Anti-gay Virginia Lawmaker Bob Marshall

Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Prince William), pictured at left, is one of the most homophobic and gay hating members of the Virginia General Assembly. He even once stated that he hoped Virginia's anti-gay laws - most of which he helped author, including the anti-gay marriage Marshall-Newman amendment to Virginia's Constitution - would cause LGBT citizens to leave Virginia. As the November elections approach, much effort will be focused on defeating Marshall and ridding the House of Delegates of one of its most poisonous members. Marshall - like most of the darlings of The Family Foundation and Pat Robertson - believes that he should be allowed to inflict his hate based religious views on all Virginians. Marshall is truly a nasty piece of work and one can only hope that with the changing demographics in Northern Virginia he will be sent into retirement and cease being a voice for anti-gay bigotry in Richmond. Here are some highlights from the Washington Blade on this important contest:

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A longtime opponent of LGBT rights is seeking to retain his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in the face of increased pressure from activists seeking to remove him from office.Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William), one of the few remaining social conservatives from Northern Virginia still holding public office, will attempt to hold onto his 13th District seat in November. Challenging Marshall for the House seat is John Bell, an Air Force veteran of 26 years who served as a comptroller for military operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Marshall drew the ire of LGBT residents after he became chief sponsor of the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which in 2006 codified a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions in the Virginia Constitution.

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Marshall also criticized a long-suffering bill that would allow Virginia companies to extend life insurance policies to the same-sex partners of employees.“When I read homosexual literature and magazines, the average income of homosexuals is much higher than that of heterosexual couples,” he said. “If I believed your magazine and homosexual rights’ so-called proponents, there’s no need for that.”

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Marshall’s opponent in the race has virtually the opposite position on every issue impacting gay residents. Bell said during a Blade interview Aug. 7 that he’s “very strongly a supporter of equality for every citizen” and is bothered when someone tries to take away rights from other people. “Bob has pretty much led the assault every year on the right to choose, and also has assaulted especially the gay and lesbian community with Marshall-Newman and other amendments he’s done and bills he’s introduced,” Bell said.

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Bell said he supports same-sex marriage and called the Marshall-Newman Amendment “a disgrace to the Commonwealth of Virginia.” “I believe it’s a black mark on our state,” he said. “It enshrines our Constitution with discrimination. I believe the Constitution should guarantee the rights of citizens, not guarantee taking them away.” Bell said he would not only vote to repeal the amendment, but would sponsor such an initiative. He also said he’d support legislation prohibiting bias in the public and private workforces based on sexual orientation and would support legislation allowing Virginia companies to provide life insurance benefits to the same-sex partners of employees.

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Bell said he thinks he can defeat Marshall because of the changing demographic in Loudoun and Prince William counties, noting the growth and development of the 13th District.“Last year, President Obama won the district and also [Democrat U.S. Sen.] Mark Warner won the district with a big margin,” he said. “So we know that there are enough Democratic voters in the district now to win.” . . . the race in the 13th District is important because many gay Virginians detest Marshall.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Iran Tries to Suppress Rape Allegations

It is very hard to believe that the accusations that detained protesters were in some cases raped and sodomized are untrue. These violent acts were no doubt one by some of the same thugs that beat protesters to death and/or shot them in cold blood. What better way to demean and humiliate detainees that to sexually violate them. And then there's the fact that like all religious based tyrants, the current Islamic leaders lie without a second thought and somehow expect that thinking people will buy their bullshit. My rule of thumb is that the louder people protest that fact based allegations are untrue, the more one knows that they are knowingly lying. One can only hope that the accusations will continue and that pressure will build to force and investigation that will expose the crimes of the ruling dictators. Here are some highlights from the New York Times on the ongoing issue:

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Iran’s clerical leadership on Friday stepped up a campaign to silence opposition claims that protesters had been raped in prison, with prayer leaders in at least three major cities denouncing the accusations and their chief sponsor.

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The accusations of rape — usually a taboo subject in Iran — have multiplied and provoked strong reactions in the days since a reformist cleric and presidential candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, broached the subject last weekend. His allegations added fuel to an already volatile debate about prison abuse in the wake of Iran’s disputed June 12 election.

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Also on Friday, a group of reformist former lawmakers issued an extraordinary statement on opposition Web sites in which they denounced the government’s harsh tactics and appealed to a powerful state body to investigate the qualifications of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although it was not clear who had endorsed the statement, or even if all of the lawmakers were in the country, it appeared to be the most direct challenge to the supreme leader’s authority yet in the unrest following the election.

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But Mr. Karroubi appeared to be undaunted, and he pressed ahead with more claims of jailhouse sexual abuse in a statement posted on his party’s Web site late Thursday. He said he had received testimony from former prisoners that they had seen other detainees “forced to go naked, crawling on their hands and knees like animals, with prison guards riding on their backs.” Others told of watching as fellow prisoners guilty only of marching and chanting slogans were beaten to death, Mr. Karroubi said.

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The former lawmakers praised Mr. Karroubi for publicizing the rape accusations and angrily dismissed the mass trial of reformists now under way as a Stalinesque show trial. They also echoed opposition complaints about the brutality of the crackdown that followed the protests.

The Truth About Health Care Reform

What with the crazies that are showing up at Congressional "town hall meetings" and making all kinds of wild allegations against proposed provisions of the pending legislation, it is helpful to look at what is really under consideration. Already provisions that would have provided for coverage of counseling about end of life decisions - i.e., executing living wills to avoid being kept alive as a vegetable for months or even years on a ventilator and executing durable medical powers of attorney so that family members or trusted friends can guaranty that your wishes are followed - have been deleted from the bill.

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The irony, of course is that it is likely that it will be the very same protesters and opponents of such legal documents who will see their families bankrupted by costly and useless treatments of relatives with irreversible brain death who are kept alive for extensive periods even though the end result is already known. This situations are great for medical providers who will go on treating and billing indefinitely, but are tragic for both the one dying and distraught family members who will face crushing medical costs. The fact is that medical cost nightmares are the second leading cause for families going into bankruptcy. Here are some highlights of the REAL proposals would do:

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8 Ways Reform Provides Security and Stability to Those With or Without Coverage:

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Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

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Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

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Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.

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Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.

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Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.

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Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.

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Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

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Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

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As for the lies and untruths that are being disseminated by covert GOP operatives and a number of "family values" organizations, here are a few things that are NOT true:

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1. Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It’s a myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

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2. We can’t afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It’s a myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.

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3. Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions.

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4. Vets' health care is safe and sound: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans.

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5. Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.

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6. Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It’s myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare "doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.

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7. You can keep your own insurance: It’s myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

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8. No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts. Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose. Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all other electronic payments that people make.

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I hope Obama and the Congressional Democrats will go on an offense to expose the lies of the "protesters" and - one can at least hope -that the MSM will start exposing those behind the lies.

Saturday Male Beauty

Gay Marriage - A Moral Crossroads For Conservatives

Columnist Jonathan Rauch has a piece at the National Journal that intersects with a piece by fellow Bilerico contributor Cathy Renna (pictured at left in the photo) - who I met last year at the LGBT Blogger Summit - on the issue of same sex marriage. Rauch's piece is based on a true experience that happened to a gay cousin while Cathy looks at the impact of her own marriage on same sex relationships. Combined, they highlight why the truly "conservative" approach to marriage should be to make it available to all couples who desire it because of its ability to increase stability and afford legal rights. In contrast, of course, the falsely conservative :family values" organizations seek to destabilize and marginalize same sex relationships to the maximum extent possible based on the religious based intolerance - which mocks the concept of freedom of religion for ALL citizens. First, some highlights from Rauch's column:

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Last October, Bill Meezan, my cousin, left his home in Columbus, Ohio, for a business trip to Philadelphia. . . . Mike Brittenback recalls sharply how doctors in Philadelphia called him in Columbus to say they suspected pneumonia. Mike, an organist and choirmaster, is Bill's partner of 30 years. A few hours later that Friday, they called back to confirm the diagnosis. Mike was concerned but not alarmed. At 3 a.m. the next day, the phone woke him up. It was a doctor in Philadelphia. Mike needed to come to Philadelphia immediately. Bill had gone into septic shock and might not survive more than a few hours.
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Having just been told, at 3 a.m., that his partner of three decades might die within hours, Mike Brittenback was told something else: Before rushing to Bill's side, he needed to collect and bring with him documents proving his medical power of attorney. This indignity, unheard-of in the world of heterosexual marriage, is a commonplace of American gay life.

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National Review has a cover story this month by Maggie Gallagher, a prominent anti-gay-marriage activist, subtitled: "Why Gay Marriage Isn't Inevitable." She is right, in a sense. Most states explicitly ban same-sex marriage. . . In another sense, however, she is wrong. Never again will America not have gay marriage, and never again will less than a majority favor some kind of legal and social recognition for same-sex couples. The genie that gay-marriage opponents still hope to stuff back into the bottle is out and out for good.

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If gay couples can't be allowed to marry, what should they be able to do? Asked this question, cultural conservatives say, in the words of Tom Lehrer's song about the German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, "That's not my department." Effectively, conservatives are saying that what Mike and Bill do for each other has no significance outside their own bedroom.

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But what happened in that hospital in Philadelphia for those six weeks was not just Mike and Bill's business, a fact that is self-evident to any reasonable human being who hears the story. "Mike was making a medical decision at least once a day that would have serious consequences," Bill told me. Who but a life partner would or could have done that? Who but a life partner will drop everything to provide constant care? Bill's mother told me that if not for Mike, her son would have died. Faced with this reality, what kind of person, morally, simply turns away and offers silence?

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Conservatives have a decision to make. They can continue pretending that the bond between Mike and Bill does not exist, is of no social value, or has no place on conservatives' agenda. Doing so would be of a piece with their retreat to economic Hooverism, their embrace of cultural Palinism, and, in general, their preference for purity over relevance.

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Or they can acknowledge what to most of the country is already obvious: Whether the nation finally settles on marriage or on something else for gay couples, Bill and Mike are now in the mainstream and the Republican Party is not. If cultural conservatism continues to treat same-sex couples as outside the social covenant, the currents of history will flow right around it, and future generations of conservatives will wonder how their predecessors could ever have made such a callous and politically costly mistake.

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I believe that Rauch's analysis on on target and both the professional Christian set and religious denominations that fail to fully accept same sex partners as full members and rostered clergy will someday be viewed in the same category as the most foul racists and segregationists are by most people today. The choice is theirs as to how they want to be viewed by history. This point is further highlighted by some of Cathy's reflections:

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A new book by M.V. Lee Badgett, Professor of Economics, director of the Center of Public Policy And Administration at Amherst and research director of the Williams Institute on Public Policy at UCLA School of Law (phew, her business card must be huge!) has written a compelling and very useful addition to the debate about marriage equality. . . . Her verdict: marriage changes gay people more than gay people change marriage. Take that, Family Research Council!

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On a personal level, this book resonated with much of my family's experience of the issue of marriage equality, including the true value of marriage, how our marriage has impacted the heterosexual people on our lives and the many ways this is changing the way we look at families in general.

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My wife and I had an amazing wedding in 2003. It sounds trite, but is was the happiest day of our lives. We affirmed our commitment and vows to each other in the eyes of God(ess) and in front of about 100 members of our family, chosen family and friends. That ritual was such an important part of building the foundation of a solid relationship.

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There are many sides to this issue and this new book is a much needed addition to the conversation. And I am sure no matter what beach you are reading it on, you'll probably prompt some conversations as well.

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I firmly believe that all unrelated consenting adult couples who desire to be married should be able to do so not only for the legal and emotional benefits it will bring to them, but also because it provides a stabilizing glue to relationships and formalizes a "family" for the couple's children and relatives. I truly do not understand why this so terrifies the homophobes and self-hating closet cases like Robert Knight and ex-gays for pay.

Harry Potter Star Daniel Radcliffe Blasts Parents Who Oppose Gay Sex Ed

Daniel Radcliffe, who just recently gave a major donation to the Trevor Project, has taken another step in support of LGBT youth by blasting homophobic Christo-fascists who oppose education about homosexual sex in the classroom. Like it or not LGBT youth do exist and they have every right to competent and fact based sex education just like every other student (although I suspect that these same people oppose sex ed period unless it's abstinence only - an approach that has been documented NOT to work). We truly need more stars speaking out and putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to challenging the hate and intolerance disseminated daily by "family values" professional Christians. Frankly, I believe that nothing would make some of these homophobes happier than to see all LGBT individuals sicken with HIV and die. Here are some highlights on Radcliffe's statements:

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20-year-old Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has, in an interview with a homosexual magazine, expressed anger and intolerance for parents who oppose education about homosexual sex in the classroom. "Then there's all this stuff at the moment, which is hateful, about people being up in arms about the idea of gay sex education in schools. Hello!?! Actually for the one or two gay kids in the class, it's f***ing vital! It really makes me angry," he said in an interview with Attitude.

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The magazine quotes Radcliffe continuing his tirade against pro-family parents saying: "I just loathe homophobia. It's just disgusting and animal and stupid and it's just thick people who can't get their heads around it and are just scared." He concluded the point assuring his interviewer, "I'm not just saying that because I'm being interviewed for Attitude. I'd be using a lot stronger language if this wasn't on tape."

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Radcliffe returned to the theme when asked about Potter author Rowlings' admission that she intended one of the characters in the novels and film to be homosexual. "The idea that there can't be a gay character in a kid's film," he said. "It's the same thing, this terrible fear of exposing anybody below the age of consent to anything vaguely gay … it's ridiculous. I just brushed those questions aside. I'd never normally do that but some things I won't waste my time with."

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Kudos to Daniel for calling it like it is.

More Friday Male Beauty

ObamaCare: Gay Conspiracy Edition

The totally whacked out insanity of the town hall protesters (and the GOP operatives who are inciting them) has taken yet another insane twist with one group of far right nutcases - "The Pray In Jesus Name Project" - spreading lies and falsehoods that the Obama health care reform package would result in a gay and transgendered takeover of the entire health care system. One cannot but wonder what kind of mind altering drugs these folks have taken or whether they have suffered some non-repairable head trauma. It's lunacy taken to the outer limits. Fortunately some in the MSM are finally calling these folks for what they are: crazy liars. Or in the case of Senator Charles E. Grassley, deliberate liars. Finally, the New York Times seems to have finally grown some balls and rather that just repeating the lies has now called the misinformation for what it is: LIES. Here are some highlights:

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WASHINGTON — The stubborn yet false rumor that President Obama's health care proposals would create government-sponsored “death panels” to decide which patients were worthy of living seemed to arise from nowhere in recent weeks.

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Advanced even this week by Republican stalwarts including the party’s last vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin and Charles E. Grassley, the veteran Iowa senator, the nature of the assertion nonetheless seemed reminiscent of the modern-day viral Internet campaigns that dogged Mr. Obama last year, falsely calling him a Muslim and questioning his nationality.

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But the rumor — which has come up at Congressional town-hall-style meetings this week in spite of an avalanche of reports laying out why it was false — was not born of anonymous e-mailers, partisan bloggers or stealthy cyberconspiracy theorists. Rather, it has a far more mainstream provenance, openly emanating months ago from many of the same pundits and conservative media outlets that were central in defeating President Bill Clinton’s health care proposals 16 years ago . . .

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There is nothing in any of the legislative proposals that would call for the creation of death panels or any other governmental body that would cut off care for the critically ill as a cost-cutting measure.

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As for the gay and transgender take over of the health care system, here are highlights from The New Republic on the insane allegations coming from far right religious wingnuts (again, what mind altering drugs are these folks taking?):

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"The Pray In Jesus Name Project." It suggests that ObamaCare will not only pull the plug on grandma, but also result in a gay and transgendered takeover of the entire health care system. Among the bogus claims in the group's petition: Your tax-dollars will pay for preferential hiring of homosexual hospital administrators, who distribute $50,000 grants to gender-confused activists for unneeded elective surgery to mutilate their own genitals, (and force Christian doctors to perform it.)

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As for the gay takeover of hospitals? The section of the Senate bill that's cited--requiring the "participation in the institutions' programs of individuals and groups from ...different genders and sexual orientations"--actually refers to government grants awarded to students doing research in mental and behavioral health. I suppose that such a dangerously diverse group of students could decide that they, the gay mafia, should run the nation's hospitals,whose names will be "changed from ‘St. Luke's Memorial' to the ‘Obama Government' hospital" when atheists strip all Christian icons from the buildings, as the email predicts. But, then again, that's absolutely crazy.

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I truly worry for the future of this nation when I see such utter ignorance and stupidity among so many people. Much of the rest of the world must look at this country and say WTF is wrong with the Americans? It is nothing less than scary. And people wonder how Hitler was able to come to power - the far right seems ripe for embracing a fascist dictatorship.

An Argument Against John Paul II's Canonization

I have intimated before that I do not see Pope John Paul II as worthy of canonization and suspect that only the far right, Kool-Aid drinker crowd fully support such a move. Yes, he played a role in the fall of the Soviet Union, but he also played a huge role in the sex abuse scandal that continues to rock the Roman Catholic Church. He callously closed his eyes to the sexual abuse of children and tried to steer the Church back to a Medieval mindset and treated gay Catholics as less than human - hardly saintly conduct. Surprisingly, now even some ultra-conservatives - e.g., writers at Renew America - are now arguing that John Paul II is unworthy of canonization albeit from not precisely the same perspective as my own. Yes I know that it is a bit frightening that I agree with anything disseminated by Renew America, especially since the organization fully support the denigration and marginalization of gays. However, they are on the mark when they correctly focus on John Paul II's unconscionable enabling and cover up of the crimes of sexual predator priests. Here are a few highlights:

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Once again, the Catholic world has been rocked by yet more allegations of sexual impropriety by Legionnaires of Christ founder, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel. It seems the now-disgraced founder-cum-pervert fathered more children than previously suspected; the latest claimants to his paternity purport to have evidence that the late Pope John Paul II knew of Maciel's sexual dalliances, and turned a blind eye to them.

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The allegations highlight what for all too many Catholics is the elephant-in-the-room when discussing the ills which beset the modern Church: the extent to which the late Pope John Paul II was an enabler of these perversions, from sexual and liturgical abuse to theological dissent . . . his Pontificate, by all accounts, was a glorious failure. Yes, he aided in the fall of Eastern European Communism, but the Pope of Rome is not primarily a mover and shaker of state politics, but a Christian pastor . . .

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Though Catholics and others are loathe to admit it of an otherwise beloved Pope, John Paul II oversaw a church which deteriorated in both its inner and outer life. His callous indifference toward the victims of priestly sexual abuse in refusing to meet personally with a single one of them, and his stubborn refusal to compel the resignation from office of any of the bishops who aided, abetted, and covered-up the abuse, are testamentary to his utter failure: not as a Catholic or a theologian, but as a Pope.And this is precisely why he should not be canonized.

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The canonization of Pope John Paul II is an issue which concerns not only Catholics, but all traditionalist conservatives. For better or for worse (depending on one's religious outlook), the Catholic Church is the largest religious institution on the planet, and historically regarded as a fairly conservative one.

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When civil society regains its conservative bearings, history will not be kind to what any unbiased observer must regard as the gross pastoral negligence of the 21st century's first Pope; if Catholics want to come out of the present cultural quagmire with their intellectual integrity intact, they must fearlessly shed the light of truth on that Pontiff's pastorship, and be sure to end up on the right side of history's verdict.

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Again, I believe that John Paul II does not deserve canonization even if not for all the reasons cited by ultra-conservatives. His failings in addressing - if indeed not enabling - the sex abuse scandal alone renders him unworthy.

Needed Knowledge for Homeowners- Steps in Doing a Short Sale

I wrote earlier about the fact that 34% of the homes subject to mortgages in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia are now "under water" or "upside down" with mortgage balances that exceed the homes' market values. This leaves homeowners with the prospect of potentially having to just walk away if they hit a financial bump and become delinquent and find themselves headed toward foreclosure. A "short sale" is one way to potentially avoid foreclosure even though it may result in phantom income from whatever debt is written off by the mortgage lender. The following are the basic steps a distressed homeowner needs to know in seeking this foreclosure avoidance remedy which seeks to negotiate a discounted pay off with the lender (NOTE: From my experience, utilizing an attorney or realtor experienced in short sales is essential because it lends credibility in the eyes of the lender):

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1. Gaining Control of Title; Authorization to Release Information. To a potential buyer in a short sale situation, one of the most important steps in the short sales process is getting the property under contract. As a homeowner seeking short sale approval, you must have a contract with the buyer that specifies the terms of the transaction with a discounted mortgage pay off – e.g., closing is to be as soon as possible, but expressly contingent upon a successful short sale on terms mutually approved by the buyer and the lender. The other essential document is a signed Authorization to Release Information signed by the sellers. Without one, the lender will NOT talk or otherwise discuss the seller’s loan with a realtor or an attorney or anyone else.

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2. Contacting the Lender. When the buyer, the realtor, or the attorney, as applicable, contacts the lender, you never want to tell them that the buyer is a real estate investor. This is one of the biggest mistakes rookies make and will almost always result in the lender not accepting short sales. Therefore, when you call the lender, to request a "short sales packet" or "workout package," indicate that you are the buyer or that you represent the homeowner. Sometimes they may ask if you are a real estate attorney. Just restate what you told them before. Then you'll want to request the "short sales packet" or "workout packet". When the packet arrives it will explain exactly what you need to make this short sales deal successful. Generally among the things you will need to document are distress concerning:

(A) The distressed nature of the seller (see paragraph 3 below).

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(B) The property: list out all defects to the property and needed repairs to make it marketable (including price estimates). Photos of any major defects can speak volumes to a lender.

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(C) The neighborhood where the property is located: is there a crime problem? What are the number of days on market for sales that have occurred and are they below assessment and/or past sales? One web site that may help in checking comparables is http://www.zillow.com. The other option is to secure comparables through a realtor who is experienced working with investor properties. Remember that many of your big established real estate companies may NOT be familiar with short sales, so do your homework on any realtor you decide to use.
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(D) Itemize in detail the lender’s cost of not doing the short sale: (1) foreclose costs, (2) bankruptcy costs if the sellers file either a Chapter 7 or 13 under the Federal Bankruptcy Code, and (3) the costs the lender will face if it ends up bidding in the property at foreclosure: (A) repair costs, (B) costs of marketing and selling the property, including realtor commission, and (C) carrying costs, including insurance and real estate taxes.
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Lenders do not like to end up owning property, so the more data provided in 2.(B), (C) and (D), above, the more apprehensive the lender will be of holding out for a full payoff amount.

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3. Hardship Letter. A hardship letter tells the lender why the homeowner is not making their mortgage payments. If a job loss or family illness is the cause, explain it in detail and make the lender feel sympathetic, and seek to secure for the seller a Waiver of Deficiency – i.e., a no-collection agreement where the lender agrees to write off of any discounted balance and not pursue collection against the seller. The letter should suggest that the seller is contemplating filing bankruptcy, but would prefer to avoid doing so, if at all possible. Be prepared to provide documentation: sometimes lenders will request bank statement, pay stubs, income statements, and so on to document the hardship.

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Remember, you must be prepared to send them everything they ask for because if you don't, the short sale will not be accepted. They will always ask for a HUD-1 and a real estate purchase and sales agreement. Have your real estate attorney’s office prepare a draft HUD-1 and make sure that you have included all amounts payable by the seller for judgments, delinquent taxes, if any, and any other liens (e.g., homeowner association dues). Remember, lenders want to see ZERO net sales proceeds going to the seller. Send everything the lender asks for back ASAP. It usually takes 3 weeks or more - sometimes months - to get an answer back from the lender, so you can't afford to wait. If the foreclosure auction is approaching, you can ask to extend the auction which in most cases they will, if they know it is a legitimate offer.

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4. Broker's Price Opinion. Basically a real estate broker will come out and give their opinion on what the house is worth in the form of a Brokers Price Opinion ("BPO"). The key to short sales is the BPO. A glib letter will not suffice. The BPO needs to be documented and show supporting market time to sale and final sale information as available. You want to try everything you can to influence the BPO to come in as low as you can in order to induce the lender to discount the loan payoff.

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There are two (2) other things to keep in mind in making the short sale request. (A) Letters of Recommendation. If the buyer, realtor or real estate attorney involved has successfully closed short sales previously, obtain a letter from the lenders involved that will help convince the current lender that you can deliver. The other issue is (B) How Much to Offer. Part of the answer to this question is a function of what you intend to do with the property. If the intent is to (i) live in the property, then offer a price that calculates in the rehab costs and some immediate built in equity; (ii) rehab it and resell it, then the offer should be calculated to allow for satisfactory rehab costs and a profit margin after sale; or (iii) wholesale the deal - i.e., assign the contract to another buyer, then the offer should be lower to build in an assignment fee and still leave in profit for rehab costs and a profit margin for the ultimate purchaser under the short sale.

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I hope the foregoing will be of assistance to readers in need of doing a short sale or of people they may know who find themselves in that position. My firm has negotiated many short sales and/or assisted buyers and sellers who are involved in the process.

Friday Male Beauty

In Hampton Roads, 1 in 3 Homes with Mortgages "Uderwater"

I have been talking about the collapse of the residential real estate market both locally and national and predicted over two years ago that if something did not happen to stop the free fall, the larger economy would tank as well. Sadly, no one seemed to wake up until a year later and the economic nightmare continues to worsen with record numbers of foreclosures during the last month. In this area, home values have dropped even if not as badly as in some regions of the country. Nevertheless, a new study indicates that 34% of the homes in the area with mortgages on them are now "underwater," meaning that the outstanding mortgage balance exceeds what the home can now reasonably sell for. This leaves sellers either having to (1) bring money to the table to sell, (2) endeavor to negotiate a "short sale" where the mortgage lender agrees to a lower payoff - something not easily negotiated - or (3) walking away and allowing the home to go into foreclosure. The last alternative in turn helps to drive home prices even lower and the downward spiral continues. Here are some highlights from this story:

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More than 110,000 homeowners in Hampton Roads owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth at the end of June as home prices continued to fall, according to a report released Thursday. That's roughly 34 percent of all mortgages in the local market, according to First American CoreLogic of Santa Ana, Calif., which tracks mortgages across the country. The firm's quarterly report, which generated data for Hampton Roads for the second time, also said that an additional 16,000 mortgages will be "underwater" if home prices in the area decline 5 percent from their current level.

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Homeowners who purchased at the peak of the local housing boom, especially with little or no down payment or an interest-only loan, are the most susceptible to finding themselves "underwater," or "upside down" - owing more than a home is worth. Falling home values can erode any equity homeowners have in a newly purchased or refinanced home. Across the country, more than 15.2 million homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. . .

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The new report suggests that homeowners in Hampton Roads were more likely to have borrowed against their homes as prices in the region rose, Agarwal said. "We never knew the extent to which people in the area had borrowed against their homes," Agarwal said. "We knew people cashed out, because over the last several years you saw taxable sales growing faster than incomes. So the only way you can spend more than you earned is dipping into your wealth, such as getting equity from your homes." The total aggregate value of homes at risk of defaulting in Hampton Roads at the end of June was nearly $26 billion, according to the report.

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The number of negative-equity loans in the region could be exacerbated by the prevalence of local mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs with no down payments, Holland said. After fees, those loans typically are automatically underwater, he said. Home prices in South Hampton Roads have fallen 4.4 percent in the past year, according to Real Estate Information Network Inc., the local multiple listing service. The median sale price for existing homes in June was $222,750, down from $233,000 a year ago.

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And as the housing market continues to sicken, business in the real estate industry - realtors, title insurance companies, surveyors, real estate attorneys, etc. - continue to struggle as well. The nations lenders have received billions in bailout funds but few seem to be passing along any benefits whatsoever to struggling home owners.

Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell Protest on Saturday

A group of activist will be holding a protest in Virginia Beach's Town Center this Saturday - i.e., tomorrow - from 4:00pm - 6:00pm in front of Bravo's. Narissa Bond, the 2009 winner of the Hampton Roads Portfolio Award, for best album and best song with her recent release "Three Words," will be performing and Navy veteran Mike Brazell, a former first class operations specialist, will be the key note speaker at Saturday's Protest to repeal DADT. DADT is a huge issue in this area with its very large military population which includes in my estimation virtually thousands and thousands of closeted LGBT servicemembers. Surprisingly, the Virginian Pilot has run a story in advance of the event which should make the event more high profile. I encourage all local readers to try to attend. Here are some highlights from the Pilot's story:

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Mike Brazell will take the microphone on Saturday because he knows so many others can't speak. Brazell, a 31-year-old yoga instructor in Norfolk, is gay. He spent almost 10 years as a Navy operations specialist before receiving an honorable discharge in 2005. One of the main reasons he left, he said, was that he was worn out living a double life - half the day as a single Navy petty officer first class, half the day as a gay man with a partner.
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He and other activists who want the federal law prohibiting openly gay military service to be changed will gather for a rally at Town Center in Virginia Beach. When Brazell joined the Navy in 1996, he was terrified of being outed. Eventually, he learned not to be too sensitive when his fellow sailors joked about homosexuality. While stationed in Japan, Brazell met other gay sailors who showed him the way. "They taught me that as long as you're good at what you do, and you make yourself valuable, people don't care.... I was really good at my job," Brazell said. He said he neither talked about nor hid his sexual orientation. Other shipmates didn't fare as well.

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Brazell and other organizers see it differently: Camaraderie is hurt when unit members can't be themselves. And discharging Arabic linguists who happen to be gay can't help national security. The gay-rights rally will bring the issues home. The large military population here makes speaking out now important, Brazell said. "The fact that there are so many sailors and soldiers who are closeted here - giving them a voice is a very important thing," Brazell said. "Even though we're not still in uniform, we're not going to stop fighting."

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DADT is a poisonous policy and in the final analysis is based solely on religious based discrimination and bigotry - it is an offense against the U.S. Constitution which guarantees equality to all citizens and freedom of religion. It needs to be repealed NOW!

Smearing Harvey Milk - And Obama

Family Research Council ("FRC") hack and homophobe, PeterSprigg - who purports to be an expert on the evils of homosexuality but whose principal experience is serving for ten years as a professional actor and unit leader in Covenant Players, an "international Christian drama ministry" and being an anti-gay Baptist minister - has a new hatchet piece on WingNutDaily that smears the posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Harvey Milk. Like Robert Knight, Sprigg has made a semi-career out of doing all he can to bad mouth and marginalize gays while hiding behind a pseudo-important title at FRC. Also like Knight, I question whether or not Sprigg would know how to tell the truth even if his life depended on it. Here are highlights from his foaming at the mouth piece at WND:
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When President Obama today awards a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk, it may mark the first time in history that the nation's highest civilian award has been granted primarily on the basis of someone's sex life. . . . At least lesbian Billie Jean King, who will also be honored by Obama, was a genuine tennis star.

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Milk's first long-term lover, Joe, had his "introduction to gay life" when he performed sex acts upon men in a movie theatre for money – at age 9. Milk's next lover, Craig, had been arrested after having sex with a 40-year-old man – when Craig was 14. He met Milk when he was 17 – "[I]t would be to such boyish-looking men in their late teens and early 20s that Milk would be attracted for the rest of his life,"

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In other word, it was all about sex. Pro-homosexual activists will describe the issue as one of identity – "who they are." But the real issue is one of behavior – what they do. And what Harvey Milk (like other homosexual activists) wanted was not only the freedom to engage in homosexual sex, but the right to do so without ever being criticized.

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Since Harvey Milk died from an assassin's bullet, over a quarter million American men have died of AIDS, which they contracted because they had sex with other men. What's truly "madness" is that someone whose only claim to fame is that they promoted such deadly behavior should be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Sadly, it is people like Sprigg who have nothing but contempt for the concept of freedom of religion for other of differing beliefs, ignore modern mental health knowledge (e.g., the new APA report), and have made careers out of fear mongering and inciting hate and intolerance that set the stage for not only Harvey Milk's murder, but also the violence against LGBT citizens that occurs somewhere around the country on nearly a daily basis. Mr. Sprigg and those like him are the ones who are truly contemptible, not Milk or those awarding him a long over due honor.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Another Delusional Anti-Gay Screed from Robert Knight

I have posted before on the anti-gay obsessions of Robert Knight, former director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute and now the senior writer/correspondent for Coral Ridge Ministries, with whom I have had numerous e-mail debates in the past (Yes, Robert, I DO still have all your e-mails). In many ways it is fitting that Knight is now a tool of the ever dishonest Coral Ridge Ministries - which sold "ex-gay Michael Johnston's books and videos even though it was known that Johnston had experienced a "moral fall" and was anything but cured of homosexuality. In my personal opinion, Mr. Knight is an example of the most shrill, self-hating closet case who transfers his own self-hatred to gays who have come to terms with their sexual orientation. Here are highlights from Knight's latest screed posted at Concerned Women for America and WingNutDaily (NOTE: Knight totally ignores the latest APA report on "change" therapies and continues to lie about sexual orientation being a choice):

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Obama has promised the sky to homosexual activists and the abortion lobby and has moved quickly toward that end. On July 16, the Senate voted for a "hate crimes" bill that will lay the foundation for crushing freedom of speech, religion and association with regard to sexual morality. The health care scheme is rife with opportunities for exotic entitlements like tax-funded abortion and even sex-change operations. A homosexual activist, Kevin Jennings, whose group promotes books to kids that contain graphic accounts of adults seducing teens, has been appointed head of the Department of Education's "safe schools" program, which is like naming Ozzy Osbourne to be drug czar. And Obama says he wants to lift the military ban on open homosexuality and overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.

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On Aug. 5, the GOP's Maine kleptocrats, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, joined Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and longtime sponsor Ted Kennedy in reintroducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which we'll call the "gay quota bill" for short. ENDA is profoundly dangerous. It turns private sin into a public right and brings the force of government against morality itself.

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[S]o-called same-sex "marriage" laws are absurd and treacherous. Forcing citizens to accept a counterfeit as the real thing is an act of despotism. ENDA adds not only "sexual orientation" but "gender identity" to federal workplace anti-discrimination law. Thus, it takes an ax to the idea that sexual behavior has a natural normalcy or any relation to morality. It falsely equates a changeable condition (sexual desire) with race and ethnicity. Worse, it turns traditional values into a form of bigotry punishable under the law.

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Our very survival is at stake, not just our economic well-being.

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Nothing like striving to create hate against LGBT Americans. Also, if one reads the whole screed, Knight indulges in his usual rewriting of history and outdated "experts." In fact, based on Knight's bogus tactics and arguments, I'm surprised that he's not also arguing that black are mentally inferior to whites. He's a bigot of the first order. P.S. Robert, in my opinion I still think that what you really need is to hire yourself a hot male escort, experience the gay sex you secretly lust for and leave the rest of us gays alone.

GOP Needs to Pay a Price for the Town Hall Rage

The deranged lunacy of the GOP and Faux News incited protesters at Congressional Democrat "town hall" meetings on health care reform is taking on an increasingly frightening character and I suspect that it is only a matter of time before violence of some type ensues. The amount of hatred that these protesters - whether GOP operatives or easily manipulated idiots - are exhibiting clearly shows the true nature of the GOP base. The same base that embraced Bible Spice Palin back during the 2008 campaign. The are racists, hate immigrants - even though most are obviously descendants of immigrants themselves - and likely consider themselves conservatives and conservative Christians. The video clip below is a good example and these words speak volumes: "Send [illegal immigrants] home with a bullet in the head the second time":

David Broder has a column that looks at this increasingly vile hatred campaign in today's Washington Post that illustrates how and why the GOP leadership - and that means elected officials, not Rush Limbaugh and talking heads at Faux News - need to do if in the long term the Party does not want to lose all respect in the minds of the majority of voters. Here are some highlights:

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Watching the muscular tactics being used in congressional town meetings by some opponents of health-care reform, I keep thinking somebody should remind the Republican leaders who are reveling in the scenes about Bruce Alger.

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Alger was the first Republican congressman elected from Texas in the modern era, winning a Dallas district in 1954. In 1960, just a few days before the presidential election, he was part of a crowd of several hundred people who surrounded Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and his wife, Lady Bird, when they arrived for a luncheon at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.

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Many of the demonstrators carried signs labeling the Texas senator a "Judas." Alger's placard read: "LBJ Sold Out to Yankee Socialists." As I later wrote, the Johnsons "were engulfed by the crowd, and for more than half an hour, were reviled and jostled as they slowly made their way across the lobby.

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The backlash was instant and powerful. As conservative columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak later wrote in their book about Johnson, the scene in the Adolphus "outraged thousands of Texans and Southerners. Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia, who had not campaigned for his party's national ticket since 1944, telephoned Johnson that evening to offer his services." The Johnson biographers concluded that while no one could prove the case, it is "a credible hypothesis" that the Adolphus incident swung Texas and perhaps other closely contested Southern states to the Democrats. In 1964, when Johnson headed the Democratic ticket, he got even: His coattails swept Alger out of office.

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[N]ot all the GOP leaders have gotten the message. Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents a heavily Jewish district in Florida, phoned me to complain that top House Republicans have not publicly repudiated Rush Limbaugh for his statements likening Obama's health policies to those of the Nazis. Much improvement is needed in the health-care bills, but I think these angry opponents are playing with fire.

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Other stories are demonstrating that violence may soon break loose. In an Associated Press story, it is reported that the Secret Service is investigating a man who authorities said held a sign reading "Death to Obama" outside a town hall meeting on health-care reform in western Maryland. The sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids," referring to the first name of President Barack Obama's wife, said Washington County Sheriff's Capt. Peter Lazich. Indeed, as Media Matters has reported, some of the wingnuts are now spreading the untruth of an alleged conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is planning to "round up American citizens" into "internment camps." Among those spreading this lie are - surprise, surprise - Michael Savage and Janet Folger Porter who has apparently paused for a moment from her quest to demonize and marginalize LGBT Americans.

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I truly do not know what is worse: that people are vile enough to spread such lies or that people are so stupid and ignorant that they believe this manure.

Thursday Male Beauty

Rick Santorum Dips Toes in 2012 Iowa Waters

As if the Republican Party did not already have enough loons with presidential ambitions - e.g., Sarah "Bible Spice" Palin, Mike "I'm a Whack Job" Huckabee - now Rick "man on dog" Santorum appears to be joining the parade of would be candidates for the Iowa primary in 2012. It's ironic that Santorum, who could not even hang on to his Senate seat because Pennsylvanians came to recognize he was a crazy extremist now thinks the country is ready for him to be president. It is both pathetic and frightening that the only would be leaders the GOP can produce are those who seem driven to impose their own intolerant, divisive and exclusionary religious views on all Americans. Here are some highlights from Politico:

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POLITICO has learned Santorum will visit first-in-the-nation Iowa this fall for a series of appearances before the sort of conservative activists who dominate the state GOP’s key presidential caucuses. The Pennsylvanian, who lost his 2006 reelection bid, will visit Iowa on October 1, appearing on a Des Moines radio talk show and speaking to a luncheon and workshop of Iowa’s Right to Life group before heading east to Dubuque, where he’ll headline a fundraiser for the conservative America’s Future Fund PAC and then speak about the future of the GOP to a public audience in the Mississippi River city.

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“I’m very concerned about the state of affairs in this country and how Republicans are dealing with [issues], so this is an opportunity for me to go out and talk about things I think we need to be doing to turn this country in the right direction,” Santorum said of the Iowa trek — a visit invariably seen as presidential water-testing for any ambitious politician.

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And Santorum, an outspoken social conservative known by Republicans nationwide for his anti-abortion activism, could find support among the many conservative Christians who reliably participate in the GOP’s presidential caucuses. Citing energy and health care, Santorum said: “One of the reasons I wanted to talk to the Right to Life folks is we can’t lose the moral component of those two bills as well as a lot of other things going on in Washington.”
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But having been thumped by 18 percentage points in his bid for a third term and out of office since 2006, Santorum may have a difficult time appealing to a savvy Hawkeye state electorate that is likely to have a full complement of social conservatives to choose from.

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He just sent an email to Republican National Committee donors likening 2010 to 1994 — the year he and other Republicans were swept into Congress thanks to deep voter discontent with Democratic majorities. “A new tide of popular grassroots opposition to the Obama Democrats' senseless policies and insatiable hunger for power is rising across America,” Santorum wrote in the fundraising message.

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I sincerely hope that Ricky's delusions of grandeur crash and burn quickly - the last thing the country needs another conservative nutcase in the White House.

Why Bob McDonnell is No Moderate and an Enemy of Equality

A friend of mine who has been active in the gay rights battle for many, many years - we first met at the Creating Change Conference in Miami in 2003 where I was a workshop panelist on ex-gay programs - has put together a summary of some of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's past record that clearly demonstrates that McDonnell is anything but the moderate he now pretends to be. When the Deeds campaign will get off its ass and start making sure the public knows this side of McDonnell remains to be seen. The message needs to get out and soon because I have little faith in the MSM to make the effort needed to fully inform the public that McDonnell's campaign is basically one big lie. Here is the right on point summary which I have enhanced (Don, thanks for connecting the dots):

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1) Bob McDonnell earned his law degree from Pat Robertson’s Regent University Law School where he was taught to “think Christianly about the law.” Regent's goal has always been to train lawyers to move into government office and take over the reins to further the Christianists' goals and Biblical world view.

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2) In 2003, McDonnell opposed the reappointment of Newport News Circuit Court Judge Verbena Askew, the first black female circuit court judge in the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the basis that she was rumored to be a lesbian and therefore may have violated Virginia’s “Crimes against Nature” statute which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court later that same year in the Lawrence v. Texas decision.

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3) In 2004, McDonnell wrote and sponsored the anti-gay HB 187 bill, a rudimentary precursor to the Virginia Marriage Amendment that passed in November 2006.

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4) As a member of the House of Delegates, McDonnell was twice honored by The Family Foundation, Daddy Dobson's Virginia affiliate of Focus on the Family as “Legislator of the Year.” The Family Foundation is against abortion in all circumstances, is fanatically anti-gay and supports the GOP's anti-immigrant jihad.

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5) As Attorney General, Bob McDonnell authored a statement which appeared above the Virginia Marriage Amendment ballot denying that it would negatively affect unmarried couples. This ultimately played a role in the amendment’s passing which negatively impacted ALL unmarried couples, gay and straight.

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6) Bob McDonnell tried to reverse Governor Tim Kaine’s Executive Order 1 (2006) banning employment discrimination against gays serving in State Government jobs. In the recent case involving the gay employee fired by the Virginia Museum of Natural History, McDonnell's subordinates actively argued that the Executive Order gave gay employees no protections.

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7) After Christopher Newport University’s Board of Visitors voted to ban anti-gay discrimination admissions or hiring in 2007, Bob McDonnell wrote a letter informing the school that “It would not be legal for the university (or other public institutions in the state, which have done the same thing) to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

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8) Bob McDonnell even went as far as to intervene in a private lawsuit between the Episcopal Church and break away anti-gay parishes on behalf of the anti-gay plaintiffs who sought to take Church properties utilizing a 1860's statute enacted by the Virginia General Assembly so that break away pro-slavery Baptist Churches - these churches eventually became the Southern Baptist Convention - could take properties belonging to the anti-slavery national Baptist denomination.

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In sum, Right Wing Fundamentalism was the foundation of Bob McDonnell’s legal education and has inspired every decision he’s made in his political career. If elected Governor, not only will he support discrimination in Marriage, but in employment as well. If you care about your partner or your job or equality under the civil laws or freedom of religion, say no to Bob McDonnell in November and vote for Creigh Deeds and the full Democrat statewide slate.