Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: A week of firsts

First same-sex marriage in Iowa. First protest arrests of members of Congress in years. And Yours Truly receives the very first Asshat of the Month award.

Yes, indeed, it's been a week of firsts. Today, Blast Off! Radio returns to its regular time slot to commemorate those firsts and more. We'll talk about the so-called "liberal media" and what an unbelievable misnomer that is, with further proof undoubtedly coming later this week with protests from the Left that promise to rival the Teabaggers' Balls, but with (I predict) virtually no MSM coverage. Plus, more discussion on the continued takeover of Florida by fundamentalist Christian whackjobs, an examination of the real motives of the Republican Party, and a wrap-up of the teabag madness with a look ahead to their next salvo: fisting?!

All that plus your phone calls, emails, and chatting ... and it couldn't be easier to listen and participate:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

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It promises to be yet another wild ride on Blast Off! Radio. Hope you'll join me later this afternoon ...

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

Enough with mocking the teabaggers; let's mock the bigots some more!

I've had it with the teabaggers. I may yet post a few more videos and pictures, but they grow very, very tiresome.

So for now, let's have some more fun with those grotesque bigots from the National Organization for Marriage. Homophobia, like all bigotry, is ugly and sickening and divisive. But it does tend to make for good mockery.

Mmmm ... snarky.

(h/t Athenae)

Getting back at the gay-bashing, fear-mongering bigots at NOM

You've probably heard of the new hate group, the "National Organization for Marriage." These despicable people are spending millions to confuse and conflate the issue of church marriage with that of marriage recognized by the government (and providing the benefits thereof) in order to advance their bigoted viewpoint against (civil) marriage for same-sex couples.

They recently released a television ad called "Gathering Storm." I won't post the video here, but I'll give you a link if you haven't seen it already and you want to do so. It maliciously preys on the fears of the uneducated and homophobic, and the actors who appear in it (yep, actors -- evidently they couldn't get actual bigots to do the ad, I guess because they're all too malevolently ugly) are just as culpable for spreading the hate. (Speaking of the actors, if you do view the ad, please tell me that's not "Deb" from Napoleon Dynamite at :41 of the video ... although it sure looks like her.)

Although I don't want to post that disgusting video, I'll give you an excerpt in transcript form, so you can see what I'm talking about:

WOMAN: There's a storm gathering.
MAN: The clouds are dark, and the winds are strong.
WOMAN: And I am afraid.

[...]

MAN (referring to same-sex marriage advocates): They want to bring the issue into my life.
WOMAN: My freedom [pause for effect] will be taken away.
WOMAN: I'm a California doctor who must choose between my faith and my job.
MAN: I'm part of a New Jersey church punished by the government because we can't support same-sex marriage.
WOMAN: I am a Massachusetts parent helplessly watching public schools teach my son that gay marriage is okay.

[...]

WOMAN: Those advocates want to change the way I live.
WOMAN WHO LOOKS LIKE DEB FROM NAPOLEON DYNAMITE: I will have no choice.

Jesus H. Christ in a feather boa and high heels, that's some seriously hateful hyperbole, eh? "I am afraid." Damn. How can they think that same-sex marriage advocates want to change how they live? Taking away your freedom? How exactly? And nice work having the doctor character summarily decide to ignore the Hippocratic Oath and imply that she would refuse treatment for the gay community (lie -- or incredibly unprofessional) or suggesting that the government is punishing a church (lie).

The good news is that once you piss off the GLBT community and those like me who are "straight but not narrow," well, you can bet you'll be caught in a snark blizzard. They'll be shoveling out from under this video for a while, I imagine:

Nicely played ...

UPDATE (11:32 am 4/11/09): I've gone back and labeled this post as part of the Blog Against Theocracy, even though I wrote and posted it before my BAT09 introduction. The more I think about it, the more I realize that the theocracy against which we are blogging includes hate groups like NOM, who perniciously justify their homophobic rhetoric with bastardized Christian doctrine. Therefore, I believe this belongs in the BAT canon, if only to expose these Christianist bigots and their hate.

U.S. diplomatic fashion statement: gay is the new black

I guess it's a good sign of the times that very little open discrimination is permissible or even tolerated today in the United States. Treating someone differently based on race or sex or religion or ethnicity by and large is disappearing, although of course some stubborn folks hang onto their outdated and generally castigated viewpoints.

However, there's still one group that it's okay to hate, to treat differently, to ostracize: the GLBT community. Yes, those nasty, dirty gays keep trying to get the same rights as normal people, but thank the baby Jeeeeeeeeezus that the Bush crime syndicate is in charge long enough to state what America's position ought to be on gay rights in the civilized world.

Alone among Western nations, the good ol' God-fearin', straight-shootin' U.S. of A. was the only one to vote against a United Nations measure urging the condemnation of criminal sanctions for homosexuality.

“How can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation?” said Rama Yade, the French state secretary for human rights, noting that homosexuality is banned in nearly 80 countries and subject to the death penalty in at least six.

France decided to use the format of a declaration because it did not have the support for an official resolution. Read out by Ambassador Jorge Argüello of Argentina, the declaration was the first on gay rights read in the 192-member General Assembly itself.

Although laws against homosexuality are concentrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, more than one speaker addressing a separate conference on the declaration noted that the laws stemmed as much from the British colonial past as from religion or tradition.

Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, speaking by video telephone, said that just like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races, laws against homosexuality “are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.”

No, no, Commissioner Pillay, you don't understand: the baby Jeeeeeeeeezus hates the gays! Everyone knows that! Just ask Rick Warren! Therefore, they don't deserve the rights of normal people! After all , that's the official American position:

The official American position was based on highly technical legal grounds. The text, by using terminology like “without distinction of any kind,” was too broad because it might be interpreted as an attempt by the federal government to override states’ rights on issues like gay marriage, American diplomats and legal experts said.

“We are opposed to any discrimination, legally or politically, but the nature of our federal system prevents us from undertaking commitments and engagements where federal authorities don’t have jurisdiction,” said Alejandro D. Wolff, the deputy permanent representative.

In a word: bullshit. We all know the "official" U.S. position, and it has nothing to do with technicalities. In a country where opinions are diverging as fast as we can express them -- Connecticut says marriage for all is okay and New York will recognize out-of-state gay marriages, while California and Florida re-made it illegal (unnecessary from a legal standpoint, but politically quite powerful) --I think public opinion overall is shifting towards an acceptance of legal rights for GLBTs. But whatever your position on gay marriage, civil unions, and such, how can you justify a vote against basic human rights for other human beings who have done nothing worse than love someone with the same equipment? It's a travesty that this happens in America ... but it's still Drunky McStagger's America.

If only for 31 more days ...

Too stupid to breathe: John Stemberger

I'm not sure whether this falls into the category of "too stupid to breathe" or just "Fucking Asshole of the Day," but John Stemberger surely qualifies for the latter if not both.

Stemberger is the right-wing hatemonger (sorry to be redundant) behind Amendment 2, which would enshrine the already-existing ban on gay marriage in Florida's constitution. And he also is a massive fucking idiot.

Get a load of the shit Stemberger's spewing now:

John Stemberger, the force behind the proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot, cited cases in other states where similar proposals failed, resulting in teachers of students as young as 7 years old using books about same-sex marriage to promote diversity in families.

But, unlike in Connecticut, Massachusetts and California, where gay marriage was upheld by the courts, Florida has already outlawed same-sex marriages in state statutes.

That's not enough, argued Stemberger, head of yes2marriage.org and other organizations asking voters to approve the amendment. The constitutional provision is necessary to prevent judges from permitting gays to marry, he said. The result in other states, Stemberger said, is "an affront to parents' rights."

Stemberger trotted out some other fucked-up fundie whackjobs from Massachusetts who were "dismayed" to learn that their son's second-grade teacher read from a book where one prince married another prince after being rejected by a series of princesses.

Well, John, so fucking what? In essence, what Stemberger's saying -- and, presumably, all the supporters of Amendment 2 believe -- is that if this amendment fails, our children all will turn gay. Horrors! Where are my pearls to clutch?

The per sé absurdity of that argument hardly needs to be addressed but, for the sake of any other fundie whackjobs who may be reading this: YOU DON'T "TURN" GAY, you stupid, insipid fucktards. Nothing a student hears or reads will have any effect on whether or not that student is gay. Jesus H. Christ in a feather boa and tiara, how many fucking times do we have to say that before you'll finally get it through your unfathomably thick skulls?!?

These people are morons, plain and simple ... hateful, deranged, bigoted, ignorant morons. And John Stemberger outranks them all -- he's the real Mayor of Simpleton.

Recent polls show Amendment 2 with around 53% support, well short of the 60% needed for passage. Yep, looks like there's gonna be a hell of a lot of schadenfreude to go around on November 5 ... (but don't forget to VOTE!)

Proposed sitcom title: "Jesus & Crist"

Speaking of gay Republicans ...

Yesterday, blogger and columnist Bob Norman of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times published another exposé on the subject of the governor's sexual orientation, as Crist's name continues to be floated as a possible running mate for Huggy Bear.

The story goes that the Florida governor frequented the Green Iguana, a bar in Tampa, back in the early 1990s when he was just starting his political career. He was less careful back then, people say, and during his partying at the Green Iguana, he was openly gay.

When I got Rick Calderoni, the bar's well-known owner, on the phone, I expected him to stonewall me about it.

He didn't.

Calderoni, who is gay, confirmed that Crist came into his bar quite often and that the two of them became friends.

Getting to the point, I asked him if he knew Crist to be gay.

"Yes," he answered bluntly. "I just wish he would come out and admit it. That would be a great thing if he did."

I asked Calderoni if he was certain that Crist is gay. He told me that Crist socialized with a gay clique of friends but conceded that he'd never actually seen Crist become intimate with another man.

So how can he be sure Crist is gay?

"The way he acted," Calderoni said.

How did he act?

Calderoni laughed and said, "Very feminine."

True, it's never been confirmed beyond statements by observers and, in a couple of cases, claims by men who allegedly had affairs with Crist. But this isn't going away anytime soon.

And, for the record, I think it's a shame. I don't care one way or the other whether or not Gov. Crist, or any politician, is gay. What I care about is hypocrisy: if a gay politician consistently votes or speaks out against gay rights, gay marriage, etc., then the truth ought to come out. Not to emphasize sexuality, but to emphasize hypocrisy.

The real shame is that one's sexual orientation remains a topic for tabloidish speculation -- and for many, derision -- in 2008.

(h/t Ybor City Stogie)

Gay marriage: good news and bad news

I meant to write about this over the weekend but didn't have time ... anyway, we learned the other day about a state that is handling the gay marriage issue the right way, and one -- yep, Florida -- taking yet another step toward increased state-sanctioned bigotry.

In New York, a state appellate court ruled that the state "must recognize same-sex marriages legally consecrated elsewhere."

This appears to be the first appellate ruling in the country mandating that a state must recognize the same-sex marriage of a couple legally wed elsewhere, according to officials with the New York Civil Liberties Union.

"Today I know the legal world looks at my marriage as valid, as something we're not going to sweep under the rug, as something that doesn't end," said [Patricia] Martinez, a Chili resident who filed suit in 2005 to try to get her marriage legally blessed in New York. "Because we're not going to go away."

Martinez, a word-processing supervisor at Monroe Community College, sued the college in 2005 after it refused to extend health care benefits to her spouse. Her lawyer, Jeffrey Wicks of Rochester, argued that the couple was the victim of discrimination because the MCC benefits were allowed to heterosexual married couples.

At that time, the college's contract with the Civil Service Employees Union did not recognize domestic partnerships. The MCC contract with CSEA now does.

In July 2006, state Supreme Court Justice Harold L. Galloway dismissed Martinez's lawsuit, saying that the state does not acknowledge same-sex marriages. The state Legislature "currently defines marriage as limited to the union of one man and one woman," Galloway wrote.

But in a unanimous 5-to-0 decision, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court decided Friday that the Legislature has not denied "full faith and credit to same-sex marriages validly solemnized in another state."

With the ruling, Wicks said, the appellate judges simply applied past New York legal precedent. The judges noted in the ruling that "for well over a century" New York has recognized marriages solemnized elsewhere unless they were cases of polygamy or incest. The state, for instance, has recognized marriages that could not be consecrated in New York, such as common-law marriages valid in other states, the judges ruled.

"This is not new law," Wicks said. "This is old law. This is trial law."

Wow. A court ruling on precedent and not legislating from the bench. How different. Too bad the SCOTUS didn't do the same thing on December 11, 2000, eh?

Meanwhile, here in America's Wang™, not long after I proclaimed that the gay-bashing marriage amendment was dead in the water, it's been resurrected, as Betty Cracker explains here:

Stemberger, who makes his living suing rental car companies on behalf of tourists who develop mysterious and difficult to document soft-tissue injuries after fender-benders, enlisted the aid of numerous pastors, who directed their sheep to sign up for the homo-hate-fest. As of yesterday, it looks like they got it done. Here's Stemberger's announcement on his website:

"We are grateful to God first, and to our supporters second, for this amazing victory. What our people did was simply remarkable. They collected 92,000 petitions in about 13 days. That is about 7,000 petitions per day. No paid petition collectors could ever match the force of this effort. This is real proof for grassroots momentum for marriage as the union of one man and one woman in Florida."

"Children need a mom and a dad. It is just that simple. When you create a same sex marriage, you are simultaneously creating a same sex family. Same sex marriages subject children to a vast, untested, social experiment. Homosexual marriage proponents must take the position that there is no inherent value or importance to human femininity and human masculinity when it comes to the socialization of children. Dad and mom's [sic] are optional. This is the assumption of their position."

See, it's all about the chiiiiiilllllllldren. And God. But let's unpack a fraction of the dishonesty in those two paragraphs. First of all, as I said, same-sex marriage is illegal in Florida already. And by laws enacted with the assistance of Stemberger, there are children who are languishing in foster care right now who cannot be adopted by gay couples. Stemberger cares so much about those children and their grounding in "human feminimity and masculinity" that he'd prefer they grow up as wards of the state than find a home with a pair of homos. Whatta guy.

To reiterate, this is nothing more than another attempt to codify bigotry. I've done just fine at fucking up my two marriages myself, and they certainly didn't need "protection" from Teh Gaiii. Perhaps Stemberger is concerned that, you know, his wife might leave him for another woman, or maybe he's another wingnut closet case like Mark Foley or Ted Haggard or Larry Craig or Lindsey Graham*, but gay couples' ability to marry or not won't have any effect one way or the other on either situation. Too bad Stemberger apparently is so insecure that he doesn't realize this.

So, we win some, we lose some. Congratulations to New York, and I don't mean for the Super Bowl. But although we in Florida may have to deal with the Hate Amendment in November, we certainly don't have to pass it.

UPDATE (3:31 pm 2/4/08): The lovely and talented Eschaton commenter ErinPDX informs us that her state, Oregon, today became the ninth state to recognize some form of domestic partner rights. Congratulations! Maybe reason will prevail over insanity after all ...

UPDATE (5:53 pm 2/4/08): Special thanks to Pat Martinez, the plaintiff in the New York case mentioned above, for stopping by this humble blog. Very cool.

Pat is a blogger, too. And congratulations to you and your spouse as well!

---

* Okay, I don't know for sure about Graham, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Blast Off! Radio today at 2:00 pm Eastern

I got an e-mail yesterday from my Best Republican Friend (who comments around here as "D.P."*), and he apparently is frightened by Hillary Clinton's statement on Face the Nation yesterday that she might recommending "garnishing" (the AP's word, not hers) wages in order to pay for universal medical coverage. So, naturally, I want to talk about health care proposals on the show today. I'll start here by saying that the Right Wing, including the MCM, loves to frame the health care proposal as "garnishment," even though it is the same as "garnishing" wages for Social Security, which has been going on for decades. But, you know, that doesn't fit the wingnuts' twisted perspective ...

Anyway, we'll talk health care, we'll look back at last week's Florida primaries and the aftermath (along with the passage of the property tax amendment), and I have some good news and bad news about gay marriage ... [larry king] and your phone calls [/larry king] ... all coming up today at 2:00 Eastern time:

TIME: 2:00 pm Eastern TODAY

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Call in number: (646) 716-7543

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Talk to you this afternoon ...

UPDATE (2:44 pm 2/4/08): Sorry about the technical difficulties on the show. I should have played music or something during the breaks. Stupid, stupid technology ...

Anyway, the show's been archived for your listening pleasure, and it's also available on the drop-down menu to your left. Enjoy.

---

* For the record, this "D.P." is different from the "D.P." to whom the Virginia Tech memorial image (left) is dedicated. The two people couldn't be more different ... trust me.

Gay marriage redux: Crist chimes in, more fundies attack

Despite having signed a petition in favor of a gay marriage ban during his gubernatorial campaign, Florida governor and "confirmed bachelor" Charlie Crist (R) won't be actively supporting the anti-gay marriage amendment.

"It's not an issue that moves me," Gov. Charlie Crist told reporters Thursday after sponsors of the initiative announced they had enough signatures to get it on the ballot.

Crist is listed as an endorser of the amendment on the Web site, www.florida4marriage.org, and while running for governor, he signed a petition in support of such a ban. But in February, he asked the GOP to stop donating money to the effort and, Thursday, he said he'd rather focus on raising teacher pay, reducing property taxes and combatting climate change. "I'm just a live and let live kind of guy," the governor said.

Hard to believe a Republican can be a "live and let live" person, isn't it? Yet we appear to have one as governor. Under the circumstances and given the alternatives, I'll take that ... for now.

Meanwhile, here's what the rabid, mouth-breathing, dumbass wingnut bigot side of the issue is saying:

"The people of Florida have spoken today, and they will speak again on Nov. 4, 2008," said John Stemberger [(right)], an Orlando lawyer who leads a coalition of sponsoring groups. "I think the message is timeless and it is clear: Marriage is the union of one man and one woman."

Florida already has a law banning same-sex marriage, but Stemberger said a constitutional amendment was needed to prevent legal challenges in the future. Currently, 27 other states have passed constitutional bans on gay marriage.

"An activist judge, with one stroke of a pen, can shut down a fundamental human institution," he said. "We're here for the long run. ... We're doing this to protect this institution literally for centuries to come in Florida."

Yes, that's right. It's a huge part of teh eeeeevil Gay Agenda to "shut down a fundamental human institution."

Again, I ask, exactly how is your marriage affected if a gay couple marries, Mr. Stemberger? Is your beautiful family (left) really threatened in any way by gay marriage? Or are you just so full of hate, Mr. Christian Legal Society, that you have to stamp out the scourge of gay marriage in order to feel more manly and more holy? Is there any possible way you batshit crazy fundies can keep your nose out of other people's business?

I'm actually rather surprised that Stemberger is a personal injury attorney. Usually, such attorneys are in that business for one of two reasons: to help injured people, or to make a shitload of money. I guess we know on which side Stemberger falls.

Anti-gay marriage amendment makes Florida's ballot

The haters get a win ... for now.

Even though Florida currently does not permit gay couples to marry, a three-year-long effort to push for a vote on a constitutional amendment against gay marriage appears to have been successful.

Florida voters, who have been asked in the past eight years to approve smaller class sizes, ban smoking in restaurants and allow slot machines in South Florida, will decide in the fall of 2008 whether to put Florida's ban on same-sex marriage in the state Constitution.

The hot-button issue appears likely to spark an emotional debate from both sides and could likely prompt increased voter turnout during a year when Florida will once again become a battleground state in the presidential election.

But unlike past years, the 2008 ballot will not be crowded with constitutional amendments promoted by special interest groups. New ballot deadlines, as well as the new requirement that all amendments be approved by 60 percent of voters, have contracted the number of ballot initiatives that will be sent to voters.

[...]

Organizers of Florida4Marriage.Org began gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage in early 2005 and initially were aiming to get on the 2006 ballot, but did not get enough signatures to declare victory until this week.

This sort of thing represents the very worst in representative democracy, not to mention Florida's ridiculous process that ends up creating constitutional amendments at the drop of a hat. While the U.S. Constitution has existed for 220 years and has been amended only 27 times, the Florida Constitution most recently was revised in 1968 and since then has been amended a whopping 110 times.

Of course, this also demonstrates that bigots and hatemongers are still going strong in Florida, as they are in so many states. I never have understood the gay-marriage amendment concept from a legal perspective -- after all, gay marriage already is illegal in Florida. So what's the purpose of making it a constitutional amendment?

One rationale I've heard is that it prevents, say, a pro-gay marriage state legislature from making a routine change to a law; it raises the bar for subsequent changes. But, in Florida, we hardly have any bar at all to even constitutional changes -- get a few hundred thousand signatures and you're on the ballot. (Yes, that's a lot of signatures, but relative to the U.S. Constitution, it's pretty easy to change Florida's constitution.)

So, in my opinion, there's only one plausible reason for anyone to advocate or support a constitutional amendment "banning" the already-banned gay marriage: hate. Pure and simple. It's no longer okay to hate blacks or Jews or Hispanics, at least not openly, so the wingnuts are turning to gays (and Muslims, of course, but I digress) as an "acceptable" group on whom to practice their disgusting brand of bigotry.

To those who would say that gay marriage "destroys the institution of marriage," I ask you, how exactly is your marriage or that of anyone you know affected if a gay couple marries? Hell, I did just fine screwing up my two marriages, and whether or not gay marriage existed had nothing to do with their demise.

Anyway, see you on Election Day, haters and bigots. And, incidentally, nice job finding a good way to increase Democratic voter turnout, to oppose your deplorable referendum.

Karl Rove's dirty little secret

Most lefties long have hoped to find skeletons in the closet of the soon-to-be-departed Karl Rove. Well, it might not be skeletons, but look what else is in Rove's closet! Or, more accurately, out of the closet:

Louie loved his piercings, they made him smile. People who are pierced will understand.

So there on the floor in his library, amid teaching videos on piercings and piles of [Piercing Fans International Quarterly], I listened to one man’s account of his travels through the Los Angeles piercing community in the 70’s and 80’s — the “piercing parties” with folks getting pierced on coffee tables in private homes, nurses that helped, and a guy named Jim. I knew about Jim. I had both my nipples pierced at The Gauntlet.

Louie also knew about play piercing; I wanted to learn and so he taught me. And so between splashing in the pool, brunches, visiting his volunteer list of AIDS patients, eating at all numbers of restaurants, visiting friends who lived around the area, birding at the Salton Sea and eating TV dinners, we explored needles and the effect they have on you.

[...]

Louie and I exchanged gifts over the years. He really liked those stainless ball weights and I like gold jewelry ... so I have a 14 karat gold cock ring that once belonged to Louie, and he had a bunch of ball weights that belonged to me.

So who cares about one man’s journey into piercing? For me it is not about a gossipy story, though some people will take it that way. It is not about telling secrets or things left best unsaid; it is about a little piece of history. Perhaps in telling this story someone else will be able to tell a better one another day.

The “Jim” in this story is the Jim Ward who started the piercing industry. Louie is Louis Claude Rove whose adopted son’s first name is Karl. Louie died quietly in Palm Springs as his very secular, not-believing son ran President Bush’s campaign for President of the United States that energized the Christian evangelical base around the wedge issue of gay marriage...

Well, as a Certified Uncivil Blog, I don't shy away from telling things best left unsaid. So, there it is. You can't blame genetics, but ol' Karl's certainly repressing something.

(h/t to Wes - thanks!)

Mitt in America's Wang™: gays aren't that icky

The political comedy of errors known as Mitt Romney visited Florida today. In Jacksonville, FL FINO (Florida In Name Only), he flopped (or flipped) again on the question of gay rights.

In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Romney elaborated on comments he made during a campaign event dubbed "Ask Mitt Anything" in which an audience member questioned whether pastors should preach that homosexuality is a sin. Romney said the government shouldn't tell pastors what they can say.

Afterward, Romney said he would not preach the same message.

"I don't think that a person who's running for a secular position as I am should talk about or engage in discussions of what they in their personal faith or their personal beliefs is immoral or not immoral," the former governor said in the AP interview.

He's said he supports gay rights, but then he opposed gay marriage vigorously as governor of Massachusetts. So, in short, it looks like as far as Mitt is concerned, "it's okay to be gay" ... unless they want to marry:

"What you look for in a leader is someone who will welcome and treat with respect people who made different choices and have different beliefs in their lives and have differences. I have nothing but respect and feelings of tolerance for people with differences from myself and feel that way with regards to those who are gay," he said.

He noted that one of his Cabinet members was gay and that he appointed gays to positions of responsibility in his administration.

"I oppose discrimination against gay people," Romney said. "I am not anti-gay. I know there are some Republicans, or some people in the country who are looking for someone who is anti-gay and that's not me."

He said he is opposed to gay marriage because it's not in the best interest of children.

Yeah, Mitt, it's much better for them to have single parents, and how sad it would be for a child to be raised with loving parents who happen to have the same equipment down there. And the old "some of my best friends are gay" defense won't fly here.

Seems to me the folks who called John Kerry a flip-flopper picked on the wrong Massachusettsian Massachusettser Massachusettsite politician from Massachusetts.

The Episcopal Church stands resolute

Score one for tolerance.

The U.S.-based Episcopal Church (from which my heritage, if not my beliefs, derives) is maintaining its stance in support of gay rights, which has included the welcoming of gay and lesbian parishioners, blessing of gay marriages, and the consecration of gay clergy, including at least one bishop. Even though they might end up being expelled from the worldwide Anglican Communion and they face noisome opposition from within, they are holding fast to the position that gays and lesbians are entitled to full participation in the Church as much as anyone else.

The increasingly exclusionary practices of organized religion, especially Christianity, are what have driven me away from regular church attendance over the last several years. I strongly believe that the Bible teaches tolerance and acceptance over all else, and I am dismayed and, at times, appalled by the hatred spewed by those who hold themselves out as devout members of a community of faith. Perhaps this action by American Episcopals will empower members of other denominations to stand up and refuse to accept bigotry anymore.

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.

Is it just me ...

... or does this graphic, from a CNN story on gay marriage, bother anyone else? I don't know. It just seems a little creepy to me ...

New Jersey strikes another blow for equality

Today the New Jersey legislature passed a bill creating civil unions for gay couples, in response to a ruling by the state Supreme Court essentially requiring such legislation. Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to sign the bill into law, making New Jersey the third state, with Vermont and Connecticut, to recognize civil unions (Massachusetts permits marriage).

I understand why some gay rights groups are upset by this ruling:

Steven Goldstein, director of Equality New Jersey, told Bloomberg that the vote was a mixed blessing for the state's gays and lesbians because there was no guarantee non-government entities would honor the decision.

"Nobody knows what civil unions are in the real world. That's the problem,'' Goldstein told Bloomberg. "We want marriage equality, not a law that discriminates.''
The move follows an order by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which directed the state to provide same-sex couples with marriage rights or their equivalent.

Employing civil rights terminology, gay and lesbian advocates blasted the decision and said that providing the benefits of marriage without calling it marriage was tantamount to the "separate but equal" treatment of a discriminated group.

But I think this is probably the best we can hope for right now, in terms of guaranteeing equal rights to all Americans. It's not going to be perfect everywhere, but to me, it's kind of like taking down the Berlin Wall, one chunk of concrete at a time. Eventually, that whole wall's gonna come a'tumblin' down.

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Bill Frist

Dethroned Kitten Killer Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is clapping as loud as he can.

In his parting shot to the American people today, the renowned Distance Diagnosis Doctor stamps his feet, jumps up and down, and insists that the 109th Congress was successful, really it was!

The Congressional session that just concluded actually leaves a solid record of achievement for America. The House and Senate both worked to protect our country, crack down on crime, promote a strong economy, improve education and approve sensible judges in a fair manner.

**********

Nonetheless, some widely supported measures fell victim to obstructionist tactics. Democrats, for example, blocked popular proposals to make it easier for small businesses to buy health coverage for their employees, reform our broken medical liability system, do more adult stem cell research, and increase the minimum wage.

It's clear, likewise, that "values" issues such as marriage protection and flag burning have broad appeal with the public as a whole. Voters in 27 states have approved marriage protection amendments, and all 50 state legislatures have called for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. When such a popular groundswell exists, then Congress should act.

It's almost too easy, but a quick debunk ought to take care of this.

Stem cell legislation: Sen. Frist is referring here to two bills that Senate Democrats opposed because they were nothing but political cover, as Bill's replacement, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) patiently explained:

Mr. President, before we vote on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, the Senate will first consider two other measures: The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act (S. 2754) and the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act (S. 3504).

Neither one of these measures is a substitute for H.R. 810. The only reason they are here is to provide political cover for the opponents of stem cell research.

They know their opposition to stem cell research is outside the American mainstream, so they want to give themselves political cover by voting for two meaningless bills. It’s a playbook straight from the Republicans Orwellian world.

Neither one of these bills would do any harm, but neither would have any real impact.

There is nothing included in S. 2754 which cannot already be accomplished without this legislation. Even officials at the National Institutes of Health will tell you this.

The second bill, the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act (S. 3504) would ban activity that no scientist is currently doing or wants to do.

I've said it before: it's like shooting fish in a barrel. This is pretty easy, too:

Minimum wage increase: Although they ultimately prevailed in raising the federal minimum wage, many Democrats in Congress opposed bills that included GOP-sponsored attachments, really repugnant stuff that stretched the definition of "germane" almost to the breaking point:

After years of opposition, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have now decided to support a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the change of position was not inspired by a desire to help the poorest working families or because members of Congress have been criticized for taking thousands of dollars in pay raises since the last increase of the minimum wage.

With a vast majority of Americans supporting a minimum wage hike, Republicans now realize that opposing an increase will hurt their chances in the upcoming midterm elections.

If the change of heart on the minimum wage issue had ended there, we could say the GOP had reacted to the will of the voters. But they did not stop there. Instead of drafting a bill to increase the minimum wage and putting it to a "yes or no" vote, Republicans in the House decided to tack on a cut in inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates owned by some of the richest families in the country. A repeal of this estate tax has passed the Republican-controlled House before, but has been rejected by the more evenly divided Senate twice in the past month.

The tactic was clearly aimed at using the popularity of a minimum wage hike to achieve the party's longtime ambition of permanently cutting estate taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Even if the measure fails, Republicans will now be able to claim they supported a minimum wage increase during their campaigns for re-election.

The Senate rejected the legislation, of course, which gave Frist the cover for his specious claims.

Let's not stop there. Frist brings out the tired old saw about how the American people are concerned about "marriage protection and flag burning." I don't even have to debunk this - it's already been done for me, and based on Frist's own statements.

The truth is that only three countries ban flag desecration (China, Cuba, and Iran), and they're not exactly bastions of freedom. The limited about of polling on the issue shows that it's simply not a matter of significant concern for Americans. As for gay marriage (I eschew Frist's ridiculous euphemism), it ranks behind terrorism, the war in Iraq, and the economy among others in terms of what Americans believe are important issues.

So, Frist can take his fantasies and go back to Tennessee, secure in the knowledge that even though the GOP-led Congress did, well, nothing, he's proven that they really did do something. They gave the 110th Congress to the Democrats.

Thanks, Bill, and congratulations! Today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Dick "Dick" Cheney and Rep. Jack "Dick" Kingston (R-Ga.)

Proving that choosing a winner of the coveted "Daily Schadenfreude" award is becoming akin to shooting fish in a barrel, today for the first time, we have co-recipients.

The first honoree is another obvious, yet richly deserving choice. Dick "Dick" Cheney, puppetmaster, is snarling with just a little bit more feeling today, as the news became public that his openly gay daughter Mary is pregnant.

News of the pregnancy will undoubtedly reignite the debate about gay marriage. During the campaign, Mary Cheney was criticized by gay activists for not being more publicly supportive of same-sex marriage. Her father said people "ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to" but deferred to the president's policy supporting a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. Cheney herself called the proposed amendment "a gross affront to gays and lesbians everywhere" in her book, "Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life," which was published in May.

Cheney has described her relationship with Poe -- whom she took to last year's White House dinner honoring Prince Charles and Camilla -- as a marriage. The two met in 1988 while playing ice hockey and began dating four years later. They moved from Colorado to Virginia a year ago to be closer to Cheney's family. In an interview with the Post six months ago, when asked if she and Poe wanted children, Cheney said that was a "conversation I think I should have with Heather first."

Oh, dear, just when things were looking up for "Dick," this happens. What's a despot to do?

Moving on to our second recipient ...

Tongues have been wagging on Capitol Hill (nope, not Mark Foley's anymore) after incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) announcement that members should expect a longer work week ... longer, that is, than three days.

For his utterly ridiculous and ignorant response, a share of today's "Daily Schadenfreude" goes to Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who said:

"Keeping us up here eats away at families," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Jesus H. Smack-Flappity Tap Dancing Christ! What mutant strain of stupid do you have to be to first, blame a longer (i.e., more like the rest of America, including the folks who put you into office, Jack) work week on Democrats' disregard for families, and second, complain about possibly having to work more than three days?

Three short words fondly attributed to your fellow honoree, Jack, should sum up my feelings on this: Go fuck yourself.

So, congratulations to evil overlord Dick "Dick" Cheney and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Fantasyland) ... today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!