based in TX). The goal of OSA, besides returning homos to the closet, is to get God back in the classroom and the state back into a woman's womb.
Today was no exception, though their signs were not nearly as colorful as the Westboro Baptist crew (they came to protest a production of The Laramie Project last year).
A couple of shots (click to enlarge).
One of the bikers in the parade revved their engine to drown out the fundies as attempted to bleat nonsense about sodomy and sodomites.
Our side had quite a few great zinger signs of their own. "Blood of the lamb" was one of Kate's favorites:
There was this one fundie all by himself on one street corner. I think this was a local dude, not an OSA-er. It was kind of sad that he couldn't find anyone else to "perform" with.
Kate and I marched with my old neighborhood association, Old West Durham, which is the host neighborhood of the parade. I'm with community allies OWDNA President John Schelp (far right) and City Councilman Mike Woodard, who said he has the Blend bookmarked (!), joined our group for the whole march -- and earned a blister!. It was good to see a lot of local pols out there today, mingling and even with tables set up to meet with the gay community.
Pastor Donald Fozard of Mt. Zion Church in Durham, said he follows the Bible's teachings, which say homosexuality is a sin.
"Why do they have to have a parade?" Fozard asked. "What we need is an open forum to talk about it face to face."
This dude lives about a half mile from our house. He has a life-size statue of a white couple in an embrace to symbolize "one man, one woman" in his front yard. The place looks like a compound.
He's a real winner.
Minister preaches against 'faggots', March 3, 2004. From this past Sunday's sermon, one would think the Rev. Donald Q. Fozard Sr. likes saying the word faggot. The pastor of Durham's Mount Zion Christian Church hollers the word's last syllable as if he were exorcising a demon, or as if he were a movie star who understands that notoriety rises when you do something incendiary.
"Faggots across the nation, heading churches. Homos on the pianos. Faggots in the choir. What kind of spirit is leading that church?" he asked his 150 worshippers.
Foley blasted 'vile' Clinton in 1998 for his 'sad sexual addiction'
Hahahahahahahahahhaha....Raw Story dug this one up from 1998. Oh that GOP hypocrisy comes back and bit you in the ass, Foley.
For more than a week, members of Congress said they would avoid partisan politics when they got Kenneth Starr's report on President Clinton. But when they finally saw it Friday, they split along party lines.
Republicans were aghast at Clinton's behavior, with many saying it showed he had lied and abused his power.
"It's vile," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. "It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."
Read the online chats at PageOneQ of the oh-so-discreet IMing of the former chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children with a teenage House page:
Maf54 (7:58:59 PM): but it must feel great spirting on the towel
[redacted screenname] (7:59:06 PM): ya
Maf54 (7:59:29 PM): wow
Maf54 (7:59:48 PM): is your little guy limp...or growing
[redacted screenname] (7:59:54 PM): eh growing
Maf54 (8:00:00 PM): hmm
Maf54 (8:00:12 PM): so you got a stiff one now
[redacted screenname] (8:00:19 PM): not that fast
[redacted screenname] (8:00:20 PM): hey
[redacted screenname] (8:00:32 PM): so you have a fetich
So, let's see what the Republican-controlled House plans to do about Foley. The reaction of the House leadership (denial, changing stories over who knew what and when) -- and the lack of a reaction from the AmTaliban will prove what a sham they are putting on regarding "pro-family" values.
Resolution for ethics probe over Foley passes 410-0
The GOP is heading for meltdown as Nancy Pelosi offered a resolution to investigate the behavior of former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL). It passed 410-0.
Now the denial and cover up games begin, however there is no way they can blame Democrats for this one. They are in charge and this has blown up in their faces.
Let's look at some of the lying and butt-covering scrambling going on.
1. House Speaker Leader Dennis Hastert said he's shocked and didn't know about Foley's emails and IMs to teen pages.
"I was surprised," Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said after being informed of Foley's decision. "I didn't know what the situation was."
Gee, he must have amnesia, because perpetually tanned House Majority Leader John Boehner told the WaPo that Hastert knew months ago and the latter said to do something about it (clearly it didn't mean booting Foley).
The resignation rocked the Capitol, and especially Foley's GOP colleagues, as lawmakers were rushing to adjourn for at least six weeks. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of some "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him "we're taking care of it."
2. The Dem on the House page board was never informed about Foley.
Roll Call has been all over this story, and breaks some news about John Shimkus (R-IL), head of the Page Board, and who didn't tell the Democrat on the board, Rep. Dale Kildee.
"I became aware of it this afternoon when [Shimkus] came by my office. I think we should have had a page meeting right away," Kildee said, referring to last year's discovery of Foley's e-mails.
When asked if was upset about being excluded, Kildee said yes, adding, "I've been on the page board for 20 years."
"I'm the chairman of the page board," Shimkus said when asked why he didn't include Kildee. "The Clerk and I addressed this issue."
So Kildee wasn't told, yet Roll Call reports that these Republicans were aware of the situation: Boehner, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-LA.) and Shimkus, the former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl -- and the senior aide to Hastert.
Wait -- we're supposed to believe that Hastert's senior aide didn't tell him? The House Clerk was informed about an explosive matter like this, but not the Speaker? Jesus, they must think we're stupid. Either he was told, or, knowing the potential maelstrom that could occur if the story leaked, Hastert was given plausible deniability. I can't believe the latter -- I'm sure they thought they could keep a lid on this. And that leads to...
3. A sign of the implosion -- they can't get their stories straight.
-- In the Roll Call article, John Boehner denies telling Hastert. So which publication did you lie to, Boehner? -- The article also says that "according to a senior House GOP leadership aide, Hastert’s office was informed of the interview shortly after it occurred, but Hastert himself was not told." Love the anonymous spin job. Again, who's lying (and who has the motive for doing so)?
4. What, if anything, did those who did know about Foley's predatory, sexually harrassing behavior at the time (it obviously didn't involve any action against the Florida Congressman, then head of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children)?
Shimkus said in a statement last night, "in late 2005, I was notified by the then Clerk of the House," that Alexander had told the Clerk "about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page. I took immediate action to investigate the matter."
"Foley asked about the former Page's well-being after Hurricane Katrina and requested a photograph," Shimkus said. He said Foley assured him it was an innocent exchange, but "nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact" with the boy and to respect all pages. "Only now have I learned that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct," Shimkus said.
Well, wasn't that a slap on the wrist. And no follow-up, clearly.
This was sexual harrassment of a House employee, a minor at that. Is this the best that the GOP leadership in this country can do to protect those who work for them from predatory elected officials?
Perhaps the ethics probe, the last thing the Republicans needed on the agenda as the election nears, will expose the real "values" of God's Own Party.
Of course in Freeperland there is plenty of gay bashing going on, though a lot of them are doing some hand-wringing about strategy. One thing for Log Cabinettes to note -- the Base, always willing to conflate any perverted sexual behavior with homosexuality, see the solution as booting all of you out.
Makes one wonder what they'll find on his computer.
GAWD....how the hell did the GOP caucus give him that committee assignment?
My God, this creep was head of the caucus on Missing and Exploited Children? Co-Chairman, at least that's what I heard on TV. Sounds like the fox guarding the henhouse. Good riddance to him. I hope authorities responded quickly enough and secured the computers and other gear that might been used in his sick little game.
Chalk up one more district for the Dims. What a sick POS.
Well...it's be a great way to get Jeb into the national picture....
Then to his republican supporters, it was alright to be gay, but not gay with 16-18 year old boys. I guess he crossed a some line that his republican supporters could not accept. What a fool.
You know what chaps my hide - the fact that the leadership knew about this months ago and did nothing. He should have been pressured to resign "to spend time with family" or whatever and then a suitable replacement could have been moved in his place to run. The district leans right. Now it's lost to the RATS. Way to frickin go. Politicians are idiots. This is a chess game that needs to be thought out three steps ahead, always.
Sheesh people all is not lost. foley won in 2004 with 65% of the vote, so that tells you that the district is conservative leaning. There is still a month to go, and like I said this lemon could turn into lemonade with the fact that the democrats have barney frank and patches kennedy, and that the democrats never call on the resignation of their trash.
I've heard rumors over the years about a dozen or so Reps having gay leanings, about equally split between Democrats and Republicans - GOOGLE will turn up numerous reports. As long as they stick to consensual relationships with adults (21 and over) , and the voters in their districts are satisfied with them otherwise, I say let it ride - likely "outing" would be harder on the Republicans than the Democrats. Adults praying on children and adolescents of either sex is something else, of course.
Good. The Republicans have enough problems with this fellow being sick and twisted adding to them.
The more research I do into this guy, the more it looks to me like he was yet another fake Republican. I don't know much about his district, but he sure as hell was no conservative. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
well, if a longtime politician is single, or has some issues, it seems that people let them slide, until something like this comes up. somebody close and personal should have said a looooong time ago: "Look, are you a homosexual or not? If so, are you going to push a homosexual agenda? If so, well then, you need to bring this out and let the constituents realize what you are all about. If not, well then keep you private life private and lets keep the house in GOP hands. And stay away from the pages."
Doesn't Rush live near Foley's district. Time to step up for the good of the country Rush.
RINO infestation - that's what happens when people settle.
Unfortunately, this "trash" may end up helping Pelosi run the house. When you combine Foley's district with Delay's, Ney's, and AZ-08, things are not looking too good for the GOP holding the house. Unbelievable.
Before everyone calls him a predator we should wait for a few more facts in this case. I dont really care if he gay or not and there is not going to be some "purge" of gays from the party. That being said if he did something wrong I am glad he is leaving
One more queer gone from leadership. It is GREAT news that we're getting rid of both Kolbe and Foley this election. It doesn't matter if we lose both seats, the damage these scumbags do to attack the GOP from within is far worse than any Democrat could do.
#1 - It was well-known that Foley was gay, though he refused to say either way in public. He had an open relationship with his boyfriend. #2 - Foley supported "gay rights" legislation
Yet the Republicans in his district kept supporting him and even tried to get him to run for Senate. Shame on them!
Just when you figure we've hit rock bottom, along comes something like this. Sick son of a bitch! I hope he's prosecuted.
Oh, boy you know the Rats and the MSM are going to use this big time tonight and the rest of the weekend. Way to go, you idiot.
"Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children..."
The entire United States Congress is run by imbeciles.
One more queer gone from leadership. A good thing even though he wasn't a dimorat.
Denny Hastert must resign for doing nothing about Foley
Friday, September 29, 2006
“Recent news stories remind us that there are predators using the Internet to target children,” Hastert said. “And just as we warn our children about ‘stranger danger’ when they are at the park or answering the door or telephone, we need to be aware of potential dangers in Cyberspace.” -- from a press release on House Speaker Denny Hastert's web sitetoday, touting his "Effort To 'Keep Kids Safe In Cyberspace"
Jesus. Too bad the Tyrannosaurus of Turpitude didn't give a damn that House pages were being preyed upon in IMs and emails by Rep. Mark Foley. Hastert knew about Foley's "problem" over a year ago, yet he didn't do anything about the Florida congressman, who was the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.
The page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he called the teen's parents. Alexander told the Ruston Daily Leader, "We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem," a reference to the House's Republican leaders.
"I was surprised," Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said after being informed of Foley's decision. "I didn’t know what the situation was."
So who's lying? Heck, if didn't know, that's a bigger problem to explain -- no one thought he needed to know?
The bottom line is that Hastert didn't follow his own cyberspace advice -- and do something about the predator in his midst. He should resign.
We know all too well that in the GOP the buck never stops at the top.
***
More nasty Mark "totally stiff wood" Foley IM chats with a teen page have emerged (boy, no wonder he resigned so fast; he knew what was coming out), courtesy of ABC (PDF). Here is a snapshot of some of the exchange.
***
UPDATE: There is an interesting piece up at ABC, in the Reporter's Notebook by J. Jennings Moss, who outed Foley in The Advocate. He bolsters my case that Foley was drunk with power, deep in the closet and thought he could keep it padlocked while his pathological behavior went unchecked.
He also makes the point that the MSM simply won't hold politically closeted gay lawmakers accountable for hypocritical voting.
Ten years ago, I outed Foley as a gay man for The Advocate, the national gay and lesbian newsmagazine. But aside from one story in the St. Petersburg Times, no other Florida or national publications would touch the tale, either because Foley and his camp did a great job of shooting the messenger or because of the inherent fear the media have to delve honestly and without judgment into a person's sexual background.
...I remember that former GOP Rep. Bob Barr, the congressman who was the chief sponsor of DOMA, got asked once which of his three previous marriages he was defending, and no one raised a stink.
But asking a lawmaker if he was gay and how his sexuality affected his vote was just not acceptable. It wasn't in 1996, and I doubt many reporters would do it today. It's not homophobia per se. It's really more like homo-aversion.
Foley was a master of aversion. For The Advocate story, as I recall, Foley didn't grant a face-to-face interview but instead answered written questions. "Frankly, I don't think what kind of personal relationships I have in my private life is of any relevance to anyone else," he said.
...By staying so deep in the closet and browbeating others to keep his secret for him, Foley probably thought he was invincible. But secrets have a way of bringing down the powerful.
As we can see, the kinds of "relationships" Foley had were quite relevant -- his ghastly behavior involves preying on young pages -- and no one in the House leadership stopped him.
When do you think we'll hear from Daddy Dobson, Concerned Women for America or any of the other "pro-family" organizations about this government's coverup of a predator serving on the Hill?
Saying he was "deeply sorry," Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned from Congress today, hours after ABC News questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former congressional pages under the age of 18.
A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.
Yet another reason why homo pols who vote anti-gay have no business holding office. When you live your life in the shadows of self-loathing trolling for sex, this is the end result -- poor judgment, outlandish arrogance that you won't get caught, and ultimately, in this day and age, public humiliation when it surfaces.
How does (now former) Rep. Foley, an alleged protector of children from sexual predation, explain this sh*t:
Maf54: You in your boxers, too? Teen: Nope, just got home. I had a college interview that went late. Maf54: Well, strip down and get relaxed.
Another message:
Maf54: What ya wearing? Teen: tshirt and shorts Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.
And this one:
Maf54: Do I make you a little horny? Teen: A little. Maf54: Cool.
The language gets much more graphic, too graphic to be broadcast, and at one point the congressman appears to be describing Internet sex.
Well, in the end, he couldn't, so he had to step down.
The mind-blower (and the much bigger story here) is that the GOP House leadership knew about Foley's "activities" regarding pages -- and did nothing about it! (SFGate):
The page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he called the teen's parents. Alexander told the Ruston Daily Leader, "We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem," a reference to the House's Republican leaders.
How on earth does this square with all the bleating by Republicans that this was somehow a Dem smear when they knew what was going on? Someone better come up with a realistic explanation of how they could leave Mark Foley in his position as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children?!
This boggles the mind. How is God's Own Party going to explain away leaving a "potential problem" with access to pages?
***
Foley, you should hook up with Ed Schrock and compare notes about your respective downfalls. Schrock, you might recall, dropped out of his campaign when audio tapes surfaced of him seeking out gay sex on a phone service (courtesy of Mike Rogers), asking, among other things, that his respondent have “a great body on him,” be “white” and have a “good-sized endowment.”
These GOPervs just don't get it. In the end, they are addicted to access and power, and will never jeopardize that power bestowed upon them by the homo-hating wing of the GOP that currently rules the roost. They will only self-destruct because of their own corrupt, sad behavior that is paired with the inner turmoil of living in the closet.
Gay R.I. couples can legally marry in Massachusetts!
Big development! This will send the fundie machine into overdrive.
A Superior Court judge in Massachusetts has ruled that gay couples from Rhode Island may marry in Massachusetts because RI's constitution does not specify that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Up until this point, marriages of couples from other states performed in Massachusetts were not legal if the home state didn't recognize same-sex marriages. (Boston.com):
Wendy Becker and Mary Norton of Providence, R.I., argued that a 1913 law that forbids out-of-state residents from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would not be permitted in their home state did not apply to them because Rhode Island does not specifically ban gay marriage.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly agreed.
"No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute, or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage," he ruled.
The ruling has no effect on whether Rhode Island or any other state must allow gay marriage.
State Attorney General Thomas Reilly said he would not appeal Connolly's ruling.
Reilly's office had argued that Rhode Island laws' use of gender-specific terms -- including both "bride" and "groom" -- made it clear that the laws' intent was to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
In a statement after Connolly's ruling was issued, Reilly said appealing the decision "would be a waste of time and resources."
"This case has always been about respecting the laws of other states," Reilly said.
That 1913 law was enacted over inter-state recognition of interracial marriage. Some of the very reasons for opposing marriage equality for gays were used to justify that discrimination. It's time for it to end everywhere.
"I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me." -- Bush to key Republican leaders on his desire to "stay the course" in Iraq -- no matter what, in Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial
That Dear Leader and his failed administration are trying to conceal the level of violence going on in Iraq is pretty much a given. What news reports we do see point out the obvious failure of this administration to be honest about a situation that is spinning out of control. Woodward's book makes it clear that urgent warnings back in 2003 about the insurgency were simply ignored, as Bush insisted the message had to be that things were peachy in IED land.
Perhaps Woodward's now trying to sharpen his teeth after for going soft on the administration re: the Plame Affair. (NYT):
The book says President Bush’s top advisers were often at odds among themselves, and sometimes were barely on speaking terms, but shared a tendency to dismiss as too pessimistic assessments from American commanders and others about the situation in Iraq.
As late as November 2003, Mr. Bush is quoted as saying of the situation in Iraq: "I don't want anyone in the cabinet to say it is an insurgency. I don't think we are there yet."
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is described as disengaged from the nuts-and-bolts of occupying and reconstructing Iraq — a task that was initially supposed to be under the direction of the Pentagon — and so hostile toward Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, that President Bush had to tell him to return her phone calls.
Cheney comes off as a Dr. Strangelove freakshow:
Vice President Cheney is described as a man so determined to find proof that his claim about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was accurate that, in the summer of 2003, his aides were calling the chief weapons inspector, David Kay, with specific satellite coordinates as the sites of possible caches. None resulted in any finds.
Rumsfeld is perceived by some in the admin as off his rocker.
Mr. Rumsfeld reached into political matters at the periphery of his responsibilities, according to the book. At one point, Mr. Bush traveled to Ohio, where the Abrams battle tank was manufactured. Mr. Rumsfeld phoned Mr. Card to complain that Mr. Bush should not have made the visit because Mr. Rumsfeld thought the heavy tank was incompatible with his vision of a light and fast military of the future. Mr. Woodward wrote that Mr. Card believed that Mr. Rumsfeld was "out of control."
Bush and Rumsfeld refused to sit for an interview, but as usual, Woodward got a lot of the administration higher-ups to talk about the dysfunctional relationships in the White House that have brought us to where we are today.
* Paul has two good ones, Candidate facing N-Word accusations (picture Vernon Robinson), and posts on lesbian activist Aleta Fenceroy, who died this week.
* Mike Tidmus on anti-gay cartoons being distributed on a college campus by a "Christian" whackjob. The comics depicted the homo straw man that the Right loves to beat on -- we're portrayed as rapists, child molesters, murderers and thugs.
* The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy blog is running a five part Supreme Court preview featuring leading legal experts writing about key upcoming cases. The first in the series is "Abortion and the "Health Exception."
Two Roman Catholic priests stole and misappropriated $8.6 million in offerings and gifts made to their parish and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of it on car payments, rare coins and other personal expenses, authorities said Thursday.
Monsignor John Skehan, a former Miami-Dade and Broward priest who was pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church for four decades, was arrested Wednesday night at Palm Beach International Airport after he returned from Ireland. He was being held on $400,000 bond, police said.
Also accused is the Rev. Francis Guinan, another former Miami-Dade priest who succeeded Skehan three years ago. He is on an Australian cruise and called investigators Thursday.
''Millions of dollars that should have gone to helping the homeless folks or the school itself'' didn't, said FDLE agent Amos Rojas Jr.
''These guys lived the life they told everyone else not to live -- and they lived it on everyone else's dime,'' police spokesman Jeff Messer told the Palm Beach Post.
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Meanwhile, Papa Ratzi's pedophiles are still turning up; here's one in New Mexico on his way to the clink. (KOBTV):
A former New Mexico priest was sentenced in federal court Thursday to five years in prison for molesting a 14-year-old boy during a trip to Europe last summer.
George Silva, 74, in June agreed to a deal in which he would be sentenced to five years in a federal prison rather than go to trial and face a possible sentence of up to 30 years.
..."We agreed to a sentence of five years, the victim does not have to testify in this case, and we all thought that was an appropriate resolution in this case," said Assistant US Attorney Charles Barth following Silva's June 12th guilty plea in federal court in Albuquerque.
Silva, who had been a priest in Raton, was indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of transporting the 14-year-old Raton Boy to France and Portugal for the purpose of having illicit sex. That's despite Silva being admonished repeatedly by the archdiocese of Santa to stay away from the boy.
Admonished? They were going to keep circulating this sick man until it bit the church in the ass. Again.
Leaders of a Roman Catholic order of priests worried for decades that the Rev. Michael Toulouse was a pedophile, but opted to move him rather than report him to police, a lawyer for several victims said.
Citing internal documents discovered in a U.S. District Court lawsuit against the Society of Jesus in Seattle, attorney Mike Shaffer said the Jesuit priest continued to molest boys after he was transferred from Spokane to Seattle University in 1950.
..."At least a dozen victims have been identified by now who suffered assaults from Toulouse's aggressive, predatory pedophilia," lawyers for the victim, identified only as J.C., wrote in court filings Wednesday.
...Documents dating back six decades show Jesuit leaders knew Toulouse was a pedophile, but took no action, Shaffer alleges. "They turned a monster loose in Seattle," he said.
Court filings contend Toulouse cultivated friendships with Catholic families, and then groomed their sons for sexual abuse even as Jesuit leaders worried about his behavior.
As early as 1938, Jesuit leaders suggested that the priest should leave the order, stating he "does not seem to understand the meaning of obedience," according to minutes from a provincial meeting marked "Confidential."
There's no way that you can consider former U.S. Dick Armey (R-TX) a friend of the homos (he voted yes on banning gay adoptions in DC, for example), but he's clearly had enough of the fundies. From Daddy Dobson's CitizenLink:
Former Texas Congressman Dick Armey, once a stalwart ally in the culture wars, appears to be turning his back on Christian conservatives and their leaders.
The former majority leader of the House of Representatives reportedly told Ryan Sager, author of a new book on the Republican Party, that values voters and their leaders — especially Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson — are "nasty bullies."
In the interview, Armey responded pointedly when Sager asked why he thought Christian conservatives seemed more powerful now than in the 1990s.
"To a large extent, because Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies," Armey said. "I pray devoutly every day, but being a Christian is no excuse for being stupid. There's a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in schools. Demagoguery doesn't work unless it's dumb . . . These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy and can appeal to a large demographic."
Hahahahahahahaha. Of course, the rest of the piece has Dobson's minions defending their boss and slamming Armey. Ooooh...delicious:
Focus on the Family Action President Jim Daly said it's shocking the former congressman would attack millions of values voters who helped Armey and other social conservatives gain control of Congress.
"Values voters expect to hear such cruel insults from the Left," he said, "but not from a champion of family values, as Mr. Armey once claimed to be...Perhaps Mr. Armey should spend less time with the ACLU, for whom he is now a paid consultant," Daly said, "and more time apologizing to American families."
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who served under Armey's leadership, said it was sad that someone of Armey's stature would call Christians a "gang of thugs."
"That would be your listeners and readers, (he's talking about)," the congressman told CitizenLink. "That would be the many Christians around the United States who devoutly hold conservative moral beliefs — and he's acting like this is just some kind of political game. And it's disgusting. I was incredibly disappointed to read these comments."
The Governator signs bill limiting 'gay panic' defense
"This is a victory for fairness in our criminal justice system and a tribute to the courage of Gwen Araujo. Too many Californians live with the very real fear that they will be victimized simply because of who they are. Government should have as its first priority the protection of all its citizens. Making sure that our court system treats all Californians fairly, regardless of individual differences is essential." -- Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) on A.B. 1160, which Schwarzenegger signed last night
It's a tactic that rarely wins, but the fact that it has been legally acceptable to attempt to mitigate violent criminal acts using a defendant's homophobia until now in California is a travesty.
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 Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act directs the Office of Emergency Services to create training materials for district attorneys on best practices to address the use of bias-motivated defense strategies in criminal trials. The bill also requires the Judicial Council to adopt a jury instruction that tells jurors not to consider bias against people because of sexual orientation, gender identity or other characteristics in rendering a verdict.
The law was praised by Araujo's family.
"Since my daughter was killed, my family and I have spent literally thousands of hours working hard to make sure that California is a state where everyone is respected and treated fairly," said Sylvia Guerrero. "The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act will really help us in our work."
***
But it was a mixed bag for LGBT rights, as the Governator signed some bills and vetoed others:
* AB 2800, Civil Rights Housing Act of 2006 (signed). California housing laws are amended to include all of these categories in its anti-discrimination policy: race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, sex (and gender identity), marital status, sexual orientation, familial status and source of income.
* AB 606, The Safe Place to Learn Act (vetoed). This would have required the withholding of state funds from school districts that did not adopt an anti-discrimination policy that included sexual orientation and gender identity.
* AB 1056, Tolerance Education Pilot Program (vetoed). The anti-bullying measure would have required funding this program to strengthen existing state law prohibiting LGBT harassment.
"We thank God that children in California public schools will be protected from this direct assault for one more year," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a conservative, pro-family organization.
"The Democrat politicians and teacher unions are relentlessly pushing to sexually indoctrinate kids. Schwarzenegger has delayed them for now."
In his veto messages, Schwarzenegger said he vetoed AB 606 because it was "irresponsible" to create a new state mandate on schools, and he noted that existing laws already deal with discrimination and harassment in the schools.
The governor said he vetoed AB 1056 because it duplicated current efforts to provide "more avenues to teach about tolerance and human rights."
The final bill will land on the Chimperor's desk on Friday. This sailed through so that pols up for re-election could look tough on terrorists. Instead, it places our men and women overseas at risk. (AP):
The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but grant the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.
Democrats contended the legislation could set a dangerous precedent that might invite other countries to mistreat captured Americans. Their opposition focused on language barring detainees from going to federal court to protest their detention and treatment — a right referred to as "habeas corpus."
"The habeas corpus language in this bill is as legally abusive of rights guaranteed in the Constitution as the actions at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and secret prisons that were physically abusive of detainees," said Sen. Carl Levin, the top Democrat on the Armed Services panel.
Bush went to Capitol Hill Thursday morning, urging senators to follow the House lead and approve the plan.
"The American people need to know we're working together to win the war on terror," he said.
Bush had determined prior to that ruling that his executive powers gave him the right to detain and prosecute enemy combatants. He declared these detainees, being held at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and in secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world, should not be afforded Geneva Convention protections.
...The legislation also says the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts.
Twelve Dems voted for the measure. Raw Story has the official tally.
Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL), like most of these full-of-themselves Beltway numnuts, probably didn't think that tawdry email exchanges with a 16-year-old male page (one remarking how sizzling one of his teen buddies is), would surface.
Reports circulated on the Internet earlier this week, indicating that in private emails, Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) had requested photographs of the page, asked what he wanted for his birthday, and inquired about his age. The emails may be viewed below.
A subsequent investigation by RAW STORY discovered that the addresses on the emails were indeed those of Foley and a now-seventeen year old boy, who forwarded them to a fellow staffer.
...RAW STORY spoke with several sources, who confirmed that they felt Foley was unusually friendly with young Hill pages, but failed to uncover anything of a more serious nature. Foley's office contends that the Congressman is only guilty of being overly-friendly and has categorized the story as part of an opponent's "smear campaign."
Foley has long marketed himself as a protector of children from sexual predation. In 2003, he became an outspoken critic of a summer nudist camp for children.
A couple of notes here -- the age of consent in DC is 16, and there's nothing overtly sexual in these emails, it's just pretty darn dumb for any elected official to be doing this sort of thing and expect it not to surface in an election campaign. Particularly when your reputation is that of a "protector of children from sexual predation."
Foley is another one of those political closet cases. Like David Dreier, he was outed in local media several years ago, but he doesn't discuss his orientation -- and the MSM is basically silent on the matter. Foley voted consistently against gay rights legislation before the outing; his record improved only after he was ejected from the closet.Still, last year he voted to allow faith-based organizations to bypass local anti-discrimination laws so they could fire gays.
Peter LaBarbera, btw, was one of the wingers tossing barbs at Foley's closet back in the day (2003).
Foley and his spokesman say they will not answer reporters' questions about his "personal life." The homosexual newspaper Washington Blade was told the same when it asked spokesman Kirk Fordham "point blank if Foley is gay."
Most nonhomosexual newspapers did not pursue the story, but after Norman broke the ice with his column, the pressure grew on Foley, who is running for the seat vacated by Democratic presidential hopeful Bob Graham. (Foley has raised far more money for the Senate run than fellow GOP congressman Bill McCullum, who is also in the race.) Foley sought to go on the offensive by holding a conference call with reporters May 22. However, the call, in which Foley restated his refusal to discuss his "orientation," only generated more press coverage.
***
Mike Rogers, who has been involved in getting these emails out there, plans to go to the FBI to request a full-scale investigation into Foley's contacts with Congressional pages.
NC Pride and features on gay legal issues in the Independent Weekly
This weekend is NCPride, which is held in the Triangle. The main festivities, including the parade, are held in Durham starting tomorrow. We hold our Pride later in the year to avoid the oppressively hot weather in late June, the month when most celebrations are held. The events list is here. I'll be there marching with my former neighbors of Old West Durham, the host neighborhood of the parade.
The Independent Weekly, the area's progressive paper, has a couple of great feature articles on gay issues to dovetail with the upcoming events.
One is a piece, Family Values, by Kristin Howard, a mental health clinician and artist in Durham, on being married to a gay man. She makes the case that marriage equality would prevent so many gays and lesbians from trying to "fix" themselves by throwing themselves into marriages in the mistaken belief that their orientation will change.
In her case, both she and her husband came from a conservative Christian community and were raised to believe gays were "abominations before God."
Ten years into the marriage, it was revealed to this bride, who was still very much in love with her husband (though he was often distant and depressed) that he had a "terrible secret." He was gay. He had fought that fact all of his life. When he met me, he knew that he was gay, but he thought he could change--that God would heal him. And the alternative--coming out as a gay man--could get him killed. Certainly it would mean he would be shunned by his congregation, his friends and possibly his family.
...In many of these situations, the ministers who married the couples knew that one of them was gay (or in their words, struggled with same-sex attraction), and they encouraged them to marry anyway, even though the straight spouse knew nothing. To "save" the homosexual from hellfire and damnation ... they never gave a thought to the straight spouse who could, and eventually would, be destroyed by it.
These gay people who married--some of them hoping that God would heal them or change them, some of them to simply have a "normal" life in a marriage with children and the picket fence, some of them to hide from persecution--had they been accepted for who they are, would probably never have married someone of the opposite sex.
Had they been allowed to marry a partner of the same sex and been accepted, they never would have made the choices that are now destroying their lives, the lives of their unsuspecting spouses, and in some cases the lives of their children. All because the only way they can be equal--and have the same rights as everybody else--is to pretend to be everybody else.
The other piece I was actually interviewed for (a few quotes made it in), Making it legal, covers legal protections that same-sex couples can avail themselves of until there's marriage equality (or an amendment that makes it difficult to sustain even those measures).
Durham Attorney Sharon Thompson points out, "A heterosexual can spend $50 on a marriage license and all of the sudden hundreds and hundreds of laws apply.
"In order for a same-sex couple to create some of those same protections, it's going to cost them. Wills for an average middle-class couple with some assets could run $1,000, $500 each for all those documents," she says. "But then if you want a property agreement, that's another $1,500. And then if you add on all the parent stuff, you add on several thousand dollars more. So you're looking at $5,000-$10,000 just to create legal protections and a family."
..."There are ways to cut that cost down," Thompson adds. "Healthcare power of attorney, for one. You can go online to the secretary of state's Web site (www.sosnc.com), or the medical society (www.ncmedsoc.org), and download healthcare power of attorney forms, and it's free. And those are fine, because they're North Carolina documents."
John Boddie, a Raleigh native who currently practices law in Greensboro, has a few more suggestions.
"I like people to make sure that any significant property that they own is owned 'in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.' You can own any property that way--your house, your car, your bank account. It's just a matter of using that magic language. And when I say 'magic language,' I mean that, because in North Carolina if you don't use those precise words, then you don't own your property jointly.
In the interview, it's mentioned that we found Sharon Thompson's table at NCPride, her firm is well-known as one of the go-to attorneys for LGBT couples around here who want to protect their rights (to the extent that we can).
Kate and I established "joint tenancy with right of survivorship" for our property, and had wills and healthcare and other power of attorney documents drawn up. We didn't spend anywhere near the figures quoted in this piece because we don't have kids -- that sends legal fees into the stratosphere, because there are so many legal bases to cover.
Don's a piece of work. He's not stupid though, as his ongoing battle against Ford for its support of The Homosexual Agenda has earned the automaker an American Family Association boycott -- he now realizes that this could all backfire on him.
The intent was to punish Ford with bad PR, not destroy it, but he issued press release after grandiose press release bleating about the AFA's success and influence on Ford's situation (as opposed to, say the auto giant relying on big trucks and huge SUVs as its meal ticket).
The latest spin now? Don is saying that the AFA was forced to boycott Ford, lest it look weak as an organization. Holy mother of dog...
Wildmon says Ford is suffering the effects of its decision to aggressively promote same-sex "marriage" and other aspects of the homosexual agenda. The pro-family leader notes that AFA had suspended the boycott for six months; however, after Ford reneged on its agreement to remain neutral in the culture war, he says the boycott was back on.
Last weekend, Wildmon addressed the Values Voter Summit in Washington, telling the audience there that Ford left AFA and other pro-family groups with no other choice than to act in protest of the automaker's decision. "If we have the boycott," he observed, "we're going to hurt some people, and that is no fun. But if we don't boycott, we have no integrity left, and we're going to hurt more people in the long run."
The pro-family spokesman says Ford is hurting. And although AFA and other groups who have joined the boycott are not responsible for all of the auto company's financial woes, he says they are responsible for a substantial part of the difficulty Ford is now having with its bottom line.
...The officials at Ford made a decision, Wildmon asserts. "They elected to continue supporting the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage," he says. And if pro-family and conservative groups fail to respond to the automaker's actions, the AFA spokesman contends, those groups will, in essence, have "given corporate America over to homosexual leadership."
Too late, Don -- the AFA integrity train left the station long ago. It's all your fault, isn't that what you wanted?
Bush is visiting Alabama today and will be making a stop in The Magic City (to fundraise for Governor Bob Riley's re-election campaign). Like most of Dear Leader's stumping and shilling these days, it's under wraps -- the events aren't open to the public.
***
Open thread...links and blogwhoring highly encouraged.
As usual my insomnia had me up last night and I happened to catch about 10 minutes of a rerun of an excruciating interview with American Idol runner-up and fellow Tar Heel Clay Aiken on Larry King Live that aired earlier that evening.
The boy needs to give it up on the gay rumors. Watching him dodge the fairly softball questions from Larry King was painful to watch, given King made it easy for him to just get the whole thing over with, one way or the other.
Whoever is advising him on how to handle this needs to find a new job. Straight guys don't have a problem affirming their heterosexuality. This interview made Clay look like he has something to hide -- and it's ultimately sad, because you can see that he's struggling with the fallout from the Paulus incident. Being a Southern Baptist doesn't make life any easier, btw. (CNN):
KING: Monday night on this show Oprah was on and was asked the same thing, wrote an article about it, and said she's not going to discuss it anymore but she's not gay, nothing against being gay. If she were gay, she would say she was gay but she's just not and that's it. She's not going to discuss it anymore. What's the big deal?
AIKEN: I have no idea.
KING: How did it start with you?
AIKEN: I don't -- I don't really know why. I've never been really involved in like in celebrity stuff. People always ask me who is your favorite singer? Who is your favorite -- all that stuff and I really don't know because I didn't pay attention to it too much.
And I've never really picked up the magazines and read any of them even before this and so I've not been involved in the whole sensationalism of celebrity's lives and never understood it.
So, I don't understand why people care. I mean I kind of think you know what you do what you do, I'll do what I do. Everybody does what they do. I hope that I'm here to sing and be successful and do it well enough that people want to hear me and that's kind of what I want to do, you know.
KING: But you're smart enough to know that people do care so the obvious question would be why not just -- it ain't going to affect your career one iota no matter what you are. Why not just put it away?
AIKEN: Because, you know what I found because I responded before and what I found is that people are going to think what they want to think anyway.
KING: You mean you responded by saying no?
AIKEN: I've responded every way I can, you know. I said, "Listen, I'm not going to deal with this anymore now because it doesn't matter what I say. People are going to think what they want to say."
When I was a kid and I would get in trouble in school the only -- the only acceptable answer if you broke something or you cheated on a test or whatever was yes. And, if you didn't say yes, the teacher didn't believe you anyway, so what's it matter. And I found that no matter what you say there are going to be people who believe one way or the other and so on and so forth.
KING: So, in other words, no matter what you said it wouldn't matter?
AIKEN: I've just -- I've given up. And at the same point, I kind of figure, you know, I've got -- I want to be available and open to fans who have been supportive of me but at the same time, you know, when people drive by my house and take pictures of where I live and put it on the Internet and put my home address online and whatnot, it's a little too much.
And so, you kind of have to draw -- I've had to realize it doesn't matter what. I'm going to draw a line here. I'm going to perform. I'm going to sing and I'm going to do whatever I can and hopefully entertain people and make them happy and make them smile, you know. Some people are going to hate me.
KING: I'm going to give you some logic from an older person.
AIKEN: OK.
KING: No matter what your sexual being is by answering it yea or nay you put it away. It's gone once you answer it. In other words, if you said -- if you say yea, what are they going to do hit you over the head, not listen to you sing, no. If you say nay, what are they going to do to you? In other words, you're putting yourself in a no win and you could be in a win-win.
AIKEN: Or I could just say, you know what, forget it. I'm not going to deal with it anymore.
...KING: All right. As a hypothetic do you think it would be career affecting if you were? Do you think people would stop buying your CDs?
AIKEN: I don't -- hypothetically I don't think so.
KING: Hypothetically.
AIKEN: I don't think so. I think...
KING: I don't either.
AIKEN: I think it's -- I think we're a very progressive America now. I don't really sit around and hypothesize about it though, you know. I don't really -- it's not something that occupies my time.
KING: But you don't think it would be career ending?
AIKEN: No, I don't think anything -- I mean I think, again I think people's -- if celebrities nowadays can do the things that celebrities do and still be successful, you know, I think that anybody can get by with pretty much anything. I don't plan on killing anybody. And so, I don't think but, again, I don't think about it that often.
This goes on and on. Aiken says he's had to deal with escalating panic attacks over this, for crying out loud. Quite frankly, coming out of the closet can't be worse that what he's dealing with now. It's hard for him to see that when he's padlocked in, though. It's something many gay folks can attest to -- but they never regret coming out once they muster that courage to do so.
I had to turn off the TV because it was tortuous watching him do this dance. He could have dismissed the line of questioning by simply giving the kind of answer Oprah gave and moved on and discussed his new record. If he's truly straight (in the hypothetical of course), then he's got a whole host of other problems if he's unable to better control an interview to prevent an extended nails-on-the-blackboard session like this.
When reading the entire transcript, a lot of Clay's issues have to do with his difficulty handling fame (whether due to his success as a recording artist or over the tabloid stories); this is a young man in need of better handlers and some counseling.
Yes, the fundies have now embraced the digital age — for the coffers. Since most folks don't carry a lot of cash on hand (with the popularity of debit cards), Pastor Marty Baker of the evangelical Stevens Creek Community Church in Augusta, GA, helps parishioners part with their cash by providing ATM-like devices in the church.
Baker has waded further into the 21st century than most fishers of American souls, as evidenced one Wednesday night when churchgoer Josh Marshall stepped up to a curious machine in the church lobby.
It was one of Stevens Creek's three "Giving Kiosks": a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers.
The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall's $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship.
"I paid for gas today with a card, and got lunch with one," said Marshall, 30. "This is really no different."
Not only does the church, where Baker preaches that the Bible is the "eternal and inviolate word of God," receive the e-tithing, but the Baker family gets a cut of the buxxx as well.
Gee, didn't I just post about the growing concern about the "prosperity" gospel producing holy-rolling greedy windbags?
"It's truly like an ATM for Jesus," Baker said.
This summer, Baker and his wife, Patty, began selling the devices to other churches through their for-profit company, SecureGive. They are its only employees, but a handful of contractors help them custom-tailor the machines for churches.
...The Bakers charge between $2,000 and $5,000 for the kiosks, which come in a variety of configurations. They also collect a monthly subscription fee of up to $49.95 for licensing and support. And a card-processing company gets 1.9% of each transaction; a small cut of that fee goes to SecureGive.
The next bright idea the Bakers have, if this takes off, is to produce and sell donation machines that attach to the backs of the pews.
***
When I crossposted this at Pandagon, a reader seemed to think that I had an objection to the idea of an ATM in the church. The ATM idea in itself to address the debit card society isn't a bad idea. The irony is that technology has been adopted by the fundie flat earthers — the same people who will be lining up to go to The Creation Museum.
Unless the Bakers are giving it all away (the article only indicates that they will "give a significant sum to their church"), they are cashing in -- per tush-in-the-pew. Trust me, they are "banking" on the prosperity gospel. Once commenter there noted:
This is like giving the metalsmith 1% of each week's collections, or paying the stonesmith a fee for each dunk/sprinkle, or paying the carpenters a per-butt-in-pew fee every week.
Traditional Values Coalition: 'Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School?'
"TVC has long warned that one of the next phases of the homosexual movement is to normalize cross-dressing and sex change operations. The ultimate goal is to blur all distinctions between male and female-and to destroy marriage as a God-ordained institution." -- from TVC's society saving report, "Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School?"
Oh, please stop it. Wild-eyed Lou Sheldon and his mouthpiece Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition are fixated on all things homo. Lou is convinced every gay (man, of course) is a pedophile. TVC drones have a special place in their tiny, confused, diseased brains for gender identity disorder (GID). Trans folks are now destroying the sanctity of marriage too -- and the schools are next, as you will read below.
Actually, Lou, who is a big advocate of exorcism as "reparative therapy," clearly doesn't have a clue what gender identity disorder is. Last year, he was on American Family Radio's Today's Issues and he said this:
Now, you may have gender identity conflict -- that's the medical-scientific name for homosexuality -- where you're attracted to the same-sex person, but once you enter into the culture, into the music, into the gay bars, into the gay literature, into the gay theater, and all of that kind of -- and gay travel -- once you immerse yourself into that, you have really put yourself into a groove that only a sort of an exorcism can release you from.
"Transgender activists are aggressively targeting our public school children this fall," said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. "These sexually confused individuals have made it their goal to deceive our kids into thinking they're the opposite sex. This insanity must stop. Our new report, "Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School?" exposes this dangerous effort to confuse our children."
TVC's Back to School Report details the growing movement of transgender activists, including teachers, counselors and pediatricians who are teaching children that being male or female is "fluid" and changeable. "This is absolutely crazy, but pediatricians from some of the nation's most prestigious children's hospitals are involved in this gender confusion movement," said Lafferty.
"Children who suffer from a Gender Identity Disorder are being redefined by these radical pediatricians as 'gender variant' children who should be affirmed in their sexual confusions. These children need serious therapy, not affirmation for their gender confusion. A boy who thinks he's a girl, needs help-not a sex change when he becomes a teenager. These kids need compassionate attention to overcome self-hatred and to live normal lives as males and females-not to be told that they're actually girls trapped in boy's bodies. This is a physical and mental impossibility," said Lafferty.
The article wastes a lot of space challenging scientific findings and respected doctors in the field of GID by quoting studies on the fact-challenged National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) web site.
One laughable passage in the report, about the influence of the Homosexual/Trans Agenda on private schools, lists several "homosexual friendly" institutions that are leading America's children into a sea of sexual and gender confusion. It's off the charts batsh*t crazy:
Park Day School is so well-known for its "homosexual friendly" atmosphere that the San Francisco Chronicle featured it in a March, 2002 article: "Teaching the reality of gay life; Oakland schoolkids learn a rare lesson."
The Chronicle notes that in early March 2002, kindergarteners through 6th graders listened to 45 speakers from a "list of Bay Area's gay movers and shakers" describe homosexuality and "A male therapist who was once female talked to the sixth-graders."
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus sang songs about self-pride and "Rubber Ducky," a Sesame Street classic.
...Children are encouraged at Park to write essays about famous "gay" people and to decorate their classrooms with rainbow flags and pictures of Melissa Ethridge and her homosexual partner. Eleven-year-old Ben Ruffman-Cohen, "who has two moms" said that the experience was the "best week of my life."
What is being done to gender confused children at Park Day School will be coming to your school soon. It is only a matter of time.
Argh, the evil influence of the sexually ambiguous gay duo of Ernie and Bert. And I thought Rev. Falwell (queer Tinkywinky) and Daddy Dobson (homo Spongebob) were unhinged.
Hey 'Radical' Russ, we've got a live one out in your neck of the woods -- a dude from some outfit called the Idaho Values Alliance, Bryan Fischer. He's getting the vapors over Wal-Mart's decision to co-sponsor LGBT Diversity Week at Boise State University.
I think his real problem is that the other sponsor, The Pleasure Boutique, sells sex toys. According to Don Wildmon's "news" organ, AgapePress, the big-box retailer has given its "full endorsement to the homosexual agenda."
The Pleasure Boutique is a company that openly boasts of having the "largest adult toy section in Idaho," as well as the state's largest selection of adult movies and DVDs. Bryan Fischer, executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance, says it is "just bizarre" that a retailer that has traded on a pro-family image in the past "would join forces with a porn peddler to promote the homosexual agenda."
Faithful Wal-Mart shoppers, Fischer observes, must be wondering what the company's corporate executives are doing to Sam Walton's once family-friendly company. "If companies are known by the company they keep, like people are," he adds, "Wal-Mart has some serious explaining to do."
The Idaho Values Alliance spokesman believes those at the helm of the world's largest retailer are making a costly mistake. "By pandering to two percent of the population, they're running the risk of alienating the millions of families that have made Wal-Mart one of the most successful businesses in history," he comments. "Why Wal-Mart would want to take that kind of a risk is a mystery."
...Another event being held during Boise State University's week of LGBT promotions is a lecture called "Heterosexism," [Don] Wildmon points out. In this presentation, the pro-family leader says, a heterosexual couple will "help" heterosexuals deal with their supposed bigotry toward homosexuality.
Abandon ship for another Christian Coalition chapter
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Georgia's chapter of the Christian Coalition is saying "see ya".
The exodus of state affiliates continues from the Christian Coalition of America. The Georgia Christian Coalition has become the latest state affiliate to break away from the national body over disagreements with priorities. Iowa, Ohio, and Alabama branches have done the same thing in recent weeks.
In a September 25 letter to Christian Coalition president Roberta Combs, Georgia state chairman Sadie Fields says her group wants to abide by its standing mission of speaking out against things such as abortion, pornography, and gambling. As an Associated Press report notes, the state groups charge the national organization has switched priorities to things such as the minimum wage, the environment, and Internet law. The national organization is also one-million dollars in debt.
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In the same news roundup -- AgapePress bleats about White House spokesbot and expert on racism, Tony Snow, who spoke at the Values Voter Summit over the weekend and passed along Dear Leader's salve for the fundies in attendance -- "preserving the famiy." Boy this is empty. (AgapePress):
White House press secretary Tony Snow says one of the key issues in the upcoming election season is the preservation of the family. The former Fox News host says for a society to be strong and whole, it must preserve the family. Snow, a father of three, says the family is an institution that not only continues to transmit values, but also creates a core of conviction that enables individuals to thrive in good times -- and rise to the challenge in bad.
Speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, over the weekend, Snow shared that President Bush has made it clear in several ways that he is willing to defend the family, most notably with the Marriage Protection Amendment. "This is a president who does, in fact, believe in the sanctity of the family," stated Snow. "He wants people to know that the definition ought not to change, because it has a real meaning for all of us."
The black Jesse Helms has a new ad up, and it's ridiculously desperate. Vernon Robinson, who's attempting to unseat Brad Miller in the 13th District race here in NC, loves putting up outrageous ads, like the mindless, classic Twilight Zone ad (below).
This time around, Vernon accuses Miller of supporting the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on controversial National Institute of Health projects. Some of the questionable studies: elderly masturbation, Vietnamese prostitutes and panda bears, according to Raw Story. A measure to remove those projects (which were folded in a massive appropriations bill -- where lots of pork always gets rolled in), was defeated, and Robinson lays the blame at Miller's doorstep -- even though 46 Republicans also voted it down. How convenient.
Vernon uses talking points put out by Mother Schlafly's Eagle Forum. Here's the ad:
I love this write-up by Mike Sheehan of Raw Story:
Robinson, who formerly worked in George H.W. Bush's administration and was once called "the black Jesse Helms" by the Winston-Salem Journal, is notorious for political ads that border on camp. He previously ran an ad featuring mariachi music with a voice intoning that America could be "nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals," as well as another which included a man grabbing his crotch.
Former GOP presidential candidate Jack Kemp withdrew his endorsement of Robinson in the 2004 race, saying "[he] was running a very negative and aggressive anti-immigration campaign, which I believe is contrary to the core values of the party of Lincoln."
But in UFOs, the Greys, MIB...do you think beings from other worlds have visited Earth -- and that there is a conspiracy to cover it up?
Some Brits are convinced that their government is hiding evidence of something. (Guardian Unlimited):
The Ministry of Defence went to extraordinary lengths to cover up its true involvement in investigating UFOs, according to secret documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The files show that officials attempted to expunge information from documents released to the Public Records Office under the "30-year rule" that would have revealed the extent of the MoD's interest in UFO sightings.
In particular, the ministry wanted to cover up the operation of a secret unit dedicated to UFO investigations within the Defence Intelligence Staff. UFO conspiracy theorists have likened the unit, called DI55, to a sort of "Men in Black" agency for defending the Earth against invasion but the released documents show this is far from the truth.
Just thought I'd completely change gears after a day full of weirdanti-gayposts.
BTW, fun fact: the infamous Roswell incident -- the Roswell Daily Record newspaper story on it appeared on my birthday (not birth year, mind you!).
Here is an opportunity for Howard Dean to say something of consequence about equality and the Democratic Party. He will speak at Baltimore Black Pride. From the organization's press release (thanks, T):
The International Federation of Black Prides, Inc. (IFBP), International Federation of Black Prides Fund For Leadership (IFBP Fund) and Baltimore Black Gay Pride are pleased to announce Gov. Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National Committee as the featured speaker at the 2006 Baltimore Gay Black Pride Pre Black Out Party Reception on Friday October 6, 2006 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at the Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbour Hotel 101 W. Fayette Street Baltimore, MD.
..."We are all very pleased that Gov. Dean chose Baltimore Black Gay Pride as the first opportunity to address the Black LGBTI community as we continue to engage our people in the various political processes. It is a very historic appearance given this is the first time the Chair of any national party system has addressed a Black gay audience specifically, said Earl Fowlkes, Pr
