Bigots Call for "Respectful Debate"
I am in love with this headline in the Minnesota Independent:
Family Council asks for ‘respectful debate,’ says gays are pedophiles who engage in bestiality
You want to hear more?
It's such a big blind spot that you want to laugh, but you can't laugh, because it's not funny. These nuts actually get the attention of the media, in our state they go to Annapolis and frighten our courageous Maryland state legislators, a handful of them intimidated our Montgomery County school district. It's not a joke, but ... you gotta laugh sometimes.
So good that they can answer our questions.
What about this "Dr. Armand Nicholai, chief psychiatrist of the Medical School at Harvard University," that they are quoting? That sounds like a pretty important authority.
Well, really, the headline says it all. There are poisonous people out there. Sometimes it's hard to take them seriously, but sadly you have to. They are only a handful of nuts but their hatred seeps into the consciousness of our society, people who don't take the time to think about the issues hear a phrase or two and accept it uncritically and move on. So you have to constantly fight back.
Family Council asks for ‘respectful debate,’ says gays are pedophiles who engage in bestiality
You want to hear more?
Tom Prichard, president of the the Minnesota Family Council, the main proponent of state Republicans’ anti–gay marriage amendment, told reporters after the bill’s passage on Saturday night that the goal was not to get “personal” and that he hoped that Minnesotans could have a “respectful discussion.” But documents on the group’s website uncovered by bloggers on Monday are dashing those hopes. A legislative handbook put out by the Family Council states that gays and lesbians engage in bestiality and ingest human excrement and claims that a disproportionate number of “homosexuals” are pedophiles.
The Family Council, which got its start as the Berean League with the goal of maintaining laws that criminalized gays and lesbians, also says it seeks to ban domestic partnerships and civil unions in Minnesota and to permit discrimination against gays and lesbians. The document provides insight into the motivations behind some the proponents of the anti–gay marriage amendment.
Called a “legislative manual,” the document outlines the Minnesota Family Council’s legislative agenda as well as talking points for legislators. The manual appears to be a few years old. The Minnesota Family Council did not respond to the Minnesota Independent’s requests for comment about the manual. Family Council asks for ‘respectful debate,’ says gays are pedophiles who engage in bestiality
It's such a big blind spot that you want to laugh, but you can't laugh, because it's not funny. These nuts actually get the attention of the media, in our state they go to Annapolis and frighten our courageous Maryland state legislators, a handful of them intimidated our Montgomery County school district. It's not a joke, but ... you gotta laugh sometimes.
One page of the document focuses on “Informed answers to gay rights questions” and offers this example.8. “Gay people are not different in their behaviors from other people.”
8a. Homosexual practices are often astonishing to heterosexual people. Homosexuals must use body apertures not constructed for sexual penetration or bring their mouth into contact with areas designed for the elimination of human waste, which causes serious hygienic and health risks. Some homosexuals become urolagniacs (ingesting urine and feces) and engage in bestiality as well as other deviant behaviors.
8d. The homosexual population includes a disproportionate number of pedophiles. Many prominent homosexuals and organization have the stated objective to remove age-of-consent laws from state statutes.
The Family Council does not offer any evidence to back up its claims.
Another section claims that as homosexuality is more accepted there will be more and more homosexuals and that many lesbians “choose” to be lesbians for political reasons.2. “No one chooses to be a homosexual or can be ‘recruited’ into this lifestyle.”
2a. The social acceptance gay rights laws give to homosexual behavior creates a climate in which opportunities for homosexual behavior multiply.
2b. The more public expressions of homosexuality there are, the more likely one is to experiment with it.
2c. Some homosexuals, especially lesbians, consciously choose a homosexual lifestyle as part of a political agenda.
The manual also assert that even homosexuals think they are not normal.4. “We are as normal as straight people.”
4a. Experts point out that homosexuality is not normal. Dr. Armand Nicholai, chief psychiatrist of the Medical School at Harvard University, states that homosexuals know at their core that their behavior is not normal.
4b. Accepting homosexuals as “normal” victimizes homosexuals themselves. If a person has a disorder, it is far worse to tell him that he is fine (and encourage him to blame society for problems associated with his disorder) than to point out his problem and offer a means of help.
So good that they can answer our questions.
What about this "Dr. Armand Nicholai, chief psychiatrist of the Medical School at Harvard University," that they are quoting? That sounds like a pretty important authority.
Dr. Nicholi did work at Harvard University. During his time at Harvard, he helped found that Family Research Council along with George Rekers. Rekers found himself at the heart of a scandal when he vacationed last year with a young man who had a profile on RentBoys.com.
Also last year, the Family Research Council was designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center due to disseminating false and misleading information about LGBT people.
Well, really, the headline says it all. There are poisonous people out there. Sometimes it's hard to take them seriously, but sadly you have to. They are only a handful of nuts but their hatred seeps into the consciousness of our society, people who don't take the time to think about the issues hear a phrase or two and accept it uncritically and move on. So you have to constantly fight back.
posted by JimK at 10:03 AM
17 Comments:
Camping, who made a special appearance before the press at the Oakland headquarters of the media empire Monday evening, apologized for not having the dates "worked out as accurately as I could have."
Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, it dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a "spiritual" Judgment Day, which places the entire world under Christ's judgment, he said.
The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God's judgment and salvation were completed on Saturday, there's no point in continuing to warn people about it, so his network will now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on Oct. 21.
"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "The fact is there is only one kind of people who will ascend into heaven ... if God has saved them they're going to be caught up."
It's not the first time the 89-year-old retired civil engineer has been dismissed by the Christian mainstream and has been forced to explain when his prediction didn't come to pass. Camping also prophesied the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said later that didn't happen then because of a mathematical error.
Monday, rather than give his normal daily broadcast, Camping took questions as a part of his show, "Open Forum," which transmits his biblical interpretations via the group's radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website.
Camping's hands shook slightly as he pinned his microphone to his lapel, and as he clutched a worn Bible he spoke in a quivery monotone about some listeners' earthly concerns after giving away possessions in expectation of the Rapture.
Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their belongings, and those who had fewer would cope, Camping said.
"We're not in the business of financial advice," he said. "We're in the business of telling people there's someone who you can maybe talk to, maybe pray to, and that's God."
But he also said that he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.
"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"
Harold Camping was obviously wrong about his prediction this weekend and his statement on Monday evening was disappointing but there is no validity to allegations that have been made by some here that his motivations were to raise money.
"Family Radio has solicited millions from donors over the years and reportedly spent over $100 million on advertising for the May 21 Judgment Day.
But now that the "guaranteed" rapture didn't happen, people are wondering: Can Harold Camping or Family Radio be sued? Did they do anything illegal in soliciting donations based on the rapture prediction? And do donors have legal ground to sue the discredited prophet?
Probably not, says an executive of Charity Navigator, which evaluates over 5,500 of America's largest charities. The charity evaluator rated Family Radio as a 4-star charity, the highest possible ranking.
Sandra Miniutti, vice president of Charity Navigator, told The Christian Post she doesn’t think that Family Radio committed any wrongdoing, from a financial standpoint.
"They believed that the rapture was going to happen. I don't think they did anything illegal," Miniutti said Tuesday.
She said Charity Navigator doesn't evaluate a non-profit's mission, only its financial performance in the spending on its program, administration, fundraising, and efficiency in fundraising.
"We rate charities based on their financial performance. We don't make subjective assessments on the value of their mission. We just look on their financial performance," said Miniutti.
Based on her knowledge so far, Family Radio has used its donations where it was intended, on billboards and on public relations campaigns advertising the May 21 Judgment Day.
The Christian Post learned that Harold Camping spent around $100 million to advertise his May 21 end times prediction, according to Matt Tuter, Family Radio’s international projects manager.
Tuter told The Christian Post that most of the money did not come from donations, but from the sale of property – more specifically, KFTL television and an FM station.
"My understanding is that they were soliciting money to help people understand the word of God," commented Miniutti. "They spent it on what they intended to spend it on."
"Donors would only have a recourse if the charity was soliciting for one thing but spent it on something else."
Tuter also told CP that most of the staff at Family Radio, including himself, are not followers of Camping and do not believe in his Judgment Day predictions."
Six months after a stunning midterm election realignment, the political landscape continues to shift.
An old GOP wedge issue is running out of steam
Gallup reports
"May 25, 2011
Support for Legal Gay Relations Hits New High
Sixty-four percent believe they should be legal
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup finds 64% of Americans saying gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should be legal, the highest since it first asked the question more than 30 years ago..."
The GOP plan to have seniors pay more for Medicare while continuing to give huge tax breaks to the rich is driving voters to support Democrats for Congress
AP reports
U.S. House - District 26 - Special General Election Results 2011
Kathy Hochul (Dem) 48,530 (47%)
Jane Corwin (GOP) 43,836 (43%)
I. Murphy (Grn) 1,130 (1%)
J. Davis (TEA) 9,945 (9%)
PoliticsDaily.com reports
U.S. House - District 26 - House Race Election Results 2010
Christopher Lee (GOP) 141,856 (74%)
Philip Fedele (Dem) 50,247 (26%)
GOP Senators say they will withhold support for the Ryan budget plan to raise the cost of Medicare for seniors while continuing the Bush tax breaks for the rich
The Boston Globe reports
"Brown vows to vote against GOP budget plan
Medicare overhaul harmful, he says
May 24, 2011 WASHINGTON
...[GOP Senator Scott] Brown becomes at least the third Republican senator to disavow the House budget. Senator Susan Collins of Maine has said she opposes it, as does Rand Paul of Kentucky...."
The House GOP leadership encouraged two hundred and thirty-five GOP House members who will stand for reelection in 2012 to vote in favor of the Ryan budget plan in April.
Two months ago, the Democrat, Kathy Hochul, was considered an all-but-certain loser in the race against the Republican, Jane Corwin. But Ms. Hochul seized on the Republican’s embrace of the proposal from Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, to overhaul Medicare, and she never let up.
On Tuesday, she captured 47 percent of the vote to Ms. Corwin’s 43 percent, according to unofficial results. A Tea Party candidate, Jack Davis, had 9 percent.
Voters, who turned out in strikingly large numbers for a special election, said they trusted Ms. Hochul, the county clerk of Erie County, to protect Medicare.
“I have almost always voted the party line,” said Gloria Bolender, a Republican from Clarence who is caring for her 80-year-old mother. “This is the second time in my life I’ve voted against my party.”
Pat Gillick, a Republican from East Amherst, who also cast a ballot for Ms. Hochul, said, “The privatization of Medicare scares me.”
The district, which stretches from Buffalo to Rochester, has been in Republican hands for four decades, producing influential figures like Representative Jack Kemp and siding with Carl P. Paladino, a Republican, over Andrew M. Cuomo in the governor’s race last year.
The campaign drew intense interest, with both major parties in Washington and their allies flooding the district with radio and television advertising. Total spending exceeded $6 million.
Of course, there are limits to how much broader meaning can be extrapolated from a special election, which can be shaped by local dynamics and personalities.
Still, on Tuesday, Republicans were examining the results and debating how the party lost the seat, despite outspending the Democrats.
poor Bea the Bumpkin
nobody is going to vote against the GOP based on gay "marriage"
Medicare will turn once we start discussing it in 2012
Ryan's ideas are really not at all outlandish, he simply transfers implementation to the states
Dems will have the issue turn on them because no nation can be leveraged to the extent Obama envisions and remain in control of its own destiny
foolish and wasteful entitlements need to be addressed even at the risk that craven Bea-type Dems will expolit the bravery of the GOP with no plan of their own, other than national bankruptcy
Bea really is quite the bumpkin
next, she'll be advocating letting bumpkins marry other bumpkins
and that would just lead to future generations of bumpkinism
who just want to tax everyone who isn't a bumpkin to pay the expenses of the bumpkins
Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill on Tuesday that would force Texas women to undergo an ultrasound, hear a detailed description of the fetus and then wait a full 24 hours before receiving abortion care.
Mandatory sonogram bills, which NARAL Pro-Choice America calls "one of the most dangerous anti-choice state trends in 2011," have been introduced in 14 states so far this year. Arizona, Louisiana and Texas have already enacted ultrasound laws, and Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is expected to sign a similar proposal in the coming week.
The Texas law -- which is one of the more most extreme sonogram proposals that has passed -- requires doctors to tell a woman the size of her fetus' limbs and organs, even if she does not want to know. The law also forces physicians to make an image of the fetus and the sound of its heartbeat available to a woman before she can undergo the abortion procedure.
Perry, who made the bill an emergency measure, said on Tuesday that the law will "ensure that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying and understands the devastating impact of such a life-changing decision."
RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal prosecutors have completed a wide-ranging investigation into John Edwards' political dealings and could indict the two-time presidential candidate within days, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Edwards could still strike a plea deal to avoid an indictment, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the case's sensitivity.
Federal investigators have been probing Edwards for more than two years. Their interest has spanned much of Edwards' political career, looking into issues such as whether he did anything improper during his time in the U.S. Senate. And it looked into a network of organizations connected to Edwards, including a nonprofit, political action committees and a so-called 527 political group.
Ryan’s plan cuts the top rate of personal and corporate income tax from 36% to 25% with promises of offsetting revenue raisers to be determined later.
Because Ryan’s tax cuts were specific and his promises of revenue-raising reform ultra-vague, he had no defense to the attack that his tax reform involves massive downward redistribution of the tax burden. And after all, it’s hard to imagine what tax enhancements would counteract the distributional effect of a cut in the top rate of income tax from 36% to 25%. Ending the mortgage interest deduction for mortgages of between $417,000 and $1,000,000 (a good idea!) would not do it. Ending the deductibility of state and local taxes (another good idea) would not do it. A carbon tax (good idea again) for sure would not do it. Ditto a VAT. All of those measures would be good ways to raise additional revenues while leaving the current rates in place. But as offsets to a huge upper-income tax cut, they look like a shift of the tax burden from the upper class to the more affluent parts of the middle class at the same time as the rest of the Ryan budget removes Medicare coverage from the more affluent parts of the middle class – and leaves the remainder of Medicare very probably increasingly inadequate even for poorer Americans.
The one thing that might have enhanced the attractiveness of the Ryan Medicare plan is some kind of assurance of adequacy of the future Medicare vouchers for Americans under age 55.
Remember, under the Ryan plan, not only are Medicare vouchers means-tested, but they are also scheduled to grow in value at a deliberately slow pace. Today’s 40-somethings have good reason to fear that the vouchers will prove inadequate when it comes their time to retire.
It's remarkable that Republicans have voluntarily placed themselves in a position where they're fighting a high-salience battle on an issue where the public overwhelmingly opposes their position. It's not as if Republicans were completely unaware of this problem. They did take one step to reduce their political exposure -- exempt anybody over 55 years of age from cuts to Medicare, in the hopes that this would neutralize the opposition of those voters most focused on Medicare. They also hoped they could skate through by, as one Republican put it, "muddying the waters." And, indeed, Jane Corwin desperately tried to outflank her opponent to the left on Medicare. But muddying the waters is hard when you put some numbers down on paper and voted for them.
as usual, our social security and medicare programs are threatened because Dems offer no solutions and wait for a real citizen to offer one so they can exploit the fears of voters
long-term, it won't work, because, in case you haven't noticed, Dems aren't very good at politics
Americans are scared to death of the debt we're taking on from a country that clearly doesn't wish us well
and they know that lowering marginal tax rates increases productive output and helps all participants in our economy
none of the bumpkins know though
The 18- to 34-year-old generation leads all age groups in the percentage (53) that believes abortion is morally wrong. And just 31 percent of that age group says abortion should be legal under any circumstance.
The annual Gallup poll on abortion, which was released Monday, surveyed 1,018 American adults early this month.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Obama Job Approval at 16-Month High
President Obama’s current job approval rating for May 22-24 is 53%. That’s his highest since Feb. 12-14, 2010 -- more than 16 months ago. His previous high this year was 52%, reached at several points earlier this month after the May 1 announcement of the successful raid in Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.
oh yeah
he's doing great
do you know that since the government started tracking unemployment in 1948 that the unemployment rate has exceeded 8% only in 68 months?
did you know that 29 of those months were during Barry O's presidency?
and counting....
this despite the fact that the recession ended in June 2009
did you know that no President has ever run for re-election with unemployment greater than 8%?
did you know that of the ten states losing electoral votes in the 2010 census, eight were carried by Sir BO?
did you know that in Pennsylvania voters disapprove of B Hussein by a 57 to 37 margin?
did you know the White House is worried sick?
and the Republican campaign slogan for 2012?:
"Is this the best we can do?"
how many will really answer yes?
Anon reported:
“and the Republican campaign slogan for 2012?:
"Is this the best we can do?"”
As best I can tell, that seems to be referring to the Republican candidates themselves.
Given that they see Obama as the most epic fail of a president in the history of the universe, you’d think they’d have some better candidates to throw up against him…
…rather than the dented soup cans left over on the ½ price shelf at the back of the store.
Have a nice day,
Cynthia
well, the field is diminished with some who have declined, especially Huckabee, but compared to Obama, we have an embarrassment of riches
Palin for Prez, Rubio for VP
vs
B Hussein Obama and Joe "foot-in-his-mouth" Biden with a unemployment catastrophe hanging around their neck
it won't even be close
Palin for Prez...
vs
B Hussein Obama...
it won't even be close
I agree, it'll be a landslide!
General Election: Palin vs. Obama
RCP Average 4/10 - 5/25 -- 54.7 Obama (D) -- 35.2 Palin (R), Spread = Obama +19.5
I love this statement:
"8a. Homosexual practices are often astonishing to heterosexual people. Homosexuals must use body apertures not constructed for sexual penetration or bring their mouth into contact with areas designed for the elimination of human waste, which causes serious hygienic and health risks. Some homosexuals become urolagniacs (ingesting urine and feces) and engage in bestiality as well as other deviant behaviors."
Sounds to me like a very appropriate and right-on description of the sexual practices of maybe 96% of our heterosexual population (the other 4% excludes the frigid ones and the ones who are anti-sex, regardless of the gender - citing Biblical injunctions for their fear of sex, of course!)
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