Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Michael "Savage" Weiner, Fred Phelps, and Don Black

Sure, it's controversial, and while it's legal under a 2005 law, it almost certainly would face a court challenge in the U.S. "It" is the action taken yesterday by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who "named and shamed" 16 people worldwide whom she has preemptively barred from entering the United Kingdom. Three of the five Americans on the list are some of Blast Off!'s favorites: hate-radio host Michael "Savage" Weiner, notorious homophobe Fred Phelps, and Florida's own ironically-named white supremacist leader Don Black, and the schadenfreude is oh so sweet for all of them.

The list of the 16 "least wanted" includes radio talk show host Michael Savage, real name Michael Weiner.

"This is someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country," Ms Smith told BBC Breakfast.

Also named are American Baptist pastor Fred Waldron Phelps Snr and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper, who have picketed the funerals of Aids victims and claimed the deaths of US soldiers are a punishment for US tolerance of homosexuality.

"If people have so clearly overstepped the mark in terms of the way not just that they are talking but the sort of attitudes that they are expressing to the extent that we think that this is likely to cause or have the potential to cause violence or inter-community tension in this country, then actually I think the right thing is not to let them into the country in the first place. Not to open the stable door then try to close it later," Ms Smith said.

"It's a privilege to come to this country. There are certain behaviours that mean you forfeit that privilege."

Okay, so maybe none of them had any plans for a summer trip, say, to London or Edinburgh, but it's the notoriety that each of them so richly deserves that is the cause of the laughing and pointing. The three are included with militant Muslim extremists, neo-Nazis, and murderers ... precisely the sort with which they ought to be counted.

The four-year-old British law in question understandably has raised eyebrows in Great Britain and around the world:

Under a new law introduced in 2005, Britain is able to pre-emptively ban anyone who promotes hatred, terrorism or serious criminal activity. Since the measure was introduced, 101 people have been refused entry. In the five months to March, 22 were excluded; the Home Office refused to name six of the people, citing national security reasons. Critics argue that the orders are a form of pre-emptive policing that stifles free speech and, in the age of the internet, have little effect on halting hateful remarks.

Whether or not the law itself is constitutional under British law (if in fact the concepts of "constitutionality" and "free speech" as we understand them in the U.S. even apply), there can be little dispute that Savage Weiner, Phelps, and Black have "promote[d] hatred" and therefore the law ought to be enforced against them posthaste.

Savage Weiner has vowed to sue, apparently not to get into the UK but rather for defamation, which is funny because it assumes he actually has a reputation to protect. Predictably, though, the haters and cretins who listen to Weiner's special brand of aural slime are leaving their misspelled, grammatically derelict droppings in the article's comments (one of which is reproduced here verbatim):

Listening to Michael eveyday you understand how passionate he is about America and how honest he is with what he is seeing happening now. He educates and articulates as none other about how this country is being manipulated into something other than what our forefathers had envisioned. He is honest with his feelings and has no patients for ignorance. Dr. Savage, is a fighter and I think he thinks we are too far gone now in what America should be for the people. He knows what he believes in and can see how we have been manipulated into a Maxist way of life. It did not happen overnight. Fortunately people are waking up and their is a grassroots movement to try and live according to our foundation handed down to us. America is upside down and Savage articulates this. He is appalled at the people that are surrounding Obama. More people should be like him and love America like Savage. Look at how he has helped so many familes when alens killed police officers and others. His believes in borders, culture and language. I believe in this also. He is not harmful he is enlightening if you listen to what he is saying. Donna

There are more such comments if you really want to see them ... but no matter what, the world is laughing at these three stooges today. Don't worry, though, Mike, Freddie, and Don -- even if you can't go to Merrie Olde England, you can celebrate right here at home, because today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

God hates Fred Phelps

In light of the nearly $11 million judgment against Westboro Baptist Church this week, one wonders what Donnie Davies' response would be.

It's been almost a year now, and I still don't know whether this is parody or not.



It's gotta be parody. Right?

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Westboro Baptist Church

In a country where hate and intolerance have been gaining increasing traction since Republicans gained power in the mid-'90s, no organization or group -- not even the Bush crime syndicate itself -- has been as openly and egregiously hateful as the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. Led by a genuine lunatic, Fred Phelps, the "church's" name may be deceptively benign, but its mission is repugnant.

That's why it's particularly satisfying to see that Phelps and his band of psychotic idiots have been hit with a $10.9 million judgment for their behavior at the funeral of a Maryland soldier killed in Iraq.

Albert Snyder of York, Pennsylvania, sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the award for compensating damages "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court.

[...]

Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that the deaths of soldiers are due to the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Their attorneys argued in closing statements Tuesday that the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

The judge said the church's financial statements, sealed earlier, could be released to the plaintiffs.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the federal courthouse.

Church founder Fred Phelps held a sign reading "God is your enemy," while Shirley Phelps-Roper stood on an American flag and carried a sign that read "God hates fag enablers."

Members of the group sang "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America."

Snyder sobbed when he heard the verdict, while members of the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.

Finally, a court has told this pathetic group of human excrement that their First Amendment rights are not without limit, that their ability to espouse even their disgusting, extreme views does not give them license to exacerbate the private pain of a family.

I'm not holding my breath, but I sincerely hope this is the beginning of the end for Phelps' movement of hate. Snyder ultimately may see little or no compensation for what he endured from the Westboro gang, but this judgment will follow Phelps for the rest of his life. So I won't extend my customary congratulations to the Westboro Baptist Church for earning today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude, because they deserve nothing but derision and shunning by all normal people everywhere.

Now that's schadenfreude.

Politics makes strange Fredfellows

Looks like Fred "Crumpled Paper Bag" Thompson's presidential candidacy is about to wash up on the rocks of scandal.

Seems he's closely tied to another, even more infamous Fred: Fred Phelps of the appalling anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.

Members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church are urging Fred Thompson to support their stance on homosexuality — a position on which they say the Republican presidential candidate once "saw eye to eye" with them.

Thompson was hired for a mid-1980s legal case in Kansas on the recommendation of Margie Phelps, daughter of Westboro founder Fred Phelps.

The Topeka, Kan.-based church is now best known for protesting at soldiers' funerals, claiming their deaths are retribution for the nation's acceptance of homosexuality.

[...]

Church members released an open letter to Thompson this week, saying he had discussed his views on homosexuality with them while handling the case of a woman who had sued the state's Republican attorney general for sexual harassment.

"We know what your position used to be on the homosexual question — and it was wonderful, and we saw eye to eye," church members said in the letter to Thompson.

That statement appears to conflict with comments made by Margie Phelps to the Journal-World of Lawrence, Kan., in June about her interaction with Thompson.

"I'm quite confident he would've completely disagreed with everything about my faith," she told the paper.

Phelps' sister, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said in a phone interview Wednesday that while Thompson might disagree with the church today, he didn't disagree then.

And yet, Phelps-Roper said, "He wouldn't dare stand up and say that when he's running for president."

No, I don't suppose he would. But, like fellow GOP candidate Mitt Romney has had to flip-flop on his own pro-gay rights positions, Thompson definitely has some 'splainin' to do.

(h/t Tennessee Guerilla Women)

But I thought all terrorists had brown skin?

A Liberty University student has been arrested on suspicion of preparing a bomb-fest at Jerry Falwell's funeral.

The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service.

The only protestors I heard about were the Gang of Fucktards from Fred Phelps' "church."

So, it's the Falwells vs. the Phelpses. Take your pick. Lucky that noted Christian Mark Uhl was there, huh?

I sure hope "None of the Above" is a choice.

UPDATE (10:06 pm 5/22/07): Spelling of the student's name has been corrected.

Sick, sick bastard: Fred Phelps plans to picket funerals of Virginia Tech shooting victims

This guy is so rancid, he doesn't deserve to walk freely in society. (And, no, I won't link to his site.)

Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., has announced that he and his minions will picket the funerals of those killed at Virginia Tech yesterday, evidently to claim that these people were struck down as God's retribution for society's tolerance of gay culture. Remember, these are the cretins who picket funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the same reasons. You know, God Hates Fags and all that shit.

I'm sorry. I would never advocate violence or hatred against anyone, but this truly goes beyond the pale (as if the protests at veterans' funerals weren't bad enough). Someone needs to intervene and make sure this guy never has another chance to spew such vile, vulgar vitriol again.

Sunday religion news roundup: a fundie's nightmare

Only in Florida, land of crazed astronauts, dead reality show icons, and Pontoons Harris.

The good side of today's news includes a profile of an unusual family that -- here's a shocker -- exists because of love and respect.

The kids come first, and always will.

In this family, like so many others, life is a jumble of school activities, kids' birthday parties and family getaways. Moments of sweet embrace alternate with defiance and discipline.

Ember Carianna, Tom Davis, Mark Rutherford and Mimi Waddell wouldn't trade it for anything. The four parents so wanted their blended family to work they tore down the stone wall between their neighboring homes and created a pathway into each other's lives.

Now, by virtue of being a family, they quietly are tearing down another wall, the cultural divide between gay and straight parents that says one is acceptable, the other not. Ember and Mimi. Tom and Mark. They are committed and raising two kids. Two couples. Together.

"It's an act of faith to have a family," Ember said, "and so far, it has worked out beautifully. ... But we don't take it for granted. We pinch ourselves, 'Is this real?'"

It's a heartwarming story of how two couples have coped with living in Florida, which sadly is the only state with a complete ban on adoption by gay couples. Heartwarming, yes, but don't expect to see it on the Hallmark Channel anytime soon ...

Meanwhile, just when you thought The State Known As America's Wang™ might be developing some sanity, you find out that Miami is home to the Antichrist. And I don't mean Tim Hardaway.

Surrounded by a mob of news cameras, a group of smiling, well-dressed church members crowded into a South Beach storefront parlor on a recent muggy evening and got matching tattoos of their prophet's symbol: 666.

Members of Growing in Grace, a controversial religious sect headquartered in Doral, said they were following the example of their leader, José Luis De Jesús Miranda, who has claimed to be Jesus and recently declared himself the Antichrist.

Critics have called De Jesús a cult leader who manipulates followers. Church members say he has brought them happiness and spiritual fulfillment.

"This is backing up what I truly believe," said Alvaro Albarracin, 38, who heads a film production company and joined the church more than a decade ago. He showed a bandage that covered the freshly tattooed "666" on his forearm. "It's like a brand. It's like a sign."

It's a sign most Christians would shun, because for centuries the numbers have been associated with Satan. But for the 30 or so church members who branded themselves with 666 and SSS -- the initials of De Jesús' motto, "salvo siempre salvo," or "saved always saved" -- it's a mark of their absolute faith in De Jesús.

Church members say the symbol doesn't connect them to Satan but rather to De Jesús' claim that he has replaced Christ's teachings with a new gospel.

They're giving the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Phelps a run for their money in the psychotic freak department, no doubt about it.

De Jesús' followers have lashed out against organized Christianity because they believe their prophet holds the true gospel, they say. His adherents have disrupted Catholic processions on Good Friday and protested outside an evangelical church gathering in Miami's Tropical Park. Last July, they tore up literature published by the Jehovah's Witnesses and other Christian movements during a march in downtown Miami.

Like I said ... only in Florida.