Far Right Extremist Rants do Breed Violence

Back in July, 2008, I commented on the shootings at the at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. The shooter was one Jim D. Adkisson who read far right rant literature such as: "The O'Reilly Factor," by television commentator Bill O'Reilly; "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder," by radio personality Michael Savage; and "Let Freedom Ring," by political pundit Sean Hannity. Adkisson pleaded guilty to murdering two church members on Thursday and received a sentence of life without parole. What is particularly chilling, however, is the fact that Adkisson shows no remorse and released a four page manifesto (it can be found here) urging other right wing extremists to engage in violence.

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I am all for free speech, but at some point the constant message of hate generated by far right commentators and the Christianists becomes an incitement to violence and individuals like Adkisson are induced to embrace that message and engage in violence. The almost weekly stories of violence against gays are a direct product of constant stream of denigration and scapegoating that is put out by those proclaiming that "the gay agenda" and similar rot is "threatening the family" and similar untruths. At some point those like Ann Coulter, O'Reilly, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, et. al, need to be held accountable for the trash they put out. Here are highlights from the Knoxville News:

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“The future looks bleak,” the ex-soldier lamented. “I’m absolutely fed up! So I thought I’d do something good for this country — kill Democrats ‘til (sic) the cops kill me.” With what he believed to be his last pen strokes, Jim David Adkisson urged other suicidal soldiers against the “liberalism that’s destroying America” to leave their own trail of carnage behind. “I’d like to encourage other like-minded people to do what I’ve done,” Adkisson wrote. “If life ain’t worth living anymore, don’t just kill yourself. Do something for your country before you go. Go kill liberals.”

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He will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing Greg McKendry, 60, and Linda Lee Kraeger, 61, after opening fire with a sawed-off shotgun inside the church where more than 200 people were gathered to watch a children’s musical. He admitted wounding six others.

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After lamenting the ills of liberalism and Democrats, Adkisson explains why he specifically targeted TVUUC, which he once attended with his now-ex-wife. “Don’t let the word church mislead you,” he wrote. “This isn’t a church, it’s a cult. They don’t even believe in God. They worship the God of secularism. … The UU church is the fountainhead, the veritable wellspring of anti-American organizations.”

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In his manifesto, Adkisson deemed his rampage part “political protest” and part “symbolic killing.” “This was a hate crime,” he wrote. “Liberals are a pest like termites, millions of them … the only way we can rid ourselves of this evil is kill them in the streets, kill them where they gather.”

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No doubt Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, James Dobson and Don Wildmon are proud of the results of their handiwork.

Christianist Crocodile Tears

It's a bit mind boggling, but the Christo-fascists like James Dobson and Tony Perkins and similar religious fanatics who do not hesitate to condemn and bad mouth others are whining and shedding crocodile tears over being referred to as the "Religious Right." These folks are as un-Christian as they come, lie incessantly, knowingly cite bogus research, and have turned bay bashing into a cottage industry, yet they cannot stand the fact that their own hateful actions have now given the term "Religious Right" an extremely negative connotation - especially among younger voters who are increasingly flocking to the Democratic Party. One account of the disingenuous tears is at Right Wing Watch which describes the whining as follows:

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It seems that leaders of the Religious Right are tired of being associated with the Religious Right because nobody likes the Religious Right. Unfortunately for them, they are the Religious Right and that is what we are going to keep calling them . . . . If the phrase "Religious Right" has negative connotations, it probably stems primarily from the fact that the people who have traditionally represented the Religious Right have caused it to, you know, have negative connotations.

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When people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson go on television and blame the 9/11 attacks on "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, [and] all of them who have tried to secularize America," that is the sort of thing that tends to create negative impressions about the Religious Right.

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Christianity Today provides some quotes from some of the worse hate merchants (e.g, Gary Bauer, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Tony Perkins of FRC, and a spokesman for Focus on the Family) who seek kid glove treatment for themselves even though they give none to others. Perhaps if they did not act like fascists and did not make hate towards other their stock in trade the term would not be viewed so negatively. Here are some highlights:

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However, several politically conservative evangelicals said in interviews that they do not want to be identified with the "Religious Right," "Christian Right," "Moral Majority," or other phrases still thrown around by journalist and academia. "There is an ongoing battle for the vocabulary of our debate," said Gary Bauer, president of American Values. "It amazes me how often in public discourse really pejorative phrases are used, like the 'American Taliban,' 'fundamentalists,' 'Christian fascists,' and 'extreme Religious Right.' "

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[M]any groups would rather distance themselves from the Religious Right, even though they may agree on several political issues. Richard Land said he corrects numerous reporters who call him a leader of the Religious Right, explaining that he represents a group of Southern Baptists who would probably consider themselves conservative evangelicals.

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Coming up with the best term to describe religious groups who are politically conservative can be tricky for writers. Rice University sociologist Bill Martin, who authored the book With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, resists the term "religious conservative" because it has connotations with a group that identifies itself as theologically conservative.

Saturday Male Beauty

School Play Canceled Because of Gay Characters

In a story that sounds all too reminiscent of what happened at Granby High School in 2007, a high school play in Newport Beach has been killed because - God forbid - there were gay characters in the story line. One can only hope that something akin to what happened with Pet Sounds here in Norfolk may occur - namely another venue will come forward to host the performance (Pet Sounds went on to win awards and did a return engagement the following summer). It is a sad state of affairs when school administrators who are bigoted - or gutless and afraid to tell Christianist parents to go to Hell - kill plays with gay characters as if that will somehow make their own LGBT students (and gays in the larger society) magically disappear. We are here through out society and try as some might, we are NOT going away. Therefore, a true education for students ought to recognize our existence as a reality. Here are some highlights from the Orange County Register on this latest censorship effort:

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NEWPORT BEACH - A high school principal is denying accusations that she refused to let a performing arts class musical depict gay characters, effectively killing the production. A drama instructor made that charge Friday, and a lengthy account of the episode, penned by an unidentified Corona del Mar High School student, has been circulating in e-mails and was posted Friday at queerty.com, a gay-oriented blog and news forum.

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Asrani is “firmly against the portrayal of homosexual characters in RENT,” the letter says, “despite the fact that all displays of affection have already been edited out of our script.” The drama department planned to use a less-risqué “high school edition” of the flamboyant musical, according to the department’s Web site.

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In an interview, Asrani said the accusations were entirely inaccurate, and that drama teacher Ron Martin canceled the production after she asked to review the script for objectionable material, a common practice at schools. . . . Martin, in an interview, told a much different version of events. Rehearsals hadn’t begun and scripts hadn’t been ordered, so getting a script for the principal would take almost two weeks, he said, and Asrani decided that would not leave enough time for revision and changes. Regardless, “she had already told me that she would not let it proceed because of the homosexuality in it,” Martin said. “That is the case,” he said. “I will stand by that regardless of what (school) representatives say.”

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Martin said a recent production of “No Reservations” that included kissing and the word “ass” elicited a single complaint from an audience member, leading to Asrani’s move to oversee performing arts productions. “We've never had to have script approval before,” Martin said.

More GOP Disingenuousness

It drives me crazy at times that the MSM NEVER counters the GOP talking points by asking some hard questions and pointing out that for the last eight years under the Chimperator, these disingenuous folks did anything but what they are now preaching. Instead of serious reporting the MSM all too often just gives the members of the Congressional GOP a platform from which they disseminate untruths. The same phenomenon occurs with delusional Christianist talking heads who are NEVER challenged as to their utter lack of real credentials or the truth of their statements. In terms of the stimulus bill passed last night with basically no GOP support, I firmly believe something had to be done - and not just in the form of more tax breaks for those who are already well off. Given the disingenuousness and lack of meaningful ideas within the GOP, Obama and the Democrats need to forge on alone and if the program works - I certainly hope that it will - they need to hammer the GOP over and over again as the party that wanted to do nothing. Andrew Sullivan has a take on the GOP with which I agree. Here are some highlights:

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The GOP has passed what amounts to a spending and tax-cutting and borrowing stimulus package every year since George W. Bush came to office. They have added tens of trillions to future liabilities and they turned a surplus into a trillion dollar deficit - all in a time of growth. They then pick the one moment when demand is collapsing in an alarming spiral to argue that fiscal conservatism is non-negotiable. I mean: seriously.

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The bad faith and refusal to be accountable for their own conduct for the last eight years is simply inescapable. There is no reason for the GOP to have done what they have done for the last eight years and to say what they are saying now except pure, cynical partisanship, and a desire to wound and damage the new presidency. The rest is transparent cant.

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The GOP is not interested in the long term fiscal health of this country. Their reckless stewardship over the last eight years proves that. They are not interested in helping this new president, who has done everything he can to create a civil atmosphere, to use this moment to prevent the worst in the short term and move to improve matters in the long term.

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One can only hope that through all the GOP noise the majority of voters will see the truth of Andrew's analysis and punish the GOP yet again at the polls.

Friday Male Beauty

What’s Wrong With the Vatican

A guest editorial at UK Gay News takes a look at the privileges afforded to and the constant meddling in secular matters by the Vatican and asks a valid question as to why is the Vatican afforded the status of a nation when no other religion is granted this right. The column also lays out a summary of the various activities of the Vatican to subordinate women and to demonize gays. It is worth a read and in my view demonstrates why diplomatic status for the Vatican ought to be dropped and why it should cease to have observer status at the United Nations. Here are a few highlights:

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This tiny State inhabited mainly by priests is extremely powerful and its “moral” crusades adversely affect the lives of millions of people in Europe and in the world. Officially part of the UN, its “observer-state” status means it engages in UN debates on a variety of issues ranging from favourites, such as birth control, abortion and homosexuality, to the environment, war and global trade. The Vatican has diplomatic relationships with almost all the countries in the world .

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No other religion has such a power in Europe and in the world, thus prompting the Economist to publish an investigation about the diplomatic service of the Vatican, questioning whether it deserves its special status in the UN (21/07/2007). The Catholic Church is an extremely profitable business. They own businesses such as hotels, restaurants, shops and private schools and they DON’T pay any tax! On top of this, the Vatican receives public money in many countries: in Italy about 1000 million Euros from taxes is destined to the Vatican every year (€930 million in 2006 )

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The Vatican wields considerable political and economic power. It uses its influence and privilege to impose an agenda on a variety of issues that affect our lives as European citizens, and limit our civil rights and our civil liberties.

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The issue of women’s rights and the Catholic Church goes way beyond the hierarchy of the church, where women are unable to ascend to priesthood as a result of their gender. . . . The Pope encourages us to view women as unequal to men, by consistently and publicly stating that the two genders are naturally different and that women are naturally inclined for domestic living.

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The Pope thinks being gay is an “objective disorder” and a “moral evil”. In many countries in the world you can still get the death penalty for being gay. Recently, a proposal to de-criminalise homosexuality was opposed by the Vatican in the UN because it would mean that States where same-sex unions are not recognized would be discriminated against and unfairly subjected to international pressure.

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We need to protect democracy and to champion human rights against those who wish to retain undemocratic influence and privilege. The Vatican has done this for years in the European Union, the United Nations and even in the UK parliament without anyone paying attention. Why?

Home Prices in Record Plunge

News on the housing front continues to be dire and based on the drops in home prices in many areas, the number of homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are now worth continues to grow thereby increasing the likelihood that more families will merely walk away from their homes. In some areas - e.g., Cape Coral, Florida - the prices have dropped 50%. If a home buyer put down 5-10% on their purchase (which is typical for first time buyers), it is easy to see that these folks are in serious trouble. Nationally, the average decline was 9.5% - the biggest decline in over 30 years - which still spells serious trouble for someone who put down 3-5%. Fortunately, in this region, the decline on average has only been 5.9%. As I have said many, many times, until the housing market stops falling, do not expect to see any sustained economic recovery. Here are some highlights from CNN Money (NOTE: the article contains a table for over one hundred markets):

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices fell 12.4% during the fourth quarter of 2008, the largest year-over-year decline since the National Association of Realtors began keeping comprehensive records in 1979. . . . Prices fell by a record 9.5% in 2008, to $197,100, compared to $217,900 in 2007. In comparison, median home prices dipped a mere 1.6% between 2006 and 2007.

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Distressed properties, the foreclosures and short sales that have flooded the market, accounted for 45% of all deals. That has driven sales volume up in Nevada, California and other states hit hard by foreclosures, but these heavily discounted homes have also pushed median prices down.

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"Home markets are weak just about everywhere," said Pat Newport, an analyst with HIS Global Insight, "but in a few states, distressed sales are driving transactions." In Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla., which has the third-highest rate of foreclosure filings in the nation, prices fell a devastating 50.8% for the year, to $110,900 from $225,300. That was the most precipitous plunge for any metro area. In Saginaw, Mich., prices fell 41.4%. In Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., prices dropped 40.8% and in San Jose, Calif., prices declined 37.7%.

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Assuming housing provisions in the economic stimulus package are quickly enacted and provide enough encouragement for homebuyers, we could see a quick lift in home sales for the critical spring home-buying season," said Yun. On Thursday, it appeared that the final iteration of the homebuyer's tax credit, which had very different provisions in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package, was shaping up to be closer to the House bill, according to Yun.

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That means a credit of $7,500, perhaps $8,000, or 10% of home price for first-time homebuyers. This windfall will not have to be repaid by homebuyers and can be taken off 2008 taxes. NAR estimates that could draw in an additional half-million buyers this year. "It could help reduce the high inventory of homes for sale," said Yun, "and get housing markets moving again. It's hard to get the economy back to growth until that happened."

More Thursday Male Beauty

Lawrence King's Killer Made Numerous Death Threats

UPDATED: My fellow Blogger Summit attendee, Waymon Hudson, has a thoughtful post on this sad anniversary at Bilerico Project that I recommend.

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New revelations are emerging in court filings in the murder trial of Brandon McInerney who gunned down Lawrence "Larry" King a year ago. While efforts have been made to depict McInerney as the victim of King's unwanted attention, the evidence filed by the prosecution suggests otherwise. Most homophobes are bullies and seem to seek out and/or target their victims - that was my experience as a sometime target - and it looks like McInerney may have been the one who harassed King who fought back with verbal retorts. Personally, I also suspect that the constant anti-gay drumbeat put out by the Christianist/Mormons and the GOP only add to an atmosphere where homophobes feel free to engage in violence against LGBT citizens. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

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Lawrence "Larry" King wasn't sexually harassing fellow eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney in the weeks leading up to King's shooting death, prosecutors contend in court documents. McInerney was the aggressor, teasing the effeminate King for weeks and vowing to "get a gun and shoot" him, according to a prosecution brief. Multiple students provided accounts of a growing hostility between the two boys, the document shows.

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"In the days before the shooting, the defendant tried to enlist others to administer a beating to Larry," Deputy Dist. Atty. Maeve Fox wrote in a "statement of facts" filed with the brief. "When that failed for lack of interest, he decided to kill Larry."Prosecutors said they provided their most detailed account to date of the events leading to the classroom killing to counter the defense's argument that murder charges against McInerney, then 14, were improperly filed in adult court.

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In her statement of facts, Fox contends that King and McInerney had an acrimonious relationship for months prior to the shooting. They sparred with "typical 8th grade, back-and-forth insults; some sexual, some not," she wrote.Witnesses said King was usually not the aggressor. But after months of teasing by McInerney and other male students who called him "faggot," he had began to retort, according to prosecutors.

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The day before the shooting, the two boys were bickering during seventh period. When King left, a student witness said that McInerney commented, "I'm going to shoot him."Just after that class, another student heard King say "I love you" to McInerney as they passed in a hallway. The same student then heard McInerney say he was "going to get a gun and shoot" King, according to prosecutors. A few minutes later, prosecutors allege, McInerney told one of King's friends: "Say goodbye to your friend Larry because you're never going to see him again."

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The prosecution brief also reveals for the first time that McInerney was familiar with firearms, and that he had used that particular weapon in the past during target shooting with his family.Investigators found a training video in his possession titled "Shooting in Realistic Environments," as well as skinhead and neo-Nazi books and similar writings from the Internet, prosecutors wrote.

More Campaign Finance Problems for Mormon Church?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that another campaign finance complaint is going to be filed against the Mormon Church for its failure to report various contributions made to the Yes on 8 campaign. From my own past involvement with campaigns, I find it somewhat hard to believe that the Mormon Church - not exactly a mom and pop operation - was not aware of the campaign finance reporting requirements in California. Far too often elements of the far right seem to think that the laws apply to everyone but them. It will be interesting to see what new disclosures come out as time goes by. Here are some story highlights:

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The money war over Proposition 8 shows no signs of letting up. Opponents of the measure, which banned gay marriage in California, said today that they plan to file a second complaint with the state alleging the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints deliberately did not disclose its financial contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign.

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Californians Against Hate already filed one complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, sparking an ongoing investigation of whether the church violated campaign finance laws. The church has repeatedly said it did not violate any rules and was not trying to hide how much the church gave.

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“I’m calling this Mormongate,” Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, told the Associated Press. “I think there’s been a massive coverup.”

Gay Bashing As a Fundraiser

I have stated many times that the "family values crowd has turned gay-hating into an art form - and a huge tool to raise money so that the leaders of these "Christian" organizations can live comfortably without working like the rest of us. One of the most foul of these organizations is the Traditional Values Coalition. While I mind all of these organizations the antithesis of being Christian, TVC has taken the anti-gay model to a new level and has been certified as a hate organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks hate organizations around the country. To be certified as an anti-gay hate group, the organization must go beyond mere disagreement with homosexuality by subjecting gays and lesbians to campaigns of personal vilification. The form below shows how TVC uses as anti-gay bigotry as a fundraising tool.

While the form itself is bad enough, a brief viewing of the TVC website discloses that vilifying gays is an obsession with this organization and the most outrageous lies and recitations of bogus "research" is the norm for TVC. To win the ultimate battle for gay equality, we need to know our enemies and better yet educate the rest of the country as to what these false Christian groups are really all about. Hat trick to Jeremy at Good As You.

Thursday Male Beauty

Another Witch Hunt: No One Asked; She Didn't Tell

I talk often about Don't Ask, Don't Tell in part because the whole policy is blatantly discriminatory and based on religious beliefs that have no place in doling out rights to citizens. In my view, the Christianist support for the policy is part of their agenda to have the laws treat gays as inferiors which helps bootstrap their anti-gay agenda. All their talk about unit cohesion and military readiness is a mere smoke screen for their real agenda of denigration. More importantly, however, I write about DADT because I know so many dedicated gays in the military who have to worry constantly about being outed by bigots and/or those who hold some sort of personal grudge or jealousy. In fact, I have clients who were outed and discharged and never even learned who had betrayed them. Other times the outing may result from meddlesome gossip. The latest example of DADT's poisonous effect is that of Amy Brian who was thrown out of the Kansas Army National Guard after a civilian co-worker said she had seen Brian kissing a woman in the checkout line at a Wal-Mart store. The fact that Brian had served in Iraq without any difficulties meant nothing and she was discharged. All this injustice so that sex obsessed homo-haters like Elaine Donnelly - who has NO military experience herself - can feel self-satisfied and superior to gays. Here are some highlights from the Capital-Journal:

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Amy Brian found out this past November just what the military's "don't ask-don't tell" policy means. No one in the military asked her if she was gay during her nine years in the Kansas Army National Guard. And she didn't tell anybody in the military she was gay.

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But in August 2008, a Kansas Army National Guard lieutenant informed Brian she was being investigated for homosexual conduct after a female civilian co-worker at the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office said she had seen Brian kissing a woman in the checkout line at a Wal-Mart store. From the moment the co-worker made her statement, Brian's performance record and the sacrifices she had made to serve her country in Iraq no longer mattered.

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She joins nearly 12,500 other lesbian, gay and bisexual service members who have been discharged by the Pentagon from 1994 through 2007. "I was not separated because of any type of misconduct but plain and simply because someone else had a problem with my sexuality," Brian said.

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All seemed to be going well until this past July, when another gay Guardsman told Brian "somebody has it in for you" and advised her to delete her MySpace page, where she had indicated she was a lesbian. Brian said the effort to remove her from the Guard started with a barrage of anonymous e-mails referencing her sexual orientation and a networking Web site where her photo was posted. The e-mails were sent to her chain of command, including the Kansas Adjutant General's Office.

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Brian's life since her military discharge has been stressful. She went without work for two months and dipped into her 401(k) savings to get by. She couldn't finish her master's degree because she had lost her educational benefits. Most of all, she has had a difficult time rectifying the discharge in her mind. She said she served with heterosexual soldiers who were found guilty of adultery, sexual harassment, and credit card fraud and received disciplinary actions instead of discharges.

What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common

I lived in Alabama for four years right after graduating from law school - in the Mobile area to be precise. While the state was certainly conservative back in that time era, based on the state's recent voting record and my experiences traversing the state after Hurricane Katrina to bring back evacuees the state seems to be lurching much farther to the lunatic far right fringe. A new Gallup study shows that the driving force for this phenomenon may likely be the strength of religious belief in Alabama as opposed to say Massachusetts. In fact, religious fervor in Alabama is roughly the same as that in Iran. Yes, I said Iran. Obviously, that is a frightening realization and perhaps also a reflection as to why Alabama ranks so low in terms of per capita income. In fact, the Gallup study revealed that with few exceptions, the least religious nations in the world were also the ones with the highest standards of living. The results also clearly show that the states that voted for McCain/Palin are the ones that are most religious and the ones with the lowest standards of living.
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One unanswered question is: does religious belief drive down a nation's standard of living or does a low standard of living encourage a high level of religiousity? Here are some highlights from the Gallup study:
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In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Gallup asked representative samples in 143 countries and territories whether religion was an important part of their daily lives. The accompanying map shows religiosity by country, ranging from the least religious to the most religious on a relative basis.
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[A] population's religiosity level is strongly related to its average standard of living. Gallup's World Poll, for example, indicates that 8 of the 11 countries in which almost all residents (at least 98%) say religion is important in their daily lives are poorer nations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 10 least religious countries studied include several with the world's highest living standards, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, and Japan.
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Lining up these percentages with those on our worldwide list allows us to match residents of the most religious states to the global populations with which they are similar in terms of religiosity. The results produce some interesting comparisons -- Alabamians, for example, are about as likely as Iranians to say religion is an important part or their lives.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Theocrat Huckabee: Stimulus is "Anti-Religion"'

Further proving that he is utterly unqualified to ever be president of the United States, Mike Huckabee - who believes that the U.S. Constitution should mirror Biblical law - is whining that the economic stimulus bill is "anti-religion." In doing so, Huckabee demonstrates that either he is clueless on the issue of the trade offs involved for religious being able to discriminate based on religious affiliation and receiving taxpayer funds or he's a liar. Perhaps he's both. Moreover, his statements show that he has nothing but contempt for the concept of separation of church and state. Here are some highlights from Politico that reveal Huckabee's demagogic statements:

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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee warned supporters Tuesday that the $828 billion stimulus package is “anti-religious.” The former Republican presidential candidate pointed to a provision in both the House and Senate versions banning higher education funds in the bill from being used on a “school or department of divinity.”

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“Emily’s List, radical environmental groups, etc. all have a seat at the decision making table in Washington these days,” he continued. “Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are in charge and they are working with an equally ‘progressive’ President Obama (remember his voting record is more liberal than Ted Kennedy!).”

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“This is the opening round of the Democrats’ campaign for big government,” he wrote. “We cannot afford to sit round one out, because if we do, they will only become more emboldened and their grab for power more audacious and damaging to our country and our freedoms.”

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I view Huckabee and those like him as a clear threat to freedoms for ALL citizens. If religious organizations and religious affiliated colleges and universities want to build divinity schools, they can do so. Just don't ask taxpayers to pay for them. The Christianist groups could easily shift moneys from their war against gays and build any number of divinity schools.

Truth Wins Out - AFA Propaganda Piece Rejected

On Monday I published a post that outlined a new effort by the American Family Association to disseminate grossly untrue anti-gay propaganda via a one hour television program called " "Speechless: Silencing Christians." The airtime premier of this fraudulent hate piece piece was to air on WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Except, the station has rescinded its prior agreement to air the paid broadcast. No doubt Don Wildmon at AFA is convulsing and the spittle is flying. I suspect that once the station realized precisely what poison it was being paid to air, it quickly wanted to distance itself from the hate speech. From my years tracking of "family values" organizations, AFA is among the most dishonest in the lies it disseminates about LGBT citizens. Here are highlights from the station's website:

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - WOOD TV8 has rescinded the offer to air a controversial paid program originally set to air Monday. "Speechless: Silencing Christians" was scheduled to air Monday at 7 p.m ., in the slot immediately before President Barack Obama's prime time press conference. The program was pulled from that slot. The producers were contacted and offered another time slot.

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In a statement Wednesday, WOOD/WOTV/WXSP General Manager Diane Kniowski said the offer is now off the table. "We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It's been 24 hours and we had no response," Kniowski said. "Our station is being bombarded with calls and messages, and we find ourselves in the middle of someone else's fight. Ours was a fair offer and we are removing ourselves from this matter."

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HRC had the following things to say about the AFA program as it called upon concerned citizens to contact WOOD-TV8 and voice their concern over the airing of a fraudulent and hate based program:
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Make no mistake: this is the opening salvo in a coming battle over pro-equality legislation. Just as we are on the cusp of historic change – a federal hate crimes law, protections for LGBT workers against job discrimination – extremist groups like the AFA are launching a well-funded national campaign of hatred and fear to halt our progress.

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This program recycles familiar lies: that hate crime laws will “do away with our freedom of speech,” or that pastors will be “criminalized for sharing the love of Jesus Christ.” (In fact, the proposed federal hate crimes law explicitly states that it only applies to physical violence – not speech.). The “anchor” of this faux-news program, which may have already aired in smaller markets, is controversial talk show host Janet Parshall, who in 2006 suggested Matthew Shepard’s lifestyle was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption “state-sanctioned child abuse.”

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The AFA has worked for years to silence LGBT people and their loved ones. Now it claims to be a victim of censorship. But this isn’t civil and this isn’t a debate. This is lies and anti-gay propaganda launched to defeat an inclusive Hate Crimes bill.

Wednesday Male Beauty

The Christianist Propaganda Blue Print

Having followed the tactics and propaganda methods of a number "family values" Christian organizations for a number of years, one thing has always struck me. Namely, that their tactics and their propaganda campaigns against gays draw heavily on the Nazi propaganda machine Hitler used against the Jews and to claw his way to power. They clearly believe - like Hitler - that if you tell a lie often enough, people will ultimately begin to think the lie is true. Similarly, they use the pseudo-science put out by NARTH and individuals like Paul Cameron to support the "choice myth" as I call it and to make all kinds of claims depicting gays as diseased vermin and threats "to the famoly."

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Sadly, the MSM generally fails to challenge their claims and merely provides a platform where the lies can be repeated yet again. Likewise, news anchors never look beyond the lofty titles that these organizations give to their talking head representatives, most of whom have no credentials at all other than whacked out religious beliefs and degrees from obscure bible colleges. A new exhibit at the Holcaust Museum in Washington, D.C., "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda," focusing on the Nazi Propoganda machine once again helps make it clear where our enemies have drawn their inspiration for their attacks against LGBT citizens. LGBT rights organizations must do a far better job of exposing this type of propaganda and countering it. Here are some highlights on the exhibit from the Washington Post:

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"State of Deception," . . . covers much of the same ground as the museum's permanent collection, while more explicitly emphasizing the degree to which propaganda was the very fiber of the whole Nazi project. It's also a subject of ongoing debate in our own political culture, where politicians routinely resort to the same techniques -- simplification, vilification, message branding -- that the Nazis relied on seven decades ago.

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In her preface to the exhibition catalogue, museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield is particularly concerned about how new media might revive ideas and tactics that should have been thoroughly discredited in the rubble of conquered Germany. "The haters and propagandists have new tools in this age of the Internet, and at the same time consumers of information seem less equipped to handle the massive amount of unmediated information confronting them daily," she writes.

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Nazis used sophisticated niche messaging, especially during their rise to power in the early 1930s, tailoring ideology to different interest groups. . . . And they understood the many facets of propaganda, from its positive powers -- to instill a sense of unity and purpose in a beleaguered population -- to its slow, corrosive power to foster indifference and, finally, hatred.

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The exhibition includes toy soldiers in brown shirts and Nazi armbands; games such as "Jews Out!," played on a board ringed with an old, medieval city wall, and "Radio Sende Spiel," which encouraged players to avoid enemy or foreign radio stations; and children's books such as "The Poisonous Mushroom," which showed a Jewish caricature rendered as blue-headed toadstool.

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It covers the pseudo-science of race as it was taught in public schools and the recasting of German history as a series of grand accomplishments and horrific betrayals (by Jews, capitalists, communists and outsiders of all stripes). It demonstrates how hatred was deployed like a fusillade to soften the populace before the country goose-stepped over yet another line of civilized behavior. . . . raises the question of whether we can draw lines between hate speech and incitement before people start dying.

Wall Street Arrogance

I'm beginning to think the leaders of the nations largest banks and financial houses have studied the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican for leadership style: make all kinds of horrifically bad decisions, allow all kinds of excesses to occur, and then refuse to be held accountable or to change behavior. These folks after all made/allowed decisions that led to billions of dollars of losses and head up companies receiving billions of taxpayer bailout funds. Yet they tacitly deny any responsibility and continue to draw obscene salaries while the average American suffers in the financial nightmare these people helped trigger largely due to greed and failure to perform their jobs responsibly. Why they haven't all been fired or resigned is troubling. Why some of these individuals did not practice what a few are now preaching is the height of hypocrisy. The Washington Post looks at the phenomenon. Here are some highlights:

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The chieftains of eight of the nation's largest banks could receive a tongue-lashing when they testify before a House committee today, but some on Wall Street have moved to preempt the withering criticism by proposing their own solutions to the economic meltdown.

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The banks helmed by Blankfein [Goldman Sachs head] and the other seven chief executives called to appear before the House Financial Services Committee this morning received $165 billion from the $700 billion government bailout. Lawmakers are furious at the executives over accounts of their lavish spending since receiving the taxpayer funds, and have attacked them for hoarding the money instead of using it to boost lending.

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Blankfein, whose firm received $10 billion in the bailout, also called for limits on executive compensation that could be more stringent in some circumstances than President Obama has proposed. Blankfein said senior executives should be paid a large portion of their bonuses in equity that they must retain until they retire. He also said it was critical that companies put a priority on reducing the risk of losses, arguing that it is necessary to prevent another crisis.

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But in previous statements, the executives have tried to strike a careful balance between acknowledging the need for more regulation and being reluctant to have rules stifling innovation. In a speech last year, Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit said there was a need for better regulatory oversight of systemic risk.

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These folks have proven themselves incapable of self-over sight and Congress needs to clamp down with new regulations to force a new behavior pattern. As for the banks hording bailout funds rather than make loans, they should be forced to return the bailout funds.

Final Tuesday Male Beauty

What the Mormons and Christianists Do Not Get

I received a lengthy comment the other day from someone who I assume is a Mormon which I debated whether or not to publish since it is basically a propaganda piece. While the author is apparently Mormon, the mindset is very much the same as the far right Christianists who view the concept of freedom of religion as them being allowed to ride rough shod over everyone else and inflict their religious views on all. The Founders never intended that one religious group - no matter the denomination or faith - would entitled to force their beliefs on all and to determine which citizens are afforded rights and which citizens are not. Yet this precisely what the Mormons and Christianists endeavor to do literally on a daily basis. A few statements in the comment made this point very clear:

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Marriage was ordained by God from the very beginning of time. He created two people, a man named Adam and a woman named Eve. They were married by Him, not just during this lifetime, but forever. Together, they were told to begin a family and raise their children together. From the first days of the earth, God set the pattern for family life—a man and a woman, and, if possible, children. This basic family structure creates an appropriate foundation for all other units of society and for an eternal life. . . . With this in mind, the Mormons, as representatives of God, must take a firm stand on anything that affects the sanctity and well-being of the family, one of God’s most sacred creations.

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These beliefs are all fine and good as long as the Mormons hold these beliefs to themselves and live whatever way they choose FOR THEMSELVES. However, the instant they seek to impose those beliefs on me or anyone else, they have crossed the line and deprived me of the freedom of religion to reject or ignore those beliefs if I so choose for MYSELF. It's such a simple concept - you are free to believe what you want as long as you do not try to impose it on me or take away my civil legal rights because I do not believ the same thing - yet the Mormons and Christianists just do not get it. It's all about them and to Hell with the rights of everyone else. It's incredibly selfish - not to mention contrary to the U. S. Constitution.

Porn Star to Oppose David Vitter?

Sometimes a real news story arises that is just too funny. A case in point is a story out of Louisiana involving an effort to recruit porn star Stormy Daniels to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana now held by Republican Sen. David Vitter. You know, the same David Vitter who has a habit of using New Orleans and DC prostitutes even though he is married and claims to be a "family values" Republican. While her ability to run against Vitter is no doubt limited, even talk of her campaign hopefully will highlight the fact that Vitter is a hypocrite who sings the "family values" mantra merely to dupe the unintelligent into voting for him, Here are some highlights from CNN:

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Fans of porn star Stormy Daniels are drafting her to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana now held by Republican Sen. David Vitter. And it's no racy gimmick, they say. The Draft Stormy Web site says that "2010 presents the Pelican State with the opportunity to start with a clean slate -- to elect a representative that we can be proud of, who will work tirelessly, and who will challenge the status quo.

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Vitter is famous -- or infamous -- for his link to the "D.C. Madam," the woman who ran a prostitution ring. Elected to the Senate in 2004, he admitted to "a very serious sin in my past" in July 2007 after his phone number turned up in records of an escort service run by the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the D.C. Madam.

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The Draft Stormy movement said Daniels' "real world experience and special understanding of the economic hardships facing Louisianans and Americans make her uniquely qualified to take on the tough challenges we face.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Wingnuts Target North Carolina

Living roughly 25 miles or less from the Virginia/North Carolina border and being a frequent visitor to the Outer Banks, hearing about pending legislation in the Tar Heel state is a common occurrence with coverage often appearing in the Virginian Pilot. While North Carolina cannot in any way be described as a progressive state (although it has progressive pockets such as the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area), amazingly to date the Democrats in the North Carolina legislature have been able to keep every effort to enact an anti-gay amendment to the state's constitution. Not surprisingly, this fact drives the Christianist wingnuts crazy and as Pam's House Blend is reporting, an effort is underway to write hate into the North Carolina constitution. Here are highlights from Pam's blog as well as some from Matt Comer at Q-Notes, a fellow LGBT Blogger Summit attendee:

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As the last state in the South without a marriage amendment, North Carolina is a prime target for rally the battle cry of anti-gay religious forces and scare a General Assembly full of legislators who don't want to discuss the issue. For five years the Dems have killed the bill in committee. If it were to make it to a floor vote it would pass because even many of the Dems haven't the spine to publicly oppose the amendment -- they were happy to see it die without debate. If the civil right of Tar Heel same-sex couples to marry were on the ballot it would likely pass.

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As Matt notes, the Christianists are mounting another push to intimidate the legislature:

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A coalition of anti-LGBT, fundamentalist churches has announced it will hold a rally at the North Carolina Legislative building in support of “traditional marriage.” On March 3, churches across the state will bring busloads of rally participants to Halifax Mall, the green park behind the building where state legislators meet daily for legislative work. The rally, expected to draw thousands, is being organized by the Winston-Salem-based Return America. Berean Baptist Church pastor Ron Baity is the organizer.

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Speakers at this year’s rally include anti-gay activists lawyer David Gibbs, III and WallBuilders ministry founder David Barton. On Feb. 22, NC4Marriage will urge pastors and churches to participate in their “Marriage Sunday,” setting aside the day to preach on the place of “traditional marriage” and homosexuality. According to the Christian Action League, Marriage Sunday will also “[inform] congregants about the NC4Marriage campaign to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment.”

The Canadian Example

There are many in the GOP and the Christianist far right who routinely deride Canada. They deride Canada's health care system that affords some level of protection to all citizens while here in the USA millions and millions lack access to health care. Similarly, they deride Canada for its legal protections for LGBT citizens - including gay marriage - and disingenuously whine that Christians are being persecuted in Canada. All the while these critics in a xenophobic manner act as if the United States is God's favored country and that it can do no wrong. They are, of course, wrong on many fronts and the recent financial crash provides but one example of where the USA could learn from Canada. Fareed Zakaria has an article in Newsweek that looks at the way in which the Canadian banking system has avoided collapse and disarray in the current financial crisis. One would think that part of the USA effort for recovery should include implementing some of the Canadian policies. Here are some highlights:

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Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.

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Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. . . . So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.

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Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north.

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Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes.

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The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. . . . Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S."

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If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach.

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As I have said before, based on my visits to Canada and its enlightened approach to LGBT issues, if I could find a way to emigrate to Canada I would.

Tuesday Male Beauty

The Destructive Center

Paul Krugman at the New York Times has another must read column that looks at the dangers of failing to act sufficiently to revive the quickly failing U.S. economy. Sadly too many - particularly in the GOP - prefer to play politics and make debate points rather than face the fact that business as usual will likely bring upon us a catastrophe. Of course, had the GOP worried more about sound economic matters and less about abortion and bashing gays, much of the crisis just might have been averted. Meanwhile, real people are losing their jobs daily and real families are losing their homes. Barack Obama needs to wake up quickly to the fact that the GOP doesn't give a damn about average Americans. They only seek to coddle the religious lunatic fringe and the well off. Here are some column highlights:

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What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses? A proud centrist. For that is what the senators who ended up calling the tune on the stimulus bill just accomplished.

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Even if the original Obama plan — around $800 billion in stimulus, with a substantial fraction of that total given over to ineffective tax cuts — had been enacted, it wouldn’t have been enough to fill the looming hole in the U.S. economy, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will amount to $2.9 trillion over the next three years. Yet the centrists did their best to make the plan weaker and worse.

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One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending. . . . All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump.

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But how did this happen? I blame President Obama’s belief that he can transcend the partisan divide — a belief that warped his economic strategy. After all, many people expected Mr. Obama to come out with a really strong stimulus plan, reflecting both the economy’s dire straits and his own electoral mandate. Instead, however, he offered a plan that was clearly both too small and too heavily reliant on tax cuts. Why? Because he wanted the plan to have broad bipartisan support. . .

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So Mr. Obama was reduced to bargaining for the votes of those centrists. And the centrists, predictably, extracted a pound of flesh — not, as far as anyone can tell, based on any coherent economic argument, but simply to demonstrate their centrist mojo.

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[R]ather than acknowledge the failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the president tried to put a postpartisan happy face on the whole thing. “Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,” he declared on Saturday, and “the scale and scope of this plan is right.” No, they didn’t, and no, it isn’t.